Monday, January 1, 2024

BOTB January 2024

 


Hey, hi! Glad you stopped by ;-)

The Battle of The Bands (BOTB) is your basic Which-do-you-like-best contest where the one that gets the most votes wins. All you have to do is show up (the 1st and/or 15th of every month) give a listen and cast your vote in the comment section. Votes will be tallied and the winner revealed on or about 8 days later.

I sure hope everyone had a pleasant Christmas ;-) Mine was so crazy busy I plumb forgot to come back with the results of my “Special Edition” Christmas battle - despite replaying “Driving home” nearly every day…

Which brings us to results I may have inadvertently insisted on with my enthusiasm for a certain contender – ha! You guys are so sweet. While Bryan Adams couldn’t quite pull it off, he got a few well-deserved cheers. The Ronettes dusted off a couple of memory banks (2 votes), and Chris Rea, drove home for the win (4 votes)! Thank you all for voting ;-)

As for today’s Battle of the Bands, it may have been the surprisingly cold and rainy weather we had here over the holiday that made it easy it choose a song and contenders for another installment of my on-going “For the Birds” theme ;-)

Written and originally performed by Gene MacLellan in 1969,  “Snowbird” was well received and covered by a wide variety of artists (including his own daughter), some famous, some not so much, over the years.

For instance our first contender, Anne Murray; whose cover became the first gold record ever recorded by a Canadian solo female artist. *This was an inaugural song inductee of the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2003



Next up, this recording of the song by a guy (Burl Ives) whose name was tossed around quite a bit last month…



And I’m sure that somewhere there’s a code I’d be breaking if I didn’t share this version by Elvis Presley.



There you have it, folks! Which do you like best? And how come? Let me know in the comment section below. Oh! And, before you go, hop around and see the rest of today’s battles (participating sites are located in the top right sidebar of this page)

 

Happy, happy New Year, Everybody!

See you soon!

14 comments:

  1. Happy New Year!

    I'm only familiar with Anne Murray doing this song. It was interesting to listen to the others, but Anne Murray will forever be my favorite.

    -Mary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Mary!
      I thought the same thing ;-) Anne is off to a good start.

      Delete
  2. Though the male entries were interesting novelties that I'd never heard before, Anne Murray owns the song for me. And she gets my vote.

    Lee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Lee!
      I know what you mean. Anne is off to a really good start.

      Delete
  3. I remember Anne Murray doing this song but the way I recall her version it was slower then the one you shared. I liked the one I'm grew up listening to in the 70s best. Burl Ives didn't do much for me but Elvis...I really, really liked it and am giving my vote to him in this round.

    Happy New Year, Diedre! May 2024 hold many promising, rewarding days filled health, happiness, love, and good fortune.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Cathy!
      Thinking the song began and ended with Anne, I was surprised to learn about songwriter Gene MacLellan as well as that it was covered by Burl and Elvis and lots of other artists. Elvis is in the battle building ;-)

      Delete
  4. Happy New Year, diedre! Anne Murray's is the only version of this song I'm familiar with. It got played to death here, as you can imagine. That said, I still prefer it to the male covers, although Elvis (that was a surprise!) wasn't bad. Burl didn't resonate, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Debbie!
      I imagine Anne would be popular in your neck of the woods ;-) She's the only one I knew before this battle. And its another ticket to fly away with Anne to that land of gentle breezes...

      Delete
  5. dEAR dIEDRE ~

    Hokey-Smoke! You got a great one here.

    I hadn't heard this song since I was a young grasshopper, and I like it better now than I did back then.

    >>... "Elvis is in the battle building"

    Ha!-Ha! Well played, dIEDRE.

    Every one of these renditions is goot listenin'. Judge Al Bondigas (Judge "Meatball") really, really likes Elvis, and he came within the width of a dog's whisker of rulin' for him. But in the end he went with ANNE MURRAY, admitting that the 'Familiarity Factor' may have barely nudged her ahead of Elvis at the finish line. (Still, it was a "photo finish" for him.)

    Surprisingly, I have *ALWAYS* enjoyed the way Burl Ives sings; I like the friendly, warm tone of his voice and his unique phrasing. Technically, I believe that I should be considered too cool to dig Burl, but apparently that's only in my imagination. ;^D I liked all 3 versions, but I'm going to show BIG BURL some love here.

    1 vote for BIG BURL
    1 rulin' for Anne Murray

    ~ STMcC
    [Link> BOTB's BATTLE OF THE BOOZE: JAN. 1, 2024

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Stephen!
      This battle has surprised me in many cool ways ;-) I think it's a good omen.
      Another follower on Anne's peaceful waters bandwagon - and a pleasant nod to Country Music's favorite Christmas balladeer, Burl Ives. Thanks, guys!

      Delete
  6. This song was everywhere back in the day. I like it more now and give my vote to Anne because she sings it clearly and doesn't trail off like the men do so bring on Anne Murray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Birgit!
      The Snowbird's tiny wings fly away with yet another vote for Anne!

      Delete
  7. Anne gets my vote, but then I'm from Nova Scotia, and I've known people who knew her well. Canadians are proud of Anne. They'd likely vote for her out of loyalty ~ lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Fundy Blue!
      "Canadians are proud" As well they should be, she's pretty awesome ;-) Much like Linda Ronstadt in my neck o' the woods, no one does Blue Bayou like Linda.
      With your vote, my dear, Anne has taken her Snowbird to new and warmer heights!

      Delete

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