Where Are All The Great Beatles Covers?
Published October 14, 2007
In honor of Across the Universe, which I really dug, I ask the following question: “Where are all the great Beatles covers?” There are something like 3000 versions of “Yesterday,” and with the sole exception of the original they all approach a new standard of suckitude!
The Rolling Stone’s song “Satisfaction” was redone spectacularly not once but twice, first by Otis Redding and a decade or so later by Devo. There are of course a ton of brilliant Bob Dylan covers, perhaps due to the fact that so many Dylan originals sound like demo sketches waiting for someone else to fill in the blanks. Beatles songs arrived sounding so perfect that in many cases other artists have found it impossible to even try to cut the Beatles at their own game.
Think about the significant covers in music history which, like the Beatles' reworking of the Isley Brothers’ “Twist and Shout,” forever transformed the way the song would be heard and reinterpreted forever. I can only think of one — Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
Beatles covers usually fall into the following categories:
1. The "Gee, we wish we were the Beatles" covers: You’ll find Cheap Trick’s “Magical Mystery Tour" here, but it’s not nearly as magical as their heartfelt original tribute, “If You Want My Love.”
2. The “Hey listen, it’s X singing a Beatles song!” covers: Just about always worth a smile, most of these are innocuous enough, like Aimee Mann and Michael Penn’s version of “The Two of Us,” and Paul Westerberg’s "Nowhere Man," both from the I Am Sam soundtrack. They’re both listenable, but you’d never for a second trade them for the originals.
3. The “Oh God, they’re going to make it all serious and ponderous as if it were 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters'” covers: These all infinitely depress me.
4. Just about everything else is elevator music or just plain inferior.
Here are some of the few Beatle covers that are on my iPod:
Del Shannon's “From Me to You”: The first American cover version of a Beatles song, it’s sort of an interesting curiosity. Shannon tries to meet the frenzy of Paul McCartney’s Little Richard knock-off “whoo”s with his own “Runaway” falsetto. It’s interesting, but not essential.
Stevie Wonder: “We Can Work It Out”
Otis Redding: “Day Tripper”
Wilson Pickett: “Hey Jude”
All of these are really enjoyable, especially Wonder, who probably succeeds in surpassing the Beatle original, but in the end they all merely take songs and sounds of soul that the Beatles interpolated as their own sound, and put them back into their original context.
Beach Boys: “Tell Me Why”
Beach Boys: “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”
Both of these are from the quickly assembled to reassure the fans that Pet Sounds wasn’t a sign that we’ve become completely insane, “Party” album. They’re wonderful slices of campfire innocence, but when was the last time you were knocked flat on your back by something that you heard at a campfire.
- Where Are All The Great Beatles Covers?
- Published: October 14, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Rock, Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Pop
- Writer: Brad Laidman
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- Brad Laidman's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
There aren't a lot of great Beatles covers?
I like to scroll through my iPod and muse about its contents?
Seriously Brad, I was just busting your balls there. This was/is a fun read. A little all over the place, hence my comment above, but a fun idea nonetheless that I imagine will open up a lot of comments. I'd love to hear JC Mosquito weigh in on this for example.
For an article which starts out bemoaning the lack of good Beatles covers out there though, you managed to find quite a few good ones. I was surprised you missed two real obvious ones though.
Worst Beatles Cover: The Entire Soundtrack to the dreadful post Saturday Night Fever Sgt. Pepper movie soundtrack (although you did mention Aerosmith's "Come Together".
And a recent good one:
Eddie Vedder's take on "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away." Vedder's voice is a good match for Lennon's here.
-Glen
You forgot Motley Crue's version of Helter Skelter which I thought was pretty good, Hell, I'm sure it's better than U2's cover.
I actually forgot another one --- the wicked use of sampled Beatles bits on the Beastie Boys Pauls Boutique. THAT was genius.
-Glen
Motley Crue? Isn't that just a bit mainstream for you Gupster?
-Glen
I'd nominate Toad The Wet Sprocket's cover of "Hey Bulldog," played in a more straightforward rocker way than the original. I think the Beatles' version would've been closer to Toad's interpretation had it been recorded later in 1968 closer to "Helter Skelter" and "Revolution" rather than in the (somewhat) mellower Feb. 1968 sessions that spawned that and "Across The Universe."
