Jimmy Page rewrites Led Zeppelin history at 'Stairway to Heaven' trial

LOS ANGELES -- Jimmy Page said nothing in federal court that would seem to support the theory that he stole the opening to “Stairway to Heaven." But he did say something on the witness stand Thursday that severely undermines a seminal point of Led Zeppelin lore.

Page testified for a second day in the federal copyright infringement case over whether the guitar introduction to the 1971 hit song was lifted from the American band Spirit’s obscure instrumental “Taurus,” which had been recorded a few years before. 

Page -- in a black three-piece suit and tie, his snowy white hair tied back in a ponytail -- remained calm and gracious under cross-examination, occasionally popping on a pair of reading glasses to look at sheet music or legal documents presented by the plaintiffs’ attorney.

And while Page carried a guitar case to court, he neither removed the instrument nor brought it up to the stand, a mild disappointment for the media and fans who began lining up at 6 a.m. for a spot in the courtroom.

But the bigger disappointment for the Zeppelin faithful at large may turn out to be what the rock legend said about how “Stairway” originally came to be.

The Bron-Yr-Aur myth, stomped

For 45 years the story was told -- and occasionally corroborated via band-member interviews -- that Page and singer Robert Plant conjured “Stairway” during a 1970 retreat to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in the Welsh mountains where Plant's family used to vacation when he was a boy.

One night during their extended stay at the stone cottage, in front of a roaring fire, "Stairway to Heaven" was born. Or so it was said.

That evocative origin story, which dovetails all too neatly with Zeppelin’s penchant for Celtic mysticism and J.R.R. Tolkein-esque landscapes and imagery, has made Bron-Yr-Aur a pilgrimage of sorts for fans.

In a snippet of a years-old interview played in court Thursday, Plant spoke of that fateful songwriting session: “Jimmy and I just sat by the fire … Hawkwind was probably humming in the background,” he joked.

But on the stand Thursday, Page remembered things differently:

Asked under oath about his own past statements regarding the ancestral birthplace of "Stairway," Page said his memory had been “glitching,” and that “the statement that was made was incorrect.”

The attorney brought up statements from bassist John Paul Jones, who'd said Page and Plant returned from their time at Bryn-Mwar with the beginnings of “Stairway.”

“That’s what he might have thought,” Page said, “but that wasn’t the case.”

Instead, Page said, he had come up with "Stairway's" three sections on his own, and first tried it out on his bandmates at Headley Grange, a private recording studio in Hampshire.

Sorry kids -- no dark magic rituals or Welsh countryside spirits were involved in the making of "Stairway to Heaven."

There's no telling what, if any, bearing this revelation will have on the case. The plaintiffs' lawyer pursued the line of questioning; perhaps it's a piece of a stealth puzzle he's putting together.

Testimony continues Friday, with a verdict expected early next week.

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