Expert: Chris M. Zangara - 5/11/2007

Question
My heart sank inside my stomach when I heard this today.
My friend, also a fan, said to me that alot of the good songs they play are remakes.

Whole Lotta Love
Dazed and Confused
and he said Stairway, but I don't believe him.

Any help? Which songs that they made famous are actually remakes?

Answer
Hey Brian,

Zep never did remakes. They took inspiration (mostly a few specially plucked lyrics by Plant) from the old blues (as did 99.9% of ALL up and coming rockers of the 50's & 60's!) and subsequently made it their own.  The end result was always an original Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham composition.  Here's a few examples of why the people who say Zep did 'remakes' obviously do not have a clue.  All they have to do is listen and compare.  Then, after they pick their jaws up off the ground, they will humbly go away with their tails between their legs in admittance of the one REAL truth (proven without a doubt countless times by now) which is, Zep knew how to take the blues, and make it their own -- while still remaining true to their hero's.

But not even Zep were perfect and they did make a mistake in not giving credit for certain passages, again mostly a lyric here and there. They made up for that later on and all is right with the world now.

Here's a few examples to help you understand a bit more.. fascinating stuff really.  And tell your friend that if he's also a fan, than he should sit with you and learn with you about what's real and what's rumor..   right..  here we go..

Whole Lotta Love takes some lyrics from an old blues called 'You Need Love' by Willie Dixon but the music is original Led Zep.  Almost ALL bands of that day including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc.. all borrowed inspiration from the blues.  Zeppelin took old blues numbers and made them completely their own.  It was brilliant and the only thing they did wrong was admittedly Jimmy Page "forgot" to give credit to the old blues artists in the album sleeve credits.  But again, it wasn't like today where you can be sued over a word.  Back then it was standard procedure to sing the blues in your own way.  It was just done without thinking.  All in tribute, not to steal.  And this bullshit about Led Zeppelin stealing songs has followed them around since the beginning and it is false.  A few lyrics do NOT a complete song make!  Here are some more quick examples of Zep's mastery at the blues:

Dazed and Confused - the descending bass line was originally written by Jake Holmes and was played as "I'm Confused" by Jimmy Page and The Yardbirds.  When Jake Holmes heard Led Zeppelin's version, he simply shrugged and said (in regard to Page), "..what the hell.  Let him have it!"  I assume good old Jake was pretty impressed by Page's 'take' on that old song.

Stairway To Heaven - similar to some, not to others.  This was a Led Zeppelin original, no matter how one tries to slice it to bits.  No one could have written those chords and put them together in such a way, except Jimmy Page.  The Lyrics from Robert were inspired by his readings about Celtic wars in old Britain and of course, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and such...

How Many More Times – taken from Howlin Wolf’s ‘How Many More Years’ -- similar lyrical content mixed with a deafening Page original riff make this ALL Led Zeppelin.  Can you imagine the looks on people’s faces if this was introduced as a simple ‘remake’? Folks would have been fainting in the isles!  (Well, they were anyway. but you know what I mean.)

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You – An old traditional made popular by Joan Baez.  This was the first song that Page had played for Robert when they met with Page saying that this is the kind of road he'd like Zep to take.  Compare the Joan Baez version to Led Zeppelin's and there IS NO comparison.  Some lyrics are similar, but again the music is all Led Zeppelin and original Page composition.

I think you get the point by now.  Zeppelin, along with pretty much any band (British especially) of the day took those old blues and made it their own, but without insulting the artists original intent.  That's the whole point of Rock and Roll.  Almost all of Elvis Presley’s songs began with the old black bluesmen of the 1930’s and 40’s. The Beatles and Stones would be absolutely nowhere without the blues influence, lyrical or otherwise, in their music.  There's an old saying in the music business and it's a very true statement if you think about it: “When the Blues had a baby; they named it Rock N Roll..”

And nobody did it better than Zep!

Hope this helped!

Check Amazon.com and other CD dealer's for "Zeppelin Influences" and you should be able to find a few CDs with these songs.  If you like, email me at zep2002@aol.com and I'll send you a couple of these original tunes so you can compare with Zep's 'version'.  Then you and your buddy will be able to hear first hand that there is simply no comparison when Zep were done writing a song, any song.

Chris Z.