Throwing back to the week of January 4, 1974, we find Elton John atop the Billboard Hot 100 with a cover of The Beatles’ ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.’
John held the top spot for two weeks with the psychedelic classic, which is two more than the original version spent at #1 — it was never released as a single.
John Lennon played guitar and sang backing vocals on the track, using a pseudonym in the credits. It was one of several collaborations between Lennon and John.
This song is one of only two Lennon-McCartney compositions to reach #1 recorded by somebody other than The Beatles. The first was Peter and Gordon’s ‘A World Without Love,’ which I featured on a throwback weekend back in June.
Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes
[Pre-Chorus]
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your head
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she’s gone
[Chorus]
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Oh
[Verse 2]
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high
[Pre-Chorus]
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
Waiting to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you’re gone
[Chorus]
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Oh
[Pre-Chorus]
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
Waitin’ to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you’re gone
[Chorus]
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Oh
[Verse 3]
Picture yourself on a train in a station
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties
Suddenly, someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with kaleidoscope eyes
[Outro]
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Oh
Meet Me In Montauk 
It’s quite possible that I heard this version before hearing the original. I think it’s a well done cover.