A Real Songwriter

By clicking the title "A Real Songwriter" it will take you to my BMI Works page.

That visit to BMI in Nashville got me energized about songwriting again. I was there on a non-music related business trip but seeing I was a part of something, like BMI, caused me to start reviewing songs in my filing cabinet.

I had stepped back from performing from 1983 to 1992 but not writing. Half of the reason was personal turmoil going on in my life but the other was the music of the times. For a solo artist, back then, it was big time to have a back ground tape with full instrumentation and backup vocals. Back then that was very expensive and there was no way I could do it. It was also a time when Christian music went into a more disco type of genre I wasn't willing to join.

Anyway, I kept writing a practicing and then one day I was asked to sing one of my songs a the church I was attending. The song was "Blessed are the People". A few weeks later I got a call from a young bride to be asking if I could sing that song at her wedding. I was thrilled but didn't think the song fit as a wedding song. So I asked her if she didn't mind me writing a wedding song and see if she liked it. It was one of those songs that came to me in a matter of hours, many don't. I made a recording, demo, of the song and took it to her mother the next Sunday. A week later a great many people at the church had heard it and everyone loved the song.

After singing it at the wedding I was bombarded by people asking where they could buy the song and my albums. I and my wife would tell them I didn't have the song recorded for sale and had no albums. The typical response was, "Well you should get a contract."

"Marriage Seed" was the song. Take a listen.

Marriage Seed - Jerry Corelli

It would be nice if all you had to do was call up a record label and say give me a contract. By the time I wrote "Marriage Seed" in 1992 I was 34 years old. To a record label that's over the hill.

Becoming a BMI Songwriter

I recall the day, very well, when the Record & Publishing contracts came. I understood what the record deal meant but back then did not know a thing about the publishing contract. I of course signed them and sent them back as soon as I could. Luckily, for me, the company I was dealing with was straight forward and honest. I probably would have been willing to sign my life away but fortunately did not.

As time goes by for all of us I one day found myself, nine years later, in Nashville with a business partner who wanted to check out a museum there. If just so happened that after parking the car and looking down the street I could see a sign on the side of a building that read, "BMI". Long story short we sent into BMI and up to the receptionist desk. My partner, not knowing I had written any songs, was thinking I was joking about the whole thing. I told the receptionist that I was a BMI song writer and wanted to know if I had any royalties. Her attitude changed just a little after I told her I was a BMI writer and when she came back from the computer room it really changed. She offered us coffee and was very asked us to be seated while they looked up more information about my songs.

Looking back at that day the computer was in a different room being and the info was only accessible by a few people I suppose. Today I can site down, write in the BMI address, type in a code and I can find all the info I need to find on my account over the web. Oh, by the way, I didn't have any royalties coming.