# Music by Genre > Rock, Folk Rock, Roots Rock, Rockabilly >  The Beatles on mandolin

## Jim MacDaniel

I was shopping with the wife yesterday, and heard something on an in-store music system that caught my ear. I don't remember what caught my ear first, the mandolin or the song, but it was an acoustic version of "I'll Follow the Sun", driven by mandolin and guitar. Then I recognized Glen Phillips' vocals, but since I'd never heard this version before I was sure it was not on a MAS or WPA recording, or even Toad. 

This morning I finally found it, oddly, on an all-Beatles-cover soundtrack for Eddie Murphy's most recent movie, _Imagine That_. While there are a couple other interesting covers on that ST, I thought I would link the MP3 version here since Phillips' cover is actually quite good, with some nice mandolin work on it as well. (I couldn't locate anywhere on-line who plays mandolin on it, but I am assuming Thile or JPJ?)

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Sothoth

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## jefflester

> ... since Phillips' cover is actually quite good, with some nice mandolin work on it as well. (I couldn't locate anywhere on-line who plays mandolin on it, but I am assuming Thile or JPJ?)


It's possible (but unlikely) that it is Glen himself, since he played a little bit of mandolin with Toad the Wet Sprocket. But being an active follower of Thile and JPJ and having heard zip about either one being involved, I doubt it's one of them.

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## Jim MacDaniel

Just heard back from Glen -- it was either Mikal Blue or Andrew Williams (he doesn't recall which one worked on this track with him).

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## grassrootphilosopher

How ´bout "Beatle Country" by the Charles River Valley Boys with an intimidating Joe Val on the mando?

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## Paul Kotapish

Here are the only credits I could find. I'm guessing a number of those guitarists also play mando, but no specific credit is listed.

Album Credits 
Performance Credits 

Alex Acuña  Percussion 
Paul Bushnell  Bass 
George Doering  Acoustic Guitar 
Victor Indrizzo  Drums 
Charles Judge  Keyboards 
Wayne Kirkpatrick  Acoustic Guitar 
Chris McHugh  Drums 
Jerry McPherson  Electric Guitar 
Jimmie Lee Sloas  Bass 
Andrew Williams  Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Piano, Guitar (Nylon String), Guitar (Baritone) 
Keith Chagall  Background Vocals 
Greg Suran  Electric Guitar 
Brian Carr  Synthesizer 
Karey Kirkpatrick  Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Electric Guitar, Background Vocals 
Alex Acuñ  Percussion 
Mikal Blue  Bass, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar 
Eric Boulanger  Violin 
Sarah Burgess  Choir, Chorus

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## Steve Ostrander

Not to hijack here, but Steve Earle does a nice job covering "I'm Looking Through You."  I'm not sure which CD its on, but I like it a lot.

We (The Lost Hitch Hikers) do covers of Norwegian Wood, Hide Your Love Away, Dear Prudence, and an instrumental version of Lucy in the Sky.

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## Jim MacDaniel

Hey Steve, I forgot about Steve Earle's cover -- your post is right on-topic since they are all Beatles songs featuring mandolin  :Wink:

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## Ben Milne

I love the version of Strawberry fields that Hayseed Dixie do... pretty sure there's some cotton eye joe thrown into it somewhere near the end.

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## luckylarue

I believe "I'm Looking Through You" is on Earle's Train A Comin' cd.  I remember seeing Steve do a solo show right after George Harrison passed away and he opened w/ an amazing "If I Needed Someone".

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## AlanN

A good one was 'I'm Down', by the NGR on their last band recording, maybe 1989, 90 or so.

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## Steve Sikes-Nova

> How ´bout "Beatle Country" by the Charles River Valley Boys with an intimidating Joe Val on the mando?


I like this cd a lot. I was turned on to it during an interview that I did with New Grass Revival's Curtis "Dr. Dobro" Burch in 2005 for my internet radio station.

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## Ted Eschliman

Perhaps the most interesting Beatles interpretation on frets is Brian Hebert and Friends, all-instrumental "Any Time At All - A Session Picker's Tribute to The Beatles," including none other than our own Prof. John McGann.



Amazing, creative stuff! Highly recommended.

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## Mandolin Mick

The Beatles song that sounds best and natural on the mandolin is "Girl" off Rubber Soul. It has a gypsy feel to it, and the two guitars at the end actually sound like mandolins. Try it sometime!

