13 Transcendent Beatles Covers by Black Musicians
Let’s begin today with some trivia. Who is the only performer to receive a separate guest credit on the label of a Beatles single?
You, the one yelling “Billy Preston!” loudly at the screen: You are correct. The 1969 “Get Back/Don’t Let Me Down” single is credited to “The Beatles With Billy Preston,” in honor of the virtuosic keyboardist responsible for that indelible Fender Rhodes solo.
Preston has been on my mind since the 2021 release of Peter Jackson’s docuseries “The Beatles: Get Back,” which served, among other things, as a reminder just how crucial the Texas-born keyboard prodigy was to the “Let It Be” sessions. (Given his effortless playing style and the good-natured way he diffused tension on the studio, John Lennon basically asked him to join the band.) But I’ve been listening to Preston, and specifically his Beatles covers, after catching a preview screening of Paris Barclay’s documentary about his charmed but troubled life, “Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It,” which will be playing in New York later this month.
Preston’s covers got me thinking about how many fantastic — and in many cases, radically reworked — covers of Beatles songs have been recorded by Black musicians: Stevie Wonder’s “We Can Work It Out,” Al Green’s “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and Nina Simone’s “Here Comes the Sun,” to just scratch the surface. So in honor of Preston — and of Black History Month — today’s playlist is a baker’s dozen of tracks on which Black artists reinterpret, revise and reimagine the Beatles.
Like just about every other white rock band in history, the Beatles drew upon pre-existing Black musical traditions; they were particularly inspired by the Motown sound and early rock pioneers like Little Richard and Chuck Berry. But as the Beatles built up a formidable songwriting catalog, some of the artists who had inspired their early work, like the Supremes and Ray Charles, started putting their own spin on the Fab Four’s material, too. The result was a rich and reciprocal musical conversation.
Source: Lindsay Zoladz/nytimes.com
