
Indeed he was. Here is a recording of the last vestige of The Yardbirds before they disintegrated into their parts. Their take of the Jake Holmes track was quite electric with the influence of Jimmy Page. The later Led Zeppelin had the same guitar arrangement but the lyrics were changed and re-arranged to what we come to know from Led Zeppelin I (side-note: Chris Dreja who was at first rhythm-guitarist then after Jeff Beck quit, took over the bass of the Yardbirds was an avid photographer and took the iconic photos of the members of Led Zeppelin that appear on the back of this first album). The six tracks that were recorded were a sort of a precursor-mix of both the hard blues-rock of Led Zeppelin and the avant-garde prog-rock of Renaissance as the last three minutes of the below track presents.Their first album was great, almost baroque prog rock. Keith Relf was previously the Yardbirds singer wasn't he?
Yeah in 2011 Jake and Page finally settled the legal differences by adding 'inspired by Jake Holmes' I'm Confused' on all future printings and releases and a cash payment. Joan Baez didn' actually write that song but did record it first. The song was written by Anne Bredon.Pagey and Plant stole quite a few tracks. That Jake Holmes one is most damming and I know they never credited him on the original LP release.
They also stole the arrangement for "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" from Joan Baez. Still love the band though, not my fave but still enjoyable!