'Idol' contestant David Cook under fire again, this time for his 'Eleanor Rigby' performance
Mar 30, 2008, 08:42 PM | by Shirley Halperin
Categories: American Idol, Music, Music Biz, Television
Though Chris Cornell was acknowledged to be the source of David Cook's "Billie Jean" rearrangement on last week's American Idol, another band has come out demanding Cook (pictured) credit their cover of "Eleanor Rigby." Doxology, a rock-soul group out of Seattle (who happen to be pals with last season's runner-up Blake Lewis), claim that on March 11 Cook performed their version of the Beatles' classic — which has been available on the band's myspace page and iTunes since January 2007 — without crediting them.
In a statement issued to the press on Saturday, lead vocalist Luke McPherson contends, "When given the opportunity to speak up and reveal where the arrangement came from, David Cook did not. His silence on the issue implies that the arrangement is his own. It is not." The band is careful to note that they are fans of the show and they are not seeking royalties (which they could have earned off of iTunes sales had their name been mentioned on air). Their impetus: "We just want David Cook and American Idol to do the right thing and acknowledge these facts. It's that simple." Whether Cook was actually aware of their version is still unclear as representatives for Fox could not be reached for comment over the weekend.
Read the band's full press release after the jump.
Seattle, WA – March 28, 2008: After much deliberation, Doxology is releasing a statement to the press. There are many reasons that the Seattle area band feels it is necessary to shed some light on recent events. First and foremost, Doxology is not angry with David Cook or American Idol. They are, however, troubled by the lack of public acknowledgement that the arrangement of "Eleanor Rigby," used by David Cook on American Idol's March 11, 2008 episode and its’ subsequent iTunes studio recording, is a near note-for-note copy of a unique demo arrangement recorded by Doxology in 2006. The band feels that David is a great performer, and they are also supporters and fans of American Idol (Blake Lewis, a good friend of the band, was last season's American Idol runner up). Secondly, Doxology is in disagreement with Idol's decision to post David Cook's performance and studio recording on iTunes. This allows American Idol to profit from the David Cook, March 11th performance and studio recording, without crediting the source for the recording's arrangement. This is not the first time American Idol has had to deal with this type of issue. During season 5 of Idol, Chris Daughtry used an arrangement from a band without crediting his source. To listen to Doxology’s original demo recording of “Eleanor Rigby” and additional original song selections visit www.myspace.com/dxband.
Doxology lead vocalist Luke McPherson: "Our main issue is that when given the opportunity to speak up and reveal where the arrangement came from, David Cook did not. His silence on the issue implies that the arrangement is his own. It is not." Luke goes on to say, "We were even more surprised when the studio recording, released Thursday morning, was even more of a note-for-note instrumental copy of Doxology's recording. I want to be clear. We are not seeking royalties. That's not what this is about. The compensation we are asking for is the easiest and least expensive around – we, at minimum, want David Cook and/or American Idol to admit that the arrangement he performed on March 11th, and then went into the studio and recorded for immediate sale, was not only inspired by, but almost completely carbon copied from our arrangement. We just want David Cook and American Idol to do the right thing and acknowledge these facts. It's that simple."
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