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3.02pm
8 February 2014
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@Britpopliveson72 shared some Beatlekids’ covers in the thread on songs which have never been performed live. I was struck by this one, in which Rufus Wainwright sings the first verse and chorus solo. Moby comes in with a low harmony for the 2nd verse and chorus, which is very similar to John’s part in many J&P harmonies (Don’t Let Me Down is one). Then, Sean comes in with a high 3rd part, reminding me of Paul’s high parts in Beatles’ 3 part harmonies. Does it compare in quality & talent to the Beatles? Of course not. Is it interesting to speculate on whether they deliberately arranged it in a Beatley manner? Yes! (imo 😉
Some of the comments really hate on it, especially Moby’s low part, so I feel I’m sticking my neck out here…Let me be clear that I find it an interesting harmony to study and compare with the Beatles, and while “pleasing” is in no way as aesthetically pleasing as the original. I like it, but I don’t feel the performance is all that good from a technical viewpoint and it certainly pales in comparison with the Beatles themselves (performance wise).
So what I’m asking first is does anyone agree it’s patterned after Beatles harmony structures, and second what are your personal feelings about its “listenability” (realizing that is totally subjective).
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trcanberra, Wigwam7.07pm
17 October 2013
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I love it…….Its great!
Hard to cover Beatle’s stuff or classic stuff …….They do it well Thanks.
On that very subject….
If you haven’t actually heard just how bad ……….
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trcanberra, Matt Busby7.58pm
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29 August 2013
Offline ^ I think I’ll just take your word for it 🙂
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10.19pm
8 February 2014
Offline Wigwam said
I love it…….Its great!Hard to cover Beatle’s stuff or classic stuff …….They do it well Thanks.
On that very subject….
If you haven’t actually heard just how bad ……….
By 1:49 I had put the gun against my head, but the crowd drowned him out and it wasn’t until 2:23 that I pulled the trigger, now I’m dead…
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Wigwam1.25am
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1 May 2011
Offline I’m more interested to know why Queen allowed it as its more a duet. But then they allowed the name ‘Queen’ to be associated with Five and Robbie Williams.
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5.12pm
28 March 2014
Offline Matt Busby said
So what I’m asking is what are your personal feelings about its “listenability”.
It doesn’t do anything for me, I can’t even listen through the whole thing. But to be fair, any bands covering a Beatles song rarely do it for me. It has to be done differently and original like Joe Cockers “A Little Help From My Friends”, otherwise it’s Karaoke. 
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BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms! 
12.55pm
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20 August 2013
Offline Billy Rhythm said
Their harmonies were simply angelic, unmatched by any others, whether it was only just Paul & George belting out the last verse of ‘All My Loving ‘, or more often, John, Paul & George performing repeated 3-Part Harmonic Brilliance throughout many of their classic works, The Beatles established a benchmark of sorts to which all other singers can only strive for but never truly achieve. Sure, there’s been many more who are, in fact, technically more accomplished than any of them ever were, but ANY combination of them displaying their pension for creating another voice beyond their own could NEVER be duplicated, the closest representation of “the voice of GOD” that humans will ever know.
Don’t discount Ringo’s contributions here as well eventhough his range was the most “limited” of the four, that goes without saying, but ‘Hey Jude ‘s (THE Greatest Song of ALL Time) epic refrain wouldn’t be what it is without Rings’ spirited contribution, nor would ‘Carry That Weight ‘ have made The Beatles’ swansong known as ‘The End ‘ so very effective. John’s Fired Aspirations in combination with Paul’s Watery Inertia was tempered by George’s Aired Spirit, while Ringo’s Earthly Presence grounded the entire experience for us all to relate to exoterically, and it’s no more obvious to all than when they locked in their vocals together. For The Beatles, it was a NATURAL (or more accurately, SUPERNATURAL) projection, something that others can only try to accomplish with the aid of many years technical training…:-)
I’ve noticed a few people mention lately the blending of Beatles voices. Anytime I see the idea mentioned, I think of this post by @Billy Rhythm, especially the statement I put in bold. Just thought I’d bring the post to life again for those who haven’t read it yet.
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9.09am
3 November 2015
Offline A lot of Beatle chords add in sevenths, and I read that this enable them to make good harmonies throughout an entire song. They fit so well and are beautiful.
Something that is ironic is that when they sing the harmonies, their voices blend well together–like yin and yang. Sometimes the message of the song can be lost or overthought when two voices blend, but they become the same person in each song they collaborate on. Best duo, truly.
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10.14am
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20 August 2013
Offline After reviving that post, I read the part in Tune In where John and Paul are discovering that their voices go together well.
part 1, Extended edition, p. 382 “… the night of Friday 18 October 1957, in a little alley called Back Broadway, that Paul McCartney first performed on stage with John Lennon and the Quarry Men.”
A picture was taken 5 weeks after that gig.
p. 383 “And something else is compelling about this Quarry Men photo: although it’s John’s group, new boy Paul is not at the back with Colin or Len, or to the side like Eric, he’s up front with John. Lennon and McCartney are clearly the front line of the Quarry Men…and they’re they only ones with vocal microphones. The group is the two of them and three others. When one sings lead the other provides harmony; often they sing the lead in unison – and their voices go together.”
Can you imagine being there when they were discovering that their voices melded so well? Chill bumps.
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1.00pm
22 December 2013
Offline One bit that’s really stopped me in my tracks lately is the harmonies at the 2:10 mark of this video… one of their very best unreleased recordings… love the different intro to the song which was dropped on the one that they’d used… urge anyone to listen to the entire recording:
…:-)
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SgtPeppersBulldog5.28am
9 December 2017
Offline The harmonies in “If I Needed Someone ” totally take the song to wonderful place but it’s the glorious last verse of “something” that gets me every time. Easy to see why Mr Sinatra regarded it as the” greatest love song of the past 50 years”…..
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11.37am
1 January 2017
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Billy Rhythm said
One bit that’s really stopped me in my tracks lately is the harmonies at the 2:10 mark of this video… one of their very best unreleased recordings… love the different intro to the song which was dropped on the one that they’d used… urge anyone to listen to the entire recording:
…:-)
I like this version too. I wish they’d kept the original intro on the released version (the only bad thing I can say about Norwegian Wood because it’s such a great song! 
)
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1.36pm
22 December 2013
Offline If the new Take 10 doesn’t open up your heart chakra, nothing will… my goodness… ‘G’Nite… Sleep tight…)…:-)
6.00pm
24 August 2019
Offline Guys, maybe you already checked in youtube, the many sound videos about isolated Beatles instruments. That’s fabulous! But when you hear the voices and chorus, the stratospheric harmonies and creativity to make “a song inside the song” with those chorus, second and third voices, once again you see the genius of the Fab Four. Endless joy!!
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Ahhh Girl, Richard8.20pm
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15 February 2015
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Welcome to the forum, @Johnny63. The Beatles had some incredibly special vocal arrangements, and the timbres of their voices had a magical alchemy to them when put together.
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2.42pm
24 August 2019
Offline Thank you!!
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QuarryMan, Beatlebug4.09pm
12 December 2019
Offline A harmonizing-centric group of the ’60s which outdid (even) The Beach Boys (though: not big outside the U.S. at the time) was The Association. All six members were singers. They released a “concept” album in 1968 called BIRTHDAY (before anyone had ever heard the Beats’ song). There are layers-upon-layers of voices on the tracks of this album; where, certain members might be paired as background vocalists…all doing a different phrase than the lead lyric yet, seamlessly blended together as a perfect fit.
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