When I was young, the object of a cover band was to do it exactly like the record, or as close to it as possible. Because music publishing was slow, and there was no Internet, we listened to our vinyl records and learned the parts by ear, note for note.

We worked for the biggest agent in South Florida at the time, and he would say, "Those guys made a million dollars doing it that way. Do you think you could do it any better?"

Even the harmony parts had to be the same.

The most we could get away with was our own solos -- depending on the song. Even then, often we would have to start the solo like the record.

That is the classic definition of a cover band. Of course, times have changed, language has evolved, and the definition of 'cover band' has come to include anyone doing a song that they didn't write. So how do we designate the "just like the record" band from the "similar to the record" and from "inspired by the record" bands if we call them all cover bands?

When jazz artists play their own take on popular songs, are they cover bands?

Eddie, I appreciate your analogy with golfers, but let me put my own in.

There are builders who can build a house, but they depend on architects to draw up the plans, who also depend on structural engineers to make sure the plans will work and be stable.

There are also some very talented songwriters who are not top-notch performers. When someone else does their song, are the cover artists? Barry Mann, one of the prolific Brill Building songwriters, only had one single release. IMO almost anybody who records a song that Bob Dylan wrote sings it better than Dylan can.

While I do appreciate someone who can write a song and do a first-rate recording of the same song, I don't consider that a requirement.

A lot of great songs would have never seen the light of day if only songwriters were allowed to sing them. And that would be sad because there are so many great songs written by people who are not good singers and/or performers.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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