tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post111590565176867139..comments2023-10-18T04:35:11.186-05:00Comments on Theme Park Experience: To Cover or Not to CoverEric Grubbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237140729566147948noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1116251031056594872005-05-16T08:43:00.000-05:002005-05-16T08:43:00.000-05:00Thanks for all the comments. I forgot about Schree...Thanks for all the comments. I forgot about Schreeching Weasel's version of "I Can See Clearly Now." Sure, Ben Weasel is a little off-key but their rendition is pretty cool.Eric Grubbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08237140729566147948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1116211986944521012005-05-15T21:53:00.000-05:002005-05-15T21:53:00.000-05:00Another thing: You've intrigued me talking about t...Another thing: You've intrigued me talking about those covers of "Under Pressure." I really love that song.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1116211868901761952005-05-15T21:51:00.000-05:002005-05-15T21:51:00.000-05:00Back in the day, I used to really love covers that...Back in the day, I used to really love covers that sounded exactly or close to the original. I still am impressed when I hear a cover that sounds much like the original, but I now prefer it when bands use their own style and interpretation when they do a cover. I feel like they're putting more of their personality into it when they give their own interpretation of a favorite song.<BR/><BR/>Kev mentioned that a rock band doing only covers would probably be second-tier, but this makes me think of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, who do some of my favorite covers of all time, including their covers of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "I Believe I Can Fly."<BR/><BR/>And as is a side note, but I often hear covers that I like more than originals. In this category, the cover that definitely stands out for me is Rufus Wainwright's take on "Hallelujah."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1116039531943752312005-05-13T21:58:00.000-05:002005-05-13T21:58:00.000-05:00Actually, in my neck of the woods (the jazz world)...Actually, in my neck of the woods (the jazz world), we do "covers" out the wazoo, only nobody really thinks of them that way. Here, they're called "standards," and they're really a rather large body of work that all jazz musicians are expected to know. Some of them are better suited for background music (wedding receptions, corporate banquets, etc.--the type of gigs we call "wallpaper," like <A HREF="http://themusingsofkev.blogspot.com/2004/06/wallpaper-hangin.html" REL="nofollow">this one</A>), but many of them have more than enough musical integrity to stand on their own. <BR/><BR/>The challenge of playing standards is in how they're done, which actually fits nicely with your post. Sometimes, staying faithful to the original may be cool, but in many cases, the song is so old that there's no one "original" version to model, so you might do it any old crazy way: a ballad becomes a fast swing, a waltz becomes a samba, and so on. I've even been in bands that did a bossa nova with a hip-hop feel and a soul-funk tune as reggae.<BR/><BR/>It's a real interesting contrast between jazz and rock on this subject; if a rock band did nothing but covers, they'd probably be relegated to second-tier status at best, but there have been plenty of masterful jazz musicians who have spent their entire careers redefining standards, never writing even a single tune.<BR/><BR/>How does that work? I think it's because of the fact that jazz draws so heavily on improvisation; even the artist who never contributes a single tune to the canon is spontaneously "composing" his/her solos on every track of every recording (and doing completely different ones during every subsequent performance).<BR/><BR/>Certainly, there are a few standards that are so strongly associated with one artist that fewer players record them ("Body and Soul" with Coleman Hawkins, and "Giant Steps" with John Coltrane, to name a couple), but often, part of the fun is seeing how you can put your own stamp on an old chestnut. <BR/><BR/>And re Nathan's post: I was in a restaurant in Plano the other night, and I heard some really horrible knockoffs of '80s Chicago ballads (why do Peter Cetera songs without the ol' southpaw bassist himself, and even worse, with a not-so-soundalike, and synths instead of the horns?), followed by a version of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" that sounded like it was done by the same band. Of all the cost-cutting measures a business could utilize, I never imagined generic Muzak.Kevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01433235586096305061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1115911181163891682005-05-12T10:19:00.000-05:002005-05-12T10:19:00.000-05:00(sorry about the two deletes -- blogger keeps post...(sorry about the two deletes -- blogger keeps posting the comment incorrectly. anyways...)<BR/><BR/>Up here in 75080, we've just started working on a Television Personalities covers band called The Grocer's Daughters (thegrocersdaughters.com). After much thought, we've decided to play the correct chords and words in the correct order, and that's about it. Have you ever heard those eerily-perfect "Hits Of The 1950's" for $19.99 plus $20 shipping and handling albums? Most of them are actually covers that sound perfect unless you listen closely (cuts out original performance royalties). That's sick. If you're not a wedding band, and if you can't interpret someone else's song and make it somewhat your own, you're either deceiving people and/or are just lame. A real challenge would be to cover a song live as a band and interpret it as a dub remix -- take say the bass line, a few guitar riffs, and a keyboard melody and create an entire song from there. Also, as long as you credit the authors, the more obscure the source material is, the better (thus our TV Personalities project).RichardsonHeightshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08088328434732205140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1115910964393261952005-05-12T10:16:00.000-05:002005-05-12T10:16:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.RichardsonHeightshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08088328434732205140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8690237.post-1115910882626437242005-05-12T10:14:00.000-05:002005-05-12T10:14:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.RichardsonHeightshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08088328434732205140noreply@blogger.com