IRISH CHOIR PLACES JACKSON'S 'FIELDS OF ATHENRY' TAPES UNDER BANK LOCK AND KEY

By Kevin Brady (http://newsfromireland-quirkynews.blogspot.com/)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - The priceless recording of Michael Jackson singing The Fields of Athenry with an Irish choir, has been placed in a bank vault until its exact ownership is determined.

News of the amazing recording was revealed this week as the late King of Pop's movie This It It opened in cinemas worldwide, but the revelation is set to spark off an international battle for royalties should the Caheraggin Village Choir opt to release the song which could turn out to be his last ever recorded single.

The amazing recording featuring the late Jacko singing six verses of the popular Irish song only emerged last week when the choir revealed that they had the digital tapes of the impromptu session recorded while the star was living in Ireland in 2006.

However, now their spokesman Kevin Gillane has revealed that the choir and its trustees have determined that after all, they may hold the entire rights to the recording as technically Jackson was merely a guest on their recording.

'Technically, what we were doing when he sang the song was recording the Caheraggin Christmas choir single, so it was recorded in our time. We were in the former Sunset Studios recording our album with owner, the late Gerry McGrade when we were asked to work on doing some backing vocals for material that Mr Jackson and his people were working on.

"However, it was during our paid-for time and down time in his recording that we got together to sing The Fields of Athenry, so technically, this creates a different issue for the choir and the trustees. That is why we have placed the tapes in the vault," he said.

If the song proves to be releasable, then the village choir from Caherraggin and the song's writer Pete St John could be in for a massive windfall. St John already benefits from the song being used in football grounds in Liverpool, Glasgow and wherever the Munster and Irish rugby teams play.

Jackson became attracted to the song because of the line "Michael, they have taken you away." The song refers to the deportation of an Irishman during the Famine years of the mid-1840s.

The recording was discovered by the secretary of the Caherraggin Choir group, who were brought in to perform backing tracks in rehearsal sessions while Jackson spent five months in the county recording in 2006. Mr Gillane said last week they had known about the recording for three years but were unwilling to record it out of friendship and respect for Jackson.

However, they have now denied reports that they are now merely exploiting the singer's publicity

"No, that is not the case," said Mr Gillane. "That is why we met last night (Saturday) and decided to ensure that the digital tapes, and all the recorded materials be placed in the bank vault. We do not want to be seen as exploiting the situation at all.

However, AEG who own the rights to This Is It said that they were not involved in any way with negotiations with the Irish choir as the recordings were now made under their jurisdiction.

Music analysts have estimated that the recording could be worth as much as 20 million dollars to the owners of the tape.

Marve Herbstein, the NY publisher said that he is aware that several record labels are investigating the reports and that Sony Music may not be able to claim ownership of the Jackson recording if the singer performed as a guest on the Irish recording.

"Whatever way it works out, a new Michael Jackson single, away from all the controversy of This Is It would be worth at least twenty million dollars for starters to whoever owns the rights," he said.

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