http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a previously recorded, commercially released (or unreleased) song, by someone other than the original artist.
Originally, Billboard and other magazines that track the popularity of musical artists and hit tunes measured the sales success of the published tune, not just recordings of it. Later, they tracked the airplay that songs achieved, some cover versions being more successful recording(s) than the original song(s).[1] Cover versions of well-known, well-liked tunes are often recorded by new artists to achieve initial success when their unfamiliar original material would be less likely to be successful. Before the onset of Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, songs were published and several records of a song might be brought out by singers of the day, each giving it their individual treatment.
On occasion a cover becomes more popular and well known than the original, such as Santana's version in 1970 of Peter Green's and Fleetwood Mac's 1968 song "Black Magic Woman" or Jimi Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."[2] The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original, became a Top 10 single in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
History[edit]
The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. The Chicago Tribune described the term in 1952: "trade jargon meaning to record a tune that looks like a potential hit on someone else's label."[3] Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952[4] song "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)." Both crossed over to the popular Hit Parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music, learned by heart or captured on a shellac recording disc. In fact, one of the principal objects of publishing sheet music was to have a composition performed by as many artists as possible.
In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers of presenting revivals or reworkings of once-popular tunes, even out of doing contemporary cover versions of current hits. Musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (the reworking, updating or interpretation) of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (such as evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method of learning music styles. Until the mid-1960s most albums, or long playing records, contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present a fuller range of the artist's abilities and style. (See, for example, Please Please Me) Artists might also perform interpretations ("covers") of a favorite artist's hit tunes[5] for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes.[6] A cover band plays such "cover versions" exclusively.
Today three broad types of entertainers depend on cover versions for their principal repertoire:
Tribute acts or bands are performers who make a living by recreating the music of one particular artist. Bands such as Björn Again, Led Zepagain, The Fab Four, Which One's Pink, The Iron Maidens and Glory Days are dedicated to playing the music of ABBA, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden and Bruce Springsteen respectively. Some tribute acts salute the Who, The Rolling Stones and many other classic rock acts. Most tribute acts target artists who remain popular but no longer perform, allowing an audience to experience the "next best thing" to the original act. The formation of tribute acts is roughly proportional to the enduring popularity of the original act; for example, dozens of Beatles tribute bands have formed and an entire subindustry has formed around Elvis impersonation. Most tribute bands attempt to recreate another band's music as faithfully as possible, but some such bands introduce a twist. Dread Zeppelin performs reggae versions of the Zeppelin catalog and Beatallica creates heavy metal fusions of songs by the Beatles and Metallica.
Cover acts or bands are entertainers who perform a broad variety of crowd-pleasing music for audiences who enjoy the familiarity of hit songs. Such bands draw from Top 40 hits of previous decades to provide pleasurable nostalgic entertainment in bars, on cruise ships and at such events as weddings, family celebrations and corporate functions.
Revivalist artists or bands are performers who are inspired by an entire genre of music and dedicate themselves to curating and recreating the genre and introducing it to younger audiences who have not experienced that music first hand. Unlike tribute bands and cover bands who rely primarily on audiences seeking a nostalgic experience, revivalist bands usually seek new young audiences for whom the music is fresh and has no nostalgic value. For example, Sha Na Na started in 1969 as a celebration of the doo-wop music of the 1950s, a genre of music that was not initially fashionable during the hippie counter-culture era. The Blues Brothers started in 1978 as a living salute to the blues, soul and R&B music of the 1950s and 1960s that was not in vogue by the late 1970s. The Blues Brothers' creed was that they were "on a mission from God" as evangelists for blues and soul music. The Black Crowes formed in 1984, initially dedicated to reviving 1970s style blues-rock. They started writing their own material in the same vein.
To me, outside of Tribute bands, who try to imitate note for note the originals, there are only a few types of covers. The first is the covering of a song by another artist in the same genre, and trying to bring new energy to it, but staying very close to the original, these are hard to pull off well
To me, here is an example...that I think they do a good job.
Anthrax - Cover of AC/DC's TNT
Original
TNT original by AC/DC
Then there is the cover by a similar artist, but doing their own interpretation. This were where most seem to be.
I would put this famous one in this category...
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World - David Bowie Cover
Original
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
The Third type, which I also like, is taking a song from one genre, and playing in another....
One of my favorites, made famous by Johnny Cash with his version, but first done by Anita Carter...June's sister....
Social Distortion - Ring of Fire Johnny Cash/Anita Carter Cover
The real original
Anita Carter (Love's) Ring of Fire
Ok Gaf, give us your favorites, and try to find the original for reference if you can.....
