led zeppelin bassist rejects stairway plagiarism claim
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Led Zeppelin bassist rejects 'Stairway' plagiarism claim

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Led Zeppelin bassist rejects 'Stairway' plagiarism claim

Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, and Jimmy Page (pictured)
Los Angeles - AFP

Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones appeared in court to reject allegations that his bandmates had plagiarized an obscure instrumental rock song for their iconic hit "Stairway to Heaven."

Robert Plant, 67, and Jimmy Page, 72, are being sued amid claims they stole the anthem's melancholic opening guitar arpeggio from "Taurus," from the first album of long-defunct LA psychedelic rock band Spirit.

Jones, 70, told the Los Angeles jury on the fourth day of a federal copyright infringement lawsuit he had no recollection of ever hearing Spirit.    

The musician said he remembered first hearing what would become "Stairway" at a rehearsal room the band used in Hampshire, England, as he and guitarist Page worked up an early arrangement.

Spirit guitarist Randy California, who penned "Taurus," long maintained he deserved a songwriting credit for "Stairway" but never took legal action and drowned in Hawaii in 1997.

A lawsuit filed by his trustee and friend Michael Skidmore two years ago seeks damages and claims California deserves a songwriting credit so that he can "take his place as an author of rock's greatest song."

At stake in the closely watched legal action are potentially millions of dollars in royalties collected in the three years prior to the filing of the suit through this month.

Page, dressed all week in a black suit with his white hair in a ponytail, had told the jury on Thursday his chord progression had more in common with "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the 1964 musical "Mary Poppins" than anything else.

Attorneys for Page and Plant called music expert Lawrence Ferrara, who said the only similarity between "Taurus" and "Stairway" was a "descending chromatic minor line progression" used by composers for more than 300 years.

"It's a musical building block," Ferrara testified, and "not a relevant similarity."    

Playing an electronic keyboard for jurors, the expert performed "Taurus" and "Stairway" side by side, explaining that the two were "dramatically different."

Zeppelin opened for Spirit when the hard rockers -- Plant, Page, John Paul Jones and the since deceased John Bonham -- made their US debut on December 26, 1968 in Denver.

But the surviving members have submitted testimony that they never had substantive interaction with Spirit or listened to 1967's "Taurus" before recording "Stairway" in December 1970 and January 1971.

The lawsuit lists disputes over 16 other Led Zeppelin songs, many of which were settled by giving the complainant a songwriting credit and royalties, including classics "Whole Lotta Love" and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You."

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

led zeppelin bassist rejects stairway plagiarism claim led zeppelin bassist rejects stairway plagiarism claim

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

led zeppelin bassist rejects stairway plagiarism claim led zeppelin bassist rejects stairway plagiarism claim

 



GMT 06:49 2012 Saturday ,01 September

Lamitta Frangieh on her \'Facebook Romance\'

GMT 08:26 2017 Wednesday ,08 February

Qatar spending $500m a week on World Cup projects

GMT 17:00 2017 Tuesday ,27 June

Saudi Arabia rebuts fake news on Turkey, Israel

GMT 10:31 2016 Monday ,12 December

Second Sydney airport cleared for take off

GMT 05:27 2017 Sunday ,16 April

GIB Capital wins 4 EMEA Finance Awards

GMT 13:58 2016 Friday ,30 December

Australia beat Pakistan to win Test series

GMT 10:07 2017 Monday ,17 April

Mark Hamill would like to play George Lucas

GMT 12:10 2016 Tuesday ,13 December

Over 30 dead as Kenya tanker crashes, explodes

GMT 02:13 2017 Monday ,25 September

December22nd-January20th

GMT 15:39 2017 Tuesday ,03 October

Bangladesh rescues 20 Rohingya held by racket gang

GMT 02:51 2017 Friday ,10 November

Under siege, Syria doctors forced to improvise care
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday