Probably the first and last time there will be any reason for anything from this movie to appear on this website. And even this is a stretch.
Votes due by Friday, October 7th at 11:00 PM EST: How could I possibly shift gears harder from Moe’s rap covers Day 3 than this? I may have just flipped the Living The Dream bus. So it goes. The Team is trying our best to bring you compelling match-ups, and included in this one is a battle between two covers whose original songs date back to the Civil War era. What up, universal temporality of music! Also a pair of slow acoustic covers of major 90s singles, a clash of the Cash, and a croon-off between two of my favorite female blues/jazz/gospel vocalists from the last fifteen years. Plus we have direct and indirect representation from the only two Hank Williams’s that Living The Dream still supports (come on, Junior. Really?) Grooveshark link esta aqui, excepto la cancion de Norah Jones.
Fisk Jubilee Singers, circa 1870s
“Oh Mary Don’t You Weep” is represented by Theresa Anderson, has been covered by The Boss, served as the inspiration for “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and was even featured as a clip at the beginning of the Bone Thugz-N-Harmony “Crossroads” video. It has pre-Civil War origins as a Southern spiritual, although earliest recording was by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1915. Meanwhile, perennial fan favorite “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” dates back to the 1870s southern Appalachia.
We’ll let Cobain seamlessly transition us into a battle of 90s covers between Tori’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Ryan Adams’ “Wonderwall.”
Third, who translates early Johnny Cash better, Hank Williams III or Social Distortion?
Too many Grammys- first world problems
Maybe save this last match for right before bed, but Cassidy and Jones are a pretty power pairing. Eva is a DC Blues Alley legend that died too soon, covering Sting here. Norah’s “Come Away With Me” album (from which this Hank Williams cover is included) will go down forever in history as the third-to-last album to get RIAA Diamond certification (10x platinum.) Go to it, ladies.
And the pasteable:
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones
Living the Dream 
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson = 6
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana = 7
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos = 6
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams = 5
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III = 4
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion = 5.5
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy = 7.7
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones = 8
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana 8/5
I really liked Oh Mary. Thanks Nominator!
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams 6.5/8.5
I liked Ryan Adams way more than I like the original Wonderwall.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion 8.5/4
Cocaine Blues is one of my favorite Cash tunes and I really like this cover. I really do not like Ring of Fire. I didn’t intend to hammer today, but I couldn’t listen to the whole song.
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones 8.5/8.75
G-mo, you’re right — this is the perfect just-before-bed set.
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana: 4/7
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams: 0/2 -this was a matchup of two songs that I like a lot which were destroyed as covers.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion: 7/8.5
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones: 3/4
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson 6 Good, but this is more of a standard and less of a cover. It’s like calling any version of Amazing Grace a cover.
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana 10
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos 3 Once the novelty of understanding the words wears off, this doesn’t really do much. Actually, all of that breathy vibrato is kind of insufferable. Patti Smith’s version works much better, poetry slam interlude aside (sometimes Patti Smith sounds like she has poetry tourettes)-
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams 5
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III 5
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion 6
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy 3
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones 5
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana – 8/7.5
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams – 4/5
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion – 6/5
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones – 2/5
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson = 6.5
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana = 7
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos = 5
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams = 5
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III = 7
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion = 7.5
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy = 7.5
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones = 5
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson = 6
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana = 10
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos = 7 [really well done—appreciate this]
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams = 8 [but Ryan Adams, as usual, affected me more, so +1]
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III = 4
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion = 10 [What not aware they covered this. 10 for SD nostalgia]
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy = 3 [Any song where I’d rather hear something Sting’s solo career…]
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones = 3 [um… what lounge did I wander into? And why did I pawn my wedding ring… WAITTRRESSS!!! Bourbon. BOURBON.”
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson = 8
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana = 7
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos = 3
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams = 1
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III = 7
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion = 9
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy = 5
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones = 6
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson – 5.5
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana – 3
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos – 4
“Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams – 8
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III – 4
“Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion – 6
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy – 7
“Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones – 8.5
G-mo, I don’t think you flipped the bus with this set, no worries!
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson 4
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana 7
I do love the unplugged album. One of my first 5 CDs purchased.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos 2
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams 6
No Nirvana vs Nirvana here?
