Do you study the artists you cover?

[NickInMesa]

Each time I am to cover a new artist or band, I hit the Web and read about him or them, and usually find out who the bass player is, read about his (or her) gear, technique, etc... etc... and listen to other songs than the one I have to learn. If there is a story attached to the song I will read it and also study the lyrics.

I thought this would be normal procedure but last time at practice I realized my band mates did not know much about the songs we covered.

For instance we cover Alive by Pearl Jam (don't applaud, it's a train wreck, but a fun one). Nobody had a clue this is an autobiographic song.

We also cover Last Kiss and nobody had a clue this was a cover of a cover, except for the drummer, but even he had no clue who composed it first and who make it famous first.

And then someone mentions we should cover G-L-O-R-I-A, you know... by the DOORS!!! And one corrects: Uh no, it's a Van Morrison song!

That shocks me somewhat...

Is this something normal in cover bands, or is this just because nobody gives a s..t anymore?

[rcarraher]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

Each time I am to cover a new artist or band, I hit the Web and read about him or them, and usually find out who the bass player is, read about his (or her) gear, technique, etc... etc... and listen to other songs than the one I have to learn. If there is a story attached to the song I will read it and also study the lyrics.

I thought this would be normal procedure but last time at practice I realized my band mates did not know much about the songs we covered.

For instance we cover Alive by Pearl Jam (don't applaud, it's a train wreck, but a fun one). Nobody had a clue this is an autobiographic song.

We also cover Last Kiss and nobody had a clue this was a cover of a cover, except for the drummer, but even he had no clue who composed it first and who make it famous first.

And then someone mentions we should cover G-L-O-R-I-A, you know... by the DOORS!!! And one corrects: Uh no, it's a Van Morrison song!

That shocks me somewhat...

Is this something normal in cover bands, or is this just because nobody gives a s..t anymore?

I'm the one in our band that know the history, background and stories about the tunes. Course, I a spent a life time reading album covers ( I still want to know who's idea it was to have 12" records when I was young and could still see, and then moved to these tiny CD's when I got older and went blind? ) It still drives me nuts when someone requests, "Hard To Handle", you know that Counting Crows song? People, ever heard of Otis Redding?

I am also the one that gets calls from friends at 11 o'clock at night asking, Who Does This Song? (Spirits in the Sky blaring away-That would be Norman Greenbaum. Who? No, not the Who, Norman Greenbaum. Oh....click) At least I know what bars they are hanging in, just from the juke box.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

As the majority of our stuff is classic rock, we pretty much know the material well beforehand.

+ We are old enough to have heard most of the tunes performed and recorded by numerous artists. Exept for our new guitarist who is 17, but very well educated in "real" music .

The thing is that the cover, by someone else than the original artist, may be quite a bit better than the original. Not always, but sometimes.

If there's a new, already covered tune we're trying out, I search for as many versions as I can. Since we are not a tribute band and in no way play the tunes 1:1, I choose the "best" bass line I find.

The funny thing is that the more famous the band doing the cover, the younger the people who don't know the original are.

OTOH most of the people don't give a rats behind about the artist anyway, a musician or not. A tune is just a throw-away thing, just like everything else in todays society.

Regards
Sam

[standupright]

no....i don't. if i have to learn it by ear, then i do that, and that's about as far as it goes.

[RAM]

It depends. If a bass player impresses me enough, I'll begin listening intently to his style, phrasing, sound, etc. as I get excited about learning something new. Others that don't impress me as much I simply learn the song structure and either follow it to a T, if there's something dynamic or a hook that's needed, or may even just do my own thing within the song structure.

[rcarraher]

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.

As the majority of our stuff is classic rock, we pretty much know the material well beforehand.

+ We are old enough to have heard most of the tunes performed and recorded by numerous artists. Exept for our new guitarist who is 17, but very well educated in "real" music .

The thing is that the cover, by someone else than the original artist, may be quite a bit better than the original. Not always, but sometimes.

If there's a new, already covered tune we're trying out, I search for as many versions as I can. Since we are not a tribute band and in no way play the tunes 1:1, I choose the "best" bass line I find.

The funny thing is that the more famous the band doing the cover, the younger the people who don't know the original are.

OTOH most of the people don't give a rats behind about the artist anyway, a musician or not. A tune is just a throw-away thing, just like everything else in todays society.

Regards
Sam

I am the same way, I actually have charted out mutiple versions of the same song. I heard it through the Grape Vine, you want Creedence Clearwater or Marvin Gaye? Hard to Handle, Otis Redding or Counting Crowes. Then there is the whole Blues Brother thing, you want there versions or the originals, including Arethas version in the Movie of Think, and her original. I have never been able to play music (convincingly) that I didn't connect with on many levels, one of those levels is the ins and outs of the artists that did the tune in the first place.

[RAM]

Originally Posted by rcarraher

I am the same way, I actually have charted out mutiple versions of the same song. I heard it through the Grape Vine, you want Creedence Clearwater or Marvin Gaye? Hard to Handle, Otis Redding or Counting Crowes. Then there is the whole Blues Brother thing, you want there versions or the originals, including Arethas version in the Movie of Think, and her original. I have never been able to play music (convincingly) that I didn't connect with on many levels, one of those levels is the ins and outs of the artists that did the tune in the first place.

