Afro-Costa Rican-American music producer
Isaias Gamboa (born April 21, 1963) is an Afro-Costa Rican –American music producer, songwriter, musician, arranger, author and filmmaker. Gamboa is known for his lawsuit which revealed the origin of the protest song "We Shall Overcome ".[ 1] [ 2] We Shall Overcome: Sacred Song On The Devil's Tongue [ 3] [unreliable source? which described how "We Shall Overcome" was based on a gospel song by Louise Shropshire rather than other gospel songs as suggested by Pete Seeger who had it copyrighted to protect it from abuse.[ 4] [ 5] [ 6] The Richmond Organization who claimed the rights to the song.[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10] [ 11] [ 12]
Gamboa has written, performed, produced and/or arranged more than 200 songs for recording artists including, Shalamar , Gladys Knight & the Pips , Tavares , the Brothers Johnson , Dynasty , the Pointer Sisters , and five albums for the Temptations . In 1994 Gamboa produced the remix of "Pain" by Tupac Shakur for the film soundtrack Above the Rim [ 13]
Gamboa was also part of the short-lived band Real to Reel. They were discovered and mentored by Leon Sylvers III . Their debut album had production from Sylvers and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis . The project was shelved by Arista Records over creative and economic differences between Sylvers and Arista founder and president Clive Davis .[ 14] Legacy Recordings to digital and streaming platforms in January 2025.
References
^ Blair, Elizabeth (April 13, 2016). "Who Owns 'We Shall Overcome'? All Of Us, A Lawsuit Claims" . NPR Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023 . ^ David Holthaus. "Book: Cincinnati musician wrote 'We Shall Overcome' . Usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-02. Retrieved 2013-09-11 . ^ Neff, David. "The Religious Roots of Protest: How Justice Movements Have Coopted The Church's Music" Christianity Today . Archived from the original on 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-21 . ^ Joel M Beall. " . Cincinnati Enquirer/Cincinnati.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-02-15 . ^ Kimberly Milhoan. "One Woman, Three Words: "We Shall Overcome" . ACLU press release). Archived from the original on 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2015-03-09 . ^ Dawn Fuller. "UC Historical Collection Reveals the Songwriter Who United the Voice of the National Civil Rights Movement" . University of Cincinnati press release). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-02-28 . ^ "Lawyers seek to end We Shall Overcome copyright" . BBC. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016 .^ " . Billboard . Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016 .^ "Judge throws out 57-year-old copyright on "We Shall Overcome" . Ars Technica . September 11, 2017. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017 .^ Karr, Rick (September 11, 2017). "Federal Judge Rules First Verse Of 'We Shall Overcome' Public Domain" . NPR . Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017 . ^ Karr, Rick (January 27, 2018). "We ShallOvercome Ruled Public Domain in Copyright Settlement" . NPR . Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018 . ^ Stempel, Jonathan (January 26, 2018). "US Civil Rights Anthem Now In Public Domain" . REUTERS . Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018 . ^ "Isaias Gambona: credits as producer, composer or arranger" . ALLMUSIC.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2015-02-15 .^ Warren, Roseann V. "Out Of Their Hands" . waxpoetics.com . Wax Poetics. Retrieved 2025-02-01 .
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