mechanicals for partial song quote?

[michael cleary]

we are getting ready to release an original live cd and in a couple of the songs we quote another song. For example in one song someone starts playing the riff of a well known song in the jam section and we sing a line in a comical but good natured fashion then the jam moves on. in another song we sing the line from a chorus of another well known song. and in yet another an instrumentalist quotes the head from a popular instrumental song. these are all fleeting moments that happen in an off the cuff fashion but my question is do we have to credit the original artists and if so do we have to secure a mechanal liscense/permission or whatever it's called and pay royalties? any advice would be appreciated. there are a couple of live cuts up on our myspace page but none of the songs in question....yet. thanks, mc
http://www.myspace.com/michaelclearyband

[yawatta]

I can't comment with accuracy on the guitar lick, but I know a little about licensing.

I'd contact the publishing company to try and get a partial license from them, or just get their permission. If you're not using the master recording, the record company can't do a lot about it (as far as the vocal melody goes). I'd say that the guitar riff might concern the record label/artist, but the songwriter should be your main focus for something like this.

James