How important is it that a band or artist writes their own songs?

[MiltonBrown]

Whether or not they write their own music is of no significance to me. What is important is how much I enjoy the music.

Some songs were recorded several times before it fell into the hands of a singer who turned it into magic. For instance, 'Tonight You Belong To Me' was a pedestrian big band number for Perry Como or someone of his ilk. Then it was covered by Patience and Prudence who put a new spin on the song. Then the Lennon Sisters recorded the song. Still the magic was missing. Then the Lennon Sisters sang the song on the Lawrence Welk Show and suddenly this throw away song became pure magic to my ears!

We would have nothing if not for songwriters but sometimes it takes a particular performer to bring out the real magic that tickles the ears.

[DFW]

1. Best example of that: The Byrds and their version of Bob Dylan's songs

But then they went on to write some great material of their own. Their album "Younger Than Yesterday" was one of the top ten albums of the 1960s (in my opinion) in terms of creativity, and I think there was only one Dylan song on it.

[MiltonBrown]

2. Dylan's songs are a great example.

Sometimes his version is magic from the start and other times it took a different artist to bring it out.

[Hoyt]

3. +1. They did write some great songs -- 8 Miles High, So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll, Probably

Feel A Whole Lot Better, 5D (Fifth Dimension), Set You Free This Time, and a bunch more that I still listen to routinely. And all of them went on to write some great songs as solo acts.

I'm not much for musicians who merely cover other people's songs, unless they really add something unique. Think you are right about creativity.

[MiltonBrown]

4. This seems to be the conventional wisdom but I do not agree.

Who wrote a song has no impact on how much I enjoy it. The song either pleases my ears or it does not. Who wrote it is of no more consequence to my enjoyment than the artwork on the cover.

I mostly listen to music from the 1920s- early 60s and few of the artists were prolific songwriters. Pretty much all of them did what we call covers today. It made me aware of how much more of an emphasis we've put on songwriters and less on performers since that time.

[Hoyt]

5. I think songwriters create new music and ideas. With that said, not opposed to

covers.

Just don’t find musicians who do mostly covers interesting. Some exceptions might be Symphonies and old time blues and folk music. Even then, like to see them stretch out a bit.

[MiltonBrown]

12. It is the old time music where all the groups played the same songs, CC Rider, Dinah, Sweet Georgia

Brown etc. I listen to all of the different versions and my ears are drawn to the ones I like best. Sometimes its even a particular version by an artist. For instance, I love one particular version of Woody Guthrie doing Hard Travelin'. One version tickles my ears just right and gives me the euphoric feeling I seek. Other versions do nothing for me and I have no interest in hearing them again.

That's why I came to the conclusion that who wrote a song is of no more interest to me than album artwork.

[Hoyt]

14. But you couldn't even find Guthrie songs were it not for his political songwriting.

But music is different for everyone. I’ve recently gotten into Irish music which often goes back to the 1500s or further. A well performed song about a hare is inspirational, but I do like some new references to today’s issues scattered on an album.

[MiltonBrown]

15. Finding great music that pleases your ear is what's important. Finding it in places you

never expected to makes it even more interesting.

25 years ago I guarantee I never would have though I would absolutely LOVE a song performed on the Lawrence Welk Show. My ears led me there and I have been rewarded.

[DFW]

19. The Byrds originals are not easy songs to cover, either

Their harmonies are intricate and their melodies and instrumentation are hard to imitate. I have heard exactly ONE cover of 8 Miles High, and that was a version so completely different, it was practically a different song. That was by Leo Kottke, who took the twelve string guitar to a level never before imagined, and did a solo vocal completely different from the Byrds version.

It was actually the perfect cover. Same melody and words, but completely different interpretation. Kottke rarely does covers, but when he does, he makes them his own (his version of Paul Siebel's "Louise" is so iconic, few people that follow him even realize he didn't write it himself).

[Xipe Totec]

6. Somebody's got to write the songs. nt

[MiltonBrown]

7. 'we would have nothing if not for songwriters'

[whathehell]

10. Songwriters can't always sing -- Singers can't always write.

If you're lucky enough to be good at both, great, if not, collaborate

[MiltonBrown]

17. That's right. Magic in the music is what's important no matter how it happens.

A new spin on an old classic or a Brill Building/ vocal group collaboration or songwriter/performer or whatever

[whathehell]

18. Absolutely!

You got it, bro.

[RockRaven]

8. I don't care very much if they wrote the song or not; imo what matters about a cover is did the

musician create something new/unique when they performed a song written by another or not.

Imitation or replication are what I find tiresome about covers, rather than lack of original material.

For example, I'll never begrudge Jimi Hendrix for not writing All Along the Watchtower -- his version is brilliant; at the same time, if everyone who played it tried to do it like Hendrix (or Dylan, for that matter), it would be rather annoying. They would be aiming at an un-hittable mark, and the "close but not quite" feeling would be annoying. I've got about half a dozen different artists' versions of that song in my music collection and seen/heard another half-dozen, and the difference between the ones I like and the ones I don't pretty much comes down to "did they do something which made it theirs?" -- nebulous, I know, but that's all I've got.


Having said that... certain genres of music, and certain eras, have more of a tendency towards producer-driven cover-heavy musical acts than others, so there may be some statistical correlation between covers vs original material and whether or not I like a musician/band... but that is not based categorically on the fact that they are performing what others wrote.

[MiltonBrown]

11. Yes, what is important is bringing something fresh to the table that pleases the ear.

If it happens that the ear prefers music performed by the artist who wrote it that would only be a coincidence.

[Jake Stern]

9. It would shut out Led Zepplin

[link:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/led-zeppelins-10-boldest-rip-offs-223419/|]

[MiltonBrown]

13. Anyone watching the Smokey Robinson Special or earlier the Temptations Special?

I don't know that a single performer wrote any of the songs they performed tonight but every number is pure gold. The Temps even busted out real oldies like Swani and If I Didn't Care.

edit to add that it is on GET TV right now. Smokey is singing with the Supremes.

[fNord]

16. I love Elton John and Johnny cash.......n/t