I agree. But elevating a song to a new level should not be named a cover. But hey, who is going to be the judge of better? But indeed the original writer/performer needs to be credited and payed regardless.
They did it fucking excellent, every one is epic. All LZ originals are amazing and there are alot of them. Best live band by far. Bonzo is by far the best drummer too
They probably are the greatest cover band of all time. But they're also a great originals band (Houses of the Holy might be their best album and it seems to be completely original) which means they're legends for a good reason.
There's nothing wrong with being inspired to the point of copying someone else song, but be a man about it and give them the proper credit and the royalties. Even if the copied version is better, it's still not their own. Great video by the way. Thanks for sharing.
They actually did. Zep has a dozen or so songs that gave normal cover credits at the time of recording, including 3 of the 8 songs on Led Zeppelin 1. Have to remember that they were all in their early 20s for the recording of most of the "problem" tracks. We probably shouldn't have high expectations about their ability to navigate copyright.
Say what you will but I still love Zeppelin’s music. All blues and blues-rock were inspired by the delta bluesmen. Do I listen to records of the originals? No, really, with much respect, but I like Zeppelin’s rock sound. Even David acknowledges in the video the tunes are better versions musically. THEY JUST SHOULD HAVE CREDITED THE ORIGINAL WRITERS. It wouldn’t have taken away anything from their music if they did. And they’re definitely guilty for not doing so.
@King Vegemite "Zeppelins music isn't that great when you realise it's not Zeppelins music.. That's the whole point of this video" You must not have watched this video because that wasn't the point at all.
@@henrygriffen40 They did't do the stealing in 2021. We know how YOU'D react if YOUR property was stolen: you'd whine all the way to court. We're talking about Black musicians who were routinely ripped off before "Led Zeppelin" even existed. How many times must they be ripped off before you'll consider the theft significant?
@@henrygriffen40 In what fucking universe? That’s a ridiculous opinion! The blues was born out of the African American experience, Zeppelin could never understand that, or recreate the feeling the blues expresses.
@@Rubberbandfan1 But they did.. zeppelin took the blues and put heavy guitar and drums.. then Plants insane voice.. they totally reworked those songs into new one. No rip offs.. no copying.. completely reworked.. almost unrecognizable..
The sad thing is Zep never needed to plagiarize their songs. They could have given credit where credit was due, and their cover versions would still have been amazing!
they didnt plagiarise. they followed the blues tradition of paying homage to what had happened in the past, with passing references. "Bring it on home".... of course the 20 seconds of intro / outro is the older song.... the MAIN song though.... pure Page / Plant. this is the thing... blues artists up til then did this all the time. made reference to others lyrics & licks... but none of them made any money. Zeppelin made astronomical amounts of money in the 70's (around 1973 onwards... ironically enough, when they dropped the blues interpretations) .... so the lawsuits came about 10 years later (in the 80's when lawyers took over the world) and here we are. the ONLY time Zeppelin actually ripped off a song and deserved to get sued was the Jake Holmes song. THAT was wrong.
The reason was greed. By not crediting anyone they didn't have to pay out any money. If you was to play a riff or lick someone else wrote, that's one thing. When you take an entire song someone else wrote, and credit yourself as the writer, it's outright theft, and zeppelin did that.
Funny thing is that led zep is also one of the band that is the strictest about their copyrights and never accept reuse of their songs catalog for games like guitar hero or for commercials.
Yes, they are very proprietorial about their copyright, but were shameless about stealing from others back in the day. A scumbag way to behave, and they didn't need to, they did actually also create original enough music too.
@@StratsRUs The out of court settlements “for an undisclosed amount” would have compensated the original writers for royalties that predate the settlement.
I'm not sad that Led Zeppelin existed. That music needs to exist. Giving credit where it's due is also a necessity. One shouldn't need to be forced by a lawsuit to do that.
Especially when those bands can't afford to take on LZ lawyers. Shame!! Just give credit. Beatles used to insist on Black Idols coming on stage with them and plugging their music. Props to that. Jeff Buckley had so many influences and he spoke with such admiration. He gave writing credits on his covers constantly "Hallelujah" for Jeff. I'd say that his covers are less Pagerised than LZ "influences". It's interesting that LZ were big fans of Jeff Buckley too. They must just be like damn, wish we could cover songs like that!!
Another weird thing about Zeppelin's approach to credits is that on their first album Robert Plant received no writing credit at all! Not for Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, not for anything. I believe that has since changed. And ironically, in view of later issues, on that first album they did give sole credit to Willie Dixon on two songs.
The Beatles had a handful of songs they took without permission, too. The difference is... Of Zeppelin, Tom Petty, Cougar Mellencamp, The Beatles, others... Only Led Zeppelin gave us mountains from rocks, and diamonds from rocks. The others only made pieces if tiles from rocks.
You've educated, and disappointed me with that . Very well done. One band that didn't do this was Humble Pie with their Rocking the Fillmore live album( absolutely wonderful) where they put rock songs to their own music but everything was credited to the original composers. Decent people.
In 1976, when I was 14, Paul Hagan (in third form) used to get his older brother to transfer all his Led Zeppelin albums on to tape for me at one dollar a pop. I don’t feel so bad now.
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull once said, there are only so many riffs and notes (144), a guitar player can play, and if someone is using mine, it only shows my genius.
Point of order - the intro of 'Rock & Roll' starts on the 'and' of beat 3, rather than on beat 1 - doing that means you won't need to stick those bars of 3/4 and 5/8 in and it all lines up in 4/4.
Muddy Waters song, "the blues had a baby and they called it Rock n Roll "Muddy Waters was the greatest blues man ever ( just my opinion) and I also love Led Zep saw them play Perth early 70s. I'm 81 years young this year and still rocking mainly in my rocking chair. Love and peace from Australia 🎶🎵🎶🎵😜✌
Speaking of Willie Dixon. He has an autobiography called "I Am The Blues", 1990. You want to know about the most prolific Chicago blues songwriter? This is the book that reveals his upbringing and life in Chicago and Chess Records. Highly Recommended.
Also has an album by that name, which was one of the first blues albums I ever bought, I think along with Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers.
One of the best, most engaging autobiographies I ever read. Perhaps even the best. Dixon lived a very interesting life. I bought a copy shortly after its release. Yes, highly recommended!
Willie Dixon WAS Chess Records. He did everything, including songwriter, arranger, engineering, session musician, inventing "echo" with black stand pipe.
@@Pumper_of_MawsUnfortunately, unlike yourself and a few others, most people cannot take the time to read the album liner notes. This video is just more internet bullshit posing as "research".
@@cl8804 I was never a Zeppelin fan. All my friends were. I was into Queen, Bowie, Steely Dan, Little Feat. Never disliked them, particularly, but they also weren't my thing.
Every Brit band from the 60s were in love with the blues. I'm grateful they were... unlikely the originals would have sold well. Nevertheless, credit where due. That goes for Clapton, The Who, Yardbirds, The Beatles, Stones, etc.
@@Amandacana I disagree. Barrett’s Pink Floyd was very British-sounding. Whimsical psychedelic pop with folk undertones and the occasional guitar distortion. The most bluesy thing about them was their name.
@@dbwriterindia Named after blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. So yeah. Plus Gilmours leads are all blues based pentatonic scales. Also many "blues" chord progressions in many of their songs.
This makes me wonder how critical they were of their "repurposing" and "inspirations". Still one of the best bands out there though. Great video btw. And thanks for the shoutout and great collab :)
Hey, you remember the dirt you did to The strokes? You really need to associate your sources and script better, like I hope you make better videos cause I think you are not giving a good reputation to this crossover.
It's strange how picky they get about people using their music for teaching proposes and block their vids. Well...since they borrowed tunes so many times. Plain stupid really.
I was amazed at the range of genre of songs that led zepplin made at that time. How could any band come up with such a diverse and rich songs? Well, they weren't the creative gods that I thought they were but they did improved on those songs.
on parle des chansons qu ils ont copié, il faudrait plutôt transformé, leur seul tort c est de ne pas avoir crédité la plupart de ces chansons aux auteurs , pas très honnête de leur part, et si on parlait aussi de toutes les autres qu ils ont écrit et composé , toutes ces histoires que connaissent tous les inconditionnels de Led Zeppelin n enlevent en rien leur génie créatif
They improved songs thanks to the technology they had at their disposal in the late '60s and early '70s. Days of scratchy vinyl records were long gone but the true spirit of original blues was captured by musicians who lived the blues. Have mercy and RIP.
Interview Plant did explains his shock Americans were burying much blues artist due to racial issues. They brought it out proudly and never denied the copy/ influence.
@@Number4lead A lot of their work was original and much of it was the best they ever did. Seems like the Brits in general got their stat in rock playing blues originally done by dirt poor blacks in U.S. You could say they improved it but they had better instruments and technology. Original blues guys had the spirit.
That part actually makes sense. Getting permission to make and publish a modified version of a copyrighted song is typically somewhere between difficult and impossible, especially if you are not (yet) rich and famous.
Oh please, man..... This crap started much earlier with Elvis Presley (whom I'm a huge fan of) and he too never gave the proper credit to the black blues men he was trying to "imitate"!
Mick Jagger always mentioned listening to "black" gospel and blues music and stated multiple times that they were bringing their music to the forefront. The likes of Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson were more famous and respected in the UK than the states. Yeah Brit bands ripped them off, but helped them gain the recognition they deserved. Many toured the UK and were treated like the stars they were
This is not nothing new.this happened" oftentimes.. a common occurrence it wasn't just British Bands " that plagiarize them,""it in happened in America,,and the bands had no intention of paying royalties..
I believe that in the first two albums, they “stole” the majority of the songs that are called into question, because one all blues musicians already did this, they were a touring band who on the first album spent 9 hours in the studio to make something they can sell on their first tour, Robert plant didn’t really write any of his own lyrics until Thank you. After these first two albums there are still some of these thefts but nowhere near to scale. In hindsight, yes Led Zeppelin should have given credit to all the musicians they were inspired or ripped off, but as a musician myself, I can’t count how many times I wrote a song after hearing a riff by jimmy page or Keith Richards and it almost sounds the exact same. The difference is that these guys made these songs way better and nobody cared until they could get money from it. Think about all these musicians getting brought into a new era of music by bands like zeppelin.
"Led Zeppelin" is not a "new era". They are warmed-over "Yardbirds". And you never would have heard of them if "The Beatles" hadn't turned the flow of music from US to world, to UK to US and world.
Yeah, but taking elements from a song, as opposed to just doing a whole section of a song, melody and lyrics together, are two different things. The Beatles did the former. Led Zeppelin did the latter.
@@jnagarya519 I love both bands, but Zeppelin is more "fully-cooked" Yardbirds than "warmed-over". Plant alone is in a different league than Relf (RIP, and no shame in taking second place to Plant).
Yeah, but, see, that ripped off melodies and lyrics. I'm also a musician, and I get inspired by a LOT of music, but I never rip off a song. A moment in a song grabs me, and I instantly use that feeling to do something that's my own. It's like I have an idea where the song would go if I did it. It goes into a completely different direction, the chords and melodies are completely different, but the feeling I had hearing that one part remains. Led Zeppelin were blatant about their theft. It's not even inspiration, it's theft.
The moment you are in a blues based music. The tradition is so simple and identifiable, that complete originality would be hard to come by. It’s like saying BB, Albert and Freddy King’s songs sound similar. Page was doing the same thing with The Yardbirds, as Clapton before him with John Mayall.
All of this stuff was well documented relentlessly several decades ago. Amongst British groups at that time it was common and accepted practice to "rework" those songs without proper credit given to the original artists/writers. Of course that started to change as early as the mid-70's.
The Stairway to Heaven versus Taurus case is pretty much jaywalking compared to some of the other songs that Led Zeppelin ripped off. There is no doubt, though, that it was wrong for Led Zeppelin to not credit the artists whose songs they borrowed from.
The problem though, is that they were more of an influence. Zeppelin have never denied that. It's hard to say they borrowed certain songs, when they completely rewrote them.
