294 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
294 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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Led Zeppelin Report
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Led Zeppelin is the true father of of modern rock and
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roll music. They have directly and indirectly influenced the
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metal music scene in a multitude of ways. The music of Led
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Zeppelin has been a "crowning achievement in the genre of
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hard rock/heavy metal and the band must be considered one of
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the most important of all time."(1) The issue of whether or
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not the Led Zep influence exists is one of the most contro-
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versial issues of the rock world today.
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The materials for this report come from a wide variety
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of accurate sources. Most of the material comes from GUITAR
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FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN a monthly publication dealing
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with the guitar scene. It provides information on music and
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the bands that create it as well as accurate descriptions of
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how it is played. The other major source is the book HAMMER
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OF THE GODS, a biography of Led Zeppelin by Stephen Davis.
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These two sources will most often be referred to. Other
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sources in include THE HARMONY ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
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ROCK and a multitude of sheet music.
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The basis of this report is whether or not Led Zeppelin
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is the creator of modern rock music. It is a massive under
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statement to say that Led Zeppelin was a major influence in
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the evolution of heavy metal music. It would be more accu-
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rate to say without Led Zeppelin there would be no metal
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music. In the eruption of the rock music scene of the 60's
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and 70's many standards were set and many innovations were
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made. Among these musical pioneers were: Jeff Beck, Eric
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Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix and, of course, Jimmy
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Page. Today these pioneer's musical cliches, witticisms and
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techniques are widely used for they are the basis of the
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music in which they are used. Many of these "inventions" and
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"metal pyrotechnics" are blatantly used and turned in to
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"plagiarism for profit". However subtle these influences are
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they will always exist .(2)
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The consolidated elements that created the well defined
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Led Zeppelin sound were the result of a "singular chemistry
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within the band"(3). The members came from different back-
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grounds created a musical sound that harnessed elements of
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the blues and rock and roll. All of the members were veter-
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ans of the British rock scene and had been involved with
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music most of their lives.
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The man responsible for forming the band was James
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Patrick Page. Born to an industrial worker, James Page, and
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his wife, Patricia Elizibeth Gaffkin in Heston, Middlesex on
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January 9, 1944, Jimmy lived a quiet life in Epsom, Surry.
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He spent most of his childhood alone. As he grew up the
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guitar became his best friend and he quickly became involved
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with the music scene as time passed he became the "English
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guitar ace" and had all the up to date equipment.(4) Jimmy
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played with many bands including The Crusaders and The
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Yardbids and worked as a studio session artist.
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The charismatic singer who was the perfect "lyrical
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foil" for this bands concept was Robert Plant.(5) Robert
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Anthony Plant was born on August 20, 1948, at West Bromwich,
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Strat-fordshire. He lived in a well off family and attended a
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private school. He became interested in rock music early and
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soon turned to the blues. He played in many bands in his
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area and became a popular singer. He had the perfect mixture
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of rock influences including Elvis Presley and blues influ-
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ences in-cluding Muddy Waters.
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The rhythm backbone of the band was John Henry Bonham.
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Born on May 31, 1948, at Redditch, Worcestershire, he grew up
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near Robert as the son of a carpenter. He got his first drum
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kit when he was ten and he got into it very fast. Bonham was
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in and out of many bands since he learned to play. He had
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soon developed the reputation of the loudest, hardest drummer
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around Birmingham.
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The harmonic/rythmic "counterpart" of the group was John
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Paul Jones. He was born on January 3, 1946, at Sidcup, Kent.
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He grew up in a musical family and was on the road by the
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time he was two. He started out on the piano but soon moved
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to the bass guitar. He was a very popular session artist and
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a brilliant composer and arranger. He was influenced mainly
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by jazz bassists and followed the idea that the bass could be
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a solo instrument.
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When the members of the newly forming "New Yard Birds",
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soon to become Led Zeppelin (6) first played together there
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was a sort of "magic" that happened. They Knew what they had
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when they played in the studio and soon they were on their
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way to a long, strange journey into the world rock legends.
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(7).
