• From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Topic: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

There are thousands of cover bands. See "the shadows." In my village (17.000 people) I know 3 cover bands playing the shadows. Playing a shadows cover, I understand the importance of playing their songs following the script:
- Note after note must be identical, or tabs and chords. I even know a guy who is a real shadows freak, having the same and identical Fender used by Hank Marvin. Don't ask him to play a solo, he can't. SO =
WHAT IS NEEDED TO PLAY A COVER? except from tabs.
1) Is it necessary to play it 100% like your favorite song from your favorite band? Metallica, Guns 'n Roses, Clapton, Pink Floyd to name a few artists, in particular CLAPTON and PINK FLOYD.
2) Is it NOT necessary to play that particular song (CROSSROADS, SHINE ON YOUR CRAZY DIAMOND) 100% as played by Clapton or Pink Floyd?

If you play covers, is it OK to add a personal touch? like the solo in SHINE ON..., playing it YOUR WAY, without "DESTROYING the song?
If I play a cover, I play it without following or reading tabs, I play it MY WAY.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT PLAYING COVERS? almost IDENTICAL or PLAYING IT YOUR WAY, that people recognize the song?

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

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  • Zurf
  • Zurf
  • Blunt but well meaning moderator
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  • From: Virginia, USA
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 7,522

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

Destruction is in the ear of the listener.  Play it your way.  If someone thinks you destroyed it, that's their situation to deal with, not yours.

Shoot, artists bring different styles to their own songs.  Eric Clapton did an acoustic version of Layla.  Eagles did a flemenco version of Hotel California.  James Taylor has done a few versions of Steamroller and Damn This Traffic Jam.  Jimmy Buffett did a reggae version of Knees of My Heart and a stripped down acoustic version of Son of a Son of a Sailor.  The Police did a remake of Don't Stand So Close To Me with electronics and mixing. 

Then we've all heard covers by Counting Crows, Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, and the list goes on.

Clearly, it's OK to do covers in your own style. 

For a TRIBUTE band, they've got to be exact reproductions.  This is a musical trend that I do not appreciate.  Not against it, because if it's their thing then it's their thing and more power to them.  I'm just saying I don't appreciate it using appreciate in the sense of "Theatre Appreciation". 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
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  • Registered: 2007-03-24
  • Posts: 1,108

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

I agree with Zurf. Covers are meant to be in the artist's own style. I love a good cover:
Cake doing Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive
Bowling for Soup doing Britney Spear's Baby One More Time

I don't like cover songs that are attempts at duplication like Metallica's version of Bob Seger's Turn the Page.

I used to be disgusted; now I try to be amused.
Elvis Costello
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 2,662

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

It irritates me to no end when I hear people speaking of a band they saw perform and they say; "They played 'at song just like the CD." Well whoop-te-doo, I personally enjoy a little expansion or variation from a studio recording of something like when Johnny Cash is playing NIN's "Hurt" or Soungarden's "Rusty Cage". I say do your own thing with a song and do it justice but don't parrot the tune. Squalllk, squaaaallllk..............

Peace and Guitars,
SouthPaw41L

Give everything but up.
  • upyerkilt
  • upyerkilt
  • Unofficial king of Scotland
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  • From: Balloch, Scotland, UK, Earth
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 3,290

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

Toney
I quite like to hear a band playing a song the exact way it is on the album, it can show how tight they are if it sounds the exact same.
But saying that, I do love hearing variations of a song rather than hearing what ye listen to all the time. 
I like both but mostly I would want to hear something a bit different.

Living Colour never play the same solo on the guitar, it might sound the same but there will always be big differences in it. and not just the solos, wit hthe song "love rears its ugly head" I have heard so many different variations of this from them. So if someone did want to cover this song, there is no "real" way to cover it unless you go wit hthe first version that came out on thier album, but then that is not to say they wrote it this way to start with. This version could be and probably will be just another variation of what they originally wrote.

And there was Roger Waters' Concert in Berlin. He redone THE WALL with all the wee sound effects the same as the album and also thinking about it he does the same when playing any songs with sound effects. This makes it a bit better I think in this case, hearing the voices,bells etc the same way as you hear in the album.

ye get some that are cut out for the job and others just get by from pretending
  • From: Bellevue, WA
  • Registered: 2006-06-15
  • Posts: 3,336

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

I'm with SouthPaw.   We play a couple of covers in our set list.  We do 2 Johnny Cash numbers, and a Justin Towne's Earl number.   We don't try to do the covers as the original artist does them.  We try to take a song and make it our own.  The crowds seem to like it, so we keep doing it that way.

Someday we'll win this thing...

[url=http://www.aclosesecond.com]www.aclosesecond.com[/url]

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  • From: San Antonio, Texas
  • Registered: 2007-06-12
  • Posts: 353

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

Hey Jerome do you guys do "Ring of Fire"?  I LOVE the Social Distortion version!

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  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

Well, well, again a nice discussion.
Zurf you are 100% correct. I think I'm starting to have ALZHEIMER'S disease. I, who saw SO MANY artists, at least 100 different artists, while I was still backstage doc.
Most of the artists are playing the song different each gig. Like the song HOTEL CALIFORNIA live.
You have an intro of 65 seconds before they start playing that song. It wasn't easy to guess who played it when I heard the first 20 seconds. SO:
IN FACT YOU CAN SAY THAT EVERY BAND COVERS THEIR OWN SONGS. Stupid, I really didn't think about that. For me a cover should be close to the song you cover. THE example is "WITHOUT YOU"in HARRY NILSSON'S version of a "MEDIOCRE POP SONG written by "BADFINGER", but even the original had something magic. The story about this song, written by HAM & EVANS is that one had a refrain, but no strophes, and the other strophes without refrain.
Gives me a splendid new topic idea.

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website

  • From: Bellevue, WA
  • Registered: 2006-06-15
  • Posts: 3,336

Re: PLAYING COVERS OF DIFFERENT SONGS

Tim0473 wrote:

Hey Jerome do you guys do "Ring of Fire"?  I LOVE the Social Distortion version!

No.  We do Folsom Prison Blues and Don't Bring Your Guns to Town.  We also cover "Ain't Glad I'm Leaving" by Justin Townes Earle, and I'm about to foist "Ghost of Virginia" on them.

Someday we'll win this thing...

[url=http://www.aclosesecond.com]www.aclosesecond.com[/url]

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