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Al Green – “I Want to Hold Your Hand”

Al Green, who sang the best Beatles cover ever.

Al Green: I Want To Hold Your Hand
From 7″ (Hi, 1969)
This is a very obscure song, at least this version of it, which originally came out on 7″. I’ve spoken to several soul fans about this song, but no one I met ever heard it. Suffice it to say this is what the old folks call “fly.”

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Soul for The Beatles

With the release this week of the remastered Beatles catalog on 09/09/09, Your English Class is celebrating the Beatles by picking some of my favorite Beatles tunes as covered by soul artists. Not everyone likes covers (especially The Beatles), but writing songs with universal appeal was a large part of why they were successful. So this week I’ll be presenting some of the heavy hitters of soul and their takes on the Fab Four.

Smokey Robinson And The Miracles: And I Love Her
From What Love Has…Joined Together, (Motown, 1970)
We begin with one of the earliest songs ever covered, “And I Love Her.” This song is beautiful in its own right, and here we find Smokey Robinson and The Miracles dosing out heartbreaking background harmonizing. The backup singing is the glue that holds this rendition together. Great song!

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