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Their first album, a self titled one became a major hit
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and soon they were holding concerts all over. More albums
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came out and soon they became a musical/media sensation. At
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the height of their career they were a legend and produced
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eight albums. They were touring all over the world and
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living a wild, hedonistic life style of sex, drugs and
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parties around the clock. The band ended abruptly after the
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death of the drummer, Bonham. The remaining members went
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their separate ways.
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Robert began a long solo career; Jones virtually "dis-
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appeared" and Page found a new band. In recent years, Zep
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has had a few reunions and Robert and Jimmy are at new high
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points in their solo careers.
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Today, in the wake of the legend, rock music flourishes
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more than ever and many new bands are trying to fill the gap
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that Led Zeppelin left. Most of the bands of today are
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influ-enced by the legend in some way and however subtle the
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influ-ence is, it exists. Led Zeppelin created many innova-
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tions and these are widely used. They include styles,
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recording techniques and rhythms.
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It is, of cource, argued that Led Zeppelin was not a
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major influence. "They could have luckily stumbled upon
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things unknown to them at the time" or "shame-lessly ripped
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off other performers".(9) To some, Led Zeppelin had just
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been using stuff they had already heard, they just "spiced
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it up". This is probably true in some respects because if
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the earlier blues men of the past or the rock heroes of
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yesterday had not come along there would certainly be no Led
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Zeppelin.
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As Led Zeppelin may have quietly stolen bits of materi-
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al, they are truly innovators. The have brought many
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tech-niques and cliches into being. The irony is that when
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they were first becoming known, the name "heavy metal" was
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created to classify the type of music Led Zeppelin was
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playing. Although many artists claim not to have any Zeppe-
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lin in them, faint echoes and some times large amounts of the
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Led Zeppelin influ-ence can be seen and heard. Without the
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music of Led Zeppelin, bands like Whitesnake and Kingdom Come
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would not exist.
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One of their most widely known achievements is their
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approach of rock orchestration, "the guitar army" effect. It
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is the use of multi track recording that creates the illusion
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of a large army of guitars, it is also called over dubbing.
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This style gave Page the room he needed to use his riffing
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style and composition. It is this that sets the standards for
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recording in the present day.
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In dealing further with the subject of influencing,
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there are two types of influence, indirect and direct. The
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indirect is the type that is deeply in musicians, that is, a
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guitarist grows up listening to a band. As he learns to play
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the instrument, he begins to think of what his favorite
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guitarist would be doing.
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In most case the subconscious mind is remembering what
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the other musician was doing and it begins to translate it
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into the new guitarist's playing. With the case of direct
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influence the guitarist may be purposely emulating the other
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and calling it his own. This can turn into plagiarism. The
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most common form is the indirect influ-ence.
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Today, however, the other form is becoming more and more
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popular. It is personified in such bands as Kingdom Come and
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Cinderella. The bluesy, harder rock sound is becoming more
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popular in the wake of the technical L.A. sound of such bands
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as Van Halen and Dokken.
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Most bands of today are influenced indirectly by Led
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Zeppelin. Of the more technically obvious is a piece of
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music by Steve Via called "The Attitude Song". It contains a
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three note riff sequence that is derived from the Led Zeppe-
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lin song, "The Ocean" (see fig 1). This riff makes use of the
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polyrhyth-mic interplay between drums and guitar. John
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Bonham's time keeping "lent cohesion to Page's esoteric and
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free form musical approach".(11)
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Of the question of direct influence, some bands take a
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riff whether they are aware of it or not and base a song
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around it . Some times they steal entire choruses or bridg-
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es, part leading up to the chorus, and "write around it " in
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attempt to come up with a different song. In most cases this
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fails and the band has what could be considered a shameless
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rip off(12). In Whitesnakes's song "Still of the Night", the
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chorus is a riff derived and almost copied from the Led
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Zeppelin song, "The Immigrant Song". In the same song, the
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bridge resembles the riff form "Black Dog", another Led
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Zeppelin song. The same band has written a song called
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"Crying in the Rain" that is in the same time as the Led
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Zeppelin song, "Dazed and Confused". In the Whitesnake song,
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the bridge has a striking if not exact resemblance to the
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bridge in the Led Zeppelin song. (SEE EX 2). It is ironic to
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say this fact when Led Zeppelin had copied the song "Dazed
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and Confused from another artist. Another major concept that
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is being used that Led Zeppelin brought into use is the
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extended middle of a song.
