High-risk, high-reward covers you'd like to try - Page 2

BayStateBass · #21 12-27-2012, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbully

Funny in my cover band days the the harder more technical songs we tried never went over well but the easy songs 3-4 chords killed. My motto is the KISS system on covers.

I've found this to be the case with my experiences.

As far as high risk covers, I'd like to do "Ice Ice Baby". Could go over great with the right crowd, or could bomb.

pklima · #22 12-27-2012, 03:10 PM

But if it's not going well after one verse you can always do a segue into that one Queen song that sounded sort of similar.

Yeah, sorry, I couldn't resist.

**bassybill** · #23 12-27-2012, 03:38 PM

At my HUGE birthday bash this year (4 different bands and about 30 musicians performing

), there were a few tunes I really wanted to do that I had to scrap because we didn't have the rehearsal time to properly get them nailed - the one that was the most ambitious was the Yes version of Simon & Garfunkel's "America".

Did someone mention horns and Tower of Power by the way? The big band in my sig do a storming version of "What is Hip?" (not in the vid I link here, unfortunately). Check it out mellowinman if you like hearing horns, we have 13 of the buggers.

Tituscrow · #24 12-27-2012, 04:03 PM

I was worried that out three-piece trying to pull off Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick was a risk. As long as I nail them 16ths and keep that left hand going, we manage to pull off a version that replaces the sax break and keyboards with some great guitar work from my brother. It's one of the few tunes where I have to keep the occasional eye on the fretboard. Norman Watt-Roy is all over the place on that tune.

Our attempt at the Dave Lee Roth version of 'Just A Gigolo' however just didn't work. Shame, as I love that song, but it horns or nothing.

**jive1** · #25 12-27-2012, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BayStateBass

As far as high risk covers, I'd like to do "Ice Ice Baby". Could go over great with the right crowd, or could bomb.

That song has been in the top 200 list of songs requested for DJs for the last few years. To me, it's a pretty safe bet.

As Phalex says about cover bands, "You gotta embrace the cheese"

malthumb · #26 12-28-2012, 07:05 PM

I would like to do "Call Me Al". Not certain we have the right pieces to do it well. Power trio plus female lead singer.

mpace · #27 12-29-2012, 09:35 AM

Another stranglehold story- a cover band I was in got this one shouted to us towards the end of the night. We really hadn't rehearsed it but there was no chicken wire in front of the stage so we thought we could wing it and it really turned it into a crazy jam. Afterwards the guy who was shouting for it calmly walked up to us and dropped $100 on our mixer, nodded his head and walked off - classic
other high risk (maybe not technically but coordinating the band) that we had great reaction to:
War Pigs
No Quarter (songs remains the same version)

Ubersheist · #28 12-29-2012, 11:19 AM

The highest risk/reward thing that I've done in the past was an acoustic folk duo in the early 2000s where we only sang cheesy, teeny bopper songs. We tried to appear as if we took these songs totally serious, but it was still tongue firmly planted in cheek. We did "Oops I Did It Again," Backstreet Boy's "I Want It That Way," stuff by Madonna, etc. We only played short sets as openings to shows, or at things like open mics, but it always went over crazy well.

For the future, I'd love to do "Sunny" ala James Brown or Stevie Wonder - when that song starts kickin', it's KICKIN'!

I'd love to do Marva Whitney's "What Do I Have To Do."

This is pretty self-indulgent since 1/2 the song is a bass solo, but it would be KILLER to "I'd Rather Be With You" by Bootsy's Rubber Band.

Gopherbassist · #29 12-29-2012, 05:37 PM

"Shine Away" by Tesla. It's a love song that's slow like a ballad with just little bit of the sad feeling that goes into making a song a ballad, but it more hard and heavy. It's also a little bit prog with a few different changes in it and longer than usual intervals between choruses. Plus, there's a super heavy part near the end. It's a very cool song, but I don't know if most people would get it.

sb69coupe · #30 12-30-2012, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pklima

But if it's not going well after one verse you can always do a segue into that one Queen song that sounded sort of similar.

Yeah, sorry, I couldn't resist.

