Categories
- FREE MP3s
- SUNDAYS WITH MARTY
- VIDEOS
- GUEST EDITOR
- NEWS
- THE OVER/UNDER
- TAKE COVER!
- MIX TAPE
- DAVID LESTER ART
- TIVO PARTY TONIGHT
- POLLS
- 120 REASONS TO LIVE
- WORKOUT PLAYLISTS
- PHILLY BLUNT
- INTERVIEWS
- WRENS WATCH
- 15 IN PHILLY
- BEST OF 2009
- BEST OF 2008
- TOUR DIARY
- LIVE REVIEWS
- FEATURES
- PUT UP YOUR DUKES
- SEEN YOUR VIDEO
- LOST CLASSICS
- EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
- CLASSIC ALTERNATIVES
- STREET TEAM
- THE BACK PAGE
- SOUND CHECK
- LABEL PROFILE
- RECORD REVIEWS
- THE BEST SHOW
- CRIME STORIES
- UNDER COVER
- BOOKS
- SXSW REPORTS
-
RSS
Take Cover! Neil Young Vs. The Beatles
When is a cover song better than the original? Only you can decide. This week: Neil Young takes on the Beatles' “A Day In The Life.” MAGNET’s Edward Fairchild pulls the pin. Take cover!
During the recording of "A Day In The Life," the Beatles brought in a group of 40 classically trained musicians from the London Symphony to play during the noisy, atonal crescendo in the middle of the song. Paul McCartney asked the stuffy bunch to don costumes during the session in order to lighten the mood and present a party-like atmosphere. For Neil Young, his custom Les Paul guitar "Old Black" is enough to fill in for an orchestra. Be sure to watch the end when Young gets beastly, strangling and gutting the instrument, ripping out the strings and bouncing it on the stage.
The Cover:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbet0Ck-zfE[/youtube]
The Original:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFYOn1AFms[/youtube] [poll id="49"]
This entry was posted in TAKE COVER!. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
Follow MAGNET On Twitter
3 Comments
This is possibly the best song ever written. Old Neil just crapped on it. Not a song you’re going to want to do with distorted guitars. Fail.
I am a HUGE Neil Young fan and had the joy of seeing him play ‘A day in the life’ live twice earlier this year. Like everything else he’s covered – especially Dylan – he takes a song and makes it his own, so he’s doing this song AS a Beatles fan but FOR Neil fans! If you’re a Beatles fan but you don’t like Neil then it’s probably sacriledge to hear it played like this. Having said that, I still prefer The Beatles version. It’s a classic. Nothing more needs to be said.
The Beatles made this great, dark, pop song filtered through the tenor of the times–the colorful psychedelia veiling a darker worldview. Neil simply pulls back the curtain. John would love this–he knew that Rome was burning–it’s why he left the band. Rome is burning still. Neil is gathering the ashes.