For a culture that prides itself on originality and innovation,
we sure love a good cover song.
From “American Idol,” where contestants are rated
based on their performances of other people’s songs, to Ryan
Adams’ Grammy win for his version of Oasis’
“Wonderwall,” cover songs and cover bands are more
prevalent than ever. Recent years have seen an album of Beatles
covers used as the sound track for the film “I Am Sam,”
Britney Spears singing The Rolling Stones’
“Satisfaction” on the MTV Video Music Awards, and even
piano-pop jokester Ben Folds trying his hand at a tune by gangsta
rapper Dr. Dre.
Ironically, bands creating original material such as The Killers
and Interpol are often criticized for sounding like carbon copies
of their influences. Cover songs and bands are not only exempt from
such criticism, but are embraced. For many musicians, a great cover
is the ticket to success.
Playing covers in one form or another is a practice that has
been part of music since time immemorial. In the days before radio
and recordings, the latest songs were distributed by sheet music
and performed at personal pianos, and even now, high school garage
bands get their starts with riffs authored by Nirvana and Black
Sabbath. Classical musicians devote their lives to mastering the
most difficult pieces, while Tin Pan Alley standards like “My
Funny Valentine” are open to endless interpretation by jazz
musicians and singers alike.
Even in the 1960s, when pop music reached a creative peak thanks
to performing songwriters such as Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Paul
McCartney, many bands earned their livings with covers. Groups such
as The Byrds and Peter, Paul And Mary made a name for themselves
with versions of Dylan’s songs, and one of Jimi
Hendrix’s biggest hits was his rendition of Dylan’s
“All Along The Watchtower.”
The unlikely modern equivalent to Dylan seems to be Radiohead, a
band whose unique blend of solid song writing, technical prowess
and experimental leanings have earned them accolades from both fans
and critics. The British quartet has been covered by everyone from
classical pianist Christopher O’Riley to pop guitarist John
Mayer to comedy duo Hard ‘N Phirm, whose bluegrass medley
“Rodeohead” took the Internet by storm last year.
“We didn’t expect anyone to care about
“˜Rodeohead,’ and it just became this flaming white-hot
potato that we didn’t know what to do with,” said Chris
Hardwick, who comprises the duo along with multi-instrumentalist
Mike Phirman.
Both members are UCLA alumni and former Spring Sing winners,
taking home the award for Best Overall Performance in 1995 for
their first performance as Hard ‘N Phirm. After an eight-year
layoff, Hardwick and Phirman reconvened and decided to make their
first recording a tribute to their mutual love of Radiohead.
The finished product, “Rodeohead,” includes bits and
pieces of 18 different Radiohead songs wedged into six minutes of
banjos and acoustic guitars. The duo put an mp3 up on their Web
site and watched as the download count reached a staggering
350,000. For an unknown band without a finished album, it was both
exciting and terrifying.
“There was that moment where we freaked out for about a
month, “˜We gotta get an album out!’ We realized that
because there’s one song that’s doing well, if we tried
to force (an album) and jam something out really fast, it probably
wouldn’t be very good. We decided, you know what, we’ll
just take our time and write what we write,” Hardwick
said.
Their album “Horses And Grasses” was finally
released this year, with “Rodeohead” included with
permission from Radiohead itself.
For some, playing covers is a way of life. Southern California
is host to a proliferation of tribute bands, groups who take on
both the music and image of superstar acts like The Beatles or Led
Zeppelin. For the U2 tribute band Electrical Storm, playing another
group’s songs is a public service.
“Once I saw all the other U2 tributes that were doing it,
that’s what pushed me up there to do it, because the way
I’m doing it needs to be seen and heard. The other U2
tributes are falling short and doing it for themselves and not for
the fans,” said founder Joe Hier, who performs with
Electrical Storm as “Hollywood Bono.”
Hier started the band two years ago on the advice of friends,
and has already earned a place in the highest ranks of the tribute
world thanks to the real U2’s latest tour. The Los
Angeles-based Electrical Storm was chosen by U2’s promotional
company to play the band’s pre-concert parties, with a trip
to Hier’s native Boston next on the agenda.
“We’ll be playing on the rooftop, on top of a bar
called The Times. What we’re going to do on the roof is
possibly going to get news coverage, so hopefully U2 will be
sitting in their hotel room and they’ll see that
somebody’s actually kicking serious ass with their material
besides them,” said Hier.
While playing note-perfect renditions of U2’s studio
recordings is Electrical Storm’s priority, other tribute
bands approach performance with a different mentality.
“Led Zeppelin did a lot of improv when they played
live,” said Steve Zukowsky, lead guitarist and “Jimmy
Page” for Led Zeppelin tribute Led Zepagain. “It gives
me some leeway in some of the songs to put my own stamp on it, but
still in that style, in the Zeppelin style. It becomes a way of
being a little more artistically rewarding in that standpoint,
too.”
Zukowsky is a veteran of the growing tribute scene, having
played or subbed in nearly a dozen tribute bands since founding a
Queen tribute band in the early 1990s. In spite of their time
commitments, tributes rarely provide full-time jobs. For Zukowsky,
this Saturday’s show at the Whiskey A Go Go will be one among
six to eight performances for the month, in addition to his double
duties in the Pink Floyd tribute Which One’s Pink? With the
notable exception of the U2 tributes, most tribute bands are
devoted to disbanded groups like Zeppelin and Floyd. With such
bands no longer performing, tributes have attempted to take on the
mantle of providing the original experience ““ or at least a
reasonable facsimile. Led Zepagain has even recorded an album of
its versions of Zeppelin classics.
“It’s something we didn’t think about
ourselves ““ you want to hear a CD, go out and buy the real
thing, you know? But then it made sense because people would ask us
at our shows if we had one,” Zukowsky said.
“We’re the band that they’re coming to see live,
and they’re getting used to our way of playing the
songs.”
Their album cover includes a photo of them with Jimmy Page, who
paid the group a surprise visit last year. According to Zukowsky,
Page stayed for their entire performance and came up to their
dressing room to praise the band. For a tribute band, this is as
good as it gets, but for tribute musicians, there’s more to
life than covers. Swan Montgomery, lead singer of Led Zepagain, has
an original solo album in addition to his career with the band.
“Obviously he gets a good deal of interest from people who
see Led Zepagain and are curious to hear what his original stuff
sounds like,” said Zukowsky. “The Zeppelin tribute
gives him a lot more exposure than he would get on his own, so it
helps him out in that way.”
Hier also initially came to California in the hopes of recording
original material. Though his respect for the U2 tribute is clear,
he too has other aspirations.
“Original material is certainly on the agenda for the
future, for the near future, actually. When success comes with the
original music, I guess that’s the time when it will be tough
to decide whether to go on with the tribute as well,” Hier
said.
As hard as it is to find success in the music business, an
interesting cover, whether radically different or totally
identical, may just be the key to success. Beyond just establishing
a new artist, however, a fresh version can offer comment on the
original song as well.
“If you do a song in a different style and hold that song
up to the other songs that are standard classics for that style,
you can see where that guy fits in,” Phirman said.
“It’ll blend in, and that to me is the sign of a really
great song.”