Jimmy Page is facing a second lawsuit in America over the song “Dazed And Confused” … and it’s caused by the recent Becoming Led Zeppelin documentary film.
The writer of the song, New York folk singer songwriter Jake Holmes, settled a separate suit over the Led Zeppelin track in 2011, because it had been credited to Jimmy Page. Under those terms, Page had to change the Zeppelin credit to “Written by Jimmy Page, Inspired by Jake Holmes.”
Cooled Down
Everything cooled down for 14 years. But in Becoming Led Zeppelin, the song was seen performed by Page’s pre-Zep band, The Yardbirds, and Page got sole writer’s credit.
He dialled his lawyer’s telephone number and cease-and-desist letters were duly sent off. They went to Page, Sony Pictures Classics which distributed the film, WC Music Corp. (a division of Warner Chappell Music) and Page’s publishing company Succubus Music Limited.
When they apparently ignored him, he sued.
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Holmes’ new lawsuit additionally states that several Yardbirds live albums have been released over the past three years which included “Dazed and Confused” and he hasn’t received a cent in royalties.
Holmes wrote the number in early 1967. It’s often thought to be about someone having a nervous breakdown or indulging in illegal chemicals.
Undecided
But he told Shindig! in 2001: “The song’s about a girl who hasn’t decided whether she wants to stay with me or not. It’s pretty much one of those love songs.”
He played it with a folk trio and recorded it over two days live because they had little money.
It was released that June on his album The Above Ground Sound through Tower Records.
New York
When The Yardbirds played at New York’s Village Theater on August 25 and 26, Holmes’ trio opened the nights, with folk-rock band The Youngbloods on the mid-tier.
“Dazed and Confused” was the Holmes’ epic closer, which went down a storm with the crowd.
Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty loved its atmosphere and next morning bought a copy of the album.
Version
They arranged their own version, turning it into a nine minute electric rock display in their live set. It began with Page’s bowed Telecaster phrasings, and building up the atmosphere even more electric than Holmes’ original with hard drumming. Singer Keith Relf added some lyrics, and he and Page did a vocal/guitar call and response routine.
Sessions
The Yardbirds never recorded a version but it was on a number of live sessions. On August 12, 1968 when Led Zeppelin did their first rehearsal in a room on Gerrard Street, in London, Jimmy Page played them the riff and said, “This is a number I want us to do.”
Robert Plan wrote a fresh set of lyrics. Due to a contract with Chrysalis, he did not get a credit.
Olympic
The Zeppelin version was recorded in October in two takes at Olympic Studios and was included on LZ 1 (January 13,1969).
The album went on to sell 15.8 million copies around the world by 2024.
Three days later, Page registered the copyright for “Dazed and Confused” in the US under his name.
Credit
Holmes was aware of the Zep version and the Page sole credit. He also realised Page had taken it into a direction that he wouldn’t have.
But he didn’t do anything about it until the early 1980s when he contacted Page.
Collaborative
Holmes recounted to Shindig! that parts of the letter he wrote went, “I understand it’s a collaborative effort, but I think you should give me some credit at least and some remunity. But they never contacted me.”
Follow Up
A follow up, Holmes claimed, was more blunt.
“Jesus, man, you don’t have to give it all to me. Keep half! Keep two-thirds! Just give me credit for having originated it,’” he claimed.
Two live Yardbirds albums in the 2000s credited the song to Holmes, adding Arranged: Yardbirds.
Wilfully
In August 2010, Holmes sued Page, the band and their record company Atlantic for “knowingly and wilfully” passing the song off as his own.
An out of court settlement on September 6, 2011 gave Holmes total ownership.
A year later, on the Celebration set, the song was credited to “Jimmy Page; inspired by Jake Holmes”.
Calm
Everything was calm until this year when Holmes was not acknowledged in the Yardbirds performance in Becoming Led Zeppelin.
As of April 27, 2025, it has grossed $13 million worldwide, including $10.4 million in the US.
The film includes digitised audio from a rare interview that John Bonham did with Graeme Berry of Sydney radio station 2SM.
OTHER SONGS
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
How similar is the opening of “Stairway To Heaven” to the intro of “Taurus” by US psych-rockers Spirit?
In May 2014, bassist Mark Andes and the estate of guitarist Randy California, who died in 1997, claimed it was, and wanted a piece of all future earnings.
Page insisted he’d never heard the song, (“it was totally alien to me”) even though both bands had played together in 1970.
Chromatic
In the high profile case, the jury sided with Zeppelin, believing the musicologist who found the two pieces were not similar.
Page’s argument was that the descending chromatic structure of the contentious guitar riff were used in music 200 years ago.
One instance was the Oscar-winning “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from the 1964 film Mary Poppins and the 2004 musical.
But they also did believe Page had access to the song.
Millions
Page and Plant didn’t lose any of the millions (US$58.5 million in one estimate) they earned from songwriting royalties since its 1971 release.
In any case Spirit had only asked for future earnings.
Since the court case, “Stairway” streamed over a billion times, earning $1.42 million.
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
When Plant and Page attended Small Faces shows in the 1960s, they expressed admiration for one of their songs, “You Need Loving”.
It was credited to American bluesman Willie Dixon and based on his “You Need Love”.
“Whole Lotta Love” was an awesome souped-up jet age version, credited to Page and Plant.