@@skye1868 Exactly!! You never heard Albert King complaining about Stevie Ray's music!! He loved him and loved the fact HIS style of playing was appreciated and revered again!! I agree with Robert. If the songs collect and artists want compensation and credit, that's between them and management. Elvis Costello said "Everyone in the music industry are thieves and magpies. Influence is a congenial word for taking."
The first 6 here look to be borrowed. The last two aren't at all. Not sure how a song that you can't stomach to listen to for 15 seconds was stolen to make the most iconic song they ever did and maybe of all time.
I'm a huge Zeppelin fan, and I used to work at a music store with a guy who was a huge blues connoisseur and he basically started listing all the songs they KNOWINGLY stole. It was disappointing that they had to be forced to do the right thing for their supposed heroes. I lost a lot of respect for them after that.
Yeah, watching this video, I don't mind that they yoinked songs from other people. That's kind of how art works: it's hard to make a TRULY original work. What makes me lose respect for LZ Is that when they were rich and famous they STILL fought the artists who wanted some credit and compensation.
@@ProfDCoyIt’s not that easy IMO. I don’t know the details, but I can imagine that some of these lawsuits have been diminishing Zeppelins contribution on the other hand. I mean, treating all these songs as just-covers is also totally missed as they gained a new soul thanks to LZ.
I never have. I've heard all the songs. They were worth one listen. Led Zeppelin's songs that were derived from other songs are timeless and I listen to them all over and over. They just took something raw and produced something great. No music comes out of a vacuum. Blues was all about playing other people's songs. The only reason why some songs in folk genres are public domain is because there wasn't a music publishing industry happening when those songs were floating around.
The only people who call it “stealing” don’t understand the history and context of blues music. Covering music and referencing other work is a long time blues tradition. Blues music goes beyond lyricism, it’s about feel and what you bring to it. Virtually all of the British blues-rock bands of the late 60s (Cream, Hendrix, Stones, Peter Green’s FM, Bluesbreakers, etc.) covered material and yes, sometimes without giving credit. Even the second wave blues greats like BB King, Albert King, and Muddy Waters covered music from first wave greats (yes, sometimes without crediting). They weren’t “stealing” they were paying homage to their influences. In the end, out of Led Zeppelin’s 90 studio recorded tracks, only 10 are covers or have referenced material and all of which has been credited since the late 80s with back proceeds given to original artists. Music Copyrights were almost nonexistent prior to the 90s, LZ gets vilified for doing what everyone did because of the proportion of royalties. As for the Stairway case vs Taurus - that was an absolute money grab. The case involved only the first 10 second arpeggio which was proven in court to be over 300 years old. Courts ruled twice in favor of Zep. You can’t claim a basic arpeggio sequence as your own, anyone with any basic understanding in music theory should know that. I’m sick and tired of people perpetuating this nonsense narrative. Give it a rest.
@@RickLaBanca all the time and everywhere. The entire Rolling Stones Catalogue is based on Chuck Berry rhythm playing. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s playing is pretty much just Albert King licks. Hell even classics like the Thrill is Gone by BB King… a COVER not initially credited. The Blues are about personal interpretation while drawing from your influences.
@@jacklane7489 going to court over copyrights typically means you have the intention of defending your case (as a defendant). There’s nothing to defend here, these songs are all covers of covers by artists who also didn’t credit. You settle out of court to discuss the terms of royalties. The only time they went to court was for Stairway and that’s because the case was a money grab by Spirit estate owners - it had no merit which is why it was shot down twice.
I know, non musicians think that you should just boot strap yourself and come up with everything from scratch, as if it’s not good for everyone to have a rich tradition to draw from. But you know what musicians that come up with everything them self sound like? Poor. All great bands did this, just with varying degrees of cunning. Bands like Radiohead we’re savvy enough to dig in obscure corners of electronica from where no one would notice or care.
Yes, but they also credit and pay royalties... You tit. And they don't make an ENTIRE CAREER off other people's music. You clearly don't understand blues.
@@chriscreed6410 well you clearly don’t understand Led Zeppelin if you think their entire career is based off of other people’s music. Go listen to their originals, many of them better than every song that appears in this video… unless you count Stairway to Heaven as a plagiarized version (which it isn’t)
See also "In My Time of Dying" and "When the Levee Breaks." I love Led Zep LPs, I really do, but their failure to give credit where credit was obviously due makes me think less than highly of them as people. The Rolling Stones and Cream, to name two blues-rock acts, were meticulous about making sure their inspirations got due credit (and, hence, royalties).
I play the guitar. If I sat down and figured out a tune. The chances that someone has played that riff on another song are probably 100% that it’s been played several times on different songs for different bands.
Now that I think of it, this reminds me a lot of the sampling process in hip hop. You take a piece to build a song upon it. The only issue in this case was the lack of acknowledgement.
All music is built upon the music that came before it. There's a very finite combination or notes/chords... however the melody/rhythm is where orginaility comes into play.
This must have taken a lot of research. Nice to see you give the sources like Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon among others. I don’t think Zep really wanted to disregard their roots but you never know. Kind of ironic that now on UA-cam Zep would demonetize your video if you played their songs a little too long. 😄
It’s pretty funny. Willie Dixon never sued Small Faces, even though writing credit for You Need Love went to Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane without Willie Dixon. “You only get caught if you’re successful.” Yep. That song proves it. Zeppelin got sued and Small Faces didn’t. Actually, I’m now imagining what Steve Marriott would have sung had he been Zeppelin’s vocalist as Page originally intended.
Bruce Springsteen took lyrics for songs from me and never paid. I met him in 1974 when I was 15 years old at sky blue studios in Sonoma California. This is what Bruce told me "I'll tell you what I'll do I'll take the songs and if I use them I'll pay you depending on how good they are." Well they were his major hit songs. I gave Bruce lyrics in 1974 and 1975 and 1982. He was supposed to pay me and I was going to use the money to get through medical school. Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt welched on their agreement and did not pay me one red cent. So much for being my friend and helping me with my songwriting career. Jon Landau also welched on his agreement. The song was entitled Looking East and it went to Jackson Browne- 1996 They are what is known as "song sharks" in the industry. This was a really tough lesson for me. Imagine having to listen to the songs you wrote while you're buying used shirts at Goodwill. Take care and be well.
Did the band use blues staples,? Of course. But to what effect? To form a whole new genre that took the world by Strom. Led Zeppelin is the great foundation stone of heavy metal, that will never change
There’s even an old Italian composition on guitar that also uses a similar descending arpeggio line like Taurus and Stairway… but it’s centuries old, so that composer can’t sue anyone.
@@neojack7011 ha ha yes . . I wonder if L Z were aware of this when Taurus sued . . I'm sure the out of court settlement would have been very different or perhaps non existant . .
Boogie with Stu - Led Zeppelin ua-cam.com/video/JabLdDQaaPo/v-deo.html compare Ritchie Valens - Ooh! My Head (1959) ua-cam.com/video/HBoyELhkRls/v-deo.html
The thing about Led Zeppelin is that they really knew how to use influences to create something completely new and important for rock music, but often they used too much (like lyrics) of single songs without crediting the original writer.
@@Lu-em5wx The Beatles had a handful of songs they took without permission, too. The difference is... Of Zeppelin, Tom Petty, Cougar Mellencamp, The Beatles, others... Only Led Zeppelin gave us mountains from rocks, and diamonds from rocks. The others only made pieces if tiles from rocks.
Did she play with Count Basie? A long time ago I had one of his albums. I was listening to one of the songs on that record, sung by a female, and at one point it hit me, “holy shit, that’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’ “.
Yeah some - not all - of the lyrics came from those songs, but those guys in turn used loads of lyrics and riffs that were around in Blues culture. And the _music_ of Lemon Song is totally different from either of them. It's not really a rip-off to use a refrain, or generic blues lyrics. Zep's real crime was that they made a lot of money out of it, where the old blues men didn't. The only thing they ever did that really was a rip-off was Black Mountainside, which just slightly re-arranges Bert Jansch's Black Water Side.
@@paddymeboyand Bertie inch got the song from an old Celtic folk song so everybody rips off everyone. If you look at some of muddy Waters songs he put his own name on there but they are rip-offs of old blues songs by Robert Johnson and some 30s guys so they all f****** do it . Howlin Wolf said he wrote 44 blues and he's credited for it but the song goes back to tommy Johnson. Some of Willie Dixon songs that he says he wrote he borrowed verses from old classic blues songs from the 20s he just rearranged them so the white kids wouldn't know the difference. John Lee Hooker is credited to have written crawling King Snake but the song goes back to Tony Hollis . Ignorant white kids seem to think that led Zeppelin ripped all these songs off because they don't know about blues. And furthermore it's not led Zeppelin's job to find out the proper credits and give the royalty these people it's the lawyers of the record companies job to suss all that out . Not page . some of these old blues songs the statue of limitations ran out years ago and the original artist never got around to copywriting it properly so the song was up for grabs in the 60s to whoever wanted to slap their name on there and led Zeppelin's record company took full advantage of that with or without plant and page knowing . Everybody does it . Van Halen ripped off the beginning of jump from an old Slade song . Eddie ripped off the beginning of eruption from an old black Arkansas song note for note . Until he goes into all that fancy finger-tapping which he didn't invent either cuz that goes back to the 30s with Roy smack . But I like your comment because you're one of the few people who understands this . 😊
David does not mention it here but the Lemon Song prominently contains the lyrics "Down on this Killing Floor" repeated three times in the song. It's in plain sight not just in other similarities.
I'm glad you tackled this subject in your forensic and balanced way. I wonder how much the years spent as a session musician making other artists successful and seeing the kind of musical skullduggery that goes on might have coloured ones opinion about, ahem, the use of musical influences in your own material. Whether you see it as "all in the game".
Even when they were going strong in the 60s I noticed that a lot of Zeppelin's songs involved a short, low note riff that repeated over and over. It made me think about how to write a hit song (which I never attempted anyway).
The only thing that stops us from finding out that some themes from Bach’s, Mozart’s or Beethoven’s music were inspired by folk songs of their time is lack of recordings.
Another song to mention. Blind Willie Johnson wrote and recorded "Nobody's Fault but Mine" in 1927. The old 1927 recording of guitar string bends and vocals sound very similar to the Zepplin version also written in the key of E.
When the levee breaks..is another one. Memphis Minnie and her husband made the song shortly after the big (7 states) delta flood. Lz..added emotion, Great rendition..
Strange that Dixon never ever went after The Small Faces, even though they ripped him off far more blatantly. I guess Dixon didn't think there'd be any money in it, seeing as The Small Faces never made it big.
@Simon Archbold It's more interesting to me that the people who scorch Zep for it are noticeably quiet about Marriott/Lane crediting themselves for You Need Love. And what about Willie Dixon ripping off fellow blues artists because he knew more about publishing than they did? Of course the Zeppelin whining gets more clicks...
@Simon Archbold What I find ironic is that Zeppelin gave Dixon song writing credit for almost 1/4 of the first Zeppelin album (two whole songs). As far as I can find out he never acknowledged that or thanked them for it. Zeppelin could have, after all, chose to cover any one of numerous black blues artists but instead they covered not one but two of his songs on their debut album and thus he must have made some money off them right from 1969. I wonder if Zep were a bit bummed about that and thought "wow he didn't even give us grateful nod, ok we'll take the next one for free" haha. Who knows??
Rock n Roll is absolutely a homage to Rock n Roll. So it could have taken parts from several places and probably been fine. Almost a drum sample not unlike more modern music. All music has examples of variations on using others work and has at times needed clarification on how to give credit where credit is due. The "stairway " thing is really ridiculous considering it was based around a common chord progression dating back centuries and represented so few measures.
Ok, go to any rock show. Listen to the drummers, most all do the same fills ( more or less ) in the same place. Why? Because it works. This is the same for chord progressions. Songs on one level are all copies of something done before, but are also original at the time.
look, i been composing and performing music for 25+ years and almost everything ive ever created was "inspired" by something or someone else. either the vibe, the atmosphere the arrangement, the combination of instruments used, the energy. its unavoidable. cause no matter what kind of melody or chord progression you come up with will have the vibe of something else and you'll gravitate toward inserting it into that "feel" or style. cause if that werent the case you'd literally have to invent a whole new never before done genre everytime you compose a song. but what these guys did was pure plagiarism. biting a vibe or feel is one thing. stealing riffs and melodies is a whole nother ball game.
