Love and Theft: What is Original and what is a Cover?
Recently in a discussion (on www.vexarentertainment.com) a blogger was "forced to point out [Led] Zeppelin’s rapacious thievery of other artists’ music". I read the list, did a little online research and it most certainly appears that Zep may have ripped off some of the artists in question. Others on the list were quite a stretch and seem to be keeping in the blues tradition, not what I'd call a cover song or copy anyway. So how far can you take someone elses material before it becomes "original"?
Just to get started, here's the list:
“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” – A folk song by Anne Bredon, this was originally credited as “traditional, arranged by Jimmy Page,” then “words and music by Jimmy Page,” and then, following legal action, “Bredon/Page/Plant.”
“Black Mountain Side” – uncredited version of a traditional folk tune previously recorded by Bert Jansch.
“Bring It On Home” – the first section is an uncredited cover of the Willie Dixon tune (as performed by the imposter Sonny Boy Williamson).
“Communication Breakdown” – apparently derived from Eddie Cochran’s “Nervous Breakdown.”
“Custard Pie” – uncredited cover of Bukka White’s “Shake ‘Em On Down,” with lyrics from Sleepy John Estes’s “Drop Down Daddy.”
“Dazed And Confused” – uncredited cover of the Jake Holmes song (see The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes).
“Hats Off To (Roy) Harper” – uncredited version of Bukka White’s “Shake ‘Em On Down.”
“How Many More Times” – Part one is an uncredited cover of the Howlin’ Wolf song (available on numerous compilations). Part two is an uncredited cover of Albert King’s “The Hunter.”
“In My Time Of Dying” – uncredited cover of the traditional song (as heard on Bob Dylan’s debut).
“The Lemon Song” – uncredited cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” – Wolf’s publisher sued Zeppelin in the early 70s and settled out of court.
“Moby Dick” – written and first recorded by Sleepy John Estes under the title “The Girl I Love,” and later covered by Bobby Parker.
“Nobody’s Fault But Mine” – uncredited cover of the Blind Willie Johnson blues.
“Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You” – lyrics are the same as Moby Grape’s “Never,” though the music isn’t similar.
“Stairway To Heaven” – the main guitar line is from “Taurus” by Spirit.
“White Summer” – uncredited cover of Davey Graham’s “She Moved Through The Fair.”
“Whole Lotta Love” – lyrics are from the Willie Dixon blues “You Need Love.”
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mo Defoe on -
When the levee breaks was another...They did add lyrics to what was a traditional song...Interesting that they only ever played it live twice...It was impossible to replicate on stage as the drum kit was in the bottom of a stairwell with mic's suspended above on the ceiling...Ever hear that track and wonder how they got the drums to sound as they did?...The harp was recorded...echo added and then it was inserted into the track in reverse so you hear the effect before the actual harp...The vox had many effects used on them also...All in all a studio track...While they were an iconic band they it is generally acknowledged they did use a lot of other artists material and were a little tawdry in giving credit...
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on -
I saw a video of 'Levee' from, I believe, the recent reunion concert. It was completely different from their original. Heck, they steal their own material if it suits them.
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on -
Interesting post.
While Willie Dixon's court suit against Zeppelin for plagiarizing his songs was legend, apparently he wasn't the only one they risked pissing off. Would Zeppelin won the fame and recognition they had had they been sued by these other composers, or their benefactors? They may have spent years in court answering charges.
Even when it is thought safe to lift what is thought to be a line from a traditional song, something that is part of public domain, you better check yourself.
Most recently, Men at Work (Australia's first band to have a #1 album, Business as Usual and a single at the same time) was sued because they used a flute solo in the song that they thought public domain. It was determined to be taken from a 70 year old song on which there was still a copyright.
Had the lawyers of the copyright holder collected what they sought initially, 60 percent of what this song earned since it was first released, they would have been talking a substantial amount of money. Remember, this Men at Work's song sold over 20 million copies. Even though the courts reduced what was collected to 5 percent of this song's total earnings, this was still more than simply pocket change.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1631252/20100204/men_at_work.jhtml
So, what do you do? Forget about doing covers, unless you have the proper pre-clearance. And dig a little deeper into your psyche to create something that is new, fresh and original. After all, that is what the Blues is all about, honesty and authenticity. How honest is it to play covers and parade around as though they were yours? Most covers played by wrought--and maybe with a personal spin on them--are about as exciting as attending a struggling child's piano recital. The difference is mom and dad aren't around to offer you support and tell you how good you sound. You are just another face in a long line of faces of mediocre musicians who are convinced they "sound good," but simply have yet to be "discovered."
