Posted on 07/01/2010 12:00:52 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
...In documents filed on Monday, Holmes cited a 1967 copyright registration for Dazed and Confused, renewed in 1995. That song... was released in 1967 on the San Francisco-born musician's debut album.
...the path that leads from Holmes to Page is very well known. As documented by Perfect Sound Forever magazine, Holmes opened for Page's then-band, the Yardbirds, at a Greenwich Village gig in August 1967. "That was the infamous moment of my life when Dazed and Confused fell into the loving arms and hands of Jimmy Page," Holmes recalled in an interview with Will Shade. Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty described going to a record shop the next day to buy a copy of Holmes's album. "We decided to do a version," he said. "We worked it out together with Jimmy contributing the guitar riffs in the middle."
...Page is credited as the track's sole songwriter. In 1990, Musician magazine quizzed Page on the subject, asking if Holmes was the original composer. "I don't know about all that," Page replied. "I'd rather not get into it because I don't know all the circumstances. What's he got – the riff or whatever? ... I haven't heard Jake Holmes so I don't know what it's all about anyway. Usually my riffs are pretty damn original."
It's not clear why Holmes has waited more than 40 years to file a plagiarism suit. Due to a statute of limitations, the 70-year-old can only claim royalties and damages for the past three years; and so he's doing just that, seeking actual damages, three years of song profits and statutory damages of $150,000 (£99,000) per infringement. As the track appears on everything from Led Zeppelin's debut to their BBC Sessions, as well as DVDs and compilations, that's no small sum. Enough, certainly, to fund a late retirement...
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Hear the original version...
The first two Zepplin albums are loaded with tunes and riffs they ripped off of other musicians. Biggest cover band in History :)
Not to be mistaken for Bongwater (Kramer and Ann Magneson...)’s Dazed and Chinese
huge Zeppelin fan for 30+ years- i saw this and laughed...the guy is suing almost a half century after the mighty Zeppelin recorded the song??
40 years late. interesting.
yes- all the marginal performers who couldn’t make their songs work are blaming Zeppelin for....making their songs work...
Mr.Holmes is quite the musician......NOT!
If they ripped off riffs from some of those local artists they'd be as culpable as, what, half the popular musicians producing music in the late 50, early 60s?
As far as musical plagiarism is concerned, I've always considered Eric Clapton the Joe Biden of rock and roll.
Rock ping
And I thought I procrastinated...holy cow..
I remember years ago they were sued and lost to a black bluesman for a song they ripped off almost note for note. I can’t recall the song but it was one of my favorites.
Pretty cool - a bit of retro psychedelic folk - slightly corny now, but not bad.
And obviously, Zeppelin ripped off the song. It's a bit late to bitch about it though.
If that`s the original then it`s plagiarism.
If it were a university paper mr.page was turning in he`d get expelled .
Property rights are property rights if they “worked”
or not. True?
Hey, I just read on Amazon that after Zeppelin ripped off his song, he became a television jingle writer. He wrote the Army's "Be all that you can be" jingle!
Willie Dixon and Joan Baez? Not that I like either but shrug.
huge Zeppelin fan for 30+ years- i saw this and laughed...the guy is suing almost a half century after the mighty Zeppelin recorded the song??>>>>>>>>>
Maybe he’s been stoned and out of circulation for a few decades. Not uncommon in the music biz
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