The Real Reason Why Bands Play the Same Old Tired Covers

[tbirdsp]

I'm singing "That's my kinda night" by Bryan. I am a mediocre lead vocalist but I sing a few to give our lead singer a break. We already know "Maps" by M5, probably gonna do "Animals" too. We are putting these together at rehearsal tonight. I have more time on my hands than the others in the band so I often "learn songs in anticipation" too though.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I wish I could find 2 or 3 musicians who weren’t too cool to play the music I like. I love learning the current hits. There may not be a generic Top 40 anymore, but there are definitely hit songs.

This is one of the main reasons why I am quitting my pop band. When I joined, I was told the idea would be to span the whole spectrum of 60s to current hits. Yet in reality, our BL bases his choices mainly on a local "golden oldies" station. While we should have been learning "Blurred Lines", "Happy" and anything by Rihanna, Katie B, Maroon 5 and so on (which I don't necessarily like to listen to but which I would have loved to play) we ended up learning the likes of "Time Is Tight" and "Listen To The Music". And at 33, I am almost the oldest person in the band!!!!

 

[pklima]

This is one of the main reasons why I am quitting my pop band. When I joined, I was told the idea would be to span the whole spectrum of 60s to current hits. Yet in reality, our BL bases his choices mainly on a local "golden oldies" station. While we should have been learning "Blurred Lines", "Happy" and anything by Rihanna, Katie B, Maroon 5 and so on (which I don't necessarily like to listen to but which I would have loved to play) we ended up learning the likes of "Time Is Tight" and "Listen To The Music". And at 33, I am almost the oldest person in the band!!!!

I wish I could find 2 or 3 musicians who weren’t too cool to play the music I like. I love learning the current hits. There may not be a generic Top 40 anymore, but there are definitely hit songs. I would love a band that made the effort to try and guess which songs would hit, then learn them, and keep a rotation of fresh songs.

You still need filler (classics) for a 4 hour gig, but the problem with most of my bands is they bog the set with filler, but never bother with the fresh coat of paint (new hits/forgotten favourites)to hide the bog.

Move to Poland, haha. We don't need three bassists but I'll do the sequencing and rap vocals.

Or offer to bring a laptop and DJ during set breaks.

 

[10cc]

I agree with this. It isn't inherent lazy to play standards. A band can make a deliberate decision of what to play based on their market and identity, and that may mean the standards. But there's also such a thing as just being lazy and not bothering (or daring) to try anything different.



This was the singer/rhythm guitarist of my first band. Came in with a repertoire of tunes - mostly John Mellencamp and stuff like that - he already knew. He learned a few new tunes after joining the group. But he hit a plateau at about 25 songs, and then week after week came to rehearsal without having learned any of the other tunes we were going to play. We finally pulled the plug on the whole project.



Composing and performing are two completely different skills. Well, there's a little bit of overlap, but they're fundamentally different. If my goal and skills are to perform great music, and I don't have the skills to compose great music, then I'm better off performing great music by someone who has the composition skills. I could never figure out why people find that so difficult to understand.

Another factor in all of this - I think a lot depends on the particular band, and its market. If you play to a younger or artsier crowd, you're likely to find a lot more openness to different or obscure music. Some crowds want that; others want the comfort of the familiar. Also, it's very different for an established band that's built up a following and a close relationship with venues over the years, vs. a new band trying to get gigs and catch on with crowds who don't know who they are. A startup band plays a tune that doesn't go over, the dance floor empties and you don't get called back for another gig there. An established band, that has a rapport with people who love them, can play a more offbeat tune and people will eat it up.

If you can obtain the skills to play a bunch of songs, then it should be pretty easy to figure out how to put some of your own songs together. Right? That's what the Beatles did? I think?

 

[10cc]

The more I read the more I want to find 2-3 people who want to play whatever we want without the worry of pleasing some club owner - for free at a coffee shop or maybe finding a place to do a "concert" some night. Music I want on my terms for anyone who wants to listen.

This is how every band I've ever participated in did or still does it. Your playing music for you first and foremost.

