How Even a GOOD Cover Band Can NEUTER a Great Song (and not even know it)

Just to be clear, I’m a huge fan of Mike Dimt of Green Day. I didn’t meant his baselines are one-dimensional, I meant playing that way over Hurts So Good makes that part more one dimensional than the actual bassline. ;)

Glad my old bands weren't tech savvy enough to post videos on Youtube 😅

The thumbnail for this video had me thinking that the song to be covered was going to be "Sharp Dressed Man".

You forgot the part of the song where Mellancamp stops and bitches about something.

I remember when I joined my current cover band as a singer/bassist. We were playing guitar tango by the shadows and the drummer said "why do you play only two notes per measure ?" Because it's how the song was actually played on the recording. The next rehearsal, he comes to me and say : "Dude I had the bassline of Guitar Tango stuck in my head for the whole week, it sounds so good even tho it's super simple". And that's the power of a good bassline

I agree with what you have said, but in the end, 95% of the audience doesn't know or care if you're playing it right or not. They just remember "hey! They played that song I like!" Speaking from 40+ years in the " bar wars".

It’s the difference between players doing their homework compared to players just showing up and jamming out the song. Some people don’t realize how much time and continuous practice the real exceptional players really put in, and you can tell when a band actually rehearses, not only the songs but the full sets.

Genuinely miffed that you put the Allnighters with the crazy drummer in the thumbnail but didn’t talk about that video at all.

"Just ignore the bass player" - pretty much sums up the attitude of every guitar player early in their career (myself included, LOL). Later you realize that the bass putting down the groove with the drummer is one of the keys to a great band.

The last cover band I was in was an all acoustic five-piece that placed an emphasis on three- and four-part vocal harmony. We had two acoustic guitarist, acoustic bassist, drummer and lead vocalist. So, every song we did got the “unplugged” treatment. We pretty much played the covers to fit the style of what we were doing. We didn’t worry too much about this guitar part or that keyboard part being “missing” or playing some parts in a slightly different way. Of course, there were songs that didn’t quite work in our style. If they didn’t, we’d scrap them and move on to something that did. Surprisingly though, there were many songs that you would never have guessed would work with an all-acoustic arrangement that did. We did plenty of songs that didn’t even have an acoustic guitar part in the original versions. We got a lot of praise for our unique approach to doing covers. Our audiences found it refreshing and we went over well in smaller venues that didn’t dig the super loud crash boom bang of a typical bar band. Anyway, what I’m driving at is, depending on what your intentions are, you do not have to marry yourself to the original versions of the songs you're covering. Yeah, you might not impress the arms folded musicians standing at the back of the room, but most “regular folks” will dig what you’re doing as long as the passion is there, and you don’t fuck with the melody. If you fuck with the melody you’re toast.

Vince Neil in the second band covering the song.

As a drummer, I instinctually lean towards the "'50s beat" on the chorus; since the handclaps are such a memorable hook on the record (to my ear, at least), it feels weird to not have them represented in the arrangement somehow.

My very first music theory teacher taught, in regard to composing, never underestimate the power of silence. Like one producer said, when producing drums, the space between each hit is just as important as the hits themselves. Sonic separation - it can make or break a composition/performance/recording.

As a longtime ignored bass player, I remember rehearsing “Summer of 69” with a band and during the middle eight (where the bass continues to climb vs. going back to the root note) everyone in the band turned to stare at me, slack-jawed. They’d never paid attention to the bass, but that subtle moment gave them a new appreciation for how crucial bass is to the song, and how glaring it can be when the part is played wrong. Thanks so much for these videos.

I played in a short-lived coverband once as a bassist, and I discovered that the basslines on many classics were quite different from what I thought. They are easy if you’re lazy, but as they say; the devil is in the details.

I immediately noticed the slight tempo difference, and then noticed the guitar parts had more "space" in the "pro" version. Made the whole thing sound more "crisp".

The pro version even makes the vocals sound better. Playing the sparser patterns really gives them the space to shine and shows nuances.

Those passing notes on the bass are important, I've tried to play this song the professional way as close as I can

Seeing people enjoy music is just nice... i miss it like crazy

Bass and drums are the soul of the band, in my opinion. They must be on the same page at all times. This is a good class. Thanks.