June 7, 2007
What are your favorite Beatles cover songs?
We ask because for our June 15 Happy Hour at Abbey Road we are piecing together a playlist made up of all Beatles songs sung by other people. Personally, we are partial to just about anything by Elliott Smith, but we know there are many, many options out there — the Beatles are the most covered band in music history (or so we read somewhere).
Last year, The Guardian had a nice little rundown of some of their readers' favorites. Here are the 10 songs that ended up on their playlist:
1 "We Can Work It Out" Stevie Wonder2 "Dear Prudence" Siouxsie & the Banshees
3 "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" The Breeders
4 "Tomorrow Never Knows" 801
5 "Yellow Submarine" Roots Manuva
6 "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" William Shatner [video embedded on this post]
7 "The Fool on the Hill" Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66
8 "Here, There and Everywhere" Emmylou Harris
9 "Across the Universe" Fiona Apple
10 "Hey Jude" Wilson Pickett
So, what are your favorites (for good or bad reasons)? And are you willing to share them with us? Here's what you can do:
- Send us an email mentioning the Beatles mp3s you'd like to share with us.
- We'll let you know if we already have them or not.
- If we don't have it, you can email the mp3 file to shanghaiist at gmail.com.
- Anyone who sends in an mp3 we don't have, gets a free Shanghaiist T-shirt! (One T-shirt per person, please.)
We also just got word from Abbey Road on the Happy Hour specials:
Drinks:RMB 15, Draft Carlsberg 0.5
RMB 12, Carlsberg bottle
RMB 12, Tsingtao bottle
RMB 17, House red and white wine
RMB 10, Soft drinks
RMB 20, Vodka/gin and tonic
RMB 20, Rum and soft drink
RMB 20, Whiskey anf soft drink
RMB 20, Cocktails (Sex on the Beach, Pina Colada, Margarita)Come dressed as a Beatle (or beetle) and get a free drink!
FREE finger food:
Vegetables and dip
Satay skewers
Canapes (egg, tuna, olives, ham, cheese)
Tortillas filled with beef sauce, mushroom, and other vegetables
Hope to see you there!
Shanghaist Happy Hour at Abbey Road, 45 Yueyang Lu, near Dongping Lu, in the former French Concession. Friday, June 15, 7 pm to midnight. Tel: 6431-6787.


junior reid's cover of eleanor rigby always kills it, but here's a few hundred more to sort through:
www.iro.umontreal.ca/~ratib/beatles/songs.htm
There's only ONE Beatles cover that I consider great and that is "I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker. Cocker's voice is amazing and the R&B feel of the performance is masterfully realized with the gorgeous harmonies of the background singers. I even like John Belushi's impersonation of it!
Every other Beatles cover song is an abomination.
The entire soundtrack of I Am Sam is Beatles covers and many are very good, but then you probably already know that.
Two Of Us 3:30 Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
Blackbird 2:21 Sarah McLachlan
Across The Universe 4:08 Rufus Wainwright
I'm Looking Through You 2:39 The Wallflowers
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away 2:09 Eddie Vedder Strawberry Fields 4:26 Ben Harper
Mother Nature's Son 2:42 Sheryl Crow
Golden Slumbers 1:41 Ben Folds
I'm Only Sleeping 3:05 The Vines
Don't Let Me Down 4:08 Stereophonics
Lucy 3:50 The Black Crowes
Julia 4:34 Chocolate Genius
We Can Work It Out 2:15 Heather Nova
Help 3:33 Howie Day I Am Sam Soundtrack 3.3 MB AAC audio file
Nowhere Man 3:29 Paul Westerberg
Revolution 3:02 Grandaddy
Let It Be 3:31 Nick Cave
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Beatles) 2:10 Eddie Vedder
A couple songs I'm happy with in terms of covered Beatles songs:
Eleanor Rigby - Thrice
Strawberry Fields Forever - Ben Harper
Imagine - A Perfect Circle
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison) - Spineshank