WELCOME TO
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
BATTLE OF THE BANDS (BOTB), hosted by Far Away Series and StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. is where you listen to different recordings of the same song and vote for the one you like best. Two “Battles” per month, on the 1st and 15th. Votes will be tallied and posted the following week. (See below for further details.)
ELEANOR RIGBY – BATTLE OF THE BANDS #BOTB Share on XELEANOR RIGBY – BATTLE OF THE BANDS #BOTB. Who did it better? Cast your vote![/tweetthis]
Today’s edition of BOTB was inspired by my current favourite on American Idol.
As a former wanna-be singer, I love watching these talent contests.
This guy rocks!
(NOT ELIGIBLE FOR VOTING)
ELEANOR RIGBY
HISTORY:
[reference only – please do not vote on this one]Eleanor Rigby is a song by the Beatles, released on the 1966 album Revolver and as a 45 rpm single. It was written by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It spent four weeks at number one on the British charts, but only reached the eleventh spot in America. The song was nominated for three Grammys and won for Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance, Male or Female (McCartney). In some reference books on classical music, Eleanor Rigby is included and considered comparable to art songs. In 2004, this song was ranked number 138 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
It’s been covered 131 times by artists such as Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Kansas, Vanilla Fudge, etc.
The foregoing serves as background information only.
Now, on to the actual contest……
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DAVID COOK
David Roland Cook (born December 20, 1982) is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of American Idol in 2008. His performace of Eleanor Rigby on the show was also released as a single, but it barely made a ripple, just cracking the Top 100 chart at #92.
VS
ZOOT
Zoot were a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line, but changed their name to Zoot in 1967. Band members included bass guitarist, Beeb Birtles, who founded the Little River Band in 1975 and guitarist singer-songwriter, Rick Springfield, who achieved international fame as a solo artist, songwriter and actor. In December 1970, Zoot released a hard rock cover of Eleanor Rigby which became their most popular single when it peaked at No. 4 in March 1971. It remained in the Top 40 for twenty weeks and reached No. 12 on the Top Records for the Year of 1971. The group disbanded that same year.
VOTE NOW!
Please state your preference in comments below and why you chose it.
Voting remains open until midnight ET, Mar. 20th
after which I will count the votes, add mine and publish the results.
These are the other BOTB regulars and semi-regulars.
Please cruise on by their sites and, if they have a post up, vote on their selections as well:
[Check back – there’s no set posting time]Angels Bark / Cherdo On The Flipside / Curious as a Cathy / DC Relief BOTB / Far Away Series** / J.A. Scott / Janie Junebug Righting & Editing / Jingle Jangle Jungle / Mike’s Ramblings / Novel Brews / Quiet Laughter / ReInVintaged / Sound of One Hand Typing / StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands** / Tossing It Out / / Your Daily Dose
**HOSTS
So far, ten of you have joined the “My Life According To…” musical challenge.
Everyone is welcome to participate; no deadline. Click on the image for further details.
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COMING SOON!
March 21st:
If you’re participating in the April #AtoZChallenge,
this is the blog hop for you! Click image for details.
April 1-30:
I’m in! Are you?
Over 1000 participants already!
Click the badge for sign-up details.
As always, “Sharing is Caring”. Spread this musical joy all over your social networks.
Hashtag is #BOTB
Until next time.
ROCK ON!
♫♪♫♪♫ Rockchick Rapture!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
44 thoughts on “ELEANOR RIGBY – BATTLE OF THE BANDS #BOTB”
I was a Cook fan the minute I heard him do this on AI. What a fun season- and pretty much the last one I watched. Cook for me.
I loved him too, Chris. That fabulous voice! 🙂 Thanks for voting.
Personally, I don’t especially care for just about anyone who came out of “American Idol.” Thus, Zoot gets my vote, plus there’s Rick Springfield and Beeb Birtles on the record.
