skidmore v. led zeppelin - paul franklin declaration.pdf
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8/19/2019 Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin - Paul Franklin Declaration.pdf
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I
Francis Malofiy, Esq.
2
Francis Alexander, LLC
280 N. Providence Rd. I Suite 105
3
Media, P A 19063
4
T: 215) 500-1000; F: 215) 500-1005
E:
5 ttorney
or
Plaintiff
6
Glen L. Kulik, Esq. SBN 082170)
7
Kulik Gottesman Siegel LLP
8
15303 Ventura Blvd., Suite 1400
Sherman Oaks,
CA
91403
9
T: 31 0) 557-9200; F:
31
0) 557-0224
IO
ttorney
or
Plaintiff
I2
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I3
I4
FOR
THE CENTRAL
DISTRICT
OF CALIFORNIA
I5
MICHAEL SKIDMORE, as Trustee for
I
6
the RANDY CRAIG WOLFE TRUST,
I7
I8
I9
Plaintiff,
v.
20
LED ZEPPELIN; JAMES PATRICK
PAGE; ROBERT ANTHONY PLANT;
2I
JOHN PAUL JONES; SUPER HYPE
PUBLISHING, INC.; WARNER MUSIC
GROUP CORP., Parent
of
3
WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC.;
24
ATLANTIC RECORDING
CORPORATION; RHINO
25
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY,
26
27
28
Defendants.
Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK AGRx)
Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK AGRx)
Hon.
R.
Gary Klausner
DECLARATION OF
PAUL
FRANKLIN IN OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
OR
IN
THE
ALTERNATIVE,
PARTIAL
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Date: March
28,
2016
Time: 9:00 a m
Room: 850
DECLARATION OF PAUL FRANKLIN
IN
OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 119 Filed 03/07/16 Page 1 of 4 Page ID #:2519
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DECL R TION OF P UL FR NKLIN
2 I, Paul Franklin, declare as follows:
3
I
I was Randy
Craig Wolfe's
(aka Randy California) dearest friend from
childhood until he died
in
1997. We
met
in
junior
high school in September
of
5 1965. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated within this declaration. I could
6 and would testify competently to the facts contained in this declaration.
7
2.
Randy and I would talk about all things friends would talk about,
8
including his personal life, his music life, his financial difficulties, and things that
9 he was excited about, and things that concerned him or made him upset. He was
IO
very open with me given our long history
of
being close and best
of
friends from
II childhood
•••
lie
wP.Sif
t
c.tJNFIPitttr
~ M e l f 1 6 1 { .
I2
3. Randy wrote the song Taurus in 1966.
3
I4
I5
I6
I7
I8
I9
20
2I
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
4.
I went to many of Randy and Spirit's early concerts in the early years
(1966-71) and most of them that were in the Los Angeles, California area. Taurus
was played at many of these concerts as it was a staple song of theirs in 1967 and
1968 especially. I have an independent recollection that they played the song
Taurus regularly at the
Ashgrove
in
Los Angeles
and other venues. The Ashgrove
was a club where they had a regular gig.'.$-'
A M
1
tjoNS T °
I
f f N ~ J ~ t J . . ~ J J t c A - .
\A I
rr 6l. t )
W
t )( >
~
. . . . ~ , . .
•
5. Sta11ing in the early 1970s, Randy expressed
to
me that he was deeply
upset that Led Zeppelin had lifted his musical composition Taurus without giving
him any credit. He expressed this to me on numerous occasions in the 1970s,
t.O / 1111
jJ
V11Ef?
tJv S
1980s, 1990s, and up unti 1 the time
of
his death.
::z::.
r >
e . . ~ y
t (
A
7
11 1e
J re> ~ .
6.
When
Randy
first shared this
thought
with
me
he said he was very
upset that
~ d i d n ' t
even say
thank
you. Randy told me,
It
was rude, Led
.::rtllhf PA
it£
Zeppelin were fans and friends of Spirit, and they were in the front row of some of
our shows in the UK. And we would even comp them tickets. Randy told me that
members of Led
Zeppelin and Spirit were friends and
would hang out
together.
Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)
t
DECLARATION OF PAUL FRANKLIN IN OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 119 Filed 03/07/16 Page 2 of 4 Page ID #:2520
8/19/2019 Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin - Paul Franklin Declaration.pdf
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4
5
6
7
8
9
1
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
2
21
22
)
--
4
25
26
27
28
7. In the early 1970s, when
Randy
was first expressmg his
disappointment over
what
Led Zeppelin had done, I asked him
what
he was going
to
do about it.
