[QUOTE] How do you play something you don't know, then?[/QUOTE] You listen to it first, YTC.
I listen to it first. As I said, only a modicum of self-respect -- Please add "imo" to above post. Champ GSX-R 1000, GPz 750 turbo, ZX7RR Endurance Racer x 2 GYASB#0 BotToS#2 BOTAFO(T|F)#35 WG*#1 DFV#8 Team UKRM Racing : www.team-ukrm.com
What I'm getting at is the origination of the use of the word "standard" in this context. For example, in my (fairly extensive) reading of the jazz scene in the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s, all musicians were expected to know the standards. Then, when a new piece was written, it would be arranged and notated and distributed. There was no "listen to it first" because it hadn't been played before, or if it had been you might not have been there, and almost certainly wouldn't be available in recorded form. See what I'm getting at in my post from 05.39? As an aside, it's no co-incidence that the biggest big bands and swing bands were the ones with the best arrangers, because they were the ones who made the difference between new pieces being played competently, and new pieces being played well.
I'd say if it changes significantly it becomes a new version rather than a cover. How High The Moon, with a bangin' drum an' bass track and a middle 8 rap by Eminem, quite apart from being an abomination, would be a new version rather than a cover. But you're right, standard and cover are not mutually exclusive.
Yeah, I understand all of this. In the field of pop music (i.e. not Jazz), I think the advent of recording has changed things quite significantly. Before the 60s (for want of a start point), being a musician was about playing/singing. It didn't imply any ability to compose/create - it was an interpretive art. It was quite common in the 50s for 3 different versions of the same song, by 3 different artists, to be in the chart at the same time. Because music was essentially a "live" event, interpretation was everything. Once records and players became widely available, one could listen to a song 100s of times in your own home. The recording became the definition of the song. Most of the people who picked up guitars in the 60s didn't ever learn to read music - they learnt from the records. I realise you know all this, btw -- Please add "imo" to above post. Champ GSX-R 1000, GPz 750 turbo, ZX7RR Endurance Racer x 2 GYASB#0 BotToS#2 BOTAFO(T|F)#35 WG*#1 DFV#8 Team UKRM Racing : www.team-ukrm.com
It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the A perfect description of the last 10 seconds of '21st Century Schizoid Man'. -- Dave GS 850 x2 / SE 6a SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3 FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10
It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the <plays it again> Lovely. -- Dave GS 850 x2 / SE 6a SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3 FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10
Apparently there are a dozen cover versions, according to http://www.coverinfo.de (which doesn't seem to be comprehensive.)
