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Am I The Only One?


stewblack

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38 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

He would say I only wanted to play what pleased me and not the crowd so I was being selfish. I would argue that he only wanted to play covers to get the adoration of the crowd, therefore it was him being selfish. Hey ho. Perhaps both were true. 

There is no non-selfish reason to play music to people really, whatever your motivation it is about your enjoyment, so what you want is as valid as what anyone else wants

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53 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I used to have a constant debate with my old guitarist about covers vs originals. Nothing wrong with doing covers, but I much prefer the creative process of writing and creating original music. He just couldn't get his head around the fact that I wasn't interested in "pleasing a crowd", and for me, the enjoyment came from the creativity involved. He would say I only wanted to play what pleased me and not the crowd so I was being selfish. I would argue that he only wanted to play covers to get the adoration of the crowd, therefore it was him being selfish. Hey ho. Perhaps both were true. 

“HERE HERE!!"

“scoff, scoff, scoff, scoff..."

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On 21/11/2019 at 07:39, Bassfinger said:

No, never played Superstition.  Rock covers, and if the punters at the Goat and Vasectomy don't like it they can bog off.

Oh good, it's not just me. All the other ones in the OP, yes. Got inured to Mustang Sally in one band, and we actually made a conscious decision to do it in another.

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On 22/11/2019 at 17:14, Woodinblack said:

Agreed - that is one I won't do. Actually a group, I won't do any oasis. And you wouldn't know just how many people have got very arsey about it.

I have suggested that we do one. "Cum on feel the noiz" - a Slade cover that Oasis did. Although our lineup (guit/vox, keys, bass, cajon & bongoes) means it will sound nothing at all like either.

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8 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Why must it be either/or? One of the bands I play in mixes up covers and originals, popular and obscure.

Ditto, except that all the covers are obscure.

I was until recently in a covers band, an originals band, and a tribute band. I'm no longer tributing, but I did have all bases covered for a while.

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On 20/11/2019 at 21:09, stewblack said:

BL has come back from her holidays got stoned listening to some godawful new soul track and decided it's what the punters down the Dog and Trumpet want for their knees up at the weekend. No problem, I'll learn whatever I'm told to, but don't see this one lasting. She has also asked us to learn Grapevine so lovely bit of Jamerson to get my teeth into and handy to have in my repertoire. However the third track we will be throwing out there unrehearsed is Mustang Sally.

As I sat learning the bassline I couldn't help but wonder - am I the only person on this forum never to have played Mustang Sally? Am I in fact the only bass player in the world who had to sit down and learn it?

What about you? Are you the only person alive who has never played Superstition? Not been asked to learn Play That Funky Music? Mr Brightside entirely unknown to you? Not had the pleasure of  a quick Brown Eyed Girl?

 

I have never played any of those, no.

 I jammed along to Superstition once, but that's about it. :D

 

 

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22 minutes ago, tauzero said:

I have suggested that we do one. "Cum on feel the noiz" - a Slade cover that Oasis did. Although our lineup (guit/vox, keys, bass, cajon & bongoes) means it will sound nothing at all like either.

 

which is a fortunate thing!

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13 minutes ago, machinehead said:

We played Sweet Home Alabama tonight. 

So did I, and Play That Funky Music, Freebird and several others, in the middle of our usual rock/blues set. We wanted to get the audience up dancing. Worked a treat, great night had by all.

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16 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Why must it be either/or? One of the bands I play in mixes up covers and originals, popular and obscure.

:facepalm: Our band perform lots of obscure covers and, from the audience's perspective, they may as well be originals as they've never heard them before... 

If you wanna get the crowd moving (preferably not to another venue...) you'll either want to give them what they know (popular covers), give them what they think they know (original songs that you've completely ripped off from popular covers.  Don't worry, it's not plagiarism, it's “homage"!!) OR... (what our band do) give them money to spend at the bar...  :i-m_so_happy:

Yeah, we might be out of pocket by the end of the night and yeah, sometimes the crowd can get violent when their told that your bank won't increase it's overdraft... but what's really important here is that you get to play music and you get to make people listen...

