It’s a story from last year, but I just stumbled upon “Ray Davies chose not to sue The Doors over song similarities“:
THE KINKS star RAY DAVIES has revealed his publisher urged him to sue THE DOORS following the release of their hit HELLO, I LOVE YOU.
The Waterloo Sunset singer admits he saw the similarities between Jim Morrison’s song and his own All Day & All of the Night, but chose not to tackle The Doors in court.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, “My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that.
“I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don’t know the details.”
I never realized it, but the chord structures and timing of The Kinks’ “All Day & All of the Night” and The Doors’ “Hello, I Love You” are quite similar.
I chalk this up to the finite permutations that are rock and roll riffs.
It’s like the famous “My Sweet Lord”/”He’s So Fine” plagiarism lawsuit, or John Fogerty being sued… for sounding like John Fogerty, as spurious as one blues singer suing another blues singer over a ‘blues riff’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qUZf4Wz7gM