When my Beatles tribute band Apple Core played Abbey Road on the River in Louisville, Kentucky we played with a dynamite Bluegrass band from Oregon that did Beatles. They were called the Bad Dates and did a killer version of "Norwegian Wood". Here's a picture of me with the banjo player ... kind of looks like one of Kentucky's favorite sons ...

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## Sheryl McDonald

I am thoroughly hooked on the Beatlegras arrangements.  I guess they don't play outside their home state much, -- but if they ever do, I'd love to hear them live.

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## Earlyman67

Anyone know where melody tabs for the beatles can be found?

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## Darren Bailey

A new version of beatle country is out on the 28th February, very cheap at Play.com (I don't work for them or have any interest in their business!).

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## journeybear

The first time I heard a bluegrass version of a Beatles song was by a band that played at my college in Wisconsin back in 1973-1974 - a snappy version of "From Me To You." Wish I could remember their name (does "Monroe Doctrine" jog anyone's memory?) because they helped show me bluegrass could be hip.  :Cool:  Contrary to Mick's opinion (but hey, if it works for you, great!), the Beatles song that's always sounded most like bluegrass to me is "I've Just Seen A Face" also from _Rubber Soul._ Lord knows I've done it that way _many_ times, as have many others.  :Mandosmiley: 

As I recall, Alison Krauss sang a _wonderful_ version of "I Will." Don't recall if there was mandolin on it.

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## John Kinn

> Perhaps the most interesting Beatles interpretation on frets is Brian Hebert and Friends, all-instrumental "Any Time At All - A Session Picker's Tribute to The Beatles," including none other than our own Prof. John McGann.
> 
> 
> 
> Amazing, creative stuff! Highly recommended.


That sounds like an amazing set! Have to get that one!
John

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## pjlama

Interesting hearing all the love for Rubber Soul. My favorite Beatles albums are Revolver and Rubber Soul. I know the critics loved Sgt Peppers, Abby Road and The White Album but there was still an innocence  to those records along with a burgeoning maturity that make those two records pretty special IMO. For playing Beatles tunes I like to play I gotta go Come Together and Blackbird, weird but they both translate well. I could listen to any Beatles tune on mando and be happy though, great writing.

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## Elliot Luber

I've been playing Blackbird on guitar for so many years. Funny, that I've never tried to play it on mandolin.

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## tree

_You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)_ is a total gas.  

The version of _And Your Bird Can Sing_ on the 2nd volume of the Anthology (the one where they giggle through the vocal overdub) translates very well to mandolin.  Plus, I like that arrangement better than the one that was released on Revolver.

One day I'm going to remember to try to pick out _Because_, just to see if that lays comfortably on the mando.  Love those changes.  I heard John was playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and decided to play it backwards, and that's how he got that progression.

I was a preschooler with 3 older sisters in 1964 when these guys appeared on Ed Sullivan, and have loved their music ever since.  I STILL hear things that surprise me when listening to some of their stuff.  McCartney's bass playing and Ringo's drumming are both totally out of the box, yet invariably support the melody with beauty and grace.

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## journeybear

The Beatles get mentioned a good bit hereabouts. Their influence is far-reaching and complex. By all accounts they never used mandolin in the band, and just a bit in their solo careers - Paul on "Dance Tonight", George on "Gone Troppo." Today would have been George's 67th birthday, and far from bemoan his passing, I thought I'd share with you a bit of fun someone shared with me. No MC whatsoever ...

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## Perry

> The version of And Your Bird Can Sing on the 2nd volume of the Anthology (the one where they giggle through the vocal overdub) translates very well to mandolin. Plus, I like that arrangement better than the one that was released on Revolver


I agree wholeheartedly...I wish they cut this song in the anthoolgy key (D?) it's sounds much more energetic and happier then in the Revolver key (E?).... to my ears anyway!

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## pjlama

Happy birthday George, cheers.

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## Flattpicker

tree,

David Grisman did a live recording of Because which is quite nice.

On the subject of under-appreciated or underrated Beatles albums, I think A Hard Day's Night gets overlooked, probably because it came so early.  All the songs are good and about half of them, IMO, are just killers.

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## journeybear

Personally, while I'm all about _Rubber Soul_ and _Revolver,_ my vote for under-appreciated  album is the _Help!_ soundtrack (even though side B was all the George Martin orchestral stuff), if for no other reason than my favorite George song and one of my all-time favoite Beatles songs is on there, "I Need You." The groove on that, the lilting melody, the way George uses his volume control on the fills in the verses - it's a brilliantly understated gem, Exhibit A in the three-minute art form known as "pop song."  :Mandosmiley:

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## ISU Trout Bum

> I've been playing Blackbird on guitar for so many years. Funny, that I've never tried to play it on mandolin.


