Why Do a Cover?

[ragmop]

It occured to me that very few (if any) covers are ever better than the original. If so, why choose to do a cover? Ifcomparison favors the original, why do so many accomplished artists inevitably drift toward the mediocre or poor cover?


Just a synapse that fired.

[scurfing]

I thinka lot of the timethe artist's are under pressure to release something and may be in a down time in their creative process so doing a quick cover can take the pressure off them and keep the man happy. They also seem to go towards the Greatest Hits idea, which in alot of cases, i.e. Britney Spears smileys/smiley11.gifthey never really had a great hit!!

[kelli420]

ya know.....Tristan prettyman covers brittney spears toxic" and i'll just say its so much damn better than the origional!!! but i know what you mean

[ben04]

I agree with you 100% Kelli... I love her version!

[sauce.baby]

i think g's version of blackbirds is pretty darn nifty..


and last friday i heard a local band do some great van morrison covers and an awesome cover of pearl jam's wish list..


i guess it dependswho you're listening to..

[ragmop]

Points well taken. You are right, there are a lot of good covers. Maybe I just remember the bad ones. And maybe the original always has a leg going into the comparison. Who knows? Hence, this thread.

[Mr. Cleanface]

The good bands do it out of respect. Chili Peppers covered Stevie Wonder, GLaSS covers the Beatles, Widespread Panic covers J.J. Cale...Grateful Dead covered Bob Dylan...all music and love.


Jimi's "All Along the Watchtower" greatest Bobby D. cover ever.

[ben04]

But for every goodcover there is quite a few bad ones, For instance Britney's My Prerogative and I love Rock n' Roll come to mind. Why am I unable to think of other crappy covers besides britney's. I think my mind is shutting down.

[ragmop]

Hagar's "Piece of My Heart" blows, SS's "Leaving on a Jet Plane"--not so good. Izzy Stradlin's cover of Toots and the Maytals "Pressure Drop" has gotta be one of the worst, IMO.


Altho Areatha's "Respect" was better than Otis'.


Mr. C., Ron Wood's "Seven More Days" is a very, very, very close second to the all-time best Dylan cover ever.Edited by: ragmop

[ben04]

Izzy Stradlin's cover of Toots and the Maytals "Pressure Drop" has gotta be one of the worst, IMO.


I will count my blessings I have never heard that one. Ben Harper's Strawberry Fields Forever and Ben Harper and Jack Johnson's High Tide and Low tideare both amazing!!!!

[Monica*]

DUDE!! I heard this awesome cover on my sirius radio the other day. It was the Beatles' Dear Prudence done by Souxie and the Banshees. Feamale singer. fast pace. loved it. and i;m picky about covers, especially when it comes to the beatles.

[scurfing]

But for every goodcover there is quite a few bad ones, For instance Britney's My Prerogative and I love Rock n' Roll come to mind. Why am I unable to think of other crappy covers besides britney's. I think my mind is shutting down.


Britney = very scary musicsmileys/smiley34.gif

[ragmop]

I hate to knock my Irishbruthas, but U2 did an awful cover of "Helter Skelter" (Rattle and Hum, y'all). Their heart was in the right place, but leave well enuf alone.

[sauce.baby]

hahaha yeah i agree about ss's jet plane..


i forgot about cake's i will survive cover.. another good one if i say so myself http://www.philadelphonic.com/forum/smileys/smiley20.gif

[pfawnk]

The good bands do it out of respect. Chili Peppers covered Stevie Wonder, GLaSS covers the Beatles, Widespread Panic covers J.J. Cale...Grateful Dead covered Bob Dylan...all music and love.


Jimi's "All Along the Watchtower" greatest Bobby D. cover ever.





my thoughts exactly. established bands should cover songs that they would be playing by theirself in their livingroom. not just a song they think well help them get airplay. i saw citizen cope last week and he did a solo acoustic version of marley's is this love. great song and a great cover.

[LipstickVogue]

sometimes, coveringa song you really like is just plain fun, i think. sometimes there are reasons like tributes, sometimes like scurfing said, artists under pressure.. i think it depends. and while a lot of times nothing is quite like the original, sometimes there are some fantastic cover songs out there.