Stairway to Rip Off

I've heard a lot in the last few months on the radio about how much music Lep Zeppelin ripped off in their time. I'm by no means a Zep Head but I am a fan of their hits and cool riffs. I even like Stairway to Heaven which at some point became uncool to like.

As a consequence, I did some online googling and I must say I will never quite hear them the same from now on. All my references herein are probably hearsay and I'm sure there are rebuttals. Having said that, potential offenses include:

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - A really nice song that's been covered over and over since Zep originally did it. "This song is a Folk standard. Led Zeppelin thought it was a traditional song, meaning no one could claim they wrote it, but later found out it was written by a Folk singer named Anne Briggs. She was a very influential singer, but stopped recording in 1971 at age 27, and has not recorded since. She was not credited for this until 1990, when her son brought it to the attention of the band" (reference).

Black Dog - I've heard the following many times but this guy put it pretty well. "Zep, like many other English bands of the period, ripped off old bluesmen shamelessly. Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf use the same riff, albeit slower, in several songs; Robert Johnson is the source of the lyrics for this song, although Plant makes a few cosmetic changes" (reference).

Whole Lotta Love - Despite the unabashed misogyny of the lyric, "Shake for me girl, I wanna be your back door man...." it once again appears that Led Zeppelin "borrowed" another song, that may have been borrowed already. "After Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love came out in 1969, Brit-rock connoisseurs noted its striking resemblance musically and especially lyrically to an album track by mid sixties teen idols the Small Faces, You Need Loving. Then blues aficionados waded in, pointing out that far from being ripped off by Zep, the Small Faces were appropriating a Muddy Waters classic called You Need Love, written by blues composer supreme Willie Dixon. (Zeppelin may have proceeded straight from that source, too, although the vocal similarities between Whole Lotta Love and the Small Faces track are striking.)

In the end, Dixon received a settlement and a co-writer's credit from Zeppelin" (reference).

Stairway to Heaven - If you haven't heard the intro to Taurus by Spirit find it and check it out. I was blown away at how identical it sounded to the intro to Stairway which so many regard as a Page masterpiece and is consistently nominated greatest rock song of all time. Well, it is great, no doubt. Shame its not so original. To wit --

"The opening chord progression and verse in "Stairway to Heaven" are nearly identical to the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the group Spirit. In the liner notes to the reissue of Spirit's 1968 eponymous debut, songwriter Randy California mentions the fact that Jimmy Page took special interest in "Taurus". Prior to his death in 1997, Randy California was often asked about it in interviews, to which he typically responded that he did not consider the "Stairway" intro to be a rip-off, but simply a "reworking" of his song.

"Led Zeppelin was the opening act for Spirit's 1968 tour. While nobody in Led Zeppelin has ever cited influence from the track, the band was known to incorporate bits of Spirit song Fresh Garbage into their early concert medleys, and Jimmy Page has said that his use of a theremin was inspired by seeing Randy California use one" (reference).

I'm sure there are plenty of others and I'm sure many, many other bands can get held up to this type of scrutiny. However, it does seem that time and again I'm hearing how Zeppelin was "influenced" by such-and-such for this song or that. I've also heard over and over how often they've been sued and about ensuing album credits including songwriters who were not originally listed.

Interesting stuff. STILL a great band. But somewhat tainted in my view.