LeocadiaBegbick Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I apologize if there's already been a thread on here about this but... I'm a pretty big Zeppelin fan and I only just discovered that they stole a shitload of music! For example... "Communication Breakdown" was from Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown" "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" was stolen from Anne Bredon "Dazed and Confused" was stolen from Jake Holmes I for one am completely crushed!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page-ist Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) I apologize if there's already been a thread on here about this but... I'm a pretty big Zeppelin fan and I only just discovered that they stole a shitload of music! For example... "Communication Breakdown" was from Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown" "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" was stolen from Anne Bredon "Dazed and Confused" was stolen from Jake Holmes I for one am completely crushed!!! Don't be. Do you really think that Led Zeppelin copped all of those suspected "stolen songs"? No. While they may have been inspired by some of these songs, they are not coppying anymore than every other artist that there ever was. Edited February 4, 2010 by Page-ist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lead ballon Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 What? Bands can't play covers of other songs? Every band covers songs. In The Who's Live at Leeds there are their versions of 'Young Man Blues', 'Shakin' All Over' and 'Summertime Blues'. Does that mean The Who stole the songs from them? No. Look at Cream's work. It's full of covers: Spoonful, Crossroads, Rollin' and Tumblin', Sitting on Top of the World to name some. I cover a song, that doesn't mean I've stolen it from the original artist. If a band or singer or whoever covers a song, it means they want to play their version of the song. Why would they want to do that if they didn't like the original in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page-ist Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 What? Bands can't play covers of other songs? Every band covers songs. In The Who's Live at Leeds there are their versions of 'Young Man Blues', 'Shakin' All Over' and 'Summertime Blues'. Does that mean The Who stole the songs from them? No. Look at Cream's work. It's full of covers: Spoonful, Crossroads, Rollin' and Tumblin', Sitting on Top of the World to name some. I cover a song, that doesn't mean I've stolen it from the original artist. If a band or singer or whoever covers a song, it means they want to play their version of the song. Why would they want to do that if they didn't like the original in the first place? Well, what I think the guy meant was that they completely stole the songs and claimed they wrote it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfvr Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 It's the evolution of the blues. Being inspired by a song and reworking it to make it their own. Musicians do it quite often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown" has nothing to do with "Communication Breakdown" outside of the phrase "having a nervous breakdown" in both songs, which is a pretty common term, so that allegation of thievery is & always has been false. The other two allegations are... debateable lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lead ballon Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 With "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", they decided to cover it after hearing Joan Baez's version, but on the album it credits were listed at traditional. So when Led Zeppelin released it Anne Bredon didn't get any credit because they thought it was a traditional song. However since Bredon found out she's been paid her royalties and has been given credit for the song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeocadiaBegbick Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown" has nothing to do with "Communication Breakdown" outside of the phrase "having a nervous breakdown" in both songs, which is a pretty common term, so that allegation of thievery is & always has been false. The other two allegations are... debateable lol. And the guitar riff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black-Dog Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore has stolen some riffs from Rick Nelson and Eric Clapton for Black Night and Lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lead ballon Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Blackmore has said he got the riff for Smoke on the Water from Beethoven's 5th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdHLekh0OZQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matjaz1 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) Most Led Zeppelin songs are totally original and that is the most important thing!!!! Then there are a few covers like You shook me and I can't quit you babe, that are totally credited to the original songwriters!! And then you also got a few songs, that take bits and pieces from older songs, but there is so much original added, that it's no problem that these songs are credited to Zep!!(Whole lotta love, The lemon song, Bring it on home, Bron y aur stomp, In my time of dying, Nobody's fault but mine) And then there are a few songs which could be called problematic, because there is just too much taken from original songs and they are not credited to older writers.But these songs are rare!! Edited February 4, 2010 by Matjaz1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepps_apprentice Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 i guess 99% of all bands steal music by being influenced Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 And the guitar riff You and the person who made the allegation are sadly mistaken. I'm a huge Eddie Cochran fan for over 20 years now & that guitar riff was not ripped off by Zeppelin. It's a typical rockabilly riff that Eddie Cochran probably ripped off from god only knows who since practically all rockabilly riffs from the late 50's & early 60's are a variation on the same theme, not unlike a 12 bar blues. More importantly the riffs between "Nervous Breakdown" & "Communication Breakdown" do not sound alike at all, you don't have to be a Eddie Cochran/Rockabilly/Led Zeppelin fan to come to that conclusion. That allegation is no more than wishful thinking based on the elements of songs that Zeppelin actually did rip off from other artists. One does not have to do with the other in this case. