The Elephant in the Zeppelin

[Zzzptm]

This is a topic that has taken my thinking all over the place over the years... basically, how do I reconcile the  of Zeppelin with the clear cases they've had of taking songs from other bands, without credit? 

Granted, other bands and acts have done the same thing. "Smoke on the Water", for example is a note-for-note copy of an Astrud Gilberto tune, "Maria Quiet". But Zeppelin's record here seems to be the most egregious of all the bands that I've seen. Part of me wants to like the music, but another part of me wants for there to be justice, of a sort.

One idea that helped me out came to me after reading "Theft: A History of Music". When composers moved out from patronage by a nobleman and into the world of supporting themselves via public concerts, they'd copy each other left and right - but with a twist. They'd take another composer's idea and "return it with interest", meaning they'd apply their own embellishments to the work.

I began to see that as what Led Zeppelin was doing, even if they did have to go to court over copyright arrangements. It also got me to get deeper into American Blues music, particularly the amazing body of work left us by Willie Dixon. If you're a real Zeppelin fan, you owe it to yourself to hear the genius in the works they copied, credited and otherwise, and appreciate them for what they are.

So, for example, when I hear "When the Levee Breaks", I can enjoy both the Memphis Minnie version as well as the Zep version. Lawsuits aside, the English lads do an interesting job with the song, and that's ultimately what counts for a music lover.

Yes, there's a complicated legal history in there and that can turn people off or even away from the work done. The fact remains, however, that the work was done and it's there to be appreciated purely as music and not necessarily as Exhibit A.

So, after going through a time period when I couldn't listen to the band at all, I've come to terms with the legacy, and I can once again enjoy them. Maybe not in the same way I did as a kid in junior high school, but I don't think I enjoy anything like that anymore. I'm an old man now, and I know how to make peace in order to keep going forward without a heavy heart.

[Billy Underdog]

When i became aware of the "ripping off" i was already such a fan i didn't care. But it made me check out the old stuff too, along with The Yardbirds as they also had Dazed & Confused.

An example of this still going on is this band quoting lyrics from When The Levee Breaks

[Zzzptm]

Good catch there... we have all these things moving around where musicians pick them up as inspirations. Consider the long, strange story of "The Train Kept A Rolling"...

It starts off as a song by Tiny Bradshaw, a rocked-up jump blues number:

And then Johnny Burnette turns it on its ear as a Rockabilly pile-driver:

And THAT is the one that lit a million candles, with just about every band in Britain copying the Burnette version as part of their stage act... including The Yardbirds, but they had to make it into "Stroll On" when they played it in the film Blow-Up.

^ Also of historical note because it shows Beck and Page playing together in The Yardbirds, which didn't last all that long...

[Billy Underdog]

^ Also of historical note because it shows Beck and Page playing together in The Yardbirds, which didn't last all that long...

Esp. with both on guitar. Jimmy originally joined as the bass player, but switched with Chris Dreja since he was so incredibly much better a guitarist. Shortly after that Beck had his mental breakdown causing him to leave.

The train motief goes way back to the 20's blues, though, a methaphor for leaving. Working on the cotton fields, the closest one came to civilization was seeing the train passing by, so that became the symbol for getting outta there. Same thing with "my girlfriend've left me"...

[Zzzptm]

Esp. with both on guitar. Jimmy originally joined as the bass player, but switched with Chris Dreja since he was so incredibly much better a guitarist. Shortly after that Beck had his mental breakdown causing him to leave.

The train motief goes way back to the 20's blues, though, a methaphor for leaving. Working on the cotton fields, the closest one came to civilization was seeing the train passing by, so that became the symbol for getting outta there. Same thing with "my girlfriend've left me"...

Which train metaphor we see again in 1979 with Zeppelin's "South Bound Suarez". Interesting also how every good train song also has a driving locomotive-style rhythm. I can't fault Zeppelin for using that to their advantage.

[Vyn]

Zeppelin's plagiarism has never bothered me, simply because it's SOP across creative endeavors. You take something someone already created, tweak it, poke it, prod it, add to or take away from it and hopefully create something even better.

I don't, however, have much respect for people who lie.

Thankfully for me, I can separate the person from the entertainment product they create. Usually.

[Zzzptm]

Zeppelin's plagiarism has never bothered me, simply because it's SOP across creative endeavors. You take something someone already created, tweak it, poke it, prod it, add to or take away from it and hopefully create something even better.

I don't, however, have much respect for people who lie.

Thankfully for me, I can separate the person from the entertainment product they create. Usually.

Good thing Led Zeppelin's members never did anything controversial while on the road.

Oh, wait, they did... I hear they were Shark Week before Shark Week was cool...

Someone finding out what Zeppelin had to do with a shark for the first time:

[Billy Underdog]

You take something someone already created, tweak it, poke it, prod it, add to or take away from it and hopefully create something even better.

That's how all art is created, isn't it?

[Thelemech]

This never really bothered me, I have been listening to them since I was 5 or 6 years old. I love what they did with the songs they stole from. They really made them their own, I would say.

Oh and that is a very rad vid of Jimmy and Jeff, never seen that before.

[Zzzptm]

Oh and that is a very rad vid of Jimmy and Jeff, never seen that before.

The movie, Blow-Up, is itself a pretty wild psychological film set in the London of the late 60s. I think it's got the only footage of Beck and Page playing double leads in The Yardbirds.