The Official Covers vs Originals Thread

[bassbully]

Originally Posted by Lemoore-on

I love playing covers in a bar! I dig the intimacy of being on a small 6" high stage with sweaty bodies right in front of us, gyrating provocatively to the music we are playing. I love it when they sing along & play air guitar. I will be 50 soon, I have done originals and it is rewarding, but not as much fun

I agree... having people in the crowd yelling out for you to play songs your band wrote and singing along to them is an awesome feeling too.

[zachoff]

Originally Posted by bluewine

How often do you gig doing originals?

Blue

Once every month or so when I'm in a band. My last disbanded about a year ago and I just joined another forming band. We're writing now & getting the set together so no shows yet. Thinking soon though... Maybe March.

Once a month is pretty much ideal for me, anyway. I have kids in Jr High & High School so I don't want to play out much more than that & even if we go a couple months we'll write something new and that makes me happy as well.

[lbbc]

Although I have written some songs...I stick with covers and if people ask for my songs...great! In my area, original acts mostly work for the door and cover bands get a guaranteed pay. Since I've been at this for 37 years...I wanna get paid!

[SactoBass]

Originally Posted by DWBass

Whatever floats your boat. Just don't slag on those who don't do what you do!

DW: do you realize that if all TB'ers heeded that excellent advice, the number of TB postings would plummet?

It seems we humans have the unfortunate propensity to find fault with other humans, or even worse, expect others to like what we like, or think or believe what we think or believe.

I'm thankful for those who choose to write and perform originals, because if they didn't, there would be nothing for cover bands to cover. And I'm thankful for cover bands, because of the fun it brings to the performers and to the audience who love hearing songs they are already familiar with.

My opinion aligns with yours DW......go forth and do what makes ya happy, and be supportive of others who choose to do something other than what you choose to do. It's all about having fun in life. For me, that's what life is all about......having fun!

[Lemoore-on]

Originally Posted by bassbully

I agree... having people in the crowd yelling out for you to play songs your band wrote and singing along to them is an awesome feeling too.

Truth is, none of us have the inner poet in us. We come up with original "music" but never take the time to put together "songs" & none of us have a talent for lyrics.

[zachoff]

Originally Posted by Lemoore-on

Truth is, none of us have the inner poet in us. We come up with original "music" but never take the time to put together "songs" & none of us have a talent for lyrics.

IME, lyrics matter less than the vocal melody/hook. Most of the time you can't really hear what's being said (in a live setting, anyway) but the vocal melody matters a lot regardless of what's being said.

Load up on guns, bring a friend, it's fun to lose, and to pretend...

[BayStateBass]

Well, in a band setting all I have ever played is covers. I tried my hand at writing music a few times, but it honestly wasn't very good. Didn't get beyond my basement with any of it. Mostly because it was bad sounding music.

I never really considered myself a good enough musician to write music. Nor do I think I have the creativity or patience to contribute successfully to an originals band. But I'm okay with that, I have a great time playing covers for the crowd. And I've had some wonderful experiences and met some great people just being a cover band bassist.

Well, maybe I have a shred of creativity, maybe. A lot of times I will re-work or expand on the basslines in lots of the songs we do, because so many of them are not overly challenging. But that's about the extent of my creativity.

Honestly, playing one or the other doesn't make you more or less of a musician. There's challenges with each type of music. You just have to pick what's right for you and go for it. For myself, I enjoy playing cover tunes and could see myself getting frustrated in an originals band.

[Néal Zheimer]

I am in two originals band for two reasons.

First, as many players before me wrote here, it's about the creative process. In my band, we are jam oriented -read we don't compose stuff on paper- and that means you never know what the song is going to be. The guitarist starts a riff and sometimes I'm going to crash it with a lame bass line. From there, either we try something else on this riff or go in a completely other way.

TL;DR : I like the trials and errors process allowed in originals when you don't have an existing part to play.

Second, the other band (reggae) I'm has a strong band leader (who happens to be an awesome drummer). All songs we play has already been composed and written on staves including the bass lines so I'm just an interpret there. Even if the creative part is out of my hands, I still got to figure out out to play the given bass line for it to sound good without a recorded reference.

TL;DR : When given a written bass line, I like interpreting it to make it sound good (let's say decent).

Happy holidays to you all!

G

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

Very good point here. I've always learned from the musicians I play with, and I make it a point to try and find the best ones I can to help raise the bar. Hard to learn much from other musicians when you never get together to rehearse and just do your regular bar gigs playing the same songs again and again.

Another misconception about cover bands.

If your a gigging cover band it's not that simplistic. My band is always learning challenging new material.

You can't play the same songs again and again if you want to stay booked

[HolmeBass]

I love playing original tunes. As others have mentioned, your creativity is engaged. If I end up playing a really simple part it is because I decided, either alone or in consultation with my band mates, that a simple part would be musically effective. I never have to bow to anyone else's views though, we're equals when deciding what to play. Plus we come out of the jam band tradition, so changing things up from performance to performance is also fun, letting out chemistry as musicians really come to the fore.

I also really like playing one of our songs and knowing, when it goes over well with the audience, that *no one else* plays that song better than we do. Sure it's harder to reach people, so many people prefer to hear songs they've heard over and over before, but the people you do reach really respond and appreciate what we're doing. They get it, we're "for real" coming up with unique original music that they like.

