Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better?

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In summary, the conversation discussed which songs were performed, arranged, or produced better in a cover than the original version. They also debated which songs should have been left alone and whether restricting covers to released singles limits interesting comparisons. The discussion also touched on the subjectivity of judging which version is "better" and the importance of adding something unique to a cover. Examples of good and unnecessary covers were also mentioned. Overall, the conversation highlighted the different interpretations and emotions that can be evoked by a cover compared to the original version.
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  • #317
While My Guitar Gently Weeps



He's playing four voice harmony. My God. Not only that, he plays a quiet part and a louder part with the same hand, and does that with both hands. That seems like something you'd really have to go Zen to do.

And how does this man get such a good sound out of this thing? Tapping generally sounds out of tune and weak, which is why I don't do it. Rock guitarists cover up the natural tapping sound with distortion. Cheaters.

I suspect that this would be impossible to play on a piano, where each hand can only span an octave. You need the compactness of a two dimensional playing surface.
 
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  • #318
Vibraphonist Gary Burton originally tried to make it in Nashville but country music wasn't yet ready for the instrument.
 
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  • #319
Tom Jones and The Cardigans cover the Talking Heads' Burning Down The House.
 
  • #320
The little-known orig.



My fave cover

 
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  • #321
. Some covers of this that are ok ...
 
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  • #322
 
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  • #323
Hornbein said:
And how does this man get such a good sound out of this thing? Tapping generally sounds out of tune and weak, which is why I don't do it. Rock guitarists cover up the natural tapping sound with distortion. Cheaters.
The Chapman Stick (the instrument in the video) was designed specifically for tapping by Emmet Chapman, a jazz guitarist who invented the technique about 10 years before Eddie Van Halen added distortion and brought it to rock music.
 
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  • #324
pbuk said:
The Chapman Stick (the instrument in the video) was designed specifically for tapping by Emmet Chapman, a jazz guitarist who invented the technique about 10 years before Eddie Van Halen added distortion and brought it to rock music.
I meant that most Chapman Stick players get a tone which is to me displeasing. What is that man doing that's different? A very delicate touch? Better damping?

Beginning musicians often focus too much on equipment, something lampooned with such relish in Spinal Tap. This really sank in when I went to jam sessions where two trap drummers would take turns playing the same set. Totally different tone. How?
 
  • #325
Orianthi Panagaris covers Stevie Ray Vaughn. She even dresses like him. Sort of. You know what I mean, dammit. Sheesh. I don't get no respect.



That's the Queen of the blues right there. I expect she isn't living a joyous life.
 
  • #326
Queen of Blues ? ^ Not Quite . Here is Etta James covering Jimmy Reed
 
  • #327
morrobay said:
Queen of Blues ? ^ Not Quite . Here is Etta James covering Jimmy Reed

Haven't you heard? Etta passed away in 2012.

Music is a performing art. You've gotta deliver. That can only be done in the present. November 2022 is close enough.
 
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  • #328
And titles are timeless. Michael Jackson is called the King of Pop. Elvis ,King of Rock and Roll. And what's her name in your post maybe your queen of the blues.
 
  • #329
With the aid of AI I took the best parts of three covers of Highway Star and pasted them together. This modern age is wonderful.



AFAIK it's the only song to have had a popular model of automobile named after it : the Nissan Highway Star van. I saw many in Tokyo.

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Love it or hate it, Highway Star is one of the most influential rock recordings ever. It popularized the classical music style at the expense of the blues, an influence that continues to this day. The other reason was that it was the lead tune on Made In Japan. This was the first live album with recording quality equal to studio efforts. It was the first sign of the wave of J engineering excellence that was to hit the United States. (You young 'uns may not remember the days when Made In Japan was a synonym for shoddy goods. Such a label was legally required to be attached to their cheapo exports. Especially those little parasols that adorned a mai-tai.)

In Japan everyone knows Highway Star. I went to a concert where a neat young woman in a gray business suit, high heels, and a charming smile -- she could have been on her way to work as a secretary at Sony -- burned through Highway Star on an electric keyboard in a rock band beneath a big skull logo. This sort of thing is not unusual.
 
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  • #330
 
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  • #332
 
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  • #333
Frabjous said:
When I go non-canonical, I listen to this Deep Purple Version.


My favourite players of all time. Live no one could touch them.
Totally different band when Gillan and Glover left in 1973.
 
  • #334
Jaco Pastorius' Teen Town on a harpiji that is triggering virtual instruments.

 
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  • #335
Hornbein said:
Jaco Pastorius' Teen Town on a harpiji that is triggering virtual instruments.


I will watch later as this is one of my all time favourite bass lines.
Lots of 13th chords from memory!
 
  • #336
Them virtual orchestras are getting really good.

 
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  • #338
Hornbein said:

No idea on tuning, she's obviously done this to stick the tune in which she is very skilled at.
When I saw the capo I thought she might sing!
 
  • #339
pinball1970 said:
No idea on tuning, she's obviously done this to stick the tune in which she is very skilled at.
When I saw the capo I thought she might sing!
And Your Bird Can Sing



 
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  • #340
Hornbein said:
And Your Bird Can Sing




That duo were fantastic, not an easy guitar part and they made the 3 part harmony 2 part without sounding empty loved it.
The parrot ha ha! Wonderful!
 
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  • #341
 
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  • #342
Hornbein said:

Ok so I need to investigate their channel don't I? On this he actually sounds like George, freaky. Brilliant again and love the effects the girl is sticking in.
 
  • #343
Hornbein said:

She is doing the LOW part on "Sun sun sun here it comes." Wow. There are just so many talented people out there, that's why I love you tube. For music you cannot beat it.
 
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  • #344
pinball1970 said:
that's why I love you tube. For music you cannot beat it.
It's sort of like going to a speakeasy during Prohibition. You gotta know the right places. Heh heh.

Here's another good one. These men have mastered the falsetto. Also you can see the damper that the bass player uses. Fender basses all used to come with a foam rubber damper in the bridge cover to get a more of a string bass style of attack. In the 1960's bass players almost all removed the bridge and pickup covers and threw them away so eventually Fender gave up and stopped supplying them. Nowadays some damp with their palm, but that's too uncomfortable for me.

Rickenbacker basses have or maybe had a hinged damper that can be enabled and disabled, but I've never heard anyone use them except maybe Paul McCartney. Everybody else wants to be Chris Squire.



Here's another good one. That guitar part sounds a lot better on the real thing.

 
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  • #345
Hornbein said:
It's sort of like going to a speakeasy during Prohibition. You gotta know the right places. Heh heh.

Here's another good one. These men have mastered the falsetto. Also you can see the damper that the bass player uses. Fender basses all used to come with a foam rubber damper in the bridge cover to get a more of a string bass style of attack. In the 1960's bass players almost all removed the bridge and pickup covers and threw them away so eventually Fender gave up and stopped supplying them. Nowadays some damp with their palm, but that's too uncomfortable for me.

Rickenbacker basses have or maybe had a hinged damper that can be enabled and disabled, but I've never heard anyone use them except maybe Paul McCartney. Everybody else wants to be Chris Squire.



Here's another good one. That guitar part sounds a lot better on the real thing.


Mrs Robinson is great
 
  • #346
 
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  • #347
Hornbein said:

I liked her voice, harmonies but you cannot just stop before the solo!
 
  • #348
pinball1970 said:
I liked her voice, harmonies but you cannot just stop before the solo!
OK, you asked for it.

 
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  • #349
The original.

 
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  • #350
Can't Explain covered by Incubus

 
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