[Harp-L] The Power of the Cover

[Aeskow@xxxxxxx]

--Midnight Rider, by the Allmans, 3rd position on a Low D Harp in E minor...

--Please Please Please, by James Brown, maintaining that relentless 
on-the-one 1-4-5 progression, but slowing it down to a kind of chant

--She's About a Mover, by the Sir Douglas Quintet

I had a chance to really feel the power of covers recently, when I did an 
impromptu Sam-and-Dave kind of thing with one of my early rock-and-roll heroes, 
Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals.  We split vocals for a 35-minute medley that 
encompassed every Little Richard and Chuck Berry tune we could remember, as well 
as "Good Lovin'", which the Rascals had a giant hit on, "Midnight Hour," etc. 
 It was one of those delerious bar-scenes that many of us live for, with 
beautiful girls and little kids all dancing wildly in front of the riser...on and 
on...harp, Hammond B-3, three horns and a monster rhythm section...but it was 
also a kind of communion with the audience, with their passion for the music 
driving the musicians, and the musicians feeding it back to them.  Afterwards, 
Cavaliere got kind of thoughtful.  He talked about the dancers--the dancers 
that night and the dancers going all the way back to the late '50s/early '60s, 
when he played organ for Joey Dee and the Starlighters ("Peppermint Twist," 
also a good cover. ) He talked about the endless styles of music that had come 
and gone in those 50 years, and then he said: "In the end it all comes down to 
that one thing: get 'em up!  Get everybody up and moving.  It's as simple and 
as complicated as that."


Peace and Respect,
Johnny T