\/\/illy Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Illustration by Jillian Tamaki Let’s face it: musicians turn to covers when they feel the twinge of nostalgia or creative paralysis. A cover makes for a convenient stop-gap until inspiration strikes again. It’s only fair then that the borrower treat the song as a temporary pass, rather than a license for self-aggrandizement. Interesting article. Care to discuss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 How about the comparison between covers and rewrites/re-arrangments? Blues great John Hammond Jr. built his career on re-writing old blues standards. Ricky Scaggs and Alison Krauss have done the same with bluegrass. Of course, there's always Diana Krall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchoulia Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 How about the comparison between covers and rewrites/re-arrangments? Blues great John Hammond Jr. built his career on re-writing old blues standards. Ricky Scaggs and Alison Krauss have done the same with bluegrass. Of course, there's always Diana Krall... What do you expect from Diana Krall? Have you ever looked at her eyes? She's dead inside. Every time I see her, I hear Apu increasingly freaking out about becoming an American, "Who needs the infinite wisdom and compassion of Ganesha when I have Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman staring at me from the cover of Entertainment Weekly with their DEAD, DEAD EYES?!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 If you're performing a cover tune, that likely means you are a fan of the artist you are covering, or at least the song. The artist in question that is performing a cover song is then putting their signature on the material that inspired them, enough so to learn and peform that song. Why can't you be inspired by someone elses music and/or lyrics? If you're performing most Bob Dylan songs you're not going to be inspired by his words? If you're performing a song out of the Beatles canon you're not going to inspired by the music? What then of the Miles Davis performance and recording of George Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" was that not inspired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 The best Who song in my opinion, a song that embodies everything they were about, is " Young Man Blues ". Mose Allison never knew what hit him. The Grateful Dead? Some of their best tunes are covers/re-writes. Inspired? Hell yes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 I reckon imitation is some kind of flattery, if not always the best or most sincere, provided you're at least willing to buy the songwriter a beer for the privilege. I don't know, though, come to think of it, if that is a universal thing; I used to hear a great Celtic band on the CBC covering "Stayin' Alive," and I should think they were doing the Bee Gees (and the rest of the world) a favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 If you really want to break it down, traditional symphonic orchestras are a form of cover band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 [color:"purple"]Coltrane's version of My Favorite Things sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 [color:"purple"]Coltrane's version of My Favorite Things sucks. The Sound Of Music version kicks Trane's ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 The article isn't stating that the mere act of doing a cover is crass or insincere and goes to lengths to mention the notion of a cover really being a "tribute" to music that has inspired the artists. He seems to be singling out the current trend of bands with original catalogues doing a cover in order to break into the market. It is a trend and I don't think he's wrong to be put off by it. And, also, he seems to be referring specifically to the pop/rock music genres. In other idioms, jazz and folk in particular, covers and reinterpretations have long been expected and accepted. So, drawing on Miles Davis for comparison is a bit of a stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 I think a lot of new bands also do covers to expand their set. If you've only written enough material for an EP or even an album, the concert would be awfully short without a few covers thrown in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 What, you expect me to read the article before I make my smart-ass remarks? Screw you MarcO............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 The article isn't stating that the mere act of doing a cover is crass or insincere and goes to lengths to mention the notion of a cover really being a "tribute" to music that has inspired the artists. He seems to be singling out the current trend of bands with original catalogues doing a cover in order to break into the market. It is a trend and I don't think he's wrong to be put off by it. And, also, he seems to be referring specifically to the pop/rock music genres. In other idioms, jazz and folk in particular, covers and reinterpretations have long been expected and accepted. So, drawing on Miles Davis for comparison is a bit of a stretch. It is not a current trend of artists covering someone to break into a market. How many artists in the sixties had their own material but used a Bob Dylan cover to great success? The list is too long to mention. The trend of popular music artists covering someone to break into the market has been seen since the birth of rock and roll in the mid fifties if not earlier in other aforementioned genres like country, blues and jazz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 The article isn't stating that the mere act of doing a cover is crass or insincere and goes to lengths to mention the notion of a cover really being a "tribute" to music that has inspired the artists. He seems to be singling out the current trend of bands with original catalogues doing a cover in order to break into the market. It is a trend and I don't think he's wrong to be put off by it. And, also, he seems to be referring specifically to the pop/rock music genres. In other idioms, jazz and folk in particular, covers and reinterpretations have long been expected and accepted. So, drawing on Miles Davis for comparison is a bit of a stretch. Thats sorta the take I took on the article. Great example in my opinion is The Stones cover of "Like A Rolling Stone"......argh,that one hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 It is not a current trend of artists covering someone to break into a market. How many artists in the sixties had their own material but used a Bob Dylan cover to great success? The list is too long to mention. The trend of popular music artists covering someone to break into the market has been seen since the birth of rock and roll in the mid fifties if not earlier in other aforementioned genres like country, blues and jazz. I said the trend is current, not necessarily new. But, point taken, I hadn't considered the Dylan-mania that took over the mid-1960s pop charts. That is a good example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheebs Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 If your a bar band and make your living that way, and you want to stay a bar band and survive that way then covers are essential to that survival Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammer Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 it depends on the degree of interpretation...melodically, rhythmically etc...Aretha Franklin didnt' write Respect but she sure rewrote it...I agree with the Dead tunes example as well...alot of my favourite dead tunes are covers...Doing covers shows a respect for your influences...and for the audience if you're not well known ...Doing covers well also shows how much you've researched the craft of songwriting ... if you can successfully interpret a famous song with great understanding and creativity ...maybe you can actually write a song with a similar degree of integrity...