Randy
told me in response that he was hurt and was going to
confront
Jimmy
Page
the next time he
saw
him_;
r N
fi
L /
y
8.
Out
of curiosity, some time later, I asked Randy
if
he had ever
followed up with
Jimmy
Page. He responded that he
didn t
want to talk about it.
He said he was
too
hurt and upset to talk about what had happened. I would
estimate that this conversation took place in the mid-1970s. I
know
this because it
occurred before I
was
married in
he
late 1970s ), and after he initially shared his
.,t)EPR ~ s c r
disappointment
wttn me
in the early 1970s.
TO
c
O t J ~ I D e P
9. A short time later Randy finally 6peHe6 trP to me about his interaction
with
Jimmy
Page. Randy told me he confronted Jimmy Page at an after-event
following a Spirit concert in
the
United Kingdom. Randy said that the interaction
had really disturbed him because when he tried
to
speak with Page about it, Page
admitted that he lifted Taurus for Stairway
but
threatened him and said that he
would get 20 lawyers for every lawyer Randy
might
be able to hire. Randy said that
Page also told him
Led
Zeppelin would not give him a dime
or
any credit. From
7/IA-r
e ~
T
Randy s
expression it was clearly a very unsettling conversation,
~ ~ ~ ~ ; ~
.
Executed this 6
1
h
day
of
March, 2016 at
Los
I N ~ t £ 6 t m t y California.
I declare
under
the penalty
of
perjury
under
the laws
of
the United States
of
America that the foregoing is true and correct.
Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK AGRx)
~
DECLARATION OF PAUL FRANKLIN IN OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS
MOTION
FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 119 Filed 03/07/16 Page 3 of 4 Page ID #:2521
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GARY T KUBOTA
ltonolulu
Star-::6ulletin
Mau1 Corr spondcnl
I I H PUI
~ - I
f l PAHAI Jl:.il
132 North
Chtm:h
S
Watluku Hawan 9Ei/G:3
http://starbulleftn.corn
Phone: 808 2443207
f
ax
808 244 3207
Pager 808 576 6480
Randy
California
o
Spirit
believed drowned
o
Molokai
BY GARY T. KUBOTA
aui correspondent
WAILUKU Friends and mu
sic fans are mourning the appar
ent
drowning off Molokai of rock
guitarist and lyricist Randy
Cali-
fornia, known for composing
the
songs Nature's Way and
I
Got
A Line
On
You.
California, 45, whose
birth
name was Randy Wolfe, the lead
guitarist for Spirit, was swept
away
by
a strong
current after
rescuing his 12-year-old son
Quinn
at
Papohoku Beach Thurs
day afternoon.
Maui rescue workers searched
by land and
a1r
Thursday night
and resumed their search yester
day until
12:24
p.m., when
the
weather turned bad
and
made
visibility difficult.
The clouds were
pretty
low,
said Fire Capt. Frank Tam.
Tam said
father
and son
were
swimming when
the
waves rose.
He (California) was able
to
push his son into shore to catch a
wave,'' Tam said.
He
said
there
were conflicting
reports
whether
California was
last seen swimming
or
was face
down
in
the ocean.
California. who was visiting his
mother, Bernice Pearl, on
MIJI >·
kai, had been scheduled to join
Spiri t to begin a five-nation Euro
pean concert
tour
today to pro
mote its new recording Califor
nia Blues.
His boyhood
friend Paul
Franklin
said California, who
lived on Molokai in
the 1970s,
was
a fabulous s w i m m e r ~
This guy was in perfect shape,
never drank, never did drugs,
said
l''ranklin, who
initially
planned to go to Molokai with
California.
Hollywood Reporter music edi
tor
Jeffrey Jolson-Colburn said
California was
an influential
song writer
and
described Spirit
as progressive in the early
1970s
when they mixed
the
use of
guitars with synthesizers.
He influenced groups from
Genesis to Depeche Mode to No
Doubt,
he
said.
Colson said Spirit was playing
to sell-out crowds in medium
sized halls and had re-released a
collection of songs.
Franklin said California got his
stage name
at
age
15
while play
ing with rock
star
Jimi Hendrix.
Hendrix was working with a cou
ple of Randys in
the
band.
Jimi called him Randy Cali-
fornia and
the
name stuck ever
since, l<'ranklin said.
PAUL FRANKLIN
2235
COMPOTE CIRCLE
PALMDALE,CA 93551
w _ ~ ·
Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 119 Filed 03/07/16 Page 4 of 4 Page ID #:2522