4 Songs The Beatles Wrote That Were Brilliantly Covered by Soul and R&B Legends

The Beatles owed a debt to R&B music, one of the genres that exerted the biggest influence on their music as they formulated their sound. It’s only fitting then that the group’s members repaid the debt with some of the songs they wrote, both with the band and after its breakup, that were covered by R&B artists.

We compiled a list of four of these cover versions. The Fab Four deserve credit for writing these outstanding tracks. And the artists also should be lauded for the way they reinvented the songs.
“Got To Get You Into My Life” by Earth, Wind & Fire

The Beatles never released “Got To Get You Into My Life” as a single, although the horn-drenched number certainly sounded like one. Paul McCartney wrote it as a clandestine ode to marijuana. The music was indebted to the Motown sound of the era. Earth, Wind & Fire recorded it on the soundtrack of the much-maligned Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film that was released in 1978. They bravely reimagined the arrangement, turning the hook into a kind of jazzy scat. Al McKay brings some heft with a sizzling guitar solo, while Maurice White tears through the vocals of the verses. Released at the height of EWF’s popularity, the song soared to the Top 10.
“We Can Work It Out” by Stevie Wonder

The Beatles’ original version of “We Can Work It Out” is one of the group’s picture-perfect pop songs. There’s not a note that feels wasted or out of place. Because of its somewhat taut arrangement, tension accompanies the narrator’s urgent pleas for reconciliation. You leave the song wondering if they really can find common ground. When Stevie Wonder took hold of the song in 1970, he imbued it with a loose-limbed bass line and an ebullient harmonica solo. There are backing vocals urging on the narrator throughout the track. It projects a much more assured vibe than the Fab Four’s take. And audiences loved it, making it a Top 15 hit for Wonder.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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