Recording The Perfect Cover

I have been driving backward and forward to my offices this week trying to think of a cover to record. I don’t know why I want to record a cover. Perhaps it’s because writing songs at a rate of two a week is starting to create a sort of ‘songwriters fatigue’. Recording a cover means I won’t have the hard work of coming up with the ideas, only the arrangement. Whatever the reason, it’s something I just have to do right now.

To begin with the process of finding my perfect cover wasn’t particularly scientific; I put my iPod on all tracks shuffle and skipped and skipped and skipped. Hundreds of songs later I was still none the wiser, having had nothing jump out at me. So I decided that what was required was perhaps just
a little bit of science.

What A Cover Can Achieve

A cover can do a number of things:

1. It can introduce a whole new market to a song they would never have heard -Think Johnny Cash singing ‘Hurt’, or Mike Patton singing “Easy Like Sunday Morning”.
2. It can take a top ten hit and make it a number one -  Think Sinead O’Connor singing “Nothing Compares 2 U”
3. It can provide the basis of a whole new track - Think “I’ll be Missing You” by Puff Daddy
4. It can be a great way to get noticed - Anything by Pomplamoose (I chose this by Pomplamoose)

The Right Cover for Me

Knowing this, I go armed into a world of songs looking for the one that best fits me. First of all I need to work out what I sound like and what song might fit that sound well. What does The Always Unprofessional Sound Like? I asked a friend. He said, “You sound pissed most of the time. Above 100bpm you sound stupid. I’m not sure you can really play any musical instruments. I think, that you think, that you’re Tom Waits.” Great... what would Tom Waits do? I checked. He’d record a Ramones number. Makes sense.

So knowing I need a song that might sound good slow and drunk-i-fied, I now need to know what I can achieve with my limited musical capabilities and studio set up. I’ll fly through the limitations: (a) I can’t sing, so high and harmonies are right out, (2) I can only play guitar, bass and piano (c) I record everything on pretty low-fi kit so big production is also out.

Next up what interests me? If it doesn’t make me smile, you’ll hear it straight away in the track. I need to enjoy the processes as much as I want others to enjoy the track. Therefore, I need to call on songs I actually enjoy. Back to the iPod....

And here’s the final thing. Someone will ask me why I recorded my cover. What’s the story? What story can I tell about the song I chose?

My Choice

So here’s that story. I have a beautiful two year old daughter. Like all two year olds some nights she wakes up crying and wont go back to sleep. Since she was born I have calmed her and rocked her back to sleep singing “Count Your Blessings” by Irvin Berlin. I’ve never tried to record it so now’s my
chance.

The best thing is, I can lay the song down really simply with a processor and keys. Also it will sound pretty good with my rough and ready voice (and it’s no disco number, so I won’t “sound silly”). Any way, since writing everything above, I had a crack at a recording.

Here’s the results: Count Your Blessings

I really enjoyed the process and, importantly, I liked the end product. Give it a go yourself. Make a cover. See what you come up with.