Ranking The Beatles’ 4 Elvis Presley Covers
The Beatles found inspiration from the earliest rock ‘n’ roll pioneers, and they showed it. Before Paul McCartney and John Lennon grew into prolific songwriters (while being called idiots by a singer who then recorded one of their songs), the Fab Four covered songs by Ray Charles, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and Buddy Holly. Yet Elvis Presley might have been the biggest influence. We’re ranking The Beatles’ four Elvis covers from worst to best.
The Beatles covered several Elvis songs during BBC Radio sessions in the early 1960s
They became perhaps the most covered band in the world later, but The Beatles played other people’s songs to fill their set lists in the early days.
John had a strange way of showing his Elvis love but said there wouldn’t be a Fab Four without him. John and The Beatles covered the Elvis songs “I Forgot to Remember to Forget,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You),” “That’s All Right (Mama),” and “I Got a Woman” during their frequent BBC Radio appearances in the early 1960s.
The world got to hear those four songs again on the Live at the BBC album, and now we’re ranking The Beatles’ four Elvis covers from worst to best.
4. ‘I Forgot to Remember to Forget’
The Beatles nail the music on their “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” cover, which is a plus. What they don’t have is Elvis’ quavering voice, and that makes all the difference. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Fab Four’s version, but Elvis’ vocals place his performance miles ahead of what his English counterparts recorded in 1963.
3. ‘I Got a Woman’
Some cover songs take the source material and spin it in a new direction. Others are note-for-note remakes. The Beatles’ cover of Elvis’ “I Got a Woman” falls in the latter category.
It’s not necessarily bad, but the Fab Four’s version, which they recorded just a few years after Elvis, is too similar to stand out. When it comes to the best Elvis covers by The Beatles, “I Got a Woman” sits firmly in third place.
2. ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’
The big knock against “I Got a Woman” is that it adhered too closely to the original. That’s hardly the case with “That’s All Right (Mama).” This Beatles cover of Elvis sees the Fab Four tack on another minute to the original run time, and they make good use of the extra time.
George Harrison adds another guitar solo (and we get to hear a few celebratory yowls underneath it). Paul sings a few nonsensical “da-dee-dee-dee-dee” lyrics, and Ringo Starr tosses in a few double-tap snare beats along the way.
1. ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)’
The previous songs were enjoyable recreations of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The Beatles’ cover of Elvis’ “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)” shows the level of musicianship that made them famous.
Elvis’ version is an upbeat rockabilly tune with a bar room piano lick adding melodic depth. The Fab Four’s take ups the tempo.
It took a while before Ringo praised his own playing in The Beatles, but this is a glimpse of the rhythmic complexity that helped him change drumming forever. Ringo adds machine gun snare before each verse in place of the piano. He also plays forceful tom and bass drum beats on the guitar downstrokes during the chorus. Ringo’s playing makes The Beatles’ cover of the song Elvis made famous a straight-up rock song.
John deftly plays a solo that sees him strum a few double notes along the way, and Paul and John superbly harmonize on vocals throughout the song.
Once they started writing their own music, The Beatles’ stopped covering Elvis Presley. The Fab Four didn’t record any of his songs for their albums. The four songs from the BBC Radio sessions are the only performances we have linking a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer to the band that changed everything. In terms of Elvis songs performed by The Beatles, “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)” is the best of the bunch by a mile.
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