Except in most cases Jimmy Page added completely dominant melody lines that departed from the originals. At best any of these wronged artists could claim a third credit. In almost every situation the new songs/adaptations were improved .
@@Rooktoven yeah but its the main essence of a once in a lifetime riff/melody thats the hard part (not the variations you can do with it). take something like that "in the garden of eden" main riff...who COULDNT jam, improvise , write songs around and shred for hours over that beast of a central motif???
When you get writing credit, you get royalties from every performance, album sale including that song, and all single sales. It’s why you’ll hear someone who helped with a song often mention that the band was kind enough gave them writing credit when it happens. Some bands give all members writing credit. Others only give writing credit based on contribution. A separate copyright does apply to the performance or recoding of the cover band - but the writers would still get a share of those royalties.
When LZ found out that Ritchie's mother got the short end of the stick from Bob Keane (who controlled the rights to Valens' music) they gave her a songwriting credit. Naturally, no good deed goes unpunished, the Valens estate ended up trying to sue the band.
I'm always divided between tribute and influence and then using music nerd skills to lift slightly obscure music in a time when comparing songs was a lot more difficult.
Wow. I had no idea small faces covered 'you need lovin'. I thought it was an original. Still, Steve Marriot had possibly the best voice and style in rock history. Im my humble opinion of course
So all of these songs have 1 or 2 lines that are the same, with small parts of the backing track that are vaguely similar. Literally the definition of taking inspiration
The "Stair Way" case actually hinged on the fact Page HIRED Randy California for a session, where he helped write the intro. Since Randy was in fact paid for the session is why he lost. Randy knew he got paid for the session , but had no idea the song would blow up like it did, and thought it would be fair if he got a piece of that pie Spirit was a act on Chrysalis Records, who had Sting U2, Bowie, Bob Marley , Jefferson Starship, Ian Anderson, RC also wrote the song Black Foot made famous "I gotta line on you"
Too bad you didn't share this info with the lawyer from California's estate, so he could bring this up during the case. In Rolling Stone magazine the whole case can be read. No mention of this 'incident' at all. I'm under the impression you made this story up....😮
I think it's just too much that they had multiple songs that they took heavily (melody and/or lyrics) from while keeping the same song title and everything. The line between what can be used freely and what can't is kind of blurred at times, but they did seem to definitively cross it quite a bit.
Every musician in the history of the world was influenced by someone that came before them. There’s nothing wrong with emulating someone you look up to. Just give credit where credit is due.
Lots of Musician getting good exposure playing other peoples songs. But it's some huge big deal because Led Zeppelin was able to get a lot of people into their versions of these songs. Generations of dedicated listeners. Only sucks that couldn't do it like them complain.
Unrelated, but your analyses of Beatles songs and the guessing game you played got me interested in them, and after binging their albums, I'm hooked. Thanks David!
@@leonl1559 Without "The Beatles" no one in the US would have heard of, as example, "The Yardbirds," let alone the warmed-over "Yardbirds" "Led Zeppelin".
My favorite Led Zeppelin song is from their first lp. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, written by Anne Bredon in the late 1950s. She sued and won. Joan Baez recorded it in 1962.
Which is crazy given how wildly different the songs are. The title is the same but it's hard to imagine the zeppelin version even being "inspired" by it
@@indalot8315 I read somewhere that Plant was only 20 when LZ recorded their first album and he didn't really know what to use for lyrics on a lot of the first few records so he just borrowed them from other previous songs. He even admitted it. He said something like no one cares until you're famous and successful and then they paid back royalties and would give them writing credits going forward. But yeah they did borrow a lot of music from others. I'm sure a lot of bands have. LZ version is still a great song.
This reminded me of the riff in the bridges in Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and just how similar it is to Chicago's intro in '25 or 6 to 4'. But since it's a riff, is it an infringement? I'm no expert, but I love Led Zep!! Great video :)
I really appreciate that you always are reading all the names of your special patrons. Their names, like F. D. Hodor or Marc Ziegenhagen, together with one of your pieces of music have become an important part of your videos for me 🤗
When the Levee Breaks, Memphis Minnie. 1929 I believe. Written about the great flood of the Mississippi river in 1927. Then the opening drum beat by Zeppelin was sampled by the Beastie Boys on the song Rhymin & Stealin in 1986. With the guitar riff from Black Sabbath’s 1971 song Sweet Leaf backing the drums. I greatly enjoy many types of music. Nothing is original 😂. It’s not what you play, it’s how you play it. Please everyone. Keep in mind, there are truly only two types of music. Music that you like and music that you don’t. Your taste cannot define music as “good” or “bad”.
7:33 also "Bron‐Yr‐Aur Stomp" is the same as Jansch "Wagoners Lad" but again, old tune... Davy Grahams DADGAD en general, his "cry me river" has the intro of starway to heaven, and whole lotta janschs tunes on jimmys acoustic guitar...
My understanding is that "Wagoner's Lad" is a traditional, which would technically mean it's not plagiarism. To me, taking a riff or chord progression and writing a whole new song around it (like Zep did with "Bron-y-Aur Stomp" and "Stairway to Heaven" ) is not nearly as bad as lifting a whole melody note for note (like they did with "Dazed and Confused.")
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 but traditional songs didn't had harmony right? The tempo, the style, the way of playing, is so similar... And for me that's ok! I mean folk songs are meant to be played and changed and played again. Dylan has lots of tunes made of old melodies, but with Jimmy is mode like a style "plagiarism", idk, it's a great guitarist, I think is more than a business/money/recognition problem, those things didn't exist in the time of those old melodies, neither multimillionaire musicians!
@@fennarios That *is* true of old folk/blues songs (although not every song that Zep borrowed was an old folk/blues song, a few of them were contemporary songs.) Robert Plant was right when he said that people only accuse you of plagiarism when your record is successful and makes money... but that's the capitalist world we live in. We gotta live with it. I know that if I wrote a song I would want to be credited for it- at least until the copyright right ran out and it became part of the public domain.
@@fennarios "Business/money/recogniztion" existed as a concern at lattest by the 1920s. That's what gets me about "Led Zeppelin" fans: stunning ignorance of music history, and rationalizing the stealing of others' music, so long as it's "Led Zeppelin" doing it.
@@jnagarya519 i think you misunderstood what I was saying, and calling me an ignorant on music history just because, without knowing me... well, ok, good for you pal
All big bands are, some are just better at hiding it than others. Naturally and normally music is a tradition owned by everyone and freely and gladly given. Sadly now we live in a culture where personal ownership and honour are more important to most people.
Its not sneaky. With that logic johnny B goode and great balls of fire and every song that use 12bar Blues is a ripp off from w.c fields. Led zeppelin has not stolen anything, if a song has 1 riff that is similiar to some other song or 1 line of lyrics, thats not stealing. The guitar fret board is so limited that its impossible to come up with something that hasnt been used before.
@@chesneytube1 If someone were to violte YOUR copyrights -- if you owned any -- you'd be whining all the way to court. Music is not a "tradition owned by everyone" -- that is the rationale of the thief, which soon extends beyond music. It takes WORK to produce music -- WORK for which one is entitled to profit.
@@jnagarya519 no mate, no I wouldn’t. I’ve got better things to do than money grab with my time, such as enjoy music. If you look at the native cultures of this world, they don’t have materialistic greed the same way that this culture does. They view it as a sickness. They view the real wealth as their family, friends and the land. That is what makes people happy. Money and fame do not. ‘Successful’ people in this culture are often depressed to the point of harming others or suicide. This culture truly has a deep sickness.
Led Zeppelin did, in fact, give credit where credit was due for some tracks (“You Shook Me”, “I Can't Quit You Baby”, “When the Levee Breaks”, and a half-hearted attempt with “Boogie with Stu”), but not in all cases.
I'm glad you have quotations around "Rip Off". In American roots music and even its ancestor, the fiddle music of England, Ireland, and Scotland, there is a long tradition of borrowing licks, lyrics etc and combining them in different ways to make it your own. It is not stealing, it's part of the blues tradition. If you were to try to credit those, who actually created it, you'd have to go so far back into history there would be no documentation.
@@Jpaintingdesigns That is a huge overstatement. Much of their success was due to having an original sound with arrangements different from other groups (as Glyn Johns has said many times), putting on lengthy live shows that floored audiences everywhere, putting out great and varied albums (with a small number overall of "lifts") that sounded great on any turntable. I know a lot of people who heard that first album when it was released who say how different it was to everything else. Ozzy and loads of their contemporaries say it too.
Wonder how far they’d have to go to find who said “squeeze that lemon down my leg” because I know for a fact Muddy Waters didn’t come up with that, because Robert Johnson came up with that, but the thing is I KNOW he did not come up with that
I wish you'd do the same for the "heavily" inspired songs of Lenny Kravitz. The guy also ripped off many of the greats to build his success and it's surely no coincidence.
There's a funny part in the movie The Song Remains. There's a scene at the concert where the Zeppelin tour manager is going off on a vendor for selling bootleg posters at the concert. The poster vendor is a middle aged black guy and if he would've said "I'm Willie Dixon or Howlin Wolf's grandson" it would've been the greatest comeback in history.
There are bootlegs of very early Led Zeppelin jamming on Spirit's riff to Fresh Garbage and there is no doubt that ONLY the first few notes were borrowed from Spirit's Taurus, but NOT ENOUGH to prove thievery. Page also confessed to owning several Spirit albums- both bands toured together, as well. There is also a 1968 track by Spirit called “It’s All The Same” which contains a drum solo by Ed Cassidy. A distinctive section of this is lifted, beat by beat, in Moby Dick in 1969.
Led Zeppelin opened for Sprit in early 1969, which was a incredible concert. The following week they played at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut for the senior prom.
Now for the rest of the story. Certainly similarities except for Stairway. NO WAY it sounds like the Taurus song (which I like too!). A jury listened and decided in Zeps favor. The announcer in this video even admits it. In other words...it doesn't belong in his list of songs Zeppelin "ripped off", yet he leaves it in here! Babe Im gonna leave you is different. Page tried finding out who wrote it, and even contacted Baez about who owns the song and Baez said the song was public domain. ie: In the pre-internet days Page did what he could to determine ownership. Turns out he, and Baez, were wrong but it was not malicious. By the way....did Baez get sued for her version since she called it public domain material too? No. Guess why. The money was with Zeps version. Dazed and confused is Pages from The Yardbirds, he just carried it over. A nothing burger. Yes the others are uncredited copies and Zeppelin SHOULD have been sued for not paying royalties...shame on them. I am glad the courts ruled for the rightful owners. But 92 songs in Zeps catalog, 5 or 6 knowingly copied without credit. All on their first 2 albums. 7 more studio albums followed.
Oh really? Who did Picasso steal his style from? I mean, everybody has influences, the difference is between the people who have their own way of putting it together into something new, and those who are just repeating the work of others. Zep are definitely in the first category.
This statement has been made by many great artists but it has been clarified to mean that you use what someone else has made to make something better, or at least different. Not literally steal it. If you take it literally then I have some songs to sell you. I think my best song is called blowin in the wind.
Not all were "standards," though. There's a few that were essentially contemporary songs (like the Jake Holmes tune.) But. in a way, I think Zeppelin made up for it with all the great original music they made on IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti.
Bullcrap! You ever heard of Can Heat? They were around the same time as Led Zeppelin and they also played songs from the Black Blues Men. But the only difference is that Can Heat always gave credit were credit was due! Unlike the thieving LED Zeppelin.....
As ignorant as most "Led Zeppelin" fans of music history. And as cavalier about stealing from others. That's why you have no friends: you can't be trusted.
I hear the drum intros from Keep A-Knockin’ and Rock and Roll as being in 4/4, with a pickup of three eighth notes. That’s much simpler and probably how the original was thought of with its emphasis on what I hear as the downbeat.
@@thelonious-dx9vi Absolutely. The first snare hit of Rock n Roll is on the 3-and. The first three quavers are an anacrusis. The downbeat is on the second snare hit. There are no time signature changes. It's 4/4 all the way.
