Heres my 2 cents. And if rock isnt your bag, daddy-o, then buzz off and dont bother reading this because Ill probably blab a lot – or lay a heavy rap on you -- and you may not be hip to the noise. So a few days back Id heard about the copyright infringement case being made against Lep Zep, for the song Stairway to Heaven from the estate of the band Spirit. They say Stairway is a ripoff or waaay too similar to their (Spirits) instrumental song Taurus -- which is not a song I remember and only now have re-listened to. And heres what I think. Well, first let me back up and preface it by saying, I believe that Led Zep is quite capable of stealing stuff...even in their blues stuff. I particularly remember them liberally quoting a whole lot of Albert Kings The Hunter on a song on their first album -- (Call me the hunter baby, thats my name...Call me the hunter....thats how I got my fame.....aint no need to hide, aint no need to run, cause I got you in the sight of my love gun...) I believe A. King or his people sued and won that case. Actually, Im not sure Albert King even wrote The Hunter, but whoever did, sued and won. I think. This is certainly my memory anyhow. And, of course lines like you can squeeze my lemon, til the juice runs own my leg, were used by Led Zep, and maybe that was from a Robert Johnson song, or perhaps many songs. But really, with blues, even if an artist copyrights it, its kinda hard to know. Same with folk. The lyrics get handed down, changed – the songs were learned, one artist heard another artist do it, maybe someone calls it their composition at some point, and at that point you can sue. Anyhow, none of that has anything to do with any of this particular suit, because Stairway/Taurus isnt a 12 bar blues, its a melodic thing. I only mention the other stuff to say I think Led Zep have stolen licks and lyrics before, been sued and lost before, and I dont think them incapable of it. However, now that I’ve listened to Taurus a coupla times, my reaction is.... youve gotta be kidding. To my ears this is simply a descending bass line over a minor chord, arpeggio-ed or whatever...but there are a zillion songs that do this. Even Led Zep on that same first album I mentioned earlier did a version of Baby, Im Gonna Leave You, a song Id heard Joan Baez do, (and is, or isnt public domain) but it had that descending bass line (if youre a guitarist, Am, then Am add G bass, then Am add F# bass. etc.) I mean, Im pretty primitive in my music knowledge but I know a bunch of songs that do this. (If youre bored yet, youre not alone. Im boring myself, but need to get this out.) So it comes down to: is the fingerpicking/arpeggioing so distinctive in Taurus and is it mimicked in Stairway? Again, say I --no its not. It is a bit similar, but it doesn’t have that big pullaway (from either the G or E chord) back to the Am, that really punctuates and makes distinctive the opening of Stairway and its slow verses. (where the singing would go “to Hea-eh-ven” or “has two mea-hee-nings” ) Taurus, on the other hand, just sort of noodles and meanders down the Am chord, but kind of peters out without that dramatic pull or punctuation to get back to the Am. I know this is all kind of inside-baseball and maybe only guitar players get what I mean, though serious musicians will probably think I sound like an ignoramus in how I try to explain this stuff. Or maybe it makes sense. Regardless, its seems pretty clear to me that most anybody whose ever noodled an acoustic guitar for any amount of time will know that an Am chord with a descending line, or similarly, the C Em Am Am-add-G is just very pleasing to the ear and exists in a zillion songs. And I hear very little thats distinctive in Taurus that would make me think “oh Jimmy Page surely stole that.” I read in one article that Zep and Spirit had toured together and therefore Page had the opportunity to blah blah blah.... All ludicrous. All guitar players watch each other, steal licks or progressions, or use those licks as inspiration for their own stuff. I was ready to revel in seeing Led Zep get caught with their hand in the musical cookie jar, but sadly, I can’t get the satisfaction, because I just don’t hear it. And if this goes to court its a joke. Anyhow, sorry for the long post -- I pray you didnt slog thru it, but if you did, and have an opinion on this Id love to hear it. But keep it short, because I dont wanna read anybody’s long post, least of all my own. Thats why I havent. And Wont. Well, maybe will a little later, and then trim it down to a “single” length post, rather than an “extended play album cut” post. But who’s got that kind of time? But really, IMO this is a ridiculous lawsuit, not to mention….uhm, wouldn’t anyone have noticed this 40-some years ago when these songs came out?
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 06:40:06 +0000
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