The Small Faces song Led Zeppelin ripped off on ‘Whole Lotta Love’
If an alien landed on Earth right now and asked who Led Zeppelin were, what would you tell them? The simple answer is that they are a band, but a straightforward definition is an undercut of their impact and doesn’t give the band the flowers they deserve. At the same time, it doesn’t highlight the controversy surrounding Led Zeppelin either. Subsequently, let’s discuss both.
Firstly, the positive. Led Zeppelin was an absolute tour de force in terms of musical ability, to the point that when many people were asked to name their favourite guitarist, drummer, bassist, and vocalist, they ended up just running through the band lineup.
The guitar work of Jimmy Page is some of the most complex and far-reaching out there, helped along by how much session work he did in the early stages of his career. Robert Plant was a vocal acrobat who could dance from solemn to excited to downright chaotic within the blink of an eye. John Bonham tore the drumming rule book to pieces, branching out into various styles and sounds. Meanwhile, John Paul Jones held the chaos together, providing a tight rhythm section to what could become messy and inaccessible.
Led Zeppelin’s musical ability means that they are considered by many to be one of the best rock outfits ever, with songs that still strike a chord today just as much as they did when they were initially released. However, not everybody agrees; many listeners and fellow artists hold a particular disdain towards Led Zeppelin, mainly because they state the band is guilty of ripping off other musicians.
Jimi Hendrix admitted that he didn’t “think much” of Led Zeppelin when asked about them. Elaborating on that comment, Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice added, “Jimi Hendrix personally told me that he didn’t like Zeppelin because they were like excess baggage and they stole from everybody.”
This was an opinion held by a lot of people. For instance, Jansch said in an interview when talking about the Led Zeppelin song ‘Black Mountain Side’, “The thing I’ve noticed about Jimmy [Page] whenever we meet is that he can’t look me in the eye…he ripped me off, didn’t he? Or let’s just say he learned from me. I wouldn’t want to sound impolite.”
Often, artists are frustrated when they feel that Led Zeppelin stole from them and didn’t confess to it, but sometimes, the band is upfront about their inspiration. For instance, when talking about the track ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Robert Plant was upfront about taking the lyrics from the Small Faces song, ‘You Need Love’, which was a Muddy Waters cover.
“Page’s riff was Page’s riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought, ‘Well, what am I going to sing?’” Plant said, talking about the track, “That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for. At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do. It was decided that it was so far away in time and influence that… well, you only get caught when you’re successful. That’s the game.”
Upfront or not, the thesis of stealing music has been something that’s plagued Led Zeppelin’s success throughout their entire career. Their toned-down version of the blues has borrowed from a number of artists in its conception; some would argue a bit too much.