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a previously recorded, commercially released (or unreleased) song, by someone other than the original artist.
Originally, Billboard and other magazines that track the popularity of musical artists and hit tunes measured the sales success of the published tune, not just recordings of it. Later, they tracked the airplay that songs achieved, some cover versions being more successful recording(s) than the original song(s).[1] Cover versions of well-known, well-liked tunes are often recorded by new artists to achieve initial success when their unfamiliar original material would be less likely to be successful. Before the onset of Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, songs were published and several records of a song might be brought out by singers of the day, each giving it their individual treatment.
On occasion a cover becomes more popular and well known than the original, such as Santana's version in 1970 of Peter Green's and Fleetwood Mac's 1968 song "Black Magic Woman" or Jimi Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."[2] The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original, became a Top 10 single in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
History[edit]
The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. The Chicago Tribune described the term in 1952: "trade jargon meaning to record a tune that looks like a potential hit on someone else's label."[3] Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952[4] song "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)." Both crossed over to the popular Hit Parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music, learned by heart or captured on a shellac recording disc. In fact, one of the principal objects of publishing sheet music was to have a composition performed by as many artists as possible.
In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers of presenting revivals or reworkings of once-popular tunes, even out of doing contemporary cover versions of current hits. Musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (the reworking, updating or interpretation) of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (such as evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method of learning music styles. Until the mid-1960s most albums, or long playing records, contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present a fuller range of the artist's abilities and style. (See, for example, Please Please Me) Artists might also perform interpretations ("covers") of a favorite artist's hit tunes[5] for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes.[6] A cover band plays such "cover versions" exclusively.
Today three broad types of entertainers depend on cover versions for their principal repertoire:
Tribute acts or bands are performers who make a living by recreating the music of one particular artist. Bands such as Björn Again, Led Zepagain, The Fab Four, Which One's Pink, The Iron Maidens and Glory Days are dedicated to playing the music of ABBA, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden and Bruce Springsteen respectively. Some tribute acts salute the Who, The Rolling Stones and many other classic rock acts. Most tribute acts target artists who remain popular but no longer perform, allowing an audience to experience the "next best thing" to the original act. The formation of tribute acts is roughly proportional to the enduring popularity of the original act; for example, dozens of Beatles tribute bands have formed and an entire subindustry has formed around Elvis impersonation. Most tribute bands attempt to recreate another band's music as faithfully as possible, but some such bands introduce a twist. Dread Zeppelin performs reggae versions of the Zeppelin catalog and Beatallica creates heavy metal fusions of songs by the Beatles and Metallica.
Cover acts or bands are entertainers who perform a broad variety of crowd-pleasing music for audiences who enjoy the familiarity of hit songs. Such bands draw from Top 40 hits of previous decades to provide pleasurable nostalgic entertainment in bars, on cruise ships and at such events as weddings, family celebrations and corporate functions.
Revivalist artists or bands are performers who are inspired by an entire genre of music and dedicate themselves to curating and recreating the genre and introducing it to younger audiences who have not experienced that music first hand. Unlike tribute bands and cover bands who rely primarily on audiences seeking a nostalgic experience, revivalist bands usually seek new young audiences for whom the music is fresh and has no nostalgic value. For example, Sha Na Na started in 1969 as a celebration of the doo-wop music of the 1950s, a genre of music that was not initially fashionable during the hippie counter-culture era. The Blues Brothers started in 1978 as a living salute to the blues, soul and R&B music of the 1950s and 1960s that was not in vogue by the late 1970s. The Blues Brothers' creed was that they were "on a mission from God" as evangelists for blues and soul music. The Black Crowes formed in 1984, initially dedicated to reviving 1970s style blues-rock. They started writing their own material in the same vein.
To me, outside of Tribute bands, who try to imitate note for note the originals, there are only a few types of covers. The first is the covering of a song by another artist in the same genre, and trying to bring new energy to it, but staying very close to the original, these are hard to pull off well
To me, here is an example...that I think they do a good job.
Anthrax - Cover of AC/DC's TNT
Original
TNT original by AC/DC
Then there is the cover by a similar artist, but doing their own interpretation. This were where most seem to be.
I would put this famous one in this category...
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World - David Bowie Cover
Original
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
The Third type, which I also like, is taking a song from one genre, and playing in another....
One of my favorites, made famous by Johnny Cash with his version, but first done by Anita Carter...June's sister....
Social Distortion - Ring of Fire Johnny Cash/Anita Carter Cover
The real original
Anita Carter (Love's) Ring of Fire
Ok Gaf, give us your favorites, and try to find the original for reference if you can.....
