Beatles Songs Covered By Other Artists

Here are many of the songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and covered by other artists during the existence of The Beatles.

“I'll Be On My Way”- by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas- Released on 04/26/63- Reached #2 on the UK’s Melody Maker Chart.

“Do You Want To Know a Secret”- Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas- Released on 4/26/63- A-side to “I’ll Be on My Way”- reached #1 on BBC’s Pick of the Pops Chart & reached #3 on 3/23/64 in the U.S.

“From Me To You”- Del Shannon- Big Top Records- Released in US in 1963 reached #77- 1st Mac/Len tune on US chart.

On 18 April 1963, the Beatles were one of 15 acts to play at ''Swinging Sound '63'', an all-star concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They played "From Me to You" and "Twist and Shout”. Del Shannon was also on the bill that night. After the concert, he told John Lennon that he was going to record "From Me to You" to give the group some exposure in America. At first, Lennon was flattered, but he quickly changed his mind, realizing that a cover version by Shannon might hurt the Beatles' chances of having a hit in the States. As it turned out, Lennon was temporarily right, but neither artist's version was a big hit in America.

In early June, Big Top Records released Shannon's version of "From Me to You". It entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 29, becoming the first Lennon-McCartney composition to make the American charts. It spent four weeks on the chart and peaked at #77. "At that time no one had heard of the Beatles here (the U.S.), but I knew they were great writers so I just picked up on one of their songs," Shannon said later.

“Bad To Me”- Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas- Released 7/26/63- Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney.  Lennon wrote it for Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas. They released the song in 1963 and it became their first #1 UK hit. Paul McCartney was present during the recording session at Abbey Road Studios.  The single would be released in the United States in May of 1964 and would reach # 9 and stay on the US chart for 11 weeks.

“Tip Of My Tongue”- Tommy Quickly- Released 07/30/63- Recorded 11/26/63 at EMI’s Abbey Road studio. The song did not chart.

“Hello Little Girl”- The Fourmost- Released on 08/30/63- Produced by George Martin & written by John Lennon in 1957 and was used as one of the songs at The Beatles unsuccessful Decca audition in 1962. It is the first song ever written by John Lennon. Reached #9 on the UK chart
“Love Of The Loved’- Cilla Black- Released on 09/27/63- Reached #35 on the UK’s Melody Maker chart. It was produced by George Martin.

“I'll Keep You Satisfied”- Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas- Released on 11/1/63- It reached #4 and spent 13 weeks on the UK chart. It reached #30 in the US and was on the chart for 7 weeks. Produced by George Martin and recorded at Abbey Road studios on 10/14/63.

“I'm In Love”- The Fourmost- Released 11/15/63- Reached #15 during its 11 weeks on the UK chart.  Produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios.

“I Wanna Be Your Man”- The Rolling Stones- Released 11/16/63- The Stones 1st UK hit reached #10 on the UK chart and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks- See John Lennon Biography for the story of how John & Paul wrote this one for the Stones.

“A World Without Love"- Peter & Gordon- Released 2/27/64 & 2/28/64 in the UK and US respectively. Written by Paul McCartney for his then girlfriend’s (Jane Asher) brother Peter Asher, it reached #1 in both the UK and US.

“Like Dreamers Do”- The Applejacks- Released on 5/05/64- The song was written by Paul McCartney in 1957 and performed by the Beatles during the audition for Decca Records on 1/1/62. It reached #20 on the UK chart. It was scored by Mike Leander who also was the arranger on The Beatles. "She's Leaving Home" from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album, the only time The Beatles recruited someone other than their producer, George Martin to provide orchestration.

“One and One Is Two”- The Strangers & Mike Shannon- Released on 05/08/64.

“Nobody I Know”- Peter & Gordon- Released 5/29/64- Reached #6 in the UK during its 11 weeks on the Melody Maker chart. Also released on 6/15/64 in the US on Capitol Records. It did not chart in the US.

“From A Window”- Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas- Released on 07/17/64- Reached #12 during its 12 weeks on the UK chart & reached #23 during its 10 weeks on the US chart. Produced by George Martin. Paul McCartney was present at time of recording, though he is given no credit in the production.

“It's For You”- Cilla Black- Released 07/31/64- Reached #7 on the UK chart and #79 on the US chart. Produced by George Martin, later covered by Three Dog Night.

“I Don't Want To See You Again”- Peter & Gordon- Released on 9/9/64, did not chart in the UK but did reach #16 in the US during its 9 weeks on the US chart.

