Judgement Day - Led Zeppelin did not copy the opening chords of Stairway to Heaven from the US band Spirit, a US jury has found. It said the riff Led Zeppelin was accused of taking from Spirit's 1967 song Taurus "was not intrinsically similar" to Stairway's opening. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant said they were grateful to "put to rest questions about [its] origins... confirming what we have known for 45 years". The case was brought on behalf of Spirit's late guitarist, Randy Wolfe. During the trial, defence lawyers argued the chord progression in question was very common and had been in use for more than 300 years. The prosecution had argued Led Zeppelin became familiar with Spirit's song after the two bands played on the same bill at a club in Plant's hometown in Birmingham in 1970, a year before Stairway to Heaven was released in 1971.
In The Saleroom - Prince's Yellow Cloud electric guitar that he played in numerous gigs has been sold at auction for more than £100,000. The owner of the American football team the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay, purchased the guitar that Prince used until the mid-1990s. Mr Irsay is said to have paid $137,500 (£103,000) for the instrument.
Musical Moves - Funny Girl is to embark on a national tour in 2017. The musical, which is currently running in the West End at the Savoy Theatre, will begin its tour at Manchester Palace in February next year. It will then visit 14 further locations including Bristol, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Newcastle and Nottingham, with more dates to be announced. The production's original star, Sheridan Smith, is currently on a leave of absence, with Natasha J Barnes playing the role of Fanny Brice in her place. Casting for the touring production is yet to be announced.
Promises, Promises - Burt Bacharach musical Promises, Promises is to be performed in London for the first time since 1969. The show, which is based on the 1960 film The Apartment and has not been seen in London since its 1969 premiere, will run at Southwark Playhouse in January 2017. With music by Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David and a book by Neil Simon, Promises, Promises originated on Broadway in 1968, where it ran for more than 1,000 performances.
Last Post - Trumpeter Wayne Jackson, who formed the Memphis Horns duo with saxophonist Andrew Love, has died at the age of 74. Jackson and Love played together on 52 number one songs, supporting the likes of Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and the Doobie Brothers. Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave and Alicia Keys were among other acts they worked with.
The Memphis Horns were a staple of much of the music made at Stax Records, one of the most important R&B and soul labels of the 1960s. The duo provided the horn tracks on dozens of well-known songs, including Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline, Presley's Suspicious Minds and Al Green's Let's Stay Together. The pair - who can also be heard on Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer and U2's Angel of Harlem - were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2008. Love died in 2012 at the age of 70, not long after he and Jackson became only the second instrumental back-up group in history to receive the Grammy lifetime achievement award.
(Jim Evans)
