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Did Led Zeppelin steal one of their most famous songs??

bobrollar

By bobrollar
in The Gibson Lounge

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bobrollar

bobrollar

Posted
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Let me start with saying that the mighty Zeppelin is an awesome band as we all know already but........I put on some old vinyl the other day and came across an old favorite, Spirit, they used to open for Zep in the late 60's and listening to the song from Spirit's 1st album Taurus, it sound veeeery familiar [blink] :

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjq6KOL6_4Y[/YOUTUBE]

Now this album was released a few years before Zeppelin IV. I just want everyone's input on this, did Page really steal or "borrow" one of their most famous songs or what, this has always been nagging me and just want to know what other people thought about it. hmmmmm[confused]

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bobrollar

bobrollar

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The line im thinking of starts around 00:45 seconds in, and jamman your right it is very generic, but just thought it was odd that Spirit opened for them in the late 60s and Zepp released a very similar main riff a few years later.

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RandyB

RandyB

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I think the "homage" is obvious, particularly since the bands toured together. I once read where Randy California was totally ticked about the note for note lift and the fact that he never received any royalties from it. Granted, LZ embellished the riff substantially, but there's little question in my mind that Stairway's genesis is from Spirit's work.

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bluesguitar65

bluesguitar65

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I hear a variant of the progression to stairway to heaven, but not exactly. This is like with blues I IV V progression. There are many variants of that progression, but not exactly the same. So I don't feel Led Zep stole anything here. However, I recall Led Zep being sued for a blues tune and the creator of the song was not credited for it. I forgot which popular bluesman was suing Led Zep.

 

Now if you want a total rip off, here is one about Led Zep. "Boogie With Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired by Valen's song "Oooh, My Head". It did not credit Ritchie Valens or Bob Keane. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed by Bob Keane and half of the award went to Valens' mother, although she was not part of the suit.

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DeVeeWee

DeVeeWee

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I hear a variant of the progression to stairway to heaven' date=' but not exactly. This is like with blues I IV V progression. There are many variants of that progression, but not exactly the same. So I don't feel Led Zep stole anything here. However, I recall Led Zep being sued for a blues tune and the creator of the song was not credited for it. I forgot which popular bluesman was suing Led Zep.[/quote']

 

They did several Willie Dixon songs, like 'You shook me', 'I can't quit you baby' ...

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cookieman15061

cookieman15061

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Its no secret that they "borrowed" much of what they did. Some they changed slightly some were pretty blatant.

 

I remember years ago my brother playing different Zep cuts and then the original artist songs and i had to laugh.

 

Howard Stern even did a bit on it once.

 

I heard that they did eventually change some songwriter credits on albums but others may know for sure.

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Artie Owl

Artie Owl

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This was posted as an article at Cracked.com take from it what you will.

 

Led Zeppelin are remembered for two things: banging a groupie with a mudshark and recording songs that rocked harder than any band had ever rocked before. Too bad a bunch of that **** was stolen.

 

Don't believe us? Well, here's a whole laundry list of songs they stole; but if the words of a dawn-of-the-Internet era website aren't enough to convince you, consider their classic song "Dazed and Confused."

 

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_18500_the-5-most-famous-musicians-who-are-thieving-bastards.html#ixzz0pyuUSQrl

 

A young Jake Holmes played a song of the same name (and chords, and lyrics kind of) at a show in 1967 where he was opening for The Yardbirds, who featured--say it with us!-- Jimmy Page on guitar. "Dazed and Confused" became a mainstay of The Yardbirds live sets and eventually found its way onto Zep's 1969 debut album, where it was credited to... nobody. Holmes never took legal action but he did eventually send Page a letter asking for acknowledgement and maybe a little gas money if he could spare it (he could). The letter went unanswered.

 

There's more feel free to follow the link.

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heymisterk

heymisterk

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Zep..... steal?

 

 

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9ed7mVdHE[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

Wow, that was one I missed. I actually like that song more than "Since I've Been..."

 

The one that really jumped out at me was John Prine's guitar on "Illegal Smile." (I couldn't find the studio version on YouTube) and Zep's "Bron Yur Aur"...almost an identical lift.

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Big Bill

Big Bill

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It's no secret that Page had been accused and even sued for plagiarism. Some of the ripoffs are obvious others are not. However, it wasn't uncommon for the older blues men to take another's tune and change a bit of it in an attempt to make it their own

 

Here a tune that Page ripped off from Beck's fist solo album. It ruined a friendship...

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]
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The Mick

The Mick

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As Keith Richards once said "Theres only been one song ever written & it was written by Adam & everyone else has stolen from that" or something to that effect.

 

Craig

All music is just an evolution of what has come before

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