From Sandie Shaw to Lord Sitar, from Ruben Blades to Swan Arcade, this CD-length collection hints at the wonderful range of covers available on each album.
NOTE: Skip the following preamble if you have no objection to the concept of covering Beatles songs.
I feel I have undergone a real shaking of my blind faith in the Beatles as supreme interpreters of their own work in compiling these collections.
Such is the puristic fervour of the fanatic; once I regarded any cover version of a Beatles song with suspicion and, more often, as an act of impiety.
Why is clear: as the band who produced probably the most frequently covered song in history, and certainly the most comprehensively covered full discography, the majority of the covers are pale imitations. The Beatles (unlike, say Dylan) are easily the best interpreters of their own tunes. Time and again I would hear a feted cover version and wonder: why would you do it like that? when it seemed clear to me that the Beatles avoided a certain vocal tic or cliché.
Then came the thaw. For some, it came with Motown's rearguard attack (perhaps stimulated by the idea, expressed by Abbey Lincoln and others, that the Beatles were being promoted as a means of suppressing the considerable interest in black artists); for others, it may be the cumulatively bathetic impact of covers by acts such as the Beatle Barkers and Mrs Mills, which weakened the catalogue's resistance by rendering the influence of the Beatles tamed by camp. (It's one way of dealing with the anxiety of influence.)
I suppose for the doughty follower, this jazzification will still come as heresy. To them I say, forgive us this impiety: it's a bit of fun.
For those who remain unconvinced, I offer this small sampler of tracks - one representing each album - in the hope that it might win you over to the virtues of this collection...
Here are the albums organised by cover:
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You might also be interested in these Eleanor Rigbys:
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The Complete Tracklists
The Alternate Please Please Me
01 - I Saw Her Standing There - Buddy Morrow
02 - Mi Sufrir (Misery) - Los Shyppis
03 - Anna (Go To Him) - Humble Pie
04 - Chains - BeatleJazz
05 - Boys - The Shirelles
06 - Ask Me Why - Os Sambeatles
07 - Please Please Me - The Score
08 - Love Me Do - Sandy Shaw
09 - P.S. I Love You - Santo and Johnny
10 - Baby It's You - Smith
11 - Do You Want To Know A Secret - Jonathan King
12 - A Taste of Honey - The O'Haras
13 - There's A Place - The George Martin Orchestra
14 - Reggae and Shout (Twist and Shout) - The Black Beatles
The Alternate With The Beatles
01 It Won't be Long - Jack Nitzsche and his Orchestra
02 All I've Got to Do - Louise Goffin
03 All My Loving - Matt Monro
04 Don't Bother Me - Gregory Phillips
05 Little child - The George Martin Orchestra
06 Till There Was You - Joey Heatherton
07 Señor Cartero (Please, Mr Postman) - Los Shyppis
08 Roll Over Beethoven - Helene Dixon
09 Hold Me Tight - Todd Rundgren
10 You Really Gotta Hold On Me - She and Him
11 I Wanna Be Your Man - Brian Sewell/Roger Webb and his Trio
12 Devil In His Heart - Donays
13 Not a Second Time - R Stevie Moore
14 Money (That's What I Want) Variety Lab (feat. Mona Soyoc)
The Alternate Hard Day's Night
01 Ich Bin Die Beat Oma (A Hard Day's Night) - Die Beat Oma
02 I Should Have Known Better - The Skatelities
03 If I Fell - Os Sambeatles
04 I'm Happy Just To Dance With You - The Cyrkle
05 And I Love Her - Byron Lee
06 Tell Me Why - April Wine
07 Can't Buy Me Love - Hank Levine Singers & Orchestra
08 Any Time At All - Melanie
09 Réjouissance (I'll Cry Instead) - The Royal Beatleworks Musicke
10 La paix (Things We Said Today) - The Royal Beatleworks Musicke; Things We Said Today - Mary McCaslin
11 When I Get Home - The Hassles (w. Billy Joel)
12 You Can't Do That - Harry Nilsson
13 I'll Be Back - Errol Dunkley
The Alternate Beatles for Sale
01 No Reply - The Last Words
02 I'm A Loser - Bola Sete and Vince Guaraldi
03 Baby's In Black - Ruben Blades
04 J'aime le rock'n'roll (Rock'n'Roll Music) - Eddy Mitchell
05 I'll Follow the Sun - The Four Brothers
06 Mr Moonlight - I Rockings (apologies for the sound quality - you'll understand why it had to be included)
07 Kansas City - Hey Hey Hey Hey (Medley) - Freddie & the Dreamers
08 Eight Days a Week - Enoch Light
09 Words Of Love - The Diamonds
10 Honey Don't - Wanda Jackson
11 Every Little Thing - Yes
12 I Don't Want to Spoil the Party - David Tice
13 What You're Doin' To Me - Lisa Lauren (Update: this replaces Hup Kapp's version)
14 Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby - Johnny Cash
The Alternate Help!
