covers vs originals

[Cris]

A thread over on Craigslist brought this to my mind.
Most people who play music are not in it to get rich but for the enjoyment of playing, singing and entertaining. There was a time when songwriting and performing were not completely intertwined. Why is it that so many look down on those who choose to perform songs written by others? Am I seeing something that isn't actually there?

I know when I hear a good lyric and a well made song that I would love to hear, or to perform. I also know that I am not a songwriter. That doesn't bother me. It does seem that there are those who believe that if you're not writing all your own material you aren't a musician. Why is that?

[suzanneflower]

Not really sure what people are thinking with that!

When people ask I tell them I am a working musician, not a musical artist. To me, although not getting rich, there is integrity and merit in what I do. There is skill and talent required.

Performing songs that people want to hear - again and again - is bringing music to life, and a legitimate service. It does something for people. Familiar music has therapeutic value - both in reminiscence and as soul food. Not in love with a lot of the music I do, but other people love it and are willing to pay for it, so nothing wrong with that! Some would call it selling out, I call it paying the rent and being a service provider with a greater degree of flexibility and freedom.

One thing I will say about it is if you are covering a song with some sort of signature something, like if you do Stevie Wonder's I Wish, you MUST play the bass line the same way or it just isn't that song!! You know what I mean???

And on that note (pun intended) how many original holiday season songs are out there that people want to hear??? If you work during that season, depending on your venue of course, you are expected to play existing songs. That is what people want to hear. (Huge pressure for me when doing background music during that time as everyone KNOWS that music and if you make a mistake/play wrong notes )

Just my 2 cents. Bet Joe Lev could throw in a couple dollars worth here...

[jlev]

Hmmm. I know this: I would rather play a great cover song than a crappy original.

There are some that write songs, that's what they have to do. Funny though, the good ones often do select covers just out shear appreciation of good song writing. for example, Jerry Garcia or Jahari Sai..

But the Craigslisters are mostly not that, just people with rock star dreams. But who knows maybe it's a generational thing? I tell my students; if you want to play original music by all means do, but playing covers is a big part of a musical education. You learn the nuts and bolts: harmony(how chords work together) melody, form, how make lyrics that say something and are singable, arranging and all the other stuff that goes into the craft of music.

I think just a matter of what you want to do, it's all good, but you got to got to understand what you are dealing with;

So to you Cris I say: If you love being up in front of a bunch of happy people, singing a song everyone loves, making the party just flat out happen, making that connection, then do that!!!!

If someone else wants to create their own music and shoot for a recording career, go for it, but know you still have to get over to a audience that might not care so much about YOUR inner life but are more looking for a good time.

Suzanne, you are a professional!! Thats how I am: do the gigs, make the most out of it. There is room for a lot of different music in a life, every gig I do doesn't define me, but truely most of what I do I really like. I feel blessed to be able to make a modest living at what is dearest to my heart, it's really all I hoped for. Sometimes I play covers, sometimes I play peoples originals, occasionally maybe one of my songs. I have incredible musical experiences doing any and all of this. I do realize that the songs I have written i wrote for me, because I had something to express and they mean a lot more to me than they do to anyone else so I don't inflict them on people usually.

It never ceases to amaze me how passionate humans are about music!! And we love what we love, don't let anyone tell you that what your heart tells you is wrong!

[kenb]

I don't mind playing covers at a gig, and I do often, but I am a song-writer and there is no money big enough or satisfaction high enough that can replace an audience singing my words along with me. And that means it happens infrequently at best. I don't write songs to advance my career, I write songs to tell my story, and every one of my songs are a story from my life one way or another. But, that doesn't put asses at the bar. And I learned all I know of music from those that did it before me, so the music lives on in me. But, I think I write a better song than most, and I am the only person ever to tell those stories.

[jlev]

Well put, Ken!

[Cris]

If we considered this in another vein, say movies for example. There are great screenwriters just as there are great songwriters. Why in film are the actors not criticized for not writing their own words? And the writers don't get grief for not appearing in front of the camera. No one gives J.K. Rowling any less credit for the Potter series because she didn't don McGonagal's robes. Pacino, DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, all considered great actors, though none write their own screen plays.

Songwriting and song performing are two distinct artistic endeavors IMHO and one doesn't have to be great at one to be great at the other. Nor should one be looked down for choosing one over the other.

[grateful]

I wonder if I can be objective about this issue at this point in my playing career - over 90% of what I've ever played onstage has been my interpretation of a song someone else wrote that I hand-picked to cover. My issue is that most criticism levied against musicians playing cover songs is directed at bands playing top-40 or classic rock music, which I think highlights a serious perception problem - take just about any bluegrass, blues, jazz, country, klezmer, big band, folk or jugband musician and most will have played almost nothing but covers throughout their playing career. I've been wondering if the difference in application of the cover band label is partly a response to musicianship and commitment - but too much polish and you run the risk of being seen as "lounge-ey".

[suzanneflower]

You are right. I automatically think of a cover band as a top 40 type thing.
There are a lot of old songs that many people have done over multiple decades and 'owned' by virtue of their artistic arrangements and styles.

[davebaldwin]

I think the "originals are better than covers" thing keeps getting promoted by two groups of people. Those musicians that have trouble learning the covers. And those venue owners that don't want to pay their ASCAP/BMI fees.

[grateful]

I think it's mostly other musicians using the term covers derisively, but I can see why clubs might be nervous about "cover" music being played. After getting a great explanation from a music publishing executive about how music royalties are distributed, I wondered if the terrible reputations those "watch-dogs" of music royalties have earned were harsh enough. You'll have to consider the era (5-6 years ago), but basically my friend described the convoluted process whereby a bar has 8+ nights of music a week, with bands playing Mustang Sally each of those nights, for approximately 50 weeks a year, and dutifully pays their dough to BMI/ASCAP. In my friend's analysis, the publishing houses use a complex matrix of radio airplay, recorded music sales numbers/Billboard charts, radio station programmers, and other arbitrary and capricious standards to figure out how to dispense the licensing & royalty fees collected from the clubs... and after all this, the money goes to M&M - Not to Mack Rice, or whoever the hell owns the publishing for Mustang Sally these days, but rather to the artist who topped the food chain in pop music during the epoch when the fees were collected - I guess if you play Satisfaction this Friday night, Bruno Mars gets the BMI/ASCAP money. Now who's stealin'?

[Richard]

I've always played covers because I dont have the ability, or desire, to write my own stuff, especially the lyrics. I have always had a good time playing music that everyone knows, and watching them have a good time. I think its great when people play their own stuff, but its just not my style. I hate practicing, so it makes it even harder to get with an original group that practices everything to death. I also think its fun to take older obscure songs, and play them in a way that makes them sound different, and better. Thats how I get my 'original' fix, by scabbing off someone elses song.

[Cris]

May 24, 2011 18:59:22 GMT -8 Richard said:

... I also think its fun to take older obscure songs, and play them in a way that makes them sound different, and better. Thats how I get my 'original' fix, by scabbing off someone elses song...

This one of the things my band is very fond of...finding covers that people know, but that aren't being done, or being done the way we find to do them. It makes for an interesting and fun experience for us and hopefully for our audience.

[Cris]

Kris Kristofferson on Me & Bobby McGee. I think his thought on Janice's version speak to what music should be.
performingsongwriter.com/kris-kristofferson-bobby-mcgee/