Hi Santiago:

Do you know, off the top of your head, a place to find the 'dots' or tab for Blackbird? That would be a great song to learn on the mando or zouk!

Thanks in advance.

Best,
Eric

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## Miked

> I am thoroughly hooked on the Beatlegras arrangements.  I guess they don't play outside their home state much, -- but if they ever do, I'd love to hear them live.


THANKS for the link!  These guys are really good!  They're playing Bay City, Michigan July 28th.  It's on the calendar!

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## Amandalyn

that was  great- never saw that video before!

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## Jim MacDaniel

No mando-content, but I just heard Dwight Yoakam cover of "The Last Time" yesterday on the radio -- what a great cover! I liked it almost as much as his cover of The Dead's "Truckin'".

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## jefflester

> No mando-content, but I just heard Dwight Yoakam cover of "The Last Time" yesterday on the radio -- what a great cover! I liked it almost as much as his cover of The Dead's "Truckin'".


The Stones' song?

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## Jim MacDaniel

Ooops -- you're right <embarrassed grin> 
(but it's still a great cover  :Wink: )

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## tree

Years ago Rosanne Cash did a cover of I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, it was so good it made me learn the song as a duet with my wife (she gets McCartney's impossible high parts).  It's been years since I heard Rosanne's version, but in my memory of it I really wish they had let the steel guitar just roll with it, that could've been a sparkling break.

The lads were extraordinary with their chords in those early years.  Light years beyond the I, IV, V rut that I got stuck in at that age.  :Chicken:

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## Paul Kotapish

Chris and Lorin Rowan (Peter Rowan's brothers) have a band with David Gans (host of the syndicated Dead to the World radio show) called Rubber Souldiers. They specialize in Beatles songs with killer harmonies and extended improv sections--kind of a Grateful Beatles take on the songbook. Lorin plays mandolin on a bunch of their stuff. (Check out the Cafe calendar for March 1.) 



I love playing mando on Beatles stuff. I think it sounds particularly good playing a crisp octave doubling of the classic guitar hooks on songs like "Day Tripper," "And Your Bird Can Sing," "Norwegian Wood," etc. Those parts were often doubled (in unison) on the recordings, and the mando/guitar combo can elicit some of that feel playing the songs acoustically.

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## Anti

I would freakin' love it if someone did a mandolin cover of I Feel Fine.
It'd be even cooler if they had tabs so simple folks like me could learn it.
Thats my little beatles mandolin fantasy.

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## Dave Greenspoon

Also check out Peter Mayer's new release, Goodbye, Hello.  I don't know if he adds any mando, but his guitar work and vocals is excellent all the way through.

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## HddnKat

> THANKS for the link!  These guys are really good!  They're playing Bay City, Michigan July 28th.  It's on the calendar!


PTL for digital album downloads and saving your CC number on Amazon.com - I listened to about 3 clips on their website and I couldn't get over to Amazon fast enough to download their album to my iPod - dang, what a sound!---nothing like a little immediate gratificaiton!

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## kazbah_707

Eric upstream asked for "Blackbird" tabs.  Here's what I play on my octave mando, which is actually being worked on right now, so I'll do my best to hack this out on a regular mando. No tabs or dots, but I'll list the chord voicings I use, section by section.

Assuming you know the song reasonably well, you should be able to figure it out from there.  I'll list fret positions lo-hi for a standard GDAE tuning, with 0 being an open string and X being a non-struck or damped string.

If I list a note on the bottom G, and an open D adjacent, assume the G is being fretted with my thumb.  If you play more classical style, you'll have to adjust.

The chord I have the most difficulty with is the 1-beat 5-5-7-3 inversion  of C.

Intro/first line - "Blackbird singing in the dead of night"
0-0-2-3 (G)
2-0-3-3
4-0-5-3
0-0-10-10

"Take these broken wings and learn to"
0-2-3-0 (C) - these chords go by real fast, only 1-beat each
0-5-4-3
2-4-5-2 (D)
X-7-6-5
"Fly"
0-5-7-7
0-5-6-7
0-5-5-7 - these 2 chords go by real fast, only 1-beat each
0-5-7-7
0-5-7-8
0-5-6-8

To be continued......

