Jury to decide whether ‘Stairway to Heaven’ riff is lifted

The dispute concerns a claim filed by Michael Skidmore on behalf of the late Randy Craig, the founder of Spirit.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner expects proceedings to last “four or five days”.

“Wolfe drowned in 1997, saving his son in Hawaii”, reported USA Today.

Skidmore said Page may have been inspired to write “Stairway” for Led Zeppelin after hearing Spirit perform “Taurus” while the bands toured together in 1968 and 1969, but that Wolfe never got credit. The Fox News report says that “Stairway to Heaven” “has generated hundreds of millions over the years”.

“I’d be surprised if the musicologist for Led Zeppelin won’t have a dozen of examples of this descending bass line that precedes that of the plaintiff’s composition”, Iser said.

“‘Taurus’ was a special moment” during Spirit shows, former member Jay Ferguson said on the stand. He described it as a “pallet cleanser” between the band’s more rocking songs.

Page, 72, the guitarist who wrote Stairway to Heaven, and Plant, 67, the singer, did not speak to reporters as they arrived on an overcast morning at the Edward Roybal federal building in downtown LA.

He said in his opening statement that the descending chromatic scale Led Zeppelin are accused of having stolen from Wolfe’s composition was not unique.

In the liner notes to a 1996 reissue of Spirit’s first album, Wolfe stated that “people always ask me why “Stairway to Heaven” sounds exactly like ‘Taurus, ‘ which was released two years earlier”.

Plant, Page, Skidmore, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Spirit bassist Mark Andes and music producer Lou Adler are all expected to testify.

He added that Taurus was important to Wolfe because the song was written for his girlfriend Robin.

Led Zeppelin and Spirit performed at some concerts and festivals around the same time, but not on the same stage.

Members of Led Zeppelin have appeared in court to face claims that they copied the famous opening guitar riff on their “iconic” song Stairway To Heaven.

Larry Iser, a lawyer and copyright specialist who is not involved in the case, said the defense should put Plant and Page on the stand. “The jury needs to hear them tell the story of their independent creation of Stairway to Heaven and in particular their lack of reliance on Taurus”.

Anderson then played a recording of a piano interpretation of “Taurus” that had only a vague similarity. “Do re mi appears in both songs”, he said.

During his 30-minute opening statement in front of a packed courtroom, Malofiy said the jury can look at the lawsuit “almost like a taste test. Do these things taste the same?”

Klausner has ruled that any testimony relating to Led Zeppelin’s reputation as “serial plagiarists” will be banned.

The court heard from California’s younger sister, horse trainer and musician Janet Wolfe, who described her brother as a “prodigy”. She told the jury “it was something that upset him for many, many years”.