Jimmy Page Says Stairway to Heaven Ripoff Claim Is 'Ridiculous'

[TWANG]

there are lots of songs in many genres which use variations similar to this. some of you don't seem to understand what makes for infringement.
as for the rest of it.. I'll decide when I see a successful court case against the man, until then he's as innocent as all you judges.

 

[THDNUT]

Hey Mal, the solo in Heartbreaker had some clams in the first half but the second half of the solo was excellent.


IMO.

 

[Shred Astaire]

Of course he does!

 

[Barcham]

What is it with these guys and the young girls. But I really put people like Page and Ted in a different boat then Jerry Lee....it was a different time.

You have to remember that at the time of Jerry lee and Loretta Lynn getting married at 14 was legal. A little creepy even for the time, but legal none the less. And it happened a great deal up into the 50's.

You really can't judge the past by using todays values....well you can, but it is not going to give you an accurate view of the time when those people lived.

A different time? There was what? 10 years difference? Not exactly a lifetime there. And Jerry Lee's bride was not 14, she was 13. And she was his cousin.

If you want to talk 14 year olds...Marie Antoinette was 14 when she married the future Louis XVI of France.

All that being said...Jerry Lee was only 22 himself at the time so that was only a 9 year age difference. In today's world, that is nothing at all. Ronnie Wood's wife, for example, is 31 years younger than he is and he has had relationships with women much younger than that in the past. He left his wife for an 18 year old back in 2008. Rod Stewart is 26 years older than his current wife.

 

[Fracture]

Black Dog? Killer solo.

Gotta agree, the last 1:30 sounds like the end of the world.
Incredible, knowing how Page poured over the edits, that it still
sounds spontaneous.

 

[VictorB]

Really? eek.

I'd have gone with Black Dog or Stairway solo myself. Heartbreaker solo is full of clams and miss-picks and stutters/f**k ups. ..it's like his worst solo.

that solo is really hard to play because it's hard to f**k up enough that it sounds legit.

Now Stairway?...that's a killer solo.
Black Dog? Killer solo.

Dude could play his ass off when he was sober. He's not sloppy like people say,..I think he was drunk a lot of the time.

I've seen live footage of him doing sh*t that would give Yngwie a run for his money. He could totally shred. (and on a Danelectro no less)


.....but Heartbreaker?

I know both Heartbreaker solos aren't...

...but in 1969, I'm sure it was quite a mind blowing thing to hear.

 

[Barcham]

I know both Heartbreaker solos aren't...

...but in 1969, I'm sure it was quite a mind blowing thing to hear.

For a lot of people, hearing it for the first time was probably something like this reaction...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1i5coU-0_Q]Johnny B. Goode - Back to the Future (9/10) Movie CLIP (1985) HD - YouTube[/ame]

 

[mudfinger]

If I remember right, that break was Jimmy's first use of a Marshall in the recording studio?

I think it's a great example of how loose and free LZ was, and I certainly don't hate it. But it is out of tune pretty badly, and nowhere near my list of favorite Jimmy Page guitar bits.

 

[Barcham]

If I remember right, that break was Jimmy's first use of a Marshall in the recording studio?

I think it's a great example of how loose and free LZ was, and I certainly don't hate it. But it is out of tune pretty badly, and nowhere near my list of favorite Jimmy Page guitar bits.

LZ were not 'loose and free' in the studio at all. IF something sounds 'out of tune', that's because it's how he wanted it to sound. There are more overdubs and recording tricks on Zep tracks than on any other band short of U2. On some tracks he even used only the echo return and removed the original send track. Most of Page's recorded solos are multi-tracked and contain a number of overdubs. As much as I love JP and LZ, Page is a better producer than he is a player.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Hey Mal, the solo in Heartbreaker had some clams in the first half but the second half of the solo was excellent.


IMO.

the 2nd solo after the transistion riff? Yeah it doesn't suck.

But it makes the first one look even worse in comparison.

...I can't listen to that song anymore, I literally flinch and cringe at the first solo.

I feel empathetic embarrassment for him at that moment and can't imagine why he kept that on the record.

It sounds fine until he starts speeding up then it all falls apart, falls out of time and stutters and flops all over the place like a dying fish out of water.

The sad thing is those Am Pent licks he's trying to rip through are not hard licks to play,.....which is why I say I think he was drunk.

Because I've seen footage of him doing much more difficult stuff flawlessly.

I don't dislike JP, I like a lot of Zep songs. But I don't have fan-blinders or anything,...the first Heartbreaker solo is pretty bad.

 

[SFK]

OOOh look, Zeppelin controversy. BTW check out the remasters...

 

[mudfinger]

LZ were not 'loose and free' in the studio at all. IF something sounds 'out of tune', that's because it's how he wanted it to sound. There are more overdubs and recording tricks on Zep tracks than on any other band short of U2. On some tracks he even used only the echo return and removed the original send track. Most of Page's recorded solos are multi-tracked and contain a number of overdubs. As much as I love JP and LZ, Page is a better producer than he is a player.

Nonsense. LZ spent a fraction of the time in the studio that bands like The Eagles did. The recordings reflect that.

 

[Spurholder]

Funny - the only time I've ever seen Mark Andes (the guy that brought the lawsuit forward) play live was 29 years ago. And he was more than willing to close the show with a Led Zep song.

Yes, it was Heart. And Nancy looked scrumdiddlyumptious back in those days.