The "Stairway" Plagiarism Lawsuit

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 18 Jun 2016 1:55 am

George Harrison lost a suit by the composer of "He's so fine". The court ruled Harrison's song "My Sweet Lord" was subconscious plagiarism! There are only so many notes to go around but those two songs do have similar melodies. Still ....

http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/mysweet.htm

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 18 Jun 2016 5:55 am

Just as well that Page didn't go for the subconscious plagiarism defense; no one knows how conscious anyone was in those days.
(Who could imagine?) I mean, dazed and confused.... Supposedly Spirit was touring with Zep when Page heard Taurus.

The My Sweet Lord verdict seems to support the subconscious effect in sales of a later song. You can hear it in this mashup with He's So Fine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYiEesMbe2I The repetitive chorus gets lodged in memory; who can lose it, but same song?

The similarities are more contrapuntal and I suspect a mashup of Stairway and Taurus might sound the same in that regard.
I think melody would have to have a bigger part to play in the Stairway suit, and I'm not hearing a lot of melody in Taurus (much as I like it, and Spirit, and particularly Mr. California).

Still...
He's So Fine: not big.
My Sweet Lord: pretty big.
Taurus: not huge.
Stairway to Heaven: huge.

There's a pattern for you.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 Jun 2016 6:37 am

George Harrison said his inspiration for My Sweet Lord was the spiritual Oh Happy Day, which was in the public domain. I have to say though, My Sweet Lord and He's So Fine are extremely close, both in the chord structure and the melody. Maybe both were lifted from Oh Happy Day, consciously or subconsciously. I grew up hearing both songs on the radio and I never noticed the similarity until the lawsuit came up.

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 18 Jun 2016 4:19 pm

Here is Spirit's 1968 hit "Mechanical World" that went to #31 Billboard and was a staple on the new FM underground rock radio. Randy California (who also played the "Taurus" lick) plays the guitar solo on "Mechanical World" - one of the best ever (pre-ebow):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqUdswZY6jI

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 Jun 2016 4:46 pm

Wow, I haven't heard "Mechanical World" in about 45 years. Yeah, that was played a lot on FM underground back in the day. Another Spirit tune we heard on FM was "Fresh Garbage" ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7MQ5rxUZsc Local hippie bands in my area played it a lot.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 19 Jun 2016 4:40 am

Thanks for the shot of Fresh Garbage. The album was on our rotation at that time. Outta sight Wurlitzer, and the guitar on Mechanical World knocks me out.

Spirit was an outstanding band. The outcome of the lawsuit will change nothing. One UTube poster said Zep should pay big.
I also 'learned' that Jimmy Page wanted to take Randy California on the road but his mother wouldn't let him,
and that he 'played with Hendrix in New York when Jimi's band was called the Blue Flames. He was only 14.ï»¿'
True or false, the boy sounds legendary. I'm almost beginning to be for the underdog in the case, but the precedent wouldn't be good.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 19 Jun 2016 6:03 am

True Charlie! But it was Jimi Hendrix who wanted to take the whole band including Randy to England. Jimi also got the idea for California instead of Wolfe as a surname.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 21 Jun 2016 8:03 am

The plot thickens! Check out this 350 year old Italian composition at the 0:32 mark...
http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/101 ... aven/58547

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 21 Jun 2016 11:34 am

Seems a little late to be bringing this up now. Stairway came out 45 years ago, and I daresay the members of Spirit and their business and personal associates were well aware of it at the time. You couldn't escape it!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 21 Jun 2016 12:23 pm

I did a piece for Fretboard Journal that's in my book Guitar Dreams about Ray Jackson who played mandolin on Rod Stewart's hit Maggie May. He waited about 35 years before bringing a lawsuit claiming his mandolin playing was a big part of why the song was a hit. He eventually dropped the suit and wouldn't talk about it. So my guess is Ray got a nice settlement agreement to go away.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 21 Jun 2016 1:38 pm

I can tell you from unfortunate experiences that a "shut up clause" is too often part of a law suit that in the settlement agreement it states you can't discuss the details of the case.

Also, a jury with a tin ear and no musical knowledge can be swayed by a lawyer with a bit of bravado or charisma. Is justice really served?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jun 2016 2:31 pm

I agree, Len. A jury of non-musicians deciding plagiarism or not is a scary thing! Especially when a song has earned almost a half a billion $ as Stairway has. Yes that's half a billion with a B.

My favorite music lawsuit was the English schoolboys choir who sang the choruses on Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". In 2004 one of the grown singers brought a class action suit seeking a cut of the millions of dollars made on the song. I believe they lost the suit because there was no initial agreement, no compensation at the time, and the choir recorded in secret, without the knowledge of the school. I'm not sure how it all played out but I give them credit for trying!

Scott Thomas · Post by **Scott Thomas** » 21 Jun 2016 7:46 pm

Andy Volk wrote:I did a piece for Fretboard Journal that's in my book Guitar Dreams about Ray Jackson who played mandolin on Rod Stewart's hit Maggie May. He waited about 35 years before bringing a lawsuit claiming his mandolin playing was a big part of why the song was a hit. He eventually dropped the suit and wouldn't talk about it. So my guess is Ray got a nice settlement agreement to go away.

That's ridiculous. As a studio musician, playing your part and trying to make hits is why you're hired. Watching "The Wrecking Crew" documentary, those players were frequently asked to come up with hooks or memorable riffs. To my knowledge, none of them have ever come back and wanted more than the scale they were promised because their part made the song a hit.

For his part, I recall that Playboy interview where Lennon said regarding My Sweet Lord that basically George had it coming:

PLAYBOY: "How did you feel about the lawsuit George lost that claimed the music to 'My Sweet Lord' is a rip-off of the Shirelles' hit 'He's So Fine?'"

LENNON: "Well, he walked right into it. He knew what he was doing."

PLAYBOY: "Are you saying he consciously plagiarized the song?"

LENNON: "He must have known, you know. He's smarter than that. It's irrelevant, actually... only on a monetary level does it matter. He could have changed a couple of bars in that song and nobody could ever have touched him, but he just let it go and paid the price. Maybe he thought God would just sort of let him off."

Bob Watson · Post by **Bob Watson** » 22 Jun 2016 1:19 am

Stairway To Heaven was probably the first time I heard a song that had the chord progression of a tonic minor with a descending bass line that went... 1m, 1m maj7, 1m7, 1m6,4 maj7, but as I progressed to playing tunes out of the Real Book and saw a chart for "My Funny Valentine" I realized that this chord progression had been around for a long time. IMHO, this lawsuit is bogus, probably instigated by some money grubbing lawyer. If they were using the melody line as the reason for the alleged plagiarism, which isn't the case here, then it might be legitimate, but this chord progression has been around for a long long time and, IMHO, this lawsuit has the potential of setting a very disturbing precedent. I find it hard to believe that a judge found it worthy of being litigated.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 22 Jun 2016 3:22 am

Scott, I agree with you. The story began by posing that very question.

What if Carol Kaye had claimed that her baseline made The Beat Goes On a hit? What if the estate of Tommy Tedesco demanded royalties in perpetuity even time a Twilight Zone rerun aired. The mind boggles. But, as far as Maggie May goes, my guess is that Ray rolled the dice and came out a partial winner.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Jun 2016 6:11 am

Here's a 1975 song by Dolly Parton that sounds very close to Stairway to Heaven. Who knew Dolly was a Zep fan?

----click it---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaGkXvXHfA

Coincidentally, Dolly was sued in 1985 by a songwriter who claimed she stole his song for her hit "9 to 5". He claimed he had given her a cassette demo of his song earlier. The jury said no... 9 to 5 was all hers.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 22 Jun 2016 9:22 am

The similarities to the Spirit number I hear are: tempo, a-minor and acoustic guitar. Just saying.

Scott Thomas · Post by **Scott Thomas** » 22 Jun 2016 9:22 am

Brian Wilson (in what I can only imagine was youthful naivete) thought it was a good idea to rewrite Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" as a surfing song. Father/manager Murray Wilson was pressured by Berry's publishing company to relinquish the rights to the song, which is why Surfin' USA is credited to Brian Wilson/Chuck Berry. So that's how that one was resolved.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 22 Jun 2016 9:37 am

I read some of the articles on the lawsuit. The song was written by Randy California who drowned in Hawaii in 1997 trying to save his son who was floundering in deep water. His son survived. A tragic story.

The lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Randy in working with the lawyers is spearheaded by one of the founding members of Spirit, bassist Mark Andes. Mark left Spirt after their 4th album to start JoJo Gunne with the other lead vocalist of Spirit (besides Randy), Jay Ferguson. After a few years with JoJo Gunne Mark Andes joined Firefall.

Aside from trying to help Randy's family, I'm not real sure what's in it for Andes. As far as royalties, it would seem he's out of the loop since he was never credited as one of the writers of Taurus. So if that's the case and there is not much if any money in it for him, then he must feel very strongly about this lawsuit.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 22 Jun 2016 10:11 am

The lawsuit thread gives me a chance to reminisce about Spirit. They were one of my favorite bands growing up and I feel they are one of the most underrated rock bands of all time. These guys were real musicians.

One of the most profound experiences of my then young life occurred in 1969. Growing up in the Bay Area, my first trip to Fillmore West took place that year when I was 15. One of my older brothers, who was all of 19, drove us to SF from San Jose along with my brother's best friend and his little brother, same age as I and one of my good buddies. Sometimes when I think back on it I'm amazed my mother allowed me to go - I guess things were a lot different back then, and it's interesting that Bill Graham would let 15 year old kids and younger into that place. And we made sure to grab our free apple from the ever present barrel on the way in.

Spirit was the headliner and the opener was Lee Michaels with his rotund drummer Frosty. Wasn't big on Michaels, and his Hammond organ was so loud that I'm sure it was the beginning of concert hearing damage that affects me to this day.

We were able to get up really close to the front and when Spirit came on and started playing it was just magic. They mixed up the rockin' stuff with jazz and jazz-like tunes, there were some jazz flavored jams that went on for several minutes.

One of the co-founders was drummer Ed Cassidy who was Randy's stepfather. Ed was an accomplished jazz drummer who had played with some big names but saw something in rock music he liked (money?) and many of you will recall that he formed the short-lived Rising Sons with Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal prior to The Red Roosters which morphed into Spirit.

The weird thing was that Ed was 44 when Sprit began - a year younger than my father, and they were both WWII veterans, my dad a Marine and Ed was in the Navy. How could a 44 year old dude possibly be cool? But Ed was with his all black outfit and shaved head. Ubiquitous these days, Ed might have been only the fourth guy I had ever seen in 1969 with a shaved head after Yul Brynner, Lex Luthor, and Mr. Clean.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 22 Jun 2016 12:10 pm

I always thought that Right or Wrong and Anytime, lined up pretty close... I would think it hard to be very original with the amount of musical influence that exists... someone put 5 or 6 of â€œtodayâ€™sâ€ top country songs together by slicing and dicing them and they all seemed to be about the same song, hmmmm like there was a formula to it... Like all our steel heroâ€™s before us... pretty hard to NOT include their influence in what we play... good thing none of us have made 400 Million from it or WEâ€™D be the ones being sued...

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Jun 2016 4:24 pm

The jury is deliberating now. The defense presented a pretty strong case, with many music experts testifying that there is nothing unique about the chord pattern and it's in the public domain. They also cited several older songs that used that pattern.

Experts testified:

"...any similarity between 'Stairway To Heaven' and 'Taurus' can also be found in music dating back more than 300 years"

"...the only similarity between Taurus and Stairway to Heaven is a descending chromatic minor line progression... that musical element was used 300 years ago, as well as in many pop songs since then."

"...(the descending line) is heard in numerous other songs, including Chim Chim Cher-ee from the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins."

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 22 Jun 2016 5:42 pm

Doug Beaumier wrote:... The defense .. cited several older songs that used that pattern.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Jun 2016 6:33 pm

Yep, that's another one.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 23 Jun 2016 2:12 am

That Dolly Parton song is amazingly close. But again, it's just a chord progression.