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The most overplayed cover tune EVER.

#243
Gravedigger Dav said:
A close friend, now deceased, Joe Lala played percussion and sang backup with Stephen Stills when he had the band Manassas. I rode to a concert with them when we happen to cross paths in Nashville (circa 1975). On the way, Joe bet Stephen $100 he would sing Love the One You're With as "If you can't beat up the one you love, then punch the one you're with." Joe won the bet. I don't think anyone in the audience noticed. I love doing this sort of thing. I wrote alternative lyrics to Cocaine as Rogaine and our singer did it once.
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That's classic and I remember seeing Joe's name on those albums. Love me some Stills, great player, singer, songwriter. "Nuthin' to do but today..."
 
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#244
Blueinred said:
That's classic and I remember seeing Joe's name on those albums. Love me some Stills, great player, singer, songwriter. "Nuthin' to do but today..."
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I met Joe in 1966. He was in a band called The Motions playing at The Jolly Roger in Norfolk, VA. My band was playing a club right behind The Jolly Roger. We used to go on our breaks to listen to each other. The Motions became Blues Image. Joe later was doing percussion for CSN on tour. That's how he met Stills.
 
#246
obimark said:
The sad thing is most bands don't even get the song right. The gui****s always forget to drop out and let the drums and bass carry the one verse. Nope, they just keep playing power chords the whole way through, no dynamics at all.
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Yup, doing this one in one of my bands now and the guitarist just keeps goin' ... But he has no concept of dynamics anyway":rolleyes:
 
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#248
I've avoided Classic Rock cover bands for decades and I've never had to play
most of the songs listed here, including Mustang Sally.....until.....
I got an offer to join a gigging, paying cover band, which I did join.
They sent me the set list and it is every single overplayed song ever written.
Whew, the things we do for gigs....and I had no idea there is an entire population of bar goers
that love these songs to death, who knew?
 
#249
I snickered to myself at the first mention of Mustang Sally here, and haven't played it since the mid-70s. Then two weeks ago, the BL states we should do it because people (drunk ones, but, hey, that's are target audience) had asked for it. "Yessir," I sez, and picked up P to summon forth the funk, and we are having fun with it.

Added at the same time: Higher and Higher, Dancing in the Streets.
 
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#251
I remember here in Texas in the 90's some open jams would have sets designated "no Stevie Ray" because otherwise 90% of the night was SRV.
Even now in our Classic rock cover band we play minimum two SRV tunes every night and almost always the crowd requests "more Stevie Ray"! We gladly play it.
 
#253
You might not believe this--but this isn't the misinformation thread.
I have never heard a cover band play Mustang Sally live (I've seen videos of it though)
I have never played Mustang Sally.

For me candidates would be Pipeline, Innocence (by a Canadian band-Harlequin), Rocky Mountain Way & One by Metallica
 
#255
dtripoli said:
I've avoided Classic Rock cover bands for decades and I've never had to play
most of the songs listed here, including Mustang Sally.....until.....
I got an offer to join a gigging, paying cover band, which I did join.
They sent me the set list and it is every single overplayed song ever written.
Whew, the things we do for gigs....and I had no idea there is an entire population of bar goers
that love these songs to death, who knew?
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Those of us who've been doing it and making money for decades.
 
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#256
I didn't read the whole thread, I just immediately thought "brown-eyed girl" (and often done badly at that). Mustang Sally is probably the quintessential answer, but I've only heard it a handful of times myself, and I've never heard the original (as in, I've only ever heard it as done by bar bands, and it's bad enough I've no desire to hear the real deal).
 
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#257
Fingerpickingood said:
Judging from threads here on TB, it seems as though Mustang Sally is the clear and definitive winner.

What say you, O Cover Band Gods???
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I've been playing Mustang Sally since 1967 in various bands and my take is it's a great song just that 99% of the bands that I hear playing it play it like they're on a GB gig, snore!!!!!! I've heard and taken part in way too much terrible versions, poor Wilson Pickett must turn in his grave most of the time.
 
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#258
The problem with Johnny B. Goode is that it is that the drums and bass are supposed to play a modified swing beat, very fast with quarter note bass lines, try getting your drummer to play it right, almost impossible unless he was playing that stuff when it was new or he really likes 50's and 60's rock n roll and studies it.
 

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