News : Rare studio recording of Yes’ intense cover of The Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ surfaces online

A rare studio recording of Yes covering The Beatles‘ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ has surfaced online – you can listen to it below.

The audio is said to have been recorded by the progressive rock band and producer John Anthony at London’s Polydor Studios in February 1969.

It sees Yes raise the tempo of the stripped-back ballad – the original of which appears on the Fab Four’s seventh album, ‘Revolver’ (1966) – while giving it a strong rhythm section and intense overall feel. The cover also boasts a psychedelic intro courtesy of guitarist Peter Banks and keyboardist Tony Kaye.

YouTuber Ian Hartley, who uploaded Yes’ version on March 25, wrote: “This particular recording has never been publicly released before. Here is the first (failed) take of the ER run-throughs as recorded in raw form at the time.

“Apart from some speed correction, no remastering was done to the master tapes.”

The uploader added: “Depending on reactions to this, further such things might follow.” At the time of writing, the cover has been streamed on YouTube over 8,000 times.

In the comments section, one fan wrote: “WOW!!! This is the most exciting Yes-related thing to be uncovered in ages. Please do share the other more complete takes!!!” Another said: “Incredible release! Imagine if they’d finished a recording of it for an early Yes album.” A third commented: “Please share more. This is amazing stuff.”

Tune in above.

There are three known takes of Yes recording ‘Eleanor Rigby’ in the studio, according to the Yes Fans forum, but none have been released officially.

The exact origins of the new YouTube audio are not known. Back in 2009, however, Bonhams auction house in London listed a tape recorded with Anthony on February 14, 1969 (via Louder Sound). This included three other songs: Yes’ cover of Stephen Stills’ ‘Everydays’, their take on Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Something’s Coming’, and Yes’ track ‘Dear Father’.

Yes released their self-titled debut album later in 1969 via Atlantic. None of the tracks known to have been recorded with Anthony made the final tracklist. However, versions of  ‘Everydays’, ‘Something’s Coming’ and ‘Dear Father’ were featured as B-sides of Yes’ first three single releases.

The original version of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ – written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney – came in at Number 12 on NME‘s list of every Beatles song ranked in order of greatness.