Did Led Zeppelin steal the majority of their first album from other sources?
Over the years Led Zeppelin has been accused of borrowing music and lyrics from other artists, especially some of the greatest blues legends of all time.
Led Zeppelin has been taken to court over the matter on numerous occasions. Several of the cases are yet to be resolved.
It’s hardly some new exposition that we haven’t heard for the last 30 years.
Ethically, Plante, Page and the boys made some bad decisions in not properly crediting their influences.
Calling them nothing more than a glorified cover band is BS. The fact that they borrowed from and updated old blues tracks doesn’t mean that their creations were unoriginal. Listen to Howling Wolf’s original Killing Floor and Zepp’s Lemon Song and the similarities are obvious, but it’s not a straightforward cover of the track at all. The Rolling Stones, Cream, and The Yardbirds all did the same thing back in the day.
Bob Dylan’s Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat was a direct rip of an old Lightnin’ Hopkins track, but nobody bashed him for it.
Apart from not giving credit where credit was due, Zeppelin haven’t done anything different than most bands in the history of rock and roll.
If you ask me, it’s Wolfmother who’s the glorified cover band.
Just my opinion.
Folks have been doing this for years, from Lester Bangs to Homer Simpson,
and everywhere in between. I’ve simply stopped listening, and when
confronted by people who think they know something, I tend to respond with
something to the effect of, “If ’s version was so
great, why didn’t he sell 300 million records and become a household name?”
The truth is that Led Zeppelin, to use a kind term, elaborated on a timeless
theme that every other blues artist was working with for ages. John Lee
Hooker says, “The blues began with the first man and the first woman, and
been trouble and heartbreak ever since,” and anyone who’s playing the blues
is just barking up that same tree. Any blues artist will tell you that
nobody really knows who started the blues - the earliest recordings of
Leadbelly from the notorious Angola prison in Louisiana, the scratchy,
primitive recordings left by Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Robert Jr.
Lockwood, Son House, Sonny Boy Williamson… all those songs can be found
on blues recordings of all generations, as they were cut and recut by
everyone from Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, Albert King, BB
King (they’re not related, BTW,) from the 40s and 50s all the way to today,
where artists such as Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Jon Spencer (who
recorded with the Hook,) Keb Mo, and plenty others keep a traditional,
technically-limited genre alive by cutting the same tracks with a different
feel, just as they were re-worked and re-played by Robert Johnson and
Leadbelly from versions they had heard from unknown traveling bluesmen in
their rural Mississippi Delta childhoods.
My opinion, and the seemingly overwhelming opinion of the blues-informed
community is that Robert Johnson would be the first one to tell you that he
didn’t write Travelling Riverside Blues, he was just the first to record it.
And he would quickly add that recording it first didn’t make the song his,
just that particular rendition, not unlike Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan
sharing “All Along The Watchtower,” to the point that Dylan strongly
preferred Hendrix’ version and after seeing Jimi live, never perfomed his
own again, but always did it in Hendrix’ style. The idea of “ownership” of
a song is anathema to the blues - one can no more claim ownership of a blues
song than ownership of an emotion, and the blues is an emotion that we all
share from time to time, just as blues artists share the music.
That’s the beauty of the blues - even though it’s a strictly-defined style
that necessarily makes all its practitioners sound similar, nobody can
really own it, or master it, or make it their own, for more than a few
sparkling moments. And Led Zeppelin, as a group, had more of those moments
than any other. That’s why they’re remembered so fondly today by people who
referred to them as ripoffs and hype-monsters in their own time. Time
strips away all the folderol and makes obvious the Truth, nowhere more so
than the blues. And so the band that was derided as music for the
slack-jawed masses has become the choice of intellectual, musically-educated
audiophiles everywhere.
The reason that Led Zeppelin is the most revered and popular band in the history of rock is because they took their influences and created a completely new and original body of astonishingly original music that puts to shame almost all of their peers. Yes, they should have credited some of the old blues men for some borrowed lyrics, but you can’t ignore the fact that Zeppelin created far more exciting and complex and varied music than any of the sources that inspired them. Zep gets an unfair rap in this area primarily because their enduring enormous popularity irks some small minded folks. We would not be talking about this had Zeppelin not created brilliant music that people still seek out and intensely love, to this day. All that matters at the end of the day is the quality of the music, and there is still none better than Led Zeppelin. Not even close.
“Borrowed some lyrics”??? Did you listen to the audio grab above? This isn’t a case of merely borrowing lyrics… this is a blatant note-for-note rip-off of songs they credited themselves as writing.
You are ignoring the vast majority of Led Zeppelin’s music. You heard a few carefully chosen early examples. Are you familiar with all of Zeppelin’s recorded output? I am. And I can tell you that 95% of Led Zeppelin’s music is totally unique and unprecedented. None of this bluesploitation talk is new. People have tried to tarnish the bulk of Zep’s brilliant original music for years by citing these same early examples. You cannot accomplish what Led Zeppelin have in the world of music unless the vast majority of your music is original and creatively inspiring. I can list over 50 incredible songs that are totally unique to Led Zeppelin. Crap on them all you like, they remain the most popular and revered band in rock history. That is not possible without spectacular creative ability and genius music.
No, I am talking about the entire first album bar one song.
I’m not crapping on them. (In fact, I love em!) but my respect for them has diminished somewhat.
