If you have been paying any attention around here you would know that I've been posting a lot of Tom Petty. Tom and I go way back and he sings for me a lot. Anyway, a great big THANK YOU TO Pat Hatt and Stephen T. McCarthy for keeping Tom and me company this past week. The two of you made every post.
Today's BATTLE features another tune by my ole friend Tom, BUT he ain't one of the contestants, cause if he was and you didn't vote for ole Tom, I just might have to block you from my blog. Not like I would ever do something like that. Is that even possible? Anyway...
Anybody been watching 'Texas Rising' on the History Channel. I had planned to and then life go in the way. Oh and, by the way, never trust the History Channel for yer History, cause they seem to like to rewrite things. Sheesh!
Now where was I...oh yeah, 'Texas Rising' well the theme song for the show seems to be a Tom Petty tune. Kinda like one of my theme songs too. So let's get on with it shall we.
First up. Mr. Kris Kristofferson from 'Texas Rising' with a Tom Petty favorite 'o mine.
Next, let's hear from one of them Highwaymen friends of Kris' the Man in Black, Mr. Johnny Cash.
Hey Donna; your boyfriends are back!
Now the rest of you know the drill go on and vote for your favorite and whatever you do, don't vote for Tom (I know you want to, but consider him a winner anyway, cause nobody does it better). This race is between Kris and Johnny.
When you finish up here head on over to STMCC Presents Battle of the Bands cast your vote in his BATTLE, and then follow the list of links to other participants. Please try to vote in all the BATTLES taking place today. I'll be back on the 21st to cast my vote and present you with the results from this BATTLE.
Until that time... HAPPY TRAILS!
I have most of Tom Petty's albums on CD and have been a fan of his from his early days. My second wife used to consider "Refugees" our theme song of sorts, I guess because we were running around a lot when we first got together and she was trying to evade her parents even though she was 24 at the time.
ReplyDelete"I Won't Back Down" is a good choice by Petty and both of these versions are good. I thought Kristoffersn's vocal was kind of weak, but the instrumental background was outstanding---that's the part that draws me most to this version.
However, I've always liked the faster style like Petty performed it. I'm a bigger Cash fan too. He sings the song more convincingly to me.
I'm voting for Johnny Cash is this round of excellent Battle.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Thanks for stopping by. first vote for the Man in Black; Mr. Johnny Cash.
DeleteThink I'd have to give it to Cash. The other was just a bit too slow.
ReplyDeleteI tried watching Texas Rising but it just didn't capture my interest.
And, another Johnny Cash vote.
DeleteI really wanted to see 'Texas Rising', but just have not had the time.
Petty would obviously win, but have to go with Cash. First was too drawn out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, using Petty should have insured a shut out. As it is, Johnny is doing a real number on Kris.
DeleteCash all the way. I thought poor Kris was gonna stall somewhere in the middle of that. He needs more Vitamin C and B12. However, even empathy can't pull him out for me.
ReplyDeleteCASH, BABY.
Seems everyone is thinking that Kris is a little 'over the hill' on this one. Thanks for the vote, even if it's looking to be a shut out.
DeleteI'm not a Cash fan, but I have to agree with every one else, Kris's version is too slow. However as background music for the series it works well.
ReplyDeleteAs for the series, it has it's moments. But what's been bothering me the most is the scenery. Seems like from Nacogdoches to El Paso, they've got Texas mostly pegged as some kind of arid desert. There have been a few river scenes with lovely bald cypress, but that's about it. Texas is a whole lot more than desert. It's swamp, piney woods, hill country, and prairie, just to name a few. Heck the Alamo is in a place where there's lots water and rivers and trees. Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.
OK Bish, I'm gonna take this as a vote for Cash, even though I would really like to stretch it into a vote for Kris. When I first decided to use these two versions, the video I found for Kris was with clips from 'Texas Rising', it really did seem to fit, but alas Youtube in the blogger version did not offer me that video. Well, we're supposed to be voting strictly for the song and not the video anyway,
DeleteUnfortunate to hear that about the series. With all the money Hollywood spends you would think they could at least get the geography right, especially at such a famous place as the Alamo. But again unfortunately, the History Channel isn't really known for it's accuracy in depicting ANYTHING!
