The Beatles’ Cover of a Girl Group Song Became a Hit in the 1990s
The Beatles covered songs by many artists. For example, they put their own spin on a girl group song during their early years. The cover became a belated hit in the 1990s.
The Beatles’ cover of a song by the girl group The Shirelles became a hit
The Beatles peppered their early discography with covers. For example, The Beatles recorded “Baby It’s You” by The Shirelles for their first album: Please Please Me. The Beatles’ live version of “Baby It’s You” became a single in 1995 to promote the album Live at the BBC.
According to The Official Charts Company, the live “Baby Its You” was a big hit in the United Kingdom. There, the tune reached No. 7 and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks. On the other hand, Live at the BBC peaked at No. 1 and spent 23 weeks on the U.K. chart.
The American public had a very different reaction to The Beatles’ girl group cover
The American public was not nearly as interested in “Baby It’s You” as the British public. In the United States, the live “Baby It’s You” climbed to No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for four weeks. Meanwhile, Live at the BBC hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks.
It’s interesting the tune performed so much better in the U.K. That might have something to do with the musical landscape of the era. In the 1990s, the British charts were ruled by Oasis, a band heavily inspired by The Beatles. Oasis wasn’t nearly as popular or iconic in the U.S., so American radio stations had less incentive to play The Beatles.
What John Lennon thought about the song’s parent album in retrospect
John didn’t seem to have anything to say about The Beatles’ “Baby It’s You,” but he had mixed feelings about Please Please Me. In a 1969 interview from the book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon, the “Give Peace a Chance” singer discussed the Fab Four’s discography. “In the old days, the Beatle records, we used to make an album, then listen to it, and then forget about it,” he said. “Then make another one, and then I’d play them both, one after the other, to see where it was going.
“But we got so many that [if] I tried sitting there like with The Beatles double album and everything right by it, Please Please Me, I just couldn’t sit through it all,” he added. “To see what happened, listening to it one after the other. I couldn’t make it, not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but there’s not enough time.”
Subsequently, John was asked if ever listened to his old albums with regret. “No, I never think that,” he said. “I used to think that more in the early days, all embarrassed about the early stuff we did, but I got over that. And I don’t regret anything we’ve done. I just have preferences for tracks, things like that, but I don’t regret any record we ever made. It was just us then, and it’s valid.”
“Baby It’s You” wasn’t on one of John’s favorite albums but it was a hit anyway.