Exactly. I get that this intro is confusing if you feel the downbeat in the wrong place. But after transcribing it, and seeing 3/4 and 5/8 bars, why wouldn't you at least try counting backwards from the end to see if it makes more sense rebarred in 4? This isn't prog!
This explains a passing reference in a "The Simpsons" episode where Homer, visiting England and up in Ferris Wheel, sees Jimmy Page and makes a comment about him stealing music from black people.
The blues reimagined is a huge change because there are only so many notes that have been arranged millions of ways. I have a lot of old blues music, remastered or rare original Zepplin versions are for me the originals.
Doesn't matter. All artists steal. Dylan, Shakespeare, Beatles...all. Zeppelin took lyrics but the SOUND was fresh and I'll speak for many others, still is fresh.
While your comment is fundamentally correct, there really is no comparison. The Beatles were successfully sued once for 2 lines of lyrical plagiarism on Come Together. Led Zeppelin were all time plagiarists, rivalled only by Lloyd-Webber (at least he had the sense to rip off work that's out of copyright) Track by track breakdown of Zep's plagiarism liveforlivemusic.com/features/just-how-much-of-led-zeppelins-music-was-stolen/
Zeppelin took more than lyrics, too. The fact that they invariably improved on the source material is no excuse for not crediting the original writers.
@@neilbarton5235 If you'd look deeply enough into all artists you'd find they've all stolen. Zeppelin, particularly Plant, never gave credit for ripping lyrics...a huge fault I agree. The Beatles whole first album is covers besides 1 track I think AKA stealing whilst giving credit. I just think it's funny Zeppelins been brought to court several times on the basis of lyrics...as if they were suing them for royalties because it's the lyrics that gave Zeppelins success. Give me a break. By the way...I love the Beatles....Zeppelins better tho :)
@@mediatechjohn3088 If you give credit it's not stealing. That's the whole point. The Beatles' first album has several Lennon/McCartney originals on it.
The same chord progression can be found in other songs. The Beatles “While my Guitar Gently Weeps came out in 1968, Led Zeppelin’s version of “Babe I’m gonna leave you” came out in 1969, and Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” came out in 1970. Supposedly Jimmy Page was late to a recording session because he was out buying Chicago’s record with that song on it.
Thank the lord they covered these songs most of the population would have never heard of them. Atlantic records and peter grant decided not to give credit and royalties. The recording equipment and musical talent is greatly elevated when Zeppelin did those songs. Those artists should get credit and royalties. Dude the drum intro on rock n roll is used a million times at different bpms in music. 😂
Music copyright was not as tight back in the 60s/70s. Lots of bands in that era lifted old blues standards - they got away with it - briefly - because the original artists had poor management. Once music became big business, so did the litigation. The interesting point to all this is the question: Did bands like Cream and Led Zeppelin actually enhance knowledge of the old blues artists thus increasing the royalties of these artists by increased exposure? The answer is absolutely - in that regard, they paid their dues - BUT it took that litigation to enhance the profile of those old blues artists. I cannot believe that those bands didn't know they were lifting those songs. What I can believe is that - due to the half-assed, barely formed copyright laws of the 50s/60s - these bands probably didn't think they were doing anything wrong at the time. That being said, it is interesting to note that some songs were taken from artists who were not well known limiting the scope for litigation. Who knows, and now, who cares - the people got their deserved royalties/credit in the end and without the likes of Cream and Zeppelin, not many would know anything about them today. Swings and roundabouts.
Good reply... there definitely seems to be a naivety to the whole thing. This was pre George Harrison "My Sweet Lord" even. And there's something about the genre of "blues" that already seems like everyone is just rehashing the same chords and lyrics (actually why I fell out of love with the blues which I was really into as a teenager, it all just started to sound the same and incredibly boring). Ya, it's a shame they kinda just lifted little pieces here and there, and then credited it to Page/Plant... they could have been more grown up about where they were getting their material. Seems like even Clapton was always good about doing a straight blues cover, and then giving credit... and not just grabbing little bits and pieces and calling it an original work.
That is an outstanding observation and post, it’s both calm and reasonable, and the most likely take on the state of the industry back in the 60’s and early 70’s.
Here are more songs Led Zeppelin "borrowed" It's Nobody's Fault but Mine - Blind Willie Johnson The Gallis Pole - Lead Belly Traveling Riverside Blues - Robert Johnson The Waggoner's Lad - Bert Jansch (Bron-yr-aur Stomp) Shake em on down - Bukka White (Hats off to Roy Harper) Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed - Blind Willie Johnson (In My Time of Dying) Ooh! My Head - Ritchie Valens (Boogie With Stu) You Shook Me (Muddy Waters) I Can't Quit You Baby (Otis Rush) When The Levee Breaks (Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie)
There's also a song by an old blues man Sleepy John Estes that's called 'Drop Down Mama'. Uncannily, and I'm sure not accidentally, similar to Custard Pie.
LZ didn't "rip off" other songs; they just Pagerized them.
The guy didn't kill him, he just took his life.
He didn’t rape her he just gave her a surprised one night stand
@@surfk9836 I think you guys are missing the joke here, the guy says "Pagerized", playing on Jimmy Page's name, and how they stole music
I see and I like what you did there. Underrated comment. Bravo!
That was pretty good! Congrats!
“Hippity Hoppity your song is now my property” - 4 English Lads
"Pay up" : Music Company lawyers.
eh they made most the songs better and modern not saying it was right but aye who am i to say anything
@@sunkintree nahhhh
@@PadawanIan I disagree about that,
@@TimothyLafreniere that’s cool
One critic said that LZ was his favorite cover band.
I agree. But elevating a song to a new level should not be named a cover. But hey, who is going to be the judge of better? But indeed the original writer/performer needs to be credited and payed regardless.
My uncle says that all the time and I’ve never known why lol
Their original songs are enough to make them the greatest rock band.
They did it fucking excellent, every one is epic. All LZ originals are amazing and there are alot of them. Best live band by far. Bonzo is by far the best drummer too
They probably are the greatest cover band of all time. But they're also a great originals band (Houses of the Holy might be their best album and it seems to be completely original) which means they're legends for a good reason.
willie dixon's legacy is the most underrated thing in music. period.
Willie was also prone to ripping other artists off
I completely agree we’ll said Sir
@@gordonbgraham yep, very common in older blues
tbh if there was no willi dixon there would be no zeppelin 🤷♀️
@@hisfavworstnightmare because none of those musicians could play…lmfao
There's nothing wrong with being inspired to the point of copying someone else song, but be a man about it and give them the proper credit and the royalties. Even if the copied version is better, it's still not their own. Great video by the way. Thanks for sharing.
Nothing wrong getting caught ! wake up man ,,,,,,,,go update your Taylor Swift playlist
@@CP-kb1du Hahahaha that was hilarious tbh
9:34 Reminds me of that scene in Amadeus, where Mozart fixes Salieri's song and makes it better. ROFL
@@CP-kb1du interesting attempt at english i particularly like the weird thirty commas you put in for no apparent reason
They actually did. Zep has a dozen or so songs that gave normal cover credits at the time of recording, including 3 of the 8 songs on Led Zeppelin 1. Have to remember that they were all in their early 20s for the recording of most of the "problem" tracks. We probably shouldn't have high expectations about their ability to navigate copyright.
Zeppelin’s music is great. Just disappointing that they didn’t credit the original writers until they were sued.
I wouldn't stand next to any member of that band -- probably would pick my pocket.
That is the behavior of assholes.
Say what you will but I still love Zeppelin’s music. All blues and blues-rock were inspired by the delta bluesmen. Do I listen to records of the originals? No, really, with much respect, but I like Zeppelin’s rock sound. Even David acknowledges in the video the tunes are better versions musically. THEY JUST SHOULD HAVE CREDITED THE ORIGINAL WRITERS. It wouldn’t have taken away anything from their music if they did. And they’re definitely guilty for not doing so.
@@jnagarya519 They wouldn’t need to pick your pocket, they’ve got enough already.
@King Vegemite "Zeppelins music isn't that great when you realise it's not Zeppelins music.. That's the whole point of this video"
You must not have watched this video because that wasn't the point at all.
@@halflanding1900 there are a lot of good cover bands out there.
"All musicians are thieves, the good ones take it somewhere new and the great ones do it more than once." -- Muddy Waters.
Zeppelin made the blues a 1000 times better than what it was,so what if they ripped them off,its 2021,i think it's to late too bring it up now
@@henrygriffen40 They did't do the stealing in 2021.
We know how YOU'D react if YOUR property was stolen: you'd whine all the way to court.
We're talking about Black musicians who were routinely ripped off before "Led Zeppelin" even existed. How many times must they be ripped off before you'll consider the theft significant?
@@henrygriffen40 In what fucking universe? That’s a ridiculous opinion! The blues was born out of the African American experience, Zeppelin could never understand that, or recreate the feeling the blues expresses.
@@jnagarya519 Found the white hater. You're all over these comment threads. Get a new hobby.
@@Rubberbandfan1
But they did.. zeppelin took the blues and put heavy guitar and drums.. then Plants insane voice.. they totally reworked those songs into new one. No rip offs.. no copying.. completely reworked.. almost unrecognizable..
The sad thing is Zep never needed to plagiarize their songs. They could have given credit where credit was due, and their cover versions would still have been amazing!
they didnt plagiarise. they followed the blues tradition of paying homage to what had happened in the past, with passing references. "Bring it on home".... of course the 20 seconds of intro / outro is the older song.... the MAIN song though.... pure Page / Plant. this is the thing... blues artists up til then did this all the time. made reference to others lyrics & licks... but none of them made any money. Zeppelin made astronomical amounts of money in the 70's (around 1973 onwards... ironically enough, when they dropped the blues interpretations) .... so the lawsuits came about 10 years later (in the 80's when lawyers took over the world) and here we are. the ONLY time Zeppelin actually ripped off a song and deserved to get sued was the Jake Holmes song. THAT was wrong.
Whatever helps you sleep at night 😂
The reason was greed. By not crediting anyone they didn't have to pay out any money. If you was to play a riff or lick someone else wrote, that's one thing. When you take an entire song someone else wrote, and credit yourself as the writer, it's outright theft, and zeppelin did that.
The point is that they've made a fortune out of stealing other peoples' work, and claiming it as their own. It's criminal.
@@rickbailey-ty8bqCorrect.
Funny thing is that led zep is also one of the band that is the strictest about their copyrights and never accept reuse of their songs catalog for games like guitar hero or for commercials.
And the Beastie Boys...
Their song “ rock n roll”( been a long time) WAS used several years ago.in a car commercial. I think it was for Cadillac.
Yes, they are very proprietorial about their copyright, but were shameless about stealing from others back in the day. A scumbag way to behave, and they didn't need to, they did actually also create original enough music too.
@@mattk9089they mixed beautifully the blues songs they reused. They are kinda like dj of their times in a way.
@@mattk9089 I can understand bands not wanting their songs selling stuff on adverts
all they had to do was credit the artists and paid them royalties.
All you had to do was credit the artists and paid them royalties, CJ!
The ones they did repay....were only from a certain date and not from the initial release of said song.Not back dated.
@@StratsRUs The out of court settlements “for an undisclosed amount” would have compensated the original writers for royalties that predate the settlement.
How were they to know how successful they would become? Why weren’t the original songs just as successful?
@@gaspingfortruth why does that matter? Just credit the original artist everytime you want to use someone else's song. How hard is that?
I'm not sad that Led Zeppelin existed. That music needs to exist. Giving credit where it's due is also a necessity. One shouldn't need to be forced by a lawsuit to do that.
EXACTLYEEE 💢
WELL SAID!!
@@theethnicist5678 I've seen your comment elsewhere
@Michelle Plombe
Maybe?
Especially when those bands can't afford to take on LZ lawyers. Shame!! Just give credit. Beatles used to insist on Black Idols coming on stage with them and plugging their music. Props to that. Jeff Buckley had so many influences and he spoke with such admiration. He gave writing credits on his covers constantly "Hallelujah" for Jeff. I'd say that his covers are less Pagerised than LZ "influences". It's interesting that LZ were big fans of Jeff Buckley too. They must just be like damn, wish we could cover songs like that!!
