Cover Me Up (The Beatles)

• Free Collections
• Non-Internet Archive
• Phish White Album
• Blake Tedder
• Charles Parker
• OSU 2006
• OSU 2007
• Brain Damaged Eggmen
• Hot Buttered Rum
• Robyn Hitchcock
• Rubber Souldiers
• Internet Archive

The Beatles (1036 songs)

Over the years, I've collected other artists' free, legal, on-line covers of Beatles songs. Many were found on the now-defunct MP3.com, but I then found a treasure trove at the Internet Archive's Audio 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, and 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. All songs were legally available for download at the time I downloaded them; sadly, some bands have broken up and/or their cover songs are no longer on the web. The songs are grouped as follows:

• Free Collections - links to sites that have collections of free covers available for download.

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

• Phish performs The White Album

• Blake Tedder at Rosemont Studio

• 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

• Brain Damaged Eggmen (Disco Biscuits Side Projects) performs a Beatles Set

• Hot Buttered Rum performs a Beatles Set

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

• Various artists unite to perform mash-ups of Beatles classics

• Internet Archive - covers found at the Internet Archive.

Free Collections of Covers

I've come across a number of web sites for bands that cover Beatles songs, generally with too many songs to download individually and scatter among the non-Internet Archive listing below. I'm trying not to include tribute bands that do note-for-note copies of the Beatles recordings.

• TB Block - is a German band that has, in my opinion, good taste in the songs they chose to cover and that has done a superb job of covering them.
• The Virtual BEATLES (Our Tribute) - periodically posts new albums of Beatles/post-Beatles songs arranged and performed by Octavio Cavalli and Max Gonzalez. Highly recommended.

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.

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. (Crimmus Jam and his blog)

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.)

Brain Damaged Eggmen (Disco Biscuits Side Projects) performs a Beatles Set (August 5, 2006)

Hot Buttered Rum performs a Beatles Set (December 30, 2007)

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.

Rubber Souldiers (October 24, 2009)

Various artists from different bands unite to perform mash-ups of Beatles classics. I picked out one representative concert; be sure to browse through their other concerts for other songs and performances.

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.