So in honor of the Beatles having a massive week last week, I decided to bring them down a notch. Because we all know the Beatles don’t need any more attention. I mean, it’s been 60 years of “Beatles this” and “Beatles that” for flip’s sake!
I hope you can sense my sarcasm. The Beatles are one of the most popular and influential bands on the planet … In the history of the planet. Who would’ve guessed that someone else would cover a Beatles song better than the Beatles could do it? Well, someone has. And that someone was Joe Cocker.
With a Little Help from My Friends” was written by and performed by the Beatles. It appeared on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and is ranked #304 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The Beatles are known for their incredibly diverse catalog and the time when Sgt. Peppers was released was a very polarizing time in their music for the band’s fans who were with them since their inception.
Not really sounding like the same bubble gum, boy band pop when The Beatles first started out, “With a Little Help from My Friends” featured a hoppy bass line and mid-tempo guitars. Singing about “getting high with a little help from my friends” isn’t exactly what they were singing about back in their Ed Sullivan Show days. Not to mention, neither John or Paul sang lead vocals on the track; instead they were back-up and Ringo took over lead.
Then Joe Cocker got ahold of the song two years later! He changed the song pretty dramatically by slowing down the tempo, using Jimmy Page’s guitar skills and adding a choir.
“With a Little Help from My Friends” begins slowly with church organs, Page’s wailing guitar and light horns. It sounds pretty bad ass at first, but then it slows down and gives way to Cocker’s scratchy voice. The bass line is still there but because of the slow-down, it’s obviously not as hoppy. The chorus gives you the chills because the drums, organs, Page’s guitar join in with Cocker’s voice, along with a choir. If you’re into choirs as much as I am, you’ll really love it (as if you hadn’t heard it already)! The choir takes over John and Paul’s backing vocals while Cocker takes over Ringo’s.
There is so much soul in this song that you can’t help but think it is one of the best covers on Earth! Joe Cocker’s version of “With a Little Help from My Friends” is so good and is such a popular re-imagining of the song, that aside from being used in one of the biggest shows in the 80s and 90s (The Wonder Years … Yeah, you all remember Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper!), but was also inducted in BOTH the Grammy Award and Rock and Roll Hall of Fames! So grab your best friends, throw Cocker’s record on and sway along, as I picture all of you doing after a drunken house party.
The Beatles
Joe Cocker [Live at Woodstock ’69]