Amen to that Brother.
Another weird thing about Zeppelin's approach to credits is that on their first album Robert Plant received no writing credit at all! Not for Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, not for anything. I believe that has since changed. And ironically, in view of later issues, on that first album they did give sole credit to Willie Dixon on two songs.
Ah so they didn't even credit their own songwriters... Zeppelin is a weird case.
Apparently because of contract issues.
I can’t wait for LZ’s new album “Settled Out of Court For An Undisclosed Amount”
Good one
The Beatles had a handful of songs they took without permission, too. The difference is...
Of Zeppelin, Tom Petty, Cougar Mellencamp, The Beatles, others...
Only Led Zeppelin gave us mountains from rocks, and diamonds from rocks. The others only made pieces if tiles from rocks.
Reason I hate British bands.
Least OUR whiteboys make THIER OWN music🇺🇸
^yeah, just like elvis ey?
@@og-greenmachine8623
Hell yeah, rock and roll with cheeseburger
You've educated, and disappointed me with that . Very well done. One band that didn't do this was Humble Pie with their Rocking the Fillmore live album( absolutely wonderful) where they put rock songs to their own music but everything was credited to the original composers. Decent people.
In 1976, when I was 14, Paul Hagan (in third form) used to get his older brother to transfer all his Led Zeppelin albums on to tape for me at one dollar a pop. I don’t feel so bad now.
Hahaha!
I got them all as copies on cassette as well
You are allowed to make copies of anything. You just can't sell /gift them to anyone.
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull once said, there are only so many riffs and notes (144), a guitar player can play, and if someone is using mine, it only shows my genius.
Like Hotel California?
Obviously that ignores microtonal music
there are only 36 notes on a transverse flute though, so much easier to rip off!
@@vincentv.9729or expand
Point of order - the intro of 'Rock & Roll' starts on the 'and' of beat 3, rather than on beat 1 - doing that means you won't need to stick those bars of 3/4 and 5/8 in and it all lines up in 4/4.
Bonzoleum
My life changed the day I realized this.
*drum nerd enters the chat and paradiddlediddles the keyboard*
@@nettles89 yes!! Used to drive me nuts as a guitar player - I never came in right because I thought it started on beat one.
Yes. The notation of Keep a knockin is nuts too. And they are _not_ the same.
Muddy Waters song, "the blues had a baby and they called it Rock n Roll "Muddy Waters was the greatest blues man ever ( just my opinion) and I also love Led Zep saw them play Perth early 70s. I'm 81 years young this year and still rocking mainly in my rocking chair. Love and peace from Australia 🎶🎵🎶🎵😜✌
Speaking of Willie Dixon. He has an autobiography called "I Am The Blues", 1990. You want to know about the most prolific Chicago blues songwriter? This is the book that reveals his upbringing and life in Chicago and Chess Records. Highly Recommended.
Also has an album by that name, which was one of the first blues albums I ever bought, I think along with Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers.
One of the best, most engaging autobiographies I ever read. Perhaps even the best. Dixon lived a very interesting life. I bought a copy shortly after its release. Yes, highly recommended!
Willie Dixon WAS Chess Records. He did everything, including songwriter, arranger, engineering, session musician, inventing "echo" with black stand pipe.
SRV did several Willie Dixon covers but also credited him too
@@thetruthisoutthere8598 Yeah, because by that time, the world was infested with lawyers.
You forgot “When the levie breaks”. I’ve heard the original played on a steel acoustic by a Mississippi blues artist.
Yes. Memphis Minnie composed the music on guitar and her husband Kansas Joe wrote the lyrics. Awesome Recording.
Memphis Minnie was credited on the original release of the Untitled album + the songs are almost completely unrecognisable
@@Pumper_of_MawsUnfortunately, unlike yourself and a few others, most people cannot take the time to read the album liner notes. This video is just more internet bullshit posing as "research".
The sad thing is, no one would have thought any less of them if they had simply said, "This is our interpretation of the classic blues tune by X."
there would have been more royalties to pay, though
@@cl8804 Indeed. Which makes it all that more disgusting.
@@todwest you love it, you know you do
@@cl8804 I was never a Zeppelin fan. All my friends were. I was into Queen, Bowie, Steely Dan, Little Feat. Never disliked them, particularly, but they also weren't my thing.
But they didn’t. That’s the issue. They claimed these as their own.
Every Brit band from the 60s were in love with the blues. I'm grateful they were... unlikely the originals would have sold well. Nevertheless, credit where due. That goes for Clapton, The Who, Yardbirds, The Beatles, Stones, etc.
Every? Even Pink Floyd?
@@dbwriterindia - in Syd Barrett times - yes
@@Amandacana I disagree. Barrett’s Pink Floyd was very British-sounding. Whimsical psychedelic pop with folk undertones and the occasional guitar distortion. The most bluesy thing about them was their name.
@@dbwriterindia Named after blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. So yeah. Plus Gilmours leads are all blues based pentatonic scales. Also many "blues" chord progressions in many of their songs.
The originals would not have sold well because labels and distributors wouldn’t put marketing dollars behind Black artists. It was straight racism.
This makes me wonder how critical they were of their "repurposing" and "inspirations". Still one of the best bands out there though. Great video btw. And thanks for the shoutout and great collab :)
Hey, you remember the dirt you did to The strokes? You really need to associate your sources and script better, like I hope you make better videos cause I think you are not giving a good reputation to this crossover.
What is so great about Zeppelin? Except that they were groundbreaking at the time.
It's strange how picky they get about people using their music for teaching proposes and block their vids. Well...since they borrowed tunes so many times. Plain stupid really.
@@shannonpincombe8485 Excellent point!
@@nedim_guitar you’re right, they’re very overrated
I was amazed at the range of genre of songs that led zepplin made at that time. How could any band come up with such a diverse and rich songs? Well, they weren't the creative gods that I thought they were but they did improved on those songs.
At least some of their later work had to be original.
on parle des chansons qu ils ont copié, il faudrait plutôt transformé, leur seul tort c est de ne pas avoir crédité la plupart de ces chansons aux auteurs , pas très honnête de leur part, et si on parlait aussi de toutes les autres qu ils ont écrit et composé , toutes ces histoires que connaissent tous les inconditionnels de Led Zeppelin n enlevent en rien leur génie créatif
They improved songs thanks to the technology they had at their disposal in the late '60s and early '70s. Days of scratchy vinyl records were long gone but the true spirit of original blues was captured by musicians who lived the blues. Have mercy and RIP.
Interview Plant did explains his shock Americans were burying much blues artist due to racial issues. They brought it out proudly and never denied the copy/ influence.
@@Number4lead A lot of their work was original and much of it was the best they ever did. Seems like the Brits in general got their stat in rock playing blues originally done by dirt poor blacks in U.S. You could say they improved it but they had better instruments and technology. Original blues guys had the spirit.
"You only get caught if you're successful" daaaaamn
That part actually makes sense. Getting permission to make and publish a modified version of a copyrighted song is typically somewhere between difficult and impossible, especially if you are not (yet) rich and famous.
Kinda shows what they thought of their prospects. Little did they know...
@@paulperkins1615 Something that happens constantly usually isn't difficult or impossible.
Oh please, man..... This crap started much earlier with Elvis Presley (whom I'm a huge fan of) and he too never gave the proper credit to the black blues men he was trying to "imitate"!
@@paulperkins1615 No it isn't. One doesn't need permission -- one only must give credit and pay the royalties.
Mick Jagger always mentioned listening to "black" gospel and blues music and stated multiple times that they were bringing their music to the forefront. The likes of Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson were more famous and respected in the UK than the states. Yeah Brit bands ripped them off, but helped them gain the recognition they deserved. Many toured the UK and were treated like the stars they were
Distance often increases respect
I wonder if the Stones paid royalties to the people they covered. They seem to always have given fair credit.
Perfect example of cultural appreciation
@@alicequayle4625 Good question
This is not nothing new.this happened" oftentimes.. a common occurrence it wasn't just British Bands " that plagiarize them,""it in happened in America,,and the bands had no intention of paying royalties..
I believe that in the first two albums, they “stole” the majority of the songs that are called into question, because one all blues musicians already did this, they were a touring band who on the first album spent 9 hours in the studio to make something they can sell on their first tour, Robert plant didn’t really write any of his own lyrics until Thank you. After these first two albums there are still some of these thefts but nowhere near to scale. In hindsight, yes Led Zeppelin should have given credit to all the musicians they were inspired or ripped off, but as a musician myself, I can’t count how many times I wrote a song after hearing a riff by jimmy page or Keith Richards and it almost sounds the exact same. The difference is that these guys made these songs way better and nobody cared until they could get money from it. Think about all these musicians getting brought into a new era of music by bands like zeppelin.
"Led Zeppelin" is not a "new era". They are warmed-over "Yardbirds".
And you never would have heard of them if "The Beatles" hadn't turned the flow of music from US to world, to UK to US and world.
@@jnagarya519 very true compared to the Beatles, Led Zeppelin can seem very one dimensional in some regards
Yeah, but taking elements from a song, as opposed to just doing a whole section of a song, melody and lyrics together, are two different things. The Beatles did the former. Led Zeppelin did the latter.
@@jnagarya519 I love both bands, but Zeppelin is more "fully-cooked" Yardbirds than "warmed-over". Plant alone is in a different league than Relf (RIP, and no shame in taking second place to Plant).
Yeah, but, see, that ripped off melodies and lyrics. I'm also a musician, and I get inspired by a LOT of music, but I never rip off a song. A moment in a song grabs me, and I instantly use that feeling to do something that's my own. It's like I have an idea where the song would go if I did it. It goes into a completely different direction, the chords and melodies are completely different, but the feeling I had hearing that one part remains. Led Zeppelin were blatant about their theft. It's not even inspiration, it's theft.
The moment you are in a blues based music. The tradition is so simple and identifiable, that complete originality would be hard to come by. It’s like saying BB, Albert and Freddy King’s songs sound similar. Page was doing the same thing with The Yardbirds, as Clapton before him with John Mayall.
Taurus itself, could be said to be a lift from an earlier guitar piece by English folk guitarist Davy Graham.
That's quite correct and Graham did nothing original himself.
All of this stuff was well documented relentlessly several decades ago. Amongst British groups at that time it was common and accepted practice to "rework" those songs without proper credit given to the original artists/writers. Of course that started to change as early as the mid-70's.
Bullshit. No, it was never common. Staggeringly asinine comment.
Yardbirds
Total British move
Stealing others music seems like it should be the record companies responsibility not so much the artist.
Blues artist have taken others songs, and lines from songs and given themself songwriting credit for them since the start of the blues .
The Stairway to Heaven versus Taurus case is pretty much jaywalking compared to some of the other songs that Led Zeppelin ripped off. There is no doubt, though, that it was wrong for Led Zeppelin to not credit the artists whose songs they borrowed from.
The problem though, is that they were more of an influence. Zeppelin have never denied that. It's hard to say they borrowed certain songs, when they completely rewrote them.
@@skye1868 Exactly!! You never heard Albert King complaining about Stevie Ray's music!! He loved him and loved the fact HIS style of playing was appreciated and revered again!! I agree with Robert. If the songs collect and artists want compensation and credit, that's between them and management. Elvis Costello said "Everyone in the music industry are thieves and magpies. Influence is a congenial word for taking."
I think Taurus and stairway , there is a kind of inspiration but it’s slightly different melody introduction
@@brunobruno792 I think Jimmie Page just added an extra note or two to that arpeggio, and accented them, otherwise they sound very similar.
The first 6 here look to be borrowed. The last two aren't at all. Not sure how a song that you can't stomach to listen to for 15 seconds was stolen to make the most iconic song they ever did and maybe of all time.
I'm a huge Zeppelin fan, and I used to work at a music store with a guy who was a huge blues connoisseur and he basically started listing all the songs they KNOWINGLY stole. It was disappointing that they had to be forced to do the right thing for their supposed heroes. I lost a lot of respect for them after that.
Yeah, watching this video, I don't mind that they yoinked songs from other people. That's kind of how art works: it's hard to make a TRULY original work.
What makes me lose respect for LZ Is that when they were rich and famous they STILL fought the artists who wanted some credit and compensation.
@@ProfDCoyIt’s not that easy IMO. I don’t know the details, but I can imagine that some of these lawsuits have been diminishing Zeppelins contribution on the other hand. I mean, treating all these songs as just-covers is also totally missed as they gained a new soul thanks to LZ.
@@xe71in many cases, made them listenable
Just did today and im black
I never have. I've heard all the songs. They were worth one listen. Led Zeppelin's songs that were derived from other songs are timeless and I listen to them all over and over. They just took something raw and produced something great. No music comes out of a vacuum. Blues was all about playing other people's songs. The only reason why some songs in folk genres are public domain is because there wasn't a music publishing industry happening when those songs were floating around.
The only people who call it “stealing” don’t understand the history and context of blues music. Covering music and referencing other work is a long time blues tradition. Blues music goes beyond lyricism, it’s about feel and what you bring to it. Virtually all of the British blues-rock bands of the late 60s (Cream, Hendrix, Stones, Peter Green’s FM, Bluesbreakers, etc.) covered material and yes, sometimes without giving credit.
Even the second wave blues greats like BB King, Albert King, and Muddy Waters covered music from first wave greats (yes, sometimes without crediting). They weren’t “stealing” they were paying homage to their influences.
In the end, out of Led Zeppelin’s 90 studio recorded tracks, only 10 are covers or have referenced material and all of which has been credited since the late 80s with back proceeds given to original artists. Music Copyrights were almost nonexistent prior to the 90s, LZ gets vilified for doing what everyone did because of the proportion of royalties.
As for the Stairway case vs Taurus - that was an absolute money grab. The case involved only the first 10 second arpeggio which was proven in court to be over 300 years old. Courts ruled twice in favor of Zep. You can’t claim a basic arpeggio sequence as your own, anyone with any basic understanding in music theory should know that.
I’m sick and tired of people perpetuating this nonsense narrative. Give it a rest.
Yes people haven’t listened to
much blues, you’ll hear plenty of repeated phrases and themes.
@@RickLaBanca all the time and everywhere. The entire Rolling Stones Catalogue is based on Chuck Berry rhythm playing. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s playing is pretty much just Albert King licks. Hell even classics like the Thrill is Gone by BB King… a COVER not initially credited. The Blues are about personal interpretation while drawing from your influences.
Thank you for explaining it to everyone
Why are they settling out of court for songs?
@@jacklane7489 going to court over copyrights typically means you have the intention of defending your case (as a defendant). There’s nothing to defend here, these songs are all covers of covers by artists who also didn’t credit. You settle out of court to discuss the terms of royalties. The only time they went to court was for Stairway and that’s because the case was a money grab by Spirit estate owners - it had no merit which is why it was shot down twice.
You know who else “borrowed” blues licks and lyrics? Every blues musician ever 😂
I know, non musicians think that you should just boot strap yourself and come up with everything from scratch, as if it’s not good for everyone to have a rich tradition to draw from. But you know what musicians that come up with everything them self sound like? Poor. All great bands did this, just with varying degrees of cunning. Bands like Radiohead we’re savvy enough to dig in obscure corners of electronica from where no one would notice or care.
So much this. What a pointless video.
BUT they usually credit the SOURCE.
Yes, but they also credit and pay royalties... You tit. And they don't make an ENTIRE CAREER off other people's music. You clearly don't understand blues.
@@chriscreed6410 well you clearly don’t understand Led Zeppelin if you think their entire career is based off of other people’s music. Go listen to their originals, many of them better than every song that appears in this video… unless you count Stairway to Heaven as a plagiarized version (which it isn’t)
See also "In My Time of Dying" and "When the Levee Breaks." I love Led Zep LPs, I really do, but their failure to give credit where credit was obviously due makes me think less than highly of them as people. The Rolling Stones and Cream, to name two blues-rock acts, were meticulous about making sure their inspirations got due credit (and, hence, royalties).
In my time of dying is in the public domain and When the levee breaks gives credit to Memphis Minnie
the statutory rape also makes me think less of them
@@edwardcoit9748 not originally
Jason Schulman
I have an original copy of fourth album. So yes they did.
@@jaschul originally yes, after Led 2 there no “true” cover tracks that Zeppelin ripped off without giving credit
I play the guitar. If I sat down and figured out a tune. The chances that someone has played that riff on another song are probably 100% that it’s been played several times on different songs for different bands.
There's something called phrasing 😂.
Now that I think of it, this reminds me a lot of the sampling process in hip hop. You take a piece to build a song upon it. The only issue in this case was the lack of acknowledgement.
Uh, no: there is also the issue of ROYALTIES -- MONEY.
artistically its different, a sample are often used in beats with original lyrics over top of it.
All music is built upon the music that came before it. There's a very finite combination or notes/chords... however the melody/rhythm is where orginaility comes into play.
@@queenhenryviii the melody/rhythms which led zeppelin is also known to steal lol
@@TheRyanDuffinProject Touche, Guevara. Definition of dry wit..
This must have taken a lot of research. Nice to see you give the sources like Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon among others. I don’t think Zep really wanted to disregard their roots but you never know. Kind of ironic that now on UA-cam Zep would demonetize your video if you played their songs a little too long. 😄
Zeppelin and their management are definitely the world's biggest hypocrites on that issue.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Without a doubt. Shameless.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 The fastest way to turn a revolutionary into a conservative, is to let him win.
Never steal from a thief -- they get morally outraged at the wrong of it.
Best comment yet. Some of these idiots genuinely do not get it. In the days of sampling... no wonder. Nobody has original ideas anymore.
It’s pretty funny. Willie Dixon never sued Small Faces, even though writing credit for You Need Love went to Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane without Willie Dixon.
“You only get caught if you’re successful.” Yep. That song proves it. Zeppelin got sued and Small Faces didn’t. Actually, I’m now imagining what Steve Marriott would have sung had he been Zeppelin’s vocalist as Page originally intended.
Bruce Springsteen took lyrics for songs from me and never paid. I met him in 1974 when I was 15 years old at sky blue studios in Sonoma California.
This is what Bruce told me
"I'll tell you what I'll do I'll take the songs and if I use them I'll pay you depending on how good they are." Well they were his major hit songs. I gave Bruce lyrics in 1974 and 1975 and 1982. He was supposed to pay me and I was going to use the money to get through medical school. Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt welched on their agreement and did not pay me one red cent. So much for being my friend and helping me with my songwriting career. Jon Landau also welched on his agreement. The song was entitled Looking East and it went to Jackson Browne- 1996
They are what is known as "song sharks" in the industry.
This was a really tough lesson for me. Imagine having to listen to the songs you wrote while you're buying used shirts at Goodwill. Take care and be well.
😮😮
Source: trust me bro
Did you write the wrapped up like a douche song? I fucking hate Springsteen.
The line "squeeze my lemon til the juice runs done my leg, comes from Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues".
Did the band use blues staples,? Of course. But to what effect? To form a whole new genre that took the world by Strom. Led Zeppelin is the great foundation stone of heavy metal, that will never change
There’s even an old Italian composition on guitar that also uses a similar descending arpeggio line like Taurus and Stairway… but it’s centuries old, so that composer can’t sue anyone.
Whats the name? I'm interested in checking it out
check out "Everyone is WRONG about Stairway to Heaven" by Brian Krock
@@mud2294 ua-cam.com/video/MYSFuWU7GQs/v-deo.html Starting around .34.
@@neojack7011 ha ha yes . . I wonder if L Z were aware of this when Taurus sued . . I'm sure the out of court settlement would have been very different or perhaps non existant . .
Joe rm. They are called line cliches and are used a lot in music.
Boogie with Stu - Led Zeppelin
ua-cam.com/video/JabLdDQaaPo/v-deo.html
compare
Ritchie Valens - Ooh! My Head (1959)
ua-cam.com/video/HBoyELhkRls/v-deo.html
That makes 9 then!
The thing about Led Zeppelin is that they really knew how to use influences to create something completely new and important for rock music, but often they used too much (like lyrics) of single songs without crediting the original writer.
Completely new huh? I have a feeling a lot of it wasn’t new.
It's in the electronic technology, not the "influences". They are warmed-over "Yardbirds".
@Stonlee Ames "Led Zeppelin" was warmed-over "Yardbirds". And the "Yardbirds didn't STEAL from those they claimed to "love".
@@Lu-em5wx The Beatles had a handful of songs they took without permission, too. The difference is...
Of Zeppelin, Tom Petty, Cougar Mellencamp, The Beatles, others...
Only Led Zeppelin gave us mountains from rocks, and diamonds from rocks. The others only made pieces if tiles from rocks.
@@markuse3472 sure they did
My favorite Led song is also a cover: When The Levee Breaks, originally by Memphis Minnie. They later had to credit her
They credited her right from the get go.
They credited it already on the fourth album
Did she play with Count Basie? A long time ago I had one of his albums. I was listening to one of the songs on that record, sung by a female, and at one point it hit me, “holy shit, that’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’ “.
There's a credit to Memphis Minnie on my original pressing.
Memphis Minnie warned about the levee in 1929.
The line ‘squeeze my lemon’ was from Robert Johnson ‘ Travelling riverside blues’ the rest was the Wolfs(Chester Burnets) Killing Floor.
Yeah some - not all - of the lyrics came from those songs, but those guys in turn used loads of lyrics and riffs that were around in Blues culture. And the _music_ of Lemon Song is totally different from either of them. It's not really a rip-off to use a refrain, or generic blues lyrics. Zep's real crime was that they made a lot of money out of it, where the old blues men didn't.
The only thing they ever did that really was a rip-off was Black Mountainside, which just slightly re-arranges Bert Jansch's Black Water Side.
@@paddymeboyand Bertie inch got the song from an old Celtic folk song so everybody rips off everyone. If you look at some of muddy Waters songs he put his own name on there but they are rip-offs of old blues songs by Robert Johnson and some 30s guys so they all f****** do it . Howlin Wolf said he wrote 44 blues and he's credited for it but the song goes back to tommy Johnson. Some of Willie Dixon songs that he says he wrote he borrowed verses from old classic blues songs from the 20s he just rearranged them so the white kids wouldn't know the difference. John Lee Hooker is credited to have written crawling King Snake but the song goes back to Tony Hollis . Ignorant white kids seem to think that led Zeppelin ripped all these songs off because they don't know about blues. And furthermore it's not led Zeppelin's job to find out the proper credits and give the royalty these people it's the lawyers of the record companies job to suss all that out . Not page . some of these old blues songs the statue of limitations ran out years ago and the original artist never got around to copywriting it properly so the song was up for grabs in the 60s to whoever wanted to slap their name on there and led Zeppelin's record company took full advantage of that with or without plant and page knowing . Everybody does it . Van Halen ripped off the beginning of jump from an old Slade song . Eddie ripped off the beginning of eruption from an old black Arkansas song note for note . Until he goes into all that fancy finger-tapping which he didn't invent either cuz that goes back to the 30s with Roy smack . But I like your comment because you're one of the few people who understands this . 😊
David does not mention it here but the Lemon Song prominently contains the lyrics "Down on this Killing Floor" repeated three times in the song. It's in plain sight not just in other similarities.
I'm glad you tackled this subject in your forensic and balanced way. I wonder how much the years spent as a session musician making other artists successful and seeing the kind of musical skullduggery that goes on might have coloured ones opinion about, ahem, the use of musical influences in your own material. Whether you see it as "all in the game".
I've seen several videos about Led Zep's borrowings (ahem). This is the best of them. Kudos.
Even when they were going strong in the 60s I noticed that a lot of Zeppelin's songs involved a short, low note riff that repeated over and over. It made me think about how to write a hit song (which I never attempted anyway).
The only thing that stops us from finding out that some themes from Bach’s, Mozart’s or Beethoven’s music were inspired by folk songs of their time is lack of recordings.
Another song to mention. Blind Willie Johnson wrote and recorded "Nobody's Fault but Mine" in 1927. The old 1927 recording of guitar string bends and vocals sound very similar to the Zepplin version also written in the key of E.
