LOS ANGELES – It’s time for the encores at a trial that’s been a deep dive in to rock ‘n’ roll history, with musical luminaries taking the stand and straining their memories for details from their glory days.
Closing arguments are scheduled Wednesday in the federal copyright infringement lawsuit that claims Led Zeppelin stole its biggest hit “Stairway to Heaven” from the late Randy Wolfe, also known as Randy California, founder of the band Spirit.
Singer Robert Plant on Tuesday told a packed courtroom he did not remember hanging out with Spirit, as the band’s bass player testified, after a 1970 show at a club Plant frequented in Birmingham, England. Plant said he and his wife were in a bad car wreck and he has no memory of the evening.
“I don’t have a recollection of mostly anyone I’ve hung out with,” Plant said as the courtroom roared with laughter. “In the chaos and hubbub, how are you going to remember one guy when you haven’t seen him for 40 years?”
Plant had a much sharper memory of Headley Grange, a country house south of London where he said he was sitting by the fire in the spring of 1970 when guitarist Jimmy Page played the intro on acoustic guitar and Plant offered the start of a couplet he had been working on: “There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold/and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.”