Time for a little game...

[hoby]

You've won a contest and you get to go to a Slip show where they will play any cover tune you want. You let them know ahead of time and they work it up.

What do you request?

Rules:

1 - It needs to be a cover tune they've never done before.

2 - You need to explain why you think it's a good fit for BAM. Not just, "it's my favorite tune." (Well, you don't really need to. It's just more fun if you do.)

So, I'll start:

"Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" - Rolling Stones

w/guest sax player

Four reasons:

1 - BAM have already displayed a deep affinity for Mick Taylor-era Stones (Sway and Moonlight Mile)
2- You know Brad would come up with the killer dirty guitar tones for the totally rock'n'roll first part.
3 -Andrew as Charlie Watts.
4 - I get all weak in the knees thinking about what they would do with the second, jazzy/jam-saxophone/guitar part.

Who's next?

hoby

[putty]

That's a great one. I love that song. Whenever my friends and I feel the need to turn up the stereo really loud, that's one of the first songs that gets played.

My vote would be something by Neil Young, just because I want to hear Brad play his version of a Neil solo. I love the way NY plays guitar, and I love the way Brad plays guitar. Both of them have kindof a sloppy tightness about the way they slay their respective axes.

So, with that being said, it's tough to pick a song. Barstool Blues comes to mind. Southern Man (have you heard the version from Journey From the Past!?!?!). Revolution Blues would be sick. So many others...

Basically, I just get excited about Neil Young. My final vote is Southern Man.

Also, he's Canadian.

[diesel]

i think i would say dinosaur jr's feel the pain.

a trio, good bass line and a part that rocks out.

[RL a'o me eye]

i say a bob dylan tune.

why?:
well, he's a great musician and song writer and i haven't heard BAM do a bob cover yet.

what song?:

'One more cup of coffee'; i can see BAM going to town with one with the sweet dark gypsy sound and the voice fluctuations.....awww yeah ;}

[Colin]

i say a broken social scene tune. all would be good.

first one that comes to mind is kc accidental

its same beat as even rats. the second and slower beat andrew does also is like cause=time rhyhtm - he used to smack the rim of the old white kick but now hits the rim of a floor tom.

just out of curiosity, i would like to hear what they can do with boards of canada's tune "dayvan cowboy"

[BrentW]

'Across The Universe' by The Beatles.

This could be a great acoustic song or even mellow electric. I've dug the Beatles covers they've done in the past, especially 'Happiness is a Warm Gun'.

second choice would be Steely Dan's 'Black Cow', or have they done that one before? I can hear Brad's vocals on this already with a heavy bass and drum backbone.

[magpie]

man,
i'd love to see them do some joni mitchell-

black crow
or one of the others from the jaco era.
marc would be a monster with some of that jaco stuff...

[putty]

Marc is Jaco

[stephen]

They may have played this at some point, but I've never heard it:

the Stones "No Expectations". It's a beautiful sad song like "Predicting the Rain". A song my father would sing around the house when he was feeling blue....

[tim]

i think they could really rock out 'like a friend' by pulp.

[Phrazz]

Restating the obvious, Marc is *not* Jaco. This thread was killed on Graffiti a while ago, and I think it also surfaced on the LISTSERV. I believe in interviews that Marc has denied the comparison, and I know he's doesn't like it personally (and has a profound respect for Jaco -- out of respect for both of them I hope you rescind your statement ;-}).

BAM did Dylan (at least one song -- "Don't think twice..." and probably others). Another Beatles is "While My Gutar..." If you're wondering check here first:

Slip Covers

That list hasn't been updated in a couple of months, so if you have a reference source, lay it one me with the title and artist and I'll add it. We had this thread a while back and should revisit that list & compare.

My picks (reason):

"Working Man" by Rush (another amazing Canadian power trio ).
"Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult (killer guitar anthem).
"Gideon" by My Morning Jacket (expands Brad's vocal pallette).
"Tangerine" by Led Zeppelin (wonderful song, BAM would do it up nice).
"Have a Cigar" by Pink Floyd (words apropos for BAM's phase right now).
"Crosstown Traffic" by Jimi Hendrix (haha, been there, done that).
"Terrapin Station" by the Grateful Dead (challenging changes, beautiful melodies).
"My Old School" by Steely Dan (Nellie Jean went to Bard in Annandale, also some kick-ass solo potential).

If those reasons aren't obscure enough, I can think of some more...give me a few more weeks and a couple more drinks.

[BrentW]

Ah yeah, 'Working Man' would be rippin'! Good call.

[hoby]

Lots of great ideas here, folks. Thanks for playing, everybody.

"Across the Universe"? Brilliant.

