Oh Danny Boy is a warhorse, covered by an amazing number of singers, here is a tiny sample:
Paul Robeson
Bing Crosby
Elvis Presley
Roy Orbison
Cher!
Sinéad O’Connor (a capella, and the best version IMHO)
A little bit Country:
Willie Nelson
Johnny Cash
Conway Twitty
Some Soul:
Jackie Wilson
Sam Cooke
Some interesting interpretations:
Imelda May (a torchy blues version with Jeff Beck)
Van Morrison
The Pogues
And some guitar solos:
Eric Clapton
George Benson
Jeff Beck
Agreed. I’ve always been blown away by Sinéad O’Connor’s voice and music, and that was amazing. Nice to see her show up a couple-few times in this thread.
Also, Sinéad was right!
Working my way through the Child Ballads -
Tam Lin - Fairport Convention
Tam Lin - Steeleye Span
Tam Lin - Anais Mitchell
Tam Lin - Tricky Pixie
[of Summertime]
I was revisiting an earlier post in the thread, and noticed I overlooked this. That was a terrific version!
I haven’t had time to sample more than a couple of these right now, but thanks for introducing me to the genre of “Child Ballads”. I see that they’re an anthology of traditional ballads compiled by Francis James Child, not a collection of morbid ballads about dead children, as I first assumed… 
Because I like the contrast -
Dives and Lazarus - Ralph Vaughan Williams
Dives and Lazarus - June Tabor w/Oyster Band
Yeah, she was. I remember watching the SNL performance and thinking, that it was a reasonable action, given what we knew about the Catholic Church abuses in Ireland. I watched the documentary and was blown away by the Dylan Tribute performance. If a fictional film tried to put that scene into a film, the critics would complain that it was too “Hollywood”.
For those who haven’t seen it- in front of a (presumably) progressive audience there to celebrate one of the great protest singers, she is booed vociferously, Kris Kristofferson (who had introduced her) comes back on stage and whispers “don’t let the bastards get you down”, she restarts the Dylan song to loud boos, stops the band and launches into an a capella “War” (by BoB Marley), finishes the song and tearfully embraces Kristofferson, who has been waiting at the side of the stage.
Here’s the performance. There aren’t many singers that would be brave enough to even try this.
I saw that concert and this special incident live on TV in 1992 and also was blown away by the whole affair. Kristofferson acted great. The double live album of the event (which I can only wholeheartedly recommend) contains her version of Dylan’s “I Believe In You” from the soundcheck (but unfortunately, not her impromptu rendition of Marley’s “War”). It’s a bit ironic that it’s a song from Dylan’s Christian phase, though it’s ambiguous if it’s about the belief in god or a lover.
Wow, thanks, I had never seen that.
Yeah, never been much of a fan of his music or his singing voice, but a clearly a decent guy.
Some old folk songs reworked into kids songs…these are on our regular playlist for the little gargoyles of the household…
Mister Rabbit was modified slightly by Caspar Babypants to make the lyrics a little more upbeat and a little less grim and down-trodden from the traditional:
Finnegan’s Wake has been covered by a lot of artists, although I really prefer The Clancy Brothers’ version. I was actually quite the folkie back in the mid-60s, also listening to Ian & Sylvia, Buffy Ste. Marie, The Limelighters, etc.
I used to cover all three of those songs in my twenties.
When I was in high school, in the late 60s, we had a jukebox in the cafeteria, and that’s where I first heard Billy Stewart. He was a local boy from D.C. Another song I remember from that jukebox was ‘Stand By Me’ by Spyder Turner (another unique version of an old favorite.)
Another cool thing about his (original studio) version is, he doesn’t play the bridge until the very end of the song.
Here are six very similar songs in different styles and contexts. Just four chords, over and over. Sounds like there are some variations in Gary Davis’ version, but they’re all basically the same thing. The chord progression is in fourths. In E, the chords would be E, A, D and G.
Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (Earl Scruggs and friends)
Twelve Sticks (Gary Davis)
I Wonder to Myself (Tommy Johnson)
Kill It Kid (Willie McTell)
Salty Dog (John Hurt, other versions by Gary Davis and Willie McTell)
Spoonful (Charlie Patton)
You mean ‘in G.’
Yeah, the key is actually G. I’d still call it E in conversation among guitarists, just because it’s the first chord, but you’re right to say it’s in G.
That Tommy Johnson tune always reminds me of the Stones. There’s a break in Shattered that sounds a little like it, but the chords are different.
Reminds me of bacon frying. 