Thaddeus Smith Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Children of that era, are there any merits to this claim? As a generational outsider, I definitely hear some similarities.. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelins-stairway-to-heaven-targeted-for-plagiarism-20140519 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcL---4xQYA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Totally different chords Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Spirit and Zep played some shows together. Page may have used parts of California's opening as inspiration while going on to write Stairway, but this is typical in music. I don't think the family can win their case in a court of law. Much like in the art world, there was more than one impressionist. Only Page can know for sure. Some point out a similar likeness to a Caravan work and ELP's Tarkus. Both came out within six months or so of each other but ELP probably started their work before Caravan's, and being in the same genre and country at the same time you might expect similar outcomes much like you hear with music of the same sub-genres over time (brit invasion, swing, bebop, grunge, etc.). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I don't remember the Spirit track and yes I am old enough. But upon listening now it sounds similar enough for Zep/Page to give some credit to Spirit/California IMHO. Monetary damages? I dunno. I don't think Page did it maliciously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I don't remember the Spirit track and yes I am old enough. But upon listening now it sounds similar enough for Zep/Page to give some credit to Spirit/California IMHO. Monetary damages? I dunno. I don't think Page did it maliciously. Or at least to the California estate. Randy drowned back in 1991.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tone_Boss Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I dont think you can copyright a chord progression, its also been used in some songs prior to Spirit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Heard about this a few times on the net, i don't hear much resemblance myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Makes me want to get a copy of that Spirit album for the collection.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 No. That one's a real stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I think it's easy to see similarities in songs. Listen to the opening of Break on Through by the Doors. Then give Ray Charles What'd I Say Parts 1 and 2 a spin. Both openings sound very much alike to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 House of the Rising Sun vs Amazing Grace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Amazing Grace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I dont think you can copyright a chord progression, its also been used in some songs prior to Spirit. Agree. I hear similar chord progressions, but in that era there were a lot of folk-rock songs, folk ballads that had a similar feel to them. And stealing songs from one another was also common. The Beatles did that in their early years. http://www.cracked.com/article_19848_7-famous-musicians-who-stole-some-their-biggest-hits.html "This old man, he plays one. He plays knick knack on my thumb. With a knick knack paddy wack. Give a dog a bone. This old man comes rolling home." Now sing the Barney song, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family...". There is nothing new under the sun. Hey, I just made that up! http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%201:9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 On occasion you run into a low-life who deliberately steals something that they know belongs to someone else and just hopes they don't get caught, but by and large, in the area of music, musicians are very sensitive to this kind of thing, and if someone, upon hearing something they wrote, says, "hey, that sounds a little bit like ..." -- will set off a torrent of activity to ensure originality. When it happens, it's coincidence, done at the subconscious level, or purely accidental. I love when it happen and the accused says, "Hey, I never even heard that song before." Lennon got sued for "Come Together" by Chuck Berry's publishers, I can't remember the song -- apparently part of it is identical. Harrison took a shot for "My Sweet Lord" which sounds a lot like a song called, "He's so fine" -- can't remember the band. While it's true that chord progressions can't be copyrighted, it you use someone else's chord progressions along with some of the arrangement and make the melody similar enough that it's recognizable -- you're probably going to find yourself on the losing end of a lawsuit. There are only 12 notes, so without some "borrowing", we would run out of music pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tone_Boss Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWeejHJxGjs This is from the 50's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Didn't Queen win their lawsuit against Vanilla Ice for stealing a baseline to a song? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 I always thought that ZZ Top's version of La Grange (intro, etc...) sounded very much like a fast version of Cannned Heats, On the Road Again. It's all in the tempo.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 Didn't Queen win their lawsuit against Vanilla Ice for stealing a baseline to a song? No way dude.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Apparently I was wrong. Turns out that Page was a thief, and most of Zeppelin's songs were covers - admittedly very good ones, but covers nonetheless. There is no shortage of stuff about on the Web and YouTube - it's pretty blatant stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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