Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' Targeted for Plagiarism

[antceleb12]

Virtually everyone is jumping aboard the Lawsuit Express...

Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' Targeted for Plagiarism
Lawyers representing the group Spirit claim song's intro resembles their 1968 track "Taurus"

By Kory Grow
May 19, 2014 2:10 PM ET
As Led Zeppelin promote the extravagant reissues of their first three albums for an early June release, a lawyer representing deceased Spirit guitarist Randy California is claiming the hard-rock legends stole the intro for their 1971 single "Stairway to Heaven" from Spirit's 1968 song "Taurus." Attorney Francis Alexander Molofiy wants to prevent the release of the Led Zeppelin IV reissue when the time comes, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. "The idea behind this is to make sure that Randy California is given a writing credit on 'Stairway to Heaven,'" Malofiy said. "It's been a long time coming."

"Stairway to Heaven" and the 40 Greatest Led Zeppelin Songs of All Time

Led Zeppelin and Spirit, who had a hit with "I Got a Line on You," played four gigs together in 1968 and 1969 [[shows at which Businessweek claims Spirit played "Taurus"). Led Zeppelin also reportedly played a medley of songs that included Spirit's "Fresh-Garbage" – a song that appeared on the same LP side as "Taurus" – on their first U.S. tour.

In an interview with Listener magazine published the year of his death, California said he felt "Stairway to Heaven" was a "rip-off." "The guys made millions of bucks on it and never said 'Thank you,' never said, 'Can we pay you some money for it?'" he said. "It's kind of a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it."


Spirit and California's family have waited until now to challenge the song's authorship because they did not have the means to pay attorneys. At the end of California's life, he would play sitar at an Indian restaurant in exchange for food.

A rep for Led Zeppelin declined to comment for Businessweek's story, but Page discussed the band's history with crediting songwriters after the fact in a recent interview with The New York Times. When asked why the group waited to credit Willie Dixon for bits of lyrics and melody that made their way into "Whole Lotta Love," he acknowledged, "Within the lyrics of it, there's [Dixons's] "You Need Love," and there are similarities within the lyrics. Now I'm not pointing a finger at anybody, but I'm just saying that's what happened, and Willie Dixon got credit. Fair enough."

Reissues of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III are due in stores on June 3rd. Each is available in a deluxe edition that contains a full disc of never-before-released studio takes and live tracks.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...arism-20140519

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If you ask me, the whole 'couldn't afford an attorney' excuse is bogus. They couldn't afford an attorney for forty-five years, but now, miraculously, just as it's about to be re-released, they can afford one? Hmmmm...

[soulster]

So, now the family and lawyers are looking to cash in. I guess someone is tired of chasing ambulances.

[antceleb12]

So, now the family and lawyers are looking to cash in. I guess someone is tired of chasing ambulances.

Exactly. The whole thing is absurd.

[marv2]

Why did it take them so long to bring forth a suit? I mean 1968 was quite a while ago.

[Jerry Oz]

They answered that. It took them 46 years to save up the retainer... If they were that broke, some enterprising legal jackass would have taken the case on spec and 33% of the award. What would they have to lose?

By the way, I agree that the riff is too similar to be an accident, but this should be tossed out of court with urgency.

[smark21]

The bassist for Spirit was Mark Andes. In the early 80s he joined Heart and was with them until 1991. Heart always included Led Zep covers as part of their live shows including Stairway to Heaven. Surely when he was playing the song Andes would have thought "Hey this sounds like a song from my old band!". Also, Heart had a great chart run in the mid 80s to early 90s so Andes was making good money. He could have afforded a lawyer to bring suit.

[soulster]

The bassist for Spirit was Mark Andes. In the early 80s he joined Heart and was with them until 1991. Heart always included Led Zep covers as part of their live shows including Stairway to Heaven. Surely when he was playing the song Andes would have thought "Hey this sounds like a song from my old band!". Also, Heart had a great chart run in the mid 80s to early 90s so Andes was making good money. He could have afforded a lawyer to bring suit.

Either that or he squandered it like so many musicians do.

[thomas96]

Led Zeppelin stole so much, and it's pretty widely known. I think they've been sued at least a few times already.

[timmyfunk]

Led Zeppelin stole so much, and it's pretty widely known. I think they've been sued at least a few times already.

Totally true. They've been dragged into court, what, three times? Personally, I'm rooting for Spirit.

[marv2]

They [[Led Zeppelin) stole their hit "A Whole Lotta of Love " from Muddy Waters' " You Need Love" written by Willie Dixon. They were sued because of it.