Did Led Zepplin rip off all their music?

Wyldgusechaz

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“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”



Can you wait until the end of August? I'm taking a few surfing lessons next month when I hit the west coast, driving from Santa Cruz to Big Sur. I suspect i'll be in the water more than the board but you can give me a few pointers. Or just fish me out of the water when I fall. :redface:

I soooo envy you. If you can, just one day camp on the beach. Find the most secluded spot you can, some wine, go to Monterey, get some take out Italian food on the pier, a little grill to warm it. Find a place where the sea otters are playing in the surf, feeding on abalone. It will take some doing to get out past the breakers if the surf is high, and it usually is that far north, just go out past them and sit on your board and listen. Soft mini waves lapping at your legs, the fragrance of the kelp, the tiny creatures scurry on the kelp fronds, sun setting in the west, far behind you the surf roaring as it crashes against the shore, but the peace of being free for that moment. Don't catch a wave, just sit and listen.

Truly better than sex. You may never be freer in your whole life.
 

50%more

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It sucks for artists who weren't credited if the allegations are true. Clerical error or perhaps greed. Bummer.​



Does it take away from my appreciation of their music. Nope. They made great music.​

Does performing cover songs make you a lightweight?​

Ray Charles did a lot of cover songs.​

Yes, and Van Morrison has covered Ray quite a bit. He mentions him in his lyrics all the time.

"I've got to go home, and listen to Ray sing."

He even does a cover of "I Can't Stop Loving You" on "Hymns To The Silence"

I use to own a live recording from Montrieux where he covers the song "What Would I Do", with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet.
 

drumstyck

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quickest way to make a buck? take some old blues guy's song, have a non-threatening white guy perform it, and sell it to the masses

Sun Records was practically founded using guys like that...originally they recorded R&B from black artists, but realized "hey, lets take these songs & sell them to the white population"...and since obviously white folks couldnt have their kids listenin to that "jungle music" performed by "savages", they just grabbed some polished white guys and said "here, cover this song"

Pat Boone did the most ungodly cover of "Tutti Frutti"...it made me embarrassed to be white when i heard it.

Eric Clapton/Cream was heavily influenced by old blues legends (robert johnson for one)...

Stevie Ray Vaughn, Greg Allman, and George Thorogood have all 'stolen' the Bo Diddley riff in their songs
 

Mr. Snakey

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Everyone takes a riff etc from someone else before them. The zep boys took whole songs from other people and never gave them writting credits. This mess of claims and legal action started over 30 years ago. The problem is more than a riff. Elvis Presly's first big hits were written by Ottis Blackwell. He did get the proper writting credits.
 

snoozan

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Everyone takes a riff etc from someone else before them. The zep boys took whole songs from other people and never gave them writting credits. This mess of claims and legal action started over 30 years ago. The problem is more than a riff. Elvis Presly's first big hits were written by Ottis Blackwell. He did get the proper writting credits.

If you do some research, you'll see that uncut's claims have credence to them. He's right.
 

Mr. Snakey

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If you do some research, you'll see that uncut's claims have credence to them. He's right.
Look at the trouble George Harrison got in For his song ''My sweet Lord''. The writers of a 50's or early 60's song He's so fine" got some big money out of him. I like some of Led Zep's music. To me they were what i call a "'one off band'' meaning if you have one of their records you have them all. Stuff of this nature is sometimes held up in the courts for years because you are talking about some big time money.
 

circumstances

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zeppelin 1 was extremely blues-based and owed a lot to the willie dixon's of the world. zeppelin 2, less so, but still extremely blues-based. zep 3, presence, in through the out door, houses of the holy, physical grafitti, were all far less derivative, and some of the greatest rock music ever written/recorded.

so crank that shit up until your ears bleed.

they said rush was a zeppelin clone band when their first album came out. then neil peart joined, fly by night came out, and wtf did that disparagement go?

bands evolve. if they didn't credit an influence, bad on them. but in the heavy rock realm, zep rules.
 

JeepersJane

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Was LZ just a trumped up cover band? I keep hearing ths.

If so, what a drag.

There is this site called MarksFriggin.com - SternSuperFan.com - Welcome that scrpts the Howard Stern show daily, I don't have Sirius (I own the stock tho and its a complete dog), and Stern apparently played a bunch of songs that were written by others that LZ basically covered and did not credit.

I always have a LZ CD in my car and now I can'r listen to them. I need the truth.

I've never heard anything else about it, so I'm not going to believe Howard Stern of all people. Do you remember the names of the song that they supposedly ripped off?

Actually, there was legal action. The legendary Willie Dixon sued em and won a settlement out of court. The key when covering old blues men is to at least credit them, like the Stones did, when you're ripping them off.

