The dynamics Beatles have left in this world are immense. Also, the covers of Beatles songs have existed since day one. Over the years, such covers have surfaced due to the wide use of the Internet. Soon after the Fab Four released their songs, the covers have always come up.
With stars like Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, the lyrics they wrote were some of the best songs in the history of music. With The Beatles as the base, British pop was sure to thrive in the coming future.
There are so many covers of The Beatles and it only gets better with age. And one exception among them is Joe Cocker’s 1968 cover of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends‘. It was released just a year after The Beatles themselves had conveyed the song.
Cocker was born and raised in Sheffield. He signed with Decca Records in 1964. And recorded his debut single, which was a version of The Beatles, ‘I’ll Cry Instead’. The song was not massive and after many attempts later his song’Marjorine’ peaked at number 48 on the UK singles chart. It was a big tackle for him.
With pretty much fond success, he then covered Lennon/McCartney’s hit song ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’. Which went on to be his most successful cover. One of his friends hired to help Cocker in his recording session was Jimmy Page, the guitarist of Led Zeppelin.
The song was endorsed by The Beatles themselves. And the song also topped the UK charts. When Joe passed away in 2014, Paul stated when he heard the song for the very first time, “I remember [Cocker] and Denny Cordell coming round to the studio in Saville Row and playing me what they’d recorded. It was just mind-blowing … [he] totally turned the song into a soul anthem, and I was forever grateful for him for doing that.”
‘With a Little Help’ became the signature song of Cocker. He even performed a live version for the fans at the Woodstock festival. In 2002 during the celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s golden jubilee, Paul got to be along with Cocker, Steve Winwood, and Brian. The cover again blew Paul’s mind.
Back in 2014, after the passing of Coker, Paul didn’t only praise his cover. He revealed that he loved him a lot and said, “He was a lovely northern lad who I loved a lot and, like many people, I loved his singing.”
