Mineshaft_Gap
4077th
I'm a huge anglophile when it comes to rock music. I LOVE Beatle-esque harmonies. Melodious pop/rock songs that are instantly memorable and on occasion... hauntingly beautiful.
I remember years back after absorbing the entire Beatles discography I was hungry for more and in my search for more Beatle-esque music I discovered some of my absolute favorite bands. Some of which actually rival my love for the Beatles themselves.... almost!
Big Star!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Star
THE power pop band. Unmistakable Beatles influence with a Southern twist. Jangly guitars and absolutely stunning vocal harmonies and guitar overdubs. These guys were the American Beatles so far as I'm concerned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn1t6l7UUPc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNKSs1J38EA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pte3Jg-2Ax4
You might know them from the intro to That 70's Show. "Hangin out... down the street... the same old thing... we did last week." That's Cheap Trick doing a cover of a Big Star song. A few other musicians who've done covers of Big Star songs include Elliott Smith, The Bangles, Jeff Buckley, Wilco, The Posies and more.
Harry Nilsson!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
The debauchery shared by John Lennon and Harry Nilsson during Lennon's Lost Weekend is the stuff of legend. His covers of various Beatles songs (including You Can't Do That, Mother Nature's Son, and She's Leaving Home) are among my favorite Beatles covers. Thanks in no small part to his absolutely BEAUTIFUL singing voice. Harry Nilsson wrote his fair share of songs and had quite a few of his own hits under his belt. That said he was prolific at covering other peoples material. His collaboration with Randy Newman is what launched Newman's career. He put out an entire album of Newman covers (in which Newman played piano) that I quite simply think is a masterpiece. It's one of my most listened to albums on a consistent basis.
Perhaps the biggest hit of his career was his cover of the Badfinger song "Without You." A song that's been covered by a lot of prolific singers, but I think Nilsson's version is the definitive version.
Any obsessed Beatle's fan will LOVE Harry Nilsson. Check out "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_FGC0VHiTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhvqJzmZAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy_gTrdXaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QghwNqlCRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s51bRVVRah4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ozl5SahSko - Newman cover... absolutely gorgeous.
His songs range from jaw droppingly beautiful to hilarious. He's my favorite singer/songwriter. Period.
Oh yeah... I did mention Badfinger didn't I?
Badfinger!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badfinger
This one should need no introduction for any Beatles nut. The first group signed to the Beatles Apple records. You know their songs even if you don't "know" them. They wrote some of the most perfect pop songs ever written. Badfinger was almost finished when half of the songwriting force of the band committed suicide. They reunited for a brief period of time but were quickly disbanded after the other half of that force decided to follow suit.
Can't find any good versions of their songs on youtube. Check these songs out on your own.
Baby Blue
Day After Day (produced by George Harrison)
Some others I didn't bother to write anything about because they should be obvious.
Electric Light Orchestra
Elliott Smith
Cheap Trick
The Zombies
The Beach Boys
The Kinks
I'm missing a ton. I just made this thread because I thought about how much a 13 year old me would have loved to see something like this. I'm always open to hearing about more fantastic Beatle esque bands so if you know any that are fairly obscure I'd love to hear about them.
I remember years back after absorbing the entire Beatles discography I was hungry for more and in my search for more Beatle-esque music I discovered some of my absolute favorite bands. Some of which actually rival my love for the Beatles themselves.... almost!
Big Star!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Star
THE power pop band. Unmistakable Beatles influence with a Southern twist. Jangly guitars and absolutely stunning vocal harmonies and guitar overdubs. These guys were the American Beatles so far as I'm concerned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn1t6l7UUPc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNKSs1J38EA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pte3Jg-2Ax4
You might know them from the intro to That 70's Show. "Hangin out... down the street... the same old thing... we did last week." That's Cheap Trick doing a cover of a Big Star song. A few other musicians who've done covers of Big Star songs include Elliott Smith, The Bangles, Jeff Buckley, Wilco, The Posies and more.
Harry Nilsson!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
Some of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves,[4] who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track "You Can't Do That", in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
Once John Lennon called and praised Pandemonium Shadow Show, which he had listened to in a 36-hour marathon.
The debauchery shared by John Lennon and Harry Nilsson during Lennon's Lost Weekend is the stuff of legend. His covers of various Beatles songs (including You Can't Do That, Mother Nature's Son, and She's Leaving Home) are among my favorite Beatles covers. Thanks in no small part to his absolutely BEAUTIFUL singing voice. Harry Nilsson wrote his fair share of songs and had quite a few of his own hits under his belt. That said he was prolific at covering other peoples material. His collaboration with Randy Newman is what launched Newman's career. He put out an entire album of Newman covers (in which Newman played piano) that I quite simply think is a masterpiece. It's one of my most listened to albums on a consistent basis.
Perhaps the biggest hit of his career was his cover of the Badfinger song "Without You." A song that's been covered by a lot of prolific singers, but I think Nilsson's version is the definitive version.
Any obsessed Beatle's fan will LOVE Harry Nilsson. Check out "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_FGC0VHiTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhvqJzmZAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy_gTrdXaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QghwNqlCRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s51bRVVRah4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ozl5SahSko - Newman cover... absolutely gorgeous.
His songs range from jaw droppingly beautiful to hilarious. He's my favorite singer/songwriter. Period.
Oh yeah... I did mention Badfinger didn't I?
Badfinger!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badfinger
This one should need no introduction for any Beatles nut. The first group signed to the Beatles Apple records. You know their songs even if you don't "know" them. They wrote some of the most perfect pop songs ever written. Badfinger was almost finished when half of the songwriting force of the band committed suicide. They reunited for a brief period of time but were quickly disbanded after the other half of that force decided to follow suit.
Can't find any good versions of their songs on youtube. Check these songs out on your own.
Baby Blue
Day After Day (produced by George Harrison)
Some others I didn't bother to write anything about because they should be obvious.
Electric Light Orchestra
Elliott Smith
Cheap Trick
The Zombies
The Beach Boys
The Kinks
I'm missing a ton. I just made this thread because I thought about how much a 13 year old me would have loved to see something like this. I'm always open to hearing about more fantastic Beatle esque bands so if you know any that are fairly obscure I'd love to hear about them.