Did Led Zeppelin Steal The Opening Notes To Stairway To Heaven?

[MusicHead]

The judge says "nay"! Hey hey mama!!

[custom55]

Good for Zep. So many people for so many years enjoyed this song.

[Relayer2112]

If I was Led Zeppelin's attorney, I would just have said. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, history has shown that if my clients had stolen a portion of the Spirit song, they would have been a lot more blatant about it.".

 

When Zeppelin stole things, there was certainly no question about it.

[Rushman14]

Lol, I didn't know that the plaintiff's lawyer was a moron.

I also didn't realize that the jury wasn't even allowed to hear the actual songs in question!

 

More info.

http://www.rollingst...20160623?page=2

 

That's why I would never ever make a good juror. I would have voted "not guilty" just to spite the plaintiff's attorney. You are right. He was an arrogant jerk.

 

Plant should have looked right at him and asked "does anybody remember laughter?"

[g under p]

[Ancient Ways]

Not surprised.

[Lorraine]

http://youtu.be/DDo4CA13LbY

 

Thank you so much for posting that. I loved it, but I have to say that I didn't expect to see Jimmy sounding so frail and looking ten years older than he actually is.

 

I was a freshman in high school when Led Zep debuted their first album. And here we all are today, and this frail sounding old man with the gray hair is Jimmy Page. Amazing.

[Ancient Ways]

http://youtu.be/DDo4CA13LbY

 

Thank you so much for posting that. I loved it, but I have to say that I didn't expect to see Jimmy sounding so frail and looking ten years older than he actually is.

 

I was a freshman in high school when Led Zep debuted their first album. And here we all are today, and this frail sounding old man with the gray hair is Jimmy Page. Amazing.

He's very proud of that piece and rightfully so.

[Lorraine]

http://youtu.be/DDo4CA13LbY

 

Thank you so much for posting that. I loved it, but I have to say that I didn't expect to see Jimmy sounding so frail and looking ten years older than he actually is.

 

I was a freshman in high school when Led Zep debuted their first album. And here we all are today, and this frail sounding old man with the gray hair is Jimmy Page. Amazing.

He's very proud of that piece and rightfully so.

 

Yes, and I don't understand the criticism the song often gets. It's a masterpiece. Was back then, and still is today.

 

But it really is devastating to me that he's so old. Seems like only yesterday he was young. Where does time go?

[Xanadoood]

http://youtu.be/DDo4CA13LbY

 

Thank you so much for posting that. I loved it, but I have to say that I didn't expect to see Jimmy sounding so frail and looking ten years older than he actually is.

 

I was a freshman in high school when Led Zep debuted their first album. And here we all are today, and this frail sounding old man with the gray hair is Jimmy Page. Amazing.

He's very proud of that piece and rightfully so.

 

Yes, and I don't understand the criticism the song often gets. It's a masterpiece. Was back then, and still is today.

 

But it really is devastating to me that he's so old. Seems like only yesterday he was young. Where does time go?

 

Yeah he aged. f***in crazy hah? How the hell did that happen?

[canadianice]

In response to your question----------NO

[toymaker]

There simple wasn't enough similarity in the small sections of the songs in question. How many other songs start in a minor and descend from there? a ton.

Here's one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb6uCV2RoLI

 

That Dolly Parton thing is hilarious. Maybe Spirit can go after her next?

[g under p]

http://youtu.be/DDo4CA13LbY

 

Thank you so much for posting that. I loved it, but I have to say that I didn't expect to see Jimmy sounding so frail and looking ten years older than he actually is.

 

I was a freshman in high school when Led Zep debuted their first album. And here we all are today, and this frail sounding old man with the gray hair is Jimmy Page. Amazing.

 

I was amazed as well. I mean I've aged some over the years but nothing to the extent that Page appears to have today. However, this quote from my local radio station probably sits well with Page....

*Every day above ground, is a good day*

Edited June 24, 2016 by g under p

[Lorraine]

The last picture I saw of him I thought it was a current one, but it must have been a picture of him from a few years ago.