Moral of the story;

If you're gonna do covers, do “popular" covers.  If you're gonna do “obscure" covers, pass them off as your own (you might actually get signed).  If you're gonna do originals, don't bother... They're awful, you have no idea how to write a song or encapsulate a moment, you won't be recognised or appreciated and you certainly won't get any gigs other than the shows you hold in your own back garden in front of your pets (that are only hovering around because they haven't been fed yet...)

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3 hours ago, Ted Theodore Logan, III said:

:facepalm: Our band perform lots of obscure covers and, from the audience's perspective, they may as well be originals as they've never heard them before... 

If you wanna get the crowd moving (preferably not to another venue...) you'll either want to give them what they know (popular covers), give them what they think they know (original songs that you've completely ripped off from popular covers.  Don't worry, it's not plagiarism, it's “homage"!!) OR... (what our band do) give them money to spend at the bar...  :i-m_so_happy:

Yeah, we might be out of pocket by the end of the night and yeah, sometimes the crowd can get violent when their told that your bank won't increase it's overdraft... but what's really important here is that you get to play music and you get to make people listen...

Moral of the story;

If you're gonna do covers, do “popular" covers.  If you're gonna do “obscure" covers, pass them off as your own (you might actually get signed).  If you're gonna do originals, don't bother... They're awful, you have no idea how to write a song or encapsulate a moment, you won't be recognised or appreciated and you certainly won't get any gigs other than the shows you hold in your own back garden in front of your pets (that are only hovering around because they haven't been fed yet...)

 

I know you don't intend that to be 100% serious (maybe only 95? ;) ) but the thing with the originals... is yes, it's harder. A lot. But that should not stop anyone from trying if that's what they want to do. It doesn't get much better than getting avenue busy while playing your own songs and having people dance to them and sing back your lyrics while they're dancing. Don't stop yourself just because it's harder. 

 

 

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Many years ago I was in originals bands who were signed to labels and management. That was another world, but in the years since I've worked with songwriters where the writing was anywhere between great and woeful! Funnily enough, the worse the writer the less willing they were to listen to ideas. So I have a pretty jaundiced view of the semi-pro "originals" band as a genre. If you are going down the originals route, which is a valid decision, you have to develop a very strong quality filter. It's really not a good thing to be the William McGonigal of song writing. Just being an original song is not enough. It still has to be a good one.

A good covers band will play what the audience wants. A better covers band will make better song choices. You have a larger, more varied pool of songs to chose from and you can pick songs that are fresh, audience friendly and excellent songs at the same time. Audiences usually just want what they know but you can broaden their horizons if you do it well enough.

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46 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

I know you don't intend that to be 100% serious (maybe only 95? ;) ) but the thing with the originals... is yes, it's harder. A lot. But that should not stop anyone from trying if that's what they want to do. It doesn't get much better than getting avenue busy while playing your own songs and having people dance to them and sing back your lyrics while they're dancing. Don't stop yourself just because it's harder. 

 

 

I'd say there's 99.87% sincerity in my original post.;)

 

Nah!! Anyone who has the proverbial “balls" to perform originals in front of an ever-critical audience gets my utmost degree of admiration!!

Heck, I'd rather listen to that smelly kid with eleven toes performing his original tracks on a out of tune guitar at the open mic than have to sit through a semi-professional covers band inferior renditions of already successful songs...Talk about riding coat-tails... :dash1:

I would like to point out that I also have eleven toes and am in no way judging or discriminating others with eleven toes. I do however have a sense of hygiene, I aim to wash at least annually!!

 

 

Edited by Ted Theodore Logan, III
because I can't spell...
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1 hour ago, Ted Theodore Logan, III said:

I'd say there's 99.87% sincerity in my original post.;)

 

Nah!! Anyone who has the proverbial “balls" to perform originals in front of an ever-critical audience gets my utmost degree of admiration!!

Heck, I'd rather listen to that smelly kid with eleven toes performing his original tracks on a out of tune guitar at the open mic than have to sit through a semi-professional covers band inferior renditions of already successful songs...Talk about riding coat-tails... :dash1:

I would like to point out that I also have eleven toes and am in no way judging or discriminating others with eleven toes. I do however have a sense of hygiene, I aim to wash at least annually!!

 

 

 

:D !!!

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