Kids Incorporated "From Me to You" (or Eaton Rode or Fame Academy)
Billy Preston (a Beatles guest, admittedly) "Get Back" (or Ike & Tina again)
Jay Z & Danger Mouse - sort of "Glass Onion"
Neil Diamond "Golden Slumbers" (or TroyTones or some weird stage show)
Earth, Wind, & Fire "Got to Get You Into My Life" (or Chicago or Rockapella)
Joe Cocker "With a Little Help From My Friends" (or Ayo & Jude or John Belushi or Richie Sambora)
Oasis "Help" (or Bananarama)
U2 "Helter Skelter" (or The Killers or Souxsie & the Banshees or Aerosmith)
Richie Havens "Here Comes the Sun" (or Nina Simone or Bon Jovi or Taylor Hicks or George Benson)
Hugh Laurie "Hey Jude" (or Wilson Pickett and the Bee Gees or The Dakotas or Duane Allman & Wilson Pickett or The Punkles or Phantom Planet & Maroon 5)
Langhorn Slim "Honey Pie" (or King's Singers or Olivia Newton-John)
Jim Carey "I Am the Walrus" (or Frank Zappa or Oasis or Styx
I may or may not continue my way through the alphabet of Beatles covers another time, but this is certainly enough for now...
6 comments:
Earth, Wind, and Fire's cover of Got to Get You Into My Life has always been one of my favorites.
wv: ozgdrs
In addition to these, I've been listening to the soundtrack to Across the Universe...some are good, some are okay, and some are just not on the same level as the Beatles (admittedly, that level is hard to achieve.)
I'm not so sure that the level of the Beatles is that hard to achieve. They are one of the most covered bands of all time. In my opinion, this is because of the timelessness and simplicity of their music. The genius behind the Beatles lie in their song writing ability, not their ability to play music. Technically, the Beatles are very....average. Well, thats my take on it.
That's a good point. I dunno about "average," but I see your point. What the Beatles had was good music, and fantastic lyrics with meaning. Presented in a fad British shell. And hey, it worked.
the Beatles' music is pretty much timeless...and it's simple, the kind of stuff that most decent musicians can cover easily enough...but there's a big difference between doing a decent version of someone else's song and crafting one of your own...
the talent of the Beatles wasn't in playing simple music bt in writing songs that have remained timeless, fresh, and catchy for decades...if I were to choose one oeuvre to share with someone new to our culture, the Beatles' would be in...so much of our modern popular music is influenced by their work...and it's only a Northern Song...
Oh yea I agree 100%. My second comment wasn't made to take away from any of the Beatles accomplishments. What they did for pop music is mind blowing (especially considering the pop music my generation has been subjected to). I was just saying, if you compare Ringo to the Neil Pearts or McCartney to the Claptons, there is a difference in playing ability.
And yes, I agree again, the best covers are ones that deviate substantially from the original.
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