Perfect Sound Forever
Jimmy PageLed Zeppelin: innovators or plagiarists? Jimmy Page: genius or charlatan?

Perhaps the question itself is moot. Led Zeppelin is safely enshrined in the hearts of their fans and in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame itself. Is an article examining their appropriation of material an exercise in futility? It's preaching to the choir and the heathens at the same time; detractors have already made up their minds and camp followers don't care one iota.

If nothing else, this piece will give readers an opportunity to track down the recordings that Led Zeppelin "borrowed" from.

Led Zeppelin long had an unsavory reputation for taking music and lyrics from lesser-known artists. Many times the songs were never credited to their authors and undue royalties lined the pockets of the millionaire British musicians. Further, their American heroes, often poor and black, never saw a dime from songs they had written before their heirs ever picked up an instrument. Led Zeppelin has been taken to court over the matter on numerous occasions. For an in-depth study of Led Zeppelin's penchant for stealing others' work, music fans must turn to Page's first band, the Yardbirds.

Although the history of the Yardbirds is well documented, a thumbnail sketch of the band will lay the foundation for analyzing Jimmy Page's later behavior. Formed in 1963, the Yardbirds quickly became the darlings of the British R&B circuit. With Eric Clapton on lead guitar, the quintet cranked up the volume and played looser than any of their contemporaries. Songs were stretched out to thirty-minute jams.

Clapton's furious fretwork was matched by singer Keith Relf's frenetic harp playing. Further, the band boasted one of the loudest rhythm sections in rock and roll, with Paul Samwell-Smith on bass and Jim McCarty on the drum stool. Chris Dreja rounded out the five-some, with his chunky rhythm guitar bolstering Clapton's stinging leads. The Yardbirds, while known as a breeding ground for lead guitarists, were definitely a band and a tight one at that.

To survive in that era, a band needed a chart topper. The Yardbirds soon turned themselves to that process. Clapton, a blues purist, was unhappy with the band's new direction. After playing on their first pop hit, "For Your Love," he left the band.

Obviously, the Yardbirds were in dire need of a lead guitar player. They approached London's ace session man, Jimmy Page, with an offer to join the band. Page had played on hundreds of studio tracks by such luminaries as Them, the Pretty Things, the Who, the Kinks as well as many groups that have faded into the mists of time. Amazingly, it is estimated that Jimmy Page appeared on 60% of everything recorded in England between 1963 and 1966.

Page turned the Yardbirds down, preferring the steady paycheck from his session work. Instead he suggested a brilliant, yet mercurial, guitarist named Jeff Beck. Beck and Page had been chums since their schooldays. Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds for a 22-month roller coaster ride that many still consider the high point of rock 'n' roll eclecticism. With Jeff Beck, they forged a futuristic sound that culminated in the proto-psychedelic single, "Shapes of Things."

By 1966, Jimmy Page tired of session work. Fortunately for him the Yardbirds were once again in need of his services. Page was brought in to replace departing Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith. Jimmy Page initially played bass before switching over to lead guitar. Chris Dreja then filled the bassist slot. Needless to say, with Beck and Page on dual lead guitars, the Yardbirds quickly became the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world. Yet they recorded only three songs with this lineup. One of them, "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," is the zenith of psychedelia, a nuclear meltdown and aural firestorm masquerading as a pop song.

This lineup was short-lived, however. Within six months, and under mysterious circumstances, a volatile Jeff Beck left the band. Undaunted, the Yardbirds decided to carry on as a quartet. While their subsequent studio work may not be up to the standards laid during the Beck era, the unit was still very capable of creating blistering pyrotechnics on stage.

"Live as a four-piece, when Jimmy was playing guitar, I think those were some of our best shows," Chris Dreja has said.

The Yardbirds, while one of the most innovative bands ever, had always been quick to acknowledge their stone cold blues roots. As an example, their stratospheric adaptation of "I'm a Man" was properly credited to Ellas McDaniel, a.k.a. Bo Diddley. The same holds true for a slew of other covers the Yardbirds performed, both on stage and in the studio.

With Jimmy Page's ascendancy as lead guitarist, things began to change. Their final LP, 1967's Little Games, contained a number of traditional songs that the Yardbirds' names appeared on. Consequently, royalties wouldn't go to the American blues artists responsible for the songs, but rather to the English musicians themselves. Whereas in the past cover songs like "Smokestack Lightning" acknowledged the legitimate authors, non-original songs were now ascribed to the band. This was a procedure that would be repeated throughout Jimmy Page's career.

The Little Games album track "Drinking Muddy Water" was a rewrite of the Muddy Waters' tune "Rolling and Tumbling." Muddy Waters' version itself was a pastiche of many earlier blues numbers. In cases like this, it is customary to list the song as "traditional; arrangement by John Doe." Yet the Yardbirds version was credited to "Dreja, McCarty, Page, Relf." The same goes for "Stealing, Stealing," a song usually ascribed to the Will Shade's Memphis Jug Band (yes, that's where I got my nom de guerre). Some of these lyrics are also traditional. Once again, various Yardbirds were listed as responsible for writing the song with no mention being made of the original black musicians. The irony is obvious in stealing a song of that name.

"Smile On Me" was another song where the credits aren't quite kosher, so to speak. Authorship is given to Dreja, McCarty, Page, and Relf, but the song is basically a rewrite of two earlier blues songs. Jim McCarty was quick to point this out in a recent interview. Asked if it was based on an earlier Yardbirds song, "Rack My Mind," McCarty didn't hesitate in acknowledging the song's lineage.

"Yeah, and 'All Your Love,' too, the Otis Rush tune," he said.

In all fairness, "Rack My Mind" (which appears on the Roger the Engineer album) was a Xerox of "Scratch My Back," usually credited to J. Moore. Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf and Samwell-Smith helped themselves to the songwriting credits on "Rack My Mind," though.

Interestingly, another Little Games album track, the modish "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor," opens with a guitar riff that Page would later use as the opening chords on Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song."

The highlight of Little Games is Page's solo acoustic showcase, "White Summer." With its Eastern tuning and dazzling fretwork, this tune has long been regarded as one of his finest performances, and rightly so. Curiously, the song is credited to Jimmy Page. However, it is a traditional English folk song called "She Moves through the Fair." Many British artists had previously covered the song, including Davey Graham. Graham, along with English folk guitarist Bert Jansch, was one of Page's major acoustic influences. Coincidence? The song should be listed as "traditional; arrangement by Jimmy Page," but it is credited to the Yardbirds guitarist alone.

Perhaps this is nothing but an exercise in semantics. After all, putting your name on traditional tunes is nothing new. Take the legendary patriarch of country music, A.P. Carter: throughout the early part of the 20th century he and his kin scoured Appalachia, copyrighting dozens of centuries old tunes that had their origins in the British Isles. To this day an ancient song like "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is credited to A.P. Carter. Those in the know just chuckle and say, "Well, A.P. had the smarts to put his name on it before anybody else."