A rule of thumb that applies to covers: If you can't make it your own, leave it alone.
William Clarke said, "Remember, no matter how much you may sound like Lil' Walter, (if all you ever do is Li'l' Walter cover) you will never be but second best."
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on
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I saw this interesting story via facebook.
Library of Congress Says U.S. Copyright Law Threatens Sound Archiving
http://www.switched.com/2010/10/12/library-of-congress-says-u-s-cop...
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on
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I think the most telling lines in this article are "The recording industry, meanwhile, does preserve some music on its own, but, of course, it typically only preserves recordings which would offer some economic benefit to them in the long run. The work of more obscure artists, therefore, may not be preserved if record labels don't consider the investment to be worth their time."
Here, as with any other branch of our Federal government, the laws pertaining will follow the "golden rule." We remember this rule, don't we? It states that those with the gold will make the rules. They will effectively overturn laws pertaining to copyright so they may benefit.
But here I think we are talking about two different birds when talking about performing covers and audio preservation. Aren't we?
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on
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2 different birds for sure. I just thought the article was interesting...
When going through and listening to the supposed stolen songs listed above, some are quite a stretch. Sure there may be vague similarities but the Zep riffs seem to be every bit as original as countless other "original" works based on similar themes. On some songs it seems clear that someone else wrote the riff or lyrics before Zep BUT I wonder just how far back in time the story goes. That's why people go to college specifically to study music law. In the information age we have a different perspective. In 2010 we see a band from the 70s playing music from the 30s and we can trace the lineage in minutes. In the 30s, musicians were playing some music that predates recording technology. While some artists have been found guilty of copyright infringement, I still wonder if what they have done is all that different than what their accusers have done.
When it comes to American music, I don't know what we would have if we didn't borrow and blend original and traditional work. Willie Dixon is responsible for so many of the songs which have become blues standards, at least according to copyright law. Dixon is certainly a master of his craft, however, many of the songs still contain traditional themes and chord structures. Personally, I often find myself in situations on stage where people start dancing to a 3 minute song and I need to stretch it into 10 or 15 minutes.The spontaneous musical journey may not be original but it's not really copied either. I guess the key is, not to record and sell it as my own.
Obviously, Intellectual Property must be protected just the same as any tangible invention. Musicians just need to lawyer up a bit before rolling tape.
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Permalink Reply by Sue Rarick on -
I'd like to see a definition of what a 'Cover' is. From what I have read so far Hendrix's version of "All Along The Watchtower" is a cover. Yet by my definition it is him doing a song in his style and not a cover. During the heyday of the lounge singers, Sinatra, Davis, Bennett would all do the same song. Yet each stylized it. Nobody said they were doing a cover song. They were stylizing a standard.
Anyone the least bit familiar with Blues music knew from the git go that Zep was stealing. They'd change a word or two and take credit for the song. They'd put their own spin (stylize) the song so to me it wasn't a cover. But it was stealing royalties.
On my new CD I do versions of Sister Morphine, The Pusher and Jolene (yes I am licensed). I don't consider them covers because I put my own spin on them. And in the case of The Pusher it was actually written by Hoyt Axton, not Steppenwolf and the 3 versions are very different
Steppenwolf: The PusherHoyt Axton: The PusherSue Rarick: The Pusher
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on
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I would like to see a definition of what "is" is.
Hendrix version of All Along the Watchtower is a cover. Although he may have put his own spin on it, is word for word something Dylan wrote. The reason why this song was so easy to improvise on, as I remember, was because Dylan had only used two chords throughout the whole song.
Artists have "covered" songs since the beginning of time. This would predate the lounge singer. But back then, as now, you have people who write the songs, and those who perform them. This is probably no truer than in Nashville. Some of these performing twangers have musicians who work directly for them. These people who write the songs are called songwriters. In fact, many of these will work for these artists until they break away and establish themselves.
Here is a list of the most covered artists of all
The Most Covered Authors of All Time
1. John Lennon
2. Paul McCartney
3. [Traditional]
4. Bob Dylan
5. Ira Gershwin
6. George Gershwin
7. Richard Rodgers
8. Cole Porter
9. Burt Bacharach
10. Hal David
(sourced from the secondhandsong.com database)
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Permalink Reply by Sue Rarick on
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As you rightly pointed out performers often used the same material. And that there were songwriters that wrote them. However if a songwriter just wrote the song how is any performance a 'cover'? They are iinterpretations of a song. And in fact during Vaudville it was how a singer performed the song compared to another singer that determined their worth.
