croquet'n'cocaine Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 Just been reading Bill Bryson's entertaining biography of William Shakespeare, which includes three pages of examples of Shakespeare using lines from other writers' plays and lifting entire storylines to use as his own. Of course, the conclusion is that everyone did it anyway, and the originals were lacklustre and unmemorable till The Bard did his thing to them. Kind of rang a bell with me when I read that. I mean, I've got a few of those original blues records with the familiar lines we all know and love, and I can see why they inspired the British musicians, but the difference between them and Led Zep's reworkings is enormous. This should be an accepted aspect of art, literature and music in my opinion. There should be some kind of United Nations committee which decides when the "plagiarised" version is so much better than its source that it transcends copyright. Can't say that out loud though of course. Quote
Evster2012 Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 I hear ya! I have Van Gogh's on my wall. I took a shot at painting, but then I looked at that tube of Cerulean Blue and thought, "Holy Shit! This has been used before!" So now I work at Dairy Queen (not really. Well, not now anyways). Y'know, it's a funny thing. Everything we know was basically passed on by word of mouth or by song (Um like the BIBLE. Hello?). Songs were a way of remembering the important stuff we need in our spiritual toolkit for fucking EVER! Then you get the capitalist 20th century, and suddenly the passers on of tales become THIEVES! What a bunch of bullshit. Let the storytellers speak the tune. Without Led Zeppelin, I wouldn't know who's lemon was freakin blind in the first place. BTW, as completely wierd as that was, I am in fact agreeing with you! Quote
jimmie ray Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 Let the storytellers speak the tune. Without Led Zeppelin, I wouldn't know who's lemon was freakin blind in the first place. Perhaps I mentioned this before, but The Jefferson Airplane was indirectly named after Blind Lemon Jefferson, in 1965. Traditional blues numbers were a part of their shows, particularly when some of their members performed as Hot Tuna. Jorma Kaukonen was (and still is) always a stickler for giving credit to the original composer, when possible, however... Quote
Evster2012 Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 Perhaps I mentioned this before, but The Jefferson Airplane was indirectly named after Blind Lemon Jefferson, in 1965. Traditional blues numbers were a part of their shows, particularly when some of their members performed as Hot Tuna. Jorma Kaukonen was (and still is) always a stickler for giving credit to the original composer, when possible, however... Might have missed your previous mention, but a certain Pink Anderson and Floyd Council never got a nod either! Keep on truckin mama, truck my blues away!! *edit to add* Jorma and Jack originally called the band "Hot Shit". It was only after the record company said no effen way that they defaulted to "Tuna". Quote
jimmie ray Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 Might have missed your previous mention, but a certain Pink Anderson and Floyd Council never got a nod either! Keep on truckin mama, truck my blues away!! *edit to add* Jorma and Jack originally called the band "Hot Shit". It was only after the record company said no effen way that they defaulted to "Tuna". I've heard that, too - although Jorma denies it, for some reason. He says a street cop responded to their inquiry about a certain stink in the air with "it's hot tuna", and it stuck. "Keep on Truckin", interestingly, had been done and altered for generations by black bluesman, before Hot Tuna tamed it down - and it still sounded crude! Quote
Evster2012 Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 I've heard that, too - although Jorma denies it, for some reason. He says a street cop responded to their inquiry about a certain stink in the air with "it's hot tuna", and it stuck. "Keep on Truckin", interestingly, had been done and altered for generations by black bluesman, before Hot Tuna tamed it down - and it still sounded crude! PM sent as it just gets cruder! Quote
jimmie ray Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 PM sent as it just gets cruder! Oh shit! Bet Shakespeare wouldn't touch that one! Quote
Led Zeppelin Fan00 Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 The Mighty Zeppelin doesn't ever need defending, especially from us mere mortals... Quote
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