Moolah
A lawsuit in 1985 saw Dixon given a substantial amount of moolah and added to writing credits.
Dixon’s lyrics were picked up by Plant:
You’ve got yearnin’ and I got burnin’
Baby you look so, ho, sweet and cunnin’
Baby way down inside, woman you need love
Woman you need love, you’ve got to have some love
I’m gon’ give you some love, I know you need love.
Nick
Plant himself admitted that it was “a nick. Now happily paid for.”
He added: “At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do.
“It was decided that it was so far away in time and influence that … well, you only get caught when you’re successful. That’s the game.”
BABE I’M GONNA LEAVE YOU
Page and Plant were fans of US folk singer Joan Baez’s In Concert album (1962), which contained “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”.
The album had no writer’s credit leading the two to think it was an old traditional folk song.
So when Zeppelin recorded it as a six minute 40 second piece of music, it was attributed to Traditional (arranged by J. Page).
Maths
But the song had been written in the late 50s by Anne Bredon when she was a Maths student at college.
She didn’t know that Led Zeppelin had done a version until the 1980s, when Baez rang her.
She said, mischievously, “Hey I stole your song but you know who else did and who has a ton more money than me? Led Zeppelin. You should sue them.”
Gracious
Bredon remained gracious and was added to the credits, and received a huge backpay. She died in November 2019.
Page’s intro is said to be inspired by folk singer Donovan’s “Hampstead Incident” from his Mellow Yellow album.
Page and John Paul Jones had been sessions players on the Donovan album.
CD versions of Baez’s album had Bredon as the writer.
YOU SHOOK ME
No row over credits this time. This well known blues song, written by Willie Dixon and guitarist J. B. Lenoir, was cut in 1962 by Chicago legend Muddy Waters with guitarist Earl Hooker.
The track was released as a 4-song record called EP a year later, and was beloved by a teenage Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.
Truth
In May 1968, The Jeff Beck Group recorded the song as part of the blues-rock Truth album.
It was a refreshing sound, with Beck’s use of wah wah and fuzz, interplay with singer Rod Stewart and a blistering solo at the end.
Interestingly sitting in on keyboards was John Paul Jones.
Six Minutes
Jones, of course, was also on Led Zeppelin’s 6 minute 30 second recording of the same song on September 27, 1968 for the first album.
It was bluesier, with similar blistering guitar effects and note-for-note response from Plant.
Beck’s Truth came out a year before LZ 1 but Beck had a car crash in 1969 put him off the road for months.
Took Off
In the meantime, the Zeppelin album took off in America – and the world – and set up a lucrative career.
Page denied that he stole Beck’s idea, insisting that it went back to having similar musical backgrounds.
Elaborated
In 1977 he elaborated: “[Beck] had the same sort of taste in music as I did.
“That’s why you’ll find on the early LPs we both did a song like “You Shook Me”.
“It was the type of thing we’d both played in bands.”
Beck
He said he only heard about the Beck version after Zep recorded theirs.
But Beck and Stewart in separate interviews recalled that around the time, Page and manager Peter Grant had accompanied the Jeff Beck Group on some cities on an American tour and would certainly have known what songs were being performed.
John Paul Jones
As for John Paul Jones’ appearing on both renditions, Page said: “When (he) did ours, he didn’t say anything about it …
“He probably didn’t know it was the same number because the two versions were so different.”
THE LEMON SONG
“The Lemon Song”, from 1969’s LZ II, was a homage to the blues, with lines like “Squeeze me, baby, until the juice runs down my leg.”
Credited to Page-Plant, the singer basically took bits and pieces from early blues songs including Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor”, Ma Rainey’s “Black Eye Blues” and Robert Johnson’s 1937 “Traveling Riverside Blues.”
It is likely that Johnson borrowed this himself, from a song recorded that year called “She Squeezed My Lemon” by Arthur McKay.
Killing
The first, second and fourth verses clearly took from “Killing Floor”.
In 1972, Chess Records’ music publishing arm ARC music sued Zeppelin.
Money was quietly paid out, and the Wolf was added to the song’s credits under his real name Chester Burnett.
“BRING IT ON HOME”
“Bring It On Home” was a Willie Dixon song recorded in 1963 by Sonny Boy Williamson II and released in 1966.
Zeps recorded it for LZ II as a homage to Williamson, lifting the intro and outro, while Page and Plant took credit for their original song in between.
After a court case, the 2014 re-release of LZ II saw the track credited only to Dixon.
… AND SOME OTHERS
Page always cited Scottish folk singer Bert Jansch and Pentangle founder as an inspiration.
“Black Mountain Side” was heavily indebted to Jansch’s version who later said Page “ripped me off, didn’t he? Or let’s just say he learned from me.”
Cottage
“Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”, written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at the remote cottage in Gwynedd, Wales (no electricity or running water) where the band gathered to get inspired for LZ III.
It borrowed heavily from Jansch’s “Waggoner’s Lad.”
Both songs in dispute are on Jansch’s album Jack Orion.
Firing Line
Others in the firing line have been John Bonham’s drum solo showcase “Moby Dick” (intro and outro from Bobby Parker’s “Watch Your Step”), “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, “How Many More Times”, “Hats Off to (Roy) Harper”, “Boogie With Stu” and “In My Time Of Dying”.
Read the full story about the fight between Jimmy Page and Jake Holmes here.
