Former JOURNEY Singer STEVE PERRY Fails To Reach Settlement Over Release Of 1991 Demo Recordings

According to The Blast, former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry was unsuccessful in his attempt to end a legal battle over the release of demos he recorded with musician Phil Brown in 1991. Perry claims that the songs were recorded on an 8-track tape recorder in Brown‘s garage and were never meant to be heard by the public.

Perry and Brown recently tried to hash out their issues in mediation, but “the parties were not able to resolve their differences and settle this dispute at that conference,” according to court documents obtained by The Blast. “They agreed to continue their efforts.”

Perry and Brown‘s original court trial was scheduled to begin on June 25 in Los Angeles.

Perry sued for an injunction prohibiting Brown from releasing the music and for unspecified damages.

The judge granted a temporary restraining order in Perry‘s favor in November 2018, which prohibited Brown from releasing the unheard tracks until a further court hearing.

Brown said he did not need Perry‘s permission to release the music and was demanding the lawsuit be thrown out and the injunction vacated.

Brown is credited as a production assistant and the bassist on the track “Tuesday Heartache” on Perry‘s 1994 solo album “For The Love Of Strange Medicine”. He also worked on the string arrangement for “I Am”.

Perry said that he never intended the vocal performances he recorded at Brown‘s home to be released publicly, and he ultimately decided that the songs he recorded — titled “Somebody Somewhere” and “Don’t Push The River” — were not appropriate for his 1994 solo album. None of the musical compositions he created with Brown, and none of the vocal performances he laid down in Brown‘s home in 1991 appeared on “For The Love Of Strange Medicine” or on any other recording by Perry. Perry said he did no additional work with Brown.

According to Perry, Brown claimed for the first time in 2002 that he had a copyright interest in Perry‘s 1991 recorded vocal performances, and threatened to release them. Perry, through his attorney, expressly repudiated Brown‘s claim to a copyright interest in Perry‘s recorded vocal performances and reasserted Perry‘s sole ownership of those recorded vocal performances. Brown subsequently never took legal action to dispute Perry‘s sole copyright ownership of his recorded vocal performances, and never purported to dispute Perry‘s copyright ownership of those recorded vocal performances in any way for 14 years.

After Perry released his latest solo album, “Traces”, in October, Brown, through his representatives, again began claiming an ownership interest in Perry‘s 1991 recorded vocal performances, and again threatened to release those performances to the public, the singer said. Furthermore, Brown‘s manager allegedly began circulating Twitter messages promoting the imminent release of Brown‘s new CD in a way that misleadingly made it appear that Perry is in Brown‘s band, APACHES FROM PARIS.

“By intentionally using Perry‘s image and misleadingly implying that Perry has authorized or approved Brown‘s conduct, and that Perry is a member of Brown‘s band just as Perry‘s solo ‘Traces’ album is in wide release and garnering significant publicity, Brown is seeking to confuse and mislead Perry‘s fans and the consuming public into believing that Brown is associated with Perry when he is not, to induce them to purchase Brown‘s music rather than Perry‘s,” the singer’s complaint read. “Brown also seeks to mislead fans into believing that Perry‘s 1991 recorded vocal performances, of which Perry is the sole copyright owner, and which Perry decided not to release because they do not meet his standards, are somehow associated with ‘Traces’ and are being released with Perry‘s permission, when they are not.”