The band Robert Plant accused of copying Led Zeppelin: “Repetition is a hell of an evil bedfellow”

Regarding plagiarism accusations, Led Zeppelin is typically on the receiving end of allegations rather than dishing them out. During their career, they found themselves in hot water on numerous occasions after they liberally interpreted work by other artists and paid the price financially for their sins.

‘Whole Lotta Love’ is the most famous example of Led Zeppelin wearing their influences too firmly on their sleeve, with Robert Plant borrowing lyrics from ‘You Need Love’, written by Willie Dixon. The case was settled out of court in 1985, and Plant later held his hands up, admitting, “Page’s riff was Page’s riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought, ‘Well, what am I going to sing?’ That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for”.

Astonishingly, this isn’t the only court case that Led Zeppelin found themselves embroiled in with Dixon. On ‘Bring It On Home’, they paid a loving tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson’s recording of Dixon’s track of the same name, which led to him receiving a lucrative payday and earning a percentage of future earnings after it went to the courts.

Because of his unique history in this field, Plant hasn’t taken any other acts to court, but that’s not stopped him from speaking his mind when he believes Led Zeppelin influenced another act, such as Pearl Jam. While the two acts have substantial sonic differences, Led Zeppelin have majorly shaped the Seattle band. Speaking to Bass Player in 2020, the group’s Jeff Ament revealed guitarist Stone Gossard’s undying love for Zeppelin, noting, “Stone was always writing from kind of a Zeppelin angle, so seeing if the fretless could work in that realm was exciting.”

Due to their respective positions at the top of the rock world, Plant and Pearl Jam have crossed paths along the way. On one occasion, Plant had the opportunity to sit down with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and used it as a chance to highlight the similarities between ‘Given To Fly’ and his band’s creation, ‘Going To California‘. With their song, Pearl Jam wasn’t deceitful or inconspicuous about the influence of Led Zeppelin and, instead, opted for a hide-in-plain-sight strategy.

The duo were speaking on Sirius XM when Plant was quizzed about the importance of originality. He viewed it as the perfect opportunity for a sly dig at McCready and replied: “Absolutely crucial. Being an entertainer, outside of skill, craft, experience and whatever else it is you grow into, repetition is a hell of an evil bedfellow. To repeat yourself as regularly as we do as entertainers — you know this. I mean, how many times have you played ‘Going to California’? Oh sorry. Whatever your song is called.”

Thankfully, McCready didn’t take offence to the comment and laughed it off, adding: “When you came to see us in Sweden, we did the song. He (Eddie Vedder) said, he dedicated it to you I think, and acknowledged you, and said ‘Given to California.”

Plant kept the jovial tone alive by asking about the location of his royalty payment. He added: “It’s a good job he had some dancing girls backstage afterwards to take the heat out of the moment. We’re all mature. So we all know that’s okay. I didn’t get a check in the post, nothing like that.”

Although Vedder thought independently from a lyrical standpoint, ‘Given to Fly’ does borrow its structure from ‘Going to California’. Importantly, the homage comes from a place of love rather than an attempt at plagiarism. Nevertheless, if Plant wanted to make a legal case, he could potentially be due compensation, but thankfully, he recognised it as a tribute. If Pearl Jam had run out of creative ideas and chosen to steal from another act, they would have opted for an obscure, unknown song rather than one of the most beloved tracks by a rock juggernaut. Instead, ‘Given to Fly’ is a poignant way of honouring their heroes.