Zeppelin’s guitarist said he had bought two of Spirit’s albums in the late ’60s, but identified them as the band’s second and third albums, and said he’d never heard “Taurus” until public discussions over perceived similarities began circulating on the Internet “a couple of years ago”.
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Regardless of the verdict, the debate as to whether Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” was ripped off from L.A. rock band Spirit’s song “Taurus” will likely remain unsettled.
Plant admitted that he once owned an album that featured the Spirit song “Fresh Garbage”, but not “Taurus”, the tune Led Zeppelin is accused of copying for “Stairway to Heaven”.
Plant told a packed courtroom that he did not remember hanging out with members of the band Spirit after the American band played a Birmingham, England, show in 1970, though he said he and his wife were in a bad auto wreck and he has no memory of the evening.
In testimony yesterday, Plant said of “Taurus”, “I didn’t remember it then, and I don’t remember it now”, according to Rolling Stone. Spirit’s former bassist testified last week that Plant had “hung out” with the group after attending a 1970 performance in Birmingham, England.
Plant says he wrote Stairway with guitarist Jimmy Page at Headley Grange estate.
Page said he made a decision to record at Headley Grange after hearing Fleetwood Mac had rehearsed at the estate.The earliest surviving recording of “Stairway to Heaven” from Headley Grange and the final 1971 track was played to the court.
“That particular evening I sat with Jimmy by the fire, and I had this first couplet that fit with what he was playing: ‘There’s a lady who’s sure/All that glitters is gold/And she’s buying a stairway to heaven/When she gets there she knows/If the stores are all closed/With a word she can get what she came for”, Plant recited.
Plant recalled how he wrote the lyrics to Stairway To Heaven after Page had played some of the song to him at the country manor house Headley Grange in Hampshire.
The other band members would make contributions and Plant would occasionally retreat to a bedroom with a notepad to work on more lyrics for what became an eight-minute song.
Lawyers for Page and Plant have asked the judge to throw out the case before it goes to the jury.
‘I can’t recall Spirit or anybody else playing there with the passing of time, ‘ he said.
Wolfe’s estate is suing Page, Plant and their record label for copyright infringement, alleging they lifted the riff for the song’s introduction from the obscure 1968 instrumental “Taurus” by the band Spirit.
Defendants include Page, Plant and three companies involved in the Led Zeppelin catalog. Instead, it’s whether “Stairway” cribs substantially from the “Taurus” sheet music submitted 48 years ago to the U.S. Copyright Office.
The defense rested its case after the musicians testified.
The main trait they shared, a notable descending minor chord progression, is a common building block in songs dating back 300 years and is found throughout pop music predating Wolfe’s composition from 1967 or 1968.
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Lawrence Ferrara, a music professor at New York University, said 17th century Venetian opera singers and Mozart used the “commonplace” techniques found in both songs.
