This March, we pit 64 Beatles covers against each other in what we call Moptop Madness.
Yesterday we introduced you to Moptop Madness and today we give you the first of our daily matches! We’ll be posting two a day throughout Round 1. First, British folk singer John Tams sings “Girl” and 1968 space act Lord Sitar performs “Blue Jay Way.” Then, piano man Ben Folds sings “Golden Slumbers” while guitar god Jeff Beck performs “She’s a Woman.”
Listen to each pairing below, then vote for your favorite. For added sway, try to convince others to vote your way in the comments. Voting closes in 24 hours.
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John Tams – Girl
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VS
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Lord Sitar – Blue Jay Way
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[poll id=”5″]
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Ben Folds – Golden Slumbers
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VS
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Jeff Beck – She’s a Woman
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[poll id=”6″]
Click here for the current Moptop Madness bracket. Check back tomorrow morning for the next match. Follow @covermesongs on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss any votes.
OK, Tohn Tams every time … he’s been one of my folkie heroes since the Albion Band days. As for the other vote, Jeff Beck loses out because someone bought him a vocoder for his birthday and he was too polite to say “Actually that will sound rubbish and I don’t want it, thank you”.
I absolutely HATE when the vocals are drowned out throughout an entire song, so I agree: Ben Folds and John Tam get the win. However, a caveat to that: they’ll probably lose in the next round for me at least since “Golden Slumbers” doesn’t sound right without “Carry That Weight” and “The End” to anchor it and Tam’s version of “Girl” is a bot too morose for my tastes with the original already walking the tightrope line. That’s not to say that they’re not well-performed covers, since they definitely are, but a good performance needs to be matched by a fitting mood and a performance that feels complete. I mean, I’d hate to go see a performance of, say, “Hamlet” that just suddenly ends at Ophelia’s funeral, or watch a cut of “Apocalypse Now” that ends with the USO show, y’know?
I agree with both you guys. @Totz, it is really weird to hear “Golden Slumbers” on its own. Great cover, but without the explosion of “Carry That Weight” that follows it just feels kind of empty.
I think we agree :)