Led Zeppelin- Rip Off Artists?

[LG]

The sentiment about 'influence' from other legendary artists is fine with me, but after the lawsuit that Harrison lost years ago it changed how people look at 'borrowing' from other artists.

Now we have sampling, which is condoned by the artists in a couple genres seems like times have changed.

Zeppelin made things right long since the criticism they took after releasing their first album without acknowledging the artists they borrowed from and in the end as many have said they put their own signature on most of the songs anyway.

 

[Mr. Bob Dobolina]

"Boogie With Stu" anybody?

 

[Lynch]

Zeppelin attempted to "steal" until they were caught and then they were forced to give proper credit.

Bob Dylan has done this plenty as well and some consider him to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Why would a guy like that have to steal? *shrug* I dunno, but he did, numerous times.

 

[Phil B.]

This reminds me of the "Hideaway" conflict. The blues players stole from each other as well. For the record, I think Freddie King's is still the best version. Stevie Ray's is a close second. Edit to add: Jeff Healey's version ain't too shabby either!

Hide Away Wiki Link

 

[AboutAGirl]

Here's a pretty good overview of Led Zeppelin's "influences."


I think every artist and every song and every piece of music you will ever hear in your entire life is based on something else, even though Zeppelin's borrowing is a lot more obvious, I don't think that necessarily means they took more than everybody else. You can't create music in a vacuum and no one ever will. So in my mind the only issue here is that Zeppelin didn't credit anybody when they borrowed large segments and whole songs.

And as far as what I think about it? I don't care. It's a shame they didn't give proper credit in the liner notes, but that doesn't affect how the music sounds, and that's all that matters to me. I didn't necessarily think the Zeppelin guys were good people even before I found out how much they took. I also listen to artists like Burzum and GG Allin. For me it's only about the music, who an artist might be and everything about their personal life has nothing to do with me because my relationship to the music is strictly personal. I like to have my own idea about what the music is about rather than searching for the artist's intentions or background.

 

[LG]

^^Zeppelin did try to pull a fast one for whatever reason when they released their landmark debut album. After being caught out the next pressing had all the proper credits listed.

As I said they put things right a long long time ago, whether motivated by a sense of guilt or to save face and avoid legal entanglements I've gotten over it and moved on.

I was much more irritated with Harrison losing his lawsuit over My Sweet Lord to the Chiffons.(I think it was the Chiffons.)

 

[AboutAGirl]

I dunno, Zepp tried to pull a lot more fast ones than just that. A lot of people had to sue before Zepp would acknowledge their writing credits and some songs (such as Dazed and Confused) don't have the correct writing credits even to this day.

But I agree with you about Harrison, I'm annoyed about that as well.

 

[Khor1255]

Here's a pretty good overview of Led Zeppelin's "influences."


I think every artist and every song and every piece of music you will ever hear in your entire life is based on something else, even though Zeppelin's borrowing is a lot more obvious, I don't think that necessarily means they took more than everybody else. You can't create music in a vacuum and no one ever will. So in my mind the only issue here is that Zeppelin didn't credit anybody when they borrowed large segments and whole songs.

And as far as what I think about it? I don't care. It's a shame they didn't give proper credit in the liner notes, but that doesn't affect how the music sounds, and that's all that matters to me. I didn't necessarily think the Zeppelin guys were good people even before I found out how much they took. I also listen to artists like Burzum and GG Allin. For me it's only about the music, who an artist might be and everything about their personal life has nothing to do with me because my relationship to the music is strictly personal. I like to have my own idea about what the music is about rather than searching for the artist's intentions or background.

I feel the same about this. Maybe even to the nth degree. I've often said that if sHitler or Manson made music worth listening to I would.
A lot of the artists I like I think are crappy people and a lot of the artists that seem like good people I don't care for in the only way that makes any difference in the context of their product.

 

[gcczep]

All of it...

"Boogie With Stu" anybody?

The band put Mrs. Valens as part of the songwriting credit because they heard her son never received any royalties. She then tried to sue them for the song.

 

[AboutAGirl]

I feel the same about this. Maybe even to the nth degree. I've often said that if sHitler or Manson made music worth listening to I would.
A lot of the artists I like I think are crappy people and a lot of the artists that seem like good people I don't care for in the only way that makes any difference in the context of their product.

Funny you should mention Manson, I actually have his first CD and personally I think it's beautiful, hahaha.