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In some songs they would change what they were doing and
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go into something, sometimes, completely different, ie.
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"Whole Lotta Love", "Dazed and Confused". Some new bands are
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making use of this cliche widely and even going so far as to
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copy one of Zep's songs in doing so.
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In the Cult's song "Peace Dog", the middle part bears a
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striking resemblance to a part in "Stairway to Heaven" Just
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as in Whitesnakes "Still of the Night" resembles the part in
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Whole Lotta Love". Another group that is responsible for
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plagiarism is Kingdom Come. They wrote a song, "Get It On",
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which has stolen an entire chord progression from the Led
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Zeppelin classic, "Kashmir", the chord progression being: A5,
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A+, A6, G, A is identically both songs. They also wrote a
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song called "What Love Can Be" which copies from "Since I've
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been loving You" and "The Rain Song".
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Another issue concerns the new bands "borrowing or
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steal-ing" from the entire Led Zeppelin image. Most of the
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newer singers are influenced by Plant's braggadocio and
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"Falsetto Blues Melisma"(13).
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They are also obsessed with the idea of "living on the
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edge" with constant parties and excessive sex and substance
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abuse. More influences include album cover design and the
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occult related obsession witch groups like the PTL seem to
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associate with everything. One thing which Jimmy Page
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proba-bly considers an embarrassment is the use of a violin
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bow on the guitar. It produces almost unearthly sound
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effects. this is now being used by many bands.
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As with any case were something great has happened.
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Those who follow in its wake will try to learn from it and
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take small pieces of its work. The influence is there and
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there is no getting around that. Led Zeppelin was the
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influencing power in a world of developing musicians. As the
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individuals grew up with Led Zeppelin on the radio and on
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their record players, they began learning from them and
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creating their own style which included the zeppelinesque
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style that already existed.
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In some cases the influence is innocent and "only na-
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tural".(13) In other cases the Led Zeppelin style has been
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exploited and copied shamelessly. The majority of listeners
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will probably not notice this but the musically alert and
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wise will, and have spotted this fakery. When Led Zeppelin
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was around they had a sort of magic, a style that, when it no
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longer was around, left a void. Many have tried to fill this
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void. Everyone is trying to walk in a giants shoes when they
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themselves are too small. What makes them small is the fact
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that they stoop to low levels of fakery to try and create the
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Perfect band that they are not ".(14) When the bands of
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today are long since deceased, they will too be looked upon
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as the influences and trend setters. for now at least...
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"In a world of imitators there is only one original, Led
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Zeppelin."
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Bibliography
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1. Davis, Steven Hammer of the Gods, New York
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2. Guthery and Alaster The Guitar Handbook Alfred A Knopf,
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New York
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3. The Harmony Encyclopedia of Rock
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Salamander Press LTD
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4. Jasper, Tony The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hard Rock
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and Heavy Metal Fact On Files Inc, New York
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5. Nite, Norm Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock
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and Roll Volume I Harper and Row, New York
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6. Guitar For The Practicing Musician article: "The Zep
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Influence"
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7. Guitar For The Practicing Musician article: "The
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LIstening Room With George Lynch"
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8. Rolling Stone article: "Led Zeppelin"
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9. People article: Robert Plant
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10. Guitar Player article: "Vernon Reid"
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11. Guitar Player article: "Rock and Roll Plagiarism"
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12. Spin article: "Rock n' Roll Influence"
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13. Guitar For The Practicing Musician article: " Jimmy
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Page"
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14. Rolling Stone article: "Heavy Metal"
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15. Guitar Foe The Practicing Musician sheet music:
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"Dazed and Confused", "Crying in the Rain",
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"Black Dog", "Still of the Night", "The attitude
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Song", "The Ocean", "Stairway to Heaven",
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"Whole Lotta Love"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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