http://www.warr.org/zep.html#Thieves

I heard this guy on Howard Stern this morning and it broke my heart. I never knew that Zep had stolen so many of their classic songs from other artists...and had done so so obviously. It was amazing to hear the old songs first, then hear the Zep songs.

My world is crashing down all around me. Was I the only person who didnt know this? Here are some examples:


"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" - A folk song by Anne Bredon, this was originally credited as "traditional, arranged by Jimmy Page," then "words and music by Jimmy Page," and then, following legal action, "Bredon/Page/Plant."
"Black Mountain Side" - uncredited version of a traditional folk tune previously recorded by Bert Jansch.
"Bring It On Home" - the first section is an uncredited cover of the Willie Dixon tune (as performed by the imposter Sonny Boy Williamson).
"Communication Breakdown" - apparently derived from Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown."
"Custard Pie" - uncredited cover of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down," with lyrics from Sleepy John Estes's "Drop Down Daddy."
"Dazed And Confused" - uncredited cover of the Jake Holmes song (see The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes).
"Hats Off To (Roy) Harper" - uncredited version of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down."
"How Many More Times" - Part one is an uncredited cover of the Howlin' Wolf song (available on numerous compilations). Part two is an uncredited cover of Albert King's "The Hunter."
"In My Time Of Dying" - uncredited cover of the traditional song (as heard on Bob Dylan's debut).
"The Lemon Song" - uncredited cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" - Wolf's publisher sued Zeppelin in the early 70s and settled out of court.
"Moby Dick" - written and first recorded by Sleepy John Estes under the title "The Girl I Love," and later covered by Bobby Parker.
"Nobody's Fault But Mine" - uncredited cover of the Blind Willie Johnson blues.
"Since I've Been Lovin' You" - lyrics are the same as Moby Grape's "Never," though the music isn't similar.
"Stairway To Heaven" - the main guitar line is apparently from "Taurus" by Spirit.
"White Summer" - uncredited cover of Davey Graham's "She Moved Through The Fair."
"Whole Lotta Love" - lyrics are from the Willie Dixon blues "You Need Love."

6/27/2007 1:27:54 PM

I did, in fact know about maybe 3 of those.

I am upset about Lemon Song, Bring it On Home, Moby Dick, and Stairway, obviously.

....but really though, are we talking about that standard chord picking to open up Stairway? It seems easily attributable to many other songs.

i thought everyone knew that "Nobody's Fault but Mine" and "In My Time of Dying" were remakes/covers...

Oh, and not that they're even in the same fucking ballpark as Zeppelin, a LOT of people don't know that about 85% of Sublime's library is taken either musically or vocally from past reggae songs.

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 1:45 PM. Reason : asdhfw.23]

6/27/2007 1:44:03 PM

so led zeppelin was the origin of rap? interesting.

6/27/2007 1:47:46 PM

LAFF

6/27/2007 1:48:41 PM

yeah i thought in my time of dying's coverness was common knowledge..

6/27/2007 1:55:56 PM

meh, I am much less angered by this than the day I saw Puffy or p-diddy or puff daddy or what the hell ever his name is ripping them off........but the kicker was, jimmie page playing in said rip off......oh, and the damn cadillac commercials.

6/27/2007 1:57:49 PM

it makes you angry that Cadillac pays them HUGE royalties for the use of a couple of their own songs?

lemme guess...you also hate when bands you like have any commercial acclaim at all.

6/27/2007 2:01:20 PM

THIS IS OUR COUNTRY

6/27/2007 2:02:43 PM

I just checked out eddie cochran's nervous breakdown and calling it a rip is just silly. it has the DUUNNdunDUN repeated riff, and the words nervous breakdown, but that's about it.

all this doesn't make my love of led zeppelin waver in the least bit.

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 2:09 PM. Reason : asfd]

6/27/2007 2:07:29 PM

Quote :

"it makes you angry that Cadillac pays them HUGE royalties for the use of a couple of their own songs? lemme guess...you also hate when bands you like have any commercial acclaim at all. "

ummm, no....it makes me angry when I'm barraged with a commercial to the point it makes me loathe a song I once liked.

6/27/2007 2:08:53 PM

Quote :

"I just checked out eddie cochran's nervous breakdown and calling it a rip is just silly. it has the DUUNNdunDUN repeated riff, and the words nervous breakdown, but that's about it."

i didnt hear that particular one this morning...the one that really got me was dazed and confused.

6/27/2007 2:10:06 PM

KFC has absolutely destroyed Sweet Home Alabama to a point of irreparable damage.


same goes for love train and coors light or whoever


^i'm downloading that now

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 2:10 PM. Reason : hfds]

6/27/2007 2:10:20 PM

yeahhhh they ripped the dazed and confused bassline and vocal melody, changed the lyrics and added more badass guitar.

6/27/2007 2:33:45 PM

I'm more interested in how they made two songs off of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down"

6/27/2007 2:40:04 PM

[new]

6/27/2007 3:03:47 PM

as I said in another thread, I still like Zeppelin but not as much as I used to, a lot of their stuff was kind of corny and seemed better when I was younger. They are still probably in my top 10-15 all time, but they used to be 1 or 2

6/27/2007 3:09:36 PM

Whoa?!?!?!

Classic rock was simply repackaged blues songs?!?!?!


