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Big Jimmy wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

gingerbreadman wrote:

LIPH wrote:And I'll go on record, as a devout non-Talking Heads fan, and say that when I listened to the Cincinnati and Alpine Valley shows I really liked Buffett's cover of Once In A Lifetime.

Yeah, I though that was a nice change of covers, and very nicely done.

I heard it on RM from Chicago and saw it live at Alpine, and I liked it, too.

Jen He did not DO TALKING HEADS in Chicago. THANK GOD, otherwise I woulda had to throw s*** at the stage. Still have not heard it yet, and I do not want to hear him desecrate a David Byrne song.

Come on, a lovely cover of "Swamp".......no?

To answer the subject of this thread-
YES, cover songs ARE getting out of hand.
Especially this TALKING HEADS/TRIPPIN' BILLIES crap.
Do 3-4 covers per show (but keep it limited to the classics like Brown Eyed Girl, Uncle John's Band, etc.), and replace this latest round of covers with more of his older (and newer) songs that we never get to hear.

LIPH wrote:And I'll go on record, as a devout non-Talking Heads fan, and say that when I listened to the Cincinnati and Alpine Valley shows I really liked Buffett's cover of Once In A Lifetime.

me too, I like Talking heads and it was fun to hear this sung by Jimmy. It was a cool suprise.

It's really his decision. A few covers I can do without... some are mentioned here. He plays what he likes to sing, you could really hear that in his voice last night on Sirius.

I would really hate it if Jimmy did not choose to cover songs like Lovely Cruise, by J. Baham, (who I have no idea who that is) or Bama Breeze, or Banana Republics.

Just think, we would have never heard Louisiana 1927 Jimmy style, or Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans done by Jimmy.

We would have missed out on Lighthouse.

I agree with ya though about him doing songs over and over and over like Glory Days, but we'll take what he likes to give us!

But, nope, I don't think it's starting to get out of hand. I think we are in good hands. He's doing a good job of changing up things or throwing in surprises that keep us listening and keeps the crowds coming to the shows.

He's also got to deep-six "On the Road Again."

The thing that I took notice of when I started really paying attention to Jimmy's music this summer was his ability to take a song that was done by someone else and make it his own. When I hear Jimmy doing a cover I honestly can tell that he has a genuine appreciation for the song. The thing that I really love about Jimmy's music is that he does not stick to one genra of music. The guy is so diverse in that he can pretty much try out any style of music that he wishes and do well at it. That is one of the reasons he is still doing what he does. No, I don't think he is doing too many covers.

LIPH wrote:I think the covers only get out of hand when the cover in question is a $hitty song. I'm thinking of The Horizon Has Been Defeated and that horrid Dave Mathews song Trippin' Billies. WTF

I agree. And add "Once In A Lifetime" (Talking Heads) to the list. He has done it a couple of times recently. "On The Road Again" seemed relevant when he is coming off a break in the tour, but not every show. "Glory Days" was cool when playing in Jersey, but not everywhere. I must admit I like "Everybody's On The Phone," but agree that it shouldn't be an encore. But, having said that, just seeing and hearing Jimmy is a thrill. Even doing songs I'm not thrilled about is better than other performers doing their best stuff (i.e., a bad day of golf is better than a good day at work).

I have been a Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers fan for the better part of 30 years. I have had the good fortune to see this band in a little theater that holds 1400 people, and in this type of setting they play whatever they want, anything goes, and it is not a greatest hits show. This is what spoils a diheart fan such as myself stinking rotten. Then I have seen Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers in the huge venues where most of the masses who attend the shows are not diheart fans, and Tom tends to make the shows a greatest hits show. Now to a diheart fan such as myself this does not make me haopy. If I want to hear the greatest hits I can listen to a greatest hits album at home.

Since I am the new parrot head on the block the thing that I am finding so refreshing about listening to Jimmy's concerts is that no matter where he may perform he pretty much does what he wants to do. The guy is not going through the motions. He is having a ball on that stage.

Now I do agree that I would love to see a couple of covers go, but I'll happily take whatever he wants to give us. We are in excellent capable hands.

Brown Eyed Girl and Southern Cross don't feel like covers any more.

After a while, you expect to hear certain songs.

Gotta agree with Michelle and 66:
I don't mind a couple of covers, but for an artist with Jimmy's massive catalogue .... I go to see Jimmy and hear his tunes.
And, no, not just the jukebox. Gotta give Bubba credit for:
- three-hour shows, when many of his generation are doing the 90-minute casino revues;
- going way back in the archives. Got to love the 1970s stuff.

Hope to hear more of same Wednesday on the shore of Lake Ontario.
Cheers.
A.J.
P.S. Anyone else recall Jimmy doing Michael Jackson during the 1984 tour?
You had to be there.
Priceless.

Wino you know wrote:He's also got to deep-six "On the Road Again."

He will on the next tour I'm sure.

As for the rest, yeah I'd love to be in a position to tell him what 28 songs I want to hear in a night. I'm not, so I'll take what I get, because the choice isn't his, it's mine. It's easy enough to research set lists from a current tour and know what to expect. I saw 4 shows this year, and there were some surprises, but most (85%) of the show wasn't. I knew, and I chose to go anyways.

