For decades, Holmes declined to sue for authorship as he put it, “I said, ‘What the hell, let him have it.'” In 2010, however, Holmes finally filed suit the case was settled out of court and the 2012 Zeppelin live album Celebration Day credits the song as written by “Page inspired by Jake Holmes.” Page apparently heard the song when Holmes opened for the Yardbirds at a Greenwich Village gig. Page has claimed to be unaware of Holmes’ song, but the title and much of the music are unmistakably the same (Page rewrote most of the lyrics). Page also did this song with the Yardbirds, but the origin is actually singer-songwriter Jake Holmes, who included it on his 1967 album “The Above Ground Sound” of Jake Holmes. Bredon was apparently unaware that Led Zeppelin had covered her song: When she found out in the Eighties, she agreed to split the royalties with the band, and is now listed as co-author. (Page has said that he learned the song “in the days of sitting in the darkness, playing my six-string behind Marianne Faithfull.”) Led Zeppelin credited the song as traditional (and gave arrangement credit to Page) in fairness to them, Baez’s album also mistakenly listed the song as traditional.

It was written by American folk singer Anne Bredon in the 1950s: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, however, were fans of Joan Baez and knew the track from her 1962 album Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1. This song, more than any other track on Led Zeppelin’s debut album, established their epic sweep. He put the blame on Plant: “Robert was supposed to change the lyrics, and he didn’t always do that, which is what brought on most of the grief.”ĭecide for yourself who’s to blame: here are 10 cases when the band, at least initially, didn’t give other songwriters their due. “As far as my end of it goes, I always tried to bring something fresh to anything that I used,” he claimed. Led Zeppelin took “some liberties, I must say,” Page admitted. There are exceptions: Willie Dixon was appropriately credited as the author of “You Shook Me” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby” on the band’s debut album when they covered Memphis Minnie’s 1929 track “When the Levee Breaks” on their fourth album, the members of Led Zeppelin granted themselves songwriting credits, but at least they also included Memphis Minnie.

Zeplin lyrics