Motown/Northern Soul covers

Nyquist

I'm trying to form a covers band at the moment. I'd like to do some Motown/Northern Soul covers but with a guitar/bass/drums/organ line up. I'm aware that's a bit ambitious but was wondering if anyone has any experience covering songs like that without all the horns, strings etc that the originals have? Any recommendations of songs that could work with that line up?

thanks

thecolourbox

I've done a few motown soul type songs solo with just me and guitar or piano, admittedly only in very low rent situations, but they absolutely work - great songs are great songs. 

Skip to 3 minutes 48 in this Youtube video, one of my favourite recent covers of that kind of music, I'm Your Puppet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMQB1-VUmDM

EricTheWeary

Used to do ska and reggae songs some of which had prominent horn arrangements in the originals. Three ways of approaching it I guess and we mixed and matched:

- get something to substitute for the horns/strings, probably keyboards. I think this can sound horrendously cheesey using parpy keyboard horn sounds but some folks are fine with it. Doing the same thing but without the fake sounds (eg a straightforward organ tone)can work and be a bit less cheesey.

- ignore the horns/ strings and just play it as it is. Sometimes this will work fine, sometimes it’ll be crap.

- cleverly work up a new arrangement of the song. Probably the ideal solution but takes the most work and you run into the risk of playing something the audience won’t recognise/ like. 

Overall just listing songs then trying to find versions where someone has done the hard work for you - sometimes professionally, sometimes you find a video of a pub band on YouTube who have done a good job. 

And for Motown/ Northern Soul it’s about 96% the vocal anyway. 

Slightly random addition ( as if you’d expect anything less) - a few years ago I listened to a short interview with Sarah Collins on Radio 4. She’d had ( IIRC) a brain tumour and couldn’t even leave the house safely alone. So she started singing her favourite Motown and Northern Soul tracks then made YouTube videos of them. Eventually she got a lot better and started gigging ( I don’t think she’d ever performed live prior to the tumour). So, I always think of Sarah when people say Northern Soul: 

https://youtu.be/8gLuEq2vXcs

thecolourbox

Yes that's a good point re using fake brass, don't do it as it sounds awful. A good keyboard player would cover that with organ or epiano sounds as Phil rightly says.

Whereabouts are you based? I like Motown so this did an interesting project

Nyquist

thanks for the replies - definitely no fake brass!

so far, we're based in east and south east london (probably going to rehearse somewhere south east). We've got a guitarist/singer (me) and bassist/singer. So looking for hammond organ (and hopefully 3rd vocalist) and drummer. If anyone knows anyone.

ESBlonde

Vocal arrangements and harmonies done well will carry better than big fancy horn arrangements and average vocals everytime.
Play the song with passion and everybody gets a harmony line even if the double up.
I did 16 years in a big soul band, some of our best performances were numbers done as a 4 piece.
 You can sub horn lines on guitar, vocals or keys, nothing wrong with some do-wop do be do cha cha choo strategically placed in the arrangement.
I keep an eye out for opportunities in good soul bands because I like that buzz.

Keefy

Listen to Vintage Trouble - soul/rock hybrid played by a guitar-bass-organ-vox lineup.

hotpickups

Keefy said:

Listen to Vintage Trouble - soul/rock hybrid played by a guitar-bass-organ-vox lineup.

I don’t think they have organ now do they @Keefy ;;? Brilliant band. One of my favs. Surprised they’re not more well known because they deserve to be. 

Here in Bath we have our own VT tribute band. Well we did have but I think the brilliant/talented vocalist has sadly passed away recently   

Keefy

hotpickups said:

Keefy said:

Listen to Vintage Trouble - soul/rock hybrid played by a guitar-bass-organ-vox lineup.

I don’t think they have organ now do they @Keefy ;;? Brilliant band. One of my favs. Surprised they’re not more well known because they deserve to be. 

Here in Bath we have our own VT tribute band. Well we did have but I think the brilliant/talented vocalist has sadly passed away recently   

You’re right, I’ve just dug out the CD of 1 Hopeful Rd and the lineup is just vocals, guitar, bass, drums. Still listen to them though, because they’re brilliant!

 I have covered Stax and Motown numbers in a guitar-bass-drums 3-piece. Part of making that work is getting character and amount of overdrive right for a ‘big’ sound.

Anyway, add an organ to that and you’re laughing.

hassleham

Clean Up Woman is a nice one  

Speaking from experience (I run a wedding band which plays with and without horn section) - nothing can replace a horn section! We miss them when we're on 5 piece gigs! If a horn section isn't possible, then even one sax makes a huge difference to the sound.

hotpickups

hassleham said:

Clean Up Woman is a nice one  

Speaking from experience (I run a wedding band which plays with and without horn section) - nothing can replace a horn section! We miss them when we're on 5 piece gigs! If a horn section isn't possible, then even one sax makes a huge difference to the sound.

