Steve Charak's Beatles Lists

My friend Steve Charak and I shared an enjoyment of compiling useless information. We also liked the Beatles and seeing if we could stump each other with questions of trivia.

Here are some lists Steve compiled, I'm betting they are from the early 1990s. In the last list, Steve knew I acquired cover versions of the Fab Four and was wondering if I would ever find cover versions of this particular set. I did. Here they are:

You Know My Name, Look Up the Number
Ballard Beatles (Bruce and Joan Chrislip)
Beatles (Anthology)
Micky Saunders
Greg Stomberg

Inner Light
Beatles (Rarities)
Micky Saunders
Soulful Strings
Dan Susnara

Blue Jay Way
Bentmen
Buddha Pest
Ken Clinger (2 versions)
Mike Grossman (2 versions)
Steve Kahn
Lord Sitar
C. Newman
Poets
Micky Saunders
Bud Shank
Squires of the Subterrain

Flying
Beatles (remastered)
Big City Orchestra
Ken Clinger (6 versions)
Joe Goldmark
Mike Grossman
Residents
Micky Saunders
Bud Shank
Shockabilly
Frank Sidebottom
Russ Stedman

Don't Pass Me By
Beatles (Anthology)
Beatles (Rarities)
Contrello
Georgia Satellites
Micky Saunders (2 versions)

Yes It Is
Beatles (Anthology)
Don Henley
In-Sect
Robert Quine and Jody harris
Peter Sellers
Dan Susnara

And Your Bird Can Sing
Ann Dyer & No Good Time Fairies
Beatles (Anthology)
Ray Carmen
Charles River Valley Boys
Food
Jam
Roger Klug
Laxton's Supreme
R. Stevie Moore
Stars On 45
Joemy Wilson (as I recall, Steve Charak himself told me about this one)
Wretched Pinhead Puppets

No Reply
Banda de los Corazones Solitarios
Beatles (Anthology, 2 versions)
Big Ben Banjo Band
Cavemen
Floyd Domino
David Dziubcyzynski
Hollyridge Strings
Last Words
Leeves
Jeff Olson
RRSO Symphony Orchestra
Stars On 45 (3 versions)

Only a Northern Song
Beatles (Anthology)
Empty Set
Micky Saunders (3 versions)

I'll Follow the Sun
Chet Atkins
David Ball
Brothers Four
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Domino
Hollyridge Strings
Glyn Johns
King's Singers
Koppykats
Kit Walker

In addition, here are the least covered Beatle songs I gathered (by Beatle song I mean one they composed and recorded themselves):

All I've Got to Do
Lester Lanin
George Martin

Another Girl
Lester Lanin

Ask Me Why
Beatles (bootleg)
Rosy Beats

Dig It
Beatles (2 bootlegs)
Laibach

Don't Bother Me
Big Ben Banjo Band
I-Tones
Bob Leaper

Dr. Robert
Mike Grossman
Laxton's Superb
Micky Saunders

Hold Me Tight
Baroque Beatles
Rubber Soul
Treasures

I Need You
Bee Gees
Lester Lanin and his Go-Go Getters
Micky Saunders

I'll Get You
Beatles (Anthology)
Big Ben Banjo Band
Leon Young String Chorale

Long Long Long
Moon Flower
Phish
Micky Saunders

Love You To
Bongwater
Don Randi
Micky Saunders

Tell Me What You See
Mike Grossman
Teenage Fanclub

What Goes On
Charles River Valley Boys
Orphan
Micky Saunders

What You're Doing
Lester Lanin
Micky Saunders

When I Get Home
Micky Saunders

You Like Me Too Much
Waikikis

City Limits Gazette # Bonanzaland grab grab grab (Sept. 1993)

Logo by David Lasky, the number for this issue was my nod to Canadian media guru Marshall McLuhan, Robert Boyd donates to the WSU comix collection, Robert Dupree signs up (more on him later), a note from Clay Geerdes, more comix bibliomania by Jay Kennedy, Bil Keane Watch by Greg Stomberg - Mark Campos, a Maximum Traffic poem by Ted Bolman, Dissmeyer and Datmyers in drag, Suspended Animation by Michael Vance and R.A. Jones, San Diego report by Steve Lafler, Joe Singer 1950-1993, Trial of Mike Diana, CLG/Comicist survey form.

