Help! (song) - Cover Versions

Cover Versions

• In 1968 Deep Purple recorded a cover version (greatly slowed-down) of the song for their album Shades of Deep Purple.
• In 1970 The Carpenters recorded a cover version for release on their album Close to You.
• In 1975 Caetano Veloso released a cover on his album Joia.
• In 1976 Henry Gross covered it for the musical documentary All This and World War II. John Lennon once stated that this was his favourite version of the song. Harrison and McCartney perform backing vocals.
• In 1976 The Damned covered the song for the B-side of "New Rose."
• Dolly Parton included a bluegrass version of "Help!" on her 1979 Great Balls of Fire album.
• In 1980 John Farnham released the song as a piano-based ballad recorded at a much slower tempo.
• In 1982 South African rock group, Hotline, featuring PJ Powers, released the song as a single.
• In 1984 Tina Turner released a ballad version of the song recorded with The Crusaders that peaked at #40 in the UK. The song was included on European editions of her album Private Dancer. It was a staple of her live shows for a time, and also appears on her double album Tina Live in Europe and the Private Dancer Tour concert film.
• In 1985 Roy Orbison performed a shortened version of the song at much slower tempo for the Television Documentary Everyman: John Lennon "Journey In The Life," which aired on December 6.
• In 1989 the song was recorded by Bananarama alongside French & Saunders and Kathy Burke and released as the official Red Nose Day single to raise money for Comic Relief. French, Saunders and Burke were credited as Lananeeneenoonoo (a parody of Bananarama who they had imitated in the French & Saunders television programme). This version reached #3 in the UK charts. This version featured on the 1989 Christmas Special - "The Jolly Boys Outing" episode of Only Fools and Horses.
• In May 1990, Kylie Minogue performed her band's arrangement of the song before a crowd of 25,000 at the John Lennon: The Tribute Concert on the banks of the River Mersey in Liverpool.
• In 1991 Waltari covered "Help!" on their debut album, Monk Punk.
• In 1995 88 Fingers Louie recorded a version on their first full-length release, Behind Bars.
• In 1995 Little Texas recorded a version of the song for the Beatles tribute album Come Together: America Salutes the Beatles.
• In 1995, Swedish pop group Roxette recorded an acoustic version during their session at the Abbey Road Studios, where three of their own songs were also re-recorded. It would not be commercially available until 2006, when it was finally released on The Rox Box/Roxette 86-06 box set.
• In 1998 The Punkles did a punk cover of this song on their first album.
• In 1999 Claire Martin recorded a slowed-down cover on her album Take My Heart with Noel Gallagher on guitar.
• In 2000 Tsunku and 7HOUSE covered "Help!" on their Beatles' cover album, A Hard Day's Night.
• In 2003 Art Paul Schlosser recorded a parody of "Help!" called "Smelt" which appears on on his Words of Cheese and Other Parrot CD.
• In 2004, Westlife performed the song on their Turnaround Tour.
• In 2006, Bebi Dol covered the song on her cover album Čovek rado izvan sebe živi.
• Silverstein released a cover version on their fourth album, A Shipwreck in the Sand.
• "Help!" has also been covered by Michael Stanley, dc Talk, Alma Cogan, Rick Wakeman, Howie Day, McFly, Fountains of Wayne, John's Children - Marc Bolan and Peter Sellers.
• The Rutles' song "Ouch!" is a tongue-in-cheek parody of this song.
• In 2010, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra began using a slowed-down, rock ballad version of the song as part of their "Gutter Ballet Medley" in live performances, which also includes the Savatage song "Sleep" (from Edge of Thorns) and a short sample of the "Eleanor Rigby" chorus.
• In 2011, the band Cloud Cult covered it for the "Minnesota Beatle Project Vol. 3"
• American pop boy band Big Time Rush covered this song along with other Beatle hits as part of their Big Time Movie as well as its soundtrack.