The mistake that they made was to not credit the sources on the first album. They publicly made no secret of the artists that they loved and were inspired by. I suspect, just a guess here, that it had something to do with Peter Grant, the imposing and experienced music biz man, as was mentioned on the tape. I understand your point and am not blind to Zep’s sins of omission. This is a subject that I have researched and am very familiar with. My core point would be this, because Zep lifted some early lyrics or even original songs that they reinterpreted and didn’t properly credit, that does not diminish the vast bulk of their artistic output which is nothing short of revolutionary brilliance in the world of rock music.
I agree with you on the brilliance of Zeppelin, but when you hear the examples provided in the audio file… you gotta wonder. I mean, a note-for-note rip-off of one of their ‘finest moments’ in ‘Stairway To Heaven’ - a track synonymous with Zeppelin - does leave a bitter taste in one’s mouth. In fact, it is quite disappointing that a band of such stature and influence - are musical thieves.
Anyway, I came from the Black Sabbath school-of-rock, but I always appreciated the Zeps. Just not as much anymore. Sad day.
They are a cover band, get over it , I love classic rock and Led Zeppelin but the facts are all there , accept it and move on.
I love how the defenders use words such as “mistake” and “omission”, letting emotions cloud your judgement. Taking lyrics and music is not “being influenced” by another band or artist. It’s a whole album full of stolen music.
It is my judgement that Led Zeppelin should have credited sources on their first album. It’s my judgement that they turned that music into something infinitely better and more exciting than most of what inspired it. It’s also my judgement that the vast majority of Zeppelin’s catalogue consists of breathtakingly original, varied and stellar music. I have interviews from 1969 in which Page states that he likes Joan Baez’s version of Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, but prefers Anne Briggs’ version. As I said before, the problem with the first album was not crediting the sources of the songs. What Zep did with those songs was create an album of incredible power, using revolutionary studio recording techniques, that still put to shame nearly anything made today. But then what happened? Did Zeppelin just limp along for years recording cover music? No, they created one masterpiece after another for nearly a decade. If you want to call them pigs for not properly crediting some of the early work, that’s fine, but to condemn their entire body of groundbreaking and magnificent music because you didn’t like their behaviour? Well, who’s judgement is clouded? Just as an aside, I’m not someone that knows next to nothing about music and has myopic Zeppelin vision. I’m in my late 30’s and I really enjoy quite a variety of music. I have found that the more good music I discover, the more I appreciate Led Zeppelin’s brilliance.
wow, i really don’t know what to say… i had no idea that led zep are guilty of this kind of behaviour!
however, it won’t stop me from listening to them and loving their work (even if it is someone else’s uncredited work).
this is pretty ridiculous…who didnt know that they didnt write these songs? and who cares…they had the most talent of ne band…howard stern can do nothing but talk? hmmmm
As both a Howard fan and a Zep devotee I must say that I am very disappointed — in Howard. Any fan of Zep knows the history. I don’t think Zeppelin is still adored today because of the “original” lyrics. It is what they did with the tools they had that made them amazing. They took raw blues and with Plant’s high vocals, Page’s production/guitar, Bonham’s blistering drums, and Jones’ unwavering bass transformed it into a new genre. Attempting to discredit them with old news is laughable.
This is a nice coincidence for me. I just started this blog a few weeks ago that compares well known pop songs’ similarities: http://www.thatsongsoundslike.com
Doing a ‘version’ of someone else’s song is fine. Not crediting them and not paying the proper royalties is disgusting and immoral. Zepp has made hundreds of millions of dollars off of iconic songs from their first two albums including the oft-voted ‘Greatest Rock Song Ever’ Stairway to Heaven. Never once did Plant or Page say it wasn’t their song. They stood around for 30 years taking credit and money for someone else’s work. Shame. Any musician who defends such actions is insane. Songwriting credits matter. Page and Plant should be ashamed.
Glad someone gets it. Well said Ken.
I am a HUGE Zep fan; grew up listening to them & still listen today. Even though I know all their music verbatim, I didn’t “know” their history with regard to the blatent plagerisms - or other bands from that era either, for that matter. Clearly, Zeppelin has made the music they plagerized much more tollerable, but at the same time in the legal and ethical arenas, credit must be given to where credit is due.
As for the comment previously made about “selected tracks from the earlier 2 albums”; All I can say is that the greatest Classic Rock song of all time (repeatedly, year after year #1 on countdown after countdown) is NOT from either of the first two or even three of Zep’s albums.
Having said that - Zep still rocks after all these years. Their music is timeless - very much nunlike the music they stole. Other than for comparitive purposes, I wouldn’t want to listen to anything other than Zep’s version of the music.
damn, thanks for the info…
I just blogged this, Led Zepp has been influential throughout the world… what a shocker.
No worries I accredited you and Howard Stern btw heh
I don’t know how anyone can say Stairway is an exact replica of the Taurus song. There’s an obvious similar chord progression on the main guitar part, but Page adds his own elements to make it sufficiently different and much better, in my opin. Further, what makes Stairway so great is the flute part and the subtle keyboards (Thank you John Paul Jones - one of the most underappreciated musicians in rock history) not to mention Rober Plant’s lyrics. Howard Stern is simply trying to create some controversy like he always does. It’s clear in the fact he tries to sell his show by posing a question with a false premise “Did Led Zeppelin steal the majority of it’s work?” No one - not even the so-called experts - is claiming the majority of the band’s work was stolen, only most of the first album and a handful of other songs. Regardless of what you believe, it’s clear the vast majority of their songs are above any cloud of suspicion and even if you remove every suspicious song their catalogue stands as one of rock’s greatest.
