Ben Harper came into my home sometime over the last few months, and bugged my apartment. He then preceded to monitor my guitar playing sessions with the express reason of stealing from me and claiming my work as his own.
Before now, I was a pretty big Ben Harper fan. I really enjoyed his music, from his moving earth-bound guitar sounds, to his soothing, not-quite-perfect voice. I have purchased three of his albums, and have downloaded a lot more of what he has produced. I've even downloaded music from other musicians with whom he has recorded tracks and played with. Unfortunately, I am a fan no longer. you have to have pretty shitty morals to steal from one of your fans, especially a fan who is just learning guitar.
About two months ago, I began writing a song called "Jack-o-Lantern". I worked on it night and day, and slowly it migrated into what I considered a decent song. I began writing lyrics and melody for it, and started the construction of a bass line. I was pretty proud of my work. Then, last night, as Brad and I were chit-chatting over a hot ethernet cable, I began to play MY song on the guitar. Brad shook his head as I played, and told me that he recognized the Ben Harper song I was trying to play. I was appalled. How dare Brad suggest that my work was the work of someone else. I demanded that Brad inform me immediately of which song it was he thought I was trying to play, so I could prove to him that they were different songs.
I found the song, entitled "Walk Away" on Ben's "Welcome to the Cruel World" album and downloaded it. This is one of his older albums, and one that I do not own, nor do any of my friends. Additionally, I do not have not downloaded any tracks from that album. In fact, I was shocked to find that it existed, thinking that I had every just about every piece of Ben Harper music ever recorded in a studio, and almost all of the live stuff available.
The rest speaks for itself.
Me Playing MY Song.
Ben Playing MY Song WITHOUT my permission.
I offer a $10,000 reward for his body… dead or alive.