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## kazbah_707

"You were only waiting for this moment to arrive"
0-5-5-3 (G)
2-2-4-3 (A7)
0-2-3-3 (C)
0-0-2-3 (G)
Turnaround:
5-5-7-3 (C)
0-5-5-3 (G)
2-2-4-3 (A7)
0-2-3-3 (C)
0-0-2-3 (G)
"Blackbird, fly..."  mostly 1-beaters
10-12-X-X
9-10-X-X
7-8-X-X
5-7-X-X
3-5-X-X
5-7-X-X
Second pass, almost the same
10-12-X-X
9-10-X-X
7-8-X-X
5-7-X-X
3-5-X-X
2-5-X-X
2-0-5-2 (D)
2-0-3-2 (D7) and back to intro

I'm pretty sure everything else is a variant combination of the above.
Let me know if there are any particular questions.

Alan

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## Amandalyn

Kazbah- would love to hear your version of Blackbird on Octave- can you post an MP3 or video?

also- have you all been over to the Beatles Social group on the cafe?

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## kazbah_707

Hi Teri/Amandalyn,

I don't have a videocam, so it may be a while unfortunately.
My 3-piece is gearing up for public performance, so sometime soon
we'll probably do some recording, but we're not there yet.

When we do, I'll try to find some extra time in the schedule to
do one or two OM takes.  Sorry I don't have any right now.

As I said above, as long as you're fairly familiar with how the song goes,
the notes above should enable you to get thru it reasonably easily - although
it's probably not for absolute beginners, unless they're really, really patient.

The 2-note section sounds a little thin on mando alone - I normally play the
song with a guitarist who sings and plays it, so it works fine.  The guitar part
is basically also 2-note, but it keeps hitting the G-drone as well. It's workable as
as mando solo piece, but that's not what I really intended.

I have been to the Beatles social group, and originally intended to post this
there, but the question came up again and I had time to answer it here.
My search-fu must be weak, since I signed up for the Beatles group, but
can't always seem to find it when I'm looking for it.

Feel free to cross-post a link if you think people would be interested.

Best...Alan

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## Tim C.

I love the Beatles and I love the mandolin!  I've arranged three songs for solo mandolin, Here Comes the Sun, Yesterday and Something - all three are available on CD, download and sheet music with notation and mandolin tablature.

Free audio samples, videos of Yesterday and Sun and a free sample of "Sun" notation/tab to get you started all available at my website: timconnellmusic.com

Thanks, hope you like them!
Tim

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## Steven C. Antonelli

For mandolin ensembles you can't beet Mandolin Cafe regular Bob Margo's arrangement of Beatles tunes.  He tackles some of the more complicated later stuff as well and captures all the little nuances of the records.

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## fingerstyle2

Evan Marshall did four Beatles tunes on solo mando on "Mandolin Magic" and two on "The Lone Arranger." Beautiful stuff and worth checking out! 

David

https://smile.amazon.com/Mandolin-Ma...shall+mandolin

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## crisscross

I came up with an arrangement for ukulele and tremoloed bowlback for the song that started out as "Scrambled Egg".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9u41mznfuc
The period from 64-66 has my favorite  Beatles records: A hard Day's Night, Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver.

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## Ranald

[QUOTE=journeybear;772817]The Beatles get mentioned a good bit hereabouts. Their influence is far-reaching and complex. By all accounts they never used mandolin in the band, and just a bit in their solo careers - Paul on "Dance Tonight", George on "Gone Troppo." Today would have been George's 67th birthday, and far from bemoan his passing, I thought I'd share with you a bit of fun someone shared with me. No MC whatsoever ...


This isn't terribly important, but George would have been older than that. He was a man in his twenties when I saw him on the Ed Sullivan Show, as a boy of eleven, and I'm 65 now. According his his bio in Wikipedia, George is coming up to what would have been his 75th birthday on February 25. Anyway, we all love him, old or older, and it's sad that he died too soon.

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## FLATROCK HILL

> Today would have been George's 67th birthday, and far from bemoan his passing, I thought I'd share with you a bit of fun someone shared with me. No MC whatsoever ...





> This isn't terribly important, but George would have been older than that. He was a man in his twenties when I saw him on the Ed Sullivan Show, as a boy of eleven, and I'm 65 now. According his his bio in Wikipedia, George is coming up to what would have been his 75th birthday on February 25. Anyway, we all love him, old or older, and it's sad that he died too soon.


You are both right. You are replying to a statement that was made eight years ago.

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Ranald

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## Ranald

> You are both right. You are replying to a statement that was made eight years ago.


Oops. Not sure how that happened. I was responding to what was supposed to be today's message.

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