City Limits Gazette # Upside up (Aug. 1993)

Logo by Sean Wilson, Joe Zabel and Robert Lewis and Robert Boyd sign up, Bil Keane Watch by Gary Usher - Greg Stomberg - William Dockery, Sean Wilson on Canadian censorship, Underground comix sacred cows comment by Gary Usher, Steve Lafler's opinion from left field, Review of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics by Joe Zabel, Bruce Sweeney's Underground Station with logo by Spain Rodriguez, Dissmeyer and Datmyers again, Suspended Animation by Michael Vance and R.A. Jones, response to deep-sixing the NEA by M. Stengl, Weirdness in Butler County by Maximum Traffic.

Not a Second Time : Reviews of Beatles Songs as Sung by Other Artists

Published at the end of 1990, this is a collection of columns from a workplace newsletter called WLN Ink. I wrote about 8 more columns on this subject after this booklet was published.

A number of comix people knew about this little, shall we say, disease of mine and enabled it by sending me really bad versions they had come across, among them were Lynn Hansen, Wayno, Bruce Chrislip, Mark Campos. But I also started corresponding with garage bands, cassette artists and independent musicians like Micky Saunders and Greg Stomberg-- who were to music what we Newavers were to cartooning-- and really enjoyed hearing their original takes on the Beatles.

I must say I sure was pretty mean-spirited about Paul McCartney's music in here, and he really didn't deserve it. In fact, in a lot of ways he was the most experimental and creative of the Fabs. I now extend a public apology to Sir Paul McCartney, although he did a have a real bad musical patch there in the 1970s.

Anyway, before the days of Internet I started to acquire versions of Beatles songs as sung by other people. But it came to a screeching halt. Here's what I wrote in OlyBlog about the whole thing in 2007:

I used to acquire bad versions of Beatle songs sung by other artists. It all started with hearing Bing Crosby's version of "Hey Jude" on the radio in 1980, but it grew into something of a disease. However, I eventually cured myself.

Back about 1990, when I had been at this little activity for a decade, fellow-cartoonist Peter Bagge paid me a visit here in McCleary. I showed him my collection of bad Beatle versions and he sort of shook his head in dismay. A little later he wrote an introduction to the paperback Morty the Dog volume 2 (1991) and included this bit: "Now get this: life is so boring in this 'town' of his that this Hick-Who-Calls-Himself-Willis is forced to amuse himself collecting on cassette tapes every version of every Beatle song ever recorded ('Yesterday takes up three-and-a-half tapes alone!' he informs me with pride), easily the most pointless and absurd 'hobby' I've ever come across."

So here is how I cured myself. In 2003 I drove to Redding, California to visit a friend. By that time I had collected over 15 hours of "Yesterday" alone. So I played them all back-to-back on the way south, and part of the way north. They didn't end until I hit Salem on the return trip. By that time I had become another person-- a person no longer interested in hearing another version of Beatles song sung by a different artist.

Anyway, for your bibliographic pleasure, here is list of the artists who covered "Yesterday" that serenaded me to Redding, and back again to Salem. From Salem to McCleary I was numb and almost comatose:

