The Beatles were the biggest group of the 1960s. Their success was worldwide, Beatlemania spread from the UK around the world like a wildfire. The Beatles were not the only band to record the songs written by the band. It was as though others felt that if they could record a Beatles song they would get a hit record. Some did, but the vast majority didn’t. As The Beatles career progressed their songs became more complex and nuanced, and that is when artists record their versions of them, not because they wanted a hit record, but because they were excellent songs.
This 3 CD collection of Beatles covers from Strawberry Records, With A Little Help From My Friends - Covers of The Beatles 1967-1970, is the successor to We Can Work Out Work It Out – Covers of The Beatles 1962-1966. It contains 74 versions amounting to almost 4 hours of music. Not just from the UK and North America, but also Europe and Down Under. Artists involved include luminaries like Richie Havens, Harry Nilsson, Fats Domino, Cilla Black, The Marmalade, Ramsey Lewis, Ike and Tina Turner, George Benson, and Aretha Franklin. Along side those are some names you probably are less familiar with: Lord Sitar, Smacka Fitzgibbon, and The Templeton Twins.
As to be expected some of covers are excellent. In particular the George Benson version of I Want You (She's So Heavy) and You Never Give Me Your Money. Aretha Franklin does justice to Let It Be, and I just love Julia from Ramsey Lewis. But I get the sense that Strawberry were reaching down to the bottom of the barrel. The inclusion of William Shatner murdering Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, the questionable inclusion of Smacka Fitzgibbon doing Honey Pie and The Templeton Twins with Something is somewhat surprising. There are a couple of live tracks where I thought the recordings were sub-par, New Zealand band The Underdogs doing The Inner Light for example. There are also a lot of instrumental versions of the songs which to me prove that not only were the lyrics important but the music was exceptional as well.
The 3 CDs are accompanied by a booklet of about 40 pages giving details of each track and artist. If you grew up during the 60s these song are part of the soundtrack to your life. You are going to want to sing along and hear, maybe for the first time, these different approaches to the familiar songs of your youth. Younger audiences may also enjoy the music just as the Boomers did back in the day.
To hear some tracks from the collection in visit The Groove Yard visit 194
And for a full track listing, and other information, go to the Cherry Red Records website.
The first in the series We Can Work Out Work It Out – Covers of The Beatles 1962-1966 can be found here.