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.

“With A Little Help From My Friends” by Joe Cocker

At some point, The Beatles became so enamored with the interpretations of Joe Cocker that they admittedly wrote a few songs with his voice as a template for how they might sound. His version of “With A Little Help From My Friends” helped them get to that point. The original version from Sgt. Pepper’s bounces about amiably without too much rhythmic complexity, a perfect vehicle for Ringo Starr to sing. Cocker, enamored with the work of American soul legends like Aretha Franklin, took the song in a grittier, more soul-infused direction. That’s Jimmy Page playing those high-arcing guitar notes. But Cocker, sometimes replacing the lyrics with just a grunt or a scream, steals the show.

“Jealous Guy” by Donny Hathaway

John Lennon transformed “Jealous Guy” from its origins as a song written about nature during The Beatles’ retreat in India into a searingly honest treatise about his romantic foibles. He released on his stellar 1971 solo album Imagine, a take that was coated with Phil Spector’s production gloss. Soul legend Donny Hathaway originally recorded it the same year. But it didn’t initially find a spot on one of his studio albums. However, he did include it on a 1972 live album. His version of the song leaves plenty of open spaces in between Hathaway’s tripping piano, which spearheads the rhythm. He gives a vocal performance that conveys both the narrator’s anguish at his mistakes and his deep love for the woman. It’s a bravura effort from one of the greats.

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