01 Help (Aria) - The Baroque Ensemble
02 The Night Before - Ringo Ska
03 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - The Mamas and the Papas
04 I Need You - Phil Seymour
05 Another Girl - George Martin Orchestra
06 You're Going to Lose That Girl - The Oohs
07 Ticket to Ride - Alma Cogan
08 Act Naturally - Betty Willis
09 It's Only Love - R Stevie Moore
10 You Like Me Too Much (Me gustas demasiado) - Hugo y Osvaldo
11 Tell Me What You See - Teenage Fanclub
12 I've Just Seen A Face - Charles River Valley Boys
13 Yesterday - Bob Dylan
14 Dizzy Miss Lizzy - BZN
The Alternate Rubber Soul
01 Drive My Car - Bobby McFerrin
02 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Swingle Singers
03 You Won't See Me - Ernest Ranglin
04 Nowhere Man - Vikki Carr
05 Think For Yourself - Yonder Mountain String Band
06 The Word - Helen Merrill
07 Michelle - The Ladmo Trio
08 What Goes On - Joe Val & The New England Bluegrass Boys
09 Girl - Os Sambeatles
10 I'm Looking Through You - Martin Simpson
11 In My Life (Mal Evans Mix) - Keith Moon
12 Wait - Maggie McNeal
13 If I Needed Someone - James Taylor
14 Run for Your Life - Spiers & Boden
The Alternate Revolver
01 - Taxman - Junior Parker
02 - Eleanor Rigby - Cassia Eller
03 - I'm Only Sleeping - George Martin & His Orchestra
04 - Love You To - Sukilove
05 - Here, There and Everywhere - Claudine Longet
06 - Yellow Submarine - Akiko Kanazawa
07 - She Said She Said - Tom Newman
08 - Good Day Sunshine - Jimmy James & The Vagabonds
09 - And Your Bird Can Sing - Jim Reid
10 - For No One - Emmylou Harris
11 - Doctor Robert - Luke Temple
12 - I Want To Tell You - Thea Gilmore
13 - Got to Get You Into My Life - Marian Love
14 - Tomorrow Never Knows - Monsoon feat. Sheila Chandra
The Alternate Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
01 - Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Daniel García Quinteto (feat. Brian Sewell)
02 - With a Little Help from my Friends - Big Daddy
03 - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Ringo Ska
04 - Getting Better - Status Quo (vocoder)
05 - Fixing a Hole - The Wood Brothers
06 - She's Leaving Home - Syreeta (vocoder)
07 - Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite - Cuarto Silencio
08 - Within You Without You - Patti Smith
09 - When I'm Sixty Four - Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen
10 - Lovely Rita - Fats Domino
11 - Good Morning, Good Morning - Easy Star All-Stars (feat. Steel Pulse)
12 - Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) - The Bee Gees (feat. Peter Frampton & Frankie Howerd & George Burns)
13 - A Day In The Life - Eric Burdon (edit)
14 - The Runout Groove - Tall Dwarfs
The Alternate Magical Mystery Tour
01 Magical Mystery Tour - Ska Ska Club
02 The Fool On The Hill - Petula Clark
03 Flying - Shockabilly
04 Blue Jay Way - Lord Sitar
05 Your Mother Should Know - Bud Shank
06 I Am The Walrus - Spooky Tooth
07 Hello Goodbye - Los Papines & Don Carlos
08 Strawberry Fields Forever - Hayseed Dixie
09 Penny Lane - Hannover Harmonists, Wilson Malone, Jalopy Five
10 Baby You're A Rich Man - The Session Men
11 All You Need Is Love - Echo & The Bunnymen
The White Album
ALBUM ONE
01 Back In The USSR - Leningrad Cowboys
02 Dear Prudence - Lau
03 Glass Onion - The Link Quartet
04 Ob-la-di Ob-la-da - The Heptones
05 Wild Honey Pie - Pixies
06 The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill - Dawn Kinnard & Ron Sexsmith
07 While my Guitar Gently Weeps - Jimmy Ponder
08 Happiness is a Warm Gun - Aidan Smith
09 Martha My Dear - The Beale Street Syncopaters
10 I'm So Tired - Adam Bruneau
11 Blackbird - Sarah Vaughan
