The Intention Is What Matters

In my opinion the way that a band covers a song has changed drastically since the birth of rock and roll. It seems like, back in the day, bands used to cover songs in an attempt to steal credit for the song. In more modern times it seems like bands cover songs to pay tribute to one of their favorite bands or for a more comedic value, such as the "Punk Goes..." series. To me a cover should be a tribute to the original artist rather than an attempt to gain fame through their hard work.

Rock and Roll and Cover Songs

There was an enormous controversy over Rock n Roll bands covering songs that were originally written by Blues and R & B artists. An example of this was when Bill Haley and the Comets covered "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" by Big Joe Turner. I personally feel that covering other people's work is okay if it is just for fun or to pay tribute to an artist. However, I feel like it is wrong to release another artist's song to try to gain popularity or make money off of it. Being a songwriter myself, I strongly value the passion and creativity that goes into writing a song. When you come up with something that you feel is really great, it is unlike any other feeling in the world. You put your heart and soul into the music. When an artist comes along and just copies another artist's work, you lose all of the original feeling associated with the song. I feel like the song is not pure anymore. Granted, the cover version might sound better or bring the music to a larger audience but for me it's just not the same. Cover songs will always be lacking something to me. Nothing can imitate the passion that goes into writing an original song.

Cover Songs

It was interesting to see that many well known songs were actually covers. One thing that most of these cases had in common, was that they were white artists taking black artists music. Was this because of the lack of copyright laws in terms of music, or did race play a larger role? Were there as many cases of this involving white musicians covering other white musicians music?

Rock and Roll

I think that Rock and Roll was a great thing for America. I believe it aided in the civil rights movement by helping unsegregated the American people through music, a common ground where teens and adults could rejoice over the same thing. Chuck Berry is one of the artists of the time whose music truly brought black and whites together.

Baby Boomer Jams

I know that love songs have been a part of music for many years. I wonder though if the baby boom sparked an increase of these kinds of songs. With the darkness and destruction of the war behind them, the American public would have wanted more upbeat and happy music. Coupled with the fact that every family seemed to be having babies, an increase of these love songs may have been a kind of subliminal message to encourage them in doing so. Mindless babbling I know : ]

Record companies strategies

Musicians and early forms of record companies always have had the same goal of reaching the most consumers to gain a bigger profit, but (to my knowledge) only started focusing on a group in society with the race records. During the '50's and '60's however, they focused on the new group and one of the largest groups of the time, the young people. Nowadays most advertising and production is focused on the young people. Since the '50's it only has been intensifying and i was curious if it has gone to far, or that it changed music's focus to a negative?

Bill Haley and the Con-artist's...

Bill Haley and the Comets recorded a cover of a famous R&B hit called "Shake,Rattle,and Roll." The song was originally recorded earlier by Big Joe Turner. However Bill Haley and His Comets were able to top the charts with their version of "Shake,Rattle, and Roll" making it one of Decca record companies best sellers of the year. This frustrates me more than anything. I still don't understand how people can take credit for someone else's work. Even though back then no law, or policy was put in place to protect a songwriters original piece of work, it still does not make it write to make money off of someone else's music. How would Bill Haley feel if I took rock around the clock and mad a rap song out of it back in the day? Would he like that? I don't think so. Did Bill Haley take into consideration that Big Joe Turners work long hard hours to produce such an original and well thought out song? No he didn't. That is just wrong. I wish Bill Haley was still around so I could meet him and give him a piece of my mind.