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Covers

DevonPowell	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 12:47 AM I've been to a lot of shows lately of local groups/individuals where a ton of their set is cover songs. Albeit sometimes it's a version that is completely fresh and new and comes across well, more often than not it sounds like..well...bad. Or just tired, nothing new. I'd rather hear an original that is just "ok" than a cover anyday. When I played out (back in the day) regularly, we never did covers...people didn't want to hear us play other people's stuff, they wanted to hear us play our/my stuff. I dunno...I guess I'm of that mindset too. If I'm gonna come see someone do a set (and PAY for it), I wanna hear what they have to bring, not what someone else wrote. Whatcha think?
ashleighj	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 12:55 AM some clubs prefer having cover bands, and people there enjoy hearing music they already know and can sing along with. i'm with you, i'd rather hear originals.. but not everyone is good with songwriting, and a lot of bands don't seem to give much thought to the set list. but there's enough places and people in the world to have both.
smooka	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 1:08 AM play originals. how you say... re-inventing the wheel.
Rodrica	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 4:00 AM Sometimes the only way to get your new stuff heard is to play a few covers too Familiarity and all that... The worse thing is when I've heard a cover played badly...that does nuthin' for a band's publicity
ronnie71	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 5:34 AM i got mixed emotions on this ...
pog	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 6:02 AM yah... I gotta agree with ronnie. It's such a debatable topic, so I'm just gonna speak freely with my humble opinion. There are no rules, so I'd like to point out that I totally treat this concept as a guideline, or a different perspective on things. Never is it set in stone, so to speak. That said, my philosophys (or more accurately, questions I ask of myself) go like this. My personal musicianship is based on the theory that "How can I possibly make people see the full potential of an idea thats in my head if I can't even reproduce it ?" "How can I honestly say that I can do anything if I can't emulate another persons ideas ?" In other words, knowledge is power... how can I be honest with myself in saying that I "don't do covers" when most of the musicians I've met that work to that theory don't do covers because they can't pull it off convincingly to themselves. ...And I'm not implying anything, cos I've met a lot of musos that can, and do exist, without doing covers. I just find that these people tend to be frustrated musicians as they are restricted to one genre or style. They often get bored too easily when they can't break out of their ruts (it's perfectly healthy to be in a rut, but not for too long, or you'll prolly loose your mind). Like I said.. this is just what I think, but I don't really think anyone is right or wrong.
Intergalacti...	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 10:03 AM yeah I'm, very mixed about this, If I'm at a party or somethin or somethin that brings a lot of people together like fete then I would want to hear mainly covers. I like playing covers because you can hear everyone singin along. I'll always try and play at least one cover even if I get famous I'm gonna play covers. However if you go out to a good gig, and a band is supportin some great headliners I don't want the support act to be doing covers. But here's where the very thin line comes in. I went to see Jamie Cullum a few weeks ago and he was probably the second or third best live act I've seen to date and he played many different covers BUT you wouldnt have known it. He kept the lyrics but he was playin songs by Hendrix Radiohead and you can hardly guess it because of his unique style added to it. If you can bring somethin new to the song let them do it I say, but if they're just gonna be releasing the same thing you heard ten years ago then they can get lost. Also I only think you should be allowed to release one cover cos it shows what you can do with other songs but you shoulndt be allowed to make money off other songs. Well I havent made much sense lol. And its gone on long enough I'll leave.
kingo	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 11:22 AM Going along with what Ashleigh said -- there are situations where bars/clubs want to hear covers, and there are audiences that go to bars/clubs that expect to hear covers. I guess this depends on where you're playing. In my experience in small town bars, it's difficult to play original material. In previous bands I was in there was a phenomenon that just frustrated the hell out of us. We'd be playing in a bar, having a good set of covers; the crowd getting into it and obviously enjoying themselves. I'd announce, "This next one's an original," and there'd be MOANS from the audience, the floor would clear, everyone would head for the restroom or the bar or outside. So we'd just have to mix the originals with the covers, never indicating when we were gonna play originals. They'd be well received that way. So, Devon, I think a lot of bands play covers because that's how they get/keep the gigs. Again, though, this depends on where you are. There are, too, plenty of bands who refuse to play covers for this very reason -- they don't want that as an expectation, and they only want to play at venues that expect original music.