But the last great Yardbirds tune was most definitely not a traditional song; it was written by a contemporary musician, and Jimmy Page took it with him to his next band, Led Zeppelin.

On August 25, 1967 the Yardbirds caught an acoustic act fronted by Jake Holmes at the Village Theatre in New York's Greenwich Village. Holmes and his musicians played a song about a bad acid trip. With its descending bass line, jittery lyrics and dramatic caesuras, the Yardbirds knew they were onto something. The very next day Jim McCarty bought Holmes' album, The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes.

"We played with Jake in New York and I was struck by the atmosphere of 'Dazed and Confused.' I went down to Greenwich Village and bought his album and we decided to do a version," McCarty said. "We worked it out together with Jimmy contributing the guitar riffs in the middle. Don't you think he's the riff-master?"

Apparently, Page also bought the album the same day. According to Yardbirds historian Greg Russo, a certain John Alusick witnessed Jimmy Page purchasing it at Bleecker Bob's Record Store on Bleecker Street. The Yardbirds quickly set about adapting the song that had captured their collective imagination.

Yardbirds singer Keith Relf rewrote the lyrics while drummer Jim McCarty and Jimmy Page expanded the song structure itself. The song stuck to the original arrangement until the bridge. Even at this point, the fret tapping acknowledged Holmes' original. Then Page threw in some eerie effects, bowing his guitar like a violin. Whereas a violin's neck is curved, a guitar neck is flat. Consequently, Page was only able to bow a couple strings at a time to produce a bizarre melody. When he bowed all six strings, the effect was startling. Strange moaning and whooping sounds were produced. This was a gimmick he had incorporated into his bag of tricks back in his studio days. He had first used it on two tracks on the Little Games LP: "Glimpses" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor."

Page was not the first guitarist to use a violin bow. He was a favorite session musician of famed producer, Shel Talmy. Talmy had used Page on session work for the Who and the Kinks among others. One of Talmy's pet projects was a band called the Creation. Eddie Phillips, lead guitarist of said group, had employed a violin bow on his guitar on two 1966 singles, "Painter Man" and "Making Time." It's worth musing over whether Page ever happened to see Phillips use the violin bow in the studio.

Talmy himself had no doubts about it. In the book Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll, he shared his views on Eddie Phillips and Jimmy Page with author Richie Unterberger. "He (Phillips) was one of the most innovative guitarists I've ever run across. Jimmy Page stole the bowing bit of the guitar from Eddie. Eddie was phenomenal," Talmy said.

Page himself has claimed he didn't meet Eddie Phillips until Jim McCarty's 50th birthday party in 1994. Further, and to be fair, there are also pictures of Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett using a violin bow in concert. Eddie Phillips' underrated guitar work is now widely available with the reissue of the Creation's entire recorded legacy in the late '90s. The movie Rushmore includes "Making Time" on the soundtrack.

There is a noticeable difference in the two guitar players' approaches, however. Phillips' violin bowing is organic, much more integrated into the song structure itself. During the bridge in "Making Time," his bowing sounds very similar to feedback. When Page utilizes the effect, though, the song comes to a halt, with all attention being focused on the bowing. In "Dazed and Confused," Page followed up the violin bowing with a furious spitfire solo, which he had lifted from the flipside of the Yardbirds' last single, "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" b/w "Think About It." While it is undoubtedly his own solo, Page was exhibiting a tendency to recycle motifs and ideas.

The Yardbirds' version of "Dazed and Confused" became their dramatic showstopper. They played it for the final six months of their existence. It was never heard outside the concert circuit until Epic released Live Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page in 1971. Epic had taped a show at New York City's Anderson Theatre in the spring of 1968, during the Yardbirds final American tour. When the band heard the masters several days later, they decided that Epic should not release it as an album.

By 1971, Led Zeppelin was a colossal success and Epic obviously hoped to ride on their coattails. The track in question was erroneously called "I'm Confused" on the LP, a title the band never used. Nevertheless, Page quickly gained a court injunction and the album was withdrawn from the market. He cited the fact that Epic had overdubbed crowd noises on the original tracks.

Further, he was dissatisfied with the band's original performance. In an interview from the spring of 1999, Jim McCarty revealed that he had no problem with the band's performance. "The Anderson Theatre show I didn't think was too bad – Jimmy says Keith had a bad night," McCarty said. "I think it was more a case of doing 'Dazed and Confused' pre-Zeppelin that made him withdraw it."

Page also had the LP withdrawn in 1975. It is still easily available as a bootleg and was recently re-mastered and distributed by Mooreland Street Records.

How was Jimmy Page able to wield this clout, seeing as how he was the last member to join the Yardbirds? Interestingly, there is a myth that he talked the other members of the Yardbirds into selling him the rights to the band's very name just before their final dissolution in the summer of 1968.

Contrary to rumors, the Yardbirds never did lay down a studio version of "Dazed and Confused." However, there was one last studio session, in April 1968, which figures into the scheme of things...

The Yardbirds' live take on "Dazed and Confused" certainly outshines Led Zeppelin's studio and live versions. Jim McCarty's drumming is much more fluid than John Bonham's, propelling the song along at breakneck speed. Further, Keith Relf's frantic harmonica playing on the tune is not replicated by Robert Plant's absurd wailing. In the hands of the Yardbirds, the song is a psychedelic masterpiece, not the metal monstrosity that Led Zeppelin performed.

Much later, Led Zeppelin's live version would incorporate another Yardbirds song into "Dazed and Confused." Page quotes the main riff to "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" during the bow solo on Led Zeppelin's live album, The Song Remains the Same (it does indeed).

In July 1968, the Yardbirds finally threw in the towel. Relf and McCarty made the fatal decision that heavy, guitar-dominated music was on the way out. They formed the art rock/progressive band, Renaissance. McCarty is still rueful, yet bemused, about the path he chose to follow. He has since reformed the Yardbirds several times. The latest configuration, with Chris Dreja, toured America and Europe in 2000. They do an incredible version of "Dazed and Confused," segueing straight from a note-perfect "Still I'm Sad." It would seem that McCarty and Dreja lay some claim to the song.

Relf and McCarty's foray into prog-rock was short lived. They released only one album with Renaissance. A second Renaissance LP was half done before they packed it in and John Hawken took it upon himself to locate other musicians to finish it. Keith Relf apparently realized the error of his ways, forming a heavy metal band in the mid '70s. Their one and only album, the self-titled Armageddon, is one of the great lost classics. It easily stands cheek by jowl with his former band-mate's work in Led Zeppelin.

Chris Dreja was initially slated to be the bass player in Page's new lineup, but bowed out gracefully once a more enthusiastic replacement was found. Page obviously made the right choice. He walked away with a stockpile of songs, including heavy metal's nascent anthem, "Dazed and Confused."

