General Music Chat

Well this is prolly lame on my part, but I tend to lean toward as close to authenticity as my capability allows me...

The reason really has to do with that song-writing bug in me... it wants to know, feel and experience what the artist 'must have been felling and experiencing...

It's twisted , but i guess its my need for 'interprative' accuracy in honor of the artist I would be covering.

Its very painful sometimes...(Literally) to put mind, heart and soul in that direction... This is probably the number one reason I have avoided covers in favor of original work...

But If I ever hope to be song-writer, then I have to dwelve into the work of others, to understand what they saw, felt, heard...

I'm that kid in the high-chair, spell bound by the adults around me...sure to pick up their habits...make the distinction later, and bloom out from that, into my own, so to speak...

Wonderfully said.
I've tried to explain that same idea before, even though I don't label myself a songwriter.
I'm compelled to learn it as recorded - partly out of respect, and partly to get into the head of the original artist.
After I feel that I have a grip on it, then I decide if I want to experiment with it.

I guess... Kind of like learning proper forms and postures in martial arts first, with if you so choose, you can adapt and tailor it to your personal needs later.

I've never played in a cover band that felt obligated to play songs as they were originally done. i've always played w folks who approached it from the standpoint of trying to bring something a little different to things.

of course i have played pickup gigs w bands whose ideal was to get as close to the original as possible and for some stuff i can enjoy that too.

i've never learned the exact proper way to play Blackbird but have always been able to get pretty close w my interpretation.

not long ago i was playing a solo instrumental gtr gig at a local bar on an off night. a few musicians walk in....you can always tell by the way they check out your gear as soon as they come in. anyway they nod over at me and one of 'em says to the other "hey, you should go up there and play Blackbird"...i was playing some reggae thing in G so i quickly spun it into a reggae version of "Blackbird".....they immediately started cracking up and nodding in approval. i don't know if they were more surprised i overheard their conversation or by my reggae version of it!

i finish and the drummer of their group (turns out they were playing across the street) came up, gave me a little polite respectful bow and said that was the best version he ever heard of it. then he dropped two twenties in my tip jar!

dunno if the tip would have been as generous if i played it straight like the mccartney version.

GEEEZZE we finally found some common ground.

Did I ever tell you about the time I got to see Milt Jackson?
38 years ago... small walk down bar in Boston... 5 dollar cover... Totally awesome... He LOVED every NOTE he played.

Did I ever tell you about the time Gary Burton gave an open concert in Boston? 90 degrees, 2 thousand people, and he went off on 20 minute tangents to give his band a break. WOW. Over 4 hours, in summer city heat.

glen...i'd wager we have a lot more in common than not. once you take politics out tof the equation. us both hailing from the empire state being just one.

no, never heard either of those stories.

(like many) i consider milt jackson one of THE best blues players EVER. and i'm huge fan of burton....even if i don't use "the burton grip" when i hold mallets.

the mrs and i moved to mid missouri in '84 and that year i got to see milt (w the MJQ), gary burton quartet, dave samuels (w spyro gyra), bobby hutcherson, and terry gibbs! vibes royalty all!

Well this is prolly lame on my part, but I tend to lean toward as close to authenticity as my capability allows me...

The reason really has to do with that song-writing bug in me... it wants to know, feel and experience what the artist 'must have been felling and experiencing...

It's twisted , but i guess its my need for 'interprative' accuracy in honor of the artist I would be covering.

Its very painful sometimes...(Literally) to put mind, heart and soul in that direction... This is probably the number one reason I have avoided covers in favor of original work...

But If I ever hope to be song-writer, then I have to dwelve into the work of others, to understand what they saw, felt, heard...

I'm that kid in the high-chair, spell bound by the adults around me...sure to pick up their habits...make the distinction later, and bloom out from that, into my own, so to speak...

That's the closest approach to how I would do a cover back in the day. First, I wanted to learn exactly how the original artist did it, in an attempt to discover what made the song successful in the first place. It was also the only music education I ever got, trying to understand how the greats would "do it".

Then, if I thought I could either improve on the idea or present a different perspective worth hearing, we'd blow it up and re-create the idea using different music. But every song started by trying to figure out how it was originally done.

There were dozens of songs that I sang every night without ever knowing the actual lyrics. I'd mumble the difficult syllables that I could make out and just fake it. No one ever mentioned figuring that out, but years later with the advent of internet I found out that I wasn't anywhere close. Doh!?!