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REBEAT Magazine

JUKEBOX: The Covered Beatles

Picking a favorite Beatle is easy. (George. The answer is George.) Picking a favorite Beatles song is harder. And picking a favorite cover version of a Beatles song may be harder still, because just about every musician the Beatles influenced has recorded a Beatles cover or two, and just about every musician alive has been influenced by the Beatles.

For this edition of JUKEBOX, I tried to narrow it down to 10 of my favorite Beatles covers. I picked songs I grew up with (Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 shifting between time signatures on “The Fool on the Hill”); recent discoveries (Eytan Mirsky’s power pop rendition of “Don’t Bother Me”); rockers (’70s girl group Fanny); folkies (singer/songwriter/cellist Lindsay Mac); classics (Nina Simone’s lovely “Here Comes the Sun”); and less-than-classics (Langley Schools Music Project, anyone?).

I’ve been on a Fifth Dimension kick lately, so I included their funked-up version of “Ticket to Ride,” while Nancy Sinatra’s “Day Tripper” comes from my recent return to go-go dancing classes. And finally, there’s Harry Nilsson, doing the cover to end all covers. Strawberry Beatles Forever, indeed.

Carey Farrell
Carey Farrell is a writer, musician, and teacher from Chicago. She enjoys collecting vintage books and records, watching terrible movies, and telling people about the time her band opened for Peter Tork. Find her on YouTube or Bandcamp.
  • Jon Gordon Music

    Hey- Thanks for picking up on Eytan’s cover. I worked on the recording, and have an enduring fondness for it!

    • Carey

      Cool! I love Eytan’s music.

  • Louie Pearlman

    No Stevie Wonder’s We Can Work It Out? That’s a personal fave.

    • Carey

      This is why it was impossible to narrow this playlist down! I dig that one a lot, too.

  • Steve

    “Here, There, and Everywhere” by Emmylou Harris.

  • Guy Smiley

    Also, Jeff Beck’s stunning instrumental versions of “She’s a Woman” and “A Day in the Life,” and (of course) Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.”