 

[10cc]

But what does it have to do with this thread?

Everything

 

[jive1]

If you can obtain the skills to play a bunch of songs, then it should be pretty easy to figure out how to put some of your own songs together. Right? That's what the Beatles did? I think?

Absolutely not, unless you want to write songs that sound just like the covers you are playing. I can learn a 40 song set list of hit tunes in one day. There is no way I could write 40 songs that people will like in that time. I can't even write 1 song that I'm satisfied with in a month. I've never had a band tell me to write 5 songs and have them ready for the next gig. Learning a set of music can take hours or days, where writing a great album can take years.

There are guys who write songs really well who aren't great performers, and they write music for others. There are composers who never play live in front of an audience, ever. Heck, there are lyricists who can't play an instrument at all.

Everything

I wholly disagree.
The main discussion is about learning tunes, not writing them.
There's discussion about recognizable songs. Songs by local original bands don't qualify.
There's talk about weddings, corporates, etc. Original bands rarely, if ever get hired for those.
There are some bars that won't ever hire an original band, and some that won't ever hire a cover band.
There is no talk about publishing, credits, distribution, etc. or anything that is specific to an original band.

I don't understand why there are some that always have to turn a discussion into a covers vs originals. IMO, it's really lame. There's plenty of threads that cater specifically to original bands, and those that cater to cover bands. Obviously, this thread is geared towards covers.

It's like when people are talking about pickles, and someone wants to talk about their penis because they both start with P and are shaped the same. It's like a vegetarian trying to proselytize at a meat lovers convention, or someone walking into a packed football bar and insisting that the owner puts on ice skating. IMO, there's something really anti-social about that. People have different paths to joy and prosperity, and if you found your path, that's great. There's no need to question other's paths. If you don't have anything relevant to add, that's OK. No-one around here is getting paid by post count.

 

[MartinG1957]

Totally agree with Jive1 -the clue to what the discussion is expected to be about is in the thread title.

And Jive1 ...dunno about taking a month to write a song, those look like some pretty good lyrics right there in that last paragraph of your post

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I'm hoping the ex-singer of my almost-ex-band will want to hook up with me musically (she's goodlooking but both her boyfriend and my girlfriend would be opposed to any other type of hooking up, I guess) to do some modern R&B / soul covers. That would include Pink, Beyoncé, Joss Stone ... Stuff I do not necessarily listen to, but which very few bands here seem to play. It'd involve a lot of homework for me, as this type of repertoire is out of my comfort range.

She's got a good voice and I know I would enjoy myself with this repertoire. At the same time I really do not want to push her, nor myself, into doing this type of project. The band we both quit has scarred us a bit, and I'd rather not be in a band for a while than rush headlong into a different project / band. I just mailed her saying IF she would like to do this, I'm up for it. No stress, no hurrying to get gigs. Just playing music we like to play and having fun with it.


Now, about my pickle ...

 

[mellowinman]

It's like when people are talking about pickles, and someone wants to talk about their penis because they both start with P and are shaped the same.

"Fascinating"

 

[SteveC]

If you are talking about my post you may have misunderstood. I was talking about doing cover songs I like and not worrying about the clubs or money or whatever. Not doing originals. More of a concert setting. Come and listen. Not necessarily a club or dance setting.

Hope that clears it up. I think pertains to the topic - although maybe a little off center.

 

[DWBass]

Bottom line is......to those musicians that can't keep up, step aside and let someone else in who will! I'm with Jive! I'm sick of folks who constantly hold band's back due to their own lazyness & selfishness!

 

[smogg]

New hit song:
No penis in the pickle jar please

 

[FretNoMore]

Bottom line is......to those musicians that can't keep up, step aside and let someone else in who will! I'm with Jive! I'm sick of folks who constantly hold band's back due to their own lazyness & selfishness!

Keep up with what or with whose idea of what's acceptable?

I'll play Mustang Sally badly all night long if I and my audience likes it and have fun, and everyone else can go stuff their opinion about it somewhere dark.

