10 Rock Songs Ripped Off From Other Songs
9. Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Out of all the more notable rip offs of the past few years, Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers comes up a bit too often. For anyone in the know, people just like to talk about how the main riff of the song is a carbon copy of what Tom Petty already did on his song Mary Jane's Last Dance. But that's not what we're here for today. It's time we take a look at that guitar solo.
From a sonic perspective, there doesn't seem to be anything too wrong with it, being the typical freakout solo that John Frusciante would pull out on songs like Can't Stop. No, the problem here is with the first four notes of the thing. On first listen, any classic rock fan will tell you that those few notes are the beginning to Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. Considering Frusciante always sang the praises of Hendrix, it gets a lot more difficult to hide the similarities.
It also doesn't help that he felt the need to play that looping riff over and over again throughout the rest of the solo, almost daring us to point out how much he ripped it off. Then again, if the video was meant to pay tribute to all of the band's influences, you can't say that they didn't stick to their aesthetic with this track.