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is a Joan Baez song, Zeppelin never debated that. Their mistake was not adding her or Anne Breadon to the credits. It simply could have read "Baez, trad arr Page" but it didn't, so that's where that problem begins. "Dazed And Confused" is a Jake Holmes song, there's no getting around it. At the very least the credits should read "Holmes/Page", which is all that Jake Holmes has requested in the press. Unfortunately, it doesn't & that will forever be a stain on the song unless Page or the powers that be take the proper steps to correct that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro59 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Speaking of stolen music, it looks like Oz band Men at Work lost. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8497433.stm Is nothing sacred anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Speaking of stolen music, it looks like Oz band Men at Work lost. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8497433.stm Is nothing sacred anymore? Yes this one seemed far-fetched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 That sentence against Men At Work is a bit harsh. In typical fashion it was the owner of the publishing who sued and not the artist. It reminds me of The Verve being sued for "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by Abcko/Allen Klein for The Verve sampling an orchestral piece of a symphonic rendition of The Rolling Stones "The Last Time". The songwriting credits to "Bitter Sweet Symphony" now read Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft, & Richard Ashcroft had to give up ALL royalties from the song, past & present. The shitty thing is that the Stones plagiarised "The Last Time" from The Staple Singers "This May Be The Last Time" & yet they or their publishers were never sued for that. Welcome to big music business 101. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsj Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 there's an episode of the simpsons where they travel to england. as homer and marge view london from the london eye wheel, homer points out the sights, all the famous spots are mentioned, then he adds "there's jimmy page one of the biggest thieves of american black music" or words to that effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knebby Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Well, what I think the guy meant was that they completely stole the songs and claimed they wrote it. Which is completely untrue, so he needn't worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpeller Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 That sentence against Men At Work is a bit harsh. In typical fashion it was the owner of the publishing who sued and not the artist. It reminds me of The Verve being sued for "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by Abcko/Allen Klein for The Verve sampling an orchestral piece of a symphonic rendition of The Rolling Stones "The Last Time". The songwriting credits to "Bitter Sweet Symphony" now read Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft, & Richard Ashcroft had to give up ALL royalties from the song, past & present. The shitty thing is that the Stones plagiarised "The Last Time" from The Staple Singers "This May Be The Last Time" & yet they or their publishers were never sued for that. Welcome to big music business 101. Listen to this from back in the day: Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra's version of The Last Time (wasn't he the Stones manager)? Hmmmm. Naughty Verve people, or not - you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquamarine Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Listen to this from back in the day: Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra's version of The Last Time (wasn't he the Stones manager)? Hmmmm. Naughty Verve people, or not - you decide. One of their two managers (the other being Eric Easton), in their early days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 (edited) Listen to this from back in the day: Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra's version of The Last Time (wasn't he the Stones manager)? Hmmmm. Naughty Verve people, or not - you decide. Yeah, the Verve sampled it but Richard Ashcroft "wrote" "Bitter Sweet Symphony". I saw The Verve play the song acoustically without the string sample in 1994, 3 years before it was released on CD. The Verve should have had to pay for the use of the sample and any shared royalties up to that point, not give up all the songs royalties past, present, & future to Abkco & Jagger/Richards. Once again, the Stones song "The Last Time", which in a symphonic version (credited to the "Keith Richards Orchestra" which he admits to having nothing to do with it's creation) the Verve sampled, is in itself a "stolen" song from The Staple Singers "This May Be The Last Time". The Stones publishers sued The Verve for stealing a song that in fact the Stones had stolen themselves. Ironic isn't it. Edited February 7, 2010 by kaiser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepps_apprentice Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Blackmore has said he got the riff for Smoke on the Water from Beethoven's 5th. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XdHLekh0OZQ wow. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walesdad Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 wow. thanks The way,at least in the early days,that the band tried to claim authorship of other people's work is the one real stain on there memory.Don't anyone ever forget that it took the very real threat of litigation by Willie Dixon,a man who has written some of the greatest ever blues songs,for him to get his legal and financial dues from the band.The band actually claimed authorship of songs that he had wrote!Likewise Jake Holmes,a man who probably,if he was only even given a co-authorship of 'Dazed And Confused',would now be much the richer.You can sugar coat it anyway you want folks,but theft is theft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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