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It’s no secret that The Beatles were huge fans of Elvis Presley.
John Lennon famously said in an interview: “Before Elvis, there was nothing.” John Lennon credited Elvis as the reason he became a musician.
“We all loved Elvis – he was so hot,” Paul McCartney gushed years later. “We were just so in love with him. He was just the greatest idol, always hamming it up, always doing a little funny thing. He was so great.”
Before The Beatles became famous, during the years 1957 to 1962, they were known to include several Elvis songs in their concerts. That’s why it is surprising that they never “officially” recorded any of his songs.
But luckily, on their 1963 BBC radio show, Pop Go The Beatles, the Beatles performed 4 different Elvis songs which were preserved on tape.
Here are the four Elvis songs captured for posterity that The Beatles sang on their BBC radio show:
That’s All Right (Mama)
Recorded on July 5, 1954, “That’s All Right (Mama)” was Elvis Presley’s first single. It made him an overnight local star in his hometown of Memphis in the summer of 1954, and is considered by many as the first rock and roll record. Paul McCartney sings lead on The Beatles’ version recorded on July 16, 1963.
Years later, Paul McCartney got the chance to record “That’s All Right” with Elvis’ original guitarist, Scotty Moore, and original drummer, DJ Fontana.
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I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)
“I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)” was recorded by The Beatles on August 6, 1963 with John Lennon singing lead.
This song is an interesting study of how artists influence each other and interpret the song differently. Roy Hamilton, a singer that greatly influenced Elvis, first released the song in November 1953. His version had a pop and jazz feel to it.
Elvis Presley took the song and added a rock and roll sound to it, speeding up the tempo. Presley’s version was released on his first album, Elvis Presley in 1956.
The Beatles took it a step further, speeding it up even more:
Note: The song can also be found on the album, The Beatles Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany 1962.
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I Forgot to Remember to Forget
George Harrison takes the lead on one of Presley’s rockabilly and country songs called “I Forgot to Remember to Forget.” The Beatles version was recorded on May 18, 1964.
It was Elvis’ last single released on Sun records before he moved to RCA.
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I Got a Woman
“I Got a Woman” was written and recorded by Ray Charles in 1954. Elvis recorded his version on January 10, 1956 and released it as a single.
The Beatles recorded the song with John Lennon singing lead for their BBC radio show on August 13, 1963 (below), and also the following year on March 31, 1964.
Note that all 4 of these songs are featured on the 2-disc CD set, Live at the BBC.
A fun fact is that, according to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles sang a whopping 30 different covers of Elvis songs during their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg.
The songs ranged from “Heartbreak Hotel” to “Jailhouse Rock” to “It’s Now or Never”. But sadly, no recorded versions of these songs exist. John, Paul and George each sang lead on specific songs, and surprisingly, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best also had their turn singing an Elvis song or two.
The irony is that the Beatles would later criticize Elvis for losing his rock and roll edge and singing pop songs, and yet, they were performing several of those pop songs in their live act before they became famous.
You can see the full list of songs below (source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn). The years represent which years The Beatles sang the song live in concert (excluding the BBC radio show). The label of who sung lead is sometimes unknown, or a question mark following the name means that Lewisohn took a guess who was most likely to sing it:
- Are You Lonesome Tonight – sung in 1961 – lead by Paul ?
- (You’re so Square) Baby I Don’t Care – sung in 1960-61 – lead unknown
- Baby Let’s Play House – sung in 1960-62 – lead unknown
- Blue Moon of Kentucky – sung in 1957-61 – lead Paul
- Blue Suede Shoes – sung in 1957-62 – lead John
- Don’t Be Cruel – sung in 1959-61 – lead Paul ?
- Good Rockin’ Tonight – sung in 1958-62 – lead unknown
- Heartbreak Hotel – sung in 1957-61 – lead unknown
- (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame – sung in 1961-62 – lead unknown
- Hound Dog – sung in 1957-61 – lead John
- I Feel so Bad – sung in 1961-62 – lead Paul
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget – sung in 1960-62 – lead George
- I Got a Woman – sung in 1960-62 – lead John
- I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’) – sung in 1960-62 – lead unknown
- I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry Over You – sung in 1960-63 – lead John
- It’s Now or Never – sung in 1960-62 – lead Paul
- Jailhouse Rock – sung in 1958-60 – lead John
- Just Because – sung in 1960-61 – lead Paul
- Lawdy Miss Clawdy – sung in 1957-62 – lead unknown
- Love Me Tender – sung in 1960-61 – lead Stuart
- Loving You – sung in 1959-60 – lead Stuart
- Mean Woman Blues – sung in 1957-62 – lead unknown
- Mystery Train – sung in 1957-59 – lead John
- Party (Let’s have a party) – sung in 1957-60 – lead John
- That’s All Right (Mama) – sung in 1957-62 – lead Paul
- That’s When Your Heartaches Begin sung in 1959-61 – lead Paul
- Tonight is So Right for Love – sung in 1960-62 – lead unknown
- True Love – sung in 1960 – lead unknown
- Wild in the Country – sung in 1961-62 – lead Pete Best
- Wooden Heart – sung in 1961-62 – lead Paul (like Elvis’ version, Paul sang the lyrics in part-German, part-English – and, of course, it was a favorite with Hamburg audiences)
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Read more fascinating stories about the behind-the-scenes relationship between The King and The Fab Four in the new book by Trina Young called, Elvis and The Beatles: Love and Rivalry Between the Two Biggest Acts of the 20th Century
Listen to the audiobook for free on YouTube
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