Hmmm... Aerosmith's version of "I'm Down" is hotter than their studio version of Come Together, fer shure.
The Georgia Satellite's slaughtering of Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By" is pretty cool too.
Patti Smith's recent cover of George's "Within You, Without You" is much dreamier than the original, despite the lack of authentic Eastern instrumentation.
And Canuck darlings Sloan made the best Beatles' album ther Beatles never made when they recorded One Chord to Another.
Oh, I could go on all night, but it's bedtime for all the good little 'skeeters 'round the big ol' world.
Brother Laidman- "Yesterday" has been covered by a bunch of people obviously, and some of them are pretty good - though this was never particularly my favorite Beatles song. But you're missing THE definitive recording of the song, by Ray Charles. It'll make you forget all those bad versions. "Yesterday" was just a Ray Charles song waiting to happen. Also, you should definitely hear his version of "Eleanor Rigby."
As to the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, I would presume that to be makeup representing a false face for the world, pretending everything's cool. I always think of Jane Jetson putting on a face in the morning to talk on the video phone.
Heh, I know what the lyrics mean - it's aretha's take I don't really get - but it is funky!
Here are a few of my favorite Beatle covers:
For No One - Rickie Lee Jones
Rain - The Jam
She Said She Said - Govt. Mule
Don't Let Me Down - Stereophonics
Dear Prudence (live) - Alanis Morrisette [ripped from the DVD, Come Together - A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music]
Gotta agree with Skeet on Patti Smith's "Within You Without You." I never liked the version on Sgt. Pepper at all. Patti on the other hand really brings out the mystical vibe there -- she actually made me appreciate the song for the first time. Good call there Skeet.
-Glen
I borrowed a couple of albums of 'weird' Beatles covers from the library (I've never seen them in the shops) which were marvelous, odd and gob-smacking. My favourite track was a cover of Yellow Submarine by a Spanish or South American (sorry this was a long time ago) band who gave it the full samba guitar frenzy, incredibly uplifting! You can hear a Wu Tang Clan version/reworking of While My Guitar Gently Weeps on my blog. Interesting.
I second Skeeter's nomination of The Georgia Satellite's cover of "Don't Pass me By." And Wonder's "We Can Work It Out" is better than the original; that fuzzed-out electric piano interlude is killer.
My favorite "Eleanor Rigby" cover is the live, 1968 version performed by the Jazz Crusaders. A real creatively funky reworking that was made up on the spot and Joe Sample's piano solo is so in the pocket.
Jeff Beck did a nice, reggae-tinged take on "She's A Woman" using the same producer as the original.
I gotta slightly disagree with Glen on the Sgt. Pepper soundtrack; Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" was the lone bright spot on it (although "Come Together" wasn't bad).
There's an interesting album by Todd Rundgren called "Deface the Music" which samples the entire Beatle's career with original songs patterned on the styles from 1963-1970 which the
Beatle's pioneered. His genius approaches their music with reverence and understanding yet allows him to create his own tunes using their sensibility in performance and production. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and Todd is a master at paying tribute to the Beatle's Sound.
Come on, Glen... Early Crue stuff wasn't too mainstream & it was good.
Hell, I was just trying to include something that people may of heard..lol! That's fine, you wan't obscure? How about the cover of I want you (she's so heavy) by Coroner
Funky16Corners did a 3-podcast series of funk, soul, and blues Beatles covers. The series starts here, touches down on some pretty amazing covers of late-60s Beatles material (Bill Cosby doing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," anyone?) and ends with 45 minutes of "Hey Jude" covers--not a high point, but what the hey.
There's also the Sonic Youth cover of "Within You, Without You" on the vinyl-only compilation from 1988, Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father.
Other favorites in the style of The Beatles (altho not covers)are Jellyfish and later solo work by Jason Faulkner. Simian sounds like The Beatles if they had been in their late teens in the early 1990's. And someone rightfully called Neil Finn's "Fall at Your Feet" (Crowded House)the best Beatles song Paul McCartney never wrote.
In some ways, half of Crowded House's catalogue is the greatest songs the Beatles never wrote.
i like Aerosmith's "Come Together"...the version on Live Bootleg.
While it may not be exactly on topic, I can't help thinking that the best cover I ever heard live from anyone was:
NEIL YOUNGS cover of JOHN LENNON'S IMAGINE
...during the tribute to heroes broadcast....
