The Song Still Remains the Same: the unauthorized etymology of Led Zeppelin songs. Stairway To Heaven

Stairway To Heaven

Taurus

We've brought you three articles on the history of Led Zeppelin songs and how some of their songs may just have been lifted from the works of others.

The song we first looked at was Dazed and Confused. We talked in-depth about how the song was taken from Jake Holmes' 1968 composition called, wait for it, Dazed and Confused. Read about and listen to both versions of Dazed and Confused here.

Then we wrote about Zep's Whole Lotta Love and how that was lifted, vocal style and all, from The Small Faces, who, in turn had lifted it from Muddy Waters. Read and listen to a side by side comparison of Whole Lotta Love here.

Most recently we talked about Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You and how that shares a more than passing resemblance to Moby Grape's 1968 composition, Never. Read about and listen to both Since I've Been Loving You and Never here. 

In the news today is the story of Led Zeppelin's signature song, Stairway To Heaven. The family members of the late Randy California, guitarist for the band, Spirit, have brought a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin and Atlantic Records alleging that the iconic opening riff of Stairway To Heaven was lifted from Spirit's 1968 song entitled Taurus.

Led Zeppelin, in both 1968 and in 1969, opened for Spirit numerous times and would have had ample opportunity to hear the number performed both live and on record.

"It was such a pretty moment, and it would typically come after a big forceful number and always got a good response," [founding band member, Mark] Andes told Bloomberg. "They would have seen it in that context.... It is fairly blatant, and note for note. It would just be nice if the Led Zeppelin guys gave Randy a little nod. That would be lovely."" [Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2014]

For the sake of brevity, we'll just say, you be the judge. We formed our opinion years and years ago. Now is your chance to play both Sprit's Taurus and Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven back to back. And then ask yourself, does anyone remember laughter?

Enjoy, and let us know what you think.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

The Song Still Remains The Same: the unauthorized etymology of Led Zeppelin songs. Bring It On Home

Bring It On Home - Led Zeppelin

Bring It On Home - Sonny Boy Williamson

We are back (after a long hiatus) with our fourth installment of The Song Still Remains The Same: the unauthorized etymology of Led Zeppelin songs. You know, that little thing I do where I look at a song Led Zeppelin claims to have written, and then play you the original song...that they didn't write.

We started with Dazed and Confused. 
Then we looked at Whole Lotta Love.
Then we analyzed Since I've Been Lovin' You.

Today, we look at Bring It On Home.

The last song on the October 1969 release of Led Zeppelin II is a song called Bring It On Home. As you can see from the above label scan, it is a song that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have claimed to have written. The song is a laid back blues shuffle with Robert Plant's trademark billy-goat styled vocal delivery. Plant pleads with his lover:

Bbbbaaaaabbbbbwwwaaaayyyyy. Well,  Bbbbaaaaabbbbbwwwwaaaayyyyy, I'm going to bring it on home to you. I've got my ticket, I got that load. Join up, going higher, all aboard. I'm going to take my seat, railway bag. Ooh-ch'yeah. Watch this train roll down the track. I'm going bring it on home, break it on down now to you.

Ahhh, you can hear Robert Plant's native Mississippi accent as he drawl's out his pained lyrics.

Whoa. Wait. No. That's not right. Robert Plant isn't from Mississippi, he's from the UK. And Jimmy Page wasn't an itinerant sharecropper who made his way to Chicago after World War II. How did I mess this up? Oh yeah, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant didn't write the damn blues song! They stole it.

Sonny Boy Williamson (II) recorded the Willie Dixon penned song, Bring It On Home, in January of 1963 at Chess Studios in Chicago. However, the number wasn't released on Chess Records until February of 1966, shortly after Sonny Boy Williamson's death in Helena, Arkansas in 1965.

It's undeniable that it is the same song. Lawyers for Atlantic Records agreed and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum in 1972. Subsequent pressings of the record show Willie Dixon as the composer. Only one person seems to still believe it is a different song:

The thing with Bring It On Home, there's only a tiny bit taken from Sonny Boy Williamson's version and we threw that in as a tribute to him. People say, "Oh, Bring It On Home is stolen." Well, there's only a little bit in the song that relates to anything that had gone before it. Just the end.
--Jimmy Page as interviewed by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, October, 1977. 

