BattleOfTheBands : The Guitar Man

Hello February!

Time again for the first installment of the month for Battle of the Bands.

The song I chose today is a song that I had previously suggested to my good friend Michele at Angels Bark. She’s got a lot going on right now and taking a bit of a hiatus, so with her permission I am going ahead and using the song today.


As a reminder for you seasoned readers and to help out those of you who may be new here

Here is how a battle works:

Step One - Listen to each of the contenders. TRY not to be persuaded by the videos (unless specifically requested - in the case of today’s battle, listening is more important than watching) 

Step Two - Pick the contender that you prefer the most (not just the one who’s name you are familiar with)

Step Three - Comment with your selection/vote. The comment section has been set up so that anyone can leave a comment. I do ask that you please include your name, should you use the anonymous feature. Today’s contenders are Cake and Starflyer 59. These are the only contenders that will receive votes today in this battle.

Step Four - Visit Stephen’s blog to check out his battle and for a list of other bloggers that have have battles going on. We each have different battles, so please be sure to visit everyone. I'll provide a link below the videos to Stephen's blog for your convenience.

Today’s song is not to be confused with Jerry Reed’s “Guitar Man”. That is a completely different song.

Bloggerpedia™ tells us this about our tune today:

"The Guitar Man" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the rock group Bread, of which Gates was a member. It first appeared on Bread's 1972 album, Guitar Man. The song is a mixture of the sounds of soft rock, including strings and acoustic guitar, and the addition of a wah-wah effect electric guitar, played by Larry Knechtel. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and their third number-one hit on the easy listening chart, (following "If" and "Baby I'm-a Want You").

Today’s battle is between two bands that got their start in the early 1990’s and are still performing.  They are both from California - with Cake being from Sacramento and Starflyer 59 being from Riverside. Another coincidence about these two bands is that they both recorded their covers of this song in the early 2000’s.  Both bands main genre is alternative rock, but both have dabbled a bit into indie rock. 

Let’s see how these two bands have done covering this soft-rock song from the 70’s.  Be sure to give each of them a listen and then comment with which cover you prefer.

Contender #1 - Cake





Contender #2 - Starflyer 59





Now, to repeat myself again:

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH AN ARTIST OR A SONG TO KNOW WHICH ONE YOU PREFER. You only need to listen to the videos and choose which one sounds better to you.  There are no right or wrong votes, unless you vote for someone not listed as a contender or don’t vote at all.


For those of you who may be interested in joining in our fun - The battles take place twice a month. Once on the 1st, and again on the 15th. Some participants have chosen to participate only once a month - and that’s okay - we’re just happy to have you join us! Your battle can consist of covers of the same song, different songs with the same title, or even a themed type battle. We just want you to join in the fun!  Catch the link to Stephen’s blog to join in - all you need to do is drop him a comment on his blog stating you’d like to participate and he’ll add you to the roster of participants.

I’d like to encourage you to visit the other bloggers participating in the battle of the bands blog hop as well.  We’ve all put a lot of time and effort into putting together these battles and they are a lot of fun. Each blogger has a different battle taking place. You can find a current list of participants on Stephen’s blog (don't forget you can also request to join the battle of the bands blog hop by simply commenting on his blog that you'd like to join us). 


Alright now… Cast your votes for either Cake or Starflyer 59!
Voting will end on Thursday, February 7 with results being posted on Friday, February 8.