With A Little Help From My Friends

“With a Little Help from My Friends” was originally written by the Beatles. It was written for the Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr as the character “Billy Shears” in the Beatles’ 1967 album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The song is in the form of a conversation and was deliberately written with a limited range because Starr didn’t have the vocal range of the other Beatles.

When the song was released in the US, many people believed that it was about drug use. Then Maryland Governor (and future US Vice President) Spiro T. Agnew even lobbied to have the song banned in the US.

The song’s popularity has inspired many artists to record cover versions of the song over the years. Probably the most popular cover was by the English singer Joe Cocker, who performed the song at Woodstock. Cocker’s version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, inspired by influences like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. Cocker’s cover of the song was a huge hit, and it became one of his signature songs. Many people now consider Cocker’s version of the song to be the definitive version. In fact, this version was used as the title music for the television series The Wonder Years.

“With a Little Help from My Friends” has also been covered by the Wet Wet Wet and by Sam & Mark, who each took it to the top of the UK charts, and by other artists as diverse as Willie Nelson and Mumford & Sons.

Both The Beatles’ original song and Joe Cocker’s cover version are well known.  Is one better than the other?  Compare them here and decide for yourself: