Note: This article will respond to John McGlion's “Lock God or Riff Thief?” You can read it here.
On all the plagiarism accusations against Led Zeppelin – many are valid – most of the band's biggest songs are truly original.
“Kashmir.” “10 years have passed.” “In the light.” “Rumble.” “Good time, bad time.” “Heartbreaker.” “What is it, what should it be?” “Black dog. “Rock and roll.” “Celebration Day.” “The song remains the same.” “Songs of the rain.” “No quarter.” “Dance Days.” “On the hill and far.” “Songs of the immigrants. ” “Sea.” “Stomped under my feet.” “Achilles' final stand.” “In the evening.” “Don't fool in the rain.” Lots.
Did you borrow Spirit from Davy Graham for “Taurus”? As Pages and Plants testified, memories of the time tend to be a little vague.
What's more, what they nicked is mostly far better than the original. That's too bad because the band may have relied on their obvious skills and creativity a little more and avoided the lion's share of plagiarism provocation.
why? who knows. Record company pressure, deadline. That's an old story. Additionally, they paid it in a lawsuit filed by several of the original artists.
Created by a YouTuber A three-part series A detailed look into these plagiarisms makes them quite eye-opening.
Is the band guilty? Most of the time, I say yes. But as mentioned before, it only emphasizes how much it is to hear LED Zeppelin bend consecutively on the original recording. Better The Zeppelin version is mostly the case. It speaks to the band's enduring talent and the ability to create musical magic both in the studio and in the stage.
Furthermore, some plagiarism accusations against Zeppelin are rather subtle.
For example, when the band recorded “Whole Lotta Love,” the music was so original that singer Robert Plant was negligent just to lift up the lyrics to Wille Dixon's “Need Love.” The group's Jimmy Page guitarist and elder politician would have known that the words of this future global hit had been plagiarized, but apparently did not intervene.
However, Dixon sued Zeppelin in 1985, but this was not the first time Dixon's “You Need to Love” had been copied. Long before Zeppelin left his sophomore album to tape, Small Faces (and singer Steve Marriott) recorded “You Need to Love” – the blatant Willie Dixon “You Need to Love”.
Not only that, but the cursor listens A small face version Plant reveals that he copied Marriott's vocal streaming for “Whole Lotta Love.” However, Dixon did not plead a small face. He sued Zeppelin, despite being not the first criminal. I think you can understand that, as Zeppelin had a much deeper pocket.
And the final word on “Stairway to Heaven” – by the way, the 2016 court decision (Supported in 2020) The governed Led Zeppelin was not plagiarized.
Like “All Love,” Zeppelin is not the only culprit. How many music fans out there know that British guitarist Davy Graham wrote songs before both “Stairway to Heaven” and “Taurus”? “cry me a river” – A song that includes a similar descending acoustic guitar appearance?
Did you borrow Spirit from Davy Graham for “Taurus”? As Pages and Plants testified, memories of the time tend to be a little vague.
Finally, consider the “evidence” edited by Dutch TV shows How popular is the main riff? “Stairway to Heaven” has been involved in popular music for many years.
You are a judge.
