More about the Don’t Tell Me Sample

Yesterday our reader Hubert wrote an article to explain the origin of the sample used in Don’t tell me.

Today another Madonna Tribe reader, Viper 667 wants to add some more information on this matter:

“Hi, Your site is awesome! I wanted to add something about the Bitterwseet Symphony sample in Don’t Tell Me.

Like Hubert, I was concerned about how people kept saying a sample from the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” was used in the new live version of “Don’t Tell Me“, apparently not knowing that the string section from Bittersweet Symphony was actually a sample itself.
The sample the Verve used in their song didn’t come from the Rolling Stones’ version of “The Last Time“, but from an orchestral version arranged by David Whitaker and performed by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. (Andrew Oldham was the Rolling Stones’ manager and recorded several orchestral versions of their songs, as well as songs by other groups, like the Beach Boys.) Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Andrew Oldham obviously deserve some credit for the sample. However, although I didn’t get to see the concert and I haven’t heard the live version yet, I have a feeling the sample used in Don’t Tell Me probably WAS taken from the Verve’s song, rather than from the original Oldham version, in which case the Verve would also deserve credit and it would be perfectly acceptable to refer to the sample as being taken from “Bittersweet Symphony”.
Incidentally, as a result of the legal scuffle and thanks to the Rolling Stones’s very expensive lawyer, the Verve was cheated out of royalty money that the Rolling Stones had no right to collect – although the Verve did use a sample from a version of one of their songs that was re-recorded by someone else [using a musical phrase that doesn’t even appear in the original Rolling Stones version] and Jagger/Richads did deserve a bit of money, it’s not like the Verve just slapped their name on someone else’s work. Their song was an original composition, with original lyrics and production, for which they deserved most of the credit, and for which Jagger/Richards deserved a credit in the liner notes and a few dollars.”

Thanks to viper667 and again thanks to Hubert for bringing up this matter to the Madonna online community.