The Beatles Cover Versions

[nomis]

The anniversary TCB thread motivated me to listen to the album,which ive never done what struck me as a highlight was Diana covering Elanor Rigby,it dosent match the flush and frentic string arrangement of the original but IMO its a nice,competent version.
That got me thinking of The Supremes & Diana's cover version of other songs from The Beatles catalog.
Two stand out as personal favourites for me - "Got To get You Into My Life' an unreleased Supremes track from the Temptations duets era - great version that deserved to be released at the time,great harmonies and Mary is even allowed her only solo riff in the bridge.Its a great performance from the DMC era that gets little attention.
Another long time personal favourite for me is Diana's solo of "Long Winding Road" on EIE..Diana gives it her personal paniche with a great vocal and delivery..
Two versions thou that leave me cold [[in part because i dont like the originals either) is Supremes "Hard Days Night" and Ross solo "Come Together"
Flo said in the interview on 25th Anniversary - "i dont have to think - i know i like the Beatles"
What a pity the fab four were stoned at the infamous summit of the two groups in 1965 !

[RanRan79]

My opinion of the Beatles has always been that they were excellent songwriters, but I've never- EVER- understood their appeal beyond that. There has never been a song of theirs that I've heard where their vocals did anything for me. So their original versions of any song don't rate with me at all.

Where the Supremes are concerned, their version of "A Hard Days Night" is fantastic. They rocked that. I also love "I Saw Him Standing There". "Got To Get You Into My Life" remaining vaulted for so long was a travesty. It deserved to make an lp appearance, maybe even single release. The studio version of "Michelle" is gorgeous. Very beautifully done.

But there are also some duds IMO. I don't care for "I Want To Hold Your Hand". After Aretha's version of "Long and Winding Road", I don't think anyone else's will rate highly with me, and Diana's is no exception. Her version is the lowest point of the EIE album. The Supremes' version of "Come Together" is always skipped by me. I can't remember the last time I listened to it. On the other hand, Diana's version has a killer track and that's the only reason why I ever listen to it, even though "Come Together" is a song that I really hate no matter who's singing it. Diana's "Yesterday" is listenable, but I've never thought she was particularly suited to it. I would've preferred Mary on it. Flo's "Yesterday" is so depressing. She sounds like a drunk lady at the bar crying over her troubles, which, believe it or not, actually endears her version to me a bit, but there is no denying that it's a fairly bad take on an otherwise lyrically great song.

I do agree that Diana's snippet of "Eleanor Rigby"- another song I hate, even by Aretha and the Jean Supremes- is quite good.

[floyjoy678]

RanRan, I agree that I think they're overrated with the exception that they wrote some all time great songs. They were different than the other rock groups of their time which helped their appeal. Same how the Supremes were different from the other girl groups.

I actually love several of the Supremes covers of the Beatles. Some of them are...
A Hard Day's Night
Got to Get You Into My Life
I Saw Him Standing There
You Can't Do That
Can't Buy Me Love
Yesterday [[the live version at Roostertail)

I do agree that Mary would've had sounded great on Yesterday.

[RanRan79]

Oh Floy, I don't think I realized that "You Can't Do That" is a Beatles song. [[I'm not very familiar with their catalog.) Diana's vocal on "You Can't Do That" is one of my favs of her entire Supremes career, as crazy as that might seem. There's just something about her vocal approach there that just does something to me. And Flo and Mary's backup is great as well.

Their "Can't Buy Me Love" is very good too. I forgot that one.

[sup_fan]

in general people view the Beatles catalog with reverence, although like Ran, i have very limited personal knowledge of their music. IMO the problem with motown and Beatles cover is that motown DIDN'T typically approach the music with "reverence." they just cranked out covers to fill in albums and approached with a more assembly line mentally. they were using this on the albums to catch people's eyes and get them to say "hey i recognize X number of songs on this lp so i'll buy it" It seems there's a heavy "cheese" factor with the production styles motown used on these covers

I like Diana's Come Together and also sort of like the Sups version of this. You Can't Do that is solid and the girls' 8 Days a Week on tv was also good. Yesterday on the Symphony album seems a bit schmaltzy. Got to get you into my Life is another solid one.

Hey Jude on Cream is ok.

[nomis]

I like The live version of "Michelle'..Diana sings more tenderley than usual I wish there had been a studio version recorded.

[reese]

I like The live version of "Michelle'..Diana sings more tenderley than usual I wish there had been a studio version recorded.

