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From: Coolrays
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 14:51:56 -0600
Subject: Re: Xerox machines

At 6:26 PM -0600 1/16/98, Pat Missin wrote:
>I once saw a really well known blues band with a very good harp player
>do "Juke" almost note-for-note and it bored me to tears.
>
>
>
>I respect Rocket's post on this thread and I agree that if you change too
>may notes, it is no longer "Juke" or whatever, but just another 12-bar
>instrumental. I also see the logic behind Rocket's analogies, but as a
>counter analogy, imagine someone standing up and delivering Martin Luther
>King's "I have a dream..." speech, word for word. Would they be respected
>for their philosophical and humanitarian insight (except by those who had
>never heard MLK)? Even if they got MLK's voice and mannerisms exactly
>right, they would be unlikely to be respected as anything other than a
>skilled mimic.

I understand what Pat is getting at but I can't buy this one. MLK's speech
changed parts of the world. "Whammer Jammer" hasn't. These items are on
different levels and will remain so until the post office and banks close
on Magic Dick's birthday. :)

Let's put this under a different light. The illustrious and flamboyant Doug
Tate performs a well-defined classical piece with the London Philharmonic
and the critics in the Times call it "brilliant, sheer genius." I have a
tape of Doug and the critics couldn't be more right. With my band, I cover
note-for-note that dynamically-perfect well-defined 2:30 of rock-n-roll
harmonica known as "Whammer Jammer" and while the non-harmonica-playing
contingent thoroughly enjoys the show and orders another round, a few harp
players walk out without finishing their beer mumbling something about
mimicry.

What's the difference? This is a serious inquiry. I'd like to know why one
is considered legitimate and the other taboo. Do we have to wait until LW
has been dead 100 years before an excellent cover of "Juke" doesn't bring
on tears of boredom. Is it OK for harmonica trios to cover "Peg o' My
Heart" note-for-note?

On a related front, I've heard the Nighthawks' cover of WJ and
Musselwhite's "Juke." In both of these examples they sound like completely
different songs to me(although they are in the same key :-). IMO it's akin
to changing the lyrics. When is it not the same song? If I take the music
to "House of the Rising Sun" and sing the lyric from "Amazing Grace" what
song am I singing? [BTW, this works amazingly well which I once discovered
when that exact request came written on a $50 bill.] On the morning of his
debut with the Boston Symphony, the esteemed Mr. Tate, who is to to be the
featured soloist in a Mozart concerto, comes up with an improvised melody
line in the shower which he decides to play that evening rather than the
original. Doug's a very creative musician and only comes up with the
hippest of melody lines but are the critics and the audience going to let
him get away with it? Is it still Mozart?

BTW, although melodies and lyrics are copyrightable, song titles are not so
feel free to write your own "Juke." Just change the melody.

I'd like to point out that it's called the 'entertainment industry' and not
the 'art and music emporium.' It's business and entertainment, period.
Whether one is playing Carnegie Hall or the neighborhood blues bar, it's
about pulling rabbits out of hats and hearing the cash register ring.
You'll never see WJ on an album of mine but you can see me play it most
nights because it helps me entertain my audience and keeps club owners
asking me back.

r

PS Hi Doug :)