I would disagree that Hendrix did a cover of Dylan's song. Just as I would disagree that Wes Montgomery did a cover of Gershwin's 'I got Rhythm'. The progressions, melody and rhythm may have been the same but his use of harmonies made it his own. Similar to what Hendrix did.
To me a Cover is a performance that mimics another artists version. If an artist takes a song and renders it in their own vision it is an original version of a song. This has nothing to do with who gets royalties etc. That is a seperate issue.
I was working with a music publisher here in Nashville doing co-writes and then the demo. I never thought that when it was recorded that person was doing a Cover of my song. Rather I gave them a base from which they could expand it and make it their own. And have a whole bunch of others do the same (More $$$$$$$$ for me - lol)
BTW: Good to see us back to good conversations.
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on
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A cover song by definition is a: A recording of a song that was previously recorded or made popular by another. Also called cover song.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
So by that very definition, a song written by someone else is not necessarily a "cover song," unless it were made popular by someone. And a popular song is not necessarily a cover unless written by the original artist?
So, yes, although Jimi and Zeppelin may have put there own spin on what they performed, as these performed songs were made popular by other artists, they were covers.
When covering songs you get into some really tricky waters. There are several different levels protected by copyright laws, including the lyrics (which Jimi did word for word of All Along the Watchtower), and Zeppelin did on many songs, the melody line (Ringo Starr ran afoul of this on Yellow Submarine, as did Men at Work, others), and even the beats are now protected.
What makes what Jimi different from what Zeppelin did, as far as I can recall, is that Dylan was credited on Jimi's version of the song, whereas Robert Plant was credited for what they did, clearly a case of plagiarizing. This is also where a number of other artists have run afoul. Clear the proper channels, credit the rightful copyright owner, and pay royalties if there are to be any, and you can play covers.
The most-covered song of all time is "Summertime," by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and DuBose Heyward (first performed by Helen Jepson).
(sourced from the secondhandsongs.com database)
What you are referring to here:
"I never thought that when it was recorded that person was doing a Cover of my song. Rather I gave them a base from which they could expand it and make it their own. And have a whole bunch of others do the same (More $$$$$$$$ for me - lol)"
Is what is referred to as copyright commons. There are a number of sites online, and more artists every day who are exchanging ideas for that very reason--they feel that will give them increased exposure and more $$$$$$$.
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Permalink Reply by Sue Rarick on
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What I was refering to was Demos of songs I was co-writing. They were for a publisher here in nashville... I don't do online co-writes. As far as I was concerned a demo serves as a reference and any part of it can be used by the artist. I see a demo as more of an outline for rhe artist to work from.
The definition of what a cover is differs from what we used to refer to as a cover when I was young. back then a band that performed a song note for note was called a cover band as opposed to a band that would put an original spin on the same song. What we used to call a cover band is now called a tribute band
The problem with the way a cover song is defined today is that there is no reason to do anything other than a note for note recording. It's going to be called a cover song no matter how creative you are. And a point could be made that the more original your version the worse the song is because it deviates from the original. Although I doubt any of the songwriters on Plant's raising sand and band of joy CD's are complaining.
I do 3 'covers' on my new CD (all licensed) because those songs say it all on the subject I wanted to play about. My theory is that if a song says exactly what you want to say already you might as well use it. Money wise it would make more sense to have replaced those songs with 3 I wrote myself, but they said it better.
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on
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If one were truly original, why would they be doing someone else's material at all--even as a starting point?
When I referred to Robert Plant's songs, I was in error. I meant to say Jimmy Page. (Yeah, as if). Page was the songwriter for Zeppelin, although according to Allmusic.com, Dixon was credited with having contributed to Whole Lotta Love. (Would someone slap me?)
Even people such as Bob Dylan, who was the only person to have been nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature for lyrics, has been accused of plagiarism on more than one occasion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/arts/music/14dyla.html?_r=1
From this article:
Christopher Ricks, a professor of the humanities at Boston University who wrote “Dylan’s Visions of Sin,” a flattering study of the musician, said, “I may be too inclined to defend, but I do think it’s characteristic of great artists and songsters to immediately draw on their predecessors.” He added that it was atypical for popular musicians to acknowledge their influences.
Mr. Ricks said that one important distinguishing factor between plagiarism and allusion, which is common among poets and songwriters, is that “plagiarism wants you not to know the original, whereas allusion wants you to know.”
Check it out.
As for playing songs because they resonate with you personally and say what you want to say, unless you put those feelings of yours in your words, are they honest and authentic? Or are they borrowed?
© 2012 Created by Eric.
