Stairway to Heaven not written by Led Zeppelin? Listen and decide

Zeppelin has a long history of ripping off songs.

where are the words?

You mean somebody used the same progression,that somebody else used before?

That's a ridiculous lawsuit,there are only 12 notes,shite's gonna get used over and over again. You should feel complimented if somebody borrows from you musically.
If somebody steals your words though,frick'em.

Why didn't Randy California file suit? He had 25 years to do so. The attorneys representing his estate are looking for a payday, and this keeps the money flowing into their pockets.

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There are honestly some similarities and a bar or two borrowed it seems, but there are a lot of differences.

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Hell yes there are,and they borrowed that from somebody else,it's impossible to avoid doing that.

shite is beyond stupid.

LZ ripped off a lot of bands and artists in their hayday. they've admitted it and moved on.

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LZ ripped off a lot of bands and artists in their hayday. they've admitted it and moved on.

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Absolutely, and I dont care. I still love their music and I think theyre still musical geniuses.

Finally, a thread that gives me a reason to post this.

Ironic, knowing that LZ's management sued for copyright infringement over this recording.

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Zeppelin has a long history of ripping off songs

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Zep's plagiarism playlist

Jake Holmes - "Dazed and Confused" (1967)

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"Dazed and Confused" was written by the folk-rock singer Jake Holmes and released as a track in his debut album The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes in 1967. That same year Jake Holmes opened for The Yardbirds in a show in New York where Jimmy Page heard the song.

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It'd be easy to say that there's only 12 chords with a limited amount of variations and thus it was a coincidence if it weren't for the phrasing, rhythm, style all being the same. It also sounds a lot like While My Guitar Gently Weeps by the Beatles, which pre-dates both songs.

They ripped off that intro, for sure and built the entire song off of it. It's still impressive what they did by using that riff and melody although it does diminish the overall accomplishment. Spirit should get props, although I doubt that song would be as cool sounding if we didn't associate it with the complete body of work that is Stairway to Heaven.

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eh, it seems like it could have inspired Stairway, but it's far from a ripoff.

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Does it change your analysis if you know that Taurus opened for Zepplin in one of Zeppelin's early American tours, and that Spirit was part of their live set?

Because that's how I concluded that Jimmy - maybe it was innocent and subconscious (but how could it be with all the other examples, right?) - kind of ripped off the intro and basic chord sequence. Not a note-for-note ripoff, but a ripoff all the same.

And Stairway is a great song. Just tainted by this because Zeppelin was notorious about not giving credit where credit is due. Just like Pink Floyd was notoriously cheap about paying people who contributed to their records.