Ever liked a cover version of a Beatles song BETTER than the Beatles version?*

I agree. It comes close, but hardly close enough.

 

i'd go with the first option. i wasn't being serious, but i wanted to see who would be the first person to say nice things about me if i dared diss the mighty beatles. you win!

unfortunately, your prize is a nickelback box set.

 

The Chameleons blistering cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows". I'd never heard the song before, and later when I learned it was a Beatles tune and listened to their original version, I was very disappointed. Their cover just leaves that song in shreds (no Chameleons pun intended...)!

 

Not really, but I enjoy quite a few.

 

I like Carpenters' live cover of "Help!" better than the original, but it has an edge because of the cool instrumental section.

 

"For No One". Rickie Lee Jones

"Across the Universe" Rufus wainwright (although love the original)

 

I like just about any version of "A Taste of Honey" better than The Beatles' cover. In particular, I love Herb Alpert's version.

 

How 'bout this cover of a Lennon song:

 

I never thought no one could do it as good as the Beatles themselves until I heard Paul Gilbert's version of It's All Too Much.

 

I like the version of Hold Me Tight at the beginning of the movie Across The Universe better than the Beatles original.

 

Great New Orleans singer and some of the city's finest players do a pretty great job with a Beatles favorite here.....Sexier than the original for sure.

 

The first "covers" that came to mind are the ones that were released as singles in the 60's: "You Got to Hide Your Love Away" - The Silke, and "Fool on the Hill" - Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66.

NOTE: I did not read through all 16 pages, after the first 2 nobody had yet mentioned these two.

 

I wish the audience would shut up and listen! Sadly they are treated as background music.

 

Just like Hollywood Bowl '64 .. hard to hear the performance over the roar of the crowd :-(

 

It's cheating a bit, since The Beatles never did a proper version of the song (which I guess makes the version on Anthology 3 an "improper" one), but Elvis Costello's version of "Step Inside Love".

 

This is the first one that I thought of when I saw the thread title too, fantastic cover!

 

I'll take The Damned's "Help!," Stevie Wonder's "We Can Work It Out" and Joe Cocker's "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" (the Mad Dogs version) over the originals. Maybe Anne Murray's "You Won't See Me," too.

 

At the risk of being terribly unoriginal:

Aerosmith - Come Together

 

The Bee Gees' version of "A Day In The Life" is great - until the final chord, which ends up resembling the 'thunk' at the end of "Cheese and Onions."

Come on George Martin, you did this ONCE already!

 

I still think that the gold standard of Beatles' covers is Eddie Hazel, with the Brides Of Funkenstein providing the vocals, doing I Want You ( She's So Heavy) The guitar is every bit as exhilarating as Maggot Brain, IMO.

I wonder how many thousand Beatles' covers have been done....? I've quite sure I've heard several hundreds.....

 

I've thought about it and...no.

 

Definitely like Elton's Lucy in the Sky better than the original. I don't think I had heard the original at the time Elton's single came out. I was a little taken aback when I finally heard Sgt. Pepper. The original sounds threadbare by comparison, but now I like it fine. Nevertheless, Elton gives it a lush treatment I think it deserves.

Robert Palmer's Not a Second Time is, for me, maybe equal to the original. A bit different flavor, but equally good.

Corinne Bailey Rae singing Blackbird at the White House with Herbie Hancock accompanying... if you can find a copy of this, it is great. No, better than great. Again, not better, but on a par with the original. Also on a par with the original is Brad Mehldau's piano trio version.

Ian Gomm - You Can't Do That. Totally transforms the song. Not rocking at all. Slinky and slithery. So cool. Yes, I think I like it a bit better than the original, but of course its apples vs. oranges.

 

I'm not going to use the word "Better" - but Elton John's - "Lucy In The Sky w Diamonds" rocks.

 

At least in the case of The Beatles the crowd was reacting to the performance. The audience in that video were just indifferent.

 

It's really more about that particular venue...It's a hotel cocktail bar with a stage stuck in the corner. Usually the people near the stage are there for the music, there's a lot of cocktail traffic that's not. I think the camera was in the middle of the latter.