Beatles Cover Versions

Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
Been playing a little parlour game with myself. Imagining if I was to do an Invisible Jukebox "The Wire-style" with Paul McCartney (widespread groaning, give it a rest Matt etc). I thought quite a conceptually witty way to approach something like this with (coughs) Sir Paul would be to just play him cover versions of his songs made by other artists and use that as a means to open out discussing the more "alternative" sides of his oevre.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

The Residents: Beyond The Valley Of A Day In The Life

You can get this on the Jon Savage "England's Dreaming" CD on Trikont. Stunning pice imagining what would happen after the reverberating chord at the the end of "A Day In The Life"

(good for Post-Number Nine Avant-Garde discussion material)

Hector Zazou: Strawberry Fields Forever

Very Mutant Disco-ish. Could discuss Paul's "Temporary Secretary" with this.

Joyce Bond: Ob-la-Di Ob-la-Da

Choice rocksteady cover of this Reggae-influenced track. Theres whole reams of Beatles reggae covers obviously, but this seems particulary pertinent.

Siouxsie and The Banshees: Dear Prudence

What DID you think of punk, Paul?

Edu Lobo: Hey Jude

Brazilian cover. Possibly cover the Beatles influence of tropicalia.

Ramsey Lewis: Julia

A real favourite of mine, from Ramsey's Mother Nature's Son classic on Cadet (just songs from The White Album)

Beastie Boys: One of The Songs of Paul's Boutique

Not sure which one samples "Come Together", but in the process of finding out I discovered this bizarre site:
http://www.moire.com/beastieboys/samples/songs.php

in conjunction with Dangermouse's The Grey Album (pile of crap that it was): What do you think about sampling?
Interesting because (insiders knowledge) I know Macca tried to (unsuccessfully) stop Dangermouse being lynched by EMI. Just like U2 failed to stop Island lynching SST for the record.

Cathy Berberian: Revolution LP

The Luciano Berio connection.
http://www.franklarosa.com/vinyl/Exhibit.jsp?AlbumID=73

Candy Flip: Strawberry Field Forever

OK, failing a bit here. Need something to go with a chat about Paul's Fireman Techno project.

---------------

OK dear fellow dissensoids, can you come up with:

a) a better electronica cover.
b) an african record (to talk about Band on The Run being recorded in Lagos)
c) a really hot AvantGarde one to go with Paul hanging with AMM.
d) a standar R'n'B in a Chuck Berry vein cover.
e) most difficultly a Free Jazz one to go with Paul's love of Albert Ayler (c'mon you know you can do it!)
f) a bbc radiophonic cover

and any other suggestions......


 
D

droid

Guest
There was of course that Trojan box set of Reggae Beatles covers that came out a while back, plus 'Norwegian wood' (or its melody at least) has been adopted for use in multiple non-Beatles related reggae and dancehall tunes...
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
droid said:
There was of course that Trojan box set of Reggae Beatles covers that came out a while back, plus 'Norwegian wood' (or its melody at least) has been adopted for use in multiple non-Beatles related reggae and dancehall tunes...
Click to expand...

The "harder shade of black" riddim.... Frankie Paul "Tu Shung Peng" and all that.

On the punk front, the Banshees also covered "Helter Skelter" in a more thrashy style -> Manson Family etc...
 
L

labrat

hot on the heels of love
Arthur Mullard's ''yusterday''

doesn't fit any of the criteria but it amused me.

(and its a site better than Cathy Berberian)
 
Landfill Elektronikz

Landfill Elektronikz

-
The Cabs doing 'She Loves You' (renamed 'She Loved You'). It's on the 1974-76 collection. That'd test Paul's 'left field' credentials!

Or force him to sit through the whole of Marty Gold's "Moog Plays The Beatles" (Avco Embassy, 1970) and make the fucker squirm!
 
E

Elan

Blackbird
Within You Without You - Sonic Youth
A Day in the Life - The Fall

Both from Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father.

and, why not, The Grey Album.
 