Hi, John; You’re not alone about American Idol. Many people don’t care for it. I guess you could call it my “guilty pleasure”. 🙂 Nice to see another vote for Zoot. Thanks for coming by and have a good weekend.
DEBBIE ~
I’m not much of a Beatles fan and even less a fan of this song. (I DO like some of their stuffs, primarily found on “The White Album” and ‘Abbey Road’.) In this case, I’d say I like the DAVID COOK version even better than The Beatles’ original. The Zoot version I couldn’t even listen to until the end.
~ D-FensDogG
‘Loyal American Underground’
Hi, Stephen; You know what they say…”You can’t please all of the people all of the time.” Hopefully, the next BOTB will be more to your liking. 🙂 Barring some last minute votes, it looks like David Cook is taking this one. Thanks for coming by and have a good weekend.
DEBBIE ~
As I just wrote to KIM:
Yeah, not a problem. Everyone’s free to be. And certainly not everyone is going to like every Battle every time. Lots of varied musical tastes involved here so, to thine own self be true.
Aside from that, I DID like the DAVID COOK version that I voted for. And if last week someone told me I’d hear a version of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ that I’d like, I’d have said, “No way.” So, your Battle was not at all a dog in my opinion.
~ D-FensDogG
Yes, we definitely are an eclectic group of music lovers. 🙂 Nice to know you did like something here, so it wasn’t all for naught. My next BOTB is sure to be a howl! 😉 Thanks for the return visit and have a great week.
Give my regards to Zoot! It was a unique and interesting take on this classic song. The other guy just seemed to sound like a typical Idol winner and I didn’t find it too original at all.
Hi, Birgit; Zoot sure could use the votes. Thank you for yours. 🙂
Reading the bios, I thought for sure I would vote for Zoot, but no so. give David Cook my vote for staying closer to the original and a more mellow sound. BTW, I never really liked this song. It always seemed too depressing to me.
It’s definitely a sad song, FAE. Like you, several people were disappointed in Zoot and chose David instead. He’s got a strong lead now. 🙂 Thanks for your input.
David Cook get my vote, I thought for sure it would be Zoot but it wasn’t.
Zoot starts out strong but loses appeal after awhile, according to a few comments. Thanks for your vote. David Cook is doing well now. 🙂
Wow. Tough choice here. At first listen, I thought David Cook’s version seemed a bit too ‘dark’. But after listening to Zoot, I gave David Cook a second listen, and have decided my vote needs to go to him. Great song choice, I’ve always enjoyed Eleanor Rigby.
Hi, Mary; I’m glad you enjoyed the song. It’s a favourite of mine also. 🙂 Thanks for your vote. Another one for David Cook.
I know Dalton is not in the competition but he seems to struggle with the majority of low notes.
The metal by Zoot is instrumentally good but I don’t like the lead vocal.
David Cook is touching what I call ‘the Gothic zone” vocally but his voice appeals more to me. Neither is truly close to the original… but David comes a bit closer. Log my vote for David. Thank you.
Hi, Dixie; Dalton was a little weak on the low notes, or maybe it was an affectation? In any case, I loved what he did with the song, overall. 🙂 Several people have mentioned the vocals in this contest. Logged your vote for David Cook.Thanks!
Good-day, Debbie! I love this Beatles’ classic! I remember learning this in band class when I was in elementary school. I love Zoot’s heavy rock intro, but the vocals lost me and that’s when David Cook stole with my vote with his more closer match to the ordinary. The orchestra backing helped a lot, too. Fun, fun battle!
Singer verses Songwriter #BoTB showdown
You’re not the only one who mentioned the vocals, Cathy. Your vote for David Cook is noted. Glad you enjoyed the battle! 🙂
Hi, Shady; I’m glad you were excited to discover Zoot, as was I. Quite a revelation that this band had two soon-to-be famous members, as well. That’s one vote for Zoot, so far. Thanks for your insights. 🙂
P.S. I looked up Uncle Acid – interesting stuff!
Oh, now you are scoring so many brownie points with me. I love all things Beatles with rare exception.