Well, to that, I just have to say...Huh? Just a little bit? It's the same frickin' song, Jimmy. It's not just taking the shuffle, it's not just lifting a lyric or two. It's not just that it's the same title. You even have Robert Plant even imitates Sonny Boy Williamson! It's the same thing Led Zeppelin did when Robert mimicked The Small Faces' Steve Marriott with Whole Lotta Love (aka, You Need Lovin').  You make call it an homage, Misters Plant and Page, but it's not. It's standing on the shoulders of others and pushing them down in the mud. Not OK lads.

And yes, I understand that Sonny Boy Williamson tended to steal stuff too...like another person's entire identity! But we are dealing with just one deviancy at a time here.

Listen for yourself. Let us know what you think. Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

A&M Records Spotlight: Doug Dillard and Gene Clark - Out On The Side/Train Leaves Here This Morning

Out On The Side

Train Leaves Here This Morning

[originally posted, November, 2008]
Enigmatic. That might be the best word to describe Gene Clark. Unlucky, under appreciated, brilliant, secretive, phobic, handsome, distant, pioneer, shy, obtuse, complex. These words also describe the gentle throated Clark. For most, the word that comes to mind when they hear the name Gene Clark is...who? Okay, let me give a little back story on Clark before we move on to this week's song.

Gene Clark, while his name remains unrecognizable to most, has perhaps one of the most recognized voices in rock history. That's because Gene Clark, once a singer for the dreadful New Christy Minstrels (that's him singing beautifully at 2:03), was all-too-briefly, a founding member of The Byrds. From 1964-1966, Gene Clark was the smooth baritone voiced, tambourine tapping, harmonica playing, center-stage standing, lanky frontman of the world's coolest looking band, The Byrds. His voice created the perfect bottom to David Crosby's falsetto and Roger McGuinn's nasal midrange. But more than that, Clark was The Byrds' most prolific songwriter. In an era of American bands rushing to perform their best Beatles knock-off, Clark wrote (and sang) unique songs that owed as much to his rural Missouri roots as to any other influence. Lyrically his songs were introspective and approached the subjects in a roundabout manner that forced the listener to puzzle together the real meaning. Musically, Clark's Byrds-era songs, such as the stunning Set You Free This Time, featured unexpected chord progressions and strangely slow tempos that felt as if they had been slowed down after the recording was complete. So it was, at the height of The Byrds' success, Clark flew the nest. Nobody is quite sure exactly why. The most oft-told story is that his fear of flying forced him to leave The Byrds (we pause for the irony to sink in). But other stories include his stage fright forcing him out of the picture, his sense of guilt at receiving song-writing royalties when others, notably the loudly caustic Crosby, received none. Others say the seeds of dissatisfaction were sown when his (and The Byrds') standout song, I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better, was demoted to the flip-side of their second single in favor of a far lesser Dylan cover. It would happen again on the third single, where Clark's beautiful She Don't Care About Time would be relegated to the flip-side of a single (albeit the brilliant Turn, Turn, Turn).

Regardless of the reason, Clark left after the second album. Using The Byrds as his studio musicians, Clark released a handful of spotty, but poorly received singles as a solo artist. Quickly released from an impatient Columbia Records, Clark teamed up with bluegrass banjo-phenomenon Doug Dillard, seen here in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show performing his own composition. (Interestingly, fellow Byrds alumnus, Clarence White also appeared on the Andy Griffith Show! He's just off of Andy's shoulder.) As the Dillard & Clark Expedition, the two embarked on what may be the first ever country-rock group. Future Flying Burrito Brothers and Eagles member, Bernie Leadon joined on guitar, Michael Clarke (no relation) of the Byrds on drums. In 1968 they released their first single and one of Clark's best compositions ever, Out On The Side. I ran across it in a record store on 13th Street in Denver, Colorado the year after Gene Clark had died. I had never heard any of the solo work of Clark before. As a huge Byrds fan, and with Clark's obituary still in my mind, I plunked down $2 and walked home. I dropped the needle on the turntable and heard Andy Belling's Hammond organ open with a F#m chord as Clark lyrically inserts himself into the song as if we are catching him in mid-conversation. Leadon and Dillard harmonize as well as McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman could have done as the song rolls along with Clark's trademark dark, lumbering minor chord progressions. The lyrics, as obtuse as any he has written: "I have fallen through the black nights it seems/with the times that I've lied. And I've watched your thoughts stray into dreams/when you're not satisfied. But when the door closes before my eyes/Oh, I will cry/just to know you are going to stay, out on the side." Sixteen years later, it is still one of my favorite songs ever and that one $2 single has seen more plays on my turntable than can be counted.