Come on Bonzo. You cannot be serious re: ‘Stairway To Heaven’. Sure the musicianship is astounding… but without the original Taurus song… there simply would not be ANY ‘Stairway To Heaven’.
Unfortunately it isn’t Howard Stern who has created this controversy - it is Led Zeppelin themselves who have put a blight on their career. Shame.
I see a pattern here: It disturbs me so much to have heroes fall, yet it’s inevitable because every hero is human. To me, Led Zeppelin fucked up by not crediting their sources, but they also created incredible work. The hard part seems to be accepting that someone or something can be both truly great and deeply flawed. Holding two contradictory ideas in the mind at the same time is always a challenge. It can feel like a let down when what I admire suddenly loses its purity–like “What’s the point of admiring it if it’s so tarnished?” I’m forced to find satisfaction not in polished perfection but in the all too human struggle for greatness.
While some of the comparisons have merit, Communication Breakdown has nothing in common with Nervous Breakdown except the name.
I will always like Led Zeppelin but this does put a damper on things. I do not care if they covered songs. What I do care about is that they should of at least credited these people for using them. That’s the whole point, regardless if the originals sold one copy or 300 million does not matter. You can’t deny that there music is awesome and will always be. You just don’t take someones idea and make your own without giving them there due. That’s just plain wrong. Great musicians…horrible businessmen!
The people who try to make excuses for what Zeppelin did make me laugh.
Hendrix did a completely different version of All Along the Watchtower so different that Dylan told him that he could claim the song for his own. Hendrix “CREDITED” Dylan right from the get go.
Wake up and understand that if it wasn’t for those poor old black blues artists there would be no rock and roll and there would be no Led Zeppelin. Unfortunately, most of those blues artists are dead now and will never see 1 penny of any royalties.
Black, White, Yellow it doesn’t matter. You cannot take someones song and claim it as your own no matter how much you tweak it and claim to make it better. It’s just wrong on so many levels.
All bullshit aside back in those days if you were a famous white rock and roll band you could rip off anybody no matter what color they were.
I’m with cmack. This “controversy” is ancient history even Howard Stern (cheap shock meister that he is) should be ashamed of spewing. People who insist Zeppelin are diminished as artists becuase they “stole” music are the ones caught up in emotion, the worst kind, holier-than-thou. If you could steal the blues, Eric Clapton should be incarcerated, and Willie Dixon is burning in hell. Did Zeppelin take (and improve on) some lyrics and chord progessions and musical themes long in existence? Why, yes they did. So did most of the blues artists and rockers in history. Had the originators of the blues not been an horrifically oppressed people, no doubt we’d all feel much less uneasy about white folks making millions off the evolution of that music. OTOH, I would not know who Robert Johnson was if not for Robert Plant. Of course, all who profited from those roots should pay the original artists their due. Zeppelin did that by playing great music from many sources at hundreds of performances for more than a decade… something the small minded consistently, conveniently overlook. Roughly 10% of thier music has long since been officially credited to other people, and the remaining 90% leaves them, far and away, the most original and innovative band in history. Doesn’t it make you wonder how, as Kyle says, “the greatest Classic Rock song of all time (repeatedly, year after year #1 on countdown after countdown)” has somehow escaped the lawyers’ attention? Basically, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page are guilty of having excellent musical taste. They tried to get away with what others before them had always gotten away with, but that train had left the station and they were caught out. If they weren’t so successful, no one would care, and they’ve been borrowed from for 35 years in their turn, so all’s right with the world…
Cat, they’ve been exposed as frauds. Accept it.
Skillful plagiarism in music a true art in itself. Everybody has done it. I mean EVERYBODY! If you look back on the catalogues of those “original” artists claiming to be ripped off you will find plenty of exampled of borrowed or stolen lyrics, licks if not outright entire songs. Once in a while a truly inspired song is written and then it is borrowed, sampled, reworked and rewritten over and over again. That’s the music biz. It’s true, Zep pretty much copied those first songs note for note, it was not cool for them to not credit the songwriters. Probably a combination of financial and musical credibility (they were just getting started) reasons. Nobody would have cared if they hadn’t gone on to be gazillionaires, but now people want a piece of the pie, and they should be compensated. They have gone on to make a lot of great original music, though you can still find examples of “borrowing” they pretty much stopped the note for note copping they did in the first record. How can anyone say that Stairway to Heaven was a “rip off” of the old Spirit song “Taurus”, sure the opening chord progression is similar but after that “Stairway” is a completely original song. I even read an interview with the original writer of “Taurus” that he didn’t consider “Stairway” to be a ripoff of his song. He probably knew he’d done plenty of the same kind of borrowing in his own music.
Cat, very well stated and right on the money. Ditto GM. The good news for the vast multitude of Zep fans is that none of this talk is new. Zeppelin have been subjected to blistering criticism from the beginning. What’s been the net result? They have created the most ORIGINAL, powerful, influential, enduring, and best selling body of composition in the history of rock music, and their only serious rivals for greatest rock band of all time are The Beatles. I highly recommend the writing of Charles M. (hit man) Young on this subject concerning Zeppelin. Never one to mince words, he puts this argument in historical perspective and gives Zeppelin their due as the unprecedented brilliant innovations that they certainly are.