The stalwart Jimmy Page soon assembled a new band, which still called itself the Yardbirds. Comprised of Page, fellow session man John Paul Jones on bass, drummer John Bonham and vocalist Robert Plant, they fulfilled the original band's final contractual obligations, touring Sweden in September 1968. Contrary to accepted facts, the band was not known as the New Yardbirds at the time. Scandinavian ads billed them as either the Yardbirds or Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page.

Now back to the name "Yardbirds" itself. Chris Dreja recently revealed an incredible fact to Yardbirds historian Greg Russo. The document McCarty and Relf signed was to authorize Page and Dreja to fill out a Yardbirds group to satisfy the Scandinavian dates only. Page and Dreja had the name, even when Dreja left the band.

When Chris Dreja found out that manager Peter Grant was sending the group out to tour England (October 18-19) under the name, the ex-Yardbird filed a "cease and desist" order against Page and Grant to stop them from using said name. The name change was announced in the October 19, 1968 issue of DISC Magazine. Dreja's order caused the name change – Page has never owned the name.

Back in England, the band finally dropped the Yardbirds moniker and entered the studio to record their eponymous debut album. Amusingly enough, their name, Led Zeppelin, was itself unoriginal.

In May 1966, Jeff Beck was growing disenchanted with the Yardbirds. He and Jimmy Page entered the studio to record a number of tracks along with John Paul Jones and the Who's great drummer, Keith Moon. Moon's band-mate, John Entwistle, was also involved in some capacity. Apocryphal legend says the recording session went so well that the four musicians discussed forming a band. Moon and Entwistle were dissatisfied with Pete Townshend's increasing dictatorial grip on the Who. They were quite keen on the idea as were Page and Beck.

They bantered back and forth over what would be a fitting epithet for the band. Someone said they would "go over like a lead balloon." Entwistle's rejoinder was to the affect that the band should be called "lead zeppelin." Moon brayed with delight. Page filed the name away in that steel trap that serves as a brain. One of the songs recorded at this session, "Beck's Bolero," figures into the scheme of things at a later point.

Exhilarated by the experience, Page realized the unit would need a dynamic vocalist. One of those approached was the Small Face's diminutive, yet powerful singer, Steve Marriott. Page was quickly rebuffed by the Small Faces' management, which had shady underworld connections. Jimmy Page was asked if he could "play guitar with broken fingers," or words to that affect. Needless to say, Page never contacted Marriott.

Marriott's work with the Small Faces would figure into the Led Zeppelin saga, though.

Page returned to the Yardbirds, staying through the summer of 1968. As already documented, he formed a new unit, which became known as Led Zeppelin. Once the tour of Scandinavia was over, the band entered the studio to record their first LP in the fall of 1968. Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut was recorded in less than thirty hours, and it shows, in the lack of original compositions.

Jeff Beck, in the meantime, had formed his first solo band. The Jeff Beck Group took the Yardbirds' formula to its logical conclusion, i.e. loud and hard psychedelic blues mutating into what we now call heavy metal. This crackerjack unit was comprised of Beck on lead guitar, Steampacket's Rod Stewart on vocals, Birds' guitarist Ron Wood on bass and Mick Waller on drums. They recorded what is arguably the very first heavy metal album, Truth. Released in August 1968, Jimmy Page was to use his ex-band-mate's album as a veritable blueprint for Led Zeppelin's debut.

A track-by-track comparison of Truth and Led Zeppelin I is an intriguing process. Both albums had a reworking of a Yardbirds' song. The Beck album opened with a roaring, albeit less effective, version of "Shapes of Things." Led Zeppelin also used a Yardbirds' song, "Dazed and Confused." Page at this point rewrote the lyrics yet again, but he stuck strictly to the arrangement he and Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty devised. The Led Zeppelin version is solely credited to Jimmy Page, with no mention being made of Jake Holmes. Years later, Holmes heard Led Zeppelin's version, but he decided not to pursue any legal action.

Both albums also contained a traditional English folk song. Beck's LP had a lovely acoustic arrangement of "Greensleeves." He didn't take any credit for the song. Page, on the other hand, showcased his companion piece to "White Summer." The song was called "Black Mountainside." It is credited solely to Page, yet humorously enough it is a centuries-old tune. He probably picked it up from Bert Jansch, who is one of Page's primary acoustic influences. Further, Jansch had been playing the song for years, using its original title, "Black Waterside." He never took credit for the song. Jimmy Page, however, boldly stamped his name on the tune. [Additionally, Davey Graham probably devised the D-A-D-G-A-D tuning used on "Black Waterside" and on "White Summer." Annie Briggs, another influence on Page, was also known to do a version of "Black Waterside."]

This contrasting of heavy songs with light acoustic numbers was to become Led Zeppelin's trademark. Yet the Jeff Beck Group did it first and to better affect. Beck is as dazzling a guitar player as Jimmy Page, yet he is far more precise and capable of restraint. Interestingly, Jeff Beck's solo debut contained a rock 'n' roll interpretation of Ravel's "Bolero."

Entitled "Beck's Bolero," the piece came from the aborted 1966 super-group session that had found Beck, Page, John Paul Jones and Keith Moon collaborating. Page provided some propulsive acoustic rhythm work upon which Jeff Beck overlaid stinging lead guitar. The song is once again credited only to Jimmy Page. Beck and Page have feuded over the songwriting rights in numerous interviews. To this day, Beck insists he came up with the arrangement. After all, it wasn't called "Page's Bolero."

Strangely, this is what Jimmy Page himself had to say about the song in a Trouser Press article of October 1977 (#22, "Paging the Yardbirds," part two of a three part interview with Dave Schulps):


"Keith Relf had a melody on tape and we used that as the main part of the song. I don't think that Beck actually came in on the backing tracks, he just did the overdubs and wrote the central section – the riffy bridge."


It is left up to you, gentle reader, where the origins of this song truly lie.

Truth also contained a version of the Muddy Waters classic "You Shook Me." For some reason, Page also decided to include this song on Led Zeppelin's first album. While the song is properly accredited to its author, Willie Dixon, Jeff Beck was less than enthusiastic upon hearing Led Zeppelin's demo.

With Truth still in the charts, he was unable to understand Page's decision to record the song for Led Zeppelin I. As recounted in the Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, Beck's eyes tear-ed with rage as he demanded, "Jim, why?" Page just shrugged sheepishly, unable to explain why he wanted to upstage his former band-mate.

A rewrite of Eddie Cochran's rockabilly classic "Nervous Breakdown" appeared on Led Zeppelin's first album. Entitled "Communication Breakdown," this interpretation made no mention of Cochran, and is credited to Bonham/Jones/Page.

Annie Briggs' fingerprints were all over another song on Led Zeppelin I. Her original, "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," was appropriated by the foursome with the credits reading Bredon (her real name)/Page/Plant. Whether Page and Plant added anything to the song is debatable.

Led Zeppelin I closed with the ultimate pastiche: "How Many More Times." Opening with a bass riff straight from the Yardbirds' reworking of "Smokestack Lightning," and copping lyrics from Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years," Albert King's "The Hunter" and bits of Gary Farr and the T-Bones' "How Many More Times," the song sinks to purloin a direct quote of Jimmy Rodgers' pop hit, "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." Page's solo is Jeff Beck's solo from the Yardbirds classic, "Shapes of Things," slowed to a crawl.

A listen to the Yardbirds Last Rave-up in L.A. bootleg reveals an interesting fact. "Smokestack Lightning" has the bolero section from "Beck's Bolero." Page also used this on "How Many More Times." The only thing original about the song is Page's violin bowing. "How Many More Times" is credited to Bonham/Jones/Page, however.

During 1969, Led Zeppelin toured constantly, recording their sophomore effort in various studios while they were on the road. The resulting is uneven, and shows less originality than its shaky predecessor.

"Whole Lotta Love" opens Led Zeppelin II, and this is where Steve Marriott and the Small Faces figure into the Led Zeppelin saga. That mod foursome was known for a killer live version of the Muddy Waters "You Need Love." The following paragraph is from Small Faces: The Young Mods' Forgotten Story, by Paolo Hewitt (1995, Acid Jazz Books).


A few years later, one of the LP's outstanding tracks, the Marriott/Lane "You Need Loving," cropped up again to create rock history, albeit in a different format. "'Whole Lotta Love, by Led Zeppelin, was nicked off that album," Marriott pointed out.

"Percy Plant was a big fan. He used to be at all The Small Faces gigs. We did a gig with the Yardbirds which he was at and Jimmy Page asked me what that number was we did. '"You Need Loving",' I said, 'it's a Muddy Waters thing' – which it really is, so they both knew it, and Percy used to come to the gigs whenever we played in Kidderminster or Stowbridge, where he came from.

"He was always saying he was going to get this group together. He was another nuisance. He kept coming into the dressing room, just another little Mod kid. We used to say, 'That kid's here again.' Anyway, we used to play this number and it became a stock opener after that album. After we broke up they took it and revamped it. Good luck to them. It was only old Percy who'd had his eyes on it. He sang it the same, phrased it the same, even the stops at the end were the same, they just put a different rhythm to it." "For years and years I would hear it come on the radio while driving in America, and I would think, 'Go on, my son,' until one day I thought, '@#$%& hell, that's us, that is!' The bastards!"


"Whole Lotta Love" is obviously, as Steve Marriott points out, a direct nick of the Small Faces take on "You Need Love." The lyrics are basically the same as the Muddy Waters version. Further, Robert Plant's vocals are indeed modeled directly on Marriott's delivery. One listen to the Small Faces version will lay any doubt aside. Unfortunately, the Small Faces songwriting credits made no mention of Willie Dixon. Of course, neither did Led Zeppelin's.

Interestingly enough, Willie Dixon's own daughter, Shirley, brought it to her father's attention. As reported in the October 8, 1994's edition of the Los Angeles Times by Steve Hochman, Shirley Dixon first heard Led Zeppelin's version when she was thirteen. She played it for her father, who agreed it was his song. Willie Dixon was receiving no royalties from it. In 1985, Dixon sued Led Zeppelin for royalties to "Whole Lotta Love." The case was settled out of court two years later, with a generous settlement to Willie Dixon. Today, Shirley Dixon heads the Blues Heaven Foundation (established by her father), which helps blues artists recover their royalties and rights.

Another blues classic on Led Zeppelin II became famous as "The Lemon Song." Derived directly from Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," there is also the infamous quote about squeezing lemons that comes from Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues." Chester Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf, received no credit for "The Lemon Song." In the early '70s, Arc Music sued Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement. The suit was settled out of court.

The album closed with a song credited to Page/Plant, "Bring it On Home." Discerning listeners realized it was the old Sonny Boy Williamson song of the same name, albeit with a furious Page solo. Once again, the song's author, Willie Dixon, won a settlement.

Led Zeppelin III found Page still delving into his bag of Yardbirds leftovers. An album track, "Tangerine," was one Page had worked on with the Yardbirds in the spring of 1968. Page claimed authorship of the entire song, including the lyrics. The Yardbirds had never copyrighted the piece, which made it easy for Page to usurp it in its entirety. The flower-child verses smack of Keith Relf, though. ("Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is basically an original song with Jones/Page/Plant being listed as the song's authors, however, the intro is lifted from "The Waggoner's Tale" by Bert Jansch).

1971's Led Zeppelin IV showed the band to be up to their old tricks: the drum intro to "Rock 'n' Roll" was a direct lift from Little Richard's "Keep A-Knocking." One listen to that early nugget will prove the point. Further, elements of the solo from the old Yardbirds warhorse "Train Kept A-Rollin" show up in "Rock 'n' Roll."

But it is that holiest of Holy Grails, "Stairway to Heaven," that will most shock the faithful. On one of Led Zeppelin's early tours, they had opened for the California art-rock group Spirit. In the liner notes to the reissue of Spirit's 1968 eponymous debut, the band's guitarist Randy California mentions the fact that Jimmy Page took special interest in an original entitled "Taurus."

There is no doubt that Page appropriated the opening guitar lines note for note on "Stairway to Heaven." Further, the chord progression in "Stairway to Heaven" is incredibly similar to a song by the Chocolate Watch Band, "And She's Lonely." The Yardbirds played with the Chocolate Watch Band during Page's tenure. It would be quite ironic if he did indeed lift the chords from the Chocolate Watch Band. The Chocolate Watch Band was the ultimate Yardbirds clone – wouldn't it be fitting that a former Yardbirds guitarist ripped off something from a band that based an entire career around sounding like that famed quintet?

Led Zeppelin IV also found the band tackling a Memphis Minnie original, "When the Levee Breaks." In this case, Memphis Minnie is credited, but so are the four members of Led Zeppelin. What they contributed to the song is, once again, debatable. Led Zeppelin continued to appropriate songs throughout the rest of their career, albeit with less frequency. For the most part, the songs examined in this article are the most notorious cases of Led Zeppelin lifting others artistic works.

Dissenters, fans and casual listeners will cry, "This hair-splitting. Isn't rock 'n' roll about taking influences, and warping and twisting them until they come out sounding new?" Yes and no. Rock 'n' roll's great idiot savant, Elvis Presley, married blues to country, creating the 20th century's most popular form of music. And while his first single at Sun Studios, a breath-taking version of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right Mama," doesn't sound anything like the sluggish original, it is still properly credited to the rightful author. The same goes for all three of the Beatles covers of Carl Perkins songs. Taking a stray riff is one thing. Appropriating an entire song's music and lyrics while listing yourself as the author is quite another.




In the summer of 2000, two Yardbirds CDs from the Jimmy Page era were released. The first was a limited edition of the famed Live Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page album issued by Mooreland Street. Contrary to rumors, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja are quite content with the quality of the show, as is Keith Relf's family. As you'll recall, Page had this album suppressed twice in the '70s.