The Blues Brothers is a great example! If you listen to some of their covers you'll notice Duck Dunn plays faithful to the original but does so in his own style, rather than simply playing the same notes.

[rcarraher]

Originally Posted by RAM

The Blues Brothers is a great example! If you listen to some of their covers you'll notice Duck Dunn plays faithful to the original but does so in his own style, rather than simply playing the same notes.

Well, Duck did allot of the originals. What supprises me is where he DOES change the bass line from the way he did it with the original artist. Just shows to go ya, he's great!

[P. Aaron]

This is what a guitar teacher told at one time is: Style Analysis.

Don't just learn the song, but the techniques each artist uses. Then you capture the nuances that give the song its character. Even songs that I hate (that we cover) I almost end up listening to 2 or 3 other songs by the artist to look for character traits in other songs.

Just being curious.

[5StringBlues]

Originally Posted by rcarraher

I heard it through the Grape Vine, you want Creedence Clearwater or Marvin Gaye?

Gladys Night and the Pips version FTW. Basslinewise anyway.

[john turner]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

Each time I am to cover a new artist or band, I hit the Web and read about him or them, and usually find out who the bass player is, read about his (or her) gear, technique, etc... etc... and listen to other songs than the one I have to learn. If there is a story attached to the song I will read it and also study the lyrics.

I thought this would be normal procedure but last time at practice I realized my band mates did not know much about the songs we covered.

For instance we cover Alive by Pearl Jam (don't applaud, it's a train wreck, but a fun one). Nobody had a clue this is an autobiographic song.

We also cover Last Kiss and nobody had a clue this was a cover of a cover, except for the drummer, but even he had no clue who composed it first and who make it famous first.

And then someone mentions we should cover G-L-O-R-I-A, you know... by the DOORS!!! And one corrects: Uh no, it's a Van Morrison song!

That shocks me somewhat...

Is this something normal in cover bands, or is this just because nobody gives a s..t anymore?

my coverband days were pre-web, but i did this too. i was lucky, though, in that my cover band in college played music that i was already inspired/influenced by (in fact i chose most of the songs). we did whole albums of rush (pretty much everything from fly by night to signals, in fact), iron maiden (every song from every album up to and including powerslave), led zeppelin, early metallica (did all of ride the lightning, along with a few other songs) along with the who, some yes, and whatever songs we could find that sounded cool and were interesting.

back then (mid 80's), as a rock player you learned how to play, at least partially, by playing along with albums - there was no tabs, and the songs books you could find were rare. by the time i got together with the guys in this band, they had learned by ear on their instruments the same way i had - by popping the tapes/cds into the decks and learning every song from beginning to end.

was great for developing a solid ear, and perfect prep for being in a cover band. i remember the first time we got together and practiced we knew about 45 songs already well enough to play them them through.

we were voracious, too, about learning everything we could about the musicians we covered (especially since they were our influences), but there was, of course a lot less information available about folks, and it was harder to come by. you'd have to scour book stores to find even one book about rush, or iron maiden, and there was no web, or meaningful internet presence then (even the fan lists on usenet were pretty sparse back then).

i think one of the reasons why not so many folks are as rabid about it as they were then is that it's a lot easier to find out everything you want to know, now.

[Phalex]

Nah! I don't care what it's about, I just want to know the chord progression.

After listening to my drummer explain the deeper meaning behind Kiss' "Lick It Up" last week, I think I have made the better decision.

Ignorance is bliss, and I am indeed a happy man!

[5StringBlues]

Originally Posted by Phalex

After listening to my drummer explain the deeper meaning behind Kiss' "Lick It Up" last week, I think I have made the better decision.

Please PM me the details of the deeper meaning Phalex.I am very homesick and could use a good laugh right now!

[RAM]

Originally Posted by john turner

my coverband days were pre-web, but i did this too. i was lucky, though, in that my cover band in college played music that i was already inspired/influenced by (in fact i chose most of the songs). we did whole albums of rush (pretty much everything from fly by night to signals, in fact), iron maiden (every song from every album up to and including powerslave), led zeppelin, early metallica (did all of ride the lightning, along with a few other songs) along with the who, some yes, and whatever songs we could find that sounded cool and were interesting.

back then (mid 80's), as a rock player you learned how to play, at least partially, by playing along with albums - there was no tabs, and the songs books you could find were rare. by the time i got together with the guys in this band, they had learned by ear on their instruments the same way i had - by popping the tapes/cds into the decks and learning every song from beginning to end.

was great for developing a solid ear, and perfect prep for being in a cover band. i remember the first time we got together and practiced we knew about 45 songs already well enough to play them them through.

we were voracious, too, about learning everything we could about the musicians we covered (especially since they were our influences), but there was, of course a lot less information available about folks, and it was harder to come by. you'd have to scour book stores to find even one book about rush, or iron maiden, and there was no web, or meaningful internet presence then (even the fan lists on usenet were pretty sparse back then).

i think one of the reasons why not so many folks are as rabid about it as they were then is that it's a lot easier to find out everything you want to know, now.

John, since I'm a tad bit older than you (by a couple of months, IIRC), you're making me feel very old right about now...

I have vivid memories of the same. I also have the (jaded) opinion that there's less music to be influential on the same level as there was back then...again, I may just be showing my age a bit...