Led Zeppelin, veteran British rockers and favourite band of cool dads everywhere, are headed to court over allegations they jacked the iconic opening riff from ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ from another band.
Californian psych rock outfit Spirit are pretty convinced Jimmy Page copied a part of their song ‘Taurus‘, and they’re not the only ones – like for instance in this 1997 edition of Guitar World:
“[Randy] California‘s most enduring legacy may well be the fingerpicked acoustic theme of the song ‘Taurus’, which Jimmy Page lifted virtually note for note for the introduction to ‘Stairway to Heaven’.”
Apparently Zep also copied Spirit’s use of a theremin, some time after they played as a support act for them in 1968.
The lawsuit, which they’ve obviously been sitting on for a while, is being brought about by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the composer of the song, Randy California – real name Randy Wolfe, which might actually be better than his stage name.
A judge has confirmed that the songs are similar enough to warrant a trial. Have a listen for yourself, they are pretty damn similar but, like, how many different notes are there, 5? 6?
Source: The Guardian.
Photo: Getty Images / Scott Dudelson.