No one’s arguing that Page didn’t credit other songwriters enough, we’re saying it’s been exaggerated way out of proportion. You come on here acting like you’re spreading shocking news, but all you’re doing is repeating what Zeppelin fans have been hearing for years. Yes, the band borrowed lyrics and titles from old blues artists (who stole from other ones before them) but the music was almost completely original. You make it sound like the originals were hidden gems and all Zeppelin did was come along, re-record them under the name Led Zeppelin and reap the rewards. I agree that people should listen to the originals, they’ll realize why everyone loves the Zeppelin versions and no one cares for the originals.
I don’t think it has been exaggerated enough to be perfectly honest. And the fact that people are appalled by this fiasco has forced the record company to now fully credit the original writers of these songs. Hearing this expose for myself too, makes me see Zep in a very, very different light. They’ve tainted their legend… big time!
Well, at least you acknowledge it’s been exaggerated. Considering how obsessed you obviously are to discredit Zeppelin, why don’t you try to name the songs where they actually stole lyrics and music without crediting the originals? Dazed and Confused, the beginning of Bring it on Home, the chorus of Nobody’s Fault But Mine are the only ones that come to mind. The rest are only a couple of titles, some old blues lyrics and the very odd time some old music they lifted from. They released 85 songs in their career, the fact you can point to the odd similarity, mostly on their first album hardly consitutes a fraud.
If it ‘hardly constitutes as a fraud’ then why do new pressings of the albums now contain the rightful credits?
Listen to the MP3 provided… hardly an ‘odd similarity’.
Still, for the hard-of-reading I will state it again… I’m still a fan of the band. They are one of the classic rock acts of all time. I just view them without rose-colored glasses these days.
Considering it’s only a few songs they changed the credits on, it proves my point the other ones are not that similar. I listened to the MP3, considering how much of a case he thought he had, it’s interesting he was only able to use 1 example that wasn’t from the first album. And for the hard of hearing, I’ll state it again…name me songs where Zeppelin covered the lyrics and music without giving credit. Your failure to do so will prove you’re the fraud.
Clutching mightily hard at those straws now…
So we can excuse the mighty Led Zep ‘cos it was their ‘first album’?
C’mon Rick.
So it is perfectly allowable to rip off other artists as long as it is only the lyrics or the music but not the two?
C’mon Rick.
And how am I a ‘fraud’? I included this post on my blog as I found it a compelling expose into a band I have been listening to for years and years.
I value your opinion and if you consider me a ‘fraud’ then fine.
At least, I don’t owe any royalties to anyone hey?
As I originally wrote, “No one’s arguing that Page didn’t credit other songwriters enough, we’re saying it’s been exaggerated way out of proportion.” No one’s making excuses, but the band’s legacy shouldn’t be discredited because their first album didn’t credit enough artists for what was mostly the lyrics. No, stealing the odd lyric or title without credit is not acceptable, but it doesn’t make it a direct rip off of someone else’s song either. A good example is comparing Communication Breakdown to Nervous Breakdown. Just because the lyric is “Having a Nervous Breakdown” they call the Zeppelin song an uncredited rip off. Anyway, out of 85 songs Zeppelin released here’s my list of completely original ones:
Good Times Bad Times
Your Time is Gonna Come
What Is And What Should Never Be
Thank You
Heartbreaker
Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
Ramble On
Immigrant Song
Friends
Celebration Day
Out On The Tiles
Tangerine
That’s The Way
Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp
Black Dog
Rock And Roll
The Battle Of Evermore
Misty Mountain Hop
Four Sticks
Going To California
The Song Remains The Same
The Rain Song
Over The Hills And Far Away
The Crunge
Dancing Days
D’yer Mak’er
No Quarter
The Ocean
The Rover
Houses Of The Holy
Kashmir
In The Light
Bron-Y-Aur
Ten Years Gone
Night Flight
The Wanton Song
Black Country Woman
Sick Again
Achilles Last Stand
For Your Life
Royal Orleans
Tea For One
In The Evening
South Bound Saurez
Fool In The Rain
Hot Dog
Carouselambra
All Of My Love
I’m Gonna Crawl
Walter’s Walk
Ozone Baby
Darlene
Bonzo’s Montreux
Wearing And Tearing
Baby Come On Home
Yes, it would be a better list with Stairway to Heaven and Whole Lotta Love, etc. but even without them the band has one of the strongest catalogs in recorded history.
No doubt Rick. They are one of the greatest of all time. Their legacy and musicianship is the stuff of legend. But unfortunately, they have tainted their reputation somewhat.
The guy who puts this shite out is this creep Denny Slomach. Anyone that knows music and can play elementary E A D chords knows that there are about 100000 songs with that progression…does that mean that everyone of those songs are stolen? Denny is a loser of epic proportions…he is supposedly this Beatles expert? How original? There are so many guys out there that hold themselves out as Beatles experts. He never added a single thing that anyone doesn’t know about the beatles, and then he has the nerve to criticize Zeppelin?
