Jimmy Page Takes Stand Over 'Stairway To Heaven' In Copyright Trial
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page took the stand Wednesday in a copyright infringement trial, saying he had never heard the song his band is accused of ripping off until a few years ago.
A lawyer for the estate of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe alleged the famous descending-chord guitar intro on the 1971 Zeppelin ballad "Stairway to Heaven" was lifted from the instrumental song "Taurus," which was released a few years earlier.
"Something like that would stick in my mind. It was totally alien to me," Page testified.
Musical experts not involved in the case have said the sequence is common and has appeared in other pieces from decades and even centuries ago.
Page testified he first learned from his son-in-law a few years ago about the comparison between the two songs on the internet.
In a recent BBC documentary, Page spoke of what he was thinking about when he and Plant wrote "Stairway to Heaven."
"I wanted to try to put something together, which started with quite a fragile exposed acoustic guitar," Page said.
Jurors must decide whether the two sequences are substantially similar. Here are the disputed portions of the two songs back to back:
Earlier in the day, former Spirit bass player Mark Andes testified that riffs from both songs, played by an acoustic guitarist on a video aired in court, were the same.
Andes said Spirit played "Taurus" in 1968 at a Denver show where Zeppelin was the opening act. He also added that in 1970, he and Zeppelin singer Robert Plant drank beer and played the billiards-like game snooker after a Spirit show in Birmingham, England.
"Yeah, we hung out. We had a blast," said Andes, who also testified that the two bands shared the same stage five times, and that Page and Plant came to see Spirit at a small venue in Britain.
But Page testified that he did not remember performing with Spirit or ever spending time with members of the band.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled in April that evidence presented in hearings made a credible case that Led Zeppelin may have heard "Taurus" performed before their song was created.
Plant and band mate John Paul Jones are also expected to take the stand.
Led Zeppelin has settled several similar copyright disputes over songs such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "Dazed and Confused."
But the judge has barred a lawyer for the late Spirit guitarist from introducing evidence from those cases.
Some reports estimate "Stairway to Heaven" has generated more than $500 million.
The reason the trial is taking place now is because "Stairway to Heaven" was remastered and re-released in 2014. A change in copyright law allows for such complaints to be filed.