You don’t have to be a musicologist to appreciated how much of an influence old blues and folk musicians had on Led Zeppelin, but now one of the British band’s 70s rock contemporaries is accusing Zeppelin for stealing one of their most famous songs.
Led Zeppelin are being sued for allegedly ripping off the iconic opening chords of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ from Spirit’s ‘Taurus’ in a lawsuit filed by the latter band’s founding bassist Mark Andes.
In a lengthy piece from Bloomberg Business Week, Andes claims that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were well aware of ‘Taurus’, a rock instrumental composed by guitarist Randy California that features on Spirit’s self-titled 1968 debut LP, and has filed the lawsuit in the hopes that California will receive a co-writing credit on ‘Stairway To Heaven’.
California passed away in 1997, but apparently not before telling a reporter, “I’d say it (‘Stairway’) was a ripoff. And the guys made millions of bucks on it and never said ‘Thank you’, never said, ‘can we pay you some money for it? It’s kind of a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it.”
Andes further points out to Bloomberg that Led Zeppelin’s first American show was opening for Spirit in 1968, the same year they released ‘Taurus’, before the two bands began appearing on festival lineups together through 1969.
Take a listen to Spirit’s tune below – the infringing section being the descending guitar picking that begins around the 45sec mark.
The comparison between ‘Taurus’ and Zeppelin’s iconic tune has been noted by fans and historians plenty of times in the past, but Andes’ lawsuit is timely given the impending reissues and remasters of Led Zeppelin’s back catalogue – beginning with extensive deluxe editions of their first three semi-eponymous LPs (from 1968 to 1970) via Warner Brothers on 30th May.
The Spirit bassist is seeking an injunction to block the reissue of 1971’s classic Led Zeppelin IV, which features ‘Stairway To Heaven’, until California gets a co-writing credit. It’s not the first time the British rock icons have been forced to share co-writing dues following legal pressure, with their aforementioned court history including changing songwriting credits on ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’, ‘The Lemon Song’ and ‘Dazed And Confused’ owing to previous lawsuits. “I’d say it (‘Stairway’) was a ripoff. And the guys made millions of bucks on it and never said ‘Thank you’.”
In related news, the impending Led Zeppelin reissues will be the closest thing fans get to any new activity from the band, with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s counter-opposed views to their legacy still quashing any chance of a live reunion.
Though Page has consistently pointed out his enthusiasm for getting the band – frontman Plant, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham – back together for reunion shows in the vein of 2007’s landmark London 02 arena concerts (and 2012 Celebration Day movie), Plant is having none of it as he continues with his solo career (signing a new deal with Nonesuch records for a new album).
An attitude that Page is “fed up” with, as he tells The New York Times in an interview about the new back catalogue remasters. “I was told last year that Robert Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think? Well, he knows what the other guys think,” he says.
“Everyone would love to play more concerts for the band. He’s just playing games, and I’m fed up with it, to be honest with you. I don’t sing, so I can’t do much about it. It just looks so unlikely, doesn’t it?”