Oh please!
you deff have to hear it, its werid in a way im still not sure what to think…some of the stuff seem like setting up such as they did change it enuff to be like its ours, but you have to keep in mind that this was the 70’s not as much to hear as today and also times were diff back then.
man, fuck it.
its still great to listen to.
fuck those guys calling the greatest band pigs fuck that slut she can go screw cause original or not still the greatest
dazed and confused was from the yardbirds too jackasses
This is all pretty ridiculous and way over the top. How many bands and artists stole and copied Led Zeppelin without Zep caring a damn? I mean, John Bonham’s drumming is EVERYWHERE in music from rock to rap to dance but is anybody whingeing about that??? I don’t see the difference between stealing a lyric and stealing a piece of drumming. Whole bands made entire careers out of copying Led Zeppelin.
Since music began, everybody stole off somebody else. I’m sure if we go back to those old blues songs in question we’ll find that some of those guys probably stole or borrowed from somebody else, without crediting the source.
More importantly, it IS completely relevant to mention the major song’s they are accused of stealing were all during Zep’s first year together. They didn’t exactly have much time to sit down and write all new material before they cranked out a new album and fulfilled contractual obligations with a tour. They were then constantly touring for over a year with almost no break. Had Zeppelin been like other bands and had a period of consolidation and song writing before they made their first album and hit the road touring then it would have been very different. Even so, Zeppelin did manage to come up with an album’s worth of all new material split over the first album and second album. We could make an excellent 8 track all original album between the songs on LZ 1 and 2. With more time to write I’m sure they wouldn’t have relied on those old blues numbers to get them going.
Led Zeppelin met and formed in August ‘68 and just 3 weeks later they were on tour in Scandinavia and as soon as they came back from that they went into the studio to record their first album. All this within a few WEEKS of meeting. It’s no wonder they didn’t have much time to come up with all original material for their first album.
I might add as well that those old blues steals are the least favourite Zep songs of mine. They did far better as they evolved and matured.
Give me Kashmir, Ten Years Gone, That’s The Way, Misty Mountain Hop, Over The Hills, The Ocean etc etc over I can’t Quit You any day of the week.
Perhaps the most ridiculous assertion here is that Zep’s Communication Breakdown was a ripoff of the Eddie Cochran song Nervous Breakdown. Apart from the word ‘breakdown’, there’s nothing identical at all, and nothing even similar.
Madness. Sheer bloody madness.
Why should you or I care if they they used some lyrics & music from what could be discriped some of the most primitive recording of that time. The finished product that Zep presented of these recording were so far ahead of any thing at that time. If you would ask the original artist they would give credit to Zep for putting that music in a forum which they never could have achieved. I could care less who was the original artist. All I know is Zep’s voice’s, instruments and mixing of the music is what makes them unique and the most popular pure rock band of all times. It should be noted that we all have incountered those who hate Zep for what ever reason during thier hayday and this is just more of the same from those few. You and I both know they did it better than the rest. You can call it cover if you want, but you can’t take away what they accomplised and they shall live on.
OK, OK enough. I’ve been a Zep fan for a long time and it is because of their incendiary style and bombast. Nothing under the sun is original and anyone can say a 300 year old song is a “traditional arrangement”.
One thing to keep in mind is that even through the third album, according to “Hammer of the Gods”, the band was hardly breaking even. You’ve got to keep in mind that the music biz was different in the late 60’s and 70’s. These guys weren’t born rich. And it was through hard work, incredible stage presence and determination that they rose to the top. And Peter Grant’s strong arm tactics which transformed modern rock business from Promoters 90%/Artists 10% to the other way around.
Also, back in the day, if they would have credited the songs to the original artists, it isn’t bloody likely they would have seen the money. Ask Little Richard how much he made off of his classics…zero.
Additionally: Willie Dixon and I believe the estate of Muddy Waters took them to court and received hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So, turn it up loud and don’t feel too guilty. The cream rises to the top!
Led Zep..Thieves. Suck ass motherfuckers that smell like shite. Sound good playing other artists material. Lots of peeps can do that. They deserve no respect! You blind Led Zep lovers need to take your heads out of your arses and wake the fuck up.
No one’s defending Zep blindly. Unlike your laughable attempt to smear the band, we’ve made a point to show that while there is the odd legitimate case where proper credit wasn’t given, Zeppelin’s music was almost completely original. I posted a list of approximately 70 songs which were original. If you’re capable of making a coherent argument instead of just your juvenile swearing post a response. I doubt we’ll be hearing from you.
Meh, in this age of stealing (who thinks Howard Stern and his people on that show haven’t illegally downloaded music?), I really couldn’t give a rat’s ass. The Beatles, widely credited as the best band ever, ripped off the likes of Chuck Berry, etc. for much of their early music. Here’s the most important fact in all of this: Zeppelin “stole” those ideas and then played them BETTER than the blues folks from before. And as others have mentioned, the blues and folk have always been evolutionary genres. Many of the supposed “innocent” old blues men stole the songs to begin with from even older blues men!!!! Among Zeppelin’s contemporaries, Eric Clapton stole more blues stuff than Zeppelin ever thought about stealing, yet he doesn’t get criticized for it. At any rate, the fact remains that Zeppelin is one of the most talented bands ever and I’ll take their “stolen” versions of the songs on Led Zeppelin I and II over all the old versions. Joan Baez’s version of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” quite frankly SUCKS. She’s not a bad artist, but on that song she SUCKS compared to Zeppelin’s version.
