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 Sue Rarick on -
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and even Bob Dylan have done cover songs and I don't think their creativity and originality can be dismissed.
As far as another's song can be authentic. If that song echos your feelings and beliefs, yes it can be authentic.
Sister Morphine captures the essence of an addict and it was written better than any songs I attempted to convey the same thing. On the other hand I have yet to hear a song that captures the essence of a hooker through their own eyes as well as Just Another Day does. Being in Atlantic City for many years, a casino city, I got to know a lot of them and have quite a few I call friends. And to a gal they all said I got it right.
Another case is Mr Bojangles. You can listen to the Sammy davis jr version and the Bob Dylan version and just the way they phrase the lyrics you can tell what they heard in the song to make them record it. Each got a different vibe. And again I seriously doubt you can call Dylan a bad songwriter and couldn't write a song similar.
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on -
There are artists out there that are as original as chocolate covered pickles. The problem is, they are equallay as appealing to the masses. Few would question the originality of Ray Charles. Still, early in his recording career he was, for the most part, imitating more popular artists and sounds. The reason for this was that as a nightclub artist, imitating is what paid the bills. If an artists wants to be successful, it's critical that their music relate to the audience. Their art is not only a representation of self but a reflection on the listener.
Rap music is the reason that publishers now copyright "beats". There's nothing original about a DJ playing a record at a party. However, when that DJ starts to "scratch" that record back and forth across 2 turntables creating an endless loop, it becomes one of the biggest gamechangers in recorded musical history.
I don't believe you have to be the originator of a lyric to deliver an authentic performance. I could write a true song about life on a farm, driving a tractor, working all day in the hot, hot sun blah blah blah... However, I know that there are many of people who grew up near me that could tell the story even more authentically than myself. It's true that my family has done some farming but my dad's a lawyer. It's not exactly the same experience as the families of kids down the road who actually paid the bills by farming. In contrast, I had a friend who wrote songs so specific to himself that they never saw the light of day. To play them to an audience, he would have to give and explanation that's longer than the song. (No, the song wasn't "Alice's Restaurant")
A performing artist can be just as valid if they never write a song. Hundreds of millions of Elvis fans would agree. Tapping into a commonality of experience plays an important role in the popularity of an artist. Sometimes this can be done through cover songs. Sometimes, that's a cop-out. I'll bet most people who are truly original are never heard. They would have to be isolated.
Incidently, while driving through Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee over the weekend we stopped to eat at Burger King. It gets worse. We there there long enough to hear about 7 modern country songs on the radio. 4 of these were simply lists of things 'country people' do during the course of a day or a week put to a catchy melody. Though the royalties would be easy to defend, there was nothing original about these songs.
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on
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Permalink Reply by barry duckett on -
your right but if you listern to most blues music the riffs were taken from the early songs robert johnson even did it clapton as made a living from robert johnson cross roads and other songs its a fact of life re work some ones songs and call them your own
Baz
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Kallman on -
You, too, are right---but there is one significant difference. In Robert Johnson's day, copyrights were either non-existent or dubiously assigned; in Eric Clapton's day, the copyrights were far better known and assigned, and Clapton's generation really ought to have known better.
But singling Eric Clapton in this discussion is quite unfair and a little specious, since Clapton has actually been one of the men who have credited the original songwriters, including and especially his idol Johnson. (There's a case to be made that if it hadn't been for Eric Clapton---who'd first cut "Crossroads" with a group called Powerhouse on an Elektra sampler, then cut "Ramblin' on My Mind" with John Mayall and "From Four Until Late" on Fresh Cream, well before "Crossroads" became a Cream calling card---Robert Johnson might have needed a lot more years to solidify his posthumous rise from obscurity.)
As a matter of fact, Clapton and Jack Bruce made a point, on the first Cream tour of the United States, of seeking out Skip James and handing him a five-figure royalty check for "I'm So Glad"---on their recording of which they'd given James the writing credit to which he was entitled. (James, for his part, is said to have loved them for paying him for the song, even if he wasn't crazy about their re-arrangement of it . . .)
Bear in mind, too---lifting a riff is one thing (just ask, for openers, Elmore James, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, or Willie Dixon), lifting whole lyrics is something else entirely.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Kallman on
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Here's one sad irony---When Willie Dixon sued and won against Led Zeppelin in his instances, Dixon in turn had to sue his own publishers!
Here's something the list omitted: "When the Levee Breaks"---This was the Memphis Minnie/Kansas Joe McCoy number; Led Zeppelin developed their own musical arrangement but lifted the lyric whole. Memphis Minnie was still alive to sue, and she ended up getting a label credit as a co-writer.
Something else the list omitted---"The Lemon Song" also lifted a verse from Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues" (the verse about the lemon squeezing) . . . yet when Led Zeppelin's BBC Sessions came forth, there was a version of "Traveling Riverside Blues" whole on that set, and Robert Johnson actually got the songwriting credit!
Not to say Zeppelin were the only such plagiarists, as anyone who remembers the original Jeff Beck Group lifting "Rock My Plimsoul" whole from B.B. King's "Rock Me, Baby" (and crediting Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, and Ron Wood as the writers) can tell you . . .
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