putting your own spin on covers

Most commercial 'remakes' of a track are terrible - I much prefer the original in almost all cases.

Do what you like doing

i always learn songs note for note perfect, then the more i play the more the song changes i little ways to suit my style, little rythm changes, maybe more hammers ons/pull offs etc nothing major.
sometimes i play my own versions of solos, usually nirvana inspired feedback laden affairs, lots of fun :)

two songs i do play my own way are sunshine of your love - speeded up a good bit and played as a jam and sgt peppers lonely hearts club band which i play a lot heavier and rocky.

mostly though i just use it as an exercise - i take a book of easy piano praise music with just a simple right hand melody line and chord boxes then try to build the song up in a specific style - its an interesting exercise that really helps with songwriting.

Cnev, I gotta disagree here. If one wants to hear the original, all someone has to do is pop in the CD. I don't pay 90 bucks to see an artist do the same thing he did on the 10 dollar CD...

Taso,

I was waiting for someone to disagree which is fine because everyone has their own likes/dislikes. For me when a song hits me it's something that I've heard on an album and if it really catches me then that's what I want to hear. That's kind of the premise of McDonald's etc., you may not like the food but you know what to expect when you get there.

I'm not saying that doing a song a little differently is a bad thing but for the most part the song that I heard first is the one I liked adn what I want to hear. Do I really want to hear a reggae version of Stairway to Heaven, even if it's a decent version, nay. I want to hear it the way Led Zep played the original, but that's just me.

If I could just listen to CD's why ever go to a concert? If I'm not paying for them to play the songs the way I heard them what am I paying for? On the hope that 1 or 2 songs might be played differently than on the CD. I think most people go to hear the hits the way they origianally heard them. I think the artists understand that too, even though they may get tired of playing them the same way.