The Strange Tale of “Dazed and Confused”

in Music | July 2nd, 2010 8 Comments

The wheels of justice turn slowly…

Jimmy Page performed “Dazed and Confused” with The Yardbirds back in 1968, then immortalized the song with his next band, Led Zeppelin, while also giving himself full writing credit. For almost 42 years, this hasn’t sat particularly well with Jake Holmes, an American folk singer, who first wrote and recorded “Dazed and Confused” in 1967. Now he has filed suit (see PDF of complaint here) and wants Page to make amends. Some money and half a writing credit. You can watch the vintage Led Zeppelin version above and listen to Holmes’ original version below. The Led Zep version was certainly changed in ways, but the similarities are assuredly there…


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  1. mb says . . . | July 2, 2010 / 8:21 am

    Page should make amends with Holmes. Two great version of a great song. Credit is due to Holmes.

  2. bill foster (cdr) quaalude) says . . . | July 4, 2010 / 9:09 am

    Everyone “borrows” things

  3. Nicholas malkentzos says . . . | July 7, 2010 / 3:51 pm

    But why not give dredit where credit is due? How much money and ego is enough?

  4. Wes Alwan says . . . | July 7, 2010 / 5:02 pm

    Another version — Jimmy Page with The Yardbirds

  5. Wes Alwan says . . . | July 7, 2010 / 5:03 pm

    Missed the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58mQvW0ROag

  6. Drew says . . . | October 1, 2011 / 7:10 pm

    A lot of people dont realize how many led zeppelin songs actually have lyrics and musical parts that were recorded previously by someone different.

  7. doktor says . . . | February 28, 2012 / 2:42 am

    @Drew – exactly; for much of their existence LZ was a very good blues cover band – nothing wrong with that… they’ve cited influences before; time to do that now.

  8. Paul says . . . | August 31, 2012 / 2:22 pm

    one’s like gold, the other tin. Yeah, they’re both metal, but how can you be serious? The zep song all the way

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