this whole thing is a joke.. i completely agree with the one guy up there who stated they were only together for a mere month when they wrote the album.. they only KNEW eachother for such a short time.. how could they possibly make an album that quickly with a ton of original stuff .. I GUARANTEE you if they had more time and knew eachother longer the music wouldnt have had so many bad credits.. and there were 3 original songs on that album and black mountain side page ripped off since he didnt credit it as trad.. but their covers still had original elements.. and for people who wanna bring down zeppelin and base their first album on the accusations.. go ahead .. they still have the best catalogue ever made in a career span.. and ill take their covers any day.. everyone covered songs beatles covered a ton in their early days and they are revered as the best .. they are amazing and one of my fav. bands but its not fair zeppelin takes this rap. the only thing they didnt do was credit correctly..it was stupid on their part but i think atlantic and peter grant had something to do with that.. and stairway is original .. yes according to tabs i see stairway shares the same progression as taurus but stairway is speeded up and in a quite different tuning and has flute and live keyboard and those parts arent the same tab..but I went on a website and a guy listed songs that stairway was “ripped” off from and he stated songs that sound more like taurus than stairway!! the guy even said it.. the one song was Johnny Rivers”summer rain”, and theres an accoustic thing on youtube by davy graham which has the same progression.. its such a common progression you cant really say jimmy page stole it because its been used quite alot in the past and will continue tobe.. the chord prog. is virtually the same but there are songs that taurus is similar too. its a joke all this hatred on the GODS of rock n’ roll!
This is correct about timing of the band being formed. Led Zep formed quickly in the beginning as the New Yardbirds. Page gained the rights to the Yardbirds, and when they broke up, the Yardbirds owned gigs already scheduled in Europe (Belguim and Amsterdam dates come to mind). Much of the first record was from material Page worked on as a session musician.
They should have given credit, but remember in 1968/9 copyright infringement didn’t really exist, nor did the resources to investigate who these songs belonged to. I doubt they are the first artist to run into this issue. A lot of the credits have been restored in later years.
Some of the examples in this session are obvious, others are pretty thin. Glad to see this guy has nothing better to do.
i think the people that think that led zeppelin is a big cover band, then you are a dumbshit because every song that zeppelin created they made it there song and nobody else played like they did. So to people that think led zeppelin is a cover band, i hate you and i hope you get ass raped
howard stern,your opinion doesn;t matter!
Plain and simple.
That era is dead, they had a wonderful ride and only crapped out the mothershit garbage to pay for the 80 million dollar law suites.(OH THEY SOLD THE RIGHTS TO THE STOLEN SONGS THE SECOND THE OTHER ARTIST ASKED FOR THE MONEY) “PUSSYS”
If you had a band that worked hard to compose, arrange, and play YOUR songs, having another band snatch it up and claim it would floor you. LZ was a great band. lets face it if they pulled that ripe off crap today They would be paying out the Ass. “napster”
what would happen if I downloaded a song from say led zepplin and changed it from kashmir to cashmer do you think led craplin would bitch.
lets face it they are OVER THE HILL AND FAR AWAY
live in the now and let go of all those great acid trips.
Well, the whole exciting thing about blues is that everything is just shared between artists, like emotions. I don’t think it was a cold blooded thing; more it was just getting carried away by that idea. A lot of blues songs would have been lost if artists had been too scared to record (Robert Johnson) them because they couldn’t find the original artist. I mean, when I bought my first Howlin’ Wolf album i was petrified because most of the songs appeared to not be written by him ( I later found out that Burneet, which appeared on a lot of the credits, was Wolf’s real last name, but still, many were by others.) Anyway, I love you. Eat my fat hairy cunt. Good riddence.
Oh yeah, Black Waterside is a traditional song, not by Bert Jancsh. Eat black fudd. Go my pedo-children, do.
As, I think, Shostakovich said “Good artists borrow; great artists steal.” Anyway Davey Graham had a song “Cry Me A River” with similar intro for Stairway To Heaven. And The Beatles did steal; listen to Answer Me, My Love by Nat King Cole - “(You were mine) Yesterday I believed that love was here to stay Wont you tell me where Ive gone astray?” - it sounds a lot like “Yesterday.” Touch my left nipple and succulently scandalise it, then love a nun.
TOTALLY RIDICULOUS TO EXPECT FANS TO ACCEPT THIS AS LED ZEPPELIN. THE SOUND CAN NOT BE RECREATED AT THIS STAGE IN THEIR LIVES. TO HEAR THE SAME OLD CRAP LIKE PLANT AND PAGE TOUR IS NOT WHAT I WOULD CALL INSPIRING…..JUST LIKE HOWARD SAID….GLORIFIED COVER BAND ……………ROYALTYS ARE NOT COMING IN AS FAST AS THEY USED TO…..I HEARD MOTHERSHIP IS A COMPLETE RIPOFF….THANKS BUT NO THANKS……PLANTS VOICE IS HIDEOUS……
Yeah, I heard a long time ago about the whole Led Zeppelin “stealing” thing. As a musician myself it amuses me to no end. The truth is, every rock band in history steals from other rock and blues artists of the past. Rock music comprises very few chords, 99% of which are major, minor and sevenths, and even then there are only so many combinations of those chords, the most likely of which is the 12 bar blues progression. (YAWN) If you can play the A maj and D maj chords, and suffer through learning the E maj chord while you’re at it, you can play almost every song on the Stones’ Some Girls album.
