↓
 
Home » The REO Brothers – musical chameleons

The REO Brothers – musical chameleons

The New Neo Posted on by

I’m not really big on tribute bands. I much prefer the original versions of songs, and the internet gives us rapid access to most of those. So why bother with a group that tries to re-create that? Who cares?

The REO Brothers are a group that does that sort of thing. They have a lot of videos on YouTube. When I listened to one of their songs, I picked out all the flaws and wasn’t interested in hearing any more of their offerings. But much later, when I happened to listen to another, I became intrigued by them because – unlike a lot of tribute bands – they pay homage to many groups and have a chameleon-like quality that makes them sound a great deal like whichever group they’re imitating. I don’t just mean instrumentally; I mean their singing voices. They have an uncanny talent for mimicry.

The REOs really are brothers, which helps them with the harmonies. They’re young and from the Philippines, with slight accents that now and then cut into their ability to sound exactly like the originals. They’re excellent musicians, and obvious perfectionists who must rehearse a lot to get the sound just right.

Sometimes their renditions are blander than the originals and have less energy and are “prettier.” I’d like to see and hear them turn up the heat more at times. And yet they’re entertaining to watch and listen to – who will sing lead this time, and how close will it be to the well-known original? And I happen to like and be very familiar with most of the classic 1950 through 1980s songs they choose to perform, so that adds to the fun.

They do songs by the Beach Boys, Eagles, America, Simon and Garfunkel, and most often the Beatles. IMHO they don’t do as well with their Bee Gees imitations as they do with the other groups, because the Bee Gees’ voice qualities are just too unique, their pitch too spot on, and their voice control too near-perfect. You can hear some strain in the falsetto with the REOs, and their pitch goes off at times too during their Bee Gees songs. But these are minor quibbles; they’re very very good.

The REOs’ Sultans of Swing is impressive. Who else can imitate Knopfler’s voice or guitar? The REOs can – not exactly of course, but amazingly well. Here’s that clip, plus a few more that will probably ring a bell with you. See what you think.

Comments

The REO Brothers – musical chameleons — 31 Comments

  2. I was always a fan of Judith Durham and the Seekers. Suddenly my YouTube is full of some of their stuff. Anyone else?

  3. I’m with you, David. I’ve always been a fan of the Seekers even back in the day when they first hit the charts. I like their style even better now.

  4. It’s dangerous listening to these videos – I was working in the yard today and found myself singing “riding on the city of New Orleans….” I guess tomorrow I’ll be singing “Barbara Ann”.

  5. Liz;

    And the next day, Barbara Ann will ride the City of New Orleans to become the new kid in town.

  7. Thanks for posting this, Neo, I’m sure I would never have run across them. These brothers are really quite good, very accomplished at their craft.

  8. Neo – If I come up with a new song, I’ll let you know. I am lucky in that I was just raising my glass of wine when I read your comment. A disaster was averted.

    But – both tunes have the same tempo (more or less) so they are good for working in the yard – not too fast and not too slow. Have any more tunes to clean your yard?

  12. I spent some time in Singapore in the late 90’s on an assignment, and the nightclubs there often featured these types of Filipino tribute bands. They were every bit as impressive as these guys, some of them even better. The Beatles, The Stones, etc etc. It was very entertaining to drift from spot to spot to hear them. Their ear for the exact timing of notes and the exact diction of the lyrics was astounding – they would often sound exactly like the popular tracks.

  16. Another thumbs up for The Seekers! Judith Durham’s peerless, bell-like voice, and plucky spirit in the face of grave personal setbacks, helped establish her as a beloved icon in her native Oz. The group benefited early on from songwriter Tom Springfield (Georgy Girl, I Know I’ll Never Find Another You), brother of another marvelous vocalist, Dusty Springfield.

  17. Aggie has it. What happens in Brix and the 4 Floors stays right there in the aforementioned.

    The Philippines exports Covers Bands. Hotel lounges in Asia, cruise ships, Bali Resorts, sleazy nightclubs, you name it. And some of them are very, very good. Mimics. There are music academies in the Philippines which train students for these overseas cover band jobs. The Philippines economy is such a basket case that it’s a no-brainer for anyone with musical talent. Some of these cover bands are 2nd or 3rd generation by this stage. It’s not just English language covers — most of these guys can knock out a bunch of Mandarin standards as well

    Always a good idea to ask the band to sing this song (Anak):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibmh64itn1M

    late in the evening. It’s a nice break from endless covers and gives them a chance to be themselves.

    For extra credit, google up the Beatles (Bangkok).

  22. Given a good song list, the REO brothers could definitely be entertaining. But I end up thinking, Why not just put together your own playlist and listen to the originals, if that’s the music you want to hear? I’m not so into this nostalgia-nostalgia-nostalgia museum, endlessly revisiting music 40 or 50 years old. Sure, sometimes it’s fun, or some of the music has emotional resonance because it takes one back to one’s lost youth.

    I just checked out Pitchfork’s top albums from 2020, and find some of the selections really good. Of the singers and bands at the top of their list, I immediately like Phoebe Bridgers, Haim (three sisters, by the way), Fiona Apple (whose music I’ve known for a while), Waxahatchee, Moses Sumney and Yves Tumor. All of these have songs one can listen to for free on Youtube, and none of this is heavy metal or electronica or in any way hard on the ears.

    The new is not dead.

  24. I saw this documentary several years ago. The band Journey had Steve Perry retire and after an extensive search for a replacement, they picked a Filipino from a Journey cover band.

    Don’t Stop Believin’
    Everyman’s Journey follows the real life rock-n-roll fairy tale story of Filipino Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from You Tube to become the front man for iconic American rock band, Journey, thereby becoming the latest performer to go from the Internet to real life celebrity. Having already overcome a life full of painful obstacles and now saddled with the immense pressures of leading a world renowned band and replacing a legendary singer, the film follows Arnel on this personal journey.
    ______

    I love this Beatles cover by Fiona Apple.

    Across the Universe
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhMEKiIb86I

    I first heard it in the movie Pleasantville and looked it up thinking it was Apple’s own composition. Years later I heard the Beatles/Lennon track while driving. Shocker.

  25. I know you love harmonies. I just finished listening to David Gray’s newest, called ‘Skellig’. The title track has some beautiful harmonies. Produced in a most modest environment. Beautiful. Skellig

  26. Filipino cover bands is a thing. I loved working with the Filipino guys when I was working in IT. They were fearlessly cheerful and amazingly competent.

    Here’s a clip from Bourdain on them:
    Filipino Cover Bands

  27. Thanks, neo! These guys are great.

    Yes, David. The Seekers were wonderful. (I think they’re all still living, so perhaps I should write “are.”) Judith Durham, and Linda Ronstadt – voices to listen to for hours.

  30. These guys are good, and there are more and more cover bands on the scene that are truly amazing.

    There is so much great music just laying around, its good to hear it being played by the younger musicians.

    A couple of my favorites are German guitar ace Martin Miller’s efforts…

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKrWgJg6GU9OwC-5fSqfB1g

    And the Russian “Leonid & Friends”, who are obsessed with the band “Chicago” and really do their and other great Boomer music justice.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD5ZsXiIFlrWrbOCM6rEDKQ

    Writing great, original songs is really difficult, and I’m not sure why its such an obsession for rock & pop players.

    Almost all recorded jazz is covers of popular music & show tunes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

↑