Released in August 1966, The Beatles’ Revolver revolutionised rock, marking the point where songwriting nous and sonic experimentation collided in the mainstream for the first time. To celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary, the Howard Stern show commissioned a host of names to record tracks from the album. Amongst those contributing covers were Joe Bonamassa, Cheap Trick, James Taylor, Gov’t Mule, J. Mascis, Living Colour and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.
“The music of the Beatles has withstood over a half of a century and still surpasses any followers’ attempts of recreating those sounds, and especially those songs,” Joe Bonamassa tells the show. He recorded a version of the album’s opening track, Taxman.
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“We’re all obviously big Beatles fans,” adds Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes. Revolver in particular was among their many milestones in the way that it represents their changing from a pop band to a rock band. Subject matters were changing with their songwriting and they were on the forefront of what was changing with, not only music, but pop culture.
“Gov’t Mule has performed songs like She Said She Said and Tomorrow Never Knows in our live shows but had never offered up a take of And Your Bird Can Sing until this recording. We wanted to put our own slant on it and it came together rather quickly and turned out great. We’ve since added it to our live repertoire and really enjoy playing it.”
You can hear the full album below, while SiriusXM customers can listen to the show on demand.
