Cover Me Up (The Beatles)

The Beatles (969 songs)

Over the years, I've collected other artists' on-line covers of Beatles songs. Many were found on the now-defunct MP3.com, but I've recently found a treasure trove at the Internet Archive. Unfortunately, the songs are not always credited to the Beatles in the set lists, so I've been reduced to searching the archive for individual song titles. (Or simply trying concerts at random - everyone does a Beatles song every now and then!) There are the occasional false positives, like a bunch of "Tell Me Why"s; I'm not sure about the Mermen's "Within You Without You" instrumental that I've included below.

As someone who has usually preferred the Beatles' performances of their own songs, I have to admit that there are some great versions by others out there. When all is said and done, however, the real stand-out has got to be the just-shy-of-20-minutes 1982 recording of "Lady Madonna" by the Rose Hill Junior High School Jazz Ensemble - incredible!

My family and I saw Beatlemania Now, a Beatles cover band, at Wildwood, NJ in August 2005 - they were great! In researching the group on the Internet, I came across The Word Is Love!, a site with over 600 links to Beatles tribute bands. Although I decided not to include cover-band versions of songs below, there is a lot of music available on-line at many of the bands' web sites - I encourage you to go exploring.

Maurice Cohen maintains a comprehensive database of Beatles covers at The Beatles Covers.

Here's a list of Beatles and solo Beatles covers I currently have. Again, these are songs I've found on-line. I try not to include tracks that have been illegally posted on the Internet. The songs are grouped as follows:

• Non-Internet Archive - covers found at sites other than the Internet Archive.

• Robyn Hitchcock performs Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

• Charles Parker's Beatles Arrangements for piano

• Charles Parker and others at The Beatles at OSU 2006

• Charles Parker and others at The Beatles at OSU 2007

• Phish performs The White Album

• Blake Tedder at Rosemont Studio

• Internet Archive - covers found at the Internet Archive.

Non-Internet Archive Covers

These are cover songs I found at web sites other than the Internet Archive. Many of them came from the original MP3.com and I periodically try to track down the artists to see if they've posted the songs elsewhere.

Robyn Hitchcock performs Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (July 1, 2007)

Performed live, with some other songs thrown in, on the 30th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper.

Charles Parker's Beatles Arrangements for piano

Arranged for piano and performed by Charles Parker. Originally hosted on his university web site, the songs are now stored in the Internet Archive.

Charles Parker and others at The Beatles at OSU 2006

The Sgt. Pepper album performed at a benefit concert. (The songs are in alphabetical order; I couldn't find the actual set list.)

Charles Parker and others at The Beatles at OSU 2007

The Dark Side of Abbey Road, a mixture of Beatles and Pink Floyd songs, performed at a benefit concert. (The songs are in alphabetical order; I couldn't find the actual set list.)

Phish performs The White Album (October 31, 1994)

I forget where I downloaded this from, but I think perhaps an MP3 blogger uploaded the concert from a downloaded Etree bit torrent. I think.

Blake Tedder

Blake Tedder recorded this collection of Beatles songs for his mother. Unfortunately, the songs have been (temporarily?) removed from the Internet Archive and Blake has a new web site.

Internet Archive Covers

The Beatles were brilliant songwriters and musicians and, not surprisingly, their songs are a staple of many band's live set lists. The cover songs below are found at the Internet Archive and its Live Music Archive.