Cover Songs

For more than two decades (shudder), I've been focused on composing, performing, and recording original music. But from time to time, I've recorded cover versions of other people's songs. This is always a terrific way to learn songwriting, arranging, performing, and recording techniques. It is also great fun to pay homage to the masters, as well as to place your own spin on someone else's tune. There is always something new to learn.

The Music

• Nowhere Man -The Beatles (2008)

  Like most other humans on the planet, I've dearly loved the Beatles since early childhood, and have always enjoyed playing their music. I serenaded my wife with I Will at our wedding, sing Hey Jude to our son Julian (no coincidence there) all the time, and have covered I Am the Walrus, Helter Skelter, You Won't See Me, Blackbird, Let it Be, and probably a dozen others over the years in various situations.
  As a result of working on the Guitar Hero franchise, I've picked up the drums over the last year and a half. I've always played around with guitar and bass a bit. In May 2008, I thought it would be an interesting challenge to spend a few nights seeing if I could actually perform every note of a Beatles song, performing all the instruments and vocal harmonies. Interestingly, this is probably the first song in a decade that I've recorded where I play no keyboards at all. Here is the result.

• Weather With You - Crowded House (2007)

  In late 2007, I was reviewing the new version of Apple's free music program GarageBand for Electronic Musician magazine. I was blown away by the ease of use of the program. My experimentation turned into a delightful Saturday night recording a quick version of Weather With You, a song by the beloved New Zealand band Crowded House. Neil Finn's phenomenal melodicism, angelic voice, and terrific stage show make the band a big favorite of mine. I'm very happy they are recording and touring again.

• Got A Match? - Chick Corea (2005)

  Sycamore Park has experimented with a wide variety of covers, from New Orleans boogaloo to metal. Our funked out version of Chick Corea's standard Got A Match has always appealed to me, which is why I put it on Fire Trucks I Have Known. I still play this tune at nearly every gig with my current organ trio.

• On Reflection - Gentle Giant (1999)

  In 1999, a series of electronic musicians were approached with the same library of snippets from Gentle Giant's On Reflection. The goal was to release a CD of the results (Knots, 1999). I'd always enjoyed the original song, and tore into the challenge with gusto. Here is my rendition which, like all the rest, bears little resemblance to the original track.

• Echoes - Pink Floyd (1990)

  Back in 1990, Episode, our progressive rock band, was going strong. We were focused, dedicated, and had a terrific time making music together. Looking back from the vantage point of my current familial responsibilities, it seems almost astonishing that we were able to get together 3 nights each week for rehearsal, but such is the beauty of youth. In any case, Pink Floyd's Echoes was a signature staple of our live show, and we thus decided to record it correctly. On August 26, 1990, we went into Studio D in Sausalito, California, and recorded it down to 2-inch analog tape at 15ips. We recorded basics, overdubs, and mixed this 13-minute song all in one day - such is the power and immediacy of working in the analog domain.