The CDs sold out quickly. Apparently, Mooreland Street had dealings with Page's representatives. Russ Garrett, head of the company, also runs a Yardbirds fan forum on the Internet. He has alluded to legal scuffling with "800-pound gorillas in business suits" on the website. Garrett would not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

The other recent Yardbirds release was issued by New Millenium. It contains the legendary final studio sessions from New York City in April 1968. Called Cumular Limit, the CD had fans salivating. This was especially true because McCarty hinted in a interview from the spring of 2000 that a take on "Tangerine" would be included. The Yardbirds version was called "Knowing That I'm Losing You."

However, that track does not appear on the new release. "I was advised that one of the members wasn't exactly delirious with the album," Carlton Sandercock at New Millenium said. Considering that Keith Relf was tragically electrocuted in 1976 and that both McCarty and Dreja participated in the CDs liner notes, it doesn't take much detective work to figure out which member is unhappy with the release. Asked what happened to the inclusion of "Knowing That I'm Losing You on the CD, Sandercock would not go into details. "Unfortunately, one of the songs was not released," he simply said.

Cumular Limit also has a live version of "Dazed and Confused" from French television in the spring of '68. For once, the song is credited properly, reading Jake Holmes; arr. Yardbirds. "I would really like to release Jake Holmes' original album," Sandercock related. "We can't seem to find him, though." Re-issuing The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes would undoubtedly unsnarl a tangled web.

This piece may appear nothing but gratuitous Page-bashing, but I assure you, it's far from it. To this day, Jimmy Page is unacknowledged as one of, if not the greatest psychedelic guitar players ever. Page's criminally underrated work with the Yardbirds and on countless sessions (take note of his hypnotic work on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman") show he set the standard for lysergic discord par excellence.

And in light of the fact that Page played on somewhere in the area of 60% of everything released in Britian between 1963 and 1966, and was instrumental in the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, he is undoubtedly the most-recorded guitarist ever. His fretwork itself is unassailable. Even on the lightweight session material he appears on, Page's guitar playing is impeccable (which is amazing if you consider that the majority of those forgotten groups should not have been within ear-shot of a studio).

But it his habit for putting his name on others materials that is being examined here, not his guitar sorcery.

Thanks to Greg Russo for providing valuable insight and information.

Will Shade | Mar. 15, 1999

Print Article

RELATED LINKS

Greg Russo's Yardbirds : The Ultimate Rave-Up

SEE ALSO: Jake Holmes, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds

March 2005 Issue 3 © 2005FEATURES

Jake Holmes Jimmy Page Morphogenesis Jorane EDITOR'S NOTES

Jason Gross ABOUT

CONTACTS

LETTERS

ADS


Archives | BROWSE July 2005 no.2 July 2005 no.1 June 2005 no.1 April 2005 no.2 April 2005 no.1 March 2005 no.4 March 2005 no.3 March 2005 no.2 March 2005 no.1 February 2005 no.4 Search | BROWSE

CAN U MAKE A LONGER POST NEXT TIME!CHRIST!

Well he did not steal anything more than all the rest. The fact Led Zeppelin put together the best music speaks for itself. In fact the Stones dont even give any credit for theft such as Under my thumb etc.

I love Zeppelin I was just surprised with some of the stuff I read in this article. I was also surprised that Zep didn't credit other artists on songs they do which are obviously not theirs live Travelin Riverside Blues.

Either way I still love just about everything Zeppelin put out.

is it true they dont care for J.P.Jones,,,,what gives there ,,any1 no

Thanks for this Hound Dog!! I love reading this stuff and it doesn't surprise
me, the only karma I can link to this is that back in the 70's when the
British Gov. was broke, they took an ungodly percentage of Led Zep's gross in
taxes, the Stones split to France to avoid paying but Page & company stuck
around, as did Elton John and let the Gov. take it!! Guess they thought they
were helping their country... fools - MLC

I'm sorry if any of this makes for confusing reading. I just copied it from Microsoft Word. I went a bit nuty over his session work a few years back and I compiled list from all my research. I can't remember where I got most of the info from!

Anyway, a couple of things to point out. Jimmy Pages involvement on Heart Of Stone is in fact the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra version. A lot has been written about Pages involvment with the Kinks and whether or not he did the solo on You Really Got Me. He didn't. Aparently he contributes tambourine!




