Plagiarism and theft: the case against Led Zeppelin

[Michael Jones]

Musicians are inspired by, borrow from and are prodded along by other musicians. That's what happens in any musical genre.

 

However there are an increasing number of people who believe that Led Zeppelin, and Jimmy Page in particular, appropriated the music of other musicians, slapped their names on the writing credits and made a fortune from the work of others.

 

To quote Homer from one episode of The Simpsons, "...there's Jimmy Page, the greatest thief of American black music who ever walked the Earth".

 

I enjoy LedZep and think that Page is a fantastic musical arranger. However some of the evidence, as shown in these YouTube videos and other places, look pretty damning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kaka]

I knew that I recognised lots of "their" early material from elsewhere, but its a eye opener how many victims they had. I had no idea that "Dazed and Confused" wasn't original, nor the riff from 'Moby Dick" (not that there is much to it), or that a Bert Jansch rendition of a earlier folk tune had been absorbed.

 

Robert Plant has gone on to write vast amounts of material, but I wonder if writing isn't a Page strong point.

 

I quite liked Moby Grape - must check them out.

 

Thanks Mike

[Brian Ono]

Putting their name as writers shows extremely poor judgement but the sign of a good or great band is making music sound like their own and sounding great.Pages remastering of the led zep catalogue also leaves alot to be desired.

[Guest Guest]

I'd heard the Dazed And Confused story before and heard the original song. But I didn't know about the rest. Talk about damning; there's a difference between being influenced by an artist and stealing their lyrics and music.

Led Zeppelin - the world's greatest covers band?

[kiwizig]

Yes they ripped off Jake Holmes big time who was the original writer of Dazed And Confused also check this link.

 

http://www.furious.com/perfect/jimmypage.html

[Bevan J]

First off I must say that I love Led Zeppelin. However, has anybody else noticed the HUGE difference in the quality of the songwriting on a Robert Plant solo album as opposed to anything Jimmy Page ever did solo? I personally think that Page just like Jeff Beck is a phenomenal guitar player but is severely limited in his songwriting abilities. That said, I'm not surprised there is a considerable amount of plagiarism in the Led Zep catalogue.

[got tinnitus]

It's a tough one....

 

My son was noodling on the piano the other day and he was playing a tune that sounded like a song I knew (can't recall what song). I asked him if he was playing 'X' song and he said no, he just made it up.... But I'm pretty sure he would have heard said song in the past.

 

I mean, how many note/chord combinations are left, that haven't been done before?

 

My son would have less of a case to answer as he is 40years down the road from Jimmy Page with zillions of tunes written in between times...!

[got tinnitus]

BTW, Led Zep is blues based. Not many blues riffs that haven't been done before Led Zep...

[Daddy Dom]

 

 

I mean, how many note/chord combinations are left, that haven't been done before?

 

GT, this is a fascinating question, because once you have factored in all the time signatures, rhythms, ways to phrase a melody and so on, you honestly do have a pretty infinite combination.

 

And even if some combination has been done before, the art is in the disguise (or lack thereof) and how respectful and/or humorous your take on something is. You can't just put your own name on it!

 

The Beatles "Taxman" vs. The Jam's "Start" is a good case in point, where everyone's version of the art/theft/tribute/composition argument will probably be just as valid as the next person's.

 

I thought of this all when Jorge Ben Jor was here recently, in relation to his winning the lawsuit over Rod Stewart's grand songwriting larceny.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Ya_Think_I%27m_Sexy%3F

 

I look at it this way: there are only three primary colours, yet endless variations thereof.

 

And to quote the great Tom Lehrer:

 

Plagiarize, let no one else's work evade your eyes

Remember why the good Lord made your eyes

So don't shade your eyes

But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize

Only be sure always to call it please "research".

 

 

DD

[Guest]

Riffs and chord structures don't come under copyright. Melodies and words do.

[got tinnitus]

 

Michael Jones;126809 wrote:

Riffs and chord structures don't come under copyright. Melodies and words do.

 

Tell that to Men At Work!

[Guest]

It was the melody in the flute part of the song that caused problems for Men At Work, as it was found that the melody was lifted from another song.