Forty (!) Beatles covers: Some good, some okay, some "Ouch!" Or just plain strange, like The Johnny Mann Singes' She Loves You (which sounds like a multi-tracked Lurch), Tennessee Ernie Ford's Yesterday, and The Mortier Dance Hall Organ medley excerpt. The Mann side is interesting as one of the earliest Beatles covers, a category which includes The Ray Charles Singers' 1964 Do You Want to Know a Secret, Jimmy Griffin's All My Loving (same year), and 1965's Can't Buy Me Love by Henry Mancini, I Feel Fine by Enoch Light, plus And I Love Her by David Rose. These are adult-pop efforts which hew to the mood and tempi of the originals, whereas George Chakiris' 1965 She's a Woman takes off into territory best described as, um... better left unvisited? His take not only speeds things up, it perhaps gives us an idea of 1965 Broadway's concept of 1965 teen pop.
Also painfully inappropriate: Steve and Eydie's A Little Help From My Friends, which is arranged to accommodate their usual style. Nothing against their usual style, except that it doesn't fit the material.
But some excellent pop-orchestral interpretations: The always-reliable Andre Kostelanetz and Paul Mauriat, assorted Readers Digest box set conductors like Norman Percival and Ken Thorne, and the superb Peter Knight, maybe best known for orchestrating Days of Future Passed. On the fine-but-amusing side: Ken Thorne's jaunty A Day in the Life (at least Peter Knight's cover gives it some gravitas).
But some excellent pop-orchestral interpretations: The always-reliable Andre Kostelanetz and Paul Mauriat, assorted Readers Digest box set conductors like Norman Percival and Ken Thorne, and the superb Peter Knight, maybe best known for orchestrating Days of Future Passed. On the fine-but-amusing side: Ken Thorne's jaunty A Day in the Life (at least Peter Knight's cover gives it some gravitas).
I haven't decided whether or not I like Petula Clark's Rain and We Can Work It Out, though they're certainly interesting. Nancy Sinatra and the Buckinghams provide adequate covers, Johnny Mathis delivers a fine Eleanor Rigby (as we'd expect), and Tom Jones... Well, I forgot to include Tom. Maybe next time.
John Davidson is barely so-so, while Lena Horne gives Rocky Raccoon a lot of highly dated soul. The big surprise is Noel Harrison, whose contributions should be the epitome of camp but which are downright good. Penny DeHaven's Countrypolitan I Feel Fine (1970) is a lot of fun, and I guess I have to rate Frank Chacksfield's as the best of the Discotheque versions, as much as I love Enoch Light.
As for Phyllis Newman's When I'm 64, the track's professionalism can't be faulted, but the original was a send-up to begin with, and so it's sort of a send-up of a send-up. Or... maybe the problem is that it takes the faux-1920s sound of the Beatles track too literally. I don't know...
The one "fake hit" in our list is the excellent Hit Records knockoff of Nowhere Man, from 1966. The good ol' Jalopy Five.
The one "fake hit" in our list is the excellent Hit Records knockoff of Nowhere Man, from 1966. The good ol' Jalopy Five.
Some of the tracks I spared you: Let It Be (Ray Conniff Singers), My Sweet Lord (Jim Nabors), The Long and Winding Road (Wayne Newton), and Your Mother Should Know (George Burns).
She Loves You--The Johnny Mann Singers, 1964
The Fool on the Hill--Andre Kostelaentz and His Orch., 1969
Do You Want to Know a Secret--The Ray Charles Singers, 1964
Yesterday--Mantovani, 1966
With a Little Help From My Friends--Steve and Eydie, 1969
Rocky Raccoon--Lena Horne and Gabor Szabo, 1969
Lady Madonna--Paul Mauriat and His Orch., 1969
All My Loving--Jimmy Griffin, 1964
Can't Buy Me Love--Henry Mancini Orch. and Chorus, 1965
A Day in the Life--Peter Knight and His Orch., 1967
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds--Noel Harrison, 1967
She Loves You--Mortier Dance Hall Organ, 1965
Something--John Davidson, 1970
Strawberry Fields Forever--Noel Harrison, 1967
I Feel Fine--Penny DeHaven, 1970
Day Tripper--Nancy Sinatra, 1966
Penny Lane--Paul Mauriat and His Orch., 1967
Help!--Andre Kostelanetz and His Orch., 1966
Come Together--Charlie Barnet and His Orch., 1970
Lovely Rita--Peter Knight and His Orch., 1967
Rain--Petula Clark, 1966
Yesterday--Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1968
And I Love Her--David Rose and His Orch., 1965
We Can Work It Out--Petula Clark, 1966
When I'm 64--Phyllis Newman, 1968
I Feel Fine--Enoch Light and the Light Brigade, 1965
All You Need Is Love--Norman Percival and His Orch., 1970
Hey Jude--Paul Mauriat and His Orch., 1969
Eleanor Rigby--Johnny Mathis, 1967
I'll Be Back--The Buckinghams, 1967
A Day in the Life--Ken Thorne and His Orch., 1970
Get Back--Frank Chacksfield and His Orch., 1970
Penny Lane--Paul Mauriat and His Orch., 1967
Hello, Goodbye--The Longines Symphonette, 1968
Getting Better--Peter Knight and His Orch., 1967
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band--Peter Knight and His Orch., 1967
Yellow Submarine--The Hank Levine Singers and Orch., 1968
Got to Get You Into My Life--Frank Chacksfield and His Orch., 1970
Nowhere Man--The Jalopy Five, 1966
She's a Woman--George Chakiris, 1965
Lee
15 comments:
Can I humbly request a Pt.3 just to include what you spared us? If I'm expected to relish I Feel Fine by Enoch Light and the Light Brigade or Phyllis Newman's take on When I'm 64, I demand the right to bask in the glory that must be Jim Nabors' My Sweet Lord and Wayne Newton's interpretation of The Long and Winding Road! I get the sense of a whole new Golden Throats' ala Bob series forming....