One thing is for sure, Gene Clark was a musician's musician, a songwriter's songwriter. His reach touched many musicians. Between '66 and '74, Clark returned again and again to lend the Byrds his vocal skills as well as his penmanship, most notably co-writing and singing on the ground breaking recording of Eight Miles High, a song that documents his nervous breakdown on an airplane approaching London. The members of the Byrds likewise appeared on numerous solo recordings of Clark's. But the shadow he cast was much greater than just that of The Byrds. The stomach churning Eagles first recording was a cover of a 1968 Gene Clark song, The Train Leaves Here This Morning. And today his songs continue to get fresh play, as proven by the success of Robert Plant's and Alison Krauss' stunningly popular Raising Sand album which features no-less than two Gene Clark compositions: the droning Polly, Come Home and the country waltz of Through The Morning, Through The Night, both solo-era compositions. Dylan allegedly first hatched the idea to go electric after he appeared on stage with The Byrds in Los Angeles. And in a master becomes student moment, the Beatles' If I Needed Someone was a musical tip of the hat to The Byrds, whom the fab-four had watched record Bells of Rhymney and I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better in April of '65.

Clark's most famous band, The Byrds were inducted into the R-n-R Hall of Fame and spawned some of the most famous names in the business. Roger McGuinn carries on as the modern face and voice of the Byrds. David Crosby went on to become one of the most recognized names in the business. Chris Hillman and fellow-Byrd Gram Parsons formed the cult favorite, Flying Burrito Brothers using Gene Clark's guitarist, Bernie Leadon, who later went on to form the Eagles. Gene Clark? He died in 1991 at the far too young age of 48. A friend of mine had interviewed him for a publication called Ugly Things just a few years prior. He described to me a mellow, Earthy, nearly penniless man who clearly was drinking too much and living purposefully in anonymity. In the somber interview Clark distanced himself from his success with The Byrds and rejected the efforts to put him in the pantheon of great songwriters. That's his opinion. Mine is quite different of course.

The Song Still Remains the Same: The Unauthorized Etymology of Led Zeppelin songs - Dazed & Confused

Picking up a guitar lick here or referencing a lyrical phrase there is as old as music itself. Heck, rock-n-roll itself was born out of a fusion of country and blues -- essentially borrowing from two music styles to create one anew. But somewhere there is an invisible line that a musician may cross which takes him from referencing or borrowing to flat out plagiarizing. It's that line that we explore today -- and will occasionally revisit over the coming weeks, months and years -- in an ongoing series exploring the musical roots of Led Zeppelin's songs.

Perhaps more than any other major rock act, Led Zeppelin blurred the line dividing a reference and flat out plagiarism, often claiming credit for entire songs, guitar riffs, lyrics, and even imitating vocal styles. And it wasn’t just old blues numbers that were themselves cops on earlier blues songs, as many apologists contend. The stunningly talented Jimmy Page was heavily influenced by folk music and often found “inspiration” in traditional Renaissance era folk songs which ended up with his writing credit. Perhaps most surprising, however, is the fact that Led Zeppelin also lifted from their contemporaries, as we will explore in today's post.