I love the Joni call also. My pick from Hejira would be the title track. Sit down and check out the lyrics to that next time you can. For my money, it's some of the most beautiful poetry ever set to music. And Jaco KILLS it from beginning to end.

As for the Jaco comparison, Marc long, long ago passed the point where the comparison is a compliment. Almost no bassist can deny the man's influence, and Marc can certainly reference Jaco if the situation calls for it, but Marc has developed a voice so much his own, which encompases so much more, that the Jaco "cage" is inappropriate.

I remember at a show at Williams College a long time ago saying to my Dead tour buddy that Marc is what would happen if Phil Lesh could really play funk. (Don't flame me. I adore Phil. I worship Phil. He plays the instrument like no other person on this planet. But he is not really a funk player. And that's OK.)

BAM did Dylan (at least one song -- "Don't think twice..." and probably others).

Pearl Street - 4/19/01 - It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding > Times They are a Changin > Beetle to the Badlands

Both Dylan tunes were instrumental with Gordon Stone on pedal steel.

I also saw a Times They are a Changin verse in the middle of a Sandman at Skidmore College on 12/7/01. (In retrospect, that was a pretty sick show. I'm gonna pull that one out and listen to it. That was also the last time I saw Jim Crichton.)

"Have a Cigar" by Pink Floyd.... "Terrapin Station" by the Grateful Dead

Ya know, Phrazz, the last time I heard "Welcome to the Machine", I was thinking about BAM all the way through it. And Terrapin? Yeah, I'd be enraptured for sure.

"Crosstown Traffic" by Jimi Hendrix.

Oh me oh my oh, they should DEFINTELY rip out some Hendrix.

And here's my next entry:

"Sheltering Sky" by King Crimson. It's all textures, washes, painting pictures with sound, and there's plenty of space in the composition for each of the three of them to tell lots of stories. They would definitely need a second guest guitarist, though. Hmm, do I still have Adrian Belew's phone number? Actually, you know who would be perfect? Mitch Stein, who used to play with Kimock. Hell, why not Kimock?

hoby

[putty]

That's funny. I had no idea the Marc/Jaco comparison would get y'all riled up.

I actually haven't listened to Jaco all that much, but I saw one of his dvds recently, and it made me think of Marc immediately. Obviously Marc has a lot more influence than Jaco. You can tell he's honing his chops as a rock 'n' roll bass player right now.

[Phrazz]

Well, anyways...this thread was about Slip covers and now we're in a Marc vs Jaco side-game. You said Marc has a lot more influence than Jaco, while at the same time admitting you haven't listened to Jaco all that much. These statements don't jive. I can understand your sentiment in wanting to say Marc is such a great bassist (so we can try to compare him with Jaco), but this path has been traveled before. Marc also talked about this...we're just telling you the comparison might bother him (or might not...maybe he doesn't care anymore...at one point, he mentioned something to this effect).

Hoby remembers...I'm sure some others do. I recall Marc or someone else mentioning the "voice" aspect and labels. There are always many influences for most musicians, even if they are unwilling to admit this. But to think one is a primary influence would imply a great degree of familiarity with both of them. I've listened to a lot of Jaco and Marc, and I only see some phrasing similarities at times, but not an overall holistic match. I can't say Marc is like any other single bassist...he is definitely his own kind of bird (now I just compared Marc with a bird, just to emphasize a comparison itself is only an observation, and Marc is not a bird).

BTW, Crosstown Traffic was a joke -- they played an instrumental version of that...was it the 4/20 Brown show? I remember Brad's fuzzed-out guitar and a loud crowd.

Funny you mentioned Kimock -- I just saw him with Zero two nights ago. He ripped it! Also, Melvin Seals was on fire and stole the show at times. Donna also joined them on a few songs. They did a great version of "Shape I'm In" by the Band. I took a bunch of pix and should have these up over the weekend.

Welcome to the Machine would be pretty tricky w/o a synth...or it would sound a lot different. I also feel it's been overplayed, and Have a Cigar is more humorous (perhaps) where Welcome has a sombre aspect. I'd rather have a cigar than be part of a machine.

King Crimson? Oh yeah, there's an amazing band you don't hear on the radio too often. They never got locked into any box, that's for sure. 21st Century Schizoid Man is a mind-bender (maybe one of their more popular tunes, though that's sort of an oxymoron with those cats). And at that, I'll leave you with some happy poetry:

Cats foot iron claw
Neuro-surgeons scream for more
At paranoias poison door.
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Blood rack barbed wire
Polititians funeral pyre
Innocents raped with napalm fire
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Death seed blind mans greed
Poets starving children bleed
Nothing hes got he really needs
Twenty first century schizoid man.