The Beatles Project #1: The Not So White Album
Here's the first installment of the Beatles cover project. I'm starting with their most challenging release. Not only is The White Album their longest (30 songs), it also has some of their wildest experiments. I didn't expect to find all of the songs, but thanks to eMusic, Funky16Corners, and various other blogs I managed to track down cover versions of even the most obscure songs.
I wanted to find covers that weren't too close to the originals. Some of them are really surprising: "Helter Skelter" works great as a bluegrass song, "Ob La Di-Ob la Da" is even cooler in Portugese, and bossa nova is a natural choice for "Sexy Sadie." The biggest surprise was not only that there is at least one cover of "Revolution #9," but that it's an amazing, note-for-note a capella version.
Enjoy.
Back In the USSR - Ramsey Lewis
Dear Prudence - OHN
Glass Onion - The Link Quartet
Ob La Di-Ob la Da - Ed Carlos
Wild Honey Pie - Part Chimp
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - BeatleJazz
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Laurence Juber
Happiness Is a Warm Gun - Bobby Bryant
Martha My Dear - Happy Baby
I'm So Tired - Elliott Smith
Blackbird - Roar Engelberg
Piggies - Theo Bikel
Rocky Raccoon - Lena Horne & Gabor Szabo
Don't Pass Me By - Will Taylor and Strings Attached
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road - Les Boréades
I Will - Daniel Johnston
Julia - Waltari
Birthday - Zuki
Yer Blues - The Beat Generation
Mother Nature's Son - U.K's Session Musicians
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey - Orchestra Harlow
Sexy Sadie - Damills
Helter Skelter - Henhouse Prowlers
Long Long Long - Tanya Donelly
Revolution - The Fab Five Band
Honey Pie - Giuseppe Milici & Mario Schiavone
Savoy Truffle - They Might Be Giants
Cry Baby Cry - Krystel
Revolution 9 - The Durham Ox Singers
Good Night - Starbugs
The Not So White Album
9 Comments:
can't download the zip (anymore)
It might be a problem with the MidPhase server. Stay tuned.
By 
MadCatJoey, at
9:27 AM
OK, it's back
By MadCatJoey, at
10:30 AM
still troubles. can download, but cannot open - the zip is damaged.
got it now!
What happened to "Good Night"?
By The Sunday Morning Hangover, at
7:46 PM
It's there. I just forgot to list it. Thanks for the heads up.
By MadCatJoey, at
9:59 PM
A Austin, Texas radio show did this, too - gave away entire CD's with some overlap with yours - but it was a pledg drive show so he couldn't play the whole thing -
http://www.selfhelpradio.net/2007.html#whitea
Robin Hitchcock also covered the entire album for a benefit concert a few years ago -
http://www.jh3.com/robyn/base/gig.asp?chubb=1263
Thanks for the tunes!
VC
By Your Historian, at
10:14 PM
Thanks for the Beatles compilations. It's an idea I myself was thinking of doing too at some point. Revolution 9 was probably one of the most difficult to find but the one by The Durham Ox Singers is very interesting (I'm listening to it as I write). Apart from the Robyn Hitchcock version Your Historian mentions here, there was also the live version of Phish performing the complete White Album. And there is also a stage announcer quoting a bit of it on the 1969 Woodstock album. And oh, I just found on a radio station's playlist this "computer girl (erotic robotic remix) - revolution 9 - music by numbers: rem1xes & r3ject5", whatever that is. I know of no other! Just one question: Why in m4a? Mp3 is so much more THE universal format. Why not save us the hassle of conversion for all of us who do not use an Ipod? Keep it up with the rest of the Beatles albums, and even the Past Masters Volumes 1 & 2 !!!
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