“That Means A Lot”- P.J. Proby- Released 9/17/65- It was an unreleased Beatles song, recorded in 1965. It was originally to be included on the album 'Help! but both John Lennon and Paul McCartney disliked the track, and so it was kept off.

Not to waste the tune, Brian Epstein, the Beatles' business manager, introduced the song to another of the acts he managed, P. J. Proby.  An American, he had been introduced to Brian by Jack Good, who had created numerous television shows, and had created a Beatles TV program Around the Beatles. He also paired P. J. with Cilla Black on a couple of tours.

P.J. Proby released "That Means A Lot" in September of 1965. It was arranged & conducted by George Martin and produced by Ron Richards.
The Beatles version of the song was released in 1996 on the Anthology 2 album. The song is credited to Lennon/McCartney, although which of the two wrote the bulk of the song is in debate. In his famed interviews with Playboy Magazine, Lennon claimed the song was Paul's, while Proby has claimed with certainty that the song was purely Lennon's. It is also possible that the song was subjected to a regular occurrence in the Beatles, that of Lennon or McCartney contributing a middle-eight to the other's verses and choruses. The optimism in the verses and choruses is typical of McCartney's songwriting, while the "Love can be suicide" middle-eight is similar to the attitude Lennon displayed in many other songs of the time-period.

An attempt to remake the song was recorded on 30 March (called "take 20" by Norman Smith over the studio talkback system), but was unsuccessful after three takes, all very different from the original.

“You've Got To Hide Your Love Away”-The Silkie- Released on 09/20/65- Produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This version reached #24 during its 6 weeks in Great Britain’s Melody Maker Chart. It was on the US chart for 11 weeks reaching #10.

“Woman”- Peter & Gordon- Released on 2/11/66- The song was written by Paul McCartney. However, on this occasion McCartney insisted that he be listed under the pseudonym "Bernard Webb", as an experiment to see if the song would still be a success without the famous "Lennon/McCartney" songwriting credit. It reached #21 on the UK Singles Chart. It fared slightly better in the US, reaching #14 (a different pseudonym of "A.Smith" was used there).

“Got To Get You Into My Life”- Cliff Bennett and the Rebel- Released on 08/05/66- Reached #6 in the UK, was on the chart for 10 weeks. This is of interest because it was produced by Paul McCartney, and was released the same day as the Revolver LP in the U.K.

“Theme From The Family Way”-The George Martin Orchestra- Released on 12/23/66- written by Paul McCartney & produced by George Martin.

“Catcall”-The Chris Barber Band- released on 10/20/67- Paul is present at this session and can be heard among the chorus in the songs' wild ending.

“Step Inside Love”- Cilla Black- Released on 03/08/68- Produced by George Martin. The song reached #7 in the UK and was on the chart for 7 weeks all in the Top 20.

“Sour Milk Sea”- Jackie Lomax – Released on 03/21/69- Produced and written by George Harrison. The song also features George, Paul, and Ringo backing up Lomax as a band.

“Goodbye”- Mary Hopkin- Released 3/28/69- Written, Produced and its guitar part are by Paul McCartney; it reached #2 in the UK singles chart. It was kept off the top of the charts by the Beatles' single ''Get Back.''. "Goodbye" has never been officially released by the Beatles, although a demo version can be found on some of the the Beatles bootlegs.

“Come And Get It”-Badfinger- Released on 12/05/69- Written and produced by Paul McCartney. It reached #7 on the US chart towards the end of its 15 weeks on Billboard & #4 on the UK chart.

“Those Were The Days”- Mary Hopkin- Released on 8/30/68- Produced by Paul McCartney- Spent 11 weeks on the US chart and reached #2 for 3 weeks and was on the Top 10 for 6 weeks. It did even better in the UK spending 17 weeks on the chart 11 weeks on the Top 10 and 5 weeks at #1. As “Apple 2” it is the lowest catalogue number issued by Apple Records, #1 was reserved for “Hey Jude” but contractual obligations with EMI kept it from being released on Apple at that point, when it was released on Apple it was R 5722.

Footnote:
There are a few hundred thousand covers of Beatles songs recorded after the break-up of the band, for the moment I will not attempt to tackle that massive project but someday I will. I hope you enjoyed this page and if I have left off any songs that were released before the break-up of the band in 1970 feel free to submit them or if you find an error email me with the update or correction and I will reward you with a free copy of one of my Pop Go the Beatles shows.

Songs The Beatles Covered

• The Decca Tapes
• Live At The Star Club
• The Beatles On BBC Radio
• Beatles Cover songs on their US albums
• Beatles Cover songs on their UK albums

Beatles Songs Covered By Other Artists

• Beatles Songs Covered By Other Artists