Songs I do not want to play

[mellowinman]

I'll play any song.

Now the question is, "WHO WILL BE SINGING IT???"

That's the biggest deal. If you can't sell the lead vocal, you shouldn't sing it. So if you are in my band, and you aren't going to sing it, get used to your song suggestions being shot down regularly.

 

[eldorado2001]

Wagon Wheel
Can't You See
Feelin Alright

 

[Jakeman]

Don't get me wrong, I love the Meters. As a New Orleans bass player, they've influenced me more than most bands. But that being said, I feel no desire to ever play "Cissy Strut" again. It's the "Brown Eyed Girl" of New Orleans. Same goes with "Iko Iko", "Big Chief", etc. Tourist fare.

 

[gln1955]

As far as Wagon Wheel goes, you just need to have the right personnel

(wou need to watch at least up the first chorus)

 

[draygriff]

I gig in the North-East corner of Florida. If I never did "Sweet Home Alabama" again it would be too soon. Love doing "Three Steps"! I guess that's the difference between Ed King and Leon Wilkeson on bass.

 

[dlb1001]

I despise everything about Adele's music.

Not crazy about her material either but my band has a pretty good singer and she does a great job on it so I just grin and bear it.

 

[RichardW]

I will walk off the stage rather than play Wagon Wheel.

Uh oh. My band is rehearsing this for our next gig--first time, though.

My BL once proposed a song by Bread and I had to put my foot down.

But to the OP--if you're just reacting to a list of songs, how do you know how the band plays the tune? There are plenty of overdone songs that could be made more interesting and fun with a new arrangement.

 

[mikeyjm2]

I'll play anything we sound decent playing and that works for the audience in front of us. I don't have to love or even like it.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I will walk off the stage rather than play Wagon Wheel.

Why? Is it just too simple and easy, or is it overdone?

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Don't get me wrong, I love the Meters. As a New Orleans bass player, they've influenced me more than most bands. But that being said, I feel no desire to ever play "Cissy Strut" again. It's the "Brown Eyed Girl" of New Orleans. Same goes with "Iko Iko", "Big Chief", etc. Tourist fare.

I hear you talking. When I was playing with a blues band in Asheville, 10 years ago, we played Cissy Strut every single gig, and it seemed to go on forever. I still play Iko Iko once in a while. We rewrote some of the verses to make them, um, mildly obscene.

 

[interp]

Here's an idea: Don't play the songs you don't want to play.

And don't whine about what anybody thinks about it.

 

[EdO.]

Being fairly new to this and quickly increasing our repertoire, I'm getting tired of every song we're learning!

That's the problem. Playing music is supposed to be about having fun, exploring the possibilities etc. The truth is that to do it really well requires you know the material so thoroughly that you can play it in your sleep.

The BL/keys player in the touring band I traveled with back in the mid 70's- early 80's used to tell a tale about some famous well known concert pianist (name escapes me) that in an interview stated before he'd play a new piece in concert he would rehearse it for AT LEAST 7 years. Said he wanted to know it so thoroughly that he didn't have to think about it, just let it flow. The tightest bands are the ones that have been together a long time and know the material so thoroughly that no matter what they can kill it every time. As the saying goes, amateurs practice till they get it right. Professionals practice till they can't get it wrong.

 

[lfmn16]

Why? Is it just too simple and easy, or is it overdone?

I only heard it once and hated it. IMHO the original version is just boring. I never even made it all the way through the first time, ready to gouge my ears out to make it stop.

Here is a version I could do though, so every song has hope:



Although having the duck-heads in it kind of ruins it.

 

[filmtex]

tunes i'd rather not have to play = too many to list here
tunes i'm unwilling to play at the gig = 0

i don't play for a living anymore, but i do play for $, which helps out in my retirement, so the audience is the boss: the BL and the band are employees.

That's a great way to put it. Same here...

 

[Ant Illington]

Fine by me. Having played both at the proper tempo hundreds of times (using a drummer who clicked off every song with a metronome) I can tell you that Funky Music got them slammed up against the stage dancing and Get On Up sent them to the bar more often than not.

But that's anecdotal at best. I concede that point.

Get On Up is fun and funky to play, but (in my experience) hasn't translated to full dance floors, and even rather the opposite at times.

Are you talking about Get Up (I feel like being a) Sex Machine or is there another song? Get Up Sex Machine does, indeed, seem to be quite the floor-clearer. I've played it and seen it played many, many times and the crowd is always meh. The tempo is fine for dancing, I think it's just not poppy enough/too static for people who tend to like melodic hooks to sing along with.

 

[two fingers]

Are you talking about Get Up (I feel like being a) Sex Machine or is there another song? Get Up Sex Machine does, indeed, seem to be quite the floor-clearer. I've played it and seen it played many, many times and the crowd is always meh. The tempo is fine for dancing, I think it's just not poppy enough/too static for people who tend to like melodic hooks to sing along with.

Yes. Couple everything you just said with the fact that most bands rush it and it's a crowd dispersing song...in my experience anyway.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I only heard it once and hated it. IMHO the original version is just boring. I never even made it all the way through the first time, ready to gouge my ears out to make it stop.

Here is a version I could do though, so every song has hope:



Although having the duck-heads in it kind of ruins it.

This is the version I was referring to

 

[Ric5]

- Play That Funky Music. What's the deal with this song. If they want something funky or that people can dance to why not some James Brown, Temptations of even some Blues Brothers.

I have always hated that song ... and many other disco songs

also

Johnny B Goode ... a worthless throw away song
Brickhouse ... terrible
Sympathy for the Devil ... boring ...
Wonderful Tonight ... really boring lame song

 

[lefty1979]

I've got a gig Friday and you guys have rattled off about half of our covers!

 

[HamOnTheCob]

In my modern country band, we do a lot of rock stuff, and prior to joining, the band played Gimme 3 Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC regularly. I told them I'd join their band but I'd never play those songs, period. I loathe both those bands on a level I can't verbalize. Life's too short to play music that you absolutely can't stand. There's always a different song that you could play that would achieve the same desired effect. For us, we play Feel Like Makin' Love and Midnight Rider. The harmonies go over way better anyway.