This is nothing new. Nothing. Even at the release time of that first Led Zep album they were being accused of “butchering the blues” and ripping off from blues artists. In an interview in the 70s Page himself repeated a comment made by Picasso and T.S. Eliot, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” He was fully acknowledging the essence of his craft. In music, as in every other art form, you don’t make up new sounds or colors, you rearrrange the existing sounds and colors.
So big man Howard Stern disses Led Zep. He makes his money dissing other people… kind of a bitter way to make a living. Maybe Howie should consider doing a bit on all these crappy rap artists soon. At least Led Zeppelin actually play their own instruments. The rap artists just steal samples from other musicians (click a few buttons) then talk tough over the music - sorry, they rap - and walk around on stage like assholes with attitude. Most probably don’t even do that much. They just thell their engineers to steal the samples for them while they’re off at the club posing, getting “inspiration”, then go back to the recording studio with their entourage and pick up a mic and spew out some high school poetry. And that is music?
Good lord I pity this younger generation. They are so deprived musically and most of them don’t even know the half of it.
In the end, it’s not what you play, IT’S HOW YOU PLAY IT. If you steal another musician’s ideas and it still sounds like crap, no on is going to listen to you. Led Zeppelin is the best hard rock band in history. No one can take that away from them.
All but one song on the release in question (Led Zep 1)was blatantly stolen from other artists!!Taking credit for anothers art is a low and vile act. I haven’t a problem with an artist who borrows/shares a riff or progression (and credits if applicable) but lyrically and musically, to take an entire work and claim it as your own and profit from the same is unforgiveable.I used to like Led Zep but when I heard this, every ounce of respect I had vaporized. I find it hard to believe that there are so many who defend the actions of the band. They aren’t defendable. I’m also blown away that this hasn’t been more publicly displayed/discussed. I’ve not seen any mention in Rolling Stone or any other publication for that matter. Has anyone else?
For the hardcore fans of Led Zep, I feel your shame.I’d be very embarrassed.GRIN
LOL @ JoBo You completely dismiss the band’s entire legacy because their first album was partially stolen? Leave out the “stolen songs” and Zeppelin still has more great music than just about any band in history. With the exception of Dazed and Confused Zeppelin never “lyrically and musically” took an entire work and claimed it as their own.
Time and Time again people slag Led Zeppelin, just like you. Do you ever get tired of it.
They were and still are the greatest rock group this world will ever see, if you are not a fan then you simply do not know. I would ask that you don t print this on the internet, you are quite entitled to your opinion, but please keep it to yourself, they are extremely loved and respect by fans everywhere. Their recent come back proved that.
If you don t like then or think in any way that they copied their songs then thats your opinion, but I can assure their influences, were very much their own, The influences came from Castles, Legends, Myths, and magic, from times gone by, from their surroundings, many that were the welsh countryside, the hippy ways, and most of all the 1970 s, it had nothing to do with copying other songs.
Thanks you, Led Zeppelin Expert.
LED ZEPPELIN THE BEST
Jimmy , Bonzo , Plant And Jones , Peaple loves you.
THANKS FOR THE MUSIC , FOR THE EMOTION , FOR THE SOUND TRACK LIFE
For the songs they blatently covered they showed there immence skill at the art of “anything you can do I can do better.” The fact they didn’t attribute both credit and royalties to the original artists makes them assholes at best, criminals at worst. That’s a fact. For the work that is original it paled in comparison to the work they ripped off. Another fact, based on the almighty dollar. Cheers to guys like the late Jim Morrison and the Hip’s Gord Downey for not taking all the credit - which means a ton of royalties - and glory for the success of two great bands. And wouldn’t you know the Doors and Hip are pretty good covering other artists titles in there own right. That said I do lovelsitening to Zepp.
ok-the zeps shoulda gave credit. but does anyone think leadbelly wrote all the songs he sang? not to mention most other blues singers who ever performed. read uop on it people. half the stuff they sang were old (sometimes decades old) standards they heard growing up. no different than the grateful dead who put their own unique stamp on many old standards and yet had one of if not THE largest catalog of original material in rock history. btw i consider zep ONE OF the greatest rock bands of all time, the grateful dead being the greatest in my opinion, and black sabbath in the top three as well. i say just enjoy the music and let the musicians deal with their influences when they meet them in the beyond.
rick,
looking through your list of zeppelin original songs, i didn’t see: down by the seaside, or in my dying time?
Why do people still insist on trying to put down Led Zeppelin?
So what, they took some lesser known blues songs, and tweaked them and made them more marketable, I do think that it was wrong for them not to give credit where credit was due to the original song writers, but nobody can deny that these guys wrote a lot of great songs that were all their own, and that Page did some great work with producing each and everyone of their albums.
This news is really old, and it did make me lose a little bit of respect for Led Zeppelin when I first found out about this (years ago!) but I will never be able to deny the fact that Jimmy Page’s guitar work had a huge influence on me when I first started playing guitar.
Folk should just forget about this whole thing, I mean, it isn’t going to get any single one of you anywhere by ranting about this is it?
Led Zeppelin were the most popular Cover Band of all-time.
LZ has been out of business since 1980. LZ music seemed badass to those living during 1969-1976.
LZ extended an already well-established sound by Yardbirds (long before Page), Cream (1966), Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd (1967).