Jimmy Page Sessions 1962 - 1969


1962 The Road To Love Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1962 Big Beat Drum Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1962 The Worried Kind Brian Howard And The Silhouettes
1963 Diamonds Tony Meehan And Jet Harris
1963 Footstomp Tony Meehan And Jet Harris
1963 Get A Load Of This Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1963 A Little Bit Of Something ElseNeil Christian And The Crusaders
1963 Twist And Shout Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 We Know Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 I Can Dance Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 Are You Loving Me At All Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 Hello Josephine Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders
1963 Don’t You Dig This Kinda Beat Chris Ravel And The Ravens
1963 I Do Chris Ravel And The Ravens
1963 Your Momma’s Out Of Town Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1963 Somebody Told My Girl Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1963 The Feminine Look Mickey Most
1963 Shame On You Boy Mickey Most
1963 Sea Cruise Mickey Most
1963 It’s A Little Bit Hot Mickey Most
1963 Talking ‘Bout You The Red Caps
1963 Come On Girl The Red Caps
1963 Angie Gregory Phillips
1963 Please Believe Me Gregory Phillips
1964 I Can Tell The Zephyrs
1964 Sweet Little Baby The Zephrys
1964 My Baby Left Me Dave Berry
1964 Hoochie Coochie Man Dave Berry
1964 The Crying Game Dave Berry
1964 Don’t Gimmie No Lip Dave Berry
1964 Baby Its You Dave Berry
1964 Sweet And Lovely Dave Berry
1964 One Heart Between Two Dave Berry
1964 Your Gonna Need Somebody Dave Berry
1964 Jenny Let Him Go Antoinette
1964 Please Don’t Hurt Me Anymore Antoinette
1964 Foxy Earl Guest
1964 Begin The Beguine Earl Guest
1964 Little Baby The Blue Rhondos
1964 Baby I Go For You The Blue Rhondos
1964 Downtown Petula Clark
1964 You’d Better Love Me Petula Clark
1964 Honey Hush Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1964 One For The Money Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1964 I Will Billy Fury
1964 Nothing Shaking Billy Fury
1964 Once In A While The Brooks
1964 Pills Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 Hush Your Mouth Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 Reelin’ And Rockin’ Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 I Still Want You Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 A Certain Girl The First Gear
1964 Leave My Kitten Alone The First Gear
1964 Come On Lets Go Wayne Gibson And The Dynamic Sound
1964 See You Later Alligator Wayne Gibson And The Dynamic Sound
1964 Is It True? Brenda Lee
1964 What’d I Say Brenda Lee
1964 Shout Lulu
1964 I’ll Come Running Lulu
1964 Skinny Minnie Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1964 Easy To Cry Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1964 Money Honey Mickey Most
1963 A Little Bit Of Something Else Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1963 Twist And Shout Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 We Know Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 I Can Dance Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 Are You Loving Me At All Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1963 Hello Josephine Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders
1964 Don’t You Dig This Kinda Beat Chris Ravel And The Ravens
1963 I Do Chris Ravel And The Ravens
1963 Your Momma’s Out Of Town Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1963 Somebody Told My Girl Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1963 The Feminine Look Mickey Most
1963 Shame On You Boy Mickey Most
1963 Sea Cruise Mickey Most
1963 It’s A Little Bit Hot Mickey Most
1963 Talking ‘Bout You The Red Caps
1963 Come On Girl The Red Caps
1963 Angie Gregory Phillips
1963 Please Believe Me Gregory Phillips
1964 I Can Tell The Zephyrs
1964 Sweet Little Baby The Zephrys
1964 My Baby Left Me Dave Berry
1964 Hoochie Coochie Man Dave Berry
1964 The Crying Game Dave Berry
1964 Don’t Gimmie No Lip Dave Berry
1964 Baby Its You Dave Berry
1964 Sweet And Lovely Dave Berry
1964 One Heart Between Two Dave Berry
1964 Your Gonna Need Somebody Dave Berry
1964 Jenny Let Him Go Antoinette
1964 Please Don’t Hurt Me Anymore Antoinette
1964 Foxy Earl Guest
1964 Begin The Beguine Earl Guest
1964 Little Baby The Blue Rhondos
1964 Baby I Go For You The Blue Rhondos
1964 Downtown Petula Clark
1964 You’d Better Love Me Petula Clark
1964 Honey Hush Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1964 One For The Money Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1964 I Will Billy Fury
1964 Nothing Shaking Billy Fury
1964 Once In A While The Brooks
1964 Pills Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 Hush Your Mouth Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 Reelin’ And Rockin’ Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 I Still Want You Mickey Finn And The Blue Men
1964 A Certain Girl The First Gear
1964 Leave My Kitten Alone The First Gear
1964 Come On Lets Go Wayne Gibson And The Dynamic Sound
1964 See You Later Alligator Wayne Gibson And The Dynamic Sound
1964 Is It True? Brenda Lee
1964 What’d I Say Brenda Lee
1964 Shout Lulu
1964 I’ll Come Running Lulu
1964 Skinny Minnie Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1964 Easy To Cry Carter – Lewis And The Southerners
1964 Money Honey Mickey Most
1964 That’s Alright Mickey Most
1964 Candy Man Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1964 I Wish I Could Dance Brian Pool And The Tremelos
1964 Help Me The Primitives
1964 Let Them Tell The Primitives
1964 Hold Me PJ Proby
1964 The Tips Of My Fingers PJ Proby
1964 Together PJ Proby
1964 Sweet And Tender Romance PJ Proby
1964 Bald Headed Woman The Sneekers
1964 Just Cant Go To Sleep The Sneekers
1964 Rosalyn The Pretty Things
1964 Big Boss Man The Pretty Things
1964 Roll Over Beethoven Pat Wayne And The Beachcombers
1964 Is It Love Pat Wayne And The Beachcombers
1964 Was She Tall The Lancastrians
1964 We’ll Sing In The Sunshine The Lancastrians
1964 She Fallen In Love With A Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages
Monster Man
1964 Bye Bye Baby Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages
1964 Two Lovers Louise Cordet
1964 Sweet And Tender Romance The McKinglys
1964 Don’t Turn Your Back On Me Jackie De Shannon
1964 Walk Tall Val Doonican
1964 Only The Heartaches Val Doonican
1964 You Really Got Me The Kinks
1964 Long Tall Shorty The Kinks
1964 Bald Headed Woman The Kinks
1964 Revenge The Kinks
1964 Im A Lover, Not A Fighter The Kinks
1964 Kelly Wayne Gibson And The Dynamic Sound
1965 The Game Of Love Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders
1965 Since You’ve Being Gone Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders
1965 Trains Boats And Planes Burt Bacharach
1965 Little By Little The Pickwicks
1965 I Took My Baby Home The Pickwicks
1965 Midnight To Six Man The Pretty Things
1965 Can’t Stand The Pain The Pretty Things
1965 Don’t Bring Me Down The Pretty Things
1965 We’ll Be Together The Pretty Things
1965 You Must Beleive Me The Pretty Things
1965 I Need You The Kinks
1965 In My Time Of Sorrow Marianne Faithful
1965 Baby Please Don’t Go Them
1965 Gloria Them
1965 Here Comes The Night Them
1965 All For Myself Them
1965 Mystic Eyes Them
1965 Little Things Dave Berry
1965 Ive Got A Tiger By The Tail Dave Berry
1965 This Strange Effect Dave Berry
1965 Now Dave Berry
1965 Alright Baby Dave Berry
1965 Satisfied Lulu
1965 Surprise Surprise Lulu
1965 Heart Of Stone The Rolling Stones
1965 Some Day Jimmy Tarbuck
1965 Wasting Time Jimmy Tarbuck
1965 The Monkey Time The Golden Apples Of The Sun
1965 Chocolate Rolls, Tea And The Golden Apples Of The Sun
Monopoly
1965 I Pity The Fool The Manish Boys
1965 Take My Tip The Manish Boys
1965 She Belongs To Me The Masterminds
1965 Taking My Love The Masterminds
1965 I’m Not Saying Nico
1965 The Last Mile Nico
1965 Keep On Doing It The Outsiders
1965 Song We Sang Last Night The Outsiders
1965 Get Off Of My Cloud The Hairy Ones
1965 Gloria The Hairy Ones
1965 Its My Life The Hairy Ones
1965 Ring Dang Do The Hairy Ones
1965 City Streets The Stagerlees
1965 I’m Still Alone The Stagerlees
1965 Zing Went The Strings To The Stagerlees
My Heart
1965 Since I Don’t Have You The Stagerlees
1965 She Just Satisfies Jimmy Page
1965 Keep Moving Jimmy Page
1965 Down In The Boondocks Gregory Phillips
1965 That’s The One Gregory Phillips
1965 Leaves Come Tumbling Down Judy Smith
1965 Come My Way Judy Smith
1965 Bells Of Rymney The First Avenue
1965 Just Like Anyone Would The First Avenue
1965 Night Comes Down The Mickey Finn
1965 This Sporting Life The Mickey Finn
1965 The In Crowd The First Gear
1965 Make Their Future Bright The First Gear
1965 I Can’t Explain The Who
1965 Bald Headed Woman The Who
1965 Gotta Get Away Val Lenton
1965 You Don’t Love Val Lenton
1965 What’d I Say Eddie Mitchell
1965 Les Filles Des Magazines Eddie Mitchell
1965 Each And Every Day Of The Vashti Bunyan
Year
1965 Some Things Just Stick In Your Vashti Bunyan
Mind
1965 Skin Deep Bobby Graham
1965 Zoom Wig And Wag Bobby Graham
1965 Teensville Bobby Graham
1965 Grotty Drums Bobby Graham
1965 Silhouettes Hermins Hermits
1965 Can’t You Hear My Heart Beat Hermins Hermits
1965 Mary Ann Glyn Johns
1965 Little Grains Of Yellow Sand Glyn Johns
1965 Its Not Unusual Tom Jones
1965 Wait For Love Tom Jones
1965 Moon Dreams Les Fleur De Les
1965 Wait For Me Les Fleur De Les
1965 Casting My Spell The Tailsmen
1965 Masters Of War The Tailsmen
1965 I Hurts Me When I Cry Sean Buckly And The Breadcrumbs
1965 Everybody Knows Sean Buckly And The Breadcrumbs
1965 Dream Cloudburst John Williams
1965 Early Bird Of Morning John Williams
1966 You Were On My Mind Chrispian St Peter
1966 What I’m Gonna Be Chrispian St Peter
1966 Pied Piper Chrispian St Peter
1966 Sweet Dawn. My True Love Chrispian St Peter
1966 Sitting On The Fence Twice As Much
1966 Step Out Of Line Twice As Much
1966 Call My Name Them
1966 Bring ‘Em On In Them
1966 The World Keeps Going Round The Lancastrians
1966 Not The Same Anymore The Lancastrians
1966 So Much In Love Charles Dickens
1966 Our Soul Brothers Charles Dickens
1966 Mama Dave Berry
1966 Walk, Walk, Talk, Talk Dave Berry
1966 Sunshine Superman Donovan
1966 The Trip Donovan
1966 Out Of Time Chris Farlow
1966 Baby Make It Soon Chris Farlow
1966 Own Up Twice As Much
1966 That’s All Twice As Much
1966 I Like It Neil Christian And The Crusaders
1966 Head Death Paul
1966 La Poupee Qui Fart Non Michel Polnareff
1966 Can’t Go Home My Love The Factotums
1967 Becks Bolero Jeff Beck
1967 Train Kept A Rolling The Scotty McKay Quintet
1967 Moanin’ Chris Farlow
1967 Psychedelic Johnny Hallday
1968 Marjorine Joe Cocker
1968 New Age Of The Lilly Joe Cocker
1968 With A Little Help From My Joe Cocker
Friends
1968 Something’s Coming On Joe Cocker
1968 Hurdy Gurdy Man Donovan
1968 Teen Angel Donovan
1968 The Day That Lorene Came PJ Proby
Home
1968 Today I Killed A Man PJ Proby
1969 Way Of Life Family Dog
1969 Life And Life Only Al Stewart













Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-08-03 23:57 by Big Al.

MLC, no problem. I love finding stories like this. Makes me want to go and listen to some of my Jeff Beck Group and Yardbirds cds.

And Big Al, that is quite a list, its amazing he did all this session work before making it on his own. I find many people are surprised when I tell them all the songs that Page played on that they had no idea about.

Woo, long posts! But worthwhile. I love Led Zep.

I've been reading "Hammer of the Gods," the sort-of definitive bio. It says in there that Jimmy Page was given the idea of using a bow on his guitar by David McCallum's father, who was a strings player for the London Symphony.

Hound Dog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> And Big Al, that is quite a list, its amazing he
> did all this session work before making it on his
> own. I find many people are surprised when I tell
> them all the songs that Page played on that they
> had no idea about.
>
> Gonna find my way to heaven, cause I did my time
> in hell


Yes it's a big list! I just wish I could remember where I got all the info! Of course, there are hundreds more. Session work was Jimmy Pages day job. I don't think there was anything particularly glamorous about it. He played on everything from top-ten hits to obscurities, film scores, adverts and of course muzac. This is actually what made Page want to initially quit the session work. When he started playing on the kind of music you get in supermarkets or you hear in elevators, he'd had enough.


Alex

"Rock 'n' Roll" was a direct lift from Little Richard's "Keep A-Knocking." Huh?!

I'm a Little Richard fan from way back, but I'm sorry, 'Rock n' Roll' and 'Keep A-Knocking' (which I own and listen to frequently) bear NO resemblance to one another AT ALL. Not only are the melodies different, so are the chord changes! The bass lines are totally different, the chorus and lyrics are totally different.

I know the author is correct that LZ lifted lots of old blues themes, and it's good to know that at least some of the original artists got some money for them after the fact, even if they received no songwriting credits. But the above claim by the author is stretching his case past the breaking point, and raises serious doubts about many of his other non-obvious claims about Jimmy Page's alleged thievery.

Thanks Hound Dog. Very informative. A question about Beck's Bolero: If it was recorded in 1966, when Page and Beck were both Yardbirds, shouldn't that technically have been considered a Yardbird's session? Seems like Dreja and the others would have a leg to stand on if they wanted to sue, claiming that Beck's Bolero is, technically, Yardbirds property.

Jeff was never a full member of the Yardies - he was on a wage (a bit like Ronnie was in the Stones) but there was an agreement that they were encouraged to further their solo work. Keith Relf, for example, put out a solo record.


You might have to scrape me off the floor at the end of the tour, but it'll be really good scrapings. - Mick Jagger

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A question
> about Beck's Bolero: If it was recorded in 1966,
> when Page and Beck were both Yardbirds, shouldn't
> that technically have been considered a Yardbird's
> session? Seems like Dreja and the others would
> have a leg to stand on if they wanted to sue,
> claiming that Beck's Bolero is, technically,
> Yardbirds property.



I think the line-up for Beck’s Bolero was Beck on lead guitar, Page on acoustic rhythm, John Entwhistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums. So it was half TheYardbirds and half The who

I understand your point about it being a Yardbirds session, but I think with no Keith Relf, Chris Dreja or Jim McCarty, you could make a strong case for it not being one of they're sessions. I consider it to be a completely separate venture.

It was of course during this session that Keith moon quipped that if they were to form as a full time group, "they'd probably sink like a Led Zeppelin"

The article is wrong (or out of date) when it states that the Jake Holmes album with the original 'Dazed & Confused' is unavailable. I acquired it recently, on the Radioactive label. It's patchy but very good in places & is facinating to hear such a basic but recognisable version of 'Dazed'.

