Talk:Preston Foster

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Got My Mojo Working

Is or is this not the same person that penned "Got My Mojo Working"? -MrFizyx 21:26, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's the same Preston Foster. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Telegonus (talk • contribs) 08:00, 14 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

CAUTION! a quick googling turns up one attribution of authorship to "a little-known Blues musician named Preston Foster". There were probably dozens, scores, maybe hundreds of men named Preston Foster in the U.S. in 1956. A 56-year-old white Hollywood movie actor and sometimes vocalist is probably not the one who wrote "Mojo". Better conjure up a rock-solid reliable source if you want to put this alleged fact into the article. AVarchaeologist (talk) 09:16, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You may well be right about the authorship of the Mojo song. It doesn't sound like something a white American male would have written in the 20th century, least of all one born around the turn of that century. My contribution was based on many articles I've read about Foster that name him as the author of the song, but for anyone familiar with the actor, his life, his work, it seems like a most unusual composotion for Mr. Foster to have written. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Telegonus (talk • contribs) 10:46, 10 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's highly unlikely that the white actor Preston Foster wrote "Got My Mojo Working". This legal case quotes Sol Rabinowitz, and says that "Rabinowitz first met defendant Preston Foster, also known as Red Foster, in 1957, at which time Foster visited him, offered for sale and played a number of songs. He sang a song, "I'VE GOT MY MOJO WORKING", accompanying himself by guitar, and played a demonstration record which he had previously recorded. Foster, on October 29, 1956, had filed a claim to copyright for that song as author. On January 9, 1957, [music publishing company] Dare entered into a mimeographed form publisher's contract with Preston Foster, by which it acquired "I've Got My Mo-Jo Working". By his agreement, Foster reserved a royalty and assigned his copyright. The assignment was recorded February 16, 1965 in the Copyright Office. In 1957, Dare also acquired the Foster lead sheet and the demonstration record. A month or two later in 1957, Rabinowitz played Foster's demonstration record for singer Ann Cole. Ann Cole learned the song and recorded her artistic arrangement or version of it for Baton Records, under license from Dare. This record is entitled "Got My Mo-Jo Working (But It Just Won't Work On You)", and lists Foster as the author...." etc.

There is no evidence that the actor Preston Foster was known as "Red" Foster. Specifically, and conclusively, footnote 10 in that report says: "Defendant Preston Foster, also known as Red Foster, attended parts of the trial. A Black man, about forty years of age, he appeared with bleached blonde hair and highly modish clothing. He sat quietly in the courtroom and did not, in my presence, communicate with counsel for either party. His presence was known to both parties, and neither counsel chose to call him as a witness." That is not the actor. So, after however many years that the claim has been in this article - and as a result spread widely over other sites - it's time to remove the claim - and discover some more about the real Preston "Red" Foster. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:19, 2 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Preston "Red" Foster

Does anyone know if he wrote or copy wrote any more music? I just recently found out he was a very closely related to me. Northsouthfamily (talk) 05:08, 17 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

When I did some work on this article a few years ago - to confirm that the white actor Preston Foster was not the writer of "Got My Mojo Working" - I tried, but failed, to find some more information about Preston "Red" Foster. I haven't seen anything to suggest that he wrote any other songs. The only snippets of information about him that I could find were in this article, which briefly refers to his presence in court during a copyright case. I'll see if I can track anything down, but don't hold out much hope. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:24, 17 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

BMI indicates that he wrote several other songs, including Ann Cole's great "I've Got Nothing Working Now", the follow-up to "Mojo" (YouTube link here) That might suggest that he may have been in Ann Cole's band, or close to her. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:55, 17 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Here is a photo of Preston "Red" Foster, circa 1966. Ghmyrtle (talk) 14:59, 2 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]