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I know that 99% of you are into one form or other of rock. I'm not. I'm a country guy.
I've been thinking this morning about a song, or should I say 4 songs?

In 1928 The Original Carter Family had a #1 hit on "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes."



In the 1930's Roy Acuff had a #1 hit on "The Great Speckled Bird" (I prefer George Jones version)



In the 1940's Hank Thompson had a #1 hit on "The Wild Side of Life." (I prefer Hank Williams version)



In the 1950's Kitty Wells had a #1 hit on "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels."



If anyone has listened to all four songs, you will have noticed the melody is the same!

So, my question is: Does that ever happen in rock?
Several #1 hits with the same melody (and don't say Chuck Berry! )

Absolutely happens with Rock, Pop, Metal etc.

Recently, Rick Beato did a video on the top ten songs on Apple Music, and one of them sounded familiar to him at the time but he couldn’t place it right away. He followed up with a video with a list of something like 8 hit songs from the 70’s through today that were very similar.

It happens in pretty much every genre of music, and cross-genre too. Also happens in most forms of art, writing, movies, etc. It's virtually impossible to come up with any piece of creative material that is wholly unique and completely "Original". Even entire genres of music were formed and born from other previous genres ( blues>rock>metal for example ).

Just review the Mashup thread

viewtopic.php?t=2090

This is one that really made me laugh:



Just take a bunch of #1 country songs, mix em up, and the music *and* lyrics still work! Of course, they were all probably written by the same people, so maybe that makes sense...

ID10t wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:39 pm Just review the Mashup thread

viewtopic.php?t=2090

It all sounds the same to me Just noise.
Once you add distortion, it is no longer music, just noise to my ears.
Thus a "mashup" is no different than a non mashup.
Sorry.

There's only so many different ways you can arrange 12 notes. There's nothing truly original anymore, yet somehow, you can still get sued for plagiarism for using the same three notes in the same order as another song, or the same chord progression that every other pop song uses. I think about it all the time when I'm writing a song. I wonder: "does this sound good because it sounds familiar?", or: "does this chord sound "right" because I'm actually thinking of another song I heard?". The last thing you want to hear when you play a song you've written is: "Oh, that sounds just like: [insert any other song]", but I think that's inevitable at this point. Also, we've been recording music for over 100 years now. Prior to the phonograph, the only way you could hear music was if you went to a concert, or you made it yourself. Now we're bombarded by music all the time, and even if you're not paying attention to it, it seeps into your sub-conscious and comes back out in your writing.

I may be under the mistaken impression that chord progressions nor note progressions can be copyrighted.
But words certainly can.
Fifty-odd years ago when I was into rock, about half the songs I knew used C-Am-F-G
Everything from "Young Love" to "The Duke of Earl"!!! And even the chorus of "Silhuoettes"
The 4 songs I named in the OP vary somewhat in tempo, but note for note they are identical.
So, why no lawsuits over them?
All 4 were #1 records in their era.

mickey wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:40 pm Fifty-odd years ago when I was into rock, about half the songs I knew used C-Am-F-G
Everything from "Young Love" to "The Duke of Earl"!!! And even the chorus of "Silhuoettes"

C F G and Am is the I IV V and vi chords in C. If you want to torture yourself with millennial rock/pop music, you will find that while the key may change, and the order may change, a huge portion of hit songs from the last 20 years use chord progressions with just those four chords.

mickey wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 3:20 pm

ID10t wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:39 pm Just review the Mashup thread

viewtopic.php?t=2090

It all sounds the same to me Just noise.
Once you add distortion, it is no longer music, just noise to my ears.
Thus a "mashup" is no different than a non mashup.
Sorry.

What about a B-Bender Tele with distortion ?

Tonray's Ghost wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:49 pm [

What about a B-Bender Tele with distortion ?

Just noise. No melody there.

There are essentially 7 chords you can add a 5th sustain a note sharps, flats minors and so on but still it's A B C D E F and G and those chords are used for thousands and thousands of songs that have been written so there has to be similarities with most if not all and many sound the same.
That said 4 number1 songs in 4 decades that use the same music is pretty wild. My dads band played The Great Speckled Bird so I was familiar with that and the Kitty Wells song but never put those together.

Sometimes it happens so bad we cant get the groove variation of the earlier song out of the very similar song later on when playing. Have stop and consciously un-tom petty the song to continue.
Blues also. At a gig the guy who picked the songs couldn't shift his shuffle to the next song with the exact i iv v chords. I had to turn up and overpower him until he shifted.

Does it happen? Yes, but it's mostly AC/DC.

I think it has happened in all genres of music. Rock, Blues, Island, Rap. Reggae.

I just saw a video of copyright lawsuits in popular music. Due to technology advancements and lawyer-laden businesses which own the rights, lawsuits are becoming dog piles. In other words, many people claiming right to the melody. Some are going after 'production,' 'feel,' percussive patterns,' 'lyric theme,' and other features of a song, which previously not been considered protected. A few of these were successful.

According to that documentary this will continue to get more dog-pileish, until the legal rights are reexamined, redefined and relaxed, or music as we know it an perceive as 'new and pleasing' will begin to cease. I personally think that is already happening.

For 99% of human history music has been tribal and building on what you have heard (being inspired by). Music as a commodity and with exclusive ownership rights has only been around since the early 1700's.

I am no Country & Western aficionado, but they wer some good picks@mickey !

Rollin Hand wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 1:43 pm Does it happen? Yes, but it's mostly AC/DC.

Interviewer: "What's your response to critics who say AC/DC have made 13 albums that all sound the same?"

Angus Young: "I say it's bloody lie! We've made FOURTEEN albums that all sound the same!"