Comic wins backs early tapes

Richard Pryor has settled a lawsuit giving him control of recordings made early in his career.

The 60-year-old comedian launched the legal battle because he's ill with multiple sclerosis and wanted the materials to help secure his family's future, his lawyer said.

But he came to an agreement with New Jersey firm M.B. Music to return the rights for the $10,000 it originally paid for them in 1988.

The company's Michael Chernow said: "We agreed that none of us had anything to fight over. The masters were not earning anything for us and were much more valuable to Mr Pryor than us."

Already up to four hours of Pryor's shows from the late 1960s to early 1970s have been returned, having been transferred from reel-to-reel tape to a digital format.

Pryor's last album And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968-1992) won a Grammy award for its sleeve notes.

To buy And It's Deep Too from Amazon

Published: 8 Mar 2002