Big Al Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tatters Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A question
> > about Beck's Bolero: If it was recorded in
> 1966,
> > when Page and Beck were both Yardbirds,
> shouldn't
> > that technically have been considered a
> Yardbird's
> > session? Seems like Dreja and the others
> would
> > have a leg to stand on if they wanted to
> sue,
> > claiming that Beck's Bolero is, technically,
> > Yardbirds property.
>
>
>
> I think the line-up for Beck’s Bolero was Beck on
> lead guitar, Page on acoustic rhythm, John
> Entwhistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums. So it
> was half TheYardbirds and half The who
>
> I understand your point about it being a Yardbirds
> session, but I think with no Keith Relf, Chris
> Dreja or Jim McCarty, you could make a strong case
> for it not being one of they're sessions. I
> consider it to be a completely separate venture.
>
> It was of course during this session that Keith
> moon quipped that if they were to form as a full
> time group, "they'd probably sink like a Led
> Zeppelin"
>

It's also Moon who does that great scream in the middle of the song. Was it really Entwistle on bass, though? I thought it was J.P. Jones. I got to meet Dreja and McCarty a couple of times on recent Yardbirds tours and I asked Jim why that wasn't a Yardbirds session. His answer: "Because they didn't tell us about it!"

>
> It's also Moon who does that great scream in the
> middle of the song. Was it really Entwistle on
> bass, though? I thought it was J.P. Jones. I got
> to meet Dreja and McCarty a couple of times on
> recent Yardbirds tours and I asked Jim why that
> wasn't a Yardbirds session. His answer: "Because
> they didn't tell us about it!"



The scream is great!

I don't know, maybe it was John Paul Jones and not Entwistle. I think I read it was the Ox in a Zeppelin book.

It's just that I always thought that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones first got together in 1968 at the session for Donovan's Hurdy Girdy Man single.

scaffer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Rock 'n' Roll" was a direct lift from Little
> Richard's "Keep A-Knocking." Huh?!
>
> I'm a Little Richard fan from way back, but I'm
> sorry, 'Rock n' Roll' and 'Keep A-Knocking' (which
> I own and listen to frequently) bear NO
> resemblance to one another AT ALL. Not only are
> the melodies different, so are the chord changes!
> The bass lines are totally different, the chorus
> and lyrics are totally different.
>
> I know the author is correct that LZ lifted lots
> of old blues themes, and it's good to know that at
> least some of the original artists got some money
> for them after the fact, even if they received no
> songwriting credits. But the above claim by the
> author is stretching his case past the breaking
> point, and raises serious doubts about many of his
> other non-obvious claims about Jimmy Page's
> alleged thievery.


The drum roll is lifted from Keep a-Knocking. (Bonham sometimes alters the outro live, but the studio drums bear a resemblance to the Little Richard tune)

The bridge from When The Levee Breaks sounds also to me like very personal, genuine Zeppelinian material, that colours the cover song to an important degree. Just my two-cents.

Jimmy Page plays on Dirty Work. Can someone tell me what track(s)?

Rudolph Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jimmy Page plays on Dirty Work. Can someone tell
> me what track(s)?


One Hit to the Body

KSIE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rudolph Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Jimmy Page plays on Dirty Work. Can someone
> tell
> > me what track(s)?
>
>
> One Hit to the Body


And I don't think he was needed! I remember getting very excited when I bought the cd and soon being dissapointed by Pages contribution.

scaffer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Rock 'n' Roll" was a direct lift from Little
> Richard's "Keep A-Knocking." Huh?!
>
> I'm a Little Richard fan from way back, but I'm
> sorry, 'Rock n' Roll' and 'Keep A-Knocking' (which
> I own and listen to frequently) bear NO
> resemblance to one another AT ALL. Not only are
> the melodies different, so are the chord changes!
> The bass lines are totally different, the chorus
> and lyrics are totally different.
>
> But the above claim by the
> author is stretching his case past the breaking
> point, and raises serious doubts about many of his
> other non-obvious claims about Jimmy Page's
> alleged thievery.


Whatever the merits of the author's point, what he said was: ****the drum intro**** to "Rock 'n' Roll" was a direct lift from Little Richard's "Keep A-Knocking."

Rudolph, seems like agey played the solo on "One Hit to the BOdy".

I read an interview with Page (maybe 2 years ago)
where he pretty much takes ALL the credit for Beck's Bolero.
I'm paraphrasing, but he said he "wrote it, produced it, played on it."

Led Zep had some pretty tough management. This was one band that was NOT going to get ripped off--even if it did some of it's own ripping in the process.

The Bill Graham book talks about how Bill's guys got the crap beat out of them by Zep's crew backstage when they played Oakland. Peter Grant portrayed himself as a gangster in The Song Remains The Same. It wasn't too far from the mark.

About 10 or 12 years ago Glyn Johns, interviewed in Musician magazine, told how Page asked him to produce and engineer the first Zep album. He did.

When it came out, they had taken away his producer credit! (and I expect, the royalty that went with it.) He was still pissed about it years later.

If you're a Zeppelin fan a book called "Hammer of the Gods" that is mentioned in the article is a really good read.
Just make sure it's second edition cos it's current until 1996ish instead of the first edition which is 1984ish.

Even if you just have a general interest in rock bands and how they made it etc it's worth a read.

I love Zeppelin but don't deny they ripped alot without giving credit. Even so they were magnificent no matter what.

As long as they keep being pipped and sued for plagarism and coughing up their dues all is OK I guess.

Never understood why the writer of "Dazed and confused" thought "@#$%& it".
Amagine the money he's lost.

It consumes one whole side of an album on The Song Remains The Same, is also on LZ1 not to mention the BBC Sessions and 20+ minutes worth on "How The West Was Won".

Not to mention it was played at every Zeppelin gig from 1968 thru 1975.
The guy did himself out of millions in royalties.

kyle m

Have you ever lent somebody $20 and never seen them again? It was probably worth it.

it's boring how JP & Led Zep always get the blame, they're not the only ones!
Small Faces ripped off You Need Love by Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon years earlier, but with much less imagination (or groove) than Led Zep.
I love Small Faces, BTW.

Child Of Clay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> it's boring how JP & Led Zep always get the
> blame, they're not the only ones!
> Small Faces ripped off You Need Love by Muddy
> Waters/Willie Dixon years earlier, but with much
> less imagination (or groove) than Led Zep.
> I love Small Faces, BTW.

When the "owner" of the music was some pilfering producer rather than the artist, there may be some justification for this (though it would be nice if the composer actually got credit), but in many of the cases the authors are simply deprived of their royalties. Yet, it's unclear why some later artist should make the decision that a particular deal between an earlier artist and his or her producer was a bad deal that allows the later artist to "re-write" history.

It is particularly unfortunate when rock stars, some of whom made more in a year than the actual composers did in their careers, stole the credits and the royalties.

That being said, there is a world of difference between an homage (the opening drums to RnR or the "squeeze my lemon" line) and "stealing" a song.

As for forgoing litigation over credits, you might be surprised to find that some folks actually don't want their lives consumed by litigation or their song writing process exposed to cross examination.

That's true and a good point, skillzpetey, but even there, they have stops on R&R for Bonham to rock out on, and none on Keep A Knockin.' It's just hard for me to fathom the claim that Jimmy Page ripped off that song - and there's no way Bonham did!