December 1, 2005 | Posted by David B. at 10:08 PM

Just sees what he wants to see

lowThis just didn't sound like a good idea: let's take a bunch of well-regarded indie rock artists and have them each record a cover from Rubber Soul! Two things about this raised skepticism for me: 1) Beatles covers are an awfully dicey proposition. How many times have we heard these songs? How can they possibly be done in a new and interesting way? 2) As great as some tracks on Rubber Soul are, the record has - I'm sorry - crap like Drive My Car.

I've only heard a couple tracks from This Bird Has Flown, so I can't comment on the record as a whole. I can tell you that the love 'em or hate 'em Fiery Furnaces (I'm in the latter camp) does a terrible cover of Norwiegan Wood (which has too great a melody not to use), and here's a lovely version of Nowhere Man, recorded by Low, currently posted on the Insound mp3 page.

Low - Nowhere Man

I really like this song. Low, pride of Duluth, has been in kind of a precarious state lately - longtime bassist Zak Sally just left the band, and singer-guitarist Alan Sparhawk had some mental issues that persuaded the band to cancel their tour this spring. It's nice to hear them doing so well on record.

Sparhawk and his wife Mimi Parker - also the band's drummer - do a really nice job here. Just like on their recent Sub Pop record The Great Destroyer, the song is simultaneously epic and intimate, and they take what the Beatles did and expanded on it.

While Beatles covers are generally ill-advised, good ones tend to slip through the cracks. Stevie Wonder did it with We Can Work It Out, Richie Havens did it with Here Comes the Sun. Minnesota's hometown hero Paul Westerberg tried his own dull version of Nowhere Man, and it took his neighbors to the north to get it right. Bravo.

You can buy This Bird Has Flown from Insound.

Comments

The Sufjan Stevens, Ted Leo, and The Fiery Furnaces tracks are amazing.

Posted by: Michael at December 2, 2005 5:44 AM

Man, "Drive My Car" is my jam, ESPECIALLY the Bobby McFerrin cover! Childhood memories. Who covers it here?

Posted by: Andrew at December 2, 2005 2:34 PM

Andrew, I think Drive My Car is done by the Donnas.

Posted by: Robot David at December 2, 2005 4:01 PM

Any discussion of great Beatles covers should include Al Green's version of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"

Posted by: DanF at December 2, 2005 5:15 PM

I'd forgotten the Bobby McFerrin cover of Drive My Car. It is not crap, nor is the original.

However, I don't understand the special attachment critics have for Revolver. I think it is a transitional album. It shows the Beatles learning techniques that they would use to make greater classics to come.

Posted by: eric at December 5, 2005 1:34 AM

How can anyone denigrate Drive My Car??? For one thing, McCartney's bass in that song is fantastic.

Posted by: Dylan at December 5, 2005 12:48 PM

you can check out mindy smith's version of "the word" here for a few more days:
http://www.comfortradio.org/comfortmusic/archives/2005/11/friday_grab_bag_11.html

it's my favorite song on the comp. and the donnas' "drive my car" was surprisingly good.

Posted by: Scotto at December 5, 2005 6:36 PM

personally whilst I agree with the tone of the above article i have nothing but praise for most of the artists and the solid effort they put forward. Special mention goes to the donnas whos's "drive my car" is done very well. It really suits their style.

Posted by: TC at February 2, 2006 4:17 AM
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