No, it doesn't sound similar at all, you fn lying hater.
I know I'd rather listen to the Led Zeppelin version. I also know that writer and copyrighter isn't the same thing.
When the levee breaks..is another one.
Memphis Minnie and her husband made the song shortly after the big (7 states) delta flood. Lz..added emotion,
Great rendition..
Small Faces were an epic band!.. RIP Ronnie!!.. All the great rock legends point to Willie Dixon as an influence of their music..
Strange that Dixon never ever went after The Small Faces, even though they ripped him off far more blatantly.
I guess Dixon didn't think there'd be any money in it, seeing as The Small Faces never made it big.
@Simon Archbold It's more interesting to me that the people who scorch Zep for it are noticeably quiet about Marriott/Lane crediting themselves for You Need Love. And what about Willie Dixon ripping off fellow blues artists because he knew more about publishing than they did? Of course the Zeppelin whining gets more clicks...
@Simon Archbold
What I find ironic is that Zeppelin gave Dixon song writing credit for almost 1/4 of the first Zeppelin album (two whole songs). As far as I can find out he never acknowledged that or thanked them for it. Zeppelin could have, after all, chose to cover any one of numerous black blues artists but instead they covered not one but two of his songs on their debut album and thus he must have made some money off them right from 1969. I wonder if Zep were a bit bummed about that and thought "wow he didn't even give us grateful nod, ok we'll take the next one for free" haha. Who knows??
@@lyndoncmp5751 the riffs were zeps not willies the suit was over lyrics.
You mix Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Hank Sr and Jimmy Rogers and you get Rock n Roll. Levon Helm spelled this out in the Last Waltz.
Rock n Roll is absolutely a homage to Rock n Roll. So it could have taken parts from several places and probably been fine. Almost a drum sample not unlike more modern music. All music has examples of variations on using others work and has at times needed clarification on how to give credit where credit is due. The "stairway " thing is really ridiculous considering it was based around a common chord progression dating back centuries and represented so few measures.
Ok, go to any rock show. Listen to the drummers, most all do the same fills ( more or less ) in the same place. Why? Because it works.
This is the same for chord progressions. Songs on one level are all copies of something done before, but are also original at the time.
look, i been composing and performing music for 25+ years and almost everything ive ever created was "inspired" by something or someone else. either the vibe, the atmosphere the arrangement, the combination of instruments used, the energy. its unavoidable. cause no matter what kind of melody or chord progression you come up with will have the vibe of something else and you'll gravitate toward inserting it into that "feel" or style. cause if that werent the case you'd literally have to invent a whole new never before done genre everytime you compose a song. but what these guys did was pure plagiarism. biting a vibe or feel is one thing. stealing riffs and melodies is a whole nother ball game.
Inspired and stealing entire verses are two different things.
@@UhuruSasa85 What verses, where?
They have lost in court a number of times attempting your argument.
Except in most cases Jimmy Page added completely dominant melody lines that departed from the originals. At best any of these wronged artists could claim a third credit. In almost every situation the new songs/adaptations were improved .
@@Rooktoven yeah but its the main essence of a once in a lifetime riff/melody thats the hard part (not the variations you can do with it). take something like that "in the garden of eden"
main riff...who COULDNT jam, improvise , write songs around and shred for hours over that beast of a central motif???
When you get writing credit, you get royalties from every performance, album sale including that song, and all single sales.
It’s why you’ll hear someone who helped with a song often mention that the band was kind enough gave them writing credit when it happens. Some bands give all members writing credit. Others only give writing credit based on contribution.
A separate copyright does apply to the performance or recoding of the cover band - but the writers would still get a share of those royalties.
You forgot to include “Boogie With Stu”! This song was a cover of Ritchie Valens “Ooh! My Head”
the only problem with that one is that they gave credit to valens's widow, rather than the record company
@@MonsieurBooyah Ritchie was never married died at 18
@@MonsieurBooyah maybe his mom
When LZ found out that Ritchie's mother got the short end of the stick from Bob Keane (who controlled the rights to Valens' music) they gave her a songwriting credit. Naturally, no good deed goes unpunished, the Valens estate ended up trying to sue the band.
@@MonsieurBooyah Valens' mother, Ritchie died at 17 and wasn't married....
Every time we like a song at first listening, there’s usually an inspiration from an oldies
Poor Small Faces - Literally. The band never made any money, never got the credit they deserved, whilst others got very rich.
I'm always divided between tribute and influence and then using music nerd skills to lift slightly obscure music in a time when comparing songs was a lot more difficult.
Wow. I had no idea small faces covered 'you need lovin'. I thought it was an original. Still, Steve Marriot had possibly the best voice and style in rock history. Im my humble opinion of course
So all of these songs have 1 or 2 lines that are the same, with small parts of the backing track that are vaguely similar. Literally the definition of taking inspiration
No it isn’t Zepplin took the entire song.
it's called stealing if u don't pay 4 it not inspiration
Thank God they had the balls to “rip off” these other artists. I can’t imagine a world without Zeppelin.
The "Stair Way" case actually hinged on the fact Page HIRED Randy California for a session, where he helped write the intro. Since Randy was in fact paid for the session is why he lost.
Randy knew he got paid for the session , but had no idea the song would blow up like it did, and thought it would be fair if he got a piece of that pie
Spirit was a act on Chrysalis Records, who had Sting U2, Bowie, Bob Marley , Jefferson Starship, Ian Anderson, RC also wrote the song Black Foot made famous "I gotta line on you"
Very interesting info. That indeed does change the ballgame. I have always felt that Page won because he was Page (Zeppelin).
Too bad you didn't share this info with the lawyer from California's estate, so he could bring this up during the case. In Rolling Stone magazine the whole case can be read. No mention of this 'incident' at all.
I'm under the impression you made this story up....😮
@@benzep3467 only believe half of what you have read and none of what you hear
I think it's just too much that they had multiple songs that they took heavily (melody and/or lyrics) from while keeping the same song title and everything. The line between what can be used freely and what can't is kind of blurred at times, but they did seem to definitively cross it quite a bit.
Every musician in the history of the world was influenced by someone that came before them. There’s nothing wrong with emulating someone you look up to. Just give credit where credit is due.
Lots of Musician getting good exposure playing other peoples songs. But it's some huge big deal because Led Zeppelin was able to get a lot of people into their versions of these songs. Generations of dedicated listeners. Only sucks that couldn't do it like them complain.
How Many More Times is a mash up of two Howlin Wolf songs, How Many More Years and No Place to Go.
Very good catch!
There is also a part of How Many More Times that is a blatant rip-off of Jeff Beck’s Bolero.
It’s amazing to me they were so blatant about it. I mean, they didn’t even bother changing the lyrics.
Why do u care?Led Zeppelin hasn't done anything in 40 years lol
@@henrygriffen40 I imagine people are still putting money in their pockets by buying their re-re-re-releases expecting something different.
Why so defensive, Henry? Facts over feelings, sweetie
I agree, but then again, maybe they felt they could relate to the lyrics too.🙂
Unrelated, but your analyses of Beatles songs and the guessing game you played got me interested in them, and after binging their albums, I'm hooked. Thanks David!
Beatles are really sick
@@leonl1559 Without "The Beatles" no one in the US would have heard of, as example, "The Yardbirds," let alone the warmed-over "Yardbirds" "Led Zeppelin".
@@jnagarya519 Nah, No one cares. Beatles are overrated
@@fugitive6549 Take your trolling elsewhere.
John Bonham admitted that he grabbed that Little Richard opening from his song.
My favorite Led Zeppelin song is from their first lp. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, written by Anne Bredon in the late 1950s. She sued and won. Joan Baez recorded it in 1962.
Which is crazy given how wildly different the songs are. The title is the same but it's hard to imagine the zeppelin version even being "inspired" by it
@@indalot8315 I read somewhere that Plant was only 20 when LZ recorded their first album and he didn't really know what to use for lyrics on a lot of the first few records so he just borrowed them from other previous songs. He even admitted it. He said something like no one cares until you're famous and successful and then they paid back royalties and would give them writing credits going forward. But yeah they did borrow a lot of music from others. I'm sure a lot of bands have. LZ version is still a great song.
This reminded me of the riff in the bridges in Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and just how similar it is to Chicago's intro in '25 or 6 to 4'. But since it's a riff, is it an infringement? I'm no expert, but I love Led Zep!! Great video :)
I really appreciate that you always are reading all the names of your special patrons. Their names, like F. D. Hodor or Marc Ziegenhagen, together with one of your pieces of music have become an important part of your videos for me 🤗
When the Levee Breaks, Memphis Minnie. 1929 I believe. Written about the great flood of the Mississippi river in 1927. Then the opening drum beat by Zeppelin was sampled by the Beastie Boys on the song Rhymin & Stealin in 1986. With the guitar riff from Black Sabbath’s 1971 song Sweet Leaf backing the drums. I greatly enjoy many types of music. Nothing is original 😂. It’s not what you play, it’s how you play it. Please everyone. Keep in mind, there are truly only two types of music. Music that you like and music that you don’t. Your taste cannot define music as “good” or “bad”.
7:33 also "Bron‐Yr‐Aur Stomp" is the same as Jansch "Wagoners Lad" but again, old tune... Davy Grahams DADGAD en general, his "cry me river" has the intro of starway to heaven, and whole lotta janschs tunes on jimmys acoustic guitar...
My understanding is that "Wagoner's Lad" is a traditional, which would technically mean it's not plagiarism. To me, taking a riff or chord progression and writing a whole new song around it (like Zep did with "Bron-y-Aur Stomp" and "Stairway to Heaven" ) is not nearly as bad as lifting a whole melody note for note (like they did with "Dazed and Confused.")
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 but traditional songs didn't had harmony right? The tempo, the style, the way of playing, is so similar... And for me that's ok! I mean folk songs are meant to be played and changed and played again. Dylan has lots of tunes made of old melodies, but with Jimmy is mode like a style "plagiarism", idk, it's a great guitarist, I think is more than a business/money/recognition problem, those things didn't exist in the time of those old melodies, neither multimillionaire musicians!
@@fennarios That *is* true of old folk/blues songs (although not every song that Zep borrowed was an old folk/blues song, a few of them were contemporary songs.) Robert Plant was right when he said that people only accuse you of plagiarism when your record is successful and makes money... but that's the capitalist world we live in. We gotta live with it. I know that if I wrote a song I would want to be credited for it- at least until the copyright right ran out and it became part of the public domain.
@@fennarios "Business/money/recogniztion" existed as a concern at lattest by the 1920s.
That's what gets me about "Led Zeppelin" fans: stunning ignorance of music history, and rationalizing the stealing of others' music, so long as it's "Led Zeppelin" doing it.
@@jnagarya519 i think you misunderstood what I was saying, and calling me an ignorant on music history just because, without knowing me... well, ok, good for you pal
God, i love Led Zeppelin, but damn, sneaky
All big bands are, some are just better at hiding it than others. Naturally and normally music is a tradition owned by everyone and freely and gladly given. Sadly now we live in a culture where personal ownership and honour are more important to most people.
Its not sneaky. With that logic johnny B goode and great balls of fire and every song that use 12bar Blues is a ripp off from w.c fields.
Led zeppelin has not stolen anything, if a song has 1 riff that is similiar to some other song or 1 line of lyrics, thats not stealing.
The guitar fret board is so limited that its impossible to come up with something that hasnt been used before.
@@chesneytube1 If someone were to violte YOUR copyrights -- if you owned any -- you'd be whining all the way to court.
Music is not a "tradition owned by everyone" -- that is the rationale of the thief, which soon extends beyond music.
It takes WORK to produce music -- WORK for which one is entitled to profit.
@@freebee8221 Stealing is defined in LAW, not in the minds of the pro-criminal.
@@jnagarya519 no mate, no I wouldn’t. I’ve got better things to do than money grab with my time, such as enjoy music. If you look at the native cultures of this world, they don’t have materialistic greed the same way that this culture does. They view it as a sickness. They view the real wealth as their family, friends and the land. That is what makes people happy. Money and fame do not. ‘Successful’ people in this culture are often depressed to the point of harming others or suicide. This culture truly has a deep sickness.