 

[ChrisB2]

People have different paths to joy and prosperity, and if you found your path, that's great. There's no need to question other's paths.

How rich.... lol

What if one's path to joy is playing Mustang Sally? Oops, now we have a major problem, that's just wrong and those people are lazy.

You don't write songs? You're not trying hard enough, you're just a lazy musician.

 

[jive1]

How rich.... lol

What if one's path to joy is playing Mustang Sally? Oops, now we have a major problem, that's just wrong and those people are lazy.

You need not read more into what I say than what I write. If you truly love playing that stuff, fine. But, if you default to it because you didn't bother learning new material that's another thing.

I never said that there is anything wrong with playing standards. It's when you default to it, rather than learning to play something that might be more interesting, more audience oriented, etc. is where the laziness comes in.

Like I said in my OP and in other posts, I'm mainly talking about this type of scenario:
At rehearsal/band meeting/etc: "Hey, let's learn We are the Night for the next gig. The bar owner said that song goes over well with his crowd"
At the gig: "Hey, let's play that Blake Sheldon tune we agreed on" and the guitarist says, "I didn't learn that one, how about we play Mustang Sally instead?"
How many other musicians who play in working cover bands can attest to this scenario happening? My guess, every single one of us on this thread had this happen at one time or another. Considering the user base here spans the globe, and levels of performance, and we've all dealt with this situation, you can see how alot of 'standards' become prevalent in the cover scene.

 

[DWBass]

Keep up with what or with whose idea of what's acceptable?

To the band's agreed focus and direction! Those lazy, selfish kind of musicians could not be in a band that I'm running. Either you get with the program (meaning learn the material that is given to you) or step off the wagon and let someone else in or be fired! Simple.

 

[ChrisB2]

You need not read more into what I say than what I write. If you truly love playing that stuff, fine. But, if you default to it because you didn't bother learning new material that's another thing.

I don't believe I read anything into what you said:

The real reason why bands play the same old tired covers? Lazy musicians.

A person who is exclusive to their own original music could just as well have said "The real reason cover guys don't write their own music? Lazy musicians," and they would be just as wrong as you are.

I don't love playing the same songs all the time, but I don't "default to it because you didn't bother learning new material" and I'm not lazy. There are many other reasons for it than simply laziness.

I would never argue that there are no lazy musicians. I've been in bands with plenty of them. My objection is your placing all of us who do not add songs at YOUR pace into the "lazy" category.

Your OP went to great lengths to prove that all stagnation is a result of laziness, but it never hinted that there might be other reasons why people don't add songs at a pace that YOU determined is okay. And you've been proven wrong over and over by members who have posted their very valid reasons for not adding songs.

I have no quarrel with the fact that there are lazy musicians, only with the implication that everyone different than you is lazy.

People have different paths to joy and prosperity

Amen brother.

 

[FretNoMore]

To the band's agreed focus and direction! Those lazy, selfish kind of musicians could not be in a band that I'm running. Either you get with the program (meaning learn the material that is given to you) or step off the wagon and let someone else in or be fired! Simple.

OK, I can agree with that in the context of a specific band.

Not in general though, which prompted my somewhat brusque comment, I think people can play anything they want and however badly they want.

Peace.

 

[ChrisB2]

The real reasons why cover bands play the same old tired covers:

-too busy with work/school/family
-easy for everyone to get up to speed, add members
-impossible to schedule rehearsals due to scheduling conflicts
-member unavailability issues; travel/health/job
-spousal interference
-band is happy with repertoire
-venue(s) are happy with repertoire
-audiences are happy with repertoire
-genre known by standards (jazz, bluegrass)
-band unaware of need to diversify/unable to diversify
-lazy musicians
-more??

I have worked with people in almost every one of those categories, and most of them are valid reasons for not adding songs at a brisk pace. More often than not, IME anyway, laziness was never a big cause. It was usually scheduling problems or simple ignorance, the band was too dumb to know better.

I really didn't mean to rile you up Jive it's simply that there are many more reasons for band stagnation than just laziness.