Songfacts®:

• This guitar instrumental is famous for its association with the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway To Heaven." The beginning of the Led Zeppelin song contains many musical elements found in "Taurus," which was released three years earlier.
  
  When Led Zeppelin toured the US for the first time in 1968, it was with Spirit and Vanilla Fudge. "Taurus" was part of Spirit's set, and Jimmy Page likely heard the song at some point - he admitted to owning the album.
  
  "Taurus" was written by the group's guitarist, Randy California (birth name: Randy Wolfe), so he is the only member who could make a claim against Led Zeppelin, but he never did. California died in 1997 at age 45 when he drowned in Hawaii, but in 2009, Michael Skidmore, described by the New York Times as a "customs consultant and former music journalist," came into control of California's trust and in 2014 filed a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin. The case went to trial, and in 2016 Jimmy Page took the stand, testifying that he never heard the song "Taurus."
• According to the lawsuit, Randy California wrote this song in tribute to his bandmates, and he chose the title because some of them had the astrological sign Taurus. The members who did were percussionist Jay Ferguson and drummer Ed Cassidy, who was also California's stepfather.
  
  At the trial, Randy's sister, Janet Wolfe, testified that he wrote the song for his girlfriend (and later wife) Robin. She was a Taurus.
• More information from the lawsuit: "Spirit played 'Taurus' at almost all of their concerts in the late 1960s and at many of their concerts in the early 1970s, where the song played a key role in the band's set list. The song often followed an upbeat and heavier tune, and this allowed the fans an emotional and expressive break in the set." Here's a timeline of the lawsuit, which Led Zeppelin ultimately won.
• Randy California was just 16 when he wrote this song. An exceptional guitarist at a very young age, he played in Jimi Hendrix' 1966 group Jimmy James and the Blue Flames at age 15, and wrote "Taurus" the following year.