I have some others that I’ll post if/when this catches on, but for now…
Richard Thompson doing Shenandoah.
Jethro Tull’s version of John Barleycorn
Anything, really, traditional from Fairport Convention, including Maddy Groves. This is their original with Sandy Denny though I prefer the one Simon sings on Old, New, Borrowed, Blue.
Do Christmas carols count? I’m fond of Loreena McKennitt’s version of “Good King Wenceslas”.
that’s unpossible to answer.
i like traditional songs done traditionally though that is not always found.
you have old people doing older traditional stuff (or variations) like Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Bill Monroe (with his groups), Doc Watson.
you got new people that did traditional stuff (or variations) like Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Steeleye Span.
you got new people that did traditional stuff (or variations) and really rocked like Grateful Dead. less frequent like with Jethro Tull, Jeff Beck.
there are some songs where i’ve never heard a unlistenable version, though likely some i would like better. a song like Matty Groves or Shady Grove there are dozens of versions i like.
i just find these ‘best’ and ‘favorite’ questions too hard to answer.
Fair enough…I suppose I should have said “What are some of your favorite…?” - I just wanted to create exposure for quality versions of traditional songs.
Doc Watson is very consistent in doing songs in a very pleasing manner.
I recall John Jacobs Niles being asked to sing Tam Lin.
“All 81 verses?” he asked.
One (possibly several) Halloween specials of WFMT’s Midnight Special featured someone who sang them all. Wish I could find it.
Holy Modal Rounders did some fine versions.
I hope so, because I’m going to post my new favorite. Siouxsie Sioux and her backup guys’s version of Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant. Now, the TV performance is lip-synched, and I really like the music–I enjoy this version of the carol very much. I hear it’s available on an album of B-sides that I don’t own.
And then there are the lip-synching performers. Siouxsie delivers a nice professional ‘punk rock girl singing Christmas carol’ performance, and the trumpeter is fine. The drummer wants to be anywhere else and takes care to let you know it, and the cymbalist! The cymbalist is Robert Smith stoned out of his gourd, unable to do more than wobble. He cannot even start to pretend to play the cymbals, he just wobbles. It cracks me up every time. Thinking about it gives me the giggles.
Oh, Suzanna (the Banjo Song) by the Big Three.
Yes, I know the arrangement sounds familiar. This came first.
Frank Patterson’s version of Danny Boy (from the Miller’s Crossing soundtrack).
Just about anything by Alison Krauss or Audra Mae.
English Civil War by The Clash.
I still like Linda Ronstadt’s “By the Rivers of Babylon.”
Ladies & Gentlemen, please allow me to introduce you to Snakefarm:
St. James Infirmary
John Henry
Oh yeah, and I always get a kick out of hearing Devo’s version of Workin’ In A Coalmine.
Had to listen. Loved it. I once heard a guy in our music class sing this in a voice so true and clear it was like water from an artisian well.
One of my choices: I Am Weary by the Cox Family.
Springsteen’s version of **Erie Canal **is awesome.
Simon & Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair