Why do so many Beatles covers approach a new standard of suckitude?
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!…
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26 - JANK
Jim Carrey does an awseome cover of "I Am the Walrus" - check it out.
27 - ER
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.
28 - JC Mosquito
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?
29 - Sandy
There's a great bluegrass version of I'm Down by New Grass Revival.
30 - Shawn
Yes, Aretha Franklin's version of "Eleanor Rigby" is a little wacky, but she did a great cover of "Let It Be."
31 - Marcelo Baeza Sequeira
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".
32 - Monica J
I like Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" and
Michael Jackson's "Come Together"
33 - The Durango Kid
"For no one" Emmylou Harris
"She came in through the bathroom window" Joe Cocker
"Help!" John Farnham
"Something" Frank Sinatra
34 - David S.
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.
35 - David S.
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!
36 - Steve
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.
37 - andrew
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.
38 - Abhishek
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
39 - john
there was some lame metal band called godhead that covered elenor rigby. you can find it on youtube.
40 - James
What about the She Said She Said cover by the Black Keys, I thought it was pretty awesome.
41 - Rock Fan
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. :)