These postings will trace the etymology of many of Led Zeppelin’s most famous songs. In some instances the derivation was only an innocent and totally above-board musical or lyrical reference. For example, the opening percussion machine gun attack on Rock-n-Roll. I’ve included these not to indict Led Zeppelin but rather to chronicle the references for sake of interest. Other instances, such as today's posting, are less innocent and are noted as such. These postings are by no means comprehensive and I welcome your additions and corrections or flat out arguments against my subjective musings. My hope is that, at the very least, the listener (particularly Zep heads) will put down their defenses and prejudices and allow themselves to be exposed to some great and rare music which they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to hear. Ironic, isn’t it? Who would have heard of Kansas Joe if it weren’t for Jimmy Page and Robert Plant?

~~~~

Now on to today's posting and certainly one of the three most recognizable "Led Zeppelin songs" ever. The song is from Led Zeppelin I and is called Dazed and Confused. Here’s how Dazed and Confused came to be known as one of Jimmy Page’s greatest songs he never wrote.

On August 25, 1967, The Yardbirds (of which Page was now a member) performed at the Village Theater in New York. A little known folkie named Jake Holmes was touring in support of his 2 month old album, The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes on Tower Records, and was the first act on that bill. The Yardbirds' drummer, Jim McCarty was the only member of the Yardbirds to catch the act that night. According to McCarty, he purchased Holmes' new record the next morning at the House of Oldies Record Store in Greenwich Village and suggested to his bandmates that they cover Holmes' Dazed and Confused (1967 ASCAP copyright, 340119544). The Yardbirds collectively did a slight arrangement change for the song -- adding a middle bridge and Keith Relf rewriting some of the lyrics -- and the song became a staple of the Yardbirds' set in their waning days. They performed it on their never released Yardbirds Live at the Anderson Theatre album, on the BBC and on a French TV show called La Bouton Rouge (see video below).

According to Jake Holmes' he had no idea that the Yardbirds had been covering his song and learned about the Led Zeppelin version only when it appeared on wax with the writing credit going singularly to Jimmy Page (ASCAP copyright, 1968 340128276). Holmes: "Yes, yes, and that was the infamous moment of my life when Dazed and Confused fell into the loving hands of Jimmy Page." (source: Greg Russo. Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-up). Jimmy Page was pressed on this matter sometime in the 70's and then claimed that he never knew of Holmes' version and that the deceased Yardbirds singer Keith Relf had claimed to have written the song and gave Page permission to claim it as his own. McCarty: "He's [Page] a fibber. We'll have to bust him on that one." (ibid)

Rumors have swirled for years that Jake Holmes was quietly compensated many years later by Page's Swan Song Publishing as they fended off legal action. Neither Holmes or Page have, to my knowledge, spoken publicly about the matter since. Rumors have also swirled for years that Jimmy Page and Atlantic Records purchased the rights to The Yardbirds Live At Anderson Theatre album and had it withdrawn from publishing. Ostensibly to suppress the earlier version of Dazed and Confused which credits Holmes and thus would prove Page's knowledge of the song's origination.

Things haven't been all bad for Jake Holmes. He went on to be one of the most successful advertising jingle writers in America, penning such tunes such as Be a Pepper, Alka Seltzer's Plop, Plop Fizz, Fizz and the Army’s Be All You Can Be.

So sit back and listen to the original recording of Dazed and Confused by Jake Holmes and then listen to Led Zeppelin's "original", Dazed and Confused. And watch the video below to see the intermediary version of Dazed and Confused as performed by The Yardbirds.

Enjoy and keep an eye and ear out for more submissions on the etymology of Led Zeppelin songs in the coming weeks and months and years.

Until next time, we'll see you on the flip-side.

RIP Doug Dillard

Doug Dillard, who performed with the Dillards and with Gene Clark as part of The Dillard and Clark Expedition, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 75. Here he is playing on the Andy Griffith Show. 

We've featured his work with Gene Clark on this site, not once, but two times. Here are the Dillard and Clark Expedition performing Polly. Polly, by the way, was covered by Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. And here they are performing one of my all time favorite songs, Out On The Side.

Song of the Week: Dillard and Clark Expedition -- Polly

We present to you today a beautiful song that we have previously been reluctant to post on this site. We were hesitant because the song is so nuanced and so mellow, that we have feared the click-happy listener won't take the time to get it. But bollocks to the click happy world. This is a great song that you need to hear!