Jimmy Plagiarist stole many songs from others as he jumped on the bandwagon of an already well-established sound.
Maybe Page played much better than his Brit Pop peers between 1966-69, yet LZ became has-beens by 1977.
The LZ sound became dated by ‘77 — dated lyrics, dated riffs and dated sound.
Why do many dummy folks revere LZ?
[1] marketing and management superior to other groups at the time
[2] significant upheaval to the establisment in the Western world
[3] rapid change in merchandising through mass media
Jeff Beck (pier23ca on youtube),
Only a handful of songs were “covered” as you put it. About 85 or so are purely original (list is up the page).
As for the statement “LZ extended an already well-established sound by Yardbirds (long before Page), Cream (1966), Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd (1967)”
The yardbirds and cream were based off the sound of blues musicians, many years before them.
And many people revere LZ because they produced masterpiece albums in which just about every song was a hit. They had a diverse range of music (folk, blues, rock, etc.) and they were embodied the stereotypical rock n’ roll life style.
to start with, Zeppelin rules!!1!
You cannot call it steal music when using ones old work to get ideas to create you own music, I agree some of the songs were stolen but e.g. take Picasso he had trainees and their work became much influenced by his but they did not steal his work they used it and made their own interpreting of it, and Led Zeppelin used old works and made it their own and also they made it the best. Simply they took a mediocre song and made it perfekt. I would be honoured if the best band in the world took a song i wrote and made it the best ever.
Mojo magazine issue 77 April 2000 did a feature on Zep.
Here’s the facts:
Page utilised “Courting Blues Casbah” by Bert Jansch as a link piece between medleys of “White Summer” and “Black Mountain Side” which was derived from Bert Jansch’s arrangement of trad. irish song “Black Waterside”.
The intro. to “Bron-Y-Aur” bears a striking resemblence to Bert Jansch/John Renbourn’s arrangement of “The Waggoner’s Lad”.
Davy Graham’s 1963 arrangement of “She Moves Thro’ The Fair” featuring his invention of the D-modal tuning DADGAD was later used by Page for “White Summer”. The tuning itself was used on “Kashmir”.
British band “Audience” had their 1969 song “Maiden’s Cry” ripped off for ‘Stairway To Heaven”.
English guitarist Eddie Phillips was using the violin bow in 1966 before Jimmy Page on his guitar in the same manner.
Musicians/peers of the era confirm this to be accurate, and that Page stole that gimmick as well.
Jimmy Page/Led Zep are known among their peers as thieves.
Eric Clapton love him or hate him has always given proper song writing credits,taken the blusemen out on tour with him,produced them etc.
Jimmy Page has DONE NOTHING.
Everyone steals from the blues,no doubt.
Led Zep have ripped off everybody blues-rock.
If what you wrote was true, that might explain some of Zep’s popularity when they first started out. However, the fact that they’re even more popular 30 years after they broke up completely debunks your post.
Jeff Beck writes: “Why do many dummy folks revere LZ?
[1] marketing and management superior to other groups at the time
[2] significant upheaval to the establisment in the Western world
[3] rapid change in merchandising through mass media”
hey bitches led zeppelin is da best you fuckers are always finding ways to hate on the best. But if Led Zeppelin wasn’t considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time you wouldn’t give a damn. Howard stern can go fuck himself. He thinks hes so cool cuz he gets all these slut ass whores … faggot
Im A big fan of Zep, but I got to say, take off your Led Blinkers, their legacy is irrevocably tainted in my view. And to list all these songs that are so ‘unquestionably original’. How can you be so sure? If they can do it once(sorry on virtually every song on their debut album), who’s to say these are the only instances? It just strikes at the fundamental credibility of the band and their songwriting process, their incredible musical skill and huge commercial success notwithstanding. To say they were under contractual pressures, their later success means this issue can be swept under the carpet etc. etc. is just making excuses for them.
Hey for the record, Howard Stern didn’t say anything about this, it was a guest on his show promoting his book about this situation.
Secondly, hell, you should at least credit a song as “traditional” but slapping your own name on a song that you didn’t write is not really ethical behavior. Yes, there are a million songs with a 1-4-5 progression, another million with a 2-5-1 progression, and nothing has been original since Bach (i’m sure you could argue that Bach isn’t original, either). When you listen to this audio, you hear that they “borrowed” much more than simple chord progressions. Did they turn it into something different and explosive and “Better”? Sure. Zeppelin kicks ass, their only mistake was not properly crediting the writers of these songs. They probably never envisioned being caught for this, and never thought they’d hear from the old and impoverished people they “borrowed” from. Oh well…
Thirdly, people who misuse “they’re”, “there”, and “their” should be drug out into the street and shot.
That Zepp ripped off several artists wouldn’t be so terrible if they even pretended to show a bit of something resembling humility. They’re like Hammerfall, except that Hammerfall gives credit where credit is due and blatantly admits “we’re here to take the metal songs that inspired us but have seem to been lost or died by the wayside and add our own twist, hopefully getting these great songs out there where people will listen. (entirely paraphrased from the “Masterworks” album)”
Look, Angus Young was “inspired” by Chuck Berry. Zepplin was “inspired” by Xerox.
I just want to say that the band fozzy with chris jericho is so bad why would he choose to sing, he should stick to what he knows which is hold other guy’s dicks in his face