Author Topic: Open Thread (Read 427 times)

tomhug · « **on:** November 30, 2014, 06:05:28 AM »

Argh - Somehow my browser picked up the last new thread title I used.

This post was supposed to be about something else entirely.

Admins, can you please delete this post?

Sorry, everyone.

(Message edited by tomhug on November 30, 2014)

David Houck · « **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2014, 12:08:29 PM »

Rather than delete the thread, I thought I would just rename it and see if it might be useful as an open thread.

And since there's an open thread here, I thought I would mention that I ran across something this morning that I somehow never knew about; the resemblance between the opening progression of Stairway To Heaven and a similar progression in Spirit's Taurus. Back when I was much younger I would have listened to that Spirit album, what I don't recall that particular song or the similarity between it and Led Zeppelin's song. Here is Taurus; it's a pretty nice tune.

rraymond · « **Reply #2 on:** November 30, 2014, 01:03:17 PM »

Spirit! I hadn't thought of those guys in - decades. I used to love the Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus album. I wore out the Nature's Way and Mr. Skin tracks.

Taurus is a great tune, BTW. Maybe it and Stairway To Heaven could be mixed together for Taurus To Heaven and the remaining band members could tour together with sponsorship from Ford. Or, maybe not...

lbpesq · « **Reply #3 on:** November 30, 2014, 01:10:54 PM »

I believe there is current litigation with the owners of Taurus suing the owners of STH.

Bill, tgo

David Houck · « **Reply #4 on:** November 30, 2014, 01:44:44 PM »

I remember that when I first heard Twelve Dreams I thought it was amazing; and some band I was in at some point, I think in '73, did Nature's Way.

lbpesq · « **Reply #5 on:** November 30, 2014, 02:25:33 PM »

Songs that can be mixed together...

I played with some guys where we combined the Doors' Roadhouse Blues with the marching song of the army of the Wicked Witch of the West: oh wee yo. woooooooooh hoh

Bill, tgo

sonicus · « **Reply #6 on:** November 30, 2014, 02:46:57 PM »

Bill , The Army song;___ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvrhEw-NZNc

The Flying Monkeys made me run and hide behind the couch when I was 3 !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SESI19h4wDo

flpete1uw · « **Reply #7 on:** November 30, 2014, 03:45:13 PM »

Oh we loath the Old One
Bit of trivia.

JimmyJ · « **Reply #8 on:** November 30, 2014, 04:59:15 PM »

Spirit was one of the odd bands my brother and I were into back in the day. Part of the curiosity was old guy Ed Cassidy on drums. Ha! I'm sure he wasn't nearly as old then as I am now!!

I view this litigation with some discomfort. One of the main coincidences of the situation is that (apparently) Spirit toured as an opening act for Zep before Stairway To Heaven BUT, Randy California never tried to file any claim against Jimmy Page as far as I know. Only now, after Randy's untimely death does his estate seem to be going after the dough. I may not have all the facts straight in this case but it makes me feel kinda queasy.

Jimmy J

jon_jackson · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2014, 05:41:20 AM »

As I understand it, Mark Andes originally pushed the lawsuit on behalf of California's family. While it may be hard to grasp now, Zep was the opening act on their early US tour while Spirit was the headliner, playing Taurus in their set. Some reports have Zep covering Spirit's song Fresh Garbage at the time. Randy California was quoted post-STH as being upset with not receiving any credit for the music. I believe Zep also had a few other issues with credits on their early music, whether deliberate or accidental, which have subsequently been revised and re-credited.
Jon

JimmyJ · « **Reply #10 on:** December 01, 2014, 11:37:08 AM »

Thanks for that Jon, that's really interesting. Didn't realize Spirit was the headliner, love it! I hope everybody does the right thing and this litigation works out somehow.

You know, ownership of a song, or melody, or chord sequence is a really tricky thing. How many people are holding copyrights on the blues? Lyrics yes, but within popular music's general musical framework it would be hard to come up with a completely new melody or chord progression. Didn't somebody recently do a mashup of like 12 current pop tunes with the same 4 chords?

When James Taylor plays his song Something In The Way She Moves he describes it as the tune he used to audition for Apple Records in '68. He says; I played it in a small room in London for Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Paul liked it so much he signed me to the label and George liked it so much he went home and wrote it himself. Then after a laugh he says It's all good, I stole everything I possibly could from the Beetles.

Jimmy J

edwardofhuncote · « **Reply #11 on:** December 01, 2014, 01:24:35 PM »

As an aside to this conversation (like the open thread, btw) one of the things my neo-oldtyme ensemble does is research the melodies of traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes in search of the source songs. It's often tricky, because these melodies weren't necessarily written down longhand, and certainly not recorded until the last century. Well before publishing and copywriting were established, fiddlers/musicians just passed these tunes down to each other, often multi-generationally.

Even today here in Virginia, oldtyme music is VERY territorial... often when playing in unfamiliar company, we have to determine which region a particular tune came from so you know what/where the changes are. Seriously, it's commonplace to hear - Are you doing the Carroll County version or the Southern West Virginia version?

The jokes about it all sounds the same... yeah. It does if you don't know any better. =)

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2014, 08:05:04 PM »

...within popular music's general musical framework it would be hard to come up with a completely new melody or chord progression. Didn't somebody recently do a mashup of like 12 current pop tunes with the same 4 chords?

How about this one?

Peter

tomhug · « **Reply #13 on:** December 01, 2014, 08:36:42 PM »

I am honored that my cantankerous browser and Dave Houck's ingenuity created this thread (I love randomness).

Speaking of mashups, my band used to do
40 Lashes / Jesus Christ Superstar / Sympathy for the Devil. We were a Marquette University band, and we thought we were so subversive. It sure was a crowd pleaser, though.

bigredbass · « **Reply #14 on:** December 01, 2014, 09:43:12 PM »

I think what will be interesting is as thousands of tunes age, with all manner of ownership, presumably some percentage of songs we've all played and know backwards will become Public Domain. . . as if in this day of digital file sharing anyone really 'owns' them as before in the analog age.

Joey