Category: Plagiarism?

Art, Imitation, or Plagiarism – Volume II

It’s time for another installment of Art, Imitation, or Plagiarism, where I, the music fan/blogger, give you examples and you decide which category applies to these songs.

Round I:  Originally, I thought Stevie Wonder pulled a Grinch on Rod Stewart and company, but it could be the other way around. According to Wikipedia, Wonder’s song “Someday at Christmas”  was written by Ron Miller and Brian Wells and was released in 1967.

Sound familiar?   Perhaps the 1978 Rod Stewart/Gary Grainger composition “I Was Only Joking” rings a bell?

Stevie Wonder and co. get the decision on my scorecard.

Round II might as well be a battle royal because it involves Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Small Faces, and Led Zeppelin.   Years ago, I remember reading that the Mighty Metal Balloon might have “borrowed” a few things from some legendary blues musicians like Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) and others.  Is Led Zeppelin II’s “Whole Lotta Love” derived from “You Need Love”?

The song recorded by Muddy Waters was written by THE blues songwriting genius, Willie Dixon, but it’s not that simple.   I didn’t hear until recently that Small Faces also released a version of the song.

Now that sounds another step closer to “Whole Lotta Love”.

For the record, Led Zeppelin II featuring “Whole Lotta Love” is one of my favorite albums and I love the song.  I used to start every road trip to/from college with this on cassette tape.    However, it seems Page/Plant eventually had to settle with Willie Dixon.  For more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Lotta_Love.

I’m sure there will be other installments of Art, Imitation, or Plagiarism, but for now, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

 

 

Art, Imitation, or Plagiarism – Volume I

Somewhere along the line there’s a quote about all art being imitation.   Whatever.      The gist of it is that everything comes from somewhere.  Musically speaking, an artist’s original music is still inspired by everything he/she has heard.   But where do you draw the line?

Recently, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame had to get “lawyered up” to defend their song “Stairway to Heaven” because it bore resemblance to “Taurus” by Spirit.  In the end, it went to court, but the jury sided with the Mighty Metal Balloon.

There are lots of other what-if scenarios.   One that stands out in my mind is the 90s smash hit “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt.  It got TONS of radio airplay.  Every time I heard the opening guitar chords, I’d start singing “Take a look at my girlfriend…” from the song “Breakfast in America” by Supertramp.  I don’t think the song is a ripoff, but the opening chord is the same.  C minor if I’m not mistaken.  Check out the first 6 seconds of each.

 

 

Another example is The Beatles “Octopus’ s Garden”  (released in 1969 ) vs. Ronnie Milsap’s 1978 recording of “Back on My Mind Again”.  According to Wikipedia, the Milsap song was written by Conrad Pierce and Charles Quillen.

Do you think there were still a few copies of Abbey Road floating around in the 70s?  You be the judge.  My mind is already made up.

 

Come on, dude, you had some hits, but you’re not fooling anybody.

Another example involving The Beatles was pointed out to me by a guitar teacher.  He was talking about The Cars’ hit “My Best Friend’s Girl.”  He said “they totally ripped off that guitar riff from a song on The White Album.”   This one isn’t as obvious, but he was talking about the McCartney ballad “I Will”.  I’ve tried to cue these up to the appropriate staring points.

 

Listen to :17-20 seconds into the Beatles song and compare to :33-43 or so of The Cars.  What do you think?   Personally, I don’t gain anything from copyright lawsuits either way. I just hear certain songs and my ears jump to conclusions.

In the next installment, we’ll see if Stevie Wonder ripped off Rod Stewart just in time for Christmas. Wait a minute… Ric Ocasek, Ronnie Milsap, Stevie Wonder….maybe it has something to do with the shades? You be the judge.

Till next time, keep rocking and keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

p.s. Yes, I ripped off the copyright logo just to make a point 😉