Perfect song for the moment, covered perfectly, just as John would have done it I'm certain.
Jim Carrey does an awseome cover of "I Am the Walrus" - check it out.
I was gonna mention the Live Bootleg version of Come Together - very sleazy.
With Neil's performance of "Imagine," that was during the time when, supposedly, radio stations were advised by the FCC not to play certain "9/11 sensitive" songs, of which "Imagine" was deemed by them to be.
And then, of course, Neil plays the song on live television and brings tears to your eyes. It was amazing.
Jim Carrey does an awseome cover of "I Am the Walrus" - check it out.
You all missed some wild transformations; if you're a musicphile, look for the cha version of Day Tripper by Poncho Sanchez, or the surreal Eleanor Rigby by Vanilla Fudge (at maybe 1/4 speed, on acid, with synthesizers - a treat!). On the other hand, Nancy Sinatra covered a few too.
That same album with the Jim Carrey version of Walrus also has... Celine Dion singing Here There and Everywhere. It's quite beautiful - it's a soft, sensitve aproach, different from the power vocals one usually expects from the Quebecois songbird.
Oh - Styx does a classic rock version of Walrus that isn't terrible - but not as convincing as Def Leppard doing the Faces' Stay with Me, which in some ways out Faces the Faces, if you get my drift. Who would've thought a tight commercial rock outfit could play so sloppy if they set their mind to it?
There's a great bluegrass version of I'm Down by New Grass Revival.
Yes, Aretha Franklin's version of "Eleanor Rigby" is a little wacky, but she did a great cover of "Let It Be."
I need to say that Bono's Help! version came late, after Deep Purple great version (1968).
The brazilian woman singer Rita Lee (ex Os Mustantes) recorded a wonderful LP called "Bossa n' Beatles".
And last but not least, Revolution 1 is the original, the single version is the "cover".
I like Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" and
Michael Jackson's "Come Together"
"For no one" Emmylou Harris
"She came in through the bathroom window" Joe Cocker
"Help!" John Farnham
"Something" Frank Sinatra
Roseanne Cash did a simply outstanding cover of "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". She didn't overdo it -- she just covered it as the great country song it already was. It's superb.
Also, the best cover of all is the one done of "Tomorrow Never Knows" by Phil Manzanera's band (when he had briefly left Roxy Music) called 801. The song, just listed as "TNK" on the album, is a beautiful, full blown re-imagining of the song. This is a live performance. Any time you think that a Beatles performance can't be topped, just pull this one out. It's mind boggling!
EmmyLou's "For No One" is great (that's Ricky Skaggs on Viola and Violin)
Crosby Stills and Nash "In My Life"
Elvis did a great "Something" on a live album
Steve Earle did a nasty "I'm Looking Through You"
Rufus Wainright's "Across The Universe" is beautiful.
Sufjan Stevens does a version of "What Goes On" that is far better than the original.
Also, not that it's an improvement, but I feel that Bill Shatner's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" deserves a shout out in this discussion too.
Well Eva cassidy has done a great cover of John Lennon's Imagine and Paul Mccartney's Yesterday
both the songs she sings in her own beautiful style that's amazing
Deep Purple did a cover of We can work it out and Help!.
Also Oasis did a cover of helter skelter
there was some lame metal band called godhead that covered elenor rigby. you can find it on youtube.
What about the She Said She Said cover by the Black Keys, I thought it was pretty awesome.
Best Beatles covers (in no order)
Helter Skelter - Oasis (Noel Gallagher sung)
I Call Your Name - Mamas and Papas (Cass Elliot rocks this!)
Let it Be - Joan Baez (done in perfect folky goodness - fades out)
Because - Elliott Smith (finishes the film American Beauty perfectly)
and while we're on American Beauty, and although, it's not a Beatles song - Kevin Spacey did a great rendition of Lennon's "Mind Games" on a Lennon tribute special that aired a few years ago.
Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends (this version really became his song, and a good theme choice for the Wonder Years)
Elton John - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (with help from Lennon, so I don't know if it 100% counts, but a good version nonetheless)
Harry Nilsson - You Can't Do That. (I won't spoil the fun for those who haven't heard it, but it's chock full of Beatles references and not a straight rendition)
Great Beatles covers are there, if you are willing to not only look for them, but to have an open mind. :)
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/69800)
And your point is....?
-Glen