For this version of The Original vs. The Cover, we are going to discuss a Beatle’s Song, “Come Together”.  I have always been nervous about talking about the Beatles because it is holy ground and plus what hasn’t already been said about them.  However, I love this song and there are some great versions out there and I thought it was about time I did something on them. So we are going to compare the two versions of “Come Together”, the Beatles and Aerosmith.  Two heavy weights in the music world.

“Come Together” came about because Timothy Leary wanted Lennon to write a campaign song for him off this phrase, but Lennon was unsuccessful and a good thing to as Leary’s campaign run for California governor came to an abrupt end when he was arrested for pot possession (hell, he would be celebrated today).  He might have been unsuccessful with the campaign song, but he did succeed with this version of the song.

An interesting story behind the song, Lennon was sued by Big Seven Music Group which was the publisher of Chuck Berry’s song “You Can’t Catch Me”.  They argued that the song was too similar to the Berry song and I am guessing the lawsuit had some merit as the band settled out of court.  Now there are no writing credits other than Lennon & McCartney on this song still today so it must have been all about the money up front.  Too bad they didn’t fight for a writing credit.

THE BEATLES

The Beatles song was released on October 6th, 1969 (just over 50 years ago) and is off their ‘Abbey Road’ album.  The song did really well as it went to #1 in the U.S. and #4 in the U.K.  It was written by Lennon-McCartney and produced by the famed 5th Beatle George Martin.

The song starts off with Lennon singing “Shoot Me” and a hand clap sound.  There is a slowed down bass line groove that really lays the foundation for the song.  The drum beat and fills by Ringo are simple and perfect.  When you get to the chorus, George’s guitar sound comes in with a cool riff then gone and back to the “Shoot Me” and bass groove.  The solo consists of Lennon on the electric piano and then Harrison laying down a little jazzy groove on guitar.  The McCartney bass line throughout is the shining star on the song musically.

John Lennon’s vocals are aggressive and full of tough guy attitude. The delivery of each verse is deliberate and forceful.  The chorus is short and to the point and no time wasted, but that short spurt of the chorus is powerful and memorable.  I think the simplicity and pacing of it all its beauty.  A pretty hard song to beat.

AEROSMITH

Aerosmith did a version of this song for the movie “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1978, but it is the version on the Greatest Hits album that was where I came across the song and the version I loved the most from them. It would hit #23 on the Billboard charts and strangely enough was the last Top 40 the band had until their return to stardom in the 80’s.

The Aerosmith version doesn’t start out with the “Shoot Me”, but more of a “Shhhhuuu”.  It was heavier on the guitar than on the bass with Joe Perry’s guitar coming in at the beginning rather than being limited like the original.  It is definitely are more rocked out version than the the slowed down jazz groove from the Beatles.  It is a much faster tempo and the song is actually about 23 seconds shorter in length.

Steven Tyler has that same aggressive delivery and he has that raspiness in his voice that is suited more for the bluesy feel the band has.  They add some backing vocals that Lennon doesn’t have.  The biggest change in the lyrics is really small.  They added a chorus after the 2nd verse where the Beatles version did 3 verses before the chorus.

The band make the song their own, but is it enough to make it better than the original? We will see in the verdict.

THE VERDICT

Now both versions are truly great and since I like both bands a lot, I can take both songs and love them for what they are.  However, there is a superior song and it is hands down The Beatles for me.  I liked their slowed down groove much better and Lennon’s lyric delivery is so much more refined.  The simplicity in the music was better with McCartney’s bass line and even Harrison’s jazz guitar sound was astounding and don’t forget Ringo’s drum fills were top notch. I think it was an all around superior performance.

I am really interested in hearing what everyone else thinks of these two songs.  Let me know which version you like the best and why.  Feel free to leave a comment and talk about the song and tell me how right or wrong I am on this one.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

“Come Together”
(“Abbey Road” Version)