David, why stop at eight? Lol
Edit: I say this as a Zeppelin fan.
Exactly
Whatever...
True...
Same, I think a true Zeppelin fan would admit to them stealing songs or at least borrowing without proper credit.
@@MrmiK3 You make it sound as if Zeppelin are the only band guilty of such an offense. I assure you, they are not.
Led Zeppelin did, in fact, give credit where credit was due for some tracks (“You Shook Me”, “I Can't Quit You Baby”, “When the Levee Breaks”, and a half-hearted attempt with “Boogie with Stu”), but not in all cases.
I'm glad you have quotations around "Rip Off". In American roots music and even its ancestor, the fiddle music of England, Ireland, and Scotland, there is a long tradition of borrowing licks, lyrics etc and combining them in different ways to make it your own. It is not stealing, it's part of the blues tradition. If you were to try to credit those, who actually created it, you'd have to go so far back into history there would be no documentation.
Difference was back in the day nobody was making millions of dollars doing all of that 'borrowing'.
@erics7992 nobody was forced to buy it.
@@Jpaintingdesigns That is a huge overstatement. Much of their success was due to having an original sound with arrangements different from other groups (as Glyn Johns has said many times), putting on lengthy live shows that floored audiences everywhere, putting out great and varied albums (with a small number overall of "lifts") that sounded great on any turntable. I know a lot of people who heard that first album when it was released who say how different it was to everything else. Ozzy and loads of their contemporaries say it too.
Wonder how far they’d have to go to find who said “squeeze that lemon down my leg” because I know for a fact Muddy Waters didn’t come up with that, because Robert Johnson came up with that, but the thing is I KNOW he did not come up with that
I wish you'd do the same for the "heavily" inspired songs of Lenny Kravitz. The guy also ripped off many of the greats to build his success and it's surely no coincidence.
Got any examples?
Well American Woman is the same as American Woman by The Guess Who. That's the only one I know.
Kevin Hart has taken many of his jokes from Richard Pryor.
@@davidyanez4104 but that's a cover by Lenny Kravitz.
@@haeretean9012 I know. Forgot to say it, thanks for telling. That's what I meant for the same, not a total rip off but a cover.
Thank you David for helping keep everyone honest.
They only thing that "kept" "Led Zeppelin" semi-honest were the successful lawsuits.
There's a funny part in the movie The Song Remains. There's a scene at the concert where the Zeppelin tour manager is going off on a vendor for selling bootleg posters at the concert. The poster vendor is a middle aged black guy and if he would've said "I'm Willie Dixon or Howlin Wolf's grandson" it would've been the greatest comeback in history.
I love the smile on Willie Dixon's face every time he gets a songwriting credit. ; - )
There are bootlegs of very early Led Zeppelin jamming on Spirit's riff to Fresh Garbage and there is no doubt that ONLY the first few notes were borrowed from Spirit's Taurus, but NOT ENOUGH to prove thievery. Page also confessed to owning several Spirit albums- both bands toured together, as well. There is also a 1968 track by Spirit called “It’s All The Same” which contains a drum solo by Ed Cassidy. A distinctive section of this is lifted, beat by beat, in Moby Dick in 1969.
Led Zeppelin opened for Sprit in early 1969, which was a incredible concert. The following week they played at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut for the senior prom.
Now for the rest of the story. Certainly similarities except for Stairway. NO WAY it sounds like the Taurus song (which I like too!). A jury listened and decided in Zeps favor. The announcer in this video even admits it. In other words...it doesn't belong in his list of songs Zeppelin "ripped off", yet he leaves it in here! Babe Im gonna leave you is different. Page tried finding out who wrote it, and even contacted Baez about who owns the song and Baez said the song was public domain. ie: In the pre-internet days Page did what he could to determine ownership. Turns out he, and Baez, were wrong but it was not malicious. By the way....did Baez get sued for her version since she called it public domain material too? No. Guess why. The money was with Zeps version. Dazed and confused is Pages from The Yardbirds, he just carried it over. A nothing burger. Yes the others are uncredited copies and Zeppelin SHOULD have been sued for not paying royalties...shame on them. I am glad the courts ruled for the rightful owners. But 92 songs in Zeps catalog, 5 or 6 knowingly copied without credit. All on their first 2 albums. 7 more studio albums followed.
"Amateurs barrow, professionals steal." Picasso. It's how art progresses.
Correct! How many hundreds of bands have helped themselves to Zeppelin riffs. Countless
Oh really? Who did Picasso steal his style from?
I mean, everybody has influences, the difference is between the people who have their own way of putting it together into something new, and those who are just repeating the work of others. Zep are definitely in the first category.
That statement is not meant to be justifying stealing, it’s meant to show the unfairness of the art world and how it’s driven by monetary gains.
This statement has been made by many great artists but it has been clarified to mean that you use what someone else has made to make something better, or at least different. Not literally steal it. If you take it literally then I have some songs to sell you. I think my best song is called blowin in the wind.
Greta Van Fleet... the circle continues
They were one of the first artists to get copyright claimed, before their times it was OK to just perform improved standarts
Not all were "standards," though. There's a few that were essentially contemporary songs (like the Jake Holmes tune.)
But. in a way, I think Zeppelin made up for it with all the great original music they made on IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti.
The copyright claims on their songs are more legitimate (even obvious) than many of the successful claims these days.
Yeah, covers were very common, but usually they credited the songwriter.
Bullcrap! You ever heard of Can Heat? They were around the same time as Led Zeppelin and they also played songs from the Black Blues Men. But the only difference is that Can Heat always gave credit were credit was due! Unlike the thieving LED Zeppelin.....
As ignorant as most "Led Zeppelin" fans of music history. And as cavalier about stealing from others. That's why you have no friends: you can't be trusted.
I hear the drum intros from Keep A-Knockin’ and Rock and Roll as being in 4/4, with a pickup of three eighth notes. That’s much simpler and probably how the original was thought of with its emphasis on what I hear as the downbeat.
He was mimicking a guitar intro like Chuck Berry.
Yes indeed.
@@thelonious-dx9vi Absolutely. The first snare hit of Rock n Roll is on the 3-and. The first three quavers are an anacrusis. The downbeat is on the second snare hit. There are no time signature changes. It's 4/4 all the way.
Exactly. I get that this intro is confusing if you feel the downbeat in the wrong place. But after transcribing it, and seeing 3/4 and 5/8 bars, why wouldn't you at least try counting backwards from the end to see if it makes more sense rebarred in 4? This isn't prog!
This explains a passing reference in a "The Simpsons" episode where Homer, visiting England and up in Ferris Wheel, sees Jimmy Page and makes a comment about him stealing music from black people.
He also stole (allegedly) music from white muso hippies and obscure hippie bands. What episode is that again?
The blues reimagined is a huge change because there are only so many notes that have been arranged millions of ways. I have a lot of old blues music, remastered or rare original Zepplin versions are for me the originals.
Doesn't matter. All artists steal. Dylan, Shakespeare, Beatles...all. Zeppelin took lyrics but the SOUND was fresh and I'll speak for many others, still is fresh.
While your comment is fundamentally correct, there really is no comparison.
The Beatles were successfully sued once for 2 lines of lyrical plagiarism on Come Together.
Led Zeppelin were all time plagiarists, rivalled only by Lloyd-Webber (at least he had the sense to rip off work that's out of copyright)
Track by track breakdown of Zep's plagiarism liveforlivemusic.com/features/just-how-much-of-led-zeppelins-music-was-stolen/
Zeppelin took more than lyrics, too. The fact that they invariably improved on the source material is no excuse for not crediting the original writers.
@@neilbarton5235 If you'd look deeply enough into all artists you'd find they've all stolen. Zeppelin, particularly Plant, never gave credit for ripping lyrics...a huge fault I agree. The Beatles whole first album is covers besides 1 track I think AKA stealing whilst giving credit.
I just think it's funny Zeppelins been brought to court several times on the basis of lyrics...as if they were suing them for royalties because it's the lyrics that gave Zeppelins success. Give me a break. By the way...I love the Beatles....Zeppelins better tho :)
@@mediatechjohn3088
If you give credit it's not stealing. That's the whole point.
The Beatles' first album has several Lennon/McCartney originals on it.
The same chord progression can be found in other songs. The Beatles “While my Guitar Gently Weeps came out in 1968, Led Zeppelin’s version of “Babe I’m gonna leave you” came out in 1969, and Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” came out in 1970. Supposedly Jimmy Page was late to a recording session because he was out buying Chicago’s record with that song on it.
Which makes it rather ironic that their label blocked Rick Beato's video where he played the chord progression, based on 'using the melody'.
That's odd, considering it has been credited to its writer, Anne Bredon, since Joan Baez's incorrect credit as "traditional" was discovered?
And Page never sued Chicago
It's just an Andalusian cadence. See dead leaves on the dirty ground or sultans of swing
It isn't reducable to chord progressions -- which are limited in number.
Thank the lord they covered these songs most of the population would have never heard of them. Atlantic records and peter grant decided not to give credit and royalties. The recording equipment and musical talent is greatly elevated when Zeppelin did those songs. Those artists should get credit and royalties. Dude the drum intro on rock n roll is used a million times at different bpms in music. 😂
Music copyright was not as tight back in the 60s/70s. Lots of bands in that era lifted old blues standards - they got away with it - briefly - because the original artists had poor management. Once music became big business, so did the litigation. The interesting point to all this is the question: Did bands like Cream and Led Zeppelin actually enhance knowledge of the old blues artists thus increasing the royalties of these artists by increased exposure? The answer is absolutely - in that regard, they paid their dues - BUT it took that litigation to enhance the profile of those old blues artists. I cannot believe that those bands didn't know they were lifting those songs. What I can believe is that - due to the half-assed, barely formed copyright laws of the 50s/60s - these bands probably didn't think they were doing anything wrong at the time. That being said, it is interesting to note that some songs were taken from artists who were not well known limiting the scope for litigation. Who knows, and now, who cares - the people got their deserved royalties/credit in the end and without the likes of Cream and Zeppelin, not many would know anything about them today. Swings and roundabouts.
Good reply... there definitely seems to be a naivety to the whole thing. This was pre George Harrison "My Sweet Lord" even. And there's something about the genre of "blues" that already seems like everyone is just rehashing the same chords and lyrics (actually why I fell out of love with the blues which I was really into as a teenager, it all just started to sound the same and incredibly boring). Ya, it's a shame they kinda just lifted little pieces here and there, and then credited it to Page/Plant... they could have been more grown up about where they were getting their material. Seems like even Clapton was always good about doing a straight blues cover, and then giving credit... and not just grabbing little bits and pieces and calling it an original work.
That is an outstanding observation and post, it’s both calm and reasonable, and the most likely take on the state of the industry back in the 60’s and early 70’s.
Here are more songs Led Zeppelin "borrowed"
It's Nobody's Fault but Mine - Blind Willie Johnson
The Gallis Pole - Lead Belly
Traveling Riverside Blues - Robert Johnson
The Waggoner's Lad - Bert Jansch (Bron-yr-aur Stomp)
Shake em on down - Bukka White (Hats off to Roy Harper)
Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed - Blind Willie Johnson (In My Time of Dying)
Ooh! My Head - Ritchie Valens (Boogie With Stu)
You Shook Me (Muddy Waters)
I Can't Quit You Baby (Otis Rush)
When The Levee Breaks (Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie)
Gallows pole really is traditional.
There's also a song by an old blues man Sleepy John Estes that's called 'Drop Down Mama'. Uncannily, and I'm sure not accidentally, similar to Custard Pie.
“As I chanced the air…” - beautiful lyric.
“Version by Rick Beato to avoid copyright claim” - very meta.
I love watching Rick great musician and teacher
I love this. So everyone stop saying Greta Van Fleet is copying Led Zeppelin. Everyone has an inspiration.
Nah, Greta Van Fleet denies being influenced by Zeppelin which is absurd and Zeppelin wrote a lot of amazing original songs and Greta Van fleet suck.
So I'm gonna write a tune called "heaven is a stairway" in Am arpeggios....😃😃😃😃