Cool. I knew Zep stole a lot of shit and didn't give credit. I mean they put a creative spin on it but still.
Well, that's kinda the point. Many songs people are familiar with originated from other artists. There is a fine line between copying unaccredited and being inspired to create a version that truly is a different song based on an original. In this particular case, Memphis Minnie is credited on the song on Led Zeppelin IV, although many parts and lyrics are different.
Also, many other artists continued to be inspired by the song after Zep's version and produced yet more, different takes on it:
Whether clued up or not on that fifth name, a bunch of notable artists went on to cover Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks,” with the effect of giving it the added mystique of an original. Louisiana bluesman John Campbell, for instance, growled his way through the song in 1993, having found obvious inspiration in Page’s distinctive bottleneck-slide action. Alt-rocker Kristin Hersh similarly adopted the hypnotic groove invented by Led Zeppelin for her brooding acoustic rendition of 1994. Jeff Buckley, meanwhile, captured the whole Zeppelin vibe on a live performance of the song from his peak 1995 period, notably by matching Plant’s acrobatic vocals, and letting rip on the slide guitar. Thereafter, glam-metal band Great White replicated Page’s arrangement of the track on their Great Zeppelin tribute album of 1998, and even supergroup A Perfect Circle based their radical and trippy reinterpretation of 2004 on that familiar doomy mantra of 1971.
I agree Page had several instances where he was rather reluctant to readily credit a song he was "inspired" by, but he/Zep are hardly the only ones to do so. There are many examples in Rock history.
Listen I absolutely love Zeppelin. But even Rolling Stone took them to the woodshed for "blatant musical swipes".
https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/led-zeppelins-10-boldest-rip-offs-223419/
I'd also note that with or without the "lifted" music, they were obviously still immensely talented based on all of the original music they produced. (Achilles Last Stand, Kashmir, The Song Remains the Same, etc, etc)
In the end they took some songs which were well established blues tracks and gave zero credit to the original artist - Dazed and Confused for example. That was a bit of a blight on their reign IMO.
P.S. I did not know When the Levee Breaks was not an original Zep song.
I'm not much of a RS fan, they themselves have issues with plagiarism and have never been the hallowed pinnacle of truths. I wouldn't quite say they "took them to the woodshed" when they mention in the article the times Zep did give songwriting credit to a few of the songs, at least one of which was public domain. Most of what they listed is well known and has been addressed even by Page and Plant. After all, it pays more to sue a bigger band when they have sold more records.
As a side note, it's obvious to me they used Spirits Taurus almost note for note. How they won that case is beyond me.
It's always been a concern and discussion where that fine line of inspiration and creation is in music. Alongside the ethical and reputational aspects of when to credit versus an inspiration/homage comes the huge issue of Record Company interests in seeking royalties. As always, money is involved. These issues also coincide with the availability and distribution of music which increased dramatically during the 50's and especially the '60's. Things like this when unnoticed much more when an artist heard a minstrel show pass through town and copied a song and then had "fame" in their own circles. Audiences were mainly regional at that time and had no exposure to the other artists and their songs.
This one of the main reasons I built my site, to look back at the evolutions and connections that resulted in the music we grew up with. I was fortunate to have grown up in the '60's and had listened to the radio since the late 50's as a kid and witnessed the marked change that occurred. Seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan that first time (the only live appearance - the rest were taped) changed my life and I've never looked back. Well, I have payed little attention since the '80's, Disco still Sucks!
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