# Stairway to Heaven: The Song Remains Pretty Similar



## bassguitarman (Nov 29, 2005)

Interesting (to me, anyway) about royalties, credits and songwriting.

Weary from touring, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page retreated in 1970 to a stone cottage in Wales, called Bron-Yr-Aur, with no power or running water. Legend has it King Arthur fought his last battle nearby. Not far off is the mountain Cader Idris where, itâ€™s said, those who spend a night at its summit are fated to die, go mad, or become poets. At Bron-Yr-Aur, by candlelight, Page constructed the bones of what may well be the most popular, and valuable, rock â€™nâ€™ roll song of all time, _Stairway to Heaven_. This included the introductory finger-picked section that launched a million guitar lessons. 
Back in England that winter, Page laid out the budding epic for the band at another house, Headley Grange, where the magic continued around a fire fueled on one occasion by a section of stairway banister. As Page plucked, singer Robert Plant seemed to channel another world as he wrote the lyrics. To Page, who has referred to the song as â€œmy baby,â€ it was Zeppelinâ€™s crowning achievement. â€œ_Stairway_ crystallized the essence of the band,â€ he told then-teenage rock writer Cameron Crowe in a March 13, 1975, _Rolling Stone_ interview. â€œIt was a milestone for us. Every musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something which will hold up for a long time, and I guess we did it with Stairway.â€
For generations of middle-class youth, the song is the 8-minute soundtrack of adolescent romanceâ€"or at least the anticipation of it. _Stairway_ is slow dancing, the last song played at high school proms, sweet-16 parties, and summer camp mixers across a broad swath of the late 20th century.

_Stairway_â€™s statureâ€"financially, culturally, and musicallyâ€"is towering. By 2008, when _Conde Nast Portfolio_ magazine published an estimate that included royalties and record sales, the song had earned at least $562 million. It was so profitable in part because Led Zeppelin refused to release the song as a single, forcing fans to shell out for the entire album, which is untitled but known as Led Zeppelin IV. In the U.S., the album has sold more copies (23 million, according to the Recording Industry Association of America) than any save Michael Jacksonâ€™s _Thriller_ and the Eaglesâ€™ _Their Greatest Hits (1971-75)_. To this day, Warner Music Group cites the song in its annual reports as an example of its publishing portfolio. 
For live audiences, _Stairway_â€™s power starts with its introductory notes. â€œCan you think of another song, any song, for which, when its first chord is played, an entire audience of 20,000 rise spontaneously to their feet, not just to cheer or clap hands, but in acknowledgment of an event that is crucial for all of them?â€ _Observer_ critic Tony Palmer wrote in a 1975 profile. Dave Lewis writes in _Led Zeppelin: The Complete Guide to Their Music_ that â€œ_Stairway_ has a pastoral opening cadence that is classical in feel and which has ensured its immortality.â€ 
But what if those opening notes werenâ€™t actually written by Jimmy Page or any member of Led Zeppelin? What if the foundation of the bandâ€™s immortality had been lifted from another song by a relatively forgotten California band? 
Youâ€™d need to rewrite the history of rock â€™nâ€™ roll.

In 1968 a Los Angeles area band called Spirit put out its first album, the self-titled _Spirit_. Among the songs was an instrumental piece, _Taurus_, written by the bandâ€™s guitarist, Randy California. (Born Randy Wolfe, California got his stage name while playing with Jimi Hendrixâ€™s band in New York in 1966. Hendrix took to calling him Randy California to distinguish him from another Randy in the band. California, only 15 at the time, chose to make it stick.) _Taurus_ runs just 2 minutes and 37 seconds. About a minute of it is a plucked guitar line that sounds a lot like the opening measures of _Stairway to Heaven_.

For Led Zeppelin, 1968 was a big year. The band recorded its first album and flew to the U.S. to promote it with a series of shows. The day after Christmas, it played its first concert in America at the Denver Auditorium Arena. Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit.
Mark Andes, Spiritâ€™s founding bassist, says he believes the members of Led Zeppelin heard _Taurus_ that day, beginning a process that would lead to its appropriation for _Stairway_. _Taurus_ was a fixture of Spiritâ€™s set at the time. â€œIt was such a pretty moment, and it would typically come after a big forceful number and always got a good response,â€ Andes says at his home in a Houston suburb, where his music room is lined with framed gold records, many from the decade he later spent with the band Heart. â€œThey would have seen it in that context.â€

_The article continues and is pretty long:_

http://www.businessweek.com/article...y-to-heaven-vs-dot-spirits-taurus-a-reckoning

Taurus-Spirit:






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## surfspeck (Jun 7, 2006)

Not really


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## lonepinecountryclub (Jul 18, 2010)

I haven't read the article, and maybe it explains, but why has it taken this guy 46 years to say something? 

On another note, being born in 1962, I grew up listening to the 70s and 80s music. I was a regular at rock concerts, Coliseum and the Summit in Houston.
I have attended quite a few rock concerts in the past four years. Van Halen, Foreigner, Journey, Night Ranger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, etc. etc.
Last year I saw two bands I have never seen before, and I would put this concert in the top five all concerts that I have attended. Heart and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience. Bonham came out first, then Heart. With 45 minutes left, both bands combined in played an amazing Led Zeppelin set. Last two songs, Kashmir and Stairway. Although it was not the real deal, it was very very impressive.


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## surfspeck (Jun 7, 2006)

Ill bet that was definitely a treat!!



lonepinecountryclub said:


> I haven't read the article, and maybe it explains, but why has it taken this guy 46 years to say something?
> 
> On another note, being born in 1962, I grew up listening to the 70s and 80s music. I was a regular at rock concerts, Coliseum and the Summit in Houston.
> I have attended quite a few rock concerts in the past four years. Van Halen, Foreigner, Journey, Night Ranger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, etc. etc.
> Last year I saw two bands I have never seen before, and I would put this concert in the top five all concerts that I have attended. Heart and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience. Bonham came out first, then Heart. With 45 minutes left, both bands combined in played an amazing Led Zeppelin set. Last two songs, Kashmir and Stairway. Although it was not the real deal, it was very very impressive.


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