Andes was the plaintiff’s most sympathetic witness yet: Exuding sincerity, he described his encounter with Plant at a pre-concert meet-and-greet and post-performance afterparty.
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Mr Andes replied: “It’s my recollection that we did”. “I played snooker with Robert Plant and we were definitely drinking”.
Page is due back on the stand Thursday.
The suit being heard in federal court in Los Angeles claims the tune’s famous riff was copied from the song “Taurus” by the band Spirit.
A loss for Led Zeppelin could mean millions of dollars in royalties going to the estate of Wolfe, a.k.a Randy California, for one of the most recognized and played recordings of the rock era.
“Stairway to Heaven was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and them alone”.
Under oath, Page admitted to recalling purchasing Spirit’s second and third albums, The Family That Plays Together and Clear.
Page owns several Spirit albums, but only remembered acquiring two of them – neither containing the song at issue.
But Page said the album was one of over 9,000 vinyl albums and compact discs in his music collection, and that he did not know when it made its way into his library. “To be honest, I could’ve bought it or been given it”, Page stated.
Page, his white hair pulled back in a ponytail, testified he had not heard “Taurus”, the song by the band Spirit he is accused of copying, until after he learned in recent years of online postings that made note of the alleged similarities. My son-in-law brought it up; I don’t do the Internet, so he played it for me. When it started, I was confused by the comparison … Page insisted he’d heard it on the radio.
Led Zeppelin appreciated Spirit “on an intimate level” and played a cover of the “pioneering” U.S. band’s single Fresh Garbage 16 times at their concerts, Malofiy said.
“Later on you had a gift of playing the guitar?” He also claimed he wasn’t even aware of Spirit’s presence on the bill, despite the fact that Zeppelin covered “Fresh-Garbage” that night, as had become tradition in their early live sets.
Attorney Steven Weinberg, a music copyright lawyer who is watching the case but not involved in it, said he found Page charming, confident and well prepared, though not entirely credible in his denial of ever hearing Spirit’s first album. “I was excited about opening for Vanilla Fudge because I was a big fan of theirs”.
The court session offered up a contrast in style: The plantiff’s hard charging lawyer, Francis Malofiy, peppering a reserved and polite Page about the rocker’s familiarity with Spirit’s music.
Page said the music by Spirit began with an orchestra which was “totally alien” to him. “In those days, they still sort of jotted things down on notepads”.
The musician told the court that Spirit played a gig in the United Kingdom at Mothers club in Birmingham in 1970, which Plant attended.
Page was joined in court by Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant as both men face a copyright infringement trial over the opening guitar riff of Stairway To Heaven.
Despite Page’s casual exterior, sparks continued to fly between the legal teams.
That’s potentially a problem, if as Led Zeppelin attorney Peter Anderson objected, the video wasn’t included in the joint list of exhibits submitted prior to trial.
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Mr Malofiy asked: “Do they sound the same to you?” Indeed, as the trial wound down at Klausner’s preferred end time of 4:00 p.m., Page was still mid-testimony.