12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic
52 Key Verbeek Fairground Organ
101 Strings
All Star Pop Orchestra
Allen, Robert
Ambrose, Amanda
Ames, Ed
Arizita
Armenian Philharmonic
Arnold, P.P.
Arpin, John
Arthur Wilkinson & his Orchestra
Atkins, Chet
Ballard Beatles
Band of the Irish Guards
Banda de los Corazones Solitarios
Barbosa-Lima, Carlos
Basie, Count
Bassoon Extravaganza
Bayless, John
Bayless, John (as Bach)
Beatlemania
Beatles (Anthology)
Beatles (Anthology)
Beatles (Christmas message)
Beatles (Tokyo 7/1/66)
Beatles (Tokyo 7/2/66)
Beatles (Germany 1966)
Beatles (Sullivan 1965)
Beatles (TV anthology)
Bendorff, Benny
Berberian, Cathy
Bettys
Big Ben Banjo Band
Black, Cilla
Boltin, Michael
Boyz II Men
Brodshy, Vadim
Brothers Four
Brothers Four (Mono)
Bruno, Tony
Bugs & Friends
Byrd, Charlie
Canadian Brass
Caravelli
Cavallaro, Carmen
Chacksfield, Frank
Charles, Ray
Clark, Roy
Clayderman, Richard
Clayderman, Richard (Medley)
Columbia Musical Treasuries Orchestra
Cooper Point Gong Band (1990)
Cooper Point Gong Band (1995)
Corbett, Bill
Cramer, Floyd
Creams
Cugat, Xavier
Current Event
Dandy
David, Mel "Trumpet Man"
Dean, Billy
Diana Ross & the Supremes
DiCola, Vince
Dillards
Dino, Desi & Billy
Domingo, Placido
Domino, Floyd
Don Ho & the Aliis
Don Shirley Trio
Doodletown Pipers
Doonican, Val
Douglas, Steve
Dougals, Steve
Dr. Fink & the Mystery Band
Drusky, Roy
Duffy, John
Duke, Patty
Ed Kilbourne, Kent Kilbourne, Dave Myers
Ed Sullivan Singers
Edwards, Jackie
Elena Duran & Stephane Grappelli
Ellis, Ray
En Vogue
Esposito, Tony
Essex, David
Euphoria
Expressions
Eyes of Blue
Faithfull, Marianne
Farlowe, Chris
Farm Beatles
Feliciano, Cheo
Feliciano, Jose
Ferrante & Teicher
Fiedler, Arthur
Fisher, Eddie
Franchi, Sergio
Frank Pourcel Grand Orchestra
French & Saunders
Gary, John
Gary Tesca Orchestra
Gaye, Marvin
Gemini
Gene Siskel & Dennis Rodman
George Shearing with Quintet & Multi-Colored Orchestra
Gerald Wilson Orchestra
Gleason, Jackie
Gloriuex, Francois
Gold, Marty
Goldsboro, Bobby
Goodman, Benny
Gordon, Michael
Grant, Earl
Grebmots
Grossman, Mike
Grossman, Mike
Grossman, Mike
Grossman, Mike
Grossman, Mike
Gruisin, Dave
Guaraldi, Vince
Haax
Hanson, Paul, Jr.
Harry Deal & the Galaxies
Harvard Glee Club
Herbert Rehbein & his Orchestra
Hesitations
Hill/Wiltschinsky Guitar Duo
Hirt, Al
Hollyridge Strings
Hollywood Brass
Husky Marching Band
Inman, Jerry
Itoh, Kimiko
Ives, Burl
Jack Hansen & his Orchestra
Jack Hansen & his Orchestra
Jalopy 5
Jamie & the J. Silvia Singers
Jankowski, Horst
Jeebs, Prof. Hokum W. (TV)
Jeebs, Prof. Hokum W. (Radio)
Jensen, Dick
Jerry Murad's Harmonicats
John, Dr.
Johnny Mann Singers
Jones, Jack
Jones, Linda
Jones, Tom
Jurgens, Udo
Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus
Keith Textor Singers
Kerr, Anita
Kessel, Barney
King's Singers
Kiriakou, Emanuel
Kosinkis et al.
Kostelanetz, Andre
Lanin, Lester
Last, James
Lawrence Welk & Neil Levang
Lawrence Welk & Norma Zimmer
