From: marck@nwu.edu (Marck ... high above the kitchen)
Subject: Re: Playing cover songs
Followup-To: rec.music.makers
Organization: NU ACNS
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 17:54:33 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.145204.7006@infonode.ingr.com>,
james@raveup.b24a.ingr.com (Teddie James) wrote:
> This is directed to cover bands and original bands who do an occasional
> cover or two.  When you start preparing a cover song for performance, do
> you agonize over every last note and phrase so you can play it the same
> way the original artist does?  Or do you just get the essence of the
> song (progressions, etc.) and fill in the rest with your own stuff? 

i'm a solo singer/songwriter in the chicago area.  i play mostly originals,
but usually include three or four covers in an evening of music.

i've given a lot of thought to the question of covers.  IMHO, the covers
that one chooses to do are just as important as the quality of the original
songs one writes.

probably the biggest mistake that people make when people choose songs to
cover is that they pick a song solely for the reason that they *like* it,
without considering whether or not it is a good song for them (solo or as a
group) to perform.  as much as i love certain artists, i know that i should
stay away from performing their material.  i *usually*, with some rare
exceptions, choose songs that were *not* hits.  people have already heard
those enough, and they're not going to be able to separate your version
from the original (unless you can sneak up on 'em ... see the paragraph on
shawn colvin below).  

examples of some of the recent covers i've done:  squeeze's "walk a
straight line" (from _play_) ... hunters & collectors' "throw your arms
around me" (a classic in australia, so i'm told, but virtually unknown in
america) ... richard thompson's "don't let a thief steal into your heart"
...

i agree with you, teddie, that once a song is chosen, one should *NOT* by
any means try to perform it the way the artist originally did.  usually,
i'll learn a song by someone, get the chords down ... and then *put the
version recorded by them away* and not go back to it again.  then i start
experimenting ... i change keys ('cause each key gives a new palette of
colors to work with) ... i really mess around with tempos, and with
picking/strumming styles.  occasionally i'll change a melody line, but i
don't like to do too much to that, because the songs i choose usually have
very strong melodies, and if you mess with 'em, you lose the essence of the
song altogether.

> Why not make up a new verse, write a new solo, change the intro, change
> the key?  Change the song around and make it your own.

absolutely.  i have recently taken on the Beatles' "blackbird" -- one of
the most overdone, overplayed, overcovered songs i know.  this would
normally keep me far away from it, but i have an idea that seems to be
working out:  i'm adding additional lyrics pertaining to a friend who is
kicking heroin.  if you know the lyrics to "blackbird," you can see how
this might tie in nicely.  the new lyrics will have their own melody
complimenting the original mccartney melody and will be weaved in and out
of the original song.  it's coming out better than i had originally thought
it would, and i'm glad i stuck with it.

i've also worked snippets and portions of other people's material into my
own songs when performing live.  one of my fave attempts at this was when
crowded house's "when you come" suddenly appeared in the bridge to one of
my own compositions.  there were some CH fans in the audience who erupted
into applause.  it really powered the song.
 
acoustic singer/songwriter shawn colvin provided me with my most amazing
"cover" experience.  i heard her a couple of years ago here, and she was
almost two minutes into a song that sounded vaguely familiar -- and then i
caught a lyric i recognized and realized she was performing a slow-burn,
ballad version of talking heads' "this must be the place (naive melody)". 
i was stunned.  she had kept the melody perfectly intact, but had slowed it
way down and turned it into a lovely song -- all her own.  (yeah, of course
i stole it -- i still use it occasionally in my sets.)  and her taking a
song by a mostly synth-based band and bringing it into the world of
acustics opened up a whole new area of music for me to consider for future
cover material.

playing a note-for-note cover is gonna lose your audience real quick.  show
them what you can really do and try and re-interpret someone else's
material.  i admit that it'll rarely be *better* than the original (if it
was worth covering in the first place).  but it still might be fun.


mlb

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m l bailey                           ||              and answers
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high above the kitchen               ||              love and laughter"
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