Question:
Who did Jimmy Page steal this from?
2011-07-25 08:56:40 UTC
I keep reading that everything Jimmy Page ever "wrote" with Led Zeppelin was plagiarized from some other composer. There are all these youtube videos that prove how he ripped off Zeppelin tunes from songs that are in the same key or have a similar harmonic progression and this is proof that he is a shameless plagiarist! So since he uses the D Major chord a lot I was wondering who he stole that from. I have been diligently going through recordings of everyone who preceded Page and I think he stole it from Palestrina. What do y'all think?
Four answers:
larsbullock
2011-07-25 09:27:09 UTC
Composers have been borrowing musical ideas from other composers since the beginning of time. J.S. Bach's Organ Konzert C dur BMV 578-l is nothing more than a transcription of a violin concerto by Vivaldi. Narvaez's (fl.1540) Cancion del Emperedor for solo Vihuela is mostly material borrowed from the motet, Mille Regretz by Josquin de Prez (1450-1521). The list goes on and on. I suppose back than it was considered to be an honor to have your music borrowed by another composer. I think it is perfectly acceptable to borrow musical ideas from someone else and put a creative "spin" on it. Jimmy Page is an excellent musician because he does this very well and creatively. This is very different from plagiarism. I think it is a ridiculous notion to suggest that someone is a shameless musician for using a particular "chord" just because it is used by another composer, as if that composer owns a patent for inventing that chord.
Seederman
2011-07-25 09:16:32 UTC
Here is a good list of just 10 of them (there are many more), with audio samples for each.



http://earfarm.com/features/daily-feature/monday/1820



While Led Zeppelin certainly wasn't alone in taking old blues songs and slapping their own names on them while erasing the original names, there probably has been no bigger band that stole as much without crediting the original writers.



In contrast, Eric Clapton actually made a point of searching out the old bluesmen he covered, to see if they were receiving their royalties. Many were destitute.



Legally and ethically, the songwriters should always be credited.



Music is fluid, and artists borrow from each other all the time. But in some cases, Zeppelin took whole songs.



Perhaps the most egregious cases were "Whole Lotta Love", which is essentially the same song as “You Need Love” by Willie Dixon (Dixon sued them and won), and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”, which was written by Anne Bredon, whose name was removed in favor of a Page arrangement credit, and was not restored until the 1990's.



I don't mention any of this to detract from the fun of listening to Led Zeppelin for its sonic pleasures; I like the whomp of their best songs as well as anyone. But they weren't very nice people, and they merit an asterisk next to their name, the way Barry Bonds' home run record deserves an asterisk for steroids.
?
2011-07-25 09:16:29 UTC
They covered old blues songs. That's what people who pay tribute to blues do.



You Shook Me- Muddy Waters



Travelling Riverside Blues- Robert Johnson



Led Zeppelin covered both songs. Big deal.



And I don't know who Palestrina is, but a link would help.
Peepaw
2011-07-25 14:29:07 UTC
"You Shook Me" - Willie Dixon/J. B. Lenoir

"I Can't Quit You Baby" - Willie Dixon

"Whole Lotta Love" - John Bonham/Willie Dixon/John Paul

"Bring It On Home" - Page/Plant/Dixon

"Travelling Riverside Blues" - Robert Johnson, Page, Plant


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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