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!
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI'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
Happy New Year, Mary!
DeleteI thought the same thing ;-) Anne is off to a good start.
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.
ReplyDeleteLee
Happy New Year, Lee!
DeleteI know what you mean. Anne is off to a really good start.
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.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Diedre! May 2024 hold many promising, rewarding days filled health, happiness, love, and good fortune.
Happy New Year, Cathy!
DeleteThinking 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 ;-)
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.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Debbie!
DeleteI 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...
dEAR dIEDRE ~
ReplyDeleteHokey-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
Happy New Year, Stephen!
DeleteThis 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!
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
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Birgit!
DeleteThe Snowbird's tiny wings fly away with yet another vote for Anne!
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!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Fundy Blue!
Delete"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!