(although if you take it too far just join a tribute band) from what i hear these days the art of songwriting is something to be wondered about especially wrt some of these jam bands who just want to jam ...if you try to put jam on a song that's got no bread/substance ...the jam just falls on the floor...ewwww!...sticky mess...I think performers need to find a balance between songwriting and musicianship...something the dead came close to...doing covers is like a lane on the highway to writing good songs ...if you write good songs and they sit nicely beside the more famous covers that you do I think you're doing a good job...with the patience of developing a following...a band can reduce the amount of covers they do if they want and play more originals...Sometimes bands do covers because they are not confident in their original material...nothing wrong with acknowledging weak material as such...and entertaining the people that showed up at the club...that type of humility may come from a high standard and good songs can come out of the wake of lesser songs...I do go on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokonon Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 i remember the first time i heard someone do janis joplin live i nearly peed my pants! it was a guy singing and he did it perfectly. the guitar player and drummer were amzing musicians and the whole package blew me away. i love janis joplin's style and i love live music. janis is dead so i can't hear her live but seeing these guys do it was an awesome experience. i've seen the band play at least fifty times now (and i haven't even dated their dummer ) and i would still go to see them again. some people are innately soul-less so when they do covers it sucks. when they do any sort of expression it sucks. some people have enough spirit to fill a stadium. i know that a lot of people wonder which songs mark wilson plays are his and which are originals. that's because the man has soul and really means what he plays, therefore it's impossible to tell unless you already know the songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaggyBalls Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 I've seen a lot of bands throw covers into their sets to spice them up or stretch them out - they can act as segues between jams and originals... I've also seen them thrown in to satisfy the audience. the latter is great for the show and great for the vibe but it does nothing for the actual character of a band itself. Playing for the audience rather than the audience being there for the band. that being said, character isn't always what an audience cares about. IMO, if a band can do a cover well and get off on it as much as their own tunes then it's great to throw in. if it's just there for a gimmick then it marginalizes the act's character even if nobody in the audience notices. case in point - I love to see the burt neilson band. There was a point in time when I didn't but that was pretty brief. I love their originals and their jams, but i also absolutely adore their covers. they recreate and put their own twist on the songs, however subtle it might be. The highlight of my nights with BNB are always the monster frankensteins. I love it. The moments I have in that song always make the trip worthwhile for me. not that i'd show up for them to only play that song, but i always think to myself 'wow...if they only played this i'd be just as happy'...caught up in the moment i guess. this is an example of a band that has great control over their sound and their choices. They're not trying to retool a song to be catchy or sell records. they pull out gems to keep people coming back and have a great time on the stage. Every band should try to keep things fresh but still keep it real for themselves. this is the difference between the one hit wonder and the bands that people wonder why there aren't any radio hits but don't really mind. the burties deserve more love than just this scene is able to give them. Another band that does it nicely is Jimmy Swift. nero pulled out some gems and they always went off huge. other tasty treats come in the form of teasers...not entire songs, but tastes to keep the dancefloor hoppin...Slowcoaster pulling out west end girls? I'm no pet shop boys fan but it made me smile and kept the mood light and fun. not every band can pull this feat off on the fly. when they can it's gorgeous. i am both pro and anti cover tunes...depends on the situation and attitude of the performers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheebs Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Mak can do some pretty bad covers too! I don't know if you were around back when he used to do " feel like makin love!" by Bad company. Crow woulda loved it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneMtn Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 I always enjoyed this EP, back in the '80s... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheebs Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 By Mak I meant Mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzinfivefour Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Fully insinsere when left as is. Evolution is splendid! Contemporary interpretations are also swell. Originality most always ranks top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 definately a few cover songs that've come out on mainstream radio lately that make we want to stock up on ammunition and go out on a shooting spreeif you can love a song like its your own I see no problem covering it, be it live or by performing your version of the song on a recordingif your manager/producer/record company thinks covering a song will gross higher sales they're scumbags who will gleefully rape the fabric of society to further their own self interests... people with no tact or integrity suck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottieking Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 uuuhhhh, I knew this band once, uuuuhhhhhhhh, their name was Phish, uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh, they did this cover uuuuuhhhhhhhhh, it was awesome. I need to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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