[new]

6/27/2007 3:11:05 PM

It must have been more of an infatuation or simple crush. Had it been true love you would have already known all this and not cared.

6/27/2007 3:11:46 PM

meh, 10 of the 16 come from their first two albums (including White Summer as it was often played with Black Mountain Slide). The first album was made 3 months after their first performance as Led Zeppelin and the second album came out 9 months later, even with major touring in the US and UK during the time frame. You don't have that kind of turn around time on albums without something to start from, so it doesn't surpise me that many of the songs from those albums were "influenced" by other songs. If I remember correctly, the band formed to finish concert obligations of the "Yardbirds" after they had broken up (hence their original name as The New Yardbirds). As such they had little material to work with as a band so they performed songs that Page had played with the Yardbirds, like Dazed and Confused, as well as other songs that were covers of other blues songs, as well as songs influenced by other songs.

As for the rest of the songs on the list, they are spread across four albums, with no more than two on any one album.

I thought this was well known, I just didn't realize that they gave little to no credit to the original artists.

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 3:17 PM. Reason : what ^ said]

6/27/2007 3:16:36 PM

Quote :

"ummm, no....it makes me angry when I'm barraged with a commercial "

THIS, alone, is why I don't stick around for commercials at all.

^great post.

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 3:26 PM. Reason : eh]

6/27/2007 3:24:14 PM

"There's Jimmy Page, the greatest thief of American black music who ever walked the earth."

-Homer Simpson

6/27/2007 3:25:01 PM

^^^^ yeah, when I was fucking 8 I was already bitter and cynical

6/27/2007 3:27:12 PM

Quote :

"Whoa?!?!?! Classic rock was simply repackaged blues songs?!?!?! [new]"

FTW

6/27/2007 3:28:06 PM

Hopefully you're not a Rolling Stones fan as well

6/27/2007 3:48:14 PM

that Encomium cover album that came out in the 90s was pretty good btw

6/27/2007 3:50:54 PM

goddamn right

6/27/2007 3:59:31 PM

THE LEMON SONG IS LED ZEPPELINS TAKE ON KILLIN FLOOR?


FUCKING STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!!!!!!

how does this suprise anyone???? from the start they where jamming on old blues tunes

they where a blues band that alot of the time played some covers in their own way

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 4:04 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 4:10 PM. Reason : .]

6/27/2007 4:04:23 PM

Quote :

"Whoa?!?!?! Classic rock was simply repackaged blues songs?!?!?! [new]"

6/27/2007 4:05:37 PM

Mr. Joshua for the win of the month.

6/27/2007 4:48:12 PM

ELO wasnt!

oh wait, fuck.

6/27/2007 4:56:02 PM

Quote :

""Bad artists copy. Great artists steal.""

-- Pablo Picasso

6/27/2007 5:02:52 PM

When I found out Jay-Z writes a lot of Beyonce's lyrics, I was crushed

jk cause she is hot in her videos

6/27/2007 5:04:09 PM

Quote :

"Whoa?!?!?! Classic rock was simply repackaged blues songs?!?!?! [new]"

6/27/2007 5:05:10 PM

all the good points have already been made

so in repsonse to this thread ill just say duuuuuurrrr

6/27/2007 10:48:05 PM

The whole point is that they credited themselves with writing the music and lyrics.

6/28/2007 12:14:50 AM

and i credit myself with inventing the fork but that doesn't make it true

6/28/2007 2:31:48 AM

?

6/28/2007 3:19:29 AM

i havent listened to led zeppelin on shrooms yet so i cant rate them yet

6/28/2007 3:30:27 AM

Most blatent example of music theft I've seen:

http://timbalandtempest.ytmnd.com/

[Edited on June 28, 2007 at 10:00 PM. Reason : ]

6/28/2007 9:59:38 PM

Ice Ice Baby/Under Pressure is more blatant than that.

6/28/2007 10:13:20 PM

Quote :

"and i credit myself with inventing the fork but that doesn't make it true "

that would only be relevant if you somehow made mass commercial profits off the invention of the fork.

6/28/2007 10:18:20 PM

^^At least he changed ONE beat.

6/28/2007 10:34:54 PM

sorry, but my love for zep is still strong, since you can't beat playing an electric guitar with a bow.

6/28/2007 11:12:29 PM

why dont you look up elvis and see how many he didn't write ;o)

7/1/2007 9:38:25 AM

Zeppelin Rocks! This is good information to share...

7/1/2007 4:42:53 PM

I could care less, they still fuckin rock.

7/2/2007 3:59:30 PM

Quote :

"why dont you look up elvis and see how many he didn't write ;o)"

Elvis never claimed to write any of his songs.

7/2/2007 4:14:17 PM

I wouldnt say "any"....


he did write ALess Than Zero, Oliver's Army, I Cant Stand Up for Falling Down, Veronica

7/2/2007 4:18:49 PM

7/2/2007 10:56:45 PM

old thread i know, but

Quote :

"Moby Dick" - written and first recorded by Sleepy John Estes under the title "The Girl I Love," and later covered by Bobby Parker."

how exactly do you rip off someone when the song is like 30 seconds of guitar, a freelanced drum solo, then another minute (maybe) of guitar?

7/31/2007 10:09:19 PM