My former band covered "Under Pressure", more specifically the live version with Gail Ann Dorsey doing the Freddy Mercury parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5nYX-iuUFk

Our female singer killed the high vocal parts. I covered the Bowie vocals. I started with the bass line, she would sing "Ice Ice Baby" a couple times to throw people off. Once we kicked into the song, most folks were pretty shocked, and it always brought a great response.

Chef FourString · #31 12-30-2012, 08:36 AM

Small Stuff - The Dismemberment Plan

dave_p · #32 12-30-2012, 01:29 PM

We do a couple high risk tunes.
Alan parsons wouldn't want to be like you
Santana all I ever wanted was to be with you
Mother Earths version of lady day and John Coltrane
Band of gypsies version of them changes

pklima · #33 01-06-2013, 07:57 AM

OK, trying to talk one singer into doing the song in the first post of this thread, and just discovered another one today. It would be a lot of effort for not one but two vocalists to memorize the lyrics in Mongolian, but this song is amazing and I really think there's a strong chance that it would do BETTER live than any Lady Gaga song we could do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TamCVLI-dWQ

Or, you know, it might be a ton of work memorizing Mongolian lyrics just to end up with confused people wondering what the hell we're doing.

zfunkman · #34 02-13-2013, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

Yep, since my avowed goal is to get everyone to sit down and shut up.

There are quite a few Zappa tunes I would like to try in my duo, but I guess I'd have to play guitar instead of bass on most of them. Peaches En Regalia would probably top my list. The Ives piece for multiple marching bands would be pretty cool too though.

I'm in an instrumental trio. I learned Peaches En Regalia. I've challenged the guritar player to learn it. If he agrees I'm sure the drummer will have no problem. That song is a bitch! However, very rewarding once I got it down!

Rokoko · #35 02-13-2013, 11:46 AM

being a very dylan/ryan adams'ish alternative country act i would like to try and nail a version of Kenny Rogers "just dropped in", and also (and more daunting) Okkerville Rivers "for real".... ok not King Crismson or Frank Zappa difficult, but still, songs that need to be executed really snappy to be tolerable

MarkMgibson · #36 02-13-2013, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BayStateBass

I've found this to be the case with my experiences.

As far as high risk covers, I'd like to do "Ice Ice Baby". Could go over great with the right crowd, or could bomb.

I assume you'd wear a stocking over your head playing that song? Man, that's a shocker. I'd be hard-pressed to think of a worse song.

As for "embracing the cheese", Jive1 - just be careful you're not embracing a turd.

Drunk Heffalump · #37 02-13-2013, 12:03 PM

There's two actually:
Dopilsya. -. Ex Sector Gaza from Guy Ritchies's Rock n Rolla
Engel. - Rammstien

No I speak nether German nor Russian but for these I'd be willing to try phonetically.

pklima · #38 02-13-2013, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pklima

Nadia Ali "Rapture" - a classic dance club hit that never really got radio airplay around here. That follows the same pattern as my huge audience favorites by Sean Paul or Daddy Yankee, though this is in a very different style. She's also done an acoustic version, so it's definitely possible to do this song with "real instruments".

Since this thread got bumped I might as well mention this - we just rehearsed this song today. Should have it ready for a gig in a few weeks, so it's really gonna happen.

T_Bone_TL · #39 02-13-2013, 10:23 PM

I've always thought it would be good to have Free Bird down cold, just to be able to shut up the people who always call out for it (at darn near any rock concert I've ever been to, and some non-rock concerts.) It's been a while but I assume they are still out there.

With a horn section, go for Birdland. No, not Lullaby of Birdland (unless your audience goes for that sort of thing), Weather Report's Birdland. Great horns, great bass, great song, no idea what the public thinks of it, though. As a bass-noodling trombone player, I love the song.

Medford Bassman · #40 02-14-2013, 06:47 AM

Thirty years ago I was in a band where it was keys, drums, me doubling on bass and guitar and female singer. We were very much into progressive rock at the time. We actually perform the entire album side of Tarkus by ELP. I look back now and think we must have been on crack! (We weren't)

The funny part? We performed it live about 6 times and every time there was a small group who actually got into it. The rest of the crowd stared blankly and rightfully so.