Lee, Brenda
Lee Castle & the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
Lefevre, Raymond
Lendzian, Klaus
Lettermen
Lewis, Barbara
Liberace
Lindsay, Mark
Lipskin, Mike
Liverpool
London Fogs
London Starlight Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra with the London Pop Choir
Longines Symphonette
Lopez, Trini
Lunch Time
Lynn, Vera
Lynne, Gloria
Mancini, Henry
Mantovani
Mario Argandona/Tato Gomez
Marlowe, Michell
Marsden, Gerry
Marston, Stephen
Martin Bottcher und sein Orchester
Mathis, Johnny
Matsuoka, Keiko
Maxiplay Pops et al.
McCallum, David
McCartney, Paul
McCartney, Paul (Medley)
McCartney, Paul (Live 1990)
McCartney, Paul (Live 1993)
Merrill Jr. High School Intermediate Band of 1968
Midnight String Quartet
Moments
Monro, Matt
Monterey String Ensemble
Montez, Chris
Montgomery, Wes
Moon Flower
Moon Flower
Morgan, Jane
Morgan, Lee
Mottola, Tommy
Mullard, Arthur
Nero, Peter
Nevin Platt Jr. High School 7th Grade Chorus of '73/'74
New Classic Singers
New World Electronic Chambre Ensemble
Newman, David
Nordisle Bois et Son Orchestre
Now Sound Orchestra
Ofra Harnoy & the Orford String Quartet
Parigi, Gastone
Paw Prints
Percy Faith & his Orchestra
Percy Faith Strings
Pickin' On Pickers
Presley, Elvis
Pretty Goods
Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers
Prysock, Arthur
Quezada, Vinicio
Rafey, Susan
Rage Against the Machine
Rainy Day Orchestra
Rainy Day Singers
Randolph, Boots
Raney, Sue
Raschi, Gene
Rawls, Lou
Ray Charles Singers
Ray Conniff & the Singers
Ray Martin & his Orchestra
Raymond & Eddie
Red Stripe Ebony Steel Band
Renay, Diane
Riddle, Nelson
Ripoffs
Robbins, Marty
Rochester Pops
Romantic Strings & Orchestra
Romantic Voices
Ron Butler & the Saxist
Rostal & Schaefer et al.
Rowan Atkinson & Peter MacNicol
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Russ Sainty & the Johnny Arthey Sound
Russell, Andy
Russell, Mark
Sandpipers
Seekers
Seely, Jeannie
Seltaeb
Shank, Bud
Sigler, Bunny
Sill, Tristan
Simon Gale Orchestra
Sinatra, Frank
Sir John Quintet
Smith, Kate
Smothers Brothers
Snoopy's Classiks on Toys
Sollscher, Goran
Spirit
Starlight Woodwinds
Stereo Sound Orchestra & Strings
Stomberg, Greg
Stomberg, Greg
Swarf Sisters
Swoboda, Carl
Syd Lawrence & his Orchestra
Sylvers
Szabo, Gabor
Takahashi, Aki
Taylor, Tyrone
Teddy Phillips, Colleen Lovett & their Mexicali Brass
Templeton Twins
Terry Baxter Orchestra & Chorus
Thielemans, Toots
Thomas, Carla
Toussaint, Allen
Toys
Trio Rococo
Unknown (A sing along ...)
Unknown (German)
Unknown (16 exitos)
Unknown (Yugoslavia)
Unknown (Let your feet walk ...)
Unknown (Seattle demo studio)
Van Eps, George
Van Palthe, Don
Vaughan, Sarah
Vaughn, Tom
Vernon, Jackie
Vic Lewis Orchestra
Villa, Claudio
Village Stompers
Waikikis
Warren Covington Orchestra
Warwick, Dionne
Wayne King & Orchestra
Welk, Lawrence
Wells, Mary
Williams, Andy
Williams, Roger
Willis, Bryan
Wilson, Nancy
Wings
Womenfolk
Wynette, Tammy
Zamfir