DevonPowell	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 6:52 PM I can surely see everyone's point of view. I think the ability to reproduce others songs is a way to gain knew knowledge (I do play other people's stuff, just not live). I think, as I said, if you can do something with the original song and make it your own (as was stated a la the Jamie callum show) then that's all good. I can also see if you're going to be at a place where covers is the expectation, then that's all good (I personally would never go to such a place). I guess I feel like if you're competent enough to play someone else's stuff, you should either A: Be competent to write and play your own stuff or B: You shouldn't be playing venues where original material is expected/is the norm. I have a bunch of friends that their professional career is playing in "corporate bands", 5 and 9 piece bands that do nothing but play gigs for parties, social events, corporate bashes, etc...all they do is covers. One of them is a 7 string guitarist, who's primary love is jazz. He writes his own stuff, just doesn't play it out anywhere. He's a ridiculous musician with outrageous skills...he's also in his late 40's and has been making his living off of music doing this (and teaching lessons) so if that's what you gotta do to keep yourself happy and make a living, I'm all for it. The thing I hated the most about playing out is the mintue I had a break in a set, some basterd would yell "FREE BIRD" (this was mostly in college, where unless you were fronted by a hot chick-which I was for a little while-, you got that "play something we can all sing along too" thing going on) and then the next thing you know I'm doing what feels like a karaoke show instead of feeling like I'm a performing artist. I personally don't feel like I ever want to go out in front of a crowd and put what amounts to my whole heart, soul and passion out there and then play someone else's creation. Just feels wrong. I guess if it's that kind of a mood/crowd/place, where it's just a singalong kind of thing that's cool...but if I'm headlining or opening for someone, hell no...definitely hell no if people are paying to see you perform. /me steps off the soapbox
smooka	Date: April 5, 2004 @ 8:40 PM Devon Rocks! nuff said.
MisledMayhem	Date: April 6, 2004 @ 1:11 AM I like cover songs once in a while, but only if their good! I agree with Rodrica on that one. One of my favorite bands is a cover band, Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies. They put a total spin on every one of their songs, like they play the intro to London Calling by the Clash, and spin it into a totally different song from like the fifties! Covers are cool if you can put creativity into them. But covering a song as is, well, i dunno, it's fun if you really like the song and want to try to play it, but as for only playing covers, or lots and lots of covers, it'd be better to write your own or at least rewrite it or make a parody of a song or something more creative. Because everyone likes a band that's genuenly creative, even if they're not any good, at least they're creative!
sinai	Date: April 6, 2004 @ 1:17 AM i don't mind any band i see performing playing covers, though i tend to prefer the covers that take alot of liberties and completly change the song itself into something totally new, i never got a gripe when thats the case
sinai	Date: April 6, 2004 @ 1:18 AM Me First and the Gimme Gimmies...weren't they the ones who did that version of "You Are My Sunshine"?
pog	Date: April 6, 2004 @ 5:27 AM Agreed... if you're gonna play a cover live, it should ALWAYS compliment the guy that originally wrote it.
jeddak	Date: April 7, 2004 @ 7:19 AM Probably everyone's heard "bad" covers, and everyone's heard at least one cover that made them say "wow." For me, for a cover to work, it needs to contain some part of the performer. They need to "make it their own" in some way by adding some of their own creativity, some of their own soul, to it. That might mean simply playing it with a lot of passion and skill, or doing a complete re-arrangement with different instruments, etc, fooling with the tempo/meter, or changing practically everything about it and making the song "totally new," in sinail's words. Of course, this is an entirely subjective thing, and listeners will disagree about whether a particular cover performance met those criteria. But if you, as a performer, can convince one member of the audience (whose opinion you respect) that you contributed a new "take" on someone else's song, I think you've succeeded. I heard it said for years, but it only clicked for me very recently - music is about communication. I think we get too hung up on originality (myself included) and lose sight of what's important - taking a piece of ourself and putting it into a creation for others to enjoy.
ryanwilliams	Date: April 13, 2004 @ 4:00 PM There's a lot of songs that I would never have heard or liked if it were not for someone doing a cover. For instance, on the whole, Bob Dylan's voice just irritates me...
AxedNeil	Date: April 22, 2004 @ 11:02 PM I didnt want to play covers at all..but some venues wont even talk to you if you dont. We try to pick covers that fit our sound and vocals. We still play at least 65/100 originals at our shows. Yeah ryan....."knocking on heavens door"
Intergalacti...	Date: April 23, 2004 @ 11:13 AM Jeddak's point was quite good but can I just see what peoples views are on a slightly different subject. If yu were in the audience at a pub gig what would you want to hear? and If you were at a huge gig would you like them to play one or two covers of another band?

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