The song is Polly by the Dillard And Clark Expedition, a proto-alt country band that featured the former Byrds frontman, Gene Clark. We think so much of his work that he is only the third artist to get a repeat posting. [In fact, for a detailed history of Gene Clark, we strongly encourage you to read the article from two years ago about his song, Out On The Side, which can be accessed by clicking here.]

Polly is from the Dillard And Clark Expedition's second, and final, album, Through The Morning, Through The Night. It's one of the two songs from the 1969 album, along with the stellar title track, that was later covered by the Robert Plant, Alison Krauss collaboration album entitled Raising Sand. An excellent album produced by T-Bone Burnett, whom we suspect of bringing the songs to the table. With all due respect to the Plant/Krauss cover of this rare gem, I much prefer the Gene Clark version. Where Plant's performance is dark and brooding and heightens the sense of a stalker as our protagonist, Clark sings the song with a sense of loss and sadness that speaks nicely to a protagonist filled with the lament of "what could have been?".

If the wild bird could speak, he'd tell of places you have been

He's been in my dreams and he knows all the ways of the wind.

Polly come home again. Spread your wings to the wind.

I felt much of the pain as it begins.

The violin work of Byron Berline adds to that sense of sadness of loss and matches the acoustic guitar arpeggios at 1:22 and again at the end of the song, ever so nicely. We hope you take time to sit back and listen to this one without obstruction.

Song of the Week: The Everly Brothers -- Gone, Gone, Gone

Back for day two of "under the covers". Today we look at the origins of the recent Robert Plant & Alison Krauss mega hit and cover song, Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On) from the duo's wildly successful Raising Sand album.

I'll state right here and now that I've never been a huge fan of Robert Plant. That was until I heard his work on Gone, Gone, Gone. I guess you need to know that the original version, by the Everly Brothers, is one of my favorite Everly songs of all time. It's hardly one of the Everly's biggest hits -- coming well after their heyday on the charts -- and one might even call it a bit obscure as the record has been out of print since the mid 60's. So when I was driving down the street and heard a new version of Gone, Gone, Gone, I was flabbergasted. At first I thought it was a remix of the original. Not so much. Then I turned to my wife and said, "whoever this is is a hell of a singer. They are nailing the harmonies but also changing them ever so slightly. And the production is perfect." It wasn't for a few more weeks that I would find out that it was Robert Plant (and Alison Krauss). "Whoa" says me. Then I find out it is produced by one of my favorite producers, T-Bone Burnett (whom I used to see play at the Coffee House in Davis, California in the early 80's). "Cool", says me.

My paradigm of appreciation for Robert Plant changed in one instant. Plant's vocal style has been totally contradictory to that of the Everly Brothers. Plant is famous for big, rounded, swoops to hit the note he is seeking. I think he would tell you that. But on this song -- and the album -- he sings in a more traditional country style -- jagged, right angles. A style performed to perfection by the freakishly tight harmonies of the Everly Brothers. The change in Plant's style on Raising Sand is a necessity because of his collaboration with country singer, Krauss. You can't harmonize with big, looping vocal swells. You need to hit the note and hit it hard and fast. Plant still gets in some of those swells on this song in between harmonies, but for the most part, he is sticking the note nicely.

The Everly Brothers wrote and recorded Gone, Gone, Gone in 1964. By this time they were stuck in a rock-n-roll purgatory. The hits were behind them and they were too country for the pop charts and too pop for the country charts and too square for the hipsters. Need proof? Take a look at this video of the Everly Brothers performing Gone, Gone, Gone. Tuxedos. Not cool. Spastic dancers wearing knee length skirts. Not cool. But their harmonies on this live vocal version of the song? Cool. (Note the sax addition).

As a whole, rock-n-roll in the US was on life support at this time and the Everly Brothers were not going to be part of the resurrection. They were just left to make great records and influence singers like McCartney, Lennon and Harrison who knew how cool the Everly Brothers still were. (Look no further than Baby's In Black to hear that Everly influence).

Nobody hit the note more precisely than the Everly Brothers. They sing a harmony like only two siblings can. Don Everly taking the lead and Phil Everly hitting the harmony (usually on the 4th note). They nail it on Gone, Gone, Gone. Stop and listen to Phil's precise note climbing harmonization at the second go-round of the chorus starting around 1:05. Whoo-wee. The song is a huge romp of floor-tom drums, piano and big open chords on the guitar that ends quicker than it begins. If you are lucky enough to own the original Gone, Gone, Gone album, you aren't so disappointed at the brevity of the song as the whole album is killer. But for the rest of you, just hit replay a few times.

Click here to listen to both versions of Gone, Gone, Gone.