Thursday, September 27, 2018

I Dig A Cover

 

The first time I heard this cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" was when the producer of this cover, the late, great genius Bob Belden came into my shop and said, "Check out this cover I produced." Bob Belden was a gifted jazz musician, producer and arranger, and a regular at NYCD. He would walk in, hear one second of the music playing in the shop, and identify the song, session, take and players. I witnessed this almost daily.

This track is a Blue Note session from 1998 and features Dianne Reeves on vocals, Billy Kilson on drums, David Dyson on bass, Fareed Haque on sitar, Tim Hagens on trumpet and Belden himself on tympani. I think I can say, unequivocally, that this is my favorite Beatles cover.

I was going to leave it that, but I thought of another Beatles cover I love-- The Posies version of "I'm Looking Through You." It's faithful...but to the outtake! I always loved that they chose to do that.

Favorite Beatles cover? Do you have one? I know this may seem like a tired exercise, but I am really interested. I never tire of The Beatles, and listening to Bob Belden's "Tomorrow Never Knows" fired me up.  Surprise me!




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35 comments:

  1. Keith35September 27, 2018 at 6:54 AM

    I love the many live versions of The Jerry Garcia Band covering Dear Prudence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQESUfhmDns

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  2. TroySeptember 27, 2018 at 7:03 AM

    That was a very good cover of Tomorrow Never Knows. Very inventive and the vocals were terrific. The only other covers I recall of that song (Cowboy Mouth, Phil Collins) were IMO truly terrible. Because of those, I have tended to avoid covers of that song.

    I really love the cover of 'We Can Work It Out' by Stevie Wonder that he did at the White House for President Obama and Paul himself. Not any radical re-working or anything but with Paul's band and Stevie singing and playing the hell out of it, especially on harmonica, it rocks.

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  3. Michael GiltzSeptember 27, 2018 at 7:06 AM

    My favorite Beatles cover is probably a mirage -- it was Ray Charles doing "Yesterday" in an album put out in Germany, I think. Somehow I got a cassette of the album and that particular version just floored me. I keep finding VERY similar versions he did on various albums over the years, but it doesn't seem to be quite the particular studio version I heard all those years ago on cassette. It may indeed just be my imagination though I assume some Ray Charles scholar could set me to rights. Most likely I'm just setting some crazy high bar for what I expected when trying to track it down again. He just pounced on the word "yesterday!" and knocked me over emotionally and taught me how a great cover could make a song come alive again. (I was really young; I think the ridiculous cassette I bought was in a mall music store of some random sort and certainly not the Ray Charles album a 13 year old kid should start with -- but boy, what a cover!)

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  4. Ken DSeptember 27, 2018 at 8:13 AM

    I know this is cheating because they're albums, but I'll interrupt to mention the two great Smithereens' Beatle cover albums, "Meet the Smithereens" and "B-Side the Beatles."
    Please resume comments...

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  5. KirkeSeptember 27, 2018 at 8:25 AM

    Al Green's first album has my favorite Beatles cover. He kills it on "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Love the studio patter....right before the band kicks in you hear them say "shut up Al Green". I still say that phrase all the time. He had some serious swagger on that album.

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  6. JAYESSEMMSeptember 27, 2018 at 8:38 AM

    Very groovy -- thanks!

    I always dig Wilson Pickett's take on Hey Jude.

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  7. ShrinerSeptember 27, 2018 at 8:40 AM


    Beatles covers tend not to stray too far from the template, so while they are entertaining and generally fun, they are are ephemeral to me. Either they are fast songs slowed way down, or rocked up versions of ballads -- or so straight that you wonder why they bothered.

    That grouchiness besides...


    While not a true Beatles cover, I always liked the cover of "Twist And Shout" by The Orchestra. Which is really like ELO doing a cover of the song.

    And The Shazam's take on "Revolution 9" is more interesting than the Beatles version -- and it's shorter (which is better)

    Sufjan Stevens' take on "What Goes On", though -- is pretty out there.





