Wednesday 20 November 2013

Songs which sound the same: "We used to know" and "Hotel California"

Submitted by Prog:

Ok, you asked for it… 'We used to know' (Jethro Tull 1969):


Which many argue inspired 'Hotel California' (Eagles 1976):


12 comments:

Dinero said...

Nirvana- Teen spirit

and

Boston- More than a feeling

Mark Wadsworth said...

Din, fair enough but that is a famous example, I think everybody knows about those two. I like things which most people don't know.

Dinero said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dinero said...

Well I did notice it myself years ago .

Here is another submission.

The base line

Colonel Abrahams

Rick Ashley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OGAF9L6_w


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Anonymous said...

An easy one.

Warren Zevon's

Aaahoo!..'Werewolves of London'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpYBT0XyvA

...and?

Prog

Anonymous said...

Prog - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cyokaj3BJU

Mark Wadsworth said...

I'm not sure that counts. Because they both use the same chord sequence as this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHE65QwlVU

which in turn was hardly a new or original use of those three chords.

Anonymous said...

Fair enough.

How bout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99uxziDmSM4

24:38 The Valentyne Suite: Theme Two February's Valentyne

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnfXvPBV1dA

Radiohead - Paranoid Android

3.40 in

Prog

Mark Wadsworth said...

PRog, hats off for obscurity!

But I'd call it 24.47 into the Colosseum song, not 24.38.

DBC Reed said...

You young fellows are making a fuss about nothing."Surfin USA" (Beach Boys) is such a rip off of "Sweet little Sixteen" that they ended up paying Chuck Berry royalties. But Berry's B-side "Reeling and Rockin" is a lift from Wynonie Harris whose big hit "Bloodshot Eyes" is a cover version of C&W singer Hank Penny's original. Chuck Berry's "Maybelline" is a revamp of a traditional old time fiddle tune "Ida Red".
BTW land taxers are supposed to deplore copyright restrictions as a type of rent taking . I don't. Chuck Berry made a lot of less talented bozos rich.

Mark Wadsworth said...

DBC, yes but Surfin USA/Sweet Little Sixteen is a famous example that everybody knows about, with court case and everything (I don't know why the Beach Boys even bothered defending themselves).

DBC Reed said...

I know Surfin USA is a famous example but I was trying to illustrate that, even around a rock and roll originator like Chuck Berry, there is a whole cluster of disputed attributions and unattributed appropriations. According to Wikipedia "Maybelline" was lifted from the Bob Wills' hit "Ida Red likes to Boogie" which in turn plagiarised words from another song. Wynonie Harris's "Around the Clock parts 1 and 2" is on Youtube if you want to compare it with "Reelin and rockin".