The Led Zeppelin Plagiarism Compendium

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Actually, and I am merely quoting the master, the best way to resolve this dispute is surely champagne and reefer.

Un peu d'Eire, ça fait toujours Dublin (Michael White), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:10 (thirteen years ago) link

there was one debate I read somewhere (newsgroups???) that theorized that Led Zeppelin were subscribing to the old accepted notion amongst blues guitarists that blues was a 'shared' communal music so that ideas could be used collectively and 'borrowed', per se.

Although as one of the respondents correctly pointed out, that doesn't really apply when you're a major recording artist on a major label, rather than being an unsigned blues guitarist gigging at clubs.

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:11 (thirteen years ago) link

Guitar Magazine also did a fairly nice breakdown of Zep's plagiarism in an issue around 1995-1997, although they focused more on one to two specific songs ("Lemon Song" was one).

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:12 (thirteen years ago) link

I'd like to know how many albums Zeppelin sold last year. I bet it's a significant one. The plagiarism issue is still a valid one, though maybe alleviated a little bit by the fact the writers of the songs are getting a cut. Except for the poor Dazed and Confused guy. And Page did a flat out note for note rip of that song, if I remember correctly.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:12 (thirteen years ago) link

"Actually, and I am merely quoting the master, the best way to resolve this dispute is surely champagne and reefer."

Certainly works for me.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:13 (thirteen years ago) link

plagiarism or not, I can't trick my ears into not liking what I hear when "Dazed and Confused" comes on. there's no contradiction in finding the act itself deplorable while still "liking" the music

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:14 (thirteen years ago) link

loosy goosy, violin bow wielding sloppy guitar playing

LOL you know what the blues really needs to make it exciting is rigid, perfectly exercised technique.

a mix of music (Lionel Ritchie) and kicks (my tongue) (Phil D.), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:14 (thirteen years ago) link

many xps yeah that's what drives me crazy--it's not that plagiarism "doesn't matter," it's that everyone knows this and knew it 20 years ago, the impacted parties are all dead, and yet the opening post of this thread is like some smoking gun shit that is suddenly supposed to do....what? how is this information supposed to impact me?

call all destroyer, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:15 (thirteen years ago) link

the solo in "Rock 'n roll" is so sloppy that I gave up trying to learn it cuz I can't make out half of it. but uhm are we really talking about sloppiness as a detractor in blues-based rock 'n roll, cuz if so there's a lot of bands that will need to snap their guitar cases shut.

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:15 (thirteen years ago) link

Q: Are the second and third in this series of pictures "deplorable"?

http://www.albany.edu/~delong/virtualvel/goya_picasso_dali.jpg

(Neither credits Goya)

Hadrian VIII, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:17 (thirteen years ago) link

hey guyz do you think HEre Comes the Hotstepper is a ripoff of Come Together

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:18 (thirteen years ago) link

xxp well I didn't know all this, I find the debate mildly diverting and it's good that it has its own thread on ilm. so this information 'impacts' me for sure.

margana (anagram), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:18 (thirteen years ago) link

glad 4 u

call all destroyer, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:19 (thirteen years ago) link

hey I was just about to post those paintings! first one is Velazquez though not Goya.

margana (anagram), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:20 (thirteen years ago) link

that would be extra deplorable if they had credited goya then

Hadrian VIII, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:22 (thirteen years ago) link

Big payout

Hadrian VIII, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:23 (thirteen years ago) link

well I guess it's only a matter of time before the sister "The Quentin Tarantino Plagiarism Compendium" thread gets started on ILE.

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:23 (thirteen years ago) link

altho that one is fairly more engaging because it's ongoing as he's still making movies

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:24 (thirteen years ago) link

My problem with Zeppelin (besides Robert Plant’s voice) is not so much that they borrowed or stole songs, but that they didn’t even bother to acknowledge those artists who helped shape their sound. The Rolling Stones once refused to appear on a TV show unless Howlin’ Wolf was given a spot, too. In the folk or blues tradition, it’s quite common to “borrow” themes, melodies, etc. — Dylan’s been doing it his whole career. But the guy has always trumpeted his admiration for those who influenced him, naming names in countless interviews for nearly 50 years now. He helped bring a lot of his musical heroes to the public eye and, yes, increase their record sales (whether they actually saw a dime of the profits or not).
LZ basically said: “This is our song. Fuck you.”

Jazzbo, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:24 (thirteen years ago) link

hey, and you guys don't have Morbs to deal with in this thread!

xpost

Gucci Mane hermeneuticist (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:25 (thirteen years ago) link

I love Robert Plant's voice. also I don't think anybody here is saying "plagiarism is a-ok".

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:30 (thirteen years ago) link

except for anagram

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:31 (thirteen years ago) link

well I dunno if I would say it was a-ok. and I'm no Led Zep fan. but in general the knowledge that some riff or lyric or something is ripped off is not enough to spoil my enjoyment of it.

margana (anagram), Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:35 (thirteen years ago) link

Hey, I think they were an awesome-sounding group (again, except for Plant, whose shrieking is more painful to my ears than nails on a chalkboard). But they managed to distinguish themselves as being even bigger twats than nearly every other multiplatinum-selling band. That takes some doing.

Jazzbo, Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:44 (thirteen years ago) link

Led Zeppelin is just ripped off blues, in fact their music is exactly the same as Blind Willie Johnson. In fact if people weren't so racist you could have put Blind Willie Johnson in front of an arena and it would have had the same effect on the audience as Led Zeppelin because Led Zeppelin did not actually bring anything to the music.

