Can't we all just get along...?

bassmann50 · #1 09-08-2006, 04:59 PM

I have read posts to threads on cover bands being like Karaoke singers and original bands being like, well... poor. And we flame each other all the time and disrespect one another. I just don't get it. I play in a COVER BAND (IE I get paid to play) and I also am a songwriter and introduce good songs now and then while working on an original album (and no its not a bassists wet dream album that no one other than a bass player wants to hear). I love bass and I love music and sometimes I don't fit in with either COVER or ORIGINAL people. I just dont get it....

Kronos · #2 09-08-2006, 05:08 PM

I understand where you're coming from.

That being said, I can't be bothered to watch a cover band. I don't like much stuff on the radio anyway, so going somewhere to hear a band play what I don't even like to begin with isn't something I enjoy. If I went to see a cover band, I would hope that they play obscure stuff, but obviously that won't pay their bills.

Now, my band plays mostly originals, but the covers we chose aren't your run of the mill radio play stuff (albeit the one cover is a bit more popular in our genre) so I don't feel we qualify as a cover band. Especially since we try to put our own spin on it.

I don't loathe cover bands, it's just not my cup of tea.

bassmann50 · #3 09-08-2006, 05:59 PM

Kronos, How did you come up with the band name Centralia? About 3 years ago I was thinking of using this name it sounded cool. How wierd is that?!?!?

WillBuckingham · #4 09-08-2006, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmann50

I play in a COVER BAND (IE I get paid to play)

Huh? I get payed to play original music. To me at has way more to do with the quality of the music than whether or not I'm playing original material.

wolfs · #5 09-08-2006, 06:13 PM

Isn't Centralia a mining town where there was an ongoing underground mine fire for years? Am I thinking of the right place?

Oh, and to the OP: no.

ed khalimba · #6 09-08-2006, 06:19 PM

yes centralia is the mining town with the underground fire, it is here in pennsylvania

Munjibunga · #7 09-10-2006, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmann50

I have read posts to threads on cover bands being like Karaoke singers and original bands being like, well... poor. And we flame each other all the time and disrespect one another. I just don't get it. I play in a COVER BAND (IE I get paid to play) and I also am a songwriter and introduce good songs now and then while working on an original album (and no its not a bassists wet dream album that no one other than a bass player wants to hear). I love bass and I love music and sometimes I don't fit in with either COVER or ORIGINAL people. I just dont get it....

Cover bands always play all originals. They're just other people's originals. What's the dif? The dif is that cover bands play music that people want to hear.

jonly · #8 09-10-2006, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ed khalimba

yes centralia is the mining town with the underground fire, it is here in pennsylvania

We just watched Silent Hill last night.

I tried playing originals for about 17 years and no one wanted to hear them. Some of us are just meant to be cover playing bar entertainment.

mrmoonjam · #9 09-10-2006, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmann50

I have read posts to threads on cover bands being like Karaoke singers and original bands being like, well... poor. And we flame each other all the time and disrespect one another. I just don't get it. I play in a COVER BAND (IE I get paid to play) and I also am a songwriter and introduce good songs now and then while working on an original album (and no its not a bassists wet dream album that no one other than a bass player wants to hear). I love bass and I love music and sometimes I don't fit in with either COVER or ORIGINAL people. I just dont get it....

You fit in with COVER AND ORIGINAL people, you're just not in for the flaming and disrespecting. Sounds like a good problem to have

!

The BurgerMeister · #10 09-10-2006, 01:48 AM

i like to play bass.

Gard · #11 09-10-2006, 09:51 AM

Yeah, bands that play covers suck

:

Jimi Hendrix, covered "All Along The Watchtower"
Santana, covered "Oye Como Va"
Charlie Parker, took the chord changes to "Cherokee", transcribed a solo he played over the tune, and called it "Donna Lee"
SRV, half or more of his catalog is covers...
Rush did an entire CD of covers...

It's the MUSIC, not who wrote it. There is a talent to write a song, and a talent to perform it - a cover band MAY do a dead on cover, but not always (I always prefer to "interpret" the song myself, even if everyone else in the group is trying to be a human CD player). I'd rather hear or play a set of excellent cover tunes than sit through (as a participant or observer) ONE crappy "original". Just because you're playing an "original" does not make you a better artist, there is an art to interpreting a song as well.

Let's face facts, a lot of songs that we know, we know of as COVERS, not the original versions! Example, how many of us can identify the writer of the first two songs above???? ("...Watchtower" was written by Bob Dylan, "Oye" by Tito Puente)

Snobbery is just jealousy wearing Groucho glasses.

mrmoonjam · #12 09-10-2006, 10:31 AM

The Beatles, probably the top "originals" band so far, got their chops, fanbase, chemistry and paid their dues in bars playing covers. And they definitely were interpreting, not playing tribute-style.

Getting a big crowd response is one of the biggest highs I've ever expeienced, and it helps to be playing songs people relate to. My current band plays covers of great 50's- early-60's songs, most of which haven't been in the mainstream for a long time. We get good response from people who are too young to have heard the songs before, because they are great songs. And IMHO we play OK and with purpose.

bassmann50 · #13 09-10-2006, 10:31 AM

***Snobbery is just jealousy wearing Groucho glasses.***

Well put!

spudmaster34 · #14 09-10-2006, 10:34 AM

Jaco played some covers

**smperry** · #15 09-10-2006, 12:29 PM

I have no problem with cover bands, but if I'm going to go out and listen to a local band, I'd want to listen to original music, rather than (most likely) less good versions of someone else's original music.

Obviously, I'm not talking about, say, Aretha Franklin doing covers. I'm talking about going to a bar and listening to an indie band. Jazz and classical are exceptions and there probably are others. I'd enjoy listening to covers if I'm less aware of the genre, but there's no inclination from me to listen to someone cover U.S. pop music.

I'd also rather play original music (mine or the band's) as I have more freedom to have "my" sound. I practice/study cover songs but would be less excited performing them. A few covers are fine, but I doubt I'd enjoy a whole set or two. If I couldn't find the musicianship elsewhere, I'd do it just to play, but it wouldn't be my preference.

Marshall

**MAJOR METAL** · #16 09-10-2006, 12:38 PM

Play the music that makes you happy.

Havoc · #17 09-10-2006, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

Play the music that makes you happy.

+1 Well put!

davetakis · #18 09-10-2006, 01:02 PM

who gives a rats hind end if you play covers or originals? you are playing arent you? it's a time when you dont have to deal with your job, or problems in life. just enjoy it and dont worry about what other musiscians thing of what you are doing. people who say cover bands arent real bands are or karaoke or whatever the statement was, WHO CARES. we play, people dig it, move on with your life. just fyi, i play in both types of bands.