Best Beatles Cover

[WoWo]

Following from the question a bit earlier about your favourite Beatles track. Whats the best Beatles cover?

I was listening to some Beatles stuff on my iPod and came across "The Long and Winding Road", George Michael did a version a while back on a B side and it was fantastic, the Beatles version is awful cosidering it's such a fantastic song, highlights one of the negatives of the Beatles (if there are any) in that they were never that good in terms of singing ability, most of the time that didn't matter but in this case makes all the difference.

[robertson]

Across The Universe by Fiona Apple

Yesterday and Eight Days A Week by Alma Cogan

And, if Paul McCartney's solo stuff counts, Let Em In by Billy Paul

[Chelsea97]

So the Beatles couldn't sing eh??? I think that you'll have millions of people (including me) who disagree with you there !!

One of the most highly-rated cover versions is Joe Cocker's 'With a Little Help From My Friends' but you probably won't think that he can sing either !

[WoWo]

I'd didn't say they couldn't sing just they were not classically trained singers. Listen to Long and Winding Road and you will understand what I'm on about...

[andy-hughes]

I'd second the Joe Cocker 'WALHFMF' as the best cover version -

as to singing 'ability' - it really depends on context doesn't it. Take Lou Reed singing Perfect Day, which is about heroin, something with which Lou is intimately aquainted - his world weary, but obviously untrained voice is perfect for the mood and execution of the song. Compare that with the BBC 'cover version' with loads of clasically trained singers doing a bit each, with their perfect pitch and intonation, and frankly they sound ludicrous!

Pop singing is about mood and atmosphere, not pitch and intonation - which makes The Beatles singing Beatles' songs as perfect as you can get.

Classical singers singing pop is like the proverbial dog walking on its hind legs - it's not that it is done badly, but that one is surprised to hear it done at all.

[enilorac89]

Yeah, this mightn't count. But John Lennon's Imagine, covered by A Perfect Circle, I love what they did with it tbh.

[mightyWBA]

Helter Skelter by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

[halfadaily]

It has to be for me Joe Cocker, With a little help...etc. I saw Joe perform this back in the 60s at one of the festivals and the raw emotion that he gave to the song completly changed what was originally a lack lustre vehicle for the dubious singing talents of Ringo Starr.

[Aschenbach]

Not strictly a Beatles song but I'd go for Roxy Music's version of Lennon's Jealous Guy

[robbo82]

10cc's Across the Universe, Nils Lofgren's Anytime at All, Otis Redding's Daytripper and Daffy Duck's Yesterday.

[smorodina]

In My Life by Johnny Cash.

[maxximus]

yes, joe cocker is the man!! jeff healy does an excellent job of ' while my guitar gently weeps ' and my mother was especially fond of shirley horn's version of ' and i love (him) her.'

[yinyang]

Don't believe I'm about to say this,but I totally agree with you Ward~ Minter. Sean Connery has the perfect voice for this and makes it sound like poetry.

I also like the Robin Williams and Billy Connelly covers but Celine Dion - aaaargghh!She's just a caterwauling harpy that ruins a good song by over- singing it.

[Goodsoulette]

Live and Let die - Guns n Roses, surely.

[whattheheck]

I think the best Beatles cover was 'Please Please Me', you know, the one where they're all looking over the balcony in that block of flats !

[crisper]

How about Strawberry Fields Forever by Candyflip. It was done in the mid 90's I think. Good track!

[jamesy boy]

whattheheck, that's no block of flats, that's EMI headquarters.

Quite fond of Elvis Costello doing 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away.'

[whattheheck]

jamesy boy, I stand corrected, still a good cover though !

I like John Berry's (Country artist) version of 'The Long And Winding Road' aswell.

[reinganum]

Ob-la-de ob-la-da (white album) was often regarded as one of their weakest songs and there was an equally awful cover by the Marmalade which was played incessantly on radio at the time, completely ignoring a superb cover by a group called the Bedrocks which has a really funky bass line and a brass section as well. I can only think it was ignored because maybe the Bedrocks were a session group (i.e. proper musicians) and the Marmalade had a good agent.....