4stringslow Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1469187145' post='3096428'] A cover is more specifically a song that was originally recorded (and made famous?) by another artist beforehand. ie the risk and hard work of selling the song and determining whether it will be popular has already be done. All you have to do is copy what they did. [/quote] I don't think the 'made famous' bit is relevant when it comes to covers. There are plenty of examples of a cover version being more famous/successful than the original, e.g. Clapton's Cocaine, Lynyrd Skynrd's Call Me The Breeze are both covers of JJ Cale songs, but I'd be the majority of listeners don't know that. We're over-complicating things. A cover is simply any song not performed by the original artist. No qualifications needed really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 If you don't like joining in Blue's threads, don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydog Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1469189981' post='3096461'] If you don't like joining in Blue's threads, don't. [/quote]Good advice. Bye ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1469189981' post='3096461'] If you don't like joining in Blue's threads, don't. [/quote] Now you're just being silly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammers Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469189073' post='3096446'] We're over-complicating things. A cover is simply any song not performed by the original artist. No qualifications needed really. [/quote] +1 - Simple as that really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Yep - in its most simple form the definition of a cover band is a band who performs material written or made famous by someone else. Doesn't matter if they also perform material they wrote themselves, when they are playing material that they didn't write / make famous, they are 'covering' that material, so at that point they are being a cover band. Calling all orchestras 'cover bands' is a tricky one for me. Any piece written for an orchestra is unable to be performed by the composer, as he/she is only one person, and one person can't be an orchestra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 If someone else wrote the song then its a cover. Jazz, classical would fall into this definition, happy with that. Self penned - (as Skank put it) is the only other category. Tribute acts are just cover bands with a theme and (probably) frilly outfits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1469195441' post='3096524'] Calling all orchestras 'cover bands' is a tricky one for me. Any piece written for an orchestra is unable to be performed by the composer, as he/she is only one person, and one person can't be an orchestra. [/quote] A gross generalisation is that in classical music, the composer is the "star", and in other genres it's the performer. There are of course, "star" classical performers, and in recent years the writer/producer has come more into the foreground, getting first billing in "writer/producer ft. singer" ventures. But for non-classical, I'll go with the "not played the one(s) who made it famous" as the hallmark of the cover band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1469187145' post='3096428'] No. They had material that was written specifically for them. [/quote] Good thing you don't go in for sweeping generalisations, in't it? So ... tell me about [i]Hound Dog[/i]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4stringslow Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1469196264' post='3096536'] If someone else wrote the song then its a cover. Jazz, classical would fall into this definition, happy with that. [/quote] Me too . . . . although what about someone like Elton John? Are his songs 'half covers' because Bernie Taupin writes all the words? Or is 'Elton John' an original artist comprised of Reg Dwight & Bernie Taupin? Damn - I had things straight in my mind before thinking of that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 judging by their first album, especially, Led Zep are a covers band Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469196972' post='3096544'] Me too . . . . although what about someone like Elton John? Are his songs 'half covers' because Bernie Taupin writes all the words? Or is 'Elton John' an original artist comprised of Reg Dwight & Bernie Taupin? Damn - I had things straight in my mind before thinking of that one! [/quote] know what you mean but there have always been songwriters - its the artist that the public connect the song to and will hear performing the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4stringslow Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Fair enough, so it goes back to what someone said earlier about songs being written specifically for one artist not really being a cover? So all those Motown and other big label 'hit factories' were effectively turning out originals, even though the artist had not written the song? Does that make Lennon/McCartney's 'Step Inside Love' by Cilla Black a cover or an original? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) [quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469197809' post='3096562'] Does that make Lennon/McCartney's 'Step Inside Love' by Cilla Black a cover or an original? [/quote] If Lennon/mcCartney recorded and released it, then Cilla's version is a cover. I think this is the definition - if the song was recorded & released by someone else first, then any future version, live or recorded is a cover. Edited July 22, 2016 by LewisK1975 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1469188268' post='3096439'] I'm inclined to agree with this. Why the need to define a cover band in the first place is beyond me. [/quote] Because - like many [i]apparently[/i] anodyne topics here on BC it's a starting point for an exploratory discussion. For example, one could trundle off down the classical route; or delve into the role of 'familiar' traditional music as a vehicle for community cohesion in agrarian society and the part played by village bands of amateur musicians who performed at festivals, weddings and in the church; or prod idly at the 1930's semi-professional British dance bands which copied their American influences and among whose number toiled the late Mr Spike Milligna. One might ask why musical familiarity is allegedly more important to older consumers and conclude that the music one encounters in one's formative years becomes part of one's identity to the extent that hearing such songs in later life may (or may not) trigger pleasure endorphins; thus providing a platform of income - however attenuated - for many musicians of our ilk. We might even explore the tipping point for a song where it hovers between 'Not again!' and 'Wow, I haven't heard that for ages!' If one is prepared to exploit the possibilities inherent in the initial contention there is no saying [i]where[/i] we might end up. Edited July 22, 2016 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='KevB' timestamp='1469046978' post='3095424'] So what do they call bands in the US that predominantly cover other peoples music then Blue? [/quote] [quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1469049013' post='3095446'] I think they are referred to as 'Bar Bands' [/quote] I was going to say 'Led Zeppelin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469189073' post='3096446'] I don't think the 'made famous' bit is relevant when it comes to covers. There are plenty of examples of a cover version being more famous/successful than the original, e.g. Clapton's Cocaine, Lynyrd Skynrd's Call Me The Breeze are both covers of JJ Cale songs, but I'd be the majority of listeners don't know that. We're over-complicating things. A cover is simply any song not performed by the original artist. No qualifications needed really. [/quote] We're defining cover band not what a cover is. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='blue' timestamp='1469198475' post='3096578'] We're defining cover band not what a cover is. Blue [/quote] OK then - IMHO a cover band is any band who performs a song that was recorded and released by someone else first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1469187145' post='3096428'] No. They had material that was written specifically for them. A cover is more specifically a song that was originally recorded (and made famous?) by another artist beforehand. ie the risk and hard work of selling the song and determining whether it will be popular has already be done. All you have to do is copy what they did. [/quote] Both Cliff Richard and even more so Elvis Presley covered songs written by and/or originally performed by other people. The first Elvis RCA album started with a Carl Perkins cover, and also included covers of Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter and Little (no relation to Cliff) Richard amongst others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='blue' timestamp='1469198475' post='3096578'] We're defining cover band not what a cover is. Blue [/quote] Ah, but this semantic hair-spitting is one of the essential details of the argument! For in order to determine what defines "a cover band," we must return to first principles regarding our determination of what is, or is not, "a cover." Once we have concluded this section of the debate, we shall move on post-haste to discussing a philosophically rigorous definition of "a band." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469196972' post='3096544'] Me too . . . . although what about someone like Elton John? Are his songs 'half covers' because Bernie Taupin writes all the words? Or is 'Elton John' an original artist comprised of Reg Dwight & Bernie Taupin? Damn - I had things straight in my mind before thinking of that one! [/quote] Bernie and Elton are not a band. This discussion pertains to defining a cover band at the local level. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1469198602' post='3096581'] OK then - IMHO a cover band is any band who performs a song that was recorded and released by someone else first. [/quote] That's a good basic definition. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='blue' timestamp='1469198475' post='3096578'] We're defining cover band not what a cover is. Blue [/quote] I really don't care if it's a cover or a cover band or if it's original (which I very much doubt) or a so-called originals band. I only want to know do I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='blue' timestamp='1469198900' post='3096585'] This discussion pertains to defining a cover band at the local level. Blue [/quote] In your imagination maybe, but threads and definitions have a real life of their own. It's like you wrote the original thread but lots of people have covered it in their own way. That's life. The author is dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 [quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1469187468' post='3096431'] Normal Blue thread. Post question with an obvious answer. Give said answer. Blue tells you it's wrong and gives his version of an answer. [/quote] I've agreed with many of the cover band definitions given. I actually posed this question to set up and gather data for a future thread. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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