Every Beatles Cover Song Ranked

Especially in their earlier years, the Beatles were known to take a Rock ‘n’ Roll classic and make it their own … for better or worse.

Thanks to a suggestion by commenter “John”, I’ll be ranking all twenty-five Beatles cover songs from worst to best – if you have an idea for a ranking you want me to make, let me know!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Bad

25 – Chains

Original By: The Cookies

Let me make one thing very clear before I start this list – I adore the Beatles … but I’m also one of their biggest critics. When they miss, they miss hard. And I’m now learning that a lot of their misses were actually covers.

“Chains” is my least favourite song from their debut album – I find it really tacky and annoying.

24 – Matchbox

Original By: Carl Perkins

The Fab Four covered a lot of Carl Perkins songs, and the worst of them is easily “Matchbox”.

Ringo’s vocals sound tired, the riff is painfully simple, and the song goes nowhere.

23 – Devil In Her Heart

Original By: The Donays

Like “Chains”, “Devil In Her Heart” is another Harrison-sung cover that I don’t like. They really gave him the short end of the stick during his tenure in the band …

The melody is so one-note it hurts.

Meh

22 – Maggie Mae

Original By: (Traditional)

John Lennon vamped on the traditional tune “Maggie Mae”, and nothing good came out of it. Boring filler.

21 – Mr. Moonlight

Original By: Dr. Feelgood

“Mr. Moonlight” has a slow, drawn-out melody akin to “Devil In Her Heart”. At least Lennon is putting his back into it.

20 – Slow Down

Original By: Larry Williams

Larry Williams seems to be another favourite of the band, as two more of his tracks will end up in the top ten of this list.

“Slow Down”, on the other hand, has nothing to say.

19 – Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby

Original By: Carl Perkins

“Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby” is yet again a piece of Harrison-led filler. The fact it serves as the closer to “Beatles For Sale” makes it worse.

18 – Please Mr. Postman

Original By: The Marvelettes

For the first time on this list, it’s not actually the song itself that’s at fault.

I really like the original Marvelettes version of “Please Mr. Postman”, but the Beatles’ take sounds tedious by comparison.

17 – A Taste of Honey

Original By: Bobby Scott

Strangely, I discovered that “A Taste of Honey” used to be an instrumental song originally.

I don’t know whether the Beatles themselves added the lyrics, but it’s a bit cringe.

16 – Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey

Original By: Little Richard

You can always trust Little Richard to bring the energy to songwriting … but this version never did it for me.

McCartney’s trying his best but I’m never sold.

OK

15 – Rock And Roll Music

Original By: Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry’s style doesn’t really suit the Beatles, but Lennon’s giving it his all nonetheless.

14 – Roll Over Beethoven

Original By: Chuck Berry

Another Chuck Berry classic, and another bit of harmless fun.

13 – Honey Don’t

Original By: Carl Perkins

Ringo’s voice suits “Honey Don’t” quite well, but the song itself is nothing special.

12 – Baby It’s You

Original By: The Shirelles

Lovely vocal harmonies, but the melody isn’t the most memorable.

11 – Words of Love

Original By: Buddy Holly

There are so many great Buddy Holly classics, so I don’t know why the Beatles chose “Words of Love”.

The harmonies are lovely, though.

10 – Act Naturally

Original By: Buck Owens

You tell ’em, Ringo!

9 – Boys

Original By: The Shirelles

Unironically one of my favourite Ringo-led Beatles songs.

I like how they didn’t change the lyrics of the Shirelles version at all, and so stuck with pining over “Boys”. Beatles is gay confirmed?!?

8 – Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Original By: Larry Williams

A bit like with “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby”, “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” suffers greatly from being the final, supposedly show-stopping number from a Beatles album.

I like it on some days, but today I’m leaning more towards a skip.

Good

7 – Long Tall Sally

Original By: Little Richard

There are only seven Beatles covers by my count that I’d willingly go back to listen to … needless to say, I prefer their original work.

McCartney’s vocals are great, and the band bring a fun energy to the mix.

6 – Anna (Go To Him)

Original By: Arthur Alexander

The first few songs on “Please Please Me” hold a special place in my heart for being the ones that kickstarted their discography, and as such I view tracks like “Anna (Go To Him)” as hallowed ground.

It’s not as adventurous as other songs from the album, but it’s heart-warming nonetheless.

5 – Bad Boy

Original By: Larry Williams

I’m not sure why I like “Bad Boy” so much.

Maybe it’s Lennon’s screechy vocals, or maybe it’s the borderline atonal guitars going crazy.

4 – You Really Got A Hold On Me

Original By: Smokey Robinson And The Miracles

I would have never guessed “You Really Got A Hold On Me” was a cover – it sounds so much like a Beatles original!

The vocals and harmonies are stellar as always, and the lyrics have that classic, endearing Beatles quality.

Great

3 – Till There Was You

Original By: Peggy Lee

Few Beatles songs are as thoroughly lovely as “Till There Was You”.

McCartney’s vocals are sublime, and the instrumentation makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

2 – Money (That’s What I Want)

Original By: Barrett Strong

Reactions on “Money (That’s What I Want)” seem to be mixed – some Beatles fans don’t like it, but others like me think it’s an early gem.

Lennon gives this album closer as much energy and gravity as “Twist And Shout”, and I love it. Speaking of which …

All-Time Great

1 – Twist and Shout

Original By: Isley Brothers

Sometimes covers are just as good as the original, but in extremely rare cases like “Twist and Shout” people forget that the original even exists.

The Beatles’ take on the song is unequivocally the essential version, and Lennon’s vocal-chord-destroying performance has become the stuff of legend.

Aaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: