The highly publicized battle over "Stairway to Heaven," which goes to trial on June 14th, has the potential to open the floodgates for copyright litigation. The originality of the song's first verse – the haunting arpeggiated chord progression hailed by music historians and classic rock-fans alike – is the crux of the suit. Seventies-era L.A. rock band Spirit brought a suit against Zeppelin, alleging that "Stairway" infringed upon its song "Taurus." While Spirit may be lesser-known, the plaintiff has so far proven that after they toured with Zeppelin in 1969, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant would reasonably have heard "Taurus" before recording "Stairway" in 1970. And the two works are – as copyright experts say – "substantially similar."
In April,
Rachel M. Harper’s The Myth of Music intentionally weaves together 1960s era jazz music and a poor African American family via metaphor and allusion to show a deep familiar bond between father and daughter.
Included because this is Eddie as any musical artist and fan could tell you within the first 4 seconds of hearing his distinctive sound. Influential! I task anyone that is a rock fan to give a listen and not be able to say within 4 seconds of play that this is none other than Eddie Van Halen.
In Beaty’s poem, “Knock Knock,” he takes on the role of a child whose father had been around every day of his young life, until one day, his father had simply vanished. The little boy’s mother had taken him to visit his father, but the boy did not understand prison, or why he could not joyously jump into his father’s arms the way he had wanted. Beaty continues, now a young man, explaining how he had dreamt up a father to say the words that his never had. The youthful male uses his writing abilities to answer the questions he held for his father. Likewise, he uses words to encouragingly allow himself to see the differences between himself and the man he once shared a game with. However, more questions begin to surface when Beaty confronts the literal knocking down of obstacles as he focuses on sharing the words he yearned to hear growing up. Overall all, though, you learn not to let a simple concept as losing a significant person in your life detain you from reaching your dreams.
Somewhere between rock and roll and the psychedelic seventies is a time of protests, riots and war. From this turbulent time in history, Stephen Stills penned a rhythmic tune which would become an anthem for protests, “For What It’s Worth.” As a member of the group known as Buffalo Springfield, Stills was a talented musician and song writer. The song was written during a time of civil rights protests and the Viet Nam war. Contrary to popular thought, the song was not written to protest the Viet Nam war or the deaths on the Kent State campus, however it was written and recorded to shed light on the Sunset Strip riots in Los Angeles. When Pandora’s Box, a club on the strip for teens, was closed in November 1966, the protests started and lasted
The article “Rap Lyrics on Trial” written by Erik Nielson and Charis E. Kubrin was about Vonte Skinner, a man who was convicted for attempted murder for 30 years based on the evidence of rap lyrics written before the crime. The court case didn’t have sufficient evidence to convict Skinner because the witness changed their stories many times to be considered consistent, but the jury felt convinced Skinner was guilty when they heard Skinner’s lyrics: “In the hood, I am a threat / It’s written on my arm and signed in blood on my Tech” and “I’m in love with you, death”. Neilson and Kubrin argued whether rap lyrics should be presented as a piece of evidence after Skinner’s conviction is overturned. They claimed that when rap lyrics are
John Legend’s vocals add a more upbeat melody, which is a noticeable change from Donny Hathaway’s recordings. Both versions of the song keep the instruments to go along with their own soulful voices to add a jazz element to the song. Regarding his choice on material for the album Legend said, “because the late-Sixties/early-Seventies was such a fertile time for music about fighting for rights and fighting for justice, the songs from that era did fit in perfectly with what we were trying to get across message-wise” (1). He also stated part of his mission with the creation of this album was to rediscover overlooked songs from famous albums or artists.
April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy. First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, and then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire. Next stop we hit it was the music shop, it only took one brick to make that window drop. Finally we got our own p.a. where do you think I got this guitar that you're hearing today?
Religion has been an important part of man’s life. Man has allowed religion to control and influence his life in many different ways, affecting both his behavior and his actions. So its not surprising that music, one of man’s earliest expressive forms, has also been influenced by religion. Religion has had an effect on man’s music all throughout history, from the early Egyptians to even now. So it is only natural that Western music should also have been affected by religion. Western music, and its development by composers, has been strongly influenced by the Christian religion, especially in the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. The music in these periods laid the foundation for all the different types of music we enjoy today.
Although there is no binding authority regarding voice under SEC 51, there are several cases that discuss the right to protect voice as a right to publicity. MIDLER V. FORD MOCO is one of the earliest cases dealing with sound-alikes. Bette Midler, a nationally known singer and actress, was approached by Ford Motor Company in hopes that she would agree to sing her song “Do You Want to Dance” from her 1973 album “The Divine Miss M” in a commercial that was presented by Young & Rubicam, Ford’s advertising agency, as one of many commercials in what they called the “Yuppie Campaign” advertising for Ford’s new Lincoln Mercury. The idea of the campaign was to attract yuppies by playing different popular songs from the 1970’s in each commercial. Young and Rubicam wanted to acquire the original singers to sing the songs they had
He also claimed that there are similarities between ‘Taurus’ and the iconic notes, melody, chord progression, structure, tempo, instrumentation, and feel of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Further the plaintiff said that the question of substantial similarity will be decided by the jury.
Having never analyzed the music of the Doors before, I am extremely glad that I did. There is a wealth of information that lies through Jim Morrison’s poetry that most people seem to miss. The music contained in this album is nothing short of fantastic, and combined with the genius of Jim Morrison’s poetry, allows the listener to take a voyage through the Doors of Perception, and into another reality.
Is the cover a good thing or a bad thing? Are there any cover songs that you have heard and have grown to like more than the original? Perhaps there are songs that you have heard and have later come to the realization that it is indeed a cover song. This is the case for me. However, my feelings on cover songs vary depending on the particular instance. I think the cover is a good thing now days. There are many new songs that I have heard and have later realized that it is a cover song. I probably would have never heard the original song if it wasn’t covered. On the other hand, in the 50s when rock and roll was building a foundation for itself, I believe that cover songs were a bad thing.
The Jayhawks, “Waiting for the Sun” vs Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”. I was in shock when I heard this one. I love Tom Petty and was surprised to hear how similar these two are. “Waiting for the Sun” is a great song that I have never heard before and I immediately heard the similarity to Tom Petty.
Shaft - Original Writing I walked up the sandy footpath through the dunes, scuffing the dry. ground with my toes. The sun blazed down making the bronzed ground shimmer like a pool of gold. The salty tang from the sea lingered on my tongue. The dry grasses and scrub growing in clumps alongside the path rustled softly in a gentle breeze, whispering in secret tongue.
person is in, there is a psalm to match it. For example, Psalm 19 is