Whats the deal with Black Betty??!!

[larry_emder]

Our cover band attempted to play it last night....what a disaster!!!

The whole of the middle section was fairly butchered.......especially the drum solo bits......its so hard to know when to come in

Any hints on how to get this song to work as a band??? The problems arise when the timings start to change.....after the second verse.....does it even have a proper time signature in that bit? (about 1:30) ....Dont know how the recording is so tight.....it just seems so random!

I'd like just to do our own version of hte song a la spiderbait...but the other members wont have it that way, want to stay true to the original.

Any advice welcomed!

 

[larry_emder]

Re: Whats the deal with Black Betty??!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-m0UFeZ30I

We kinda made similar mistakes to these guys in that drum solo part....but these guys are tighter. And they put in a killer dum solo at the end :smokin:

 

[Pecan]

Re: Whats the deal with Black Betty??!!

My bands doing that as well. The original Ram Jam. Its a killer trying to get everything tight, and our drums are really just pathetic. Let me know if you find any way of putting it together well.

 

[bryvincent]

Re: Whats the deal with Black Betty??!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-m0UFeZ30I

We kinda made similar mistakes to these guys in that drum solo part....but these guys are tighter. And they put in a killer dum solo at the end :smokin:

it doesn't look good when all of them are staring at the drummer.

 

[FamousForSustain]

Re: Whats the deal with Black Betty??!!

It's not a cover to be taken lightly, that's for sure.

 

[Osensei]

Re: Whats the deal with Black Betty??!!

I guess it's hard for me to hear exactly what you're refering to, but I think I understand somewhat.

First of all, who says you have to play it like the record. You can do your own arrangement. That might make things go alot smoother + it's alot more original.

Second, have your drummer use a system of ques. For instance when the drummer wants you guys to come back in after the first break they could hit the trap. Then maybe another symbol crash can signal the return after the second break.

Sounds like that tune needs alot of rythmic psyncapation like an old fashioned upstroke blues. All the accents are on the upstroke. So you need to feel the upstroke of the guitar pick on the upbeat when you come back in. Try that instead of trying to feel the downbeat.

Good luck!