BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Narrated Anas bin Malik (R.A.):
Allah’s Apostle (P.B.U.H.) said, “There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is regarded as a charitable gift for him.”
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 39, Number 513
‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles is widely considered the most covered pop song in music history.
Even though they were only together for a decade, the Beatles left the kind of enduring legacy that other artists can only dream of. Not only are they the best-selling music act of all time (with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide), the English rock group also released more number one hits than any other artist globally. Another feather in their very decorated cap is the record for the most covered pop song of all time: their timeless hit ‘Yesterday’.
Formed in 1960 in Liverpool before ultimately parting ways in 1970, the group – comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as the core lineup – were an unprecedented phenomenon.
The twelve albums they released featured a string of hits that continue to be popular more than half a century after the band broke up.
Their most standout single remains ‘Yesterday’, a song off their 1965 album Help! that was written by Paul McCartney
but credited to Lennon–McCartney because of the arrangement that existed within the band. (McCartney eventually asked for the writing credits to be changed from “Lennon/McCartney” to “McCartney/Lennon”, a request that Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono refused.)
The group’s biggest hit, the melancholic ballad is among the most-successful songs of all time in terms of royalties paid and is believed to have inspired the most cover versions of any song ever written. (Some, however, contend that the title should, in fact, go to ‘Summertime’, an aria composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess.)
Of the thousands of covers over the years, notable versions include the renditions by legends like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin.