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Led Zep: Thieving Magpies!


elctmist

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Originally posted by Raymar

Couple of things to ponder:


Zep might've done some shady legal dealings with royalties but they did popularize the blues(along with Cream and Jimi) and created a larger audience for blues musicians and alot of gigs.


As for Sabbath being more influential, that may be so but only because their music was much easier to play. I remember buying Paranoid in my teens and being able to figure the tunes out complete with solos as I heard them for the first time just playing along. Not so for Zep, had to sweat for the Zep tunes and solos. Don't forget the acoustic stuff.


Steve



Dude, sorry, Page ain't hard to play. Ever played the riff to Communication Breakdown? Funny you mentioned Paranoid, because the upbeat Dazed and Confused break sounds a lot like the paranoid opening lick.

Besides, Paranoid is the easiest Sabbath song to play, by far. And the solos in Sabbath aren't exactly the easiest things to play, either.












And Iommi did it with melted dish-soap bottles for fingertips. So THERE! :D

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Originally posted by Raymar

Couple of things to ponder:


Zep might've done some shady legal dealings with royalties but they did popularize the blues(along with Cream and Jimi) and created a larger audience for blues musicians and alot of gigs.


Steve

 

 

Actually if you to give credit where credit is due, I would say that the Stones did far more to bring awareness of the blues form in the US since they insisted on having Howlin' Wolf appear on US TV with them and talked openly about their influences, as well as giving correct song writing credits 99 percent of the time.

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Excuse me, but we are talking about rock and the blues here, which are basically simple art forms, for the most part dependent on the old I IV V. You can be as purist as you want to in your judgement(s), but there are only so many permutations of a three chord progression.

Everything said can be said about Prince,
Zappa, every creative composer. The elements are the same, just put together in a fresh way.

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Originally posted by zzzy

Excuse me, but we are talking about rock and the blues here, which are basically simple art forms, for the most part dependent on the old I IV V. You can be as purist as you want to in your judgement(s), but there are only so many permutations of a three chord progression.


Everything said can be said about Prince,

Zappa, every creative composer. The elements are the same, just put together in a fresh way.

 

 

That's always a nice argument to use, but in the case of Zep, we're talking about direct theft, not coincidental similarity.

 

Great band. Stole tunes. Stealing tunes is bad. Led Zepplin records are really good. Two separate issues.

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Originally posted by mabus013



Dude, sorry, Page ain't hard to play. Ever played the riff to Communication Breakdown? Funny you mentioned Paranoid, because the upbeat Dazed and Confused break sounds a lot like the paranoid opening lick.


Besides, Paranoid is the easiest Sabbath song to play, by far. And the solos in Sabbath aren't exactly the easiest things to play, either.

 

 

Actually I was refering to the entire album not just the tune. I had a tougher time with Beatle tunes.

 

The solo in Communication Breakdown is easily more difficult than any Iommi solo, there's more going on in Dazed and Confused than in any Sabbath tune, and that first Zep album had more going on sytlistically than Sabbath's entire catalog.

 

Steve

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Originally posted by Raymar



Actually I was refering to the entire album not just the tune. I had a tougher time with Beatle tunes.


The solo in Communication Breakdown is easily more difficult than any Iommi solo, there's more going on in Dazed and Confused than in any Sabbath tune, and that first Zep album had more going on sytlistically than Sabbath's entire catalog.


Steve

 

 

Whoa there nelly. Ther is some freaky Iommi {censored} out there that is hands down as harder, if not harder, than some page stuff to play. As for "stylistically", well that's all personal preference isn't it?

 

Don't pick on Tony, the man has no fingertips for chrissakes.

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Originally posted by Pigsinzen


Page wrote most of the lyrics in the first few albums.

 

 

 

According to an interview of Page that I read online, it was Plant's lyrics that caused their legal disputes.

 

On the tracks that name Plant's name as one of writers, what do you think he contributed if not the lyrics?

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Originally posted by mrbluetone

In 1978, a band from Davis, California called Little Roger and the Goosebumps put out a single called "Stairway To Gilligan's Island" (by putting the words to the theme of the 1960s US television show Gilligan's Island to an adapted and condensed "Stairway to Heaven"). This song became popular especially through heavy play (and many listener requests) on the Dr. Demento Radio Show. Legal action by representatives of Led Zeppelin soon followed and the single was withdrawn from sale.

 

 

Over here in Canada there was a band called "Dred Zeppelin" a few years ago. The lead singer was an elvis impersonator. On top of that they did zeppelin covers in a reggae style. Hilarious. Their big hit was a medley of Heartbreaker and Heart Break Hotel.

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Originally posted by Raymar



Actually I was refering to the entire album not just the tune. I had a tougher time with Beatle tunes.


The solo in Communication Breakdown is easily more difficult than any Iommi solo, there's more going on in Dazed and Confused than in any Sabbath tune, and that first Zep album had more going on sytlistically than Sabbath's entire catalog.


Steve

 

 

Um....bull{censored}?

 

Dude, it's kind of obvious that you're a Page fan and I'm an Iommi fan...so we both have our prejudices.

 

That said, Dazed and Confused, a tune I was toying with covering, isn't that difficult to play, and the arrangement is hardly any more complicated than 'War Pigs'. About the only thing I'll concede to Zep on that front is that Page was a great producer - the production on Zep kicks the crap out of most Sabbath, but that's production, not musical, quality.

 

Your blanket statement concerning Sabbath's catalogue makes me wonder if your experience with it was a couple of spins of Paranoid, and that's it. Stylistically, if you want to bust balls about it, Sabbath really has the edge - 'Black Sabbath', first track, first album, recorded in 69, sounded like nothing that came before it. Page was never that heavy in his life, and he had four intact fingers and a 'bucker equipped Les Paul to Iommi's faux fingertips, single-coil SG and strings with about as much tension as cooked spaghetti. Not to mention, in Sabbath you see sampling (still talking about their title track, 1969, way before such things became common), synth work, acoustic forays, pure pop (and riffs that were ripped off for pure pop - see the 'Friends' theme), some of the greatest melodies ever written, and to top it all off, their first two albums were recorded in four days - total. The first was recorded and mixed in one day - Zep never did that, even their live stuff had to go to the overdub booth, and to top it all off, Black Sabbath were at least original - Page did nothing but rip off old bluesmen and basically stole Zep's sound from the Jeff Beck Group, including songs that appeared on the first two discs. To top it all off, the lyrical content never held my interest - just a dirtied up version of 'boy meets girl' that is standard, unimaginative fare in rock.

 

I turn the mic over to you...

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