Theodore "Thee Diddy" Roosevelt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:01 (thirteen years ago) link

The Bob Dylan Plagiarism Compendium

The Pablo Picasso Plagiarism Compendium

― Hadrian VIII, Thursday, August 19, 2010 12:22 AM Bookmark

The Robert Johnson Plagiarism Compendium

The Miles Davis Plagiarism Compendium

etc

Theodore "Thee Diddy" Roosevelt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:03 (thirteen years ago) link

The Stones ones are different though - those aren't ripping off existing songs, it's ripping off the guys who were playing with them.

this is a boring argument/thread in general but I would just like to point out that this is historically inaccurate (see: Staple Singers, tons of others)

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:34 (thirteen years ago) link

but that they didn’t even bother to acknowledge those artists who helped shape their sound.

I don't think this is true at all either fwiw

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:34 (thirteen years ago) link

Page namechecks the author of In My Time of Dying from the stage in How the West Was Won iirc

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:35 (thirteen years ago) link

this is a boring argument/thread in general....

^ then why did you click on it?

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:09 (thirteen years ago) link

I didn't think Moka's post was argumentative or critical - it is interesting to pore over Zep's sources (as I enjoyed doing with this comp: http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Roots-Of-Led-Zeppelin/release/519398). But when it turned into: RIPOFF ARTISTS! J'ACCUSE then it got bad.

sorry Bill

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:10 (thirteen years ago) link

I said this on some other thread but one of the things that I think gets overstated is that while Zep borrowed/stole liberally (I don't think there's anything at all wrong with this, fwiw) they're stuff rarely actually SOUNDS like the original. the production/arrangement/performance of material was a central aspect of Zeppelin, and claiming that, for example, they're version of Nobody's Fault But Mine bears anything more than a passing resemblance to Bukka's stripped-down, lo-fi original is just ridiculous.

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:14 (thirteen years ago) link

Yeah, that.

Theodore "Thee Diddy" Roosevelt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:17 (thirteen years ago) link

^^^^^^^

Hadrian VIII, Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:43 (thirteen years ago) link

Totally disagree. I like how you picked that one and not a complete and utter ripoff like Dazed and Confused. And Ive never heard Bukka White's version, but a steal is a steal.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:45 (thirteen years ago) link

rock must be virtuous

goole, Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:46 (thirteen years ago) link

Just because you turn your amps up to 11 and feed Bonham some extra-fine Bolivian prior to recording what was originally a mellow number doesnt justify the plagiarism.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:46 (thirteen years ago) link

If they had been a real band, they wouldnt have to rip guys off. Has nothing to do with virtue.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:47 (thirteen years ago) link

you think they're that bad? i'm no fan, mind you, but that's QUITE A CLAIM.

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link

man what am i gonna do with these fake Led Zeppelin cds

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link

i mean before today i considered myself a led zeppelin fan but after being smacked in the face with this 20+ year old evidence that everybody already knew, I think it's time to reconsider....

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link

lol "real band"

I dunno Bill these are just kinda lame ad hominem attacks

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link

So i guess what Im saying is that this point is irrelevant:

"they're version of Nobody's Fault But Mine bears anything more than a passing resemblance to Bukka's stripped-down, lo-fi original is just ridiculous"

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link

I can't comment on that cuz I haven't heard Bukka's, but how you got from that to Led Zeppelin not being a real band = o_O.

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:52 (thirteen years ago) link

you think they're that bad? i'm no fan, mind you, but that's QUITE A CLAIM.

― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, August 19, 2010 12:50 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'm not a fan.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:52 (thirteen years ago) link

you think this sounds JUST LIKE the Zep version = you have no ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc

glitter hands! glitter hands! razzle! dazzle! (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:52 (thirteen years ago) link

I never said that. Check my post at 12:51. Arrangement and songwriting are two completely different things.

Sabbath to Ulver: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link

they weren't writing a term paper jeez

goole, Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link

so let me ask this, if Led Zeppelin went back and time and wrote the exact same music but gave proper credits/recognition from the bungee, would you be a fan?

michangelo wuz a party d00d (San Te), Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link

Anyway, "Immigrant Song" takes the nick from "Bali Ha'i" South Pacific. True.

Indeed it does. I played that one in the pit only about 680 times, my brain clearly has no concept of where ideas actually come from.

The Jams Manager (1992, Brickster) (El Tomboto), Tuesday, 11 April 2017 12:58 (seven years ago) link

three years pass...

Not plagiarism, but ye Gods does "Thank You" sound like the Small Faces.

ILXceptionalism (Tom D.), Saturday, 28 November 2020 16:56 (three years ago) link

Afterglow?

Change Display Name: (stevie), Sunday, 29 November 2020 10:31 (three years ago) link

I wasn't thinking in term of an exact track, more of the overall feel of the Small Faces ca. 1968/69, Plant's vocal is very Steve Marriott in places - that verse after the guitar solo!

ILXceptionalism (Tom D.), Sunday, 29 November 2020 10:55 (three years ago) link

definitely. also, the hammond.

Change Display Name: (stevie), Sunday, 29 November 2020 14:42 (three years ago) link

or whatever sort of organ it is.

Change Display Name: (stevie), Sunday, 29 November 2020 14:42 (three years ago) link

A hard organ, I’d wager

calstars, Sunday, 29 November 2020 16:04 (three years ago) link

three years pass...

"Moon-Face explained about Joe, and how he had gone to the Land of Ice and Snow, where the big white bears lived." -- Enid Blyton (The Enchanted Wood (1939))

and the hot springs blow

reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 11 March 2024 18:31 (one month ago) link


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