The Beatles are regarded as the most influential band of all time. They created a body of work that raised the bar for songwriting and have inspired countless artists to cover their songs. When I took songwriting classes in Nashville one of my teachers constantly used their songs as examples of the various lyric forms. The diversity of artists who have covered Beatles songs is a testament to the quality of their music. I want to share my Top Ten Favorite Beatles Covers.
“The impact of the Beatles – not only on rock & roll but on all of Western culture – is simply incalculable … [A]s personalities, they defined and incarnated ’60s style: smart, idealistic, playful, irreverent, eclectic…. [N]o group has so radically transformed the sound and significance of rock & roll. … [they] proved that rock & roll could embrace a limitless variety of harmonies, structures, and sounds; virtually every rock experiment has some precedent on Beatles record.”
–Rolling Stone
“This was different, shifted the lay of the land. Four guys, playing and singing, writing their own material … Rock ‘n’ roll came to my house where there seemed to be no way out … and opened up a whole world of possibilities.”
–Bruce Springsteen
“The Beatles were the first to actually find that middle path between the artistic and the intellectual, and at the same time still be on the street.”
–Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones
I have only come to appreciate the Beatles in the last twenty years or so. I was in elementary school in the sixties and my favorite bands were Herman’s Hermits and the Monkees. My older sister bought Beatles albums and convinced my parents to let us go see the movie Help! when it came out in 1965. My husband has all their albums and we have listened to them many times. However, it probably wasn’t until I began to explore songwriting that I realized how unique their music is.
Artists from the Hollies to Motown to Nina Simone to Billie Eilish have covered their songs. Below are my Top Ten Favorite Beatles Covers. There is no criteria to these selections except they are my favorites at this moment. Ask me tomorrow, and my answer might be different!
10. Wilson Pickett – “Hey Jude”
“Hey Jude,” released as a single in August 1968, was the Beatles first release on their Apple record label. The song hit number one around the world and was the year’s top-selling single in the UK, the US, Australia, and Canada. Pickett recorded his version in 1969 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with a young Duane Allman who had recommended the song to Pickett. Eric Clapton said of the recording, “To this day, I’ve never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record. It’s the best.” Session musician Jimmy Johnson, who played on the recording, said that Allman’s solo “created Southern rock.”
9. Patricia Barber – “Norwegian Wood”
Released on Rubber Soul in 1965, the song features a sitar part played by George Harrison. This was the first appearance of the Indian string instrument on a Western rock recording. This helped to bring Ravi Shankar and Indian classical music to the mainstream in the West. Patricia Barber’s version may not be to everyone’s taste. I really like all her music and I like this jazz performance for its freedom, intense emotion, and unique take on the original song.
8. Paul Simon, David Crosby, and Graham Nash – “Here Comes the Sun”
This is probably my favorite Beatles song. It was on Abbey Road (1969) and was written by George Harrison. He wrote the song at the house of his friend Eric Clapton. Harrison says in his autobiography: “ ‘Here Comes the Sun’ was written at the time when Apple was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen: ‘Sign this’ and ‘sign that.’ Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever, by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided I was going to sag off Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. The relief of not having to go see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote ‘Here Comes the Sun’ ”. I particularly love the beautiful harmonies in the version.
7. Michael Bublé – “Can’t Buy Me Love”
This song was released in March 1964 following the success of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” This version by Michael Bublé has lots of energy and syncopation.
6. Alison Krauss – “I Will”
“I Will” is from the White Album (1968). Paul McCartney has said of the melody: “It’s still one of my favourite melodies that I’ve written. You just occasionally get lucky with a melody and it becomes rather complete and I think this is one of them; quite a complete tune.” That melody is highlighted in this gorgeous, simple version by Alison Krauss.
5. Stevie Wonder – “We Can Work It Out”
Stevie Wonder covered this 1965 song in 1970. His version earned him a Grammy Award nomination in 1972 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. I love the energy that Stevie Wonder always brings to music. And, what could be any better than the harmonica in the middle of this rendition!
4. John Denver – “Mother Nature’s Son”
This song was on the White Album. The lyrics were inspired by a lecture on nature given by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. McCartney finished the song in London. Paul is quoted as saying, “I seem to remember writing ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ at my dad’s house in Liverpool. I often used to do that if I’d gone up to see him. Visiting my family I’d feel in a good mood, so it was often a good occasion to write songs. So this was me doing my mother nature’s son bit. I’ve always loved the [Nat King Cole] song called ‘Nature Boy’: ‘There was a boy, a very strange and gentle boy…’ He loves nature, and ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ was inspired by that song. I’d always loved nature, and when Linda and I got together we discovered we had this deep love of nature in common. There might have been a little help from John with some of the verses.” This version by John Denver sounds as if he could have written it. His voice naturally fits the melody and lyrics. It was recorded in 1972 and is on his album Rocky Mountain High.
