Led Zeppelin = ripoffs? (On Howard Stern)

DeetroitBaasketball

Sathogwa wrote:

Not to the starving blues artist who isn't getting paid for what they created, while someone else is making millions off the exact same thing.

People did sue and they paid up.

FinsburyParkCarrots

glasshouse wrote:

are you suggesting that bonham was not a super-fantastic-superior drummer? if so, you are an idiot. i had to say that, cause sometimes the truth hurts my brother

I beg your pardon? It would be grossly idiotic, musicologically illiterate and downright risible to assume John Bonham was anything but grossly inferior to many, many jazz drummers of his period.

lalalalaaaaaaaa

Artistic expression and guitar riffs don't have much to do with eachother.

I don't love bands based on how unique their riffs are.

LostDawgPound

Wow, I listened to this, and it truly is shocking at how bad they ripped others off. They didn't credit anyone but themselves on the LPs. I think it's also important to mention that despite "borrowing" both lyrics and music from other musicians, they have written some really amazing records that were not rip offs. Also thought it was interesting that perhaps it wasn't their fault, but their manager’s fault. On the Stern show I guess they had a manager that was a complete a-hole.

Arctangent

why would it be their manager's fault? he didn't write (or rip off) the songs!

most of the ripped off stuff was pretty early in their careers, before they had developed their own writing and arranging skills.

MLC2006

they only did songs off the first album? a month or 2 ago, that same guy was on Stern and showed that 'Stairway to Heaven' (that was on the 4th album, right?) is a blatant ripoff of a song from a band that opened for Led Zep a few years earlier. they played the songs back to back and it was very blatant. Led Zep is a great band of great musicians and I won't take anything away from them on that. and yeah, all artists rip people off. but they seemed to do it a lot. and yeah, there's been a lot of bluesmen who died or are dying basically penniless while Zep got rich off their music.

as for GTF and Going to California, I don't think Plant/Page ever got mad about that. if they did, I never heard about it. that was pretty blatant, but it was NOT the music, it was the way in which Vedder sang the lyrics. I don't know if that's as bad as actually copying somebody's riffs.

Mike has said that the Alive solo was ripped from Kiss and the Yellow Ledbetter solo was ripped from Little Wing. I personally don't see the comparisons in those 2. though Kenny Wayne Sheppard DID rip off the entire Yellow Ledbetter song, I think it was called "while we cry" or something like that. it and "Stairway to Heaven" are the 2 most in your face ripoffs I've ever seen.


also, for blues fans, Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy" was an almost note for note ripoff of a Tbone Walker song.

Arctangent

MLC2006 wrote:

they only did songs off the first album? a month or 2 ago, that same guy was on Stern and showed that 'Stairway to Heaven' (that was on the 4th album, right?) is a blatant ripoff of a song from a band that opened for Led Zep a few years earlier. they played the songs back to back and it was very blatant. Led Zep is a great band of great musicians and I won't take anything away from them on that. and yeah, all artists rip people off. but they seemed to do it a lot. and yeah, there's been a lot of bluesmen who died or are dying basically penniless while Zep got rich off their music.

i did say MOST!

LostDawgPound

Arctangent wrote:

why would it be their manager's fault? he didn't write (or rip off) the songs!

most of the ripped off stuff was pretty early in their careers, before they had developed their own writing and arranging skills.

I'm not sure of the exact quote, but they talked about it for a second on Stern... Basically, it is a possibility that it could have been someone close to the band who told them to say they wrote all that stuff and let the people come after them if they want song credits... Apparently it wasn't until Led Zeppelin made it big before these artists started to realize they were ripped off...

Of course, I do not know if this true, as no one does. Hell, it could have been the band that made the decision to credit themselves as the songwriters. I doubt anyone will ever find out.

:O)

Arctangent

i doubt very much it would have been peter grant. doesn't sound like the kind of thing he would have told them to do as he let them get on with the music side of things and just handled the business side of things.

PJ-Sin

"Ok artists copy. Great artists steal."

I thought of this quote while reading this thread.
I think it was from Steve Jobs talking about computers, but I think it still applies.

Sathogwa

DeetroitBaasketball wrote:

People did sue and they paid up.

I know, it's a shame it took a lawsuit.

Ledbetterman10

NickyNooch wrote:

WOW. I am a Zeppelin fan, so I understand the rebuttals I'll get, but after listening to the proof (they played clips from the other bands where lyrics were BLATANTLY ripped off) I'm convinced... Zeppelin ripped off a LOT of people.

welcome to about 10 years ago when I first heard of Jake Holmes original Dazed and Confused.

RyeGuy

i thought this was common knowledge by now. Lots of bands do the same thing but Zep takes a lot of shit for cause they are considered of of the best bands of all time. But this won't make me enjoy Zep any less at all.

Alex_Coe

RockMan wrote:

i thought this was common knowledge by now. Lots of bands do the same thing but Zep takes a lot of shit for cause they are considered of of the best bands of all time. But this won't make me enjoy Zep any less at all.

This is why music is such a difficult art- it is almost impossible to write something unique, but it's also unnaceptable to steal another's work. Writing and composing music is pretty much officially harder than brain surgery.

(I've tried to write many, many, many songs and I've thought up only 1 that I consider truly original... :cries: )

glasshouse

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I beg your pardon? It would be grossly idiotic, musicologically illiterate and downright risible to assume John Bonham was anything but grossly inferior to many, many jazz drummers of his period.

"many many" you say?
name me 5. i double dare you

you are way funny my brother

glasshouse

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I beg your pardon? It would be grossly idiotic, musicologically illiterate and downright risible to assume John Bonham was anything but grossly inferior to many, many jazz drummers of his period.

you know what my brother, i am actually seriously pissed off by your post. i mean, i listen to jazz as i listen to rock. don't try and tell me anything bout charles mingus and miles davis and whatnot.but you come in here with your dick all hard and dismiss one of the greatest drummers of all time.
not cool dude. even less intelligent. music snobbery is kind of bland by the way.

Inkdaub

I thought it was well known that Zep ripped a lot of their music off. I also thought much of the original artists were credited in the liner notes? Maybe not or maybe that was a change that came later when they got caught.

Zep is a great band and I like their recorded music. I think the reason that many people enjoy calling them down for this is that they came off as being so incredibly in love with themselves.

FinsburyParkCarrots

glasshouse wrote:

you know what my brother, i am actually seriously pissed off by your post. i mean, i listen to jazz as i listen to rock. don't try and tell me anything bout charles mingus and miles davis and whatnot.but you come in here with your dick all hard and dismiss one of the greatest drummers of all time.
not cool dude. even less intelligent. music snobbery is kind of bland by the way.

I'm pleased you're pissed off by my post. I simply related how a master drummer such as Dannie Richmond lampooned Bonham's legendary lack of subtlety.

And who are you trying to copy, with this "my brother" crap?

fada

Anyone have examples I can hear ?

glasshouse

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

And who are you trying to copy, with this "my brother" crap?

the squid and the whale. check it out my brother