The idea of just having a jukebox in those situations is amusing to me. Would anyone actually turn down a gig and suggest the club owner play recordings, just because they had to play like the original record? It's silly, unprofitable for musicians, and could set a very dangerous precedent at a time when bands need all the work they can get.
But isn't that exactly what a DJ does at a club? Spin records?
Yep. But there's no comparison between a band and a DJ as they exist today. Even assuming that a band and DJ reproduce songs the same, there's a lot more excitement for the crowd having a band playing in person. Now if I was a club owner and could save money by hiring one person instead of four, or simply using a jukebox, I'd feel there was money to be saved and a profit to be made. Many of us have watched this happen over the last few decades, and it can be a lot of lost work to deliberately tempt it further.
I guess my mind is a little more open to the point that I have heard many covers of songs that I like better than the original because of a little nuance or difference in the playing.
I love a great cover, especially by some of my favorite bands! Lest we not forget how many covers the Beatles and Stones started out with and captured our musical hearts. But those covers are done by bands who are established and have a spin to put on a song. With few exceptions, the local band down at the bar doesn't possess the kind of following that permits them to successfully put their spin on songs. Is there a double standard? You bet. Perhaps it's not fair, but it's there.
And since you are the professional here do you really believe that there is no Beatle song that you couldn't improve on the drumming? I don't believe you. Wanting to be your hero for three minutes is fine but I can't belive it is your position that none of the drumming on any of the music played by the aforementioned drummers couldn't be improved on.
I'm not the only pro here, and there's no way I can make those songs better. None. they are perfect or 'right' just as they are, because we love them for that. We love them enough to play them, and it's the parts that make the song worth playing in the first place.
Am I a better
drummer than some of those guys? Probably. But as the musicians who created and played those parts, they did the right thing. It was right then, and it's right now, if the song is worth playing at all.
I get and dig band like Dread Zeppelin, The Ventures, Erasure, Me First..., because I dig the spin they put on songs. I'm not expecting to hear versions like the originals. I also love the symphonic versions of popular band's recording. The LSO is among my favorites, tackling Tull, Genesis, the Who's Tommy, and more. In all instances, that's their thing. But it's not what I look for in the bar band down the street.
Now I also know better than to criticize a band whose instrumentation doesn't resemble that on the original record, and I don't expect them to bring in extra players or use tracks to reproduce horns, strings, extra vocals, percussion, etc... although I'm impressed when they do, and when it's done in the right balance. That is, I'm not impressed when someone simply sings to a track, no matter how perfect the music is. Perhaps in those instances, it would better to use a jukebox.
Bermuda