12 Piggies - Tottemo Godzilla Riders
13 Rocky Raccoon - Lena Horne and Gabor Szabo
14 Don't Pass Me By - The Georgia Satellites
15 Why Don't We Do It In The Road - Z-Da
16 I Will - John Holt
17 Julia - Charles Parker
ALBUM TWO
01 Birthday - Underground Sunshine
02 Yer Blues - Matmosphere
03 Mother Nature's Son - The King's Singers
04 Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and my Monkey - Kristin Hersh
05 Sexy Sadie - Paul Weller
06 Helter Skelter - The Bobs
07 Long Long Long - Tanya Donelly
08 Revolution No 1 - The Brothers Four
09 Honey Pie - Göran Söllscher
10 Savoy Truffle - Bull Angus
11 Cry Baby Cry - Freedom
12 Revolution 9 - Alarm Will Sound (arr. Matt Marks)
13 Good Night - Ramsey Lewis
The Alternate Abbey Road
01 Come Together - The Supremes
02 Something (edit) - Issac Hayes
03 Maxwell's Silver Hammer - Frankie Laine
04 Oh! Darling - Four Stiltons
05 Octopus's Garden - Ofra Harnoy
06 I Want You (She's So Heavy) - Sarah Vaughan
07 Here Comes the Sun - Sharon Forrester
08 Because - George Benson and Helen Merrill
09 You Never Give Me Your Money - Will Malone and Lou Reizner
10 Sun King - Booker T and the MGs
11 Mean Mr. Mustard - Frankie Howerd and Steven Tyler
12 Roy Wood - Polythene Pam
13 She Came in Through the Bathroom Window - Joe Cocker
14 Golden Slumbers - Claudine Longet
15 Dobby Dobson - Carry That Weight
16 The End - Arr. Pucho López
17 Her Majesty - Brian Sewell
Yellow Submarine
01 Yellow Submarine - Cathy Berberian, Mrs. Miller, Peter Knight, Gordon Langford and Milton Burman
02 Only a Northern Song - Yonder Mountain String Band
03 All Together Now - Joy Unlimited
04 Hey Bulldog - Fanny Hill
05 It's All Too Much - Chris Weisman & Greg Davis
06 All You Need Is Love - Anita Kerr Singers
The Alternate Past Masters, Vol. I
01 Love Me Do - The Hollyridge Strings
02 From Me to You - Arthur Wilkinson
03 Thank You Girl - The Surphonics
04 She Loves You - Ted Chippington
05 I'll Get You - The Inmates
06 I Want to Hold Your Hand - Al Green
07 This Boy - The Beatles' Songbook (Arr. Bill Hutchins)
08 Komm gib mir deine Hand - Black Floos
09 Sie liebt dich - Black Floos
10 Long Tall Sally - Cactus
11 I Call Your Name - Mo Indigo
12 Slow Down - The Jam
13 Matchbox - The Shelton Brothers
14 I Feel Fine - Harvey Averne
15 She's a Woman - The Charles River Valley Boys
16 Bad Boy - Rush
17 Yes It Is - The London Jazz Four
18 I'm Down - Adrian Belew
The Alternate Past Masters, Vol. II
01 Day Tripper (Alternate take) - Otis Redding
02 Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out
03 Paperback Writer - Swan Arcade
04 Rain - Beatle Hans
05 Lady Madonna - The Crystalites
06 The Inner Light - The Soulful Strings
07 Hey Jude - Stan Kenton and His Orchestra
08 Revolution - The Head Shop
09 The Main Ingredient - Get Back
10 Phoebe Snow - Don't Let Me Down
11 Balada de John e Yoko (The Ballad of John and Yoko) - The Fevers
12 Old Brown Shoe - Chuck Mead
13 Across The Universe - Rufus Wainwright
14 Lato B (Let it Be) - Powerillusi
15 Dis-moi je t'aime, dis-le, dis-le moi (You Know My Name) Look Up The Number - Gerard St Paul
3 comments:
I downloaded a few but still prefer the originals...
Of course the originals will always be unsurpassed masters, but these version are intriguing, thoughtful, different. Well done. I've already downloaded a couple of the albums. I'm doing the series chronologically and will email you my feedback!
A very good job, indeed! I'm envious. I must finish my Beatles project on L'Homme Scalp. I am presently doing a radio show that you can have a listen to on L'Homme Scalp blog.
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