I play in one original band and two cover bands (one does a handful of great original tunes though), and I appreciate the cover band thing. Often after a good set of covers, where the crowd really loved it, I tell my band mates, "It really wasn't fair, we played all of their favorite songs!" And it's true, I've had great responses to really mediocre sets just because they included some Led Zeppelin and Skynyrd. While I love standing on the shoulders of giants as much as anyone, I really love it when we do our own thing and it works.

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Another misconception about cover bands.

If your a gigging cover band it's not that simplistic. My band is always learning challenging new material.

You can't play the same songs again and again if you want to stay booked

This may vary by band and area, but my experience has been the exact opposite.

I've played in somewhat successful cover bands and watched my friends play in many of the high booking bands around here (getting paid $1.5K-$2K minimum per show) keep their sets 90% static for years. Didn't hurt their bookings or draw at all. In fact, having a constantly changing setlist would have probably hurt their draw as people go out to see them to hear specific songs.

I'm not saying that's the way I'd want it, but there are certain "standards" cover bands are expected to play in the 70's-80's-90's rock cover genre. Maybe it's different with where and what you play, but you can't assume what applies to you applies to everyone everywhere.

And putting it back into context, while learning more covers more often might expand your skill set some, it does not exercise the same "musical muscles" as pushing yourself to come up with something new while working with other like-minded players. It's just not the same as a room full of musicians learning pre-recorded material.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

And putting it back into context, while learning more covers more often might expand your skill set some, it does not exercise the same "musical muscles" as pushing yourself to come up with something new while working with other like-minded players. It's just not the same as a room full of musicians learning pre-recorded material.

I disagree, and I'm only talking about me and what I see.

Most original bands in Milwaukee are these young stoners playing a song that revolves around 3 chords that would be hard pressed to exercise any " musical muscles "

When I'm presented with a cover, my approach has never been to copy the bass line but to think about how I want to play it or come up with my interpretation. It's very challenging and productive.


I think TB still struggles with thinking all originals bands are a like and all cover bands are alike. Simply, not true.

Blue

[theretheyare]

Originally Posted by bluewine

I think TB still struggles with thinking all originals bands are a like and all cover bands are alike. Simply, not true.Blue

I agree 100%.

I quit playing other's people's music for money, because it made me unhappy. That's just me-if it makes someone else happy, I'll happily give them any such gigs coming my way. i also happen to be someone who found a destiny in writing music, for others more so than myself, even.

That said, playing covers can be very rewarding musically, it is how you interpret it for yourself. For example, I'll be doing a program of jazz standards next month, but we'll play them in a way that interests us, which might lead to interpretations that do not point at all to known examples.

So to answer the OP: I think the proper question is: in what way is playing 'covers' or 'originals' relevant to what you want to get out of performing in public?

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by bluewine

I disagree, and I'm only talking about me and what I see.

Most original bands in Milwaukee are these young stoners playing a song that revolves around 3 chords that would be hard pressed to exercise any " musical muscles "

When I'm presented with a cover, my approach has never been to copy the bass line but to think about how I want to play it or come up with my interpretation. It's very challenging and productive.


I think TB still struggles with thinking all originals bands are a like and all cover bands are alike. Simply, not true.

Blue

Well I would never argue that a large percentage of original bands are crap. Too many are in a rush to play out and will "write" the same song 10 times to make a set.

What you're describing about your interpretations I would describe more as a "remake" than a cover. That may very well work fine for what you're playing. Most of the audiences I've seen and played to with covers wanted to hear the song as close to the recording as possible. I might add my own personal flares here and there, but I'm not going to rewrite the bass line to "Livin' on a Prayer" - that's an integral part of the song and people expect to hear what they recognize.

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by theretheyare

That said, playing covers can be very rewarding musically, it is how you interpret it for yourself. For example, I'll be doing a program of jazz standards next month, but we'll play them in a way that interests us, which might lead to interpretations that do not point at all to known examples.

Good example - I think a jazz crowd is much more open to hearing variations on standards. However, the booze it up and singalong crowd expects to hear Journey, Bon Jovi, etc done a certain. I don't think those crowds would appreciate a reggae interpretation of those songs.

[theretheyare]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

Good example - I think a jazz crowd is much more open to hearing variations on standards. However, the booze it up and singalong crowd expects to hear Journey, Bon Jovi, etc done a certain. I don't think those crowds would appreciate a reggae interpretation of those songs.

Maybe, maybe not....these guys did pretty well with those type of crowds in my neck of the woods, at the time ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZHWy6W00oM

[zachoff]

These threads are funny.

I like to play the music I write or help write.
I generally like bars/theaters that book original bands over bars/theaters that book cover bands.
I generally like the crowds that are attracted to original music over crowds that are attracted to cover bands.

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by theretheyare

Maybe, maybe not....these guys did pretty well with those type of crowds in my neck of the woods, at the time ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZHWy6W00oM

What I recall of the NY area was folks there were a lot more interesting in seeing something different. Chicago and the burbs - not so much.

[HolmeBass]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

Good example - I think a jazz crowd is much more open to hearing variations on standards. However, the booze it up and singalong crowd expects to hear Journey, Bon Jovi, etc done a certain. I don't think those crowds would appreciate a reggae interpretation of those songs.

Oh, damn... we're working on a reggae version of "Don't Stop Believing". <sigh>

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by HolmeBass

Oh, damn... we're working on a reggae version of "Don't Stop Believing". <sigh>

Hehe - that could be fun in front of the right crowd.