Severe Covid restrictions hit hard not only on restaurateurs and tourists, but also on many, many others. Including musicians and other artists who, before the Covid-19 ( today – Covid-21 ) , mainly earned money at live concerts. The implications of Covid bans for musicians are the same as for restaurant owners - there are no consumers and, therefore, there is no money coming in and there is complete hopelessness.
During this period, for reasons of severe necessity, “take-out services” began to develop. For example, delivery of groceries or food from a restaurant by courier to your home. The musicians, whom I will write about below, they also began to organize "music delivered to your home." That is, live concerts in the "stream" mode on their previously opened YouTube channel. With a request to fans of their work, send them donations through PayPal with the sadly already known to us QR code right on the screen of a laptop or smartphone monitor.
In one stream-concert on September 26, 2021, the musicians said frankly that they had set a "bottom line" for donations of just $ 500 for the entire live concert. Taking into account that the musicians in the “Blues Beatles” are not four people, as in the “original” The Beatles, but five people, this is only $ 100 for each musician. Most likely, donations still came more than $ 500, because if there were less of them, the group would not repeat such streams again, but they gave a concert again on the 1st of September, 2021. But all the same it is very small money. No streams on the YouTube channel can be compared with their own live concerts in many cities of Brazil, in the USA, in the EU countries ... But under conditions of Covid restrictions, musicians have to survive as they can do it by any means ...
Now, about musicians in the world and their cover versions of the legendary band "The Beatles" ...
In the world, half a century after the collapse of The Beatles, there are tens of thousands of amateur (not professional) groups performing the Beatles' compositions. They usually just try to play and sing "without departing from the original." Although very few do it in such a way that such cover could be listened to. In this connection, I recall an old Jewish anecdote. “Yasha, and what did you find in these Beatles? They sing so unpleasantly ... "-" But you, Fima, have you heard a lot of their songs? " - “No, Yasha. I didn't hear them at all. But our friend Izya sang their songs to me " (Smile).
Non-professional performers usually sing and play "classic" cover versions. That is, their cover compositions, if possible, are close to the original. We also should not forget that many popular performers, before the appearance of the Beatles, most often sang songs written by other composers and authors of lyrics. This was also the "King of Rock", super popular in the United States and outside the United States, Elvis Presley. Or the recently deceased, a unique baritone Tom Jones. Who he sang "live" covers until the age of 80. And even at 80 he sang very well. He was neither a composer, nor an author of the lyrics, while the Beatles had been singing only their own compositions since 1965. They started a tradition to sing, mostly, a group or a singer’s OWN songs.
Though the Beatles themselves, in the first years (until 1963) of their existence, as a little-known group, also sang only cover versions. This is the song "Anna" (Go To Him) that was included in their first Album, and the later song" Devil In Her Heart ", which deserves a separate article ( a very poor original by an American unknown group and a splendid cover by the Beatles ).
There are also “close to the original” professional music cover groups that sing “like the Beatles”. That is, they perform Beatles compositions at a good professional level. But, personally, I am not interested in listening to them. Yes. Their sound is very similar to the Beatles, but this is just a masterful imitation of the legendary band. And in any art it is the original that is appreciated. But not a copy of it.
However, there are cover versions that are performed in the manner typical for the performer of this cover version. And this version is not always good. For example, there are thousands of cover versions for George Harrison's song “Something”, which is undoubtedly is one of the top ten brightest and most famous compositions of the Beatles. And one of them was performed by none other than Elvis Presley. Who was a Super Star in popularity in the music world at the beginning of the Beatles' career in early 60-s. But ... His cover version of “Something”, is much more “weak” than the original, and the manner of performance of the famous Elvis Presley somehow does not fit well with the beautiful music and even with the words of the composition "Something". Elvis Presley sings it in his "casual manner", but the original has a completely different energy of music. At the same time, Tom Jones sang the Paul McCartney ballad “ Yesterday ” in a manner peculiar to Tom Jones only, which is not at all similar to the performance of this ballad by its author Paul McCartney. And personally, I like the Tom Jones cover MORE than the original.
In other words, just as in commercial TV advertising “not all yoghurts are equally good for your health,” - exactly in cover versions, not all cover versions are the same in good and pleasant listening to. Or equally - not interesting. They are interesting precisely in those cases when they are DIFFERENT in style, in the manner of performance. And still they sound very good and pleasant. And, at the same time, the inimitable melody of the Beatles' compositions is not lost in a cover version.
Cover versions from the Brazilian band “Blues Beatles” are very interesting precisely because they are performed in the blues genre (more precisely, it is “rhythm and blues”). That is, in the genre of music that would seem to be absolutely incompatible with the music of the Beatles. But it is not so. Namely - a cover version of the same group on the world famous and more than simple ballad by Paul McCartney "Yesterday" - it seems to me unsuccessful in the blues genre. Because not all Beatles compositions are equally good in blues arrangement. Some of them don't sound like the Beatles' music at all. But some cover versions perfectly combine the very recognizable melody of the Beatles' music with its blues-jazz interpretation.
The VIDEO below leads to the "BluesBeatles Live Stream Concert" from the Brazilian basement during the 2020 pandemic "
This is my first article written in English for the benefit of my INDIAN Facebook friends on ZEN , mostly RUSSIAN language Platform. It is written "for educational and cultural purposes " . And I would appreciate if my Indian friends mark a “like” here. Though I doubt they can do it as it seems one has to have a registration here for commenting, etc. But one can read without creating an account here, unlike Facebook where one cannot even read without registration of an account. I am a total novice here so do not be cross with me ( SMILE )