http://www.roadrunnerreco...mID=146107

In the first video clip he refers to "..." Spook music".

ummmm. WOW.

Seriously... WTF???

I doubt Robert Plant is racist. He has too much love for the early blues and early blues musicians.

dannyd5050 said:

I doubt Robert Plant is racist. He has too much love for the early blues and early blues musicians.

On Led Zeppelin II the prelude to "Bring It On Home" was a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's 1963 recording of "Bring It On Home", written by Willie Dixon. Similarly, "The Lemon Song" included an adaptation of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor". In 1972, Arc Music, the publishing arm of Chess Records, brought a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It On Home" and "The Lemon Song"; the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Dixon himself did not benefit from the settlement until he sued Arc Music to recover his royalties and copyrights. In addition, "Whole Lotta Love" contained lyrics that were derivative of Dixon's 1962 song "You Need Love", though the riff from the song was an original Jimmy Page composition. In 1985, Dixon filed a copyright infringement suit against Led Zeppelin over "Whole Lotta Love" and an out-of-court settlement was reached. Later pressings of Led Zeppelin II credit Dixon.

***

There is a history or ripping of Black musicians.

http://entertainment.newsvine.com/_news/2010/09/14/5108821-robert-plant-follows-his-muse-on-band-of-joy?threadId=1073829&commentId=17527497#c17527497

RnBAmbassador said:

dannyd5050 said:

I doubt Robert Plant is racist. He has too much love for the early blues and early blues musicians.

On Led Zeppelin II the prelude to "Bring It On Home" was a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's 1963 recording of "Bring It On Home", written by Willie Dixon. Similarly, "The Lemon Song" included an adaptation of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor". In 1972, Arc Music, the publishing arm of Chess Records, brought a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It On Home" and "The Lemon Song"; the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Dixon himself did not benefit from the settlement until he sued Arc Music to recover his royalties and copyrights. In addition, "Whole Lotta Love" contained lyrics that were derivative of Dixon's 1962 song "You Need Love", though the riff from the song was an original Jimmy Page composition. In 1985, Dixon filed a copyright infringement suit against Led Zeppelin over "Whole Lotta Love" and an out-of-court settlement was reached. Later pressings of Led Zeppelin II credit Dixon.

***

There is a history or ripping of Black musicians.

I don't disagree and have read the Zeppelin bios as well. I just don't think that the ripping off of black musicians is racially motivated. I see it as Zeppelin being taken to court for appreciating the black blues musicians a little too much and being called out on the carpet for copying.

RnBAmbassador said:

http://entertainment.newsvine.com/_news/2010/09/14/5108821-robert-plant-follows-his-muse-on-band-of-joy?threadId=1073829&commentId=17527497#c17527497

Yeah but Zep is an interesting case...

Cause they never acknowledge that they wrote the songs

The fact of the matter is that the original writers never registered a copyright, which is why legally they got "ripped off," But to this day Plant and Page pretty much claimed that alot of those songs were covers.

And those are just a few, When The Levee Breaks, is another one.

Zep is also an interesting case, because they usually reharmonized and recomposed the song, only keeping some melodies.

I don't think its racist though,

I think Rob is just showing his age.

You know what? Scratch what I said earlier. 66 ain't old he knew better.

[Edited 9/22/10 20:44pm]

"Spook" is likely a slur he uses in private to reference Blacks. On the Today Show, he was selectively oblivious to his surroundings and did what comes naturally to him.

[Edited 9/21/10 19:43pm]

I watched/listened twice and I'm going to have to give Robert Planet (I like to call him what Flo & Eddie named him in Frank Zappa's early 70's Mudshark opus) the benefit of the doubt with this one.

There didn't seem to be any sense of him using the term in a derrogatory sense. I'm thinking that the word lost its negative connotation when it went across the big pond. It's often said that British English and American English are not the same language.

I've also heard that the word eskimo was actually an N word type slur and that the proper term for the arctic indigenous people should be Innuit.

How many times have I said Eskimo in my life and not meant any harm by it? Hundred if not thousands for sure.

I wanna give a shit,,,,I really do, but so far

DakutiusMaximus said:

He's 62 and too well traveled to be have been unaware of the racial connotation. I'm not buying the "he's a Brit and didn't know any better" argrument.

Perhaps Robert Plant was reffering to blues from a historical point of view as "spook music". Blues may have been known in the U.S. as "spook music" from condescending white folk in the early days. Obviously with him being British and wordly he knows that. But the word probably has no offence in Britain. Even here in the U.S. that word is never used in today's day and age. Ever. A lot of people don't even know it's a racist term today.

initially i'm thinking who gives a shit. then i think about how the guy ripped off black musicians and now goes on tv (tv that only cares about him because of the ripped off music he made), calling them spooks. whether he meant malice or not is irrelevant. the man ripped off their tunes, least he could do now is show a little respect.

Mother fuckers its Robert Plant..... He can say what he wants

Fuck his pathethic ass and the career he built on pilfering Black music.

Identity said:

Fuck his pathethic ass and the career he built on pilfering Black music.

He should of known better than to use such a term, no excuses. What an ass.

[Edited 9/22/10 6:57am]

Y'all guessing about things because you don't know for sure. "Is it because he's old and suffering from (selective) dementia?" What-ever. Besides, 62 ain't that old. 85, 90, 100+? That's forgetting-where-your-ass-is old - for some folks.

All you know for sure is what he said on live TV and that it was fucked up. If you didn't think it was fucked up, this thread wouldn't exist and you wouldn't be so quick to 'explain it away' with such deftness.

People should say whatever they want to say. What frustrates me is that many people don't think about what they're saying or don't care. Repurpose language all you like, but it still has a history. You already know what spook means as well as Mr. Plant. A bitch will always have the history of being a female dog. A faggot will always have the history of being a bunch of sticks people used as kindling to burn other people alive. Saying those words often enough might make them commonplace, but forgetting history doesn't erase it.

oh jeez

Everybody.........wants what we have.

Graycap23 said:

Everybody.........wants what we have.

we????

I had never heard this racial slur before this thread! I thought he meant some spooky halloween schitt.

Cinnie said:

I had never heard this racial slur before this thread! I thought he meant some spooky halloween schitt.

Yeah "spook" was a derogatory term white folks back in my grandparents' younger years in the South used for black folks.

I wanted to be shocked that Robert said that out of his mouth but it really didn't surprise me that he blurted it out.

Problem is it's been so long since it was used here, I'm thinking that they were taught that was the "right" thing to say in describing blues music, which was called "spook music".

It's labeling blues music, which, although the majority was created by blacks, did have white musicians eventually.

It's labeling and discriminating. That's why I said "he's old" but he probably didn't know that it's a racist connotation. If he did, oh well... shows how much of a punk he is. I wonder if anyone confronted him about it...I doubt it.

It's different from getting a quote from Elvis and believing it to be gospel when he never said what he said but Robert did say that on TV.

Timmy84 said:

Cinnie said:

I had never heard this racial slur before this thread! I thought he meant some spooky halloween schitt.

Yeah "spook" was a derogatory term white folks back in my grandparents' younger years in the South used for black folks.

I wanted to be shocked that Robert said that out of his mouth but it really didn't surprise me that he blurted it out.

Problem is it's been so long since it was used here, I'm thinking that they were taught that was the "right" thing to say in describing blues music, which was called "spook music".

It's labeling blues music, which, although the majority was created by blacks, did have white musicians eventually.

It's labeling and discriminating. That's why I said "he's old" but he probably didn't know that it's a racist connotation. If he did, oh well... shows how much of a punk he is. I wonder if anyone confronted him about it...I doubt it.

It's different from getting a quote from Elvis and believing it to be gospel when he never said what he said but Robert did say that on TV.

