Bands/Songs that should never be covered.

[spectoremg]

Because Lowregisterhead is being shy, I'll start this off. 

Interestingly spawned from a Steely Dan thread, where like many other bands one aspect of their ethos can be totally mangled. 

[musicbassman]

Because the original is so unique, any copy must surely be a blasphemy.

 

[chris_b]

Never say never.

[phil.c60]

46 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Never say never.

Indeed. Having seen a young (male) friend of my sons bring the house down in a crowded pub sitting on a bar stool with an acoustic guitar singing Britney's "Hit Me Baby One More Time" I'd say that nothings un-coverable if you have style, talent, your own take on it and the cojones.

[Old Man Riva]

In my younger days this used to be a ‘three-pint problem’ - the point at which the discussion would descend into chaos and acrimony!

That said, general consensus was that Bob Marley was the only artist we could agree on whose songs should never be covered.

It should be pointed out that the topic would normally have been inspired by collective thoughts on Paul Young’s cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart...

[T-Bay]

Mustang Sally, that should never be covered, nor should the original be played fir that matter.

[Trueno]

The first proper band I was in... we made an ambitious and disastrous decision to do a live version of "Sympathy for the Devil". The landlord refused to pay us at the end of the night... I was peeved at the time but have to agree with him.

It was a long time ago but I still wake up screaming... ruined the song for me...

woo! woo!

[Stub Mandrel]

Ohio. CSN&Y.

[BrunoBass]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

Never say never.

Exactly. Nothing’s off limits.

There are however bands that CAN’T be covered. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by BrunoBass

[BrunoBass]

27 minutes ago, Old Man Riva said:

It should be pointed out that the topic would normally have been inspired by collective thoughts on Paul Young’s cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart...

I sometimes do an alt country cover of LWTUA in my solo set (it works surprisingly well). On more than one occasion I’ve been commended by people (usually women) of a certain age for playing ‘that Paul Young song’... 😫

[Heathy]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

Never say never.

This.

I remember years ago at some awards ceremony, Phil Alexander from Mojo magazine berating Busted for covering Teenage Kicks, as it was a cover that 'you just don't do'. What an @rse.

No one pop song is more worthy than another in my view. 

[Old Man Riva]

32 minutes ago, BrunoBass said:

I sometimes do an alt country cover of LWTUA in my solo set (it works surprisingly well). On more than one occasion I’ve been commended by people (usually women) of a certain age for playing ‘that Paul Young song’... 😫

I feel confident that your alt country approach is infinitely more sympathetic to the song and its sentiment than the early-80s over-produced, leaden, sanitised version from our Paul - and I say that as a fan of the early-80s over-produced No Parlez album and Paul Young in general!

That said, I’m sure he’ll not be losing any sleep over what some fella on a bass guitar forum thinks about it nearly forty years later!!

Edited February 26, 2020 by Old Man Riva

[martin8708]

Bands - Queen , unless by some miracle you have found another Freddie .

Song - Hotel California .

 

[Hobbayne]

Revolution 9

[chris_b]

When Otis Redding covered Bing Crosby's Try A Little Tenderness the publishers tried to stop him recording the song. They didn't like a Soul singer messing up their song! That record became one of his biggest hits.

I'd say there might be some bands or singers who shouldn't be allowed to cover some songs, but if you're good enough you should be able to make any song work.

Edited February 27, 2020 by chris_b

[Baxlin]

Layla?

[spectoremg]

7 hours ago, Old Man Riva said:

 

It should be pointed out that the topic would normally have been inspired by collective thoughts on Paul Young’s cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart...

Paul's a serial offender; Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House. 

[Doctor J]

9 hours ago, phil.c60 said:

Indeed. Having seen a young (male) friend of my sons bring the house down in a crowded pub sitting on a bar stool with an acoustic guitar singing Britney's "Hit Me Baby One More Time" I'd say that nothings un-coverable if you have style, talent, your own take on it and the cojones.

Sounds like he covered the old Travis version?

I’ve never heard a cover of an Iron Maiden song I could sit through and I’d rank Queen alongside them. Any band where the singer has a voice so powerful and unique (and usually with incredible range) seldom come across well when the singer’s voice doesn’t quite cut it.

[mikel]

10 hours ago, Heathy said:

This.

I remember years ago at some awards ceremony, Phil Alexander from Mojo magazine berating Busted for covering Teenage Kicks, as it was a cover that 'you just don't do'. What an @rse.

No one pop song is more worthy than another in my view. 

Just shows the differences in our personal likes and dislikes. With due deference to John Peel I always thought Teenage Kicks was a rubbish song. So I would never cover it anyway.

[Cat Burrito]

All music is open to being interpreted. I think there are artists that are harder to pull off than others but I have, for example, some great soul versions of songs from the rock and country genre that would fail in the hands of lesser bands.

I find this whole concept is best summed up by an argument that took place at one of my early band practices way back in 1990 during Sixth Form in M4 Mobile Classroom. I'll call the offender "Ian", (because that was actually his name) and I have tried to preserve the pompous nature of Sixth Formers on both sides of the argument;

Me - "I'd love to do something by the Stones"

Ian - "You don't touch the Beatles and you don't touch the Stones"

Me - "Ian, you have an appalling taste in music (death metal fan), what on earth do you know about bands like The Beatles?

Ian - "I know the Beatles"

Me - "No you don't. You don't know anything about them"

Ian - "yeah, I do."

Me - "tell me about the Beatles then Ian"

Ian - "It's George Lennon and that"

Me -

[pete.young]

11 hours ago, Old Man Riva said:

I

 

It should be pointed out that the topic would normally have been inspired by collective thoughts on Paul Young’s cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart...

 

[neepheid]

I don't think anything should be off limits by default. Whether you have the chops, personnel or instrumentation to do it justice is another matter entirely. 

Case in point - Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out. I first put it forward to my covers band but the guitarist vetoed it, owing to him only being able to play one guitar at a time. Fair play, on a listen back I completely saw his point of view. So I took it to my originals band for a bit of fun. We don't even have a guitarist, but with enough options for polyphony (keys, sax, bone) our weird version is coming together nicely

[Muzz]

One of the best pieces of live music I've ever seen was a cover of Teenage Kicks performed by my pal's younger brother and chums at their first pub gig. The oldest in the band was 16 (I think the drummer was 13), they were so fresh and enthusiastic; it's a simple song, but needs to be done right, and a bunch of kids were perfect for it...

I'd agree nothing's off limits: there's only good and bad versions, and if a song's strong enough, it'll survive - and in some cases, like Johnny Cash's Hurt - it can transcend the original.

The recent plethora of smoky-voiced younger females dolefully covering everything with just a piano or single guitar accompaniment is getting really old really fast, though...

[MacDaddy]

13 hours ago, chris_b said:

Never say never.

 

[Rich]

4'33"