Thursday, February 04, 2010

Songs the Beatles Covered (An Occasional Series)

From 1962, please enjoy suave r&b/pop balladeer Lenny Welch and the original hit version of a movie song that loomed large in the Beatles' legend -- "A Taste of Honey."




The Beatles version (which as you can hear cops all sorts of stuff from the Welch arrangement) is on the 1963 Please Please Me album, of course, and if truth be told I hadn't known that it was a rather faithful cover of a specific earlier record. In fact, I'd never even heard of Welch's until a few days ago; as far as I knew, he was a one hit -- "Since I Fell For You" -- wonder. Live and learn.

3 comments:

Dave said...

I first heard "A Taste of Honey" in the instrumental version by the co-writer, Bobby Scott. I've never heard the Lenny Welch version; as usual, he delivers a beautiful vocal but it doesn't really move me.

Ever hear the Trini Lopez version? I like it better than Welch's or the Beatles' version. It came out about the same time as the Herb Alpert instrumental. Lopez has one-tenth the voice of Welch, but he has a knack for arresting cover versions.

steve simels said...

I suspect in the context of the time Welch was trying to be Johnny Mathis, which has never been my cup of tea, although I must confess I think "Since I Fell For You" is a great record.

Never heard the Lopez...

Wendy said...

I love "Since I Fell For You" ... loads of fun to sing along with.