Amph The 50 Best Beatles Covers of All Time: 47. "Mother Nature's Son" by John Denver

By Josh Jackson
The 50 Best Beatles Covers of All Time

"Few songwriters have been so thoroughly covered as Lennon/McCartney, and the diversity of Beatles covers is a tribute to the Liverpudlians unmatched mark on pop music.

As with the 50 Best Bob Dylan Covers of All Time, I?ve selected only one version of each song for our list, and each artist only appears once. I?ve also tried to limit the selections from any one album like the I Am Sam soundtrack or Rubber Soul anniversary tribute. And if I?ve missed your favorite Beatles cover, add it in the comments section?hopefully that just means there?s plenty for you to discover among the 50 that did make the cut (or you can use it as an opportunity to question my sanity).

50. Belarus ? ?Here, There And Everywhere?
The recently defunct Swindon band recorded the first Beatles cover that would have been home on Grey?s Anatomy (not that there?s anything wrong with that; it?s lovely, really)."

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My view of covers: if you can't add something to the mix, or be better than the original, don't bother.

The Beatles generally knew this, because their cover of "Twist and Shout" is definitive.

 

This could be a lot of fun. The thread, I mean, not this particular entry. I think the absolute best way to sum up how awful this cover of Here, There & Everywhere is to just say that it is completely generic. I think if you heard this version of the song without knowing its history, you'd just assume it was a fair to middling original tune and then you'd never think of it again. They lose all the distinctiveness and genius of the original.

 

Bill Cosby doing Sgt. Pepper is the best cover and it is a travesty it is not on that list.

 

49. The Feelies ? ?Everybody?s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey?

"A full-on bar-rock-guitar onslaught every time they play it, the Feelies don?t even bother to with the mics when they scream the chorus."

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Yes, incompetence is always an advantage...

 

Well, to be fair, how else are you going to cover a song as stupid as this one? I enjoyed it; a high-energy, silly cover of a high-energy, silly song.

 

Well, you have a point; it hardly deserves better.

 

48. Junior Parker ? ?Taxman?

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"Mr. Blues? languid take was sampled by Cypress Hill for ?I Wanna Get High? but California won?t be taxing that anytime soon."

I hardly recognized it.

 

That's a great, groovy cover. Did you catch the name of that album? Love Ain't Nothing But a Business Goin' On. I may have to get into Junior Parker.

 

Great title, undoubtedly.

 

47. John Denver ? ?Mother Nature?s Son?

"When Denver sung this on his show in 1973, it sounded like The Beatles had written it specifically for him."

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At 1:13, Denver sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

But that's just me.