"It was 40 years ago today/That Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play…" That’s what some of today’s most popular rock ‘n’ rollers might be singing this June as part of a BBC Radio 2 celebration of the 40th birthday of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bands including Oasis, the Killers, the Fratellis, Travis, and the Kaiser Chiefs have been invited to cover songs from the hallowed LP, using the same 4-track technology that the Fab Four used to record the album back in ‘67; legendary original engineer Geoff Emerick will oversee the new recordings. The Snark Police have wasted no time in reaching for their rhetorical billy-clubs: Pitchfork called it a "bizarre, ill-advised… experiment in screwing up an otherwise perfect thing," and bloggers galore have joined in the chorus of "SACRILEGE!"
Everybody chill out! It’s just a bunch of Beatles covers. Lesser bands cover the Beatles all the time. That’s what happens when you create universally beloved, spectacularly brilliant art. Okay, so some of these new versions will probably be sort of lame, but some of them could be great. For instance,few Lennon-McCartney disciples are more devoted than Oasis and Travis. Half of their big singles might as well have been Beatles covers — in fact, I’m pretty sure several of their albums would have been significantly more fun if they were straight-up playing Sgt. Pepper from start to finish.
I’m not saying I don’t understand the trepidation that some Beatles fans have. Sgt. Pepper is a nearly flawless album, and the last time someone tried covering the full album, it turned out badly — reallybadly. (I rented that movie at the height of my pre-teen Beatlesobsession, and lemme tell you, even then I couldn’t make it all the waythrough.) But so what? Music fans get awfully uptight when artists dareto put their own spin on canonical records, but there’s really nodanger involved. Brandon Flowers’ bellowed take on "She’s Leaving Home"isn’t going to eclipse the original any time soon, and if any or all ofthese covers are awful, we can all feel free to forget they everhappened and cue up the White Album again. And when Beatles covers goright — like Richie Havens’ "Here Comes the Sun" or Rufus Wainwright’s "Across the Universe" — they can breathe new life into tunes whose very last grace note is burned deep into your cerebral cortex.
What are your favorite Beatles covers, PopWatchers? Or do you think aclause should be added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsprohibiting any artist from playing a single note of Sgt. Pepper?
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Alison Krauss’ version of “I Will” is at the top of my list. It keeps the essence of the original but puts a decidedly unique spin on it. And I don’t think Krauss’ voice has ever been more suited for a song.
Stevie Ray Vaughn’s version of “Taxman” is pretty awesome as well…for the same reasons listed above.
You have not LIVED until you’ve hear DJ Quest?love (from the Roots) spin St. Pepper over hip-hop beats! Puts the Gray Album (Jay-Z/Beatles/Dangermouse) to shame…
Fiona Apple’s version of Across the Universe is very well done as well.
i kind of like sammy kershaw’s “if i fell.” beatles covers don’t bother me because, uh, well, the beatles will always be awesome and a cover is always a cover. i don’t generally expect a cover to be better than the original – but it’s a pleasant surprise when that does happen, for sure.
There was a salsa album of all Beatles songs…truly awful. But like Simon says, the originals are still always there to appreciate. If anything, maybe it’ll encourage people to seek out the original.
I think that Stevie Wonder’s version of “We Can Work it Out” is actually better than the original.
The Beatles covers from the “I Am Sam” soundtrack were surprisingly okay. Some were actually wonderful. i don’t imagine this will be much different. (Rufus Wainwright’s version of Across the Universe is fantastic.) I think projects like this help to keep the Beatles’ songs alive, rather than bury them. I also think sometimes the Beatles are listened to for significance rather than enjoyment.
I love Aretha Franklin’s take on Eleanor Rigby. And Ray Charles’ for that matter.
The British music paper NME did pretty much the same thing for a charity compilation twenty years ago…
http://www.discogs.com/release/501843
…and the world didn’t end. The songs are sturdy enough to put up with all manner of abuse.
Best Beatles cover = Al Green, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”
Let’s not forget that the Beatles covered a whole bunch of songs themselves over the years, particularly in the beginning. It seems pretty silly to say that it is sacrilege to cover songs from a band who clearly considered covers legitimate.
For the record, my two favorite covers of Beatles songs: Frank Sinatra’s “Something” and Blood Sweat & Tears’ “Got to Get You Into My Life”
Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Dear Prudence” is amazing. That’s one that gets covered sort of a lot for a not-so-famous song. Alanis Morissette has a version, Jerry Garcia did it live, and am I hallucinating that Sean Lennon did it in the mid-90s?
Also don’t forget U2’s “Helter Skelter” and Crosby, Stills & Nash’s gorgeous harmonies on “Blackbird.”
I’m excited about this project because I like most of the bands that are going to take part in it, and I obviously love the Beatles. It should be interesting…to say the least.
I’ve always loved Ben Taylor’s version of “I Will”. Beautiful song, and his voice sounds great singing it. I also like George Michael’s version of “The long and winding road”.
It’s a tie for me between Wilson Pickett’s “Hey Jude” and Ben Folds’ “Golden Slumbers” (and the Four Bettys covering “In My Life”, but only barbershoppers will know that version). I am definitely intrigued by this project, especially with the same technology *and* Geoff Emerick at the helm. I’ve heard some crap Beatles covers in my day, believe me.
Has everyone here forgotten Joe Cocker’s volcanic cover of “With a Little Help from my Friends” from Woodstock? I find that to be one of the most audacious and brilliant covers of any song ever recorded.
Deerhoof had a pretty cool interpretation of The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill.
But there’ve been some not so great covers too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br2a0iKn_JA
I think it will be great! Those are all bands that I love and they already have some small qualities of the Beatles in their sound. I think so long as you pick the right artists, any cover can be great. Hey, and it could be so much worse. Can you imagine if it was like Clay Aiken or Hillary Duff covering these songs? That’s what would make me cry “sacrilege!”.
Also, one of my favorite Japanese artists, Bonnie Pink, did a cover of “Blackbird” that is absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, it’s not on YouTube as it was only on the Japanese version of the CD “In My Life”, but here she is doing “Strawberry Fields”. Not as good as her cover of “Blackbird”, but still very nice.
hey jude by wilson pickett. the final minute or so can still raise the hairs on my arms even after the 1000th listen. the horns come in, duane allman comes in, and then wilson pickett and the cacophony is blissful.
COME TOGETHER by Aerosmith showed some promise of a good cover version.
If any of these covers leads to some kid having a growing interest in the Beatles catalogue, then I’d say that’s a very, very good thing.
The Smithereens just recreated the “Meet the Beatles” album as “Meet the Smithereens”. It’s a really fun listen, y’all.
Styx’s version of I am the Walrus is fun, so is the Love soundtrack from Cirque De Sole which remixes Beatles songs.
I love Elliott Smith’s version of Because from the American Beauty soundtrack.
It is hard to cover Beatles- you are legally not allowed to do a lot with the music- therefore so many unoriginal covers. The best Sgt. Pepper versions I ever came across were by Branimir Krstic- very artistic interpretation of the whole album. Better known guitarists like Barrueco failed to do this. And Jeff Beck did not have such a good idea for the end of “A day in the life”.
Plus, Hendrix should not be left out. I love the idea of reducing Beatles music to a singe instrument and still getting Beatles out of it. You cannot do that with many other bands.
Did they ever finish this? I only heard the first set of songs – the ones that wouldn’t require a lot of production – a couple of years ago.