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  8. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2018 at 9:18 AM

    Maura O'Connell - I Will
    Ella Fitzgerald - Can't Buy Me Love
    Vanilla Fudge - Ticket to Ride

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  9. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2018 at 9:30 AM

    Willie Nelson - One After 909. - Stinky

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  10. FD13NYCSeptember 27, 2018 at 10:50 AM

    I Am The Walrus by Lord Sitar, It Won't Be Long by The Quick, I Want To Hold Your Hand by Sparks, With A Little Help From My Friends by Herb Alpert and the TJB, Tomorrow Never Knows by Morgana King. So many more, Count Basie covered over 20 Beatle songs.

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  11. cmealhaSeptember 27, 2018 at 11:14 AM

    Can’t believe no one’s mentioned Joe Cocker’s versions of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’, ‘Something’ and my favorite ‘She Came in through the Bathroom Window’

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  12. Tumblingdice70September 27, 2018 at 11:46 AM

    My list:

    Across the Universe, Rufus Wainwright
    In My Life, Johnny Cash
    For No One, Joe Jackson
    She's Leaving Home, The Magic Numbers
    Two of Us, Aimee Mann and Michael Penn

    A list of bad Beatles covers could go on for days...

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  13. Mr. BaezSeptember 27, 2018 at 12:17 PM

    If you haven't heard TNK (Tomorrow Never Knows) off of the live 801 band (Phil Manzanera (guitars, Roxy Music), Brian Eno (keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, vocals and tapes, ex-Roxy Music), Bill MacCormick (bass and vocals, ex- Quiet Sun, Matching Mole), Francis Monkman (Fender Rhodes piano and clavinet, ex- Curved Air), Simon Phillips (drums and rhythm generator) and Lloyd Watson (slide-guitar and vocals), you are in for a treat. An incrediblec take on the Beatle's classic!

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  14. Sal NunziatoSeptember 27, 2018 at 12:21 PM

    Mr. Baez,
    BINGO!

    I could listen to just that intro go on and on and on. Such a ridiculous groove. So my two fave Beatles covers are of the same song!

    Has anyone listened to the Tomorrow Never Knows I posted? Seems to be only one comment about it.

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  15. BillSeptember 27, 2018 at 1:43 PM

    I came here to talk about the 801 version of TNK, so instead I'll just throw out Piggy in the Middle by the Rutles.

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  16. JoeSeptember 27, 2018 at 3:03 PM

    i always liked The Homes Brother's cover of And I Love Her

    joe

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  17. FurryBootsCityBoySeptember 27, 2018 at 3:43 PM

    "I've Just Seen A Face" by The Dillards, from their 1968 release "Wheatstraw Suite". Gorgeous harmonies with a bluegrass backing.

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  18. ShrinerSeptember 27, 2018 at 4:05 PM

    I listened to the cover of TNK posted. It didn't do much for me.

    The 801 cover of TNK (which I maybe hand't heard before) worked a lot better for me than the one you posted.

    I've always liked the Posies cover, though. And, yes to Joe Cocker's Little Help cover -- *that's* a reinvention. As is Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life"

    Oh, and the live version of "While My Guitar..." done at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame with Prince wailing on the guitar solo -- is right up there too!

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  19. rickSeptember 27, 2018 at 4:14 PM

    Oh my, that is hauntingly beautiful.

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  20. jmillsSeptember 27, 2018 at 5:50 PM


    Wilson Pcketts version of Hey Jude with a scorching Duane Allman guitar solo.

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  21. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2018 at 6:24 PM

    Bob Marley did a great cover of And I Love Her back in the Studio One days.

    Marc

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  22. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2018 at 6:47 PM

    Sal

    These two:

    You know this one very well, The inner light by Jimmy McGriff & Junior Parker.

    The versions from The London Jazz Quartet are amazingly great. You may know them but if not, give Rain a try, is just fantastic.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk_hJH8C05k

    Roy

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  23. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2018 at 7:25 PM

    Me again.

