Back in the U.S.S.R. - The Inmates
The Inmates set out to perform a concert of Beatles' songs in a Rolling Stones manner and mostly they do rocky, raucous versions of the tunes - all done live one night in Paris. This is another good rocker.Dear Prudence - Samm Bennett & Chunk
Contemporary feel to this soft jazz interpretation of this entreaty to Prudence Farrow. Really jolly good.Glass Onion – Arif Mardin
Arif clearly didn’t find Lennon’s clever lyrics to his taste because he produces a punchy soul instrumental of the song, with only the “oh yehs” left. Still, it’s a pretty happening groove.Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da – Joyce Bond
Another McCartney tune Harrison didn’t like, if his comments on Savoy Truffle are anything to go by, but it’s a good tune and Joyce gives it the full reggae treatment on this happy cut.Wild Honey Pie – Phish
When I embarked on this odyssey of obtaining a cover of every Beatles’ song I knew it was doomed to fail because no-one in their right mind would cover Wild Honey Pie. I now discover there are several. Phish, who have a penchant for New Year’s Eve concerts which cover entire albums (or in this case entire albums except for Good Night) do a fairly straight take off, which is every bit as awful as the original. The Pixies do a longer more rocky thing, which probably is better and I will probably switch to at some point.The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill - Young Blood
Apparently a 60s band from the Midlands (of England), Young Blood have a good try at this, but if one had to criticise it is a little bit too much like the original.While My Guitar Gently Weeps – Todd Rundgren
Did you know that John Lennon once had a public spat with Todd ? Todd said John “ain’t no revolutionary” but instead was “a f------ idiot”. John called Todd “Sodd Runtlestuntle”. Todd said The Beatles had no style other than being The Beatles. John said that covered a lot of style, including Todd’s. Todd said John hit a waitress in the Troubador (ow!). John said he didn’t. Todd said… (that’s enough spat!)Happiness is a Warm Gun – The Breeders
What can you do with this one ? The Breeders play it pretty straight down the line, reproducing most bits of the song faithfully, but they obviously felt uncomfortable with the spoken section at the end, which they omit.Martha My Dear – Jugular Vein
In my view an under-rated classic but few covers of which to speak. Phish (on their entire White Album except Good Night concert) play the song terribly. This is a little better but not much. Slade did it when they were very young but I haven’t heard that one.I’m So Tired - The Plums
Again a pretty faithful reproduction of the original but a bit more lively.Blackbird – Desmond Dekker
Now this is more the sort of thing I prefer – an entirely new vision of the song. Indeed, it may even be an entirely different tune. Classy reggae interpretation from the Israelites man.Piggies – Steven King
The ubiquitous Steven King turns up again with his solo guitar plucking. The advantage on a track like this is avoids the slightly cringe-making lyrics.Rocky Raccoon – Andy Fairweather Lowe
I am afraid that I have to admit that this is a boring one. Not quite as boring as The Moments’ version, which is also irritating, which is why this got the nod.Don’t Pass Me By – Phish
I am of course eternally grateful to Phish for covering Wild Honey Pie, but you also have to take your cowboy hat off to them for their rollicking yee-haw version of this Ringo ditty. Done in a sort of fast polka style, they have a lot of fun with it, and it is certainly the highlight of their concert (though they do a pretty mean Revolution 9 too).Why Don’t We Do It In The Road – Fred James
Never saw much in this myself but a surprising number of people cover it and Fred’s bluesy harmonica-filled interpretation gets more out of the song than one might have thought possible. Light reggae styling from the man who thought it an achievement to make it through the night. Very catchy, but then so is chickenpox.Julia – Chocolate Genius
Julia was of course John’s mother. Martha was Paul’s dog. Sadie was the maharishi. But who was Rocky Raccoon ? If anyone knows this, please do not bother telling me. This is Julia done with drums in a slow rocking sort of a way.
Birthday – The Inmates
Could never understand the production on the original. Why were the voices so far back ? They are much further forward on The Inmates’ live version, and as ever the band rock till they drop.Yer Blues – Matmosphere
Straight blues version of this tune, not that I would recognise straight blues if it came up to me and punched me on the nose. They keep it short, which on balance is probably what the song needed.Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow
This was a nice song, wasn't it ? And it still is in Sheryl's hands, though the production is very close to the original and so not very inspiring on the innovation front.Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey - Kristin Hersh
Again this follows the original pretty closely but it was a good rocker and so is the cover.Sexy Sadie - Paul Weller
My hopes were really high for this one, Paul being very talented in his own right, and attacking a good Lennon tune. But it sort of never really happens and leaves me wondering quite why he wanted to do it in the first place.Helter Skelter - Oasis
Once more one feels one has a right to expect something more from the iconic Gallagher brothers covering the heaviest Beatles' rock song. In the event it's a perfectly decent rehash of the original but with no real extra selling point. And just when you're not expecting anything special, a right corker of a cover. Very lovely rendition of this Harrison tune, which sounds miles better than the White Album version.Revolution 1 - Grandaddy
Did I hear someone cry foul ? How do I know this is a cover of Revolution 1 rather than Revolution ? Well, even though the band advertises it as a cover of Revolution, in my view it is more like R1. It is fairly mellow and has the "out-in" line of R1. Having said that, it doesn't have the shoo-be-doo-wahs, but what's a shoo-be-doo-wah between friends ?Honey Pie - Pasadena Roof Orchestra
The Pasadenas couldn't have chosen a better song for them to cover than this dollop of twenty's swing. Right up their street and done with customary panache.Savoy Truffle - Ella Fitzgerald
Some of these unsung Harrison tunes really take wings in the hands of the cover artists. This is hardly an obvious choice for Ella to tackle but it sounds great - upbeat and jazzy and the melody ends up sounding very strong.Cry Baby Cry - Iridescence
Am I right that John hated this ? Or am I getting confused ? I like it well enough in any event, and so clearly do Iridescence who produce a nice uptempo version of this nursery rhyme inspired song. Plus they end the song with the "can you take me back where I came from" tune, which I think is really the start of Revolution 9, but it is helpful because Kurt Hoffman coming up does not do this bit.Revolution 9 - Kurt Hoffman
Amazingly I have two versions of this to choose from and they are both tremendous. Phish (in their entire White Album except Good Night concert) do it without any instrumentation, and very funny it is. But in my view even better is this entirely instrumental version, which takes all the snatches of tunes from R9 and plays them in a sort of rag-time style. Absolutely excellent !Good Night - Cyril Stapleton
I am afraid this is as dreary as it sounds.