Lists-o-mania! Top 5 Times Led Zeppelin “Borrowed” From Other Songs

If you’ve been reading the news in the music world, you’d know about the lawsuit brought against Led Zeppelin. A lawyer on the behalf of guitarist Randy California is suing the group over alleged plagiarism, stating that  Jimmy Page nicked the famous descending guitar line in “Stairway To Heaven” from Spirit’s song “Taurus”.

This is wonderful. Not because I hate “Stairway To Heaven” or anything, but because Led Zeppelin often took things from other people’s songs and not many people don’t know where they came from. Spirit (and Randy California) are fantastic and people should know about their music. Their first four albums are essential sixties psych-rock. Check ’em out.

Now when it comes to the lawsuit, I’m not sure I have a strong opinion on it. The tracks aren’t very similar besides that one guitar line, (which both bands may have stolen from Davy Graham’s “Cry Me A River”, which predated them both) and this suit is happening more than 40 years after both songs were released? “Borrowing” has been happening in rock music since the beginning, and it has led to a lot of great songs (and lawsuits!). As long as there are no hard feeling between the musicians and the band acknowledges their influences, I think it’s alright.

Regardless, this got me thinking about the other songs LZ have “borrowed” from over the years. Trust me, there is no shortage of them! So, I picked out the ones I felt need their fair share of love. Let ’em roll!

#5: “Ride The Sky” by Lucifer’s Friend

Lucifer’s Friend were a kick-ass proto-metal group from Germany whose debut is a powerhouse of pure rock. Right off the bat, we have a great opening number and- wait a minute! What that’s I hear? This song sounds a lot like  LZ’s “Immigrant Song”! The riffs are awfully simliar in feel, both have howling vocals towards the start, and the biggest similarity is the famous “ah ah Ahhhhh AHH!” is present in each song (albeit one is played on a horn and not sung).

Honestly, this could be a case of me getting it backwards. It’s entirely possible that Lucifer’s Friend copied LZ and not the other way around. Both Lucifer’s Friend’s debut album and Led Zeppelin Three were released the same year, around the same time. All the other songs on this list clearly predate the LZ versions, but I’m not sure about “RIde The Sky”. However, we don’t when either song was written or recorded.

No biggie, though. Both songs are awesome and “Ride The Sky” definitely needs to be more well-known.

#4: “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” by Joan Baez

This not so much plagiarism as it’s a misattribution. But hey, we can’t have everything. To be fair, Led Zeppelin had no intention of ripping this song off. They set out to do a cover version. A few groups had already recorded the song (like The Plebs or my personal fave The Association which bares a resemblance to LZ’s version).

However, LZ were most familiar with the song by Joan Baez’s rendition. They liked it so much, they decided to take a shot at playing it. The problem was that Baez mistakenly labeled the song as a traditional tune, instead of crediting its author Anne Bredon. LZ carried over that mistake when they recorded it. Bredon then sued the group and is now credited on all the releases of the song.

#3: “Never” by Moby Grape

Oh, Moby Grape. You just can’t seem to catch a break can you? For the uninitiated, Moby Grape was a west coast rock band that generated a lot of buzz in the press back in mid-sixties. They were hyped up beyond belief, and their first album was highly anticipated. When it was  finally released, it received lots of good reviews…and was promptly forgotten about. Why? Hell if I know; Moby Grape made lots of quality music when they were together but couldn’t break into mainstream success. The group dissolved a few years later, as did guitarist Skip Spence’s sanity (he produced a really weird, but wonderful solo album afterward).

Among the many lost classics in the Moby Grape catalogue  is the tune “Never”, from their bonus album Grape Jam. The less LZ savvy readers might not recognize which song “Never” inspired. That would be “Since I’ve Been Loving You” off of Led Zeppelin Three. The opening lyrics are pretty similar, and various other lyrics have been swapped around. The composition itself is basically the same on with that slow, bluesy crawl working its way on down to a solid groove.

While you may have never had success in your time, Moby Grape, at least LZ were listening! Some royalties would have been nice though…

#2: “Beck’s Bolero” by Jeff Beck

Both Jeff Beck and LZ’s Jimmy Page can lay claim to being called the greatest guitarist of all time. The two were friends and actually played together in the Yardbirds for a bit before Beck embarked on his solo endeavors. They mutually influenced each other over the years, but sometimes that influence spilled over into copycat territory.

The opening guitar motif you hear in “Beck’s Bolero” is repeated a few times throughout the song and is definitely the most memorable part of the entire thing. Now, take a listen to “How Many More Times”. At first it doesn’t sound the same at all, but skip ahead to three minutes and 6 seconds in when the songs shifts gears. A similar rising and falling type of riff, and not to mention the exact same military-style drum beat. You thought I wouldn’t notice, Jimmy? Hah! Try again!

This one is relatively minor compared to the other songs on this list, but I’m mainly focusing on songs from the sixties. More blatant thievery on LZ’s part came from older blues songs from the fifties, forties, and thirties. We’d be here forever if I documented every single blues standard they copped. I will mention that “Whole Lotta Love” was plagiarized from another song that was already plagiarized. So, that’s a thing I guess.

#1: “Dazed And Confused” by Jake Holmes

I’ve been waiting to talk about this song for quite some time. Jake Holmes was a acid-folk musician who recorded a few albums throughout the sixties, but never found success from it, so he moved on to writing commercial jingles, as well lyrics for Frank Sinatra of all people (Seriously). The highlight of his debut album was the spooky “Dazed And Confused”.

Now some history: Jake Holmes happened to met the Yardbirds when he was on tour. I mentioned previously that Jimmy Page was member of the Yardbirds at this time. Holmes showed them his song, and the Yardbirds loved it so much they decided to cover it in a radically rearranged format. Here’s a video of them performing it on french TV.

Despite the rearrangement, it’s clearly recognizable as the same song. The Yardbirds broke up not too long after this recording, and Jimmy Page went on to form a new band: Led Zeppelin. Ya see where I’m going with this? Led Zeppelin recorded “Dazed And Confused” on their first album, but vocalist Robert Plant rewrote all the lyrics, save for the words dazed and confused, and credited the song to themselves. Holmes never decided to sue until 2010, and now the credits for the song say it was inspired by Jake Holmes. To further pour salt in the wound, Jimmy Page maintains he never even heard Jake Holmes’ song.

Really, Jimmy? Did you just, conveniently get amnesia about that time you did the song with the Yardbirds? If I dressed up like a psychedelic pirate and played electric guitar with a goddamn violin bow on live french TV, I think I’d remember it. But, that’s just me.