GBS and Oysterband
Jan. 3rd, 2003 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiYou 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.
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.