A little covers band?

 

Excluding Maggie Mae - the traditional folk ballad featured on Let it Be  - The Beatles officially released twenty-four cover versions of songs by other artists. All were released between1962 and 1965. 

Act Naturally was the last to be recorded - a late replacement for  the 'Ringo song' on Help. Fittingly, Ringo was eventually invited to choose a favourite - and he seized the chance to go full country.

Debut LP

The selection of covers for the Please Please Me/Introducing the Beatles is instructive. There's one show tune (A Taste of Honey), and three recent girl group US hits (Boys, Chains, Baby It's You). 

The last of these was a very early Bacharach & (Mac) David song - though those names did not yet mean anything to The Beatles.

Shake it Up Baby

The final cover ended the LP and would become the only non-original song to join the top tier of The Beatles catalogue. 

You will note that the original was not first written and performed by The Isley Brothers, contrary to what The Beatles told every interviewer. 

The Isley weren't complaining, though. They had who watched that first Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 at home with their new band mate, one J Hendrix. Now a cover of their cover boomed out from every radio.

'We started as a little covers band' - free 4 min read on Medium

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