Often in the track list of a music album or in the list of videos on Youtube you can find the word cover (or "cover version" in Russian). This means that you have come across not the author's original composition, but its arrangement performed by other musicians.
Where do covers come from?
It is quite possible to refer to the cover-performers of the amateur of the group "Kino", playing in the circle of friends "A Star Called the Sun". In a less broad sense, a cover version of a song, or simply a cover (from the English cover - to cover), can be called any reproduction of the author's composition by other musicians than it was recorded or performed in the original version. If we resort to another Englishism, such a song can be dubbed a remake. This terminology in Russian is used in the context of pop culture and variety art in all its manifestations; for folk or classical music, the designation "arrangement" is usually used. Also, compositions that have been modified and performed by the authors themselves are not called covers.
Many musical groups, especially small ones, work in the format of cover bands, whose repertoire consists mainly or exclusively of songs already known to the public. Basically, this is one of two ways for a musician to make money (the other is to write your own music talentedly). Covers can be either songs played one-to-one with the original version, or arranged almost beyond recognition. In the first case, as a rule, the musicians' ability to play "as in the original" is appreciated, as well as charisma and the ability to start a hall. In the second case, the mastery of the composer-arranger comes to the fore. Sometimes, in honor of honored performers, whole albums are released with cover versions of songs, which are called tributes.
Famous covers and "cover artists"
Often, covers are so successful that they give the song a "second wind", or even become a full-fledged hit. For example, the famous composition California Dreaming, written by The Mamas & Papas in 1965, is familiar to the public for the most part performed by The Beach Boys (1986). And the famous I Will Always Love You from the film "The Bodyguard" was first recorded not by Whitney Houston at all, but by the country singer Dolly Parton, who is not at all known to the Russian listener. Here's another short list of hit covers: Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan / Guns'n'Roses), Turn the Page (Bob Seger / Metallica), Tainted Love (Edd Cobb / Marilyn Manson), Love Hurts (The Everly Brothers / Nazareth).
Some cover artists are so masterful that they go beyond restaurant bands and become popular without having their own songs. A winning option is often the performance of famous rock and pop songs in country style, swing and other musical styles. Such were, for example, the groups Iron Horse (country hits), The Lost Fingers (acoustic gypsy jazz), Richard Cheese (orchestral swing arrangements). The domestic stage is also full of borrowings, ranging from the same VIA Singing Guitars or Cheerful Guys and ending with Philip Kirkorov, the Prime Minister or even the blues Billy's Band, one of whose albums is entirely devoted to the work of Tom Waits.
