Anon La Ply
Diamond Member
Bear in mind that we are all speaking with the benefit of hearing 40 + years of music since that time. What we perceive as common today was not as common back then.
Though it's a common chord progression, the first bars of STH sound to me to not only be the same chords, but very similar in execution. That Zep and Spirit toured together makes it all more likely. Having said that, the STH intro now has achieved either iconic or faceplam status, depending on how often you've heard the tune. Obviously Zep applied a great deal of creativity to that snippet at the start but, calling a spade a spade, it's almost certainly "borrowed".
To my ear it's much more obvious than either My Sweet Lord vs She's So Fine or, especially, the ugly case about the Land Downunder flute line using the nursury rhyme, Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree (that suit was triggered by a change of publishers to Larrikin, who were hungry and ruthless and the case basically ruined a fine musician's life).
Yes, it's old news. Yes, everyone borrows everything. Not judging, just calling it for what it was, in the same way as we are calling the court case as a cash grab.
I have blatantly stolen things myself in my few attempts at writing, partially inspired by Jimmy Page because it worked so well for him (even in the 70s we all knew about his bowerbird ways - and we thought it was clever).
Take my shameless 80s ripoff of Botthiststatva https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkJey6pyb54. (you need only suffer through it for a few seconds to get my point). What if the song by some miscarriage of justice made lots of money - and suits representing Donald and Walter sent me off to court? I could rationalise and say that II-I progressions are common as muck, but it would be a lie. Nope, I enjoyed drumming along with the record so I wrote a song based on the groove (and the chords lol).
A lot of things happened back then that we frown on today - not just in music, but generally. It's not easy to validly judge the past by today's standards.
Though it's a common chord progression, the first bars of STH sound to me to not only be the same chords, but very similar in execution. That Zep and Spirit toured together makes it all more likely. Having said that, the STH intro now has achieved either iconic or faceplam status, depending on how often you've heard the tune. Obviously Zep applied a great deal of creativity to that snippet at the start but, calling a spade a spade, it's almost certainly "borrowed".
To my ear it's much more obvious than either My Sweet Lord vs She's So Fine or, especially, the ugly case about the Land Downunder flute line using the nursury rhyme, Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree (that suit was triggered by a change of publishers to Larrikin, who were hungry and ruthless and the case basically ruined a fine musician's life).
Yes, it's old news. Yes, everyone borrows everything. Not judging, just calling it for what it was, in the same way as we are calling the court case as a cash grab.
I have blatantly stolen things myself in my few attempts at writing, partially inspired by Jimmy Page because it worked so well for him (even in the 70s we all knew about his bowerbird ways - and we thought it was clever).
Take my shameless 80s ripoff of Botthiststatva https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkJey6pyb54. (you need only suffer through it for a few seconds to get my point). What if the song by some miscarriage of justice made lots of money - and suits representing Donald and Walter sent me off to court? I could rationalise and say that II-I progressions are common as muck, but it would be a lie. Nope, I enjoyed drumming along with the record so I wrote a song based on the groove (and the chords lol).
A lot of things happened back then that we frown on today - not just in music, but generally. It's not easy to validly judge the past by today's standards.