Must be a regional thing, as a few of these songs are ones I don’t recall hearing that often if at all from bar bands and jam sessions. (And I don’t even know what “Texas Flood” is.) And really, any Beatles? A couple of weeks ago I heard a band do a very cool version of “I Am the Walrus.” How often do you hear that one?
Adding: “Chain of Fools,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” and although I never tire of it, “Roadhouse Blues.”
And from a player’s perspective, I’d be happy to join in on virtually any of the songs mentioned. Maybe even bloody “Brown Eyed Girl.” Maybe.
Texas Flood is a blues song popularized by Stevie Ray Vaughan (he did not write it, but it is strongly associated with him). His virtuosity and passion in playing the song rendered any attempt to match his performance futile, thus it is on the “Do Not Play” list.
You mean the Old Crow Medicine Show/Dylan thing? Where do you live that this song is being run into the ground?
Also, when I was in college in the 80s the most over-covered bands were by far the Velvet Underground and the Stooges. What bands are young-uns mercilessly over-covering for imagined credibility these days?
Fort Worth, Texas. It’s become the proud mary of the acoustic folk show(which Fort Worth is saturated with). It’s actually a Dylan tune originally…and I think he regrets having anything to do with it.
Go to any open mic night around here and you’ll hear that damn song 3 or four times.
Fort Worth has a very strong music scene, but some things grate on your nerves when your job is to hear live bands week in and week out.
At an open mic jam the other day they asked who could play “Master Ray.” I’d never heard of it. I know “Sister Ray,” but I couldn’t believe anyone would be calling that song, especially with a bunch of kids present. When they got a lineup together and started the song, the penny dropped: “Are we really happy in this lonely game we play…”
(And they called me up to play a solo, even though I didn’t have the faintest idea of the chords to “This Masquerade.”)
I’m picturing how this would have gone at the dance - some dancing at first, then kids just getting tired and bored and sitting around, staring off into space.
Yup. Then going outside for a smoke, even those who didn’t smoke. Then grumbling, and finally, around the 15-minute mark (an extraordinarily patient crowd) boos and catcalls.