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III 5.9
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion 6.4
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy 5
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones 5
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana: 2/6.6
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams: 6/7
Quite possibly, Tori Amos is more haunting than Cobain…and not in a good way. I never really cared for her. However, that was pretty okay.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion: 7/6.5
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones:7.5/8
That was a stellar match up!
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson – 6
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana – 7.5
i find this matchup a bit odd for a “covers” tournament. these are more of folk songs. can they even be traced back to an original writer/composer? i guess it’s neither here nor there and i scored them simply on how much i liked the songs, but i know that personally in picking my nominations i avoided what i considered to be “folk” songs (ie half of bluegrass) that either have been performed by seemingly everyone or can’t be trace back to an original. also, where do nirvana’s lyrics come from? i’ve heard oodles of renditions of “in the pines” and the words are, for the most part, completely different.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos – 3.5
“Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams – 6
i think i’m already experiencing cover burnout. so many of them just sound gimmicky, like there’s no authenticity in the performances. example: i love SLTS, i love tori, but she just sounds dumb singing it. ryan’s wonderwall works much better, but still kinda boring & not really adding anything to the original.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III – 3.5
“Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion – 7
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy – 5
“Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones – 5.5
should have heeded g’s advice to save this for bedtime zzzzzzzzzzzz
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson – 4
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana – 4.5
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos – 5.5
“Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams – 7
I have a love-hate relationship with this Wonderwall cover.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III – 3.9
“Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion – 5.5
I’ve found going to many bars, most bands do a pretty decent job covering ring of fire.
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy – 7.5
“Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones – 8.5
If Eva has to lose to someone so soon, I’m glad it’s someone as talented as Norah.
Bah, I lost my connection and my half witty comments. Just the scores this time:
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson – 7.8
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana – 9.6
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos – 6.5
“Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams – 3
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III – 6
“Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion – 9
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy – 4
“Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones – 5.5
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana 4 / 10 (Not really as close as the score would suggest)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams 7 / 3 (The appeal to Wonderwall is the opening riff which is missing from Ryan Adams version).
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion 2 / 8 (Too country-ish with Cocaine Blues).
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones 1.01 / 1 (Not a good way to kick off the weekend)
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana 5.0 to 4.0
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams 4.5 to 4.5
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion 4.5 to 4.0
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones 7.5 to 8.5
And then I woke up.
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana 5.0 to 4.0
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams 5.0 to 4.0
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion 4.0 to 6.0
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones 7.0 to 9.0
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson – 3
vs. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana – 6.75
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos – 3.5
vs. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams – 6
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III – 2
vs. “Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion – 4
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy – 4
vs. “Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones – 5.5
Scores for Adrock/Meghan:
Oh Mary: 5.5/7
Where did you sleep last night: 7/5
Smells like teen spirit: 3/5
Wonder wall: 6/7
Cocaine Blues: 8.5/8
Ring of Fire: 7.5/7
Fields of Gold: 2.5/4
Cold Cold Heart: 6.5/9
Votes are G-mo/Amy
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson: 7.8/5
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana: 7.1/6
G-mo: Oh Mary is lovely. I always swing the direction of novelty.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos: 4/5
“Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams: 5.4/0
G-mo: Do you have any comments?
Amy: No. You can express my vitriol about Ryan Adams if you want.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III: 3.5/2
“Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion: 3.5/2
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy: 4.9/3
“Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones: 6/3.5
Rushing this after happy hour, so no terribly offensive posts. But well, it is after happy hour, so no guarantees.
“Oh Mary” by Theresa Anderson = 6
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana = 9.2 There really is nothing better than Nirvana unplugged.
“Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams = 9. Full disclosure, I nommed this one. Iconic Original, even better cover.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos = 2.7 Didn’t nom this one. Iconic Original, horrible cover. Yes, the piano might be a percussion instrument, but SLTS without the thundering drums in the intro just doesn’t cut the mustard.
“Cocaine Blues” by Hank Williams III = 2.9 Yo Dawg, I herd you like country songs, so I covered a country song with a country song, so you can get your country song while you country song.
“Ring Of Fire” by Social Distortion = 8.4 Apparently, as I review this song, Social D is playing 1000 feet from my apartment.
“Fields Of Gold” by Eva Cassidy = 3.1 It was getting a couple tenths of a point until I hit the solo. Way too slow. And then it didn’t end. I really want to go so sleep right now. But there is one more song left.
“Cold Cold Heart” by Norah Jones = 7.3 Norah, I would like to talk to you just to see if your normal voice is that soothing. Thank you for ending this round on a high.