We used to do that one I.e. clean up woman. Great track 

Brad

hassleham said:

If a horn section isn't possible, then even one sax makes a huge difference to the sound.

I agree with this, although I always say if the band is that good you can get away with anything. 

That being said, if a section isn’t available or viable, could you get real horns recorded @Nyquist? I’ve done a lot of stuff with recorded instruments, your drummer will most likely have to play to a click though...

Danny1969

Keys brass is fine for cover bands if the samples are good ... you don't get the visual but it sounds fine to the crowd and you don't have to pay 2 brass players all night for the occasional brass riff

soma1975

Keefy said:

hotpickups said:

Keefy said:

Listen to Vintage Trouble - soul/rock hybrid played by a guitar-bass-organ-vox lineup.

I don’t think they have organ now do they @Keefy ;;? Brilliant band. One of my favs. Surprised they’re not more well known because they deserve to be. 

Here in Bath we have our own VT tribute band. Well we did have but I think the brilliant/talented vocalist has sadly passed away recently   

You’re right, I’ve just dug out the CD of 1 Hopeful Rd and the lineup is just vocals, guitar, bass, drums. Still listen to them though, because they’re brilliant!

 I have covered Stax and Motown numbers in a guitar-bass-drums 3-piece. Part of making that work is getting character and amount of overdrive right for a ‘big’ sound.

Anyway, add an organ to that and you’re laughing.

They had an organ player live with them last year when I saw them. 

hotpickups

soma1975 said:

Keefy said:

hotpickups said:

Keefy said:

Listen to Vintage Trouble - soul/rock hybrid played by a guitar-bass-organ-vox lineup.

I don’t think they have organ now do they @Keefy ;;? Brilliant band. One of my favs. Surprised they’re not more well known because they deserve to be. 

Here in Bath we have our own VT tribute band. Well we did have but I think the brilliant/talented vocalist has sadly passed away recently   

You’re right, I’ve just dug out the CD of 1 Hopeful Rd and the lineup is just vocals, guitar, bass, drums. Still listen to them though, because they’re brilliant!

 I have covered Stax and Motown numbers in a guitar-bass-drums 3-piece. Part of making that work is getting character and amount of overdrive right for a ‘big’ sound.

Anyway, add an organ to that and you’re laughing.

They had an organ player live with them last year when I saw them. 

Not consistently though. Temporary try out imo. I think they sound better without that keyboardist personally 

mike257

I used to play for a Motown band doing wedding/corporate work - we'd go out as anything from a 10 piece with three horns, to just drums/bass/guitar and 2x vox with everything else on tracks. Hated the tracks gigs with a passion, but if you get decent quality ones it's doable. A really good keys player makes the world of difference, and as others have said, even getting one sax in can really make it.

NPP

hotpickups said:

hassleham said:

Clean Up Woman is a nice one  

Speaking from experience (I run a wedding band which plays with and without horn section) - nothing can replace a horn section! We miss them when we're on 5 piece gigs! If a horn section isn't possible, then even one sax makes a huge difference to the sound.

We used to do that one I.e. clean up woman. Great track 

love that track as well but can't figure out what the second guitar (the one playing the single-note runs) does. Would you have any pointers?

hassleham

NPP said:

hotpickups said:

hassleham said:

Clean Up Woman is a nice one  

Speaking from experience (I run a wedding band which plays with and without horn section) - nothing can replace a horn section! We miss them when we're on 5 piece gigs! If a horn section isn't possible, then even one sax makes a huge difference to the sound.

We used to do that one I.e. clean up woman. Great track 

love that track as well but can't figure out what the second guitar (the one playing the single-note runs) does. Would you have any pointers?

Missed your reply sorry! Do you mean the bass line? Or the noodling behind everything else? 

Blueingreen

I’ve played bass and guitar in a few bands playing this style, always with horns.  IMO any band featuring a lot of this type of music without a horn section will sound a bit second rate. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t get away with it - if your basic aim is to make money and you want fewer mouths to feed, you can easily get close enough to get some dancers on the floor and justify your fee. But for punters who enjoy this kind of music you’ll always be rated below any decent band with proper horns, even if you are individually better players. 

p90fool

It took me years to realise that chasing the sounds on records is pointless - all you need is the right dynamics being represented by the instruments you have. 

If you know how to hold back and how to accent it's ultimately just music. 

ricky50

Wow - tight as a duck's - thanks for suggesting this.