Did Red Hot Chili's plagiarize Tom Petty?

[StClone]

When I first heard "Dani California" it sounded familiar and I didn't know why. I love the song when reading over Wiki about the Grammies I came across why "Dani" sounded so familiar:

Accusations of plagiarism

Shortly after its release, the originality of the song was questioned <5> in the Dan Gaffney Morning Show of Delaware based radio station WGMD 92.7. The presenters alleged that the Chili Peppers had plagiarized Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1993 hit "Mary Jane's Last Dance". To demonstrate, they presented audio snippets of both songs, both side by side and simultaneously (i.e. on top of each other) several times. (The two songs are compared here <1>.) They stated that the chord progression, key, tempo, and the lyrical theme of the songs (both produced by Rick Rubin) showed "startling similarities" and urged listeners to "decide for themselves".

Some have dismissed this as a publicity stunt by the DJs. Posters on the official Chili Peppers message board have pointed out that they sped up "Mary Jane's Last Dance" to more closely match the tempo of Dani California. It's also been pointed out that while the first 8 bars of both songs sound similar, the chords are not exactly the same, with "Mary Jane's Last Dance" being "Am, G, D, Am" (A Dorian) and "Dani California" being "Am, G, Dm, Am" (A Minor). University of Chicago musicologist Travis Jackson said the songs' chord progressions were similar, but were a "pretty standard groove" in music and not necessarily evidence of copying.<6> Additionally, while the accused chord progression is used for the majority of the first verse, it remains silent in the two subsequent verses.

Spin magazine readers voted in a June 2006 poll on the similarities of the songs: "We asked if you thought the Chili Peppers ripped off Tom Petty for their new single. As of press time, 49 percent felt the Chili Peppers' "Dani California" takes "certain musical elements" from Tom Petty's 1993 hit, "Mary Jane's Last Dance", while 46 percent said "Dani" was totally original. An on-the-fence five percent of readers weren't quite sure." Spin also posted an audio comparison of the two tracks. <7>

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Petty denied rumors that he planned to sue the Chili Peppers and said "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike." Petty also went on to say that The Strokes admitted that they took Tom Petty's riff for "American Girl" and used it in their song, "Last Nite." <8>.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dani_California#Dani.27s_story

I seriously doubt there was a determined effort to copy. However, two songs about a troubled girl, and an Indiana nexus, with similar musical rifts may lead to speculate there was some subconscious cross pollination and too some coincidence.

Compare the two: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3B7naySHo7E
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e8JRY5mLCcI

[Ahpook]

1. I am sure the Peppers have heard the Tom Petty song, but..

Playing in bands and writing guitar riffs over the years, i have had a few tell me "Hey, that sounds just like......." a handful of times. I guess it's inevitable?

Who knows for sure. I do see the similarities, big time:)

[Blue-Jay]

4. Yep. There are only so many notes in the world.

Look at all the pop/rock songs that follow the same chords as the Pachelbel Canon in D.

[Ahpook]

5. Well, everyone has thier own style..

Which ultimately makes us individual, as long as you are honest.

Frusciante is a great guitarist, BTW. I hear Hendrix up and down with him.

Nothing wrong with it. Look at Page..:)


On edit.. that's just a start:)

[johnnie]

2. Hell yeah they did!

Just another example of whitey stealing whitey's music x(

[idgiehkt]

3. probably

I hate it. It wouldn't surprise me if it was stolen; at least that way they could blame it on someone else.

[rhino47]

6. Didn`t Tom Petty turn into Bob Dylan there for awhile?

Ironically on Mary Jane`s Last Dance he sounds a lot like dylan.