"Dazed and Confused" is a song written and performed by Jake Holmes. It was covered by the Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin, who hold a separate copyright on the song.Jake HolmesSinger-songwriter Jake Holmes wrote and recorded "Dazed and Confused" for his debut solo album "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes, released in June 1967. Like the other tracks on the album, the song does not include any drums. It was recorded entirely with the trio of Holmes on guitar, keyboard and vocals, Ted Irwin on guitar and Rick Randle on bass. The song has been incorrectly labelled as a tale about a bad acid trip. Holmes himself has confirmed that this is not the case. In 2001 he gave an interview to Shindig! magazine and said this about "Dazed and Confused":In August 1967, Holmes opened for The Yardbirds at a Greenwich Village gig in New York. According to Holmes, "That was the infamous moment of my life when Dazed and Confused fell into the loving arms and hands of Jimmy Page." When "Dazed and Confused" appeared in Led Zeppelin's album in 1969, he was aware of it but didn't follow up on it. In the early 1980s, however, he sent a letter to Page asking for "some credit at least and some remuneration", but no reply was received.In June 2010, Jake Holmes sued Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page for copyright infringement, claiming to have written and recorded "Dazed and Confused" two years before it appeared on Led Zeppelin's debut album. In court documents Holmes cited a 1967 copyright registration for "Dazed and Confused" which was renewed in 1995. This court case (Case No. CV10-4789-DMG-PJW) was "dismissed with prejudice", presumably because the parties settled out of court—in January 2012.