Spook really isn't an ethnic slur in england for blacks

From my time there, I've notice that they actually have corny ethnic slurs

(maybe cause I just didn't understand them)

like "Tea Pot" and "Thick Lips"

Spook, is like from the 40's...

I never understood the origin of that term too...

EmbattledWarrior said:

Graycap23 said:

Everybody.........wants what we have.

we????

We = Black folk

EmbattledWarrior said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah "spook" was a derogatory term white folks back in my grandparents' younger years in the South used for black folks.

I wanted to be shocked that Robert said that out of his mouth but it really didn't surprise me that he blurted it out.

Problem is it's been so long since it was used here, I'm thinking that they were taught that was the "right" thing to say in describing blues music, which was called "spook music".

It's labeling blues music, which, although the majority was created by blacks, did have white musicians eventually.

It's labeling and discriminating. That's why I said "he's old" but he probably didn't know that it's a racist connotation. If he did, oh well... shows how much of a punk he is. I wonder if anyone confronted him about it...I doubt it.

It's different from getting a quote from Elvis and believing it to be gospel when he never said what he said but Robert did say that on TV.

Spook really isn't an ethnic slur in england for blacks

From my time there, I've notice that they actually have corny ethnic slurs

(maybe cause I just didn't understand them)

like "Tea Pot" and "Thick Lips"

Spook, is like from the 40's...

I never understood the origin of that term too...

Well I did say in another forum that someone had mentioned that spook meant something different in England. It's kinda humorous how Americans and Brits have different meanings for words. I think I read somewhere when they were discussing this that "spook" meant "inspirational" music in England. Robert however said "American and spook music"... hmmm... I imagined they would say shit like this ("Tea pot", "thick lips"), least the racist ones.

[Edited 9/22/10 21:20pm]

Graycap23 said:

EmbattledWarrior said:

we????

We = Black folk

Yeah, I'm Bi racial...

So i get it from both sides...

but the territorial "we" IMO seems to just propel the whole Us & Them notion that generates the cyclical wheels of racism.

Black and white is a fallacy...

just illusions, colorblind yourself

Timmy84 said:

EmbattledWarrior said:

Spook really isn't an ethnic slur in england for blacks

From my time there, I've notice that they actually have corny ethnic slurs

(maybe cause I just didn't understand them)

like "Tea Pot" and "Thick Lips"

Spook, is like from the 40's...

I never understood the origin of that term too...

Well I did say in another forum that someone had mentioned that spook meant something different in England. It's kinda humorous how Americans and Brits have different meanings for words. I think I read somewhere when they were discussing this that "spook" meant "inspirational" music in England. Robert however said "American and spook music"... hmmm... I imagined they would say shit like this ("Tea pot", "thick lips"), least the racist ones.

[Edited 9/22/10 21:20pm]

I think your right. When I was in england...

Everybody called me a filthy c*nt...

and thats a compliment there...

EmbattledWarrior said:

Timmy84 said:

Well I did say in another forum that someone had mentioned that spook meant something different in England. It's kinda humorous how Americans and Brits have different meanings for words. I think I read somewhere when they were discussing this that "spook" meant "inspirational" music in England. Robert however said "American and spook music"... hmmm... I imagined they would say shit like this ("Tea pot", "thick lips"), least the racist ones.

[Edited 9/22/10 21:20pm]

I think your right. When I was in england...

Everybody called me a filthy c*nt...

and thats a compliment there...

Yeah I just learned that was a compliment when you visit there. Strange.

Timmy84 said:

EmbattledWarrior said:

I think your right. When I was in england...

Everybody called me a filthy c*nt...

and thats a compliment there...

Yeah I just learned that was a compliment when you visit there. Strange.

Can anyone (preferably someone English) explain how calling someone a cunt is a compliment there - or anywhere? I think it's only used in certain circles over there while, for the most part, remaining offensive in general.