- Bring on the Lucie by Hallelujah the Hills - October 9, 2015
- Experiment: Two Words - July 27, 2013
- POV - July 19, 2013
Thanks for posting about covers, Nancy, and commenters, keep the links coming! I wasn’t sure how to embed a video in a comment, so I’m putting up a fresh post. Back in high school, I became a fan of The Feelies, because they were opening for R.E.M. on the part of the tour that was passing through my town. Their debut, Crazy Rhythms, has this frenzied take on “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)”:
* And when I saw them, they covered “She Said, She Said”–I’m not sure if they ever recorded it (maybe as a B-side?). I can’t find a version from back then (late ’80s), but here they are on their recent (2011) reunion tour. Time passes…but this still sounds tight to me. It’s *fast*: And…just for fun, here are the Feelies ca. 2010, doing “EGSTH (EFM&MM)”–also fast! * I also always liked En Vogue’s “Yesterday”: * That’s all for now…please share more!
I’ve collected covers for years, and I think to what I like is when groups at least inject a little of themselves into the recording instead of trying to mimic the original. A song I know could turn me on to a band I don’t. A group I know could turn me on to an original artist I don’t. Different genres are always in play, even novelties.
So here are a few of many favorite Beatle covers, in no particular order…
Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude.
The Eric Gales Band – I Want You (She’s So Heavy).
Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs – And Your Bird Can Sing.
Aimee Mann and Michael Penn – Two of Us.
P.M. Dawn – Norwegian Wood (they also nicely sample Wings’ Arrow Through Me on the Amnesia single).
Huey Lewis – Oh Darling.
Badfinger – Come and Get It.
Chumbawamba – Her Majesty.
Bill Cosby – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Danielle Dax (or Phil Collins) – Tomorrow Never Knows.
Phil Angotti – Here Comes the Sun (a blend of Harrisongs from a fine Chicago pop-rocker).
The Hassles (early Billy Joel) – When I Get Home (more interesting than his solo b-side cover of I’ll Cry Instead).
Toad the Wet Sprocket – Hey Bulldog.
Doodles Weaver – Eleanor Rigby.
Beastie Boys – I’m Down (and The Sounds of Science, which isn’t a cover, but its use of samples is absolutely joyous).
Rod Stewart – Get Back.
Peter Gabriel – Strawberry Fields Forever.
And if somebody out there’s turned What Goes On into a minor-key metal dirge, I’d love to hear it.
Whatever happened to Matthew Sweet?
I’ve never heard of the Hassles!
I had no idea P.M. Dawn did a version of “Norwegian Wood.” (YouTube also shows an interesting Cornershop rendition.)
Surely Robyn Hitchcock &/or XTC has covered the Beatles?
–Ed
Hey Ed — the killer from that Feelies album is “Loveless Love,” which they did in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild (they were the band at the h.s. reunion).
Some of my fave Beatle covers, from funk to square:
Stevie Wonder, “We Can Work it Out”
John Denver, “Mother Nature’s Son”
The Silkie, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”
Sonic Youth, “Within You Without You”
World Party, “A World Without Love” (not technically Beatles but whatever, it’s not the SATs)
George Martin Orchestra, “And I Love Her”
The Hollyridge Strings, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
The Rolling Stones, “I Wanna Be Your Man”
and about 2 dozen others I’m forgetting.
Definitely second Stevie Wonder’s “We Can Work It Out”.
The last time I saw Matthew Sweet on television he did not look well. He had gained a lot of weight and looked tired.
He is a fine songwriter and his Girlfriend album is an all-time classic. I would love to see him make a comeback.
Another of my favorite covers is Aerosmith’s version of “I’m Down”. Very faithful copy of the original.
I must have missed it, I must have. But I can’t find it anywhere, has no one posted it? The greatest Beatles cover, bar-none, of all time has not been mentioned yet??
I will accept no arguments on this, none! (kidding….sorta) This song is the best Beatles cover by a mile! I don’t care if it’s not obscure enough and wasn’t recorded by a 4th rate garage band from Nova Scotia in 1981. This cover song is, dare I say it, better than the original. Now perhaps that’s because Ringo sang lead, but I’m not so sure that that is the reason, for this cover is an all time classic. In fact it’s so much identified with its singer that many people have no idea it’s even a Beatle cover (of course I know you guys know that it is).
AND, it was performed at Woodstock and KILLED
Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AptOFoBuagM
Apologies if someone already posted this and I somehow missed it. Then again, it deserves to be posted twice 🙂
What, no Peter Sellers? He did tons.
So many Beatle covers – was Del Shannon the first with “From Me To You”?
Just a few from my Ipod:
Day Tripper – Otis Redding
If I Needed Someone – Hollies
Taxman – Junior Parker
Lucy In The Sky – Elton John
I Want To Hold Your Hand – Al Green
Help – Little Texas
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road – Lowell Fulson
Here Comes The Sun – Richie Havens
I Am The Walrus – Spooky Tooth
The absolute best Beatles cover I ever heard in my life was a reggae version of She Loves You. I have no idea who recorded it. I heard it once on the dancefloor of the old Reggae Lounge in NYC. It was part of a long mix. This was sometime in the mid 1980s. I haven’t heard it since. I wish someone could tell me who recorded it. It sure would be nice to hear it again, after all these years.
– Hologram Sam
My all time favorite is Siouxsie and the Banshees – Dear Prudence