Freesoul asked a question on last Friday's musical post... did Led Zeppelin do anything original, and that's a very good question. There are at least 13 Zeppelin songs whose origins are questionable or in dispute. Since there are so many of them I'll just give you the names and artists with links to the songs grouped together and you can compare them yourselves. In some instances it's the music, in others the lyrics that are in question. There are five of them (marked by asterisks) that Led Zeppelin has subsequently credited the artist for on rereleases.
Led Zeppelin - Black Mountainside
Bert Jansch - Black Waterside
Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You*
Anne Bredon - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You*
Led Zeppelin - How Many More Times
Howlin Wolf - No Place To Go
The Yardbirds - Smokestack Lightning
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love*
Willie Dixon - You Need Love*
Led Zeppelin - The Lemon Song*
Howlin Wolf - The Killing Floor*
Led Zeppelin - Bring It On Home*
Sonny Boy Williams - Bring It On Home*
Led Zeppelin - Hats off to Roy Harper
Bukka White - Shake em On Down
Oscar Woods - The Lone Wolf Blues
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Lovin You
Moby Grape - Never
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Spirit - Taurus
Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie
Sleepy John Estes - Drop Down Mama
Blind Boy Fuller - I Want Some of Your Pie
Led Zeppelin - In My Time of Dying
Josh White - Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Led Zeppelin - Boogie with Stu
Ritchie Valens - Ooh My Head
And since I didn't do all this research myself... go and read this good article Led Zeppelin: Plagiarism? at Turn Me On Dead Man
Another good read is The Case Against Led Zeppelin: Is Hard Rock's Greatest Band Guilty of Musical Plagiarism? at VH1
Still, they're an awesome rock band!!! I'll leave it to the musicians among us to sort out fact from fiction.
Showing posts with label Led Zeppelin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Led Zeppelin. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 2016
Saturday, December 13, 2014
J.R.R Zeppelin
Or should that be Led Tolkien? With the upcoming release of The Battle of Five Armies the final movie in the Peter Jackson Hobbit trilogy on the 17th (12 December in the UK). We pause to take a look at the influence of J.R.R Tolkien on popular music.
Some believe that the song is the story of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the battle for Minas Tirith. The Queen of Light is Eowyn, who bids Aragorn goodbye and then turns to join the Rohan army. The Prince of Peace is Aragorn, as he embraces the gloom of the Paths of the Dead. The Dark Lord is a reference to either the Witch King of Angmar or Sauron himself. The horses thunder would be the Rider's of Rhohan, and waiting for the eastern glow would be the arrival of Gandalf and the Rider's attacking at sunrise from the east, turning the tide of battle. "The drums will shake the castle wall, the ring wraiths ride in black" is probably the most direct reference to the Lord of the Rings and the Nazgul. "The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back" may be a reference to the rune carved sword wielded by Merry and the death of the Witch King.
There has been other conjecture that many of Led Zeppelin's songs were influenced by J.R.R Tolkien. Ramble On has been suggested to represent the Hobbits journey, especially with the reference to the deepest depths of Mordor and to Gollum and the evil one.
Over the Hills and Far Away has also been suggested as have Misty Mountain Hop and Stairway to Heaven, although the band has denied any Stairway to Heaven connection. It should be noted also that among all this conjecture Robert Plant named his dog "Strider".
Metalstorm
This one "Rivendell" by Rush is the no-brainer of the bunch, directly referencing the house of Elrond.
Some believe that the song is the story of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the battle for Minas Tirith. The Queen of Light is Eowyn, who bids Aragorn goodbye and then turns to join the Rohan army. The Prince of Peace is Aragorn, as he embraces the gloom of the Paths of the Dead. The Dark Lord is a reference to either the Witch King of Angmar or Sauron himself. The horses thunder would be the Rider's of Rhohan, and waiting for the eastern glow would be the arrival of Gandalf and the Rider's attacking at sunrise from the east, turning the tide of battle. "The drums will shake the castle wall, the ring wraiths ride in black" is probably the most direct reference to the Lord of the Rings and the Nazgul. "The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back" may be a reference to the rune carved sword wielded by Merry and the death of the Witch King.
There has been other conjecture that many of Led Zeppelin's songs were influenced by J.R.R Tolkien. Ramble On has been suggested to represent the Hobbits journey, especially with the reference to the deepest depths of Mordor and to Gollum and the evil one.
Over the Hills and Far Away has also been suggested as have Misty Mountain Hop and Stairway to Heaven, although the band has denied any Stairway to Heaven connection. It should be noted also that among all this conjecture Robert Plant named his dog "Strider".
Metalstorm
This one "Rivendell" by Rush is the no-brainer of the bunch, directly referencing the house of Elrond.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Stairway to Where?
In 1968 and 1969 a band named Spirit played four gigs with Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin I, II, III are due to be re-released in June. On the presumption that Zeppelin IV will eventually follow, lawyers for the family of deceased Spirit guitarist Randy California are suing, claiming Led Zeppelin stole the intro to Stairway to Heaven from the Spirit song "Taurus".
You be the judge, the piece in question starts at about 0:45 in the Spirit song:
You be the judge, the piece in question starts at about 0:45 in the Spirit song:
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