R

Rachel Verinder

Well-known member
From the free jazz/improv end of things, Mike Westbrook covered Abbey Road in its entirety in 1986, retitling it Off Abbey Road. Recommended highlight: Phil Minton attacking "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" with commendable elan.

Also, Leo Sayer did a fantastic cover of "I Am The Walrus" on the otherwise ghastly Lou Reizner all-star 1976 project All This And World War II. "You let your knickaaaahs DAAAAAAAHHHHHNNNNNN!!!!" screams the permed squealer, inadvertently anticipating Liam Gallagher by a generation or so.
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
Rachel Verinder said:
From the free jazz/improv end of things, Mike Westbrook covered Abbey Road in its entirety in 1986, retitling it Off Abbey Road. Recommended highlight: Phil Minton attacking "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" with commendable elan.

Also, Leo Sayer did a fantastic cover of "I Am The Walrus" on the otherwise ghastly Lou Reizner all-star 1976 project All This And World War II. "You let your knickaaaahs DAAAAAAAHHHHHNNNNNN!!!!" screams the permed squealer, inadvertently anticipating Liam Gallagher by a generation or so.
Click to expand...

Brilliant, thanks for these MC.
 
S

SMorlighem

Well-known member
Hey, what about Comedy ? Peter Sellers ? His 'She Loves You' Doctor Folamour version is (words fail me).
And, talking again about French New Wave, a great pop-rock-comedy band named Odeurs, which were some kind of Bonzo Dog Band meet proggers (Pinhas plays synths on their records!) did (influenced by Sellers I guess) a terrific WWII cover of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'. Will send you a mp3!
 
sufi

sufi

lala
i've dug up this:

special beatles covers said:
1. Soulful Strings - Hello Goodbye (2:51)
2. Harvey Averne - The Word (2:34)
3. Shirley Scott - Get Back (3:40)
4. Little Richard - I Saw Her Standing There (3:29)
5. Ramsey Lewis - A Hard Day's Night (5:02)
6. The New Apocalypse - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (2:49)
7. Sarah Vaughan - You Never Give Me Your Money (2:47)
8. Yeah Yeah Noh - She Said She Said (2:34)
9. The Psychedelic Filbert - Rain (3:52)
10. Los Manolos - All My Loving (3:10)
11. Bossa Rio - Blackbird (3:04)
12. Lennon & McCartney Tijuana Style - She Loves You (2:05)
13. The Templeton Twins - Yesterday (1:47)
14. Monty Alexander - Here Comes The Sun (4:53)
15. Les Demerle - A Day In The Life (6:01)
16. King Curtis - Hey Jude (3:17)
17. Richard 'Groove' Holmes - Come Together (5:45)
18. Phil Collins - Tomorrow Never Knows (4:45)
Click to expand...
it sucks

was there not siouxsie cover of helterskelter which rocked, no? :cool:
 
R

redcrescent

Well-known member
Re.: an African record.

Obviously Fela and anything Afrika 70/Afrobeat-related (Tony Allen, Lekan Animashaun...) would be way too easy.
So here's one that might be good.
There was a Nigerian (Ibo) band who had a few successes recording for EMI Nigeria between 1970-1973, (roughly around the time of Band on the run) when their flamboyant frontman Spud Nathan (great singer, dancer and all-round ladies man) was killed in a 1973 road accident in a brand new car that a band member had 'defiled' by having had sex in it before it was blessed - major bad vibes there - so there is all sorts of speculation about him having had premonitions about his death in songs like "I am a single boy", the title track of one of their albums. But I digress.
As a tribute to him, the band recorded an album called Tribute to Spud Nathan, and there's another around, which I haven't heard, called Peace one world or something similar. I've only ever heard about 5 of their tracks, your standard Afro funk bizness, but that stuff seems to be in demand with the breaks mafia so expect to pay upwards of €70 for an LP.

The band's name? The Wings.

NB The Wings was the name of the group with Spud Nathan, after his death the group split into two factions, one named the Original Wings while the other was called Super Wings.

Oh, and Macca... isn't he everyone's Least Favorite Beatle (TM)?
 
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