General thoughts on covering pop songs

[akjed]

My band has covered a number of tunes, from Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" to Enya's "Oronoco Flow." I'm not much of a singer, which leaves me at the mercy of our guitar player's song selection. He wants to play all kinds of other ironic modern tunes and I think it is getting a little annoying and out of control. He suggested an AC/DC tune and I countered with the Alice in Chains "Would?" off the Dirt album, which I think could sound pretty okay. I just need to convince him to sing it. Anyone else have any other thoughts on playing modern pop tunes?

[Rob Beck]

We do quite a lot of this in our band. It generally goes down very well, but In my opinion, it works best when you put your own spin on it, so it isn't necessarily a straight copy of the original, and it takes the audience a while to realise what the song is. I also think it is easy to overdo it. People will get bored of too much of anything, no matter how original it is. However, if you personally think it is getting too much, then your need to reach a consensus on what works for both of you, otherwise you'll eventually get fed up and leave. Good luck!

[stevedenver]

I concur with Rob, and its great fun to either 'grass up' rock standards, or, do them straight, with a twist.

and, with respect to OP,

YOU CAN SING. (see your quote on truth LOL)
I took me a long time to get over thinking I that couldn't/shouldn't.
Its just like running or other physical activity, it takes slow and steady work. Like yoga or meditation, it also takes mindfulness which improves with time and practice.

You cannot improve until you start. You cannot contribute to the vocal mix until you do. It is intimidating at first, but its, imho, the ultimate in playing with others.

Then, you too can help with the set list, and put your own heart and twist on things.
BTW, its tough at first to play, sing, remember lyrics, listen to all around you. You will likely be befuddled and derailed more than a few times. Persevere, its sooooo worth it.

[JeffD]

Well the reason I go to a concert of the kind that would have a mandolin, is to get away from the constant barrage of pop tunes. Its not like I don't know where to find pop tunes if I ever need them. Live mandolin music, OTOH, that's hard to find.

[T.D.Nydn]

I've known a lot of bands that eventually parted company when a member or members start to deviate from the oringinal idea.

[M.Marmot]

I like doing covers of pop songs - it allows for some good arrangement exercises.

Sometimes, a good cover even uncovers some hidden depths to a previously anodyne number.

It's a good way to engage a crowd and show that acoustic instruments / mandolin can be versatile.

It can, however, fall - quickly - into novelty and irony overload - at which point we have to ask, are we a music or parody act (not that the two are exclusive)?

For me, the situation that you describe is more a question of group dynamics / politics.

What kind of group is it: is the singer the dictator or is it more of a democracy?

If the former - be prepared to lap up the irony.

If the latter - then everyone should get a chance to suggest numbers ... just because you don't sing does not mean that you don't do your share of the lifting.

[James Rankine]

The only time I'm aware of popular music these days is when somebody does an acoustic cover. When someone does something as inventive as this with a pop tune it reminds me not to be too sniffy about it.

[keithb]

We have fun with doing a cover or two:



However, I'll echo some of the other comments: if everyone involved isn't on board with the direction of the band, it's probably not going to last long.

[crisscross]

With our little acoustic trio, we do a cover of Madonna's "La Isla bonita". Works fine with chop chords on the mandolin.
We changed the general rhythm feeling a bit though. Sounds more like Country/Folk/Bluegrass than 80s disco music in our version.. But if a song has a certain musical substance, it survives such changes unharmed.

[zedmando]

[Loubrava]

Been there done that, played so many covers I had to quit. Thing is the singer was & still is a great song writer but he never wanted to play anything but top 40 crap. One night I told him if we don't start playing some originals mixed in with the covers I need to move on. His response was see ya. Now I'm playing the mando and doing John Hait covers...go figure
Good luck man just have fun

[banjoboy]

I wouldn't want to cover pop songs as a steady diet, but hey, good music is good music. In bluegrass, there's a whole lot of covering songs. Some new songs being written, but most bands cover some version of Fox On The Run (which was actually written by a rock group), Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms, etc.

[Pasha Alden]

Am all for playing pop songs, however, I prefer to put my own spin and colour on them. I think it's about being credible when you play? So my husband, my biggest fan and critic would say: people came to hear Pasha. So without my own spin on the song, I am merely attempting to copy someone. That's my take anyhow.

Best of luck to the OP with the band and convincing the guitarist to sing.

[Jeff Mando]

I wouldn't condemn an occasional ironic cover, but some bands to seem to specialize in that. Punch Brothers doing the Cars comes to mind. Personally, I don't know if I ever needed to hear another Cars song, but it was well done and different. I don't believe I need to hear it again, though.

Part of being in a live band is being an entertainer. Sometimes if you can "hook 'em" with a popular cover, then they might give your originals a listen. Just a thought.

And, as previously stated, it depends on what the "theme" of your band is and whether or not the band operates as a democracy.

[Jeff Mando]

I wanted to add that the ironic cover thing seems so academic to me--like saying, "look how clever we are." Nothing wrong with humor, of course, and covers have been a part of set lists for years, but I think when someone was covering the Beatles back in the 60's, it was done because it was a great song, nothing more, nothing less. And with varying degrees of success, I might add....