Fellow Tom Petty fan here. ☺ Saw him live in 2011 - great showman! Would you believe the opening act was Crosby, Stills and Nash? One of the most memorable concerts ever!
ReplyDeleteAs for the contest, while I do love Kris, I have to agree with everyone else that his version is too slow. Johnny Cash gets my vote.
That really DOES sound like a great concert. Can you believe it? I've never actually seen tom in person. Now, that is a shame. I'll have to work to rectify that.
Deletegot you down as yet another vote for Cash. Thanks Debbie.
Love Tom Petty! that being said... Kris Kristofferson's version literally put me to sleep.
ReplyDeleteJohnny gets my vote! (who can resist a man in black?)
'Put you to sleep?' YIKES! Well, it's good to know ole Kris is good for something.
DeleteCash strikes AGAIN!
NITRO WILBURY BABSKIDDO ~
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, I wanna say that you're my girl! You make me proud to be yer pal. Tough? Yer not JUST drawn that way!
The Battle: Well, as you know, I'm not a fan of either Cash or Kristofferson. Neither one could really sing and I think their friend, Waylon Jennings, had more talent in his Stetson hat band than BOTH Cash and Kris combined.
I know I told you of an interview I saw where Tom Petty said he liked Cash's cover of 'I WON'T BACK DOWN' so much that he almost wished he himself (Petty) had never recorded it. But I gotta think he was just being nice to a fellow music legend. However, you know who would have done probably the ultimate version of this song (even better than Petty's original)? Yep. WAYLON. A song like this seems like it was almost written for the "Country Outlaw". Too bad Waylon never covered it.
Of these two choices - featuring two guys who can't truly sing - I'm left considering the instrumentation more than anything else. I've listened to both recordings twice each. Cash sings it a little better (in that boring, monotone way of his), but there is such a thing as quiet resolve. That's when a decision is such a complete "done deal" (like me never working graveyard shifts again) that a person doesn't need to get excited about it or raise there voice in the least. Basically it's just "a flat no", and that's all there is to it.
Kris captures that "flat no", "done deal" attitude mostly by dumb luck (everything he sang was so flat that he couldn't he'p it no how). And when left comparing the instrumentation of each track as the real deciding factor, the Kris Kristofferson version comes out on top.
So, with a tepid vote, I end the shutout.
Your comment to Donna about her boyfriends being back made me laugh out loud!
And, hey, thanks for being a tough friend of mine. It means more than you know, FAE.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
What; seriously? Can't sing. Ah Sir you wound me! How will I survive this diatribe! A bit early for whine (er, wine) so I shall drown my broken heart in Diet Pepsi and Ruffles chips.
DeleteWell, you redeem yourself with the the Waylon remarks, and I'm inclined to agree. Willie may have even been better, but Waylon sure had the voice for this in his younger years. I shall make it my life's mission to convert you to a Horseman fan :)
STMc - FINALLY a vote for ole Kris. I too think the instrumentation on his version is GREAT. As I said earlier, my first choice of video in the KK version had clips fro 'Texas Rising' and this slower version seemed to fit it well. BUT, we're not supposed to be influenced by the video anyway, so maybe it was for the best that blogger did not offer me a choice of using that particular video.
DeleteGlad you're so please here. As you know my inclination was quite different. I did do this one for you.
Donna - Diet Pepsi and Ruffles chips? YIKES!
DeleteYou just keep on a working on that and let me know how it turns out. Ha!
NWB:
Delete>>... "I did do this one for you"
And look how it turned out! A good song by two shitty singers, and you may actually have more votes on your BOTB than I have on mine. (If not, it's close enough to make it a moot point.)
I guess now you know that I am way smarter'n you (and, yes, "that's clocked!). And, not to rub salt in the wound but... I have better taste in booze than you do, too. ...Oh well, ...your chest is prettier than mine ...I assume. ...Though I could be wrong 'bout dat. [;-)}
DONNA, OH!-OH!, DONNA...
>>... "A bit early for whine (er, wine)"
Oh, honey, it's NEVER too early for... either!
