Stairway to a Lawsuit

In what might be rock music’s most litigated issue, lawyers for an L.A. area rock band have been given another bite of the apple against Led Zeppelin’s iconic “Stairway To Heaven,” which the British rock blues band is accused of lifting from the lesser-known instrumental, “Taurus” by Spirit.

On Sept. 28, a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled unanimously that a lower court judge provided erroneous jury instructions about copyright law central to the suit. It sent the case back to the court for another trial.

The dispute over the timeless “Stairway” stemmed from a passage 45 seconds into “Taurus” from Spirit’s 1968 debut album.

Amazingly enough, the jury was not allowed to hear both compositions side-by-side, relying instead on sheet music. The appeals court said the jury should have been permitted to hear the album recording of “Taurus.”

“Taurus” was written by Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, who was much better known in rock circles as Randy California. Born in 1951, his uncle, well-known Long Beach blues guitarist Bernie Pearl recalled, “Randy was in my sister’s house, close to Culver City, near Robertson, all the years he was growing up.”

Pearl’s sister, Bernice, about 11 years his senior, “had a very musical house, their outlook was about music.” She was involved in the Ash Grove, a legendary L.A. blues and folk music club begun by their brother Ed Pearl in the summer of 1958. Prior to the founding of the Ash Grove, “she would host some of the first hootenannies in L.A. Ed was member of UCLA folksong club, people would come over and sing parts of various songs. In the 1950s, there were not that many folk singers. There were musical instruments around the house and Bernice got Randy a Martin guitar.

“They moved to New York City in the early 60s. I went back East with Long Gone Miles to see if we could break into the Newport Blues Festival and went to New York to visit my sister. In summer of 1966, Randy was in Jimi Hendrix’s band. He had met him in a music store. He was 15 years old and was invited him to play with them. When I saw him in the Village, he had his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. At the Café Wha, he did some blues. They had a unique sound, he was astounding,” said Pearl.

After nicknaming him Randy California, Hendrix wanted to take him to England. “My sister was living with Ed Cassidy,” later the drummer of Spirit. “He was playing at this jazz club. Ed and Randy had been in the Red Roosters at the Ash Grove. Cassidy was much older and knew about the music business. They moved to Topanga, I was at the house all the time. I went to one of their concerts. They were also in Ojai.”

“California was Randy’s nickname until he legally changed his name to Randy California,” said Pearl. “My mother attended the court’s legalization with my sister.”

After Spirit hit with “I Got A Line On You,” they released an album in 1968, which included “Taurus.” Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven,” with Jimmy Page on guitar, was released three years later.

“My sister told me Randy confronted Jimmy Page about it, Page blew him off, obfuscation, a non response. Randy was not interested in suing, Bernice was very high on it. Randy just wanted Page to admit, say ‘I’m sorry,’ whatever.” In 1997, after moving to Hawaii, Randy drowned while trying to rescue his son from an ocean riptide. The executor of the estate, Mick Skidmore, who was in support of Randy’s career, pressed the lawsuit in behalf of the estate.

“I can personally verify that Randy’s riff was copied in every detail by Zep – same key, same chords, same arpeggios, same tempo,” Pearl wrote to the Times of Israel. “I am a life-long blues guitarist who has paid as little attention as possible to rock music. I had heard neither version, believe it or not, and only when I heard news of the original suit – from a reporter who called – did I listen with guitar in hand to both recordings as originally issue. I found that my hands copied exactly the same notes both times.”

This isn’t the first time attorneys got involved in well-known Led Zeppelin songs. In 1985, the band settled out of court in favor of Chicago’s most formidable blues songwriter, Willie Dixon for an undisclosed amount over his Muddy Waters composition, “You Need Love” which Zep recorded as “Whole Lotta Love,” forgetting to credit Dixon.

Asked about this settlement at the 1988 Long Beach Blues Festival, Dixon said, “Well it wasn’t very much, but we finally got it straight where I could get results from my own songs. And that’s very appreciated.”

“My sister Bernice told me after his death, that the money would go to music in Ventura County schools,” said Pearl.

steve@beachcomber.news