[Mr. Not]

Whether they intentionally "stole" - (it's not stolen, it's very similar) from Spirit or not, I don't give a damn. I just listened to Taurus and there's no doubt that Stairway's a better song, though Taurus is a nice instrumental. The day we get worked over patenting melodies is the day we're faced with a huge fascism within the arts, and humanity will be consequently be cheated out so much great new music. Censorship sucks.

 

I remember watching this video a couple years ago, it's a worthwhile watch I'd say:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAcjV60RnRw

 

And here's a fun website: http://www.soundsjustlike.com/

Edited June 24, 2016 by Mr. Not

[Mr. Not]

Sonata Arctica, a Finnish is a power metal band which was/is heavily influenced by Stratovarius, an earlier Finnish power metal band.

 

On Sonata's debut album they had a song "Destruction Preventer" which was in many ways similar to Stratovarius's "Black Diamond" during the verses.

 

While I'm sure Stratovarius noticed this, they didn't mind. They befriended Sonata and let them open for them on a tour a few years later.

 

Today, an ex-Sonata member is in a supergroup with a current Stratovarius member called "Cain's Offering", and together they've made some of the best power metal song's I've heard. Sonata Arctica is also about equally as popular as Stratovarius, if not more so

Edited June 24, 2016 by Mr. Not

[Rutlefan]

I vote no. Not a musician but I buy Rik Emmett's explanation, which is similar to several others I've seen. The relatively short passage sounds similar to one another, a few shared notes from mostly the same chord, but Taurus' descending scale is hardly unique and wasn't the first by any means.

 

Page was a shameless plagiariser, but in this case he seems innocent enough. He might have got his idea for Stairway's opening from Taurus, but he changed it up so much that one can hardly complain.

 

I think the one plagiarism suit I agreed with was when Morphine successfully sued Levis for a commercial where Levis used original instrumental music that was obviously aping Morphine's rather unique and instantly identifiable style. Morphine won though there was no shared melody. Right decision IMO, though I can't begin to understand the legal merits.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Rutlefan

[GabesCavesOfIce]

Interesting that the jury did not get to hear the Taurus recording.I think thats because the written music was copyrighted, not the recording??

 

They had a guitarist play the passage for the jury and it sounded alot like the original recording.

 

Zep had a Pianist(!) play it which sounded entirely different. If they were wrongfully attacked here, why did they go so far out of their way to misrepresent to the jury what the recording sounds like?

[Modern_Day_Warrior]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that's not just my bias towards Zeppelin over some sh*t band called Spirit, it also just doesn't make sense. In the song Taurus, the supposed inspiration for Stairway To Heaven comes in around 30 seconds into the song. It is similar, but it does have its differences. Taurus goes downwards, whilst Stairway goes up. Also, if Led Zep copied my song, I would be happy! And it also happened 40 years ago! Why are they just taking it to court now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[goose]

How can someone who can't read or write music create music?

You can create music without the knowledge of writing notation down on a piece of paper.

Eddie Van Halen claims he can't read or write music either.

 

I know it's possible, obviously, but I want to know how they do it. If a melody goes through their mind, what do they do since they can't run to a piece of paper and scribble the music down?

 

Though I'm pretty sure Freddie Mercury could read and write music, at some point in the 80s he decided that he wouldn't waste a lot of time recording every musical idea that popped into his head or writing it down, declaring if it was worth recording he would remember it. Just another example. Some musicians work purely from memory.

 

How can they play an instrument if they don't know music?

 

 

How can people paint when they don't know color theory? They just do what they feel.

[Rutlefan]

Interesting that the jury did not get to hear the Taurus recording.I think thats because the written music was copyrighted, not the recording??

 

They had a guitarist play the passage for the jury and it sounded alot like the original recording.

 

Zep had a Pianist(!) play it which sounded entirely different. If they were wrongfully attacked here, why did they go so far out of their way to misrepresent to the jury what the recording sounds like?

 

Jimmy Page brought his guitar into the courtroom both days he testified. He could have played if the plaintiffs asked and the court allowed.