What is the best cover of a song by The Beatles?

[LoZoccolo]

[Beer Snob-50]

1. I cannot remember the title of the song

but it was re done by Pearl Jam.

[catzies]

2. You're thinking of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away from Help!

n/t

[TedsGarage]

3. "Hey Jude"

by that guy who sang at the Super Bowl on Sunday. Actually, my favorite is an instrumental version of "Eleanor Rigby" by jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan.

[MarianJack]

4. Richie Havens did a great "Eleanor Rigby"...

...around 1970!

[welshTerrier2]

5. Judy Collins: In My Life

Richie Havens: Eleanor Rigby would be my second choice

In My Life

There are places I’ll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

[ceile]

6. Breeders-"Happiness is a Warm Gun"

[Strawman]

16. Throwing Muses did a good cover of Cry Baby Cry also

[silvermachine]

7. How about Hey Jude...

...as done by Oasis?
Oops, that's "Dear Mr. Fantasy"...
er, I mean Champaigne Supernova.:evilgrin:

[Swede]

8. The Long and Winding Road by Melanie.

Mahogany Rush did "Norwegian Wood" fairly well too.

[silvermachine]

9. But seriously...

..."Savoy Truffle" was given a killer treatment by one Terry Manning in 1970 on his lp "Home Sweet Home". Here's what one reviewer sez:

<<<It’s not daring or impressive or challenging to cover a Beatles song. It’s just stupid. At best you can hope it will be one of two things: an amusing novelty or a pleasant carbon copy. In neither case will it stand up to more than a few listens or be an essential part of a great album. The exceptions to this rule are so few that I can count them on one hand (you might pick a few others of your own; I know some favor Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help From My Friends,” for example). Until I discovered this album, my list stood at two: the Zoot’s marvelous hard rock rewrite of “Eleanor Rigby” (arranged by Rick Springfield!) and Area Code 615’s stunning instrumental country-rock version of “Hey Jude”.

Now I can add Manning’s ten-minute take of “Savoy Truffle” to my list. It does more for the concept of “lengthy cover version” than the Pink Fairies’ “Walk, Don’t Run.” If such a thing exists, “Savoy Truffle” is one of the Beatles’ most underrated songs, making it a genius choice for a cover. Manning begins his epic version with a moog solo that is unlike anything else on the album. Then, one by one enter drums, guitar, bass, blues harmonica, and a searing guitar solo. After an abrupt stop, Manning’s gruff voice, not what you’d expect for a Beatles’ song or from a guy who worked with Big Star, enters. Finally, the song becomes somewhat recognizable. Manning dispenses with the smooth saxophones that drove the original, and though the key guitar riffs remain, Manning’s vocal, the harmonica, and the jarring stops give the song an edge that’s missing from the Beatles’ version. That edge serves to increase the power of its gruesome lyrics. Surely enough, Manning emphasizes the “you’ll have to have them all pulled out” refrain ad nauseam (literally) before the harmonica, drums and guitar descend into flanger heaven. George Harrison is the last Beatle anyone would expect to lend himself to a warped hillbilly-psych (and psycho) blues interpretation, and that’s exactly why the song is so compelling. Manning finds something in it that Harrison barely tapped. Manning isn’t much of a songwriter, so it’s a testament to his brilliance as an arranger that he can win over a “purist” like myself, someone who generally has no interest in albums that aren’t wholly or at least mostly composed of originals.>>>

[progmom]

10. Sam Phillips - Gimme Some Truth

Since I'm all about Sam today.

[Voltaire]

11. Here, There and Everywhere by Emmylou Harris

I actually heard her version before I ever heard the original. I like her's best.

[FredScuttle]

12. "Hey Jude" - Wilson Pickett

The Wicked, Wicked Pickett takes that song to an entirely new level, with an awesome guitar solo from (then sessionman) Duane Allman. It's one of my favorite performances of all time.

[flamingyouth]

13. "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey)"

by the Feelies.

[bunkerbuster1]

15. oooh, good 'un, that.

Perfect match of band + material.

[maveric]

14. "Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker.

[donheld]

17. Elton John's "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"

I love his version of that.