    I listened to the one you posted and sounds good. However, could be me but the vocals seem not to fit very well.

    Also, I reminded this version from The Chameleons to the same Beatles song. Very good one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-WnXAfQEMk

    Or what about this The Mission version? Is so amazing how this song can have so many approaches from a musical standpoint. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPCqMZysTmg

    Even the Chemical Brothers did their own rendition, just giving it a different name...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5FyfQDO5g0

    Roy

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  24. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2018 at 9:55 PM

    Please Please Me by Matt Dusk. The listener is not left unsure what the song is really about.

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  25. buzzbabyjesusSeptember 28, 2018 at 6:25 AM

    I vote for Shiina Ringo's version of "Yer Blues".

    http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/yer_blues.mp3

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  26. Dr WuSeptember 28, 2018 at 6:42 AM

    Elliott Smith ‘Because’
    Brothers Johnson ‘Come Together’
    Alison Krauss ‘I Will’
    Junior Parker ‘Taxman’
    Eddie Vedder ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’
    Siouxsie and The Banshees ‘Dear Prudence’
    Rosanne Cash ‘I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party’
    Gomez ‘Getting Better’
    Fiona Apple ‘Across the Universe’
    Emmylou Harris ‘For No One’
    and...
    Richie Havens ‘Here Comes The Sun’

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  27. ShrinerSeptember 28, 2018 at 7:22 AM

    Oh, yeah: Barnes & Barnes take on "Please Please Me" revealed what an angry song that actually is based on the lyrics -- it's all about the delivery. That was a reinvention. (Somewhat less so their cover of "I Need You"... but that one comes close.)

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  28. HeikoSeptember 29, 2018 at 2:16 AM

    Wilson Pickett's version of "Hey Jude" (1968) is a corker. Free Design's "Eleanor Rigby" (1969) is pure fun combined with Kim Weston's take from 1970 ("Eleanor Rigby" goes James Bond)...

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  29. HeikoSeptember 29, 2018 at 2:18 AM

    Oh, I forgot The Tempelton Twins' Barbershop-vocal-take on "Hey Jude" (1970)

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  30. RobinSeptember 29, 2018 at 11:45 AM

    Many of my faves have been already listed but I like Rumer's version of "Here Comes the Sun". Also, although I go in and out with the arrangement, hearing Annie Haslam wrap that gorgeous voice of hers around "She's Leaving Home" moves me. I also adored Annie Lennox's version of "Fool on the Hill" that she performed in a television special I believe.

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  31. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2018 at 1:16 PM

    I've started following The MonaLisa Twins. 24 year old Austrian twin sisters really named Mona and Lisa. I was knocked out by their version of "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" recorded at The Cavern Club in Liverpool a few years back (a pretty good venue for this kind of music).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj8LEL4gbQU

    Bob

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  32. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2018 at 5:22 PM

    The Strypes terrific bluesy version of "Come Together" won them a place on the new Harley Davidson commercials a few years ago.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTVod7kEK9s
    Shame these kids traded the straight Rock and Roll for the Arctic Monkey "word play" music a few years ago.


    Androdad

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  33. A guy called TakSeptember 30, 2018 at 8:54 AM

    Probably thousands of artists have covered 'Yesterday'. but this is the best of all.
    It's beyond 'cover', almost a different song - even better!

    Yesterday / Shirley Horn

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE5ybIEieQA

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  34. terryfhOctober 2, 2018 at 9:15 PM

    Way ahead of all covers IMO was Doug Parkinson In Focus's cover of "Dear Prudence". Released about the same time as Sgt Peppers.
    Second is a toss up between Zoot's Eleanor Rigby, Richie Haven's With a Little Help From My Friends and John Farnham's Help.

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  35. PaulOctober 9, 2018 at 6:31 PM

    On that same Bob Belden album, Holly Cole's version of I've Just Seen a Face

    Groove Collective: I Want You (She's So Heavy)

    Type O Negative: Day Tripper Medley

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