I find myself in complete disagreement with my colleague Rachel Lopez’s listicle of Beatles covers. It ignores some of the best covers of the Fab Four’s songs, and also some really cool stuff. Here are 10 (I have many more on my playlist).
Dear Prudence: Jerry Garcia Band. A staple of the Grateful Dead side project, the live versions of this song (characteristically long as one would expect from a band associated with the Dead) perhaps better capture the efforts of the Beatles and others to extricate Tia Farrow (flower child name Prudence; sister of Mia) from a hut where she had locked herself up, presumably whilst on a bad acid trip. The hut was in an ashram in Rishikesh.
Hey Jude: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield. Organs, horns and guitar, by two of the masters. Sort of a mash-up with Traffic’s Dear Mr Fantasy (popularised by the opening sequence of the last Avengers movie, Endgame), but that only makes it better.
I am the Walrus: Spooky Tooth. A really old band big in Europe. And a cover I discovered because of the closing sequence of the new Watchmen TV series. It’s hard.
Day Tripper: Jimi Hendrix. As several covers have shown, this was a song meant to be played hard. And Jimi does just that. He also covered Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Day Tripper: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Another superb Dead cover band. Their tempo and improvisations harkens back to the Dead at their peak. And guitarist Scott Metzger is at the top of his game (there’s a cover of Dead’s Jack Straw where he mashes in riffs from Eleanor Rigby, so there is another Beatles connection for you).
Eleanor Rigby: Rare Earth. Oh yes! (And never mind what Gil Scott-Heron says; they are a good band)
You Never Give Me Your Money: Sarah Vaughan. Between the melody, the lyrics and the unique and outstanding voice of Sarah Vaughan, this really cuts through the clutter
Hey Jude: Wilson Pickett. Legend has it that Pickett was convinced to play this song by a hippie sessions guitarist called Skydog (with hip-length hair) who sort of dared him into it. The slide guitar gives it away. Skydog was Duane Allman.
Here Comes the Sun: Nina Simone. Oh yes, again.
Oh! Darling. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. How do the Beatles sound on banjo? Ask Bela.
And I’ve left out covers by Joe Cocker (some believe his cover of With A Little Help From My Friends is the best Beatles cover ever), GD, Deep Purple, Tina Turner, Brain Damaged Eggmen…