Singer and songwriter Jake Holmes has a long battle with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, a songwriting credit for "Sleepy and Confused."
Sherlock Holmes' new copyright infringement lawsuit says he has not yet obtained the appropriate credit or royalty for an earlier version of the Yardbirds performance, including recordings from recent documentaries Become a Zeppelin. Holmes claimed he sent stop and stop to Page and other defendants last month, but the letters were ignored, leading him to file a lawsuit.
Holmes wrote and recorded “Sleepy and Confused” in 1967, and Page allegedly heard the song in August of that year after singer-songwriter opened up for the Yardbirds of Greenwich Village (the track also appeared on Holmes’ 1967 album, Jake Holmes' "Ground Sound"). Not long after, Yardbirds made their own version of the song, which they began to include in live performances. Although they never recorded the appropriate studio version of "Sleepy and Confused", some live recordings were created in 1967 and 1968.
However, the song sticks with Page, who will continue to work further with Led Zeppelin. When Page wrote new lyrics for the song, the main instrumental melody (especially the famous descending improvisation) was largely similar to the original work of Sherlock Holmes.
For years, Holmes refused to question Zeppelin's "drowsy and confused" doubts, and even reportedly said: "I said, I said, 'What the hell is it, let him have it.
As part of the settlement, Zeppelin’s version of “Sleepy and Confused” songwriting was redesigned to “inspired by Jack Holmes.” Although Sherlock Holmes retains full ownership of the copyright of his original work, it is not clear whether the settlement specifies how to "drowsy and confused" any Yardbirds recordings.
As Holmes' new lawsuit points out, over the past three years, there have been some archives releases, including some live recordings of "drowsy and confused." Holmes claimed that the recordings had been wrongly attributed to Page, and as a result, he did not receive any royalties.
In addition, Sherlock Holmes believes Become a Zeppelinthe “Dazed and Confused” version of LED Zeppelin is aptly called “written by Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes,” but the version of The Yardbirds is only considered “written by Jimmy Page.”
The lawsuit states that “the sleepy and confused Yardbird in the film is a performance composed by Sherlock Holmes, adding: “The defendant therefore committed multiple intentional infringements by continuing to use the work of Sherlock Holmes, without authorization and facing the demands of Praenfe’s rights and specific rights and arenas and the termination of protesters. ”
Page lawyer did not return immediately Rolling stonesMake a request for comment.