[Music] George Harrison vs the Chiffons

[Icy Gull]

I have never quite got how My Sweet Lord and He’s So Fine could be taken as virtually the same song. Harrison was done for copyright infringement and lost the law suit.

This morning I stumbled across this and it does in fact sound like a complete rip off

Have a listen to the merge on this link

Can you think of any other pair of songs that sound so alike that one could be considered a rip off?


http://performingsongwriter.com/george-harrison-my-sweet-lord/

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Considering the grief he got for this, it's surprising he never went after the Jam for Start!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

This caused a kerfuffle at the time. The opening riff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycnWuHsly0A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWF9MMxnekQ

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

Led Zep's "Stairway to heaven" is a rip off of Spirit's "Taurus", and "Whole lotta love" is suspiciously similar to Muddy Waters' "you need love".

 

[happypig]

Dire Straits' Romeo & Juliet opening riff compared to Springsteen's Jungleland.
[yt]rC95MEenIxA[/yt]
[yt]JR_0nbEzVdY[/yt]

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Didn't Chuck Berry and the Beachboys have words?

 

[darkwolf666]

Not identical, but enough similarities to keep the various lawyers busy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWtP_1lyghM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDgHBxUbVQ

 

[Fungus]

Dire Straits' Romeo & Juliet opening riff compared to Springsteen's Jungleland.
[yt]rC95MEenIxA[/yt]
[yt]JR_0nbEzVdY[/yt]

Interesting. I'm a Bruce nut, and that's probably my favourite Dire Straits' track, but I'd never considered that before. I can see what you mean, but don't think I'd ever have thought of it myself.

 

[studio150]

Start and Taxman

 

[Acker79]

https://youtu.be/1AJmKkU5POA

https://youtu.be/qi7Yh16dA0w

 

[lawros left foot]

I read an article in the late 70s that put forward the hypothesis that music would have run out of new tunes by 2020.
It stated, that such was the vast amount of tunes being produced that every combination of notes would have been exhausted.
I think it probably meant that you would have to change a significant amount of notes in a tune to make it a different tune, not just one or two, as obviously, the amount of tunes just changing one note, for example, would be infinitesimal.

 

[GT49er]

It's inevitable that there will be similarities, especially at the simpler, more straightforward end of the scale. If you write a song using the chords C, F and G, it might be a great song, but the chances are it'll sound fairly similar to a lot of songs using C, F and G! Thus two very simple songs (He's so Fine and My Sweet Lord) did sound a bit similar. But plagiarism though? Bearing in mind that George was writing the song from the mindset of a Buddhist chant or mantra, which he was heavily into at the tine, it is highly unlikely that the Chiffons' song even touched the edges of his consciousness.

Bit tough on George - 1). pick three chords (we've all done that!), 2). pick a short three word title, 3). use the three word title, repeated, as a chorus and 4). add backing harmonies, completely obvious ones pretty much automatically generated by the three chords .......... and hey presto, you've written My Sweet Lord ............. or maybe you've written He's so Fine!

 

[Pevenseagull]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r261LPQ-gO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p__WmyAE3g

 

[darkwolf666]

It's inevitable that there will be similarities, especially at the simpler, more straightforward end of the scale. If you write a song using the chords C, F and G, it might be a great song, but the chances are it'll sound fairly similar to a lot of songs using C, F and G! Thus two very simple songs (He's so Fine and My Sweet Lord) did sound a bit similar. But plagiarism though? Bearing in mind that George was writing the song from the mindset of a Buddhist chant or mantra, which he was heavily into at the tine, it is highly unlikely that the Chiffons' song even touched the edges of his consciousness.

Bit tough on George - 1). pick three chords (we've all done that!), 2). pick a short three word title, 3). use the three word title, repeated, as a chorus and 4). add backing harmonies, completely obvious ones pretty much automatically generated by the three chords .......... and hey presto, you've written My Sweet Lord ............. or maybe you've written He's so Fine!

Clearly the powers that be didn’t agree with your summing up as to how it is so easy to “accidentally” write a near identical (in parts) song!

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

Livin’ Thing - ELO and When My Little Girl Is Smiling - Drifters

 

[GT49er]

Clearly the powers that be didn’t agree with your summing up as to how it is so easy to “accidentally” write a near identical (in parts) song!

I think you'll find it was an American judge, or panel of judges, or even a US jury rather than the 'powers that be'. Wonder how they came to their conclusion in favour of the American act? Just asking ...............

 

[darkwolf666]

I think you'll find it was an American judge, or panel of judges, or even a US jury rather than the 'powers that be'. Wonder how they came to their conclusion in favour of the American act? Just asking ...............

I guess the same way that any “judge” comes to a decision in any case, legal or civil...

 

[Marxo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEKg9qyEQmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfAWReBmxEs

 

[aolstudios]

Led Zep's "Stairway to heaven" is a rip off of Spirit's "Taurus", and "Whole lotta love" is suspiciously similar to Muddy Waters' "you need love".

Half of LZ's catalogue was nicking. They were blatant & cynical about it