[nomis]

Wow ! many thanks Reese

[johnjeb]

"A World Without Love" is also a Beatles song!

Peter and Gordon had the #1 hit in 1964 with this song credited to McCartney & Lennon.

From Wikipedia:

Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher [[b. 1944) and Gordon Waller [[1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single "A World Without Love".

Peter Asher and his sister Jane were child actors in the 1950s. They played siblings in a 1955 episode of the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. Jane Asher dated The Beatles' Paul McCartney between 1963 and 1968, and Peter and Gordon recorded several songs written by McCartney but credited to Lennon–McCartney.[1] Those hits included "A World Without Love" [[US & UK #1), "Nobody I Know" [[US #12; UK #10), "I Don't Want To See You Again" [[US #16, but not a hit in the UK), and "Woman".[1]

Peter Asher subsequently became head of A&R for Apple Records. He continued his career as a recording executive in California, where he managed and produced Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Asher also produced recordings for Cher, 10,000 Maniacs, and Diana Ross.

[Circa 1824]

Exquisite vocal. Love it.

[robb_k]

My opinion of the Beatles has always been that they were excellent songwriters, but I've never- EVER- understood their appeal beyond that. There has never been a song of theirs that I've heard where their vocals did anything for me. So their original versions of any song don't rate with me at all.

Where the Supremes are concerned, their version of "A Hard Days Night" is fantastic. They rocked that. I also love "I Saw Him Standing There". "Got To Get You Into My Life" remaining vaulted for so long was a travesty. It deserved to make an lp appearance, maybe even single release. The studio version of "Michelle" is gorgeous. Very beautifully done.

But there are also some duds IMO. I don't care for "I Want To Hold Your Hand". After Aretha's version of "Long and Winding Road", I don't think anyone else's will rate highly with me, and Diana's is no exception. Her version is the lowest point of the EIE album. The Supremes' version of "Come Together" is always skipped by me. I can't remember the last time I listened to it. On the other hand, Diana's version has a killer track and that's the only reason why I ever listen to it, even though "Come Together" is a song that I really hate no matter who's singing it. Diana's "Yesterday" is listenable, but I've never thought she was particularly suited to it. I would've preferred Mary on it. Flo's "Yesterday" is so depressing. She sounds like a drunk lady at the bar crying over her troubles, which, believe it or not, actually endears her version to me a bit, but there is no denying that it's a fairly bad take on an otherwise lyrically great song.

I do agree that Diana's snippet of "Eleanor Rigby"- another song I hate, even by Aretha and the Jean Supremes- is quite good.

I don't like the song "Eleanor Rigby" very much, especially by The Beatles. But, I think that Ray Charles' version was the one I liked best , by far. I don't like most of The Beatles' songs sung by them or anyone else. I think "Michelle" sounds morose, like a funeral dirge. But I like "Norwegian Wood" very much. Not by The Beatles, whose singing I can't stand. But, I love Hugh Masekela's instrumental version, very much. I've hated every version of "Michelle" I ever heard, before now, but The Diana Ross version, above, sounds, by far, much better than any of the other versions I've heard. And that seems strange to me, as I generally dislike Ross' singing, and her voice grates on me, like Bob Dylans. But, I do like her slightly "Jazzy" version of that song [[whose tempo has been changed from that of The Beatles, and the other versions I've heard, and so, is much less "Dirgey".

[Jaap]

Diana covering the Beatles' "I Will" on I Love You was a nice surprise. Another song from the Beatles White album, though unfortunately not covered by Diana Ross, which has been done live so wonderfully by Sylvester [[and I love the way the Two Tons of Fun say, The Beatles? Who?).

[Spreadinglove21]

I believe for awhile in the 80s Mary opened her show with "We Can Work It Out".

I rather like JMC's version of Come Together.

And I enjoy the shared lead version of 8 Days of Week that DMF performed on TV.

Diana's version of I Will, besides that one note she doesn't exactly hit, on I Love You is quite nice.

[Ollie9]

“Eleanor Rigby” is a revelation, with Diana sounding both expressive and emotionally committed.
”Eight Days A Week” is a terrific performance, with Flo and Mary proving just how effective their voices could be given the right song.
”The Long And Winding Road” is like marmite, with fans either loving or hating it.
Despite some odd phrasing in places, i think it rather good. Olivia Newton John also does a nice version on her “Come On Over” album.