If you need lessons, I will gladly report and do my bestest best. I'm pretty sure I can teach you how to WHINE while guzzling WINE at 6:00 AM... my time.
In my neck of the woods, that's called, "Killing two grapes with one toe".
And to think that Robin the Girl Wonder thinks her J2 girlfriend was better at the "comeback" than I am! I pity the wonderful Girl.
~ D-FensDogG
Ok, so this is one of my favorite Tom Petty songs! Choosing between the two wasn't hard for me. Kristofferson's voice is just too gravely for me. Obviously, Johnny Cash for my vote!
ReplyDeleteAh, another TP fan and a fan of 'I Won't Back Down' to boot. BUT, obviously not a KK fan. Got you down as another vote for Cash.
DeleteWelcome too BOTB!
What kind of cruel Mistress pits one boyfriend against another? Ah, guitar strings strangling my heart Fae Darling! What to do?
ReplyDeleteBut, like Saint Mac (the knife) above, I did listen to these several times. I'm pretty sure my love Mr Cash is playing his own guitar (and if not just let me have my fantasy) which makes the choice even tougher.
Tough as it was to choose, I'll go with Kris on this one. He totally sings with just the right amount of sorrowful resolve. And the instrumentation is awesome.
Thank goodness you did not have a Willie version i n there; would have been so much tougher. Your Tom petty montage was cool too :)
Oh, and yes, I am watching Texas Rising. Awesome show, nearly makes me not miss Walking Dead so much. Bloody awesome.
DeleteAh, a woman after my own heart! I thank you for the vote and so does Kris. I too like is sorrowful resolve (although I had not thought of it that way until you mentioned it), and that instrumentation is great. go to Youtube and look for the version with the clips of him singing in the studio inserted with clips from the show. It's pretty good and I think you'll like it.
DeleteNow, that someone has finally given a good review to 'Texas Rising' I may need to see if I can get it on one of the 'On Demand; channels, if I can just find the time.
Oh definitely Tom Petty does it better...and the best! But for these BOTB purposes, I'm giving my vote to Johnny Cash. I've always been a JC fan and I like his version better. Kris' was just too darn slow. I couldn't even get into it and I knew fairly quickly that I wouldn't be voting for that version. So my vote goes to the late great Johnny Cash! Great battle. Love Tom Petty!
ReplyDeleteMichele at Angels Bark
Ah, you guys really know how to 'butter' me up. As I said in my post 'you have just got to be a Tom Petty fan'...;or else1 Ha!
DeleteThanks for the vote Michele, even if it it tipping the scales even farther in favor of Mr. Cash.
I'm going out on a limb and saying that I'll wager that were I watching Texas Rising, I'd vote differently. But John's my man and has been forever. His is my vote.
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for the Man in Black (surprise, surprise!). You might be right about the connection to the series. It seems the folks who like it voted for KK, few that they be.
DeleteI love this song and Tom Petty does do the song the best but we are not voting for him. I am a sucker for Johnny Cash. His voice is so deep and full of meaning when he sings so he gets my vote.
ReplyDeleteApparently, there are quite a few 'suckers for Johnny Cash', Ha!
DeleteAnd I'm glad to see that we are in agreement about Tom. He is marvelous!
This is a tough one. Tom Petty's version is legend. (BTW, I enjoyed all of your TP features this week, even though I didn't comment on the last one. The video cracked me up when she attacked him with a cotton swab at the end...)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover of this song is by Ryan Star. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5LjWzR96P8 I like this version because it's stripped down making the lyrics really stand out like an unexpected gut punch. I also like it because it's different than the Petty original.
As for these two versions... I've now listened twice. Upon first listening, I thought KK's version was just too slow. However, the second time I listened to it I appreciated that about it. He did something different with the song, which a cover should do, and added some interesting instrumentation. So, give Kris my vote.
You're a tough cookie, which is one of the things I like best about ya.
I'll have to go to YouTube to check out that Ryan Star version. Glad to see you called it your favorite 'cover'. If you had said favorite version, as in over Tom's original, I might have to have banned you from my site. Ha, ha, ha!