rev.b,
Sure! And I kind of like Wayne's version, to be honest--and I can't deprive the world of JIm Nabors' "My Sweet Lord." And, in addition to the c.-2005 CD-Rs from which I plundered these, I made ten or more cassettes of Beatles covers. There's some wild stuff on those...
Thanks Lee, a great piece of musical history that never should be forgotten!
Jim Nabors singing George Harrison isn't too bad, and Tom Jones, also not included did a bad ass version of "Hey Jude" in 1969 (it was based on Wilson Pickett's excellent soul fried version of the song rather than The Beatles.) Nabors was a closet homosexual, it's true. But he did love Gospel music, which is why he would cover "My Sweet Lord." Though it's an instrumental, Boots Randolph's cover of "My Sweet Lord" from 1971 isn't too bad, either.
RecordCollector,
Very true! And more to come. A vital part of the Fab Four's history has to be the umpteen knockoffs in their wake.
Anon.,
I agree--Nabors was a good singer. And, yes, I think I ripped that from one of Jim's sacred LPs. And it was that very Tom Jones track I was thinking of. I'll have to put that up--always loved Tom, who seems to be anything BUT stuck on himself. A humble guy with a sharp sense of humor--and a terrific voice. Dunno if my stash includes the Boots Randolph "Lord." I might have that on cassette...
This is an amazing setlist/playlist. The Ray Charles Singers selection is probably one of my favorites, I grew up with the Andre Kostelenetz "Help" in my Dad's record collection. The Johnny Mathis "Eleanor Rigby" is really good, slightly better than the almost faux-spoken word interpretation that Tony Bennett did on his infamous Great Hits of Today! album, that also includes a swingin' Here There and Everywhere. The Paul Mauriat Penny Lane is my favorite cut from the Blooming Hits album. Plus, the Buckinghams' "I'll Be Back" is one of my favorite non-hits from them that should have been a big single.
Very different but surprisingly good treatment of "Yesterday" from Ernie Ford (my favorite covers of that song are John Gary's from his Heart Filled with Song LP and Eddie Fisher's with Nelson Riddle's arrangement on Eddie's Games that Lovers Play album). Pet's We Can Work It Out, from the My Love album, is probably my favorite of the two Petula Beatles covers featured here. Wherever you pulled that Longines Symphonette Hello Goodbye from, it is amazing and better than the fab Four original. The Moptops go longhair/Classical! WOW!. Nancy's Day Tripper is my favorite non-hit from the Boots album. I have to look at my copy of the Readers Digest Happiness Is! set to see if I have this version of A Day in the Life, It is really, really good.
Also like Enoch's Go-Go Discotheque take on I Feel Fine. If there is a Part 3 in this series, maybe you will be able to include some Andy Williams covers of Beatles tunes like Yesterday from the Shadow of Your Smile and Something and My Sweet Lord from the Love Story album.
That was me in the Anonymous comment. You will want to check out Buster's blog to hear the Chet Baker treatment of "Got To Get You Into My Life."
That was me in the last two comments. John Davidson actually isn't too bad: Peggy Lee also did a great job on "Something" on her Is That All There Is? Also, the Henry Mancini "Can't Buy Me Love" is one of my all-time favorite Beatles covers; it was the primary reason I kept my copy of Henry's Dear Heart album.
musicman1979,
Thanks for the reviews! And, yeah--I think I was a little too harsh with John Davidson. As you note, it's not a bad version. And I'll be doing a Part 3, and I know I have at least one Andy Williams side to rip. (I revived these from a CD-R series from 20 years back or so.) And totally agreed on the Mancini cover--it's superbly jazzy and NOT pretentious. And I have two more rips from the L. Symphonette LP--"Best Songs of 1968." I'm very fond of the LS "Hello, Goodbye," too. I remember my surprise at the time (circa 1998). Also coming up: Ray Stevens, Merv Griffin, Brenda Lee, Tom Jones, Liberace (who else?), and Engelbert. Looks like I have "Here, There and Everywhere" by Andy. I feel bad for all the flak tossed at Williams--the guy was a phenomenal singer. I like Ford's "Yesterday," too, but it's certainly an unexpected number from him. Did you like Noel Harrison's covers? I thought he did quite well...
Didn't the Beatles were themselves a fake band? I'm told that all the Beatles' records were made by a band of the same name?
GREAT!!!
How could you leave out the Tom Jones? :(
Ernie,
Yes, that was thoughtless of me. He'll be in the next installment...
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