Greetings Substack Subscribers. Long time no post, but I assure you, you are not forgotten.
The past two weeks have seen me set foot in Nashville, San Francisco, Los Angeles and back home to New York. In approximately 72 hours, I’ll be shipping off to Peru to be followed by Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. I have also recorded an album, due late 2023 or early 2024, of all original music with my instrumental trio. All the while, there have been numerous concerts, rehearsals, and more… This pretty much describes the past couple of months. So I regret that no long-form writing has been forthcoming in this time, it will happen.
One project I did manage to complete was another new episode of the podcast, “Moods & Modes.” This continues a theme started a couple years ago, on Episode 20: Borrowed Music. On that episode I discussed then current lawsuits involving the estate of Marvin Gaye vs Pharrell/Robin Thicke and Spirit (Randy California Estate) vs Led Zeppelin. Today there is another high profile case involving a Marvin Gaye song. This time, it is not Gaye’s heirs who are involved in the suit, but rather, those of his co-writer Ed Townsend. The target of the lawsuit? Ed Sheeran.
Now, as I mentioned on the episode, I think there are cases where credit-sharing is warranted. This has happened in the case of songs by Sam Smith (“Stay With Me” is partially credited to Tom Petty - rightfully so) and Olivia Rodrigo (“Good 4 u” is now sharing credit with Paramour, also justified). However, I am of the opinion that no artist should be slammed with crippling punishment in the form of damages for “borrowing” from a song. It happens ALL THE TIME!
I encourage you to take a listen to the examples in the episode. Some I’d always had a sneaking suspicion about.
For example, take “Breaking the Girl” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Yes, the tempo feels similar to “Manic Depression” (Jimi Hendrix). Yes, it’s 6/8 time (which could also be interpreted as 3/4, depending on how it is notated). Yes, Flea has a sizable tattoo of Jimi on his arm (so no surprises that he’d have Hendrix as an influence). But I wouldn’t say it’s too obvious. Yet when you hear the central interlude in the song - an instrumental section that steers towards the song’s finale - and play it back to back with “Manic Depression,” the similarities are undeniable.
Now in this case, they did a great job covering in up, through varying the main riff, differing vocal melodies, altering the duration of chords and more. Ed Sheeran on the other hand, has the exact progression, exact groove and exact vocal styling (!) of Marvin Gaye. Now, while not a Sheeran listener, and someone who likes him personally from interviews I’ve seen (not to mention his collaboration with extreme metal band Cradle of Filth), I have nothing against him. However, I can’t help but consider his example - as oppose to that of RHCP - lazy. He could have done much more to disguise his influences. Again, I don’t think he should be penalized in the form of damages, but some sort of arbitration, ie Sam Smith/Tom Petty, seems warranted.
A few of these examples may surprise you: Roger Waters borrowing from Leonard Cohen, Metallica from King Crimson, Phish and Guns’n’Roses (possibly) from Pantera, Nirvana (without question) borrowing from Yes… And many more.
Now most of these were the result of my own ears and observations. Yet some were brought to my attention from friends and some who’d heard the first “Borrowed Music” episode, which included No Doubt/Irene Cara, Scorpions/Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joni Mitchell/Debussy and more (clearly we are not limited by genre). No doubt (pun not intended), there will be a Borrowed Music Vol. 3.
What do think of these examples? Do you have any suggestions of your own? Feel free to drop them into the comments! ( I use them, you’ll get a shout in the next followup episode). Enjoy!
Alex
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Really enjoy your posts, Alex. This is a comparatively trivial example, but someone once pointed out to me that Smells Like Teen Spirit quotes DOA by Van Halen--specifically the bended note that Kurt doubles with a kind of moan, which replicates the shitckicker bend that EVH builds the DOA riff on. I can’t unhear it!
I doubt it was super-intentional, but since virtually no one in that era wasn’t influenced by Eddie, including the Grunge folks who made a point of rejecting the cock rock approach, I regard it as an authentic quotation rather than an accident.