In terms of how we, (Musical Youth), deal with covers is like this.
The lead singer Dennis Seaton has his own vocal style which he is recognised for and does not feel any desire or need to attempt to sing like anyone else regardless of the song he is performing. In terms of the music side of things we try to keep close enough to the original track so that there is authenticity to what we are doing.
However with most reggae songs the primary vibe of a track is in the bass line with support for the drums so if I changed the bass line too much or the drummer was playing steppers instead of a one drop beat, even though it may sound good, it would not sound like the right song or version of a song regardless of what the rest of the band were doing. And...... since we are a reggae band that would be a crazy thing to do unless it was for deliberate effect.
At the moment our live shows are themed When Reggae Was King so the aim is to celebrate some of the great artistes and music from mainly the 70's and very early 80's.
On a personal level my primary bass influence for reggae is the wailers Aston Barrett and whenever I play a track from the wailers I try to capture as much of his melodic feel and tone as I can from the version we are covering. The good thing is that many of the wailers later songs have much earlier recorded versions both live and studio, which I study and utilise to add variety to the bass lines.
I have listened to loads and loads of reggae bands and in my view most of the ones who are not getting the vibe going are failing because of the same reason... and that is, they think that because it is just a few simple repetitive chords, it is so simple and does not warrant attention to detail. So what they play is what they think reggae sounds like rather than listening properly and playing what it does sound like which usually results in with far too many notes and rhythms being played.
Then there is Steely Dan who are a law unto themselves in whatever genre they delve into and their Haitian Divorce is a perfect example of taking a simple genre and producing a superbly complex and musical track that only they could come up with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWYchJI0Cv8 I'm very new to Jerry's music and know little about it but from what I hear Jerry is doing a version of the song in the style of the Jerry Garcia band and not trying to do a reggae version of the song.
Jazzyvee
