Beatles Greatest Hits BOTB series: I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND

Good morning! First up, if you’re looking for the Monday’s Music Moves Me dance floor that posted yesterday and you’ll find a link in my side bar but since you’re here then I invite you to vote for your favorite cover artist in my Beatles Greatest Hits BOTB series: I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND!

This song came out two weeks short of my second birthday in late November 1963. It stayed at the top of the charts in the UK for five weeks and became The Beatles’ first American #1 hit in February 1964 where it stayed for seven weeks on the chart before being bumped.

In today’s battle, I’m bringing you something a little different. My cover artists kept the song recognizable while adding each’s individual style. The first contender needs no introduction with his Memphis infused blues rendition from April 1969. Let’s give it up for Al Green!

Next to take center stage is a funk band from the 80s who I don’t remember but are best known for their R&B #1 hit, Fantastic Voyage. SecondHandSongs labeled their Beatles’ cover as “unusual” but something about it gently persuaded me to use it. Turn your ear toward the speaker to listen to Lakeside!

Okay, that concludes another segment of Battle of the Bands. Please check out the other battles underway today. Participants are listed in my side bar beneath the BOTB banner.

The poll closes, July 7th at noon (ET). Watch for the results to appear in the July 14th edition of Monday’s Music Moves Me on Sundays. This is CAAC signing off, have a bandtastic day!

Don’t forget to leave your vote for your favorite artist in comments.

12 Comments

diedre Knight

July 3, 2024 at 11:22 am Reply

Lakeside for me! Both covers were good, but Lakeside added a tenderness to the song that made it less plaintive.

John Holton

July 2, 2024 at 7:53 pm Reply

Lakeside was a little too “churchy” for me. I’ll go with Reverend Al Green.

boromax

July 2, 2024 at 12:58 pm Reply

VOTE = LAKESIDE

Oh, man. This was a toughie! I really like Al Green, and I like his version of this song; especially the horns and his reaching up for those high notes. BUT when I listened to Lakeside (of whom I had not heard before), I really, really like their smooth R&B rendition, complete with those signature BGVs. Go on, Lakeside!

Stephen T. McCarthy

July 2, 2024 at 12:50 pm Reply

CAThy! Howdy-do, my friend?!

Well, Hoot Gibson! These were surely different takes on this famous Beatles song. I like it. In fact, it’s not uncommon for me to like Beatles songs better when performed by other artists. Oh, sure, that’s not always true. Like, for instance, I don’t think anybody could compete with The Beatles on their original ‘Revolution #9′. Even Pink Floyd couldn’t have done that one better.

I haven’t read any of the other comments yet, but I’m going to predict right now (before I submit this comment and read the others) that LAKESIDE is handily winning this Battle.

I’m basing that solely on the fact that I definitely preferred their more polished Temptations-like version to the more rambunctious rave-up style that Al Green adopted for the song. That’s not to say that I didn’t dig Mr. Green’s version too, because I certainly did (I’d rather listen to either of these renditions over The Beatles’ original), but I always like harmonizing, and Lakeside did it very well. They almost made it sound like a Gospel song! Pretty cool.

~ D-FensDogG