[HANASHIR:3031] Re: Hashkeeveynu

[MahTovu <MahTovu...>]

On Monday, May 24, 1999 at 12:24 pm Meris Ruzow wrote:

>The "Hashkivenu"  (Shelter us beneath thy wings) I think is written by
>Cantor Wally.  Mah Tovu has recorded it and it is on their CD.   There is
>sheet music for it.   You need to contact Cantor Wally.   Will try to find
>his address or email and post it later.
>M

There has been some confusion about this, and as a member of Mah Tovu, I'd 
like to clear it up. The "Hashkeeveynu" was written by us (copyright 1996, 
Mah Tovu (Steve Brodsky and Josh Zweiback)) and the "Shelter Us" lyrics and 
music were written by Larry Jonas. The song was recorded on our 1996 "Only 
This" album. No disrespect to Wally, but he had no involvement. The song was 
apparently included in the 1995 NFTY Chordster supplement; at the time it had 
found it's way into some of the UAHC Camps and Youth Groups, but we had not 
yet recorded it and noone seemed to know who had written it. It was printed 
in the Chordster credited to "unknown".  Years later, the song appeared on at 
least two other CD's: a compilation that was put out by Amy Morrison and 
Ricky Stein as a fundraiser for Mazon, and, from what I understand, a CD that 
was put out by NFTY-SE called "Songs of the Heart". (I must here qualify by 
saying that I have neither seen nor heard either of these CD's, and am only 
aware of them because of previous postings on this list - so my information 
may be inaccurate.) Noone involved in either of these projects ever contacted 
us regarding permission, credits, royalties, etc., and again the song was 
credited to "unknown". I have since been in touch with Ricky Stein about the 
Mazon CD, and would really appreciate any more detailed info that anyone has 
on the NFTY-SE project. Anyway, the "unknown" myth has perpetuated and the 
song continues to be improperly credited, as indicated by the above post. 
Hope this clears it up.

Just a friendly reminder, folks: if you record someone else's copyrighted 
work you are bound, legally and ethically, to seek permission and to at least 
offer to pay the appropriate royalties. If you don't know who wrote 
something, there are enough resources out there, in this age of the internet, 
to find out pretty easily. Randee Freedman at SoundsWrite, Mayer Pasternak at 
Tara, and lots of other very knowledgable Jewish music people participate in 
this list and are great resources. End of lecture.

A lead sheet for "Hashkeeveynu" is available; you can e-mail me privately if 
you are interested.

Steve Brodsky

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