Got You Covered: “Helter Skelter”

How ubiquitous are cover versions of Beatles songs? They’re commonplace enough to make me wonder whose songs bands used to cover before the Beatles existed. That’s the price you pay for revolutionizing popular music — every song you ever record is covered by everybody under the sun.

For this “Got You Covered” post series, I’m setting the bar higher for Beatles covers than for those of other artists. I’d include one only if it is in some way surprising and unexpected despite being a Beatles cover.

That’s where The Bobs come in. The group originated in 1981 when a San Francisco singing telegram company went out of business, unemploying Matthew Stull and Gunnar Madsen¹. Needing a bass singer, the lone respondent to their classified ad was Richard Greene. At some point the group named themselves The Bobs, the basis of which was the dog show acronym meaning “Best of Breed”; nevertheless, each member took on the middle name “Bob,” apparently just for shits and giggles. The group soon completed itself with the addition of Janie Bob Scott.

Surely you’ve heard the Beatles’ original version of “Helter Skelter” from The White Album. If you need a little refresher, here’s a snippet of the Fab Four’s loudest, messiest, hardest-rocking tune:

“Helter Skelter” became notorious for its appropriation by Charles Manson. On U2′s live album Rattle and Hum their cover of the song is preceded by Bono’s statement, “This is a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. We’re stealing it back.” A worthy sentiment. One might even say that the song has been reclaimed further by the many other artists who have covered it as well, among whom are Aerosmith, Pat Benatar, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, and Oasis.

The Bobs do it differently. For one thing, they are an a cappella group. I recall reading a passage in the liner notes to one of their early albums which described their early days as the time before they “transcended musical instruments.” However, as you’ll hear, the Bobs are not your college’s a cappella group. They’re not the Manhattan Transfer, either. Their cover song arrangements don’t just translate instrumental parts to voices and sing them on “Ooo” and “doo-waah.”

The Bobs’ rendition of “Helter Skelter” is a perfect example of their knack for inspired a cappella overhauling; in fact, the arrangement earned them a 1984 Grammy Award nomination. ² An mp3 of the entire track is posted on The Bobs website, so I’m hoping they don’t sue me for re-posting it here.

As I have previously linked (but one more won’t hurt), The Bobs website is www.bobs.com. They also have a Facebook page (of course), and a profile on Amazon.