My natural inclination is to also go for the Adelaide gang in honor of my pal, MD at A Life Examined. But I’m gonna fight it to throw my vote over to David. His version might not reinvent the wheel, but I’m okay with that.
Made my day!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. That makes my day, Cherdo! 😀 David Cook gets another vote. This is running neck and neck so far. Cool!
Interesting stuffs here (again). Seems like I always learn something on your blog!
Both of these versions were good. Zoot seemed a little “harder” to me, which will likely win with all those folks who like their music a little harder. David Cook remained pretty true to The Beatles version. I guess I like that version and DC’s vocals because his version was more pleasing to me. So, cast my vote for David Cook please:)
I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Robin. I try to make it interesting. 🙂 Your vote for David Cook makes this a dead heat, so far. Who knows how this one will play out?
Okay. Please delete “the Zoot” and just use Zoot…for some reason I thought the vid said “the zoot”, but this was my first time ever learning of this band and don’t want to come across as a total idiot. But they still get my vote. Thank you!
No worries, the video does say “The” Zoot, but that’s their mistake, not yours. The band was simply called “Zoot”. Got your vote, thanks. 🙂
Oh my goodness…give my vote to The Zoot! (And I promise I did not base this decision on one of my local friends and favorite bloggers going by “Miss Zoot!) I thought both had a distinctly edgy rock sound, but I prefer the buzzy sound of The Zoot’s music.
Zoot is a pretty cool name, for sure. 🙂 They definitely did spice up this track. Thanks for your vote.
So Much Zoot… Not only did I like that one best, it is the first version of the song I have ever enjoyed. Those guys really did a lot with 2 Chords… Nice. Very nice.
Hi, Myke; I’m glad you found a pleasing version of the song. Zoot definitely gave it a new twist. Thanks for your vote. 🙂
My vote goes to David Cook for vocals. I adore the original (Beatles) version so much I feel like I’m cheating 😉
I know what you mean; it feels like sacrilege when a revered song is covered by someone else. This one was been done by so many artists from different genres. Thanks for your vote. David Cook gets another one! 🙂
Wow… Debbie, you pick the hardest battles! Like Lee, I really like the music of Zoot — but their vocals suck. David Cook, on the other hand, has awesome vocals… The music / arrangement might not be totally wowsy, but his voice & style make up for a lot. I’d love to listen to the Zoot arrangement with Cook on vocals! Since that’s not one of the options, though, I’ll have to go with… (oh, mannnnnn!!!!) … Fine. Zoot. For the music.
GREAT battle!
Zoot by a hair! 🙂 This is a tough one and I’m torn, as well. Thanks for your vote!
Interesting battle! I never heard of Zoot and found it interesting that it had any connection to the Little River Band! I love the LRB. But I didn’t really care for Zoot’s rendition of Eleanor Rigby. I do like David Cook’s version so he gets my vote. Thanks for introducing Zoot: they were different for sure…
Michele at Angels Bark
Hi, Michele; I too was surprised about Zoot’s members. Thanks for your thoughts. David Cook gets another vote. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. 🙂
Hey, this is my theme song. Great selection.
The version from Zoot was interesting. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t capture my interest. David Cook on the other hand was faithful to the original but distinctive enough. I liked the backup vocals too.
Aww, that’s a sad theme song….
David Cook does have a distinctive voice. Thanks for your vote.
Hope you’re feeling a little better!
I’ve actually never heard those two versions, but after a close listen, I do like David Cook version more. My vote was casted.
Thanks, Linda. That’s two for David Cook. 🙂
This is a tough one for me–very tough. I really like the production of the version by Zoot. Never heard of the group, but the guys in it that you mention I do know. This is good stuff.
But over all I have to go with David Cook. I like his voice and the arrangement really rocks.
David Cook for me.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
I tried to make this a tough choice. Looks like it worked, as I’m torn, myself. 🙂 First vote goes to David Cook. Thanks, Lee.