Here's a list of their various degrees of borrowing.

From Wikipedia:

Allegations of plagiarism

When Led Zeppelin's debut album was released, it received generally positive reviews, however John Mendelsohn of Rolling Stone magazine, criticized the band for stealing music, notably "Black Mountain Side" from Bert Jansch's "Black Water Side" and the riff from "Your Time Is Gonna Come" from Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy". He also accused the band of mimicking black artists, and showing off. This marked the beginning of a long rift between the band and the magazine, with Led Zeppelin rejecting later requests for interviews and cover stories as their level of success escalated.[31]
One song from the album, "Dazed and Confused", was a song originally written by Jake Holmes on his album "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes. Jimmy Page decided to rework the song, but for reasons unknown claimed sole credit for the song upon release, with Holmes having never received any royalty payments for their recording.[66] Holmes did not file suit over the song, although he did send the band a letter stating "I understand it's a collaborative effort, but I think you should give me some credit at least and some remunity." His letter was never replied to and he did not follow up on it.[66]
Led Zeppelin II's credits have also been the subject of debate since the album's release. The prelude to "Bring It on Home" is a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bring it on Home" and drew comparisons with Dixon's "Bring It on Back". "Whole Lotta Love" (sample (info)) shared a line with Dixon's "You Need Love/Woman You Need Love". In the 1970s, Arc Music, the publishing arm of Chess Records, brought a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It on Home" and won an out-of-court settlement.[67] Dixon himself did not benefit until he sued Arc Music to recover his royalties and copyrights. Years later, Dixon filed suit against Led Zeppelin over "Whole Lotta Love" and a large out-of-court settlement was reached. Later pressings of Led Zeppelin II credit Dixon.
The opening chord progression and verse in "Stairway to Heaven" are nearly identical to the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the group Spirit.[68][69] Led Zeppelin was the opening act for Spirit's 1968 tour.[70], three years before "Stairway To Heaven" was written, but nobody in Led Zeppelin has ever cited influence for the song from "Taurus".

Zeppelin also allegedly sold their souls to the devil but I'm not sure I'm gonna believe that one. The things listed above seem pretty common to me, lots of bands take ideas and influences from previous work. If we are going to be picky about things like that, then I bet you cnd find thousands of riffs or songs that are completely bit off of led zeppelins work. Taking something someone made and changing it so it becomes your own is not plagarism nor stealing. Its influence.

I also think I read somewhere that some of those things they readily admitted such as dazed and confused. Those songs were inspiration for them. Even the mighty Zep is allowed such a thing right? There really is no musical big bang theory where everthing spawned from, its just evolved.

I think it was Picasso who said "All art is a tribute to previous art". This gets me thinking about the first Cro-magnon man who produced the first cave drawing. What a revolutionary.
Skull Mason, you are 100% correct! Most people don't understand music or art, ESPECIALLY CORPORATE EXECUTIVES. The nit-picking greedy petty gossip and sniping over referenced material is case in point. It's yet another parisitic franchise. Zep is famous for tributing their predecessors. It's what they're all about. The cover of Physical Graffitti is an homage if you look closely. Picasso is right. All art is a tribute to Art of the past. And it should also be authentic and independent. The work stands alone, and it is deeply routed. Others should aspire to those heights rather than jealously picking at the big boys. The song "Tangerine" is a beautiful arrangement and renovation of a folk song. This is indeed called collaboration. Ever heard of the jazz "standard?" Ever heard of Folk music? "Poor Wayfairing Stranger" written by unknown? The Beatles and the Stones, even Elvis, all were applauded for referencing their roots, often directly in their brilliant and innovative hit music. It's not theft, it's called beauty, look into it all ye Corporate Nazis disguised in your blue suits.

Here's a more sane definition about music from Wiki: "Folk music, in the most basic sense of the term, is music by and for the common people.[1] The Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary defines it as "music of the common people that has been passed on by memorization or repetition rather than by writing, and has deep roots in its own culture."[2]
According to Webster's dictionary, folk music is the "traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of the people in a community."

By the way, Rap music is a constant drone of not only direct reference - but the actual tracks of former music. And there are plenty of lawyers running around picking up the scraps behind that trail of bodies. So, why doesn't everybody get a little culture and start enjoying the intrinsic quality of music rather than buying into this fascist Corporate mentality that understands money and profit by way of contention and derivitive market tested formulas - they understand anything and everything but ORIGINALITY. FUCK'm! Rise up folks. Don't buy into it.

Thank you.
 

SpoiledPrincess

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Nothing is new, whether it's music, writing, fashion it's all based on something that came before. Anyway Led Zeppelin are a big pile of shite :)

But Scared Little Boy, Erotic City is such a sleazy song, it fills me with an urge to grind.