GBS and Oysterband

[yendi]

You know, I love Great Big Sea. I think they're a great band, talented as can be, and are certainly one I never mind having in my CD player.

But I really wish that they'd never covered "When I'm Up, I can't Get Down."

Because I now automatically place them in the same category as The Oysterband.

And that's just not fair.

It's like Muhammad Ali fighting Superman. Or Bonnie Raitt sleeping her way through "You Got It." Or Gus Van Sant remaking "Psycho."

I don't want to think of Ali as a guy who can get his butt kicked. I don't want to think of Bonnie as a mediocre cover artist. (I'm willing to think of Van Sant as an inconsistent hack with more luck than skill, but that's an exception.) And I don't want to think of GBS as a band that can't hold a candle to Oysterband.

Incidentally, I've got no problems with the Oysterband's cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" (or BNL's cover of that song). A cover can be a fine thing. But it can cross the line when the cover forces a comparison.

Anyway, I still love GBS. But they're no Oysterband. No one is.

Comments

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I humbly submit that BNL's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" is the BEST COVER EVER. And Concrete Blond's "Everybody Knows" is #2.

[yendi]

Hell. I humbly submit that CB's version isn't even the best cover of "Everybody Knows." I think that Don Henley nailed it perfectly back on the LC tribute album (amazing, since he'd have been the last person I'd expect it from).

I'd rank the BNL cover as the second best ever, behind Fairport Convention's "Closing Time."

Re:

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I'll have to keep my ears peeled for the Henley Cover as well as "Closing Time" (the Semisonic song? I picked that as my song when we did a hall mix CD my senior year in college. It seemed appropriate). I've never heard of Fairpoint Convention.

[yendi]

No! The Semisonic song isn't that good -- no one could turn it into a perfect cover. This was the Leonard Cohen song. It's on Fairport's "Jewel in the Crown" CD. I could talk about who Fairport are for hours, but suffice to say that at one point, they were the most important folk band in the world. And they're long past that point, but still nifty. :-)

Re:

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Oops!! Boy am I embarrassed. Suffice it to say there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge of Cohen, more than there should be.

[melintur.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely ok thinking of Bonnie Raitt as a mediochre cover artist. I think that is being overly nice to her, though. ;)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Right, no one's Oysterband - but no one's Great Big Sea, either! I love them equally well for totally different reasons.... you've seen me near tears listening to "We Shall Come Home", and literally wolf-howling with joy at the Great Big Sea concert....

[yendi]

Exactly. Which is why they shouldn't waste their time on a song like "When I'm up." I just listened to a bunch of their others, and when it's their own stuff or trad stuff, they're so amazing. So why put themselves into a situation where they don't look amazing?

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Because they love Oysterband as much as you do! :)

[yendi]

Impossible. :-)

Seriously, then they should have made it a b-side. Tori did it right.

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

Should I be concerned that I don't know Oysterband at all? I can see some Kazaaing needs to happen.

GBS is a band that I'm afraid I've never quite gotten--they are pleasant enough, but they don't inspire me. Maybe other people's ears are shaped differently, and it sounds differently.

[yendi]

Should I be concerned that I don't know Oysterband at all?

Yes. :-)

They've evolved so often, there's no "best" place to start, but I have soft spots for The Shouting End of Life, their most "mainstream" CD (containing the Midnight Oil-esque "Leave This Land Alone," the romantic duet "Don't Slit Your Wrists for Me," and "Jam Tomorrow," which is still the only song containing the line, "The sun shone out of Thatcher's ass, waving wads of money"; and for "From Little Rock to Liepzig," containing some nice live cuts (including my favorite version of "I Fought the Law". Although, as I think about it, "Wide Blue Yonder" may be my favorite, as it contains four of their best songs ever: "Oxford Girl," "The Generals are Born Again," "Pigsty Billy," and "The Early Days of a Better Nation," a beautiful song that was frequently quoted in the .sig file of Chuck, even though the OB are left-wing anarchists. :-)

Um, yeah. I'm a bit of a fan.

[podling]

Well, I've got a couple of GBS, and live I really like them. They're studio albums don't do much for me though. Live yes. Canned, not so much.

And I've never heard Oysterband either...

[silme.livejournal.com]

You must come over here in February. Check out OB's website for more info. on The Big Session, featuring Oysterband and Eliza Carthy, with Rose Kemp (Maddy Prior's very talented 18-year-old daughter), Benji Kirkpatrick, Jim Moray and James O'Grady. They are playing not-so-large venues -- even in London, it's only Union Chapel. We're thinking about the Feb. 15th show in Salisbury. We have crash space. :)

[yendi]

Yeep. If I could afford the ticket, I'd be there. In a heartbeat.