Bill Monroe loved to draw attention to himself and show how "clever" he was, but he did so by playing so well that people had to notice and without a hint of irony. Today, many players can rival Monroe's technical ability, but it seems that isn't enough to get noticed these days. Just one person's opinion....

[Jim Gallaher]

[mandroid]

Just My 02. playing covers if songs still under copyright, has the Licence scouts from BMI & Ascap
looking for licensed venues current payment status .

Some places like 1 here , for open Mic's they forbid anything not your original
or so old its in Public domain.
because they were 'gun-shy' of those Lawyers in the big Publishing companies
& didn't want to pay the licence fee either

BMI came thru town a few years back and wanted payments even from the Strippers,
for the music they danced to.

& it's kind of a Backwater town Too..

[objectsession]

If playing "ironic" covers means a band is playing songs they think are bad and that's the "joke", honestly, I'd probably be turned off and not watch that band perform.

All sorts of great things that can be done with covers, but I am guessing that most of that comes from people that really appreciate the song or at least are inspired when they hear the song.

[Julian Morris]

Thanks, I grinned all the way through this. The original of the song is hideous but this was fun and for the first time I actually heard the lyrics.

There's good songs and tehre's good records, and the two things are different. Occasionally they coincide but you can have one without the other. Good songs transcend instrumentation, tempo, genre etc. Good records for me are highly dependent on production, specific instruments and usually the singer's distinctive voice. They're hard to cover effectively unless they're also good songs.

[Pasha Alden]

I think I may have responded to this thread quite a while ago, before the house move and my husband's sudden illness, but here is my two cents worth: I believe it is in order to cover the pop song, depending on what and how well the instruments played by the band can do so. I agree with the post that said that works better when you put your own spin, or a special personal touch to it, not sing it as if you were imitating the original band or artist. As for the singing? I am a good singer, a beginner/intermediate mandolin player <big smile>

Happy playing.

[Eddie Sheehy]

FREEBIRD, Man! Play FREEBIRD...

[skygazer]

If playing "ironic" covers means a band is playing songs they think are bad and that's the "joke", honestly, I'd probably be turned off and not watch that band perform.

All sorts of great things that can be done with covers, but I am guessing that most of that comes from people that really appreciate the song or at least are inspired when they hear the song.

Totally agree! Music, when you come down to it, is about feelings and emotions. Jokes are a way of not being committed to the feeling -"hey, it was a joke".

Covers done with deep feeling are great. Singing is the closest music to feeling for humans, real singing comes from the center, the same as feelings. The best singers and players exaggerate the feeling of the song. Those who just go through the motions and hit the right notes are boring, not moving. Loosen up, take chances! Jokes are safe, "hey, that's not really me". Listen to the greats, they do a song for the thousandth time like it was the first time, new and filled with feeling.

People in our society are in many ways out of touch with their own feelings. They come to live music so that there own feelings will be awakened and moved. While an occasional joke is OK, a diet of it is worse than junk food. No nourishment for the soul. People may not think about it intellectually it, but they know it at some level.

So it is not so much necessary to put your own tricky spin on a cover as it is to put your own emotions and feelings into the music as you play it.

[k0k0peli]

Lest we forget: many top popular and creative acts began as "cover bands' and many continue to play covers even after building an original repertoire. (The only downside: not pocketing the royalties.) 'Covering' just means putting your own interpretation (if any) on a song people might know. Hey, anybody singing a national anthem at a sporting event is doing a cover! Sturgeon's Law probably applies (95% of everything is crap) but that's life.

How to approach the cover? Sure, it can be ironic, or playful, or quirkily twisted, or serious, or chewing-the-scenery over-emotive, whatever. You probably shouldn't do too many of those in a row, not unless that's your schtick. A half-hour of Metal Elvis is about enough. But how about a half-hour of bluegrass versions of hair-metal standards? Or of boy bands, or bubble-gum?

I'm working on a specific set of covers. My goal: to be King of the (solo) Surf Mandola! So I'm getting pretty good with WALK DON'T RUN and APACHE and SURF CITY and PIPELINE and WIPEOUT! (lots of pounding on the soundboard) and LITTLE SURFER GIRL, etc. Don't worry, they'll be respectful covers. Mostly.

[dcoventry]

This thread brings to mind The Seldom Scene. Those guys could play anything and make it sound good as well as making it their own. That last part is very important.

Duffy always had good taste in cover tunes: Lay Down Sally, Baby Blue, If I were a Carpenter. Certainly LDS was a top tune, and the other two quite popular for their time. All were treated with reverence for the good bit of song writing they represented and were performed with gusto.

[mandocrucian]

From last night's gig second set audio

Set 2:
The Last Time
Broken Window Panes
Franklin's Tower
All Along The Watchtower
Row Jimmy
Better Way
Bottle Of Sunshine
encore:
I Know You Rider

https://archive.org/details/150731TWPNewDealCafe