...careful, now...you are trodding on sacred American musical soil.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Covers that make you angry.
- Thread starter Shovel
- Start date
True. I had to be politically correct and throw a bone to the standards/songbook nerds
My favorite Ellington is Afroeurasian Eclipse--
My favorite Ellington is Afroeurasian Eclipse--
Now I know that part of the fun of these threads is raising someone's ire...Ok, I'll play...
I grew up on The Supremes. They stood shoulder to shoulder with the Beatles and The Byrds on the air and on the stage. I could name you a dozen Supremes' song that I'd call 'meh'...maybe two dozen...but "You Keep Me Hanging On" is not one of them.
Paul Kelly is a true Australian legend.
In our musical history, we had a time where acts would play the pubs - rough, rowdy and unforgiving. Then there was the touring, where your next town was 500 miles away. Not an easy gig. Paul Kelly is like an urban folk storyteller. His ruminations on Adelaide, and most of his stories about urban Australian life are very grounded in truth. Much more so that John Williamson who tries to walk the same road, but ends up with colloquialism and nationalistic dross that many people flock to.
Neil Finn and his brother, Tim, come from NZ and have always had a fabulous ear for a melody.
If you can, check out Eddie Vedder doing "Stuff and Nonsense" from the 7 Worlds concert.
Not sure if we can post youtube on here...
Life is too short. There are too many unread books, too many unwatched movies, unheard songs. I choose not to ever connect music with anger. Frustration; yes...Am I quick to hit the button in the truck when a radio station has made a poor choice? (IMHO)...sure am. Lets let fewer things raise our ire.
This is very true, and we need to remember that at some point, the artist thought it was a good idea.
For what it's worth to this conversation, let's remember that George Lucas thought his prequel films were good enough to hit the cinemas, at some point.
Post away. Just put the link and TB will embed YouTube automatically. There is another thread for covers that make us happy post'em there
I have a vinyl copy of "Black, Brown And Beige" featuring Mahalia Jackson. Looks to be in very good shape. Haven't heard it yet...kinda scared of it.True. I had to be politically correct and throw a bone to the standards/songbook nerds
My favorite Ellington is Afroeurasian Eclipse--
I personally don't care for Phish (their song "Llama" sounds sloppy as hell) but their cover of "Revolution 9" (The Beatles) is inexcusable. It sounds like an insane man rambling to himself over feedback and completely misses the heavy chaotic feel and complexity of the original.
Sounds like we are on the same page, but not quite there. I would call that close enough.
I think that Waylon Jennings' cover of MacArthur Park is abysmal. It doesn't make me angry, but hearing it start up it will cause me to hit another button on my car radio. Thankfully it doesn't get much air play any more.
OK...hearing G&R quote Bob Dylan makes me hit the button a little bit harder...a little bit faster...
the ombudsman said: ↑
I love Vanilla Fudge's version of "Keep Me Hanging On". To me, that's the essence of recording a cover: You take a song that's "meh" and turn into "wow!".
Yeah, the Supreme's generally got the best songs Motown had to offer, and "You Keep Me Hanging On" was one of those, imo. Vanilla Fudge made it their own, and I dig their version too ... it's just a good song, and hence ripe for covering. To me, if a cover is enjoyable, it doesn't matter if it's "better" ore "worse" than the original. For example, I love the Naked Eyes cover of "Always Something There to Remind Me", but I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than the original. Of course, "standards" in general are like that, open to multiple interpretations ... that's why they're standards.
I came up learning a jazz approach on guitar - Here are these chords and this melody, that's your framework: Go! So it's all grist for the mill, as I view it, and I'm naturally inclined to put my own spin on any "covers" I do. I certainly appreciate note for note cover bands as well - I saw the Fab Faux last year doing their Beatles thing, and they were phenomenal!! Will Lee has quite the stage presence for a "studio" musician!
I love Vanilla Fudge's version of "Keep Me Hanging On". To me, that's the essence of recording a cover: You take a song that's "meh" and turn into "wow!".
Now I know that part of the fun of these threads is raising someone's ire...Ok, I'll play...
Yeah, the Supreme's generally got the best songs Motown had to offer, and "You Keep Me Hanging On" was one of those, imo. Vanilla Fudge made it their own, and I dig their version too ... it's just a good song, and hence ripe for covering. To me, if a cover is enjoyable, it doesn't matter if it's "better" ore "worse" than the original. For example, I love the Naked Eyes cover of "Always Something There to Remind Me", but I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than the original. Of course, "standards" in general are like that, open to multiple interpretations ... that's why they're standards.
I came up learning a jazz approach on guitar - Here are these chords and this melody, that's your framework: Go! So it's all grist for the mill, as I view it, and I'm naturally inclined to put my own spin on any "covers" I do. I certainly appreciate note for note cover bands as well - I saw the Fab Faux last year doing their Beatles thing, and they were phenomenal!! Will Lee has quite the stage presence for a "studio" musician!
For my very first rock gig ever when I was 18 (I was a folk singer before that), we covered Vanilla Fudge's You Keep Me Hanging On. I was playing an acoustic guitar with an across the soundhole pickup, and at the end of the song we went into a frenzy. I held my guitar headstock against my amp to send it into roaring feedback, the singer started screaming unintelligibly, and the drummer just went nuts. He knocked over a cymbal stand, and the cymbal chopped through the singer's mic cable. It was our only mic cable, so we were done.
Everything we had played before it was mainstream soft rock, and then we played that song. The crowd at the LSU Episcopal Student Center was dumbfounded; the song wasn't out on the radio yet (one of our guys was a member of the Columbia Record Club and had got the album as a promo) and they thought it was ours.
It was a hoot.
Everything we had played before it was mainstream soft rock, and then we played that song. The crowd at the LSU Episcopal Student Center was dumbfounded; the song wasn't out on the radio yet (one of our guys was a member of the Columbia Record Club and had got the album as a promo) and they thought it was ours.
It was a hoot.