3. Linda Ronstadt – “Good Night”
This was the last song on the White Album. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon-McCartney, the song was sung by Ringo Starr on the album. John wrote the song as a lullaby for his son Julian. Linda Ronstadt included “Good Night” as the last song on her 1996 album Dedicated to the One I Love. The album was comprised of rock classics done as children’s lullabies. It was awarded a Grammy in 1997.
2. Joe Cocker – “With a Little Help from My Friends”
This was the second track on 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Joe Cocker’s version was a hit single in 1968 and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Cocker sang the song at Woodstock in 1969 and his version became an anthem for the Woodstock era. Cocker’s version was much different from the original. Paul McCartney said of the recording, “it was just mind blowing, totally turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful for him for doing that.”
1. Shirley Horn – “Yesterday”
Written by Paul McCartney and released in 1965, “Yesterday” is one of the most covered songs in music recording history—with over two thousand versions. Shirley Horn is one of my favorite jazz singers. She probably ranks at the very top. The song “Yesterday” is on Shirley Horn’s last album which came out in 2003. She died at the age of 71 in 2005.
In a review in the April 25, 2019 JazzTimes, Christopher Loudon says; “Taking what is likely the most overexposed pop song in history, Horn manages to make it freshly intriguing by transforming it from a despondent exercise in self-pity to a cherished life lesson. Her heartbreakingly fractured reading of the single word “love” says more than most singers can say in a dozen albums.” Shirley Horn usually accompanies herself on the piano. Before this recording, she had been ill and her foot was amputated. George Mesterhazy is the pianist here.
Listening to these Top Ten Favorite Beatles Covers is always refreshing. As much as I love the original recordings, hearing these songs take on new dimensions through such artistic, soulful, and beautiful renditions makes me understand how powerful lyrics and music can be.
“And, in the end
― Paul McCartney, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics
The love you take
is equal to the love you make.”
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
― John Lennon
Favorite Beatles Covers – Honorable Mentions
Esther Phillips: “And I Love Him”
Paul McCartney has praised her version (retitled to reverse the gender). She performed the song on The Music of Lennon & McCartney, a 1965 TV showcase of their work.
Jon Batiste: “Blackbird”
Ray Charles: “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby”
Nina Simone: “Here Comes the Sun”
Booker T. & the M.G.s: “Michelle”
Bill Withers: “Let It Be”
José Feliciano: “Day Tripper”
Peggy Lee: “Something” and “A Hard Day’s Night”
U2: “Helter Skelter”
The Supremes: “You Can’t Do That”
Marvin Gaye: “Yesterday”
Four Tops: “Eleanor Rigby”
Gladys Knight and the Pips: “Let It Be”
Earth, Wind & Fire: “Got To Get You Into My Life”
Johnny Cash: “In My Life”
Arctic Monkeys: “Come Together”
Tom Petty, Dhani Harrison, Prince, Steve Winwood, and more: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
The Hollies: “If I Needed Someone”
A Must for Any Beatles Fan
McLemore Avenue (1970) is an album by Booker T. & the M.G.s which consists entirely of covers of songs from the Beatles’ Abbey Road (1969). The album is a homage to the Beatles album. Booker T. Jones said, “I was in California when I heard Abbey Road, and I thought it was incredibly courageous of The Beatles to drop their format and move out musically like they did. To push the limit like that and reinvent themselves when they had no need to do that. They were the top band in the world but they still reinvented themselves. The music was just incredible so I felt I needed to pay tribute to it.”
Other Notable Favorite Beatles Covers
Amy Winehouse: “All My Loving”
Al Green: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Oasis: “I Am the Walrus”
The Rolling Stones: “I Wanna Be Your Man”
The Beach Boys: “I Should Have Known Better”
The Jam: “And Your Bird Can Sing”
The Breeders: “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”
Candy Flip: “Strawberry Fields Forever”
David Bowie: “Across the Universe”
Otis Redding: “Day Tripper”
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: “And I Love Her”
Syreeta: “She’s Leaving Home”
The Temptations: “Hey Jude”
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas: “Something”
Edwin Starr: “My Sweet Lord”
The Cure: “Hello, Goodbye”
Elliott Smith: “Blackbird”
Siouxsie & The Banshees: “Helter Skelter” and “Dear Prudence”
Bob Dylan: “Nowhere Man”
Frank Zappa: “I Am the Walrus”
Patti Smith: “Within You Without You”
The Damned: “Help”
STAX Does the Beatles (various artists)
Some of the artists on this collection are listed above, too.
Isaac Hayes: “Something”
David Porter: “Help”
Steve Cropper: “With A Little Help From My Friends”
Booker T. & the M.G.s: “Got to Get You Into My Life”
Carla Thomas: “Yesterday”
The Mar-Keys: “Let It Be”
The Bar-Keys: “Yesterday” and “With A Little Help From My Friends” and “Hey Jude”
Reggie Milner: “And I Love Her”
J. G. Williams: “My Sweet Lord”
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