I'm waiting for him to cover O.P.P. Then maybe as a final encore he could do something like Wind Beneath My Wings or Feelings.

LIPH wrote:I'm waiting for him to cover O.P.P. Then maybe as a final encore he could do something like Wind Beneath My Wings or Feelings.

MAYBE he'll do "Feelings" if he's reeeeally tipsy one night!

phjrsaunt wrote:

LIPH wrote:I'm waiting for him to cover O.P.P. Then maybe as a final encore he could do something like Wind Beneath My Wings or Feelings.

MAYBE he'll do "Feelings" if he's reeeeally tipsy one night!

If he ever covers "My Way", we're screwed.

Think about the version of Copacabana he could do . . . he could mash it up with Cuban Crime of Passion!

I don't think the issue is "covers" so much, as the songs he is chosing to cover. When you think about it, some of the songs that we all love as "Jimmy's songs" are covers. The first that comes to mind is Stars on the Water. The song was written, and first recorded, by Rodney Crowell but I don't think anyone would complain if that song was done live. I also don't remember hearing many people complain aboutthe cover of In My Room - a Brian Wilson/Beach Boys song.

Songs like On the Road Again and Glory Days don't seem to fit with Jimmy's style of music. Stars on the Water, In My Room, Southern Cross - these songs all fit the tropical/gulf/ whatever you want to call the typical "Jimmy style". Brown Eyed Girl fits in ok as well because it was a popular song when Jimmy was in/just out of college and it was one of those songs you know he had to play to keep the drunk masses content when he was playing hole in the wall bars.

Switching genres a bit, if you've ever heard the Alabama album Dancing on the Boulevard, most of the songs on it (Hey Baby, My Girl and original songs with that same beach music feel) are a drastic change from the country/southern rock sound that Alabama developed and became so well known for in the 1980s. However, the beach music was what they had to play in addition to their own stuff when they were coming up in the bars of coastal South Carolina. The music on Dancing just seemed to "fit" with the group.

I know Jimmy has written a lot of amazing songs that never get performed on state anymore, but I think the complaining about covers would be a lot less if he were doing beach songs or other songs out of that late 1960s college party song era as opposed to early 1980s Nelson, Springsteen, Warren Zevon, etc.

as a newcomer i enjoyed reading this post and initially thought the same that for a performer w/so much orig material why play so many covers??

But recently I have heard Southern Cross and Brown Eye and must say I love those 2 songs. Last nite I heard via Sirius On the Road Again at the live Toronto show, & that one did nothing for me. Was disappointing Sirius had to pull the plug last nite due to connection issues.... oh well

Triathlete-Parakeet2 wrote:

LIPH wrote:I think the covers only get out of hand when the cover in question is a $hitty song. I'm thinking of The Horizon Has Been Defeated and that horrid Dave Mathews song Trippin' Billies. WTF

s*** when did he cover DuMB?!?!? And i agree that he does too many covers and not enough of his own good songs.

He trotted out "Tripping Billies" a couple times I think, and every time he plays it, it sucks.

RinglingRingling wrote:

Triathlete-Parakeet2 wrote:

LIPH wrote:I think the covers only get out of hand when the cover in question is a $hitty song. I'm thinking of The Horizon Has Been Defeated and that horrid Dave Mathews song Trippin' Billies. WTF

s*** when did he cover DuMB?!?!? And i agree that he does too many covers and not enough of his own good songs.

He trotted out "Tripping Billies" a couple times I think, and every time he plays it, it sucks.

According to the setlist database:
12-21-2005: The Belly Up - Aspen, CO
10-20-2005: Fillmore Auditorium - San Francisco, CA
08-31-2005: Verizon Wireless Music Center - Noblesville, IN
08-21-2005: Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH
06-20-2005: Tweeter Center Boston - Mansfield, MA
06-15-2005: Nissan Pavilion - Bristow, VA

I had the great misfortune of hearing it live twice, San Francisco and Cincinnati.

LIPH wrote:

RinglingRingling wrote:

Triathlete-Parakeet2 wrote:

LIPH wrote:I think the covers only get out of hand when the cover in question is a $hitty song. I'm thinking of The Horizon Has Been Defeated and that horrid Dave Mathews song Trippin' Billies. WTF

s*** when did he cover DuMB?!?!? And i agree that he does too many covers and not enough of his own good songs.

He trotted out "Tripping Billies" a couple times I think, and every time he plays it, it sucks.

According to the setlist database:
12-21-2005: The Belly Up - Aspen, CO
10-20-2005: Fillmore Auditorium - San Francisco, CA
08-31-2005: Verizon Wireless Music Center - Noblesville, IN
08-21-2005: Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH
06-20-2005: Tweeter Center Boston - Mansfield, MA
06-15-2005: Nissan Pavilion - Bristow, VA

I had the great misfortune of hearing it live twice, San Francisco and Cincinnati.

Your special Larry.