DeleteAlso, glad to see your appreciate for what Kris did with this song. I'll agree with some of the other voters that neither of these guys really has a stellar voice or presentation on ANY song, so it's got to be felt in the interpretation.
Glad you liked the TP 'homage'. That video from 'Make It Better' is classic.
Listening to the Kris version first, I immediately did not like it. However, by the end of the song it kind of grew on me. But, I still didn't like it enough to choose it. If I can't vote for Petty, which I naturally would if I could, I have to defer to Cash. Yes,he gets my vote.
ReplyDeleteYeah Jeffrey, if I had used Petty's version this would have been a shut out for sure (and I would have made sure of that - see I'm originally from Chicago, I know how that vote fixing thing goes. Ha!)
DeleteGlad to hear that KK version at least grew on you, but unfortunate for him it was not enough to push you over to a vote. Another one counted up for Mr. Cash.
Good Lord, does Kristofferson have a truly awful voice! I know God must have had some other plan for him and he somehow missed the clues, because Kris' singing AIN'T RIGHT. He should have gone into dry cleaning, or boat hull scraping.
ReplyDeleteNo, really... Kris was bad. Words cannot describe how much I loathe him singing. I know I have complained before on this blog about Willie Nelson's voice. And Dylan's voice is really not fabulous. Joe Cocker? Lousy voice. I love Tom Petty (it is one of the few rock artists that both StMcC and I both love), but HE has a crappy voice as well.
But what ALL of those guys have that K.K.K. (Krappy Kris Kristofferson) does NOT have is some redeeming quality that makes a song interesting, or good, or even great, or at least palatable. Kristofferson offers NOTHING. The vote count racks up for Cash with good reason: HIS voice stinks also, but at least he can carry a tune.
I want to be sure I am clear: I'm voting for Johnny Cash.
SBB-6 ~
DeleteWould you mind rephrasing your comment somehow? What you were saying here seemed rather vague to me, and I suspect it will strike others the same way. I don't even feel that I know for sure how you're voting on this Battle.
;-)
~ D-FensDogG
Actually, I hold a certain fondness for Kristofferson. His putrid vocal styling allowed me to write what - to me - was a pretty cathartic comment. Thanks, Kris!
DeleteNow Mr. Six; let me get this straight 'you really don't like Kris Kristofferson'? I find that hard to believe, by what you've said here. Ha, ha, ha! OK, even this dumb blonde gets the picture.
DeleteAND, I am surprised to hear that you are a Tom Petty fan. By some of the other comments on previous posts, I might have though you really didn't care for him either. Say what you will about Tom's voice, he has some of the most memorable, relevant, and applicable lyrics of his generation, at least in my opinion.
Got you down as a reluctant by definite vote for Mr. Cash
STMc - so, six confused you too. He seems to have a hard time making himself clear about his vote here.
Mr. Six - Catharsis is good, I think!
SHEBOYGANBOY 6 - I love that guy!
DeleteTrue, he has difficulty making himself understood because English is actually his second language (his real name is Número De Extranjero Ilegal De Seis, Jr., which I believe translates to: Your Next Disastrous President, Jr.).
But, no matter how he votes (nor how he further ruins our country), I loves that guy!
~ D-FensDogG
I don't know why other singers try to perform other songs. It is just not the same. With that being said, Kris is too slow and mundane. My vote is for Cash!
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, nice to meet you. Well, without these 'covers' of other more famous songs, we wouldn't have any fodder for BOTB, now would we? Ha.
DeleteYou are definitely in the majority here with thinking that Kris' version is 'too slow'. got you now as a vote for Mr. Cash. Thanks for stopping by and casting that vote.
"...and I'll keep this world from dragging me down..." But it didn't stop Kristofferson from dragging the song down. Johnny Cash all the way for me.
ReplyDeleteWell John, that was a new 'take' on the slowness of KK's versions here. Ha!
DeleteAnd, another vote for Johnny,
Fae - this is a great battle! I am absolutely without a clue what to do. Yes, I know I need to vote but... well... there's no requirement to comment when the comment might sound negative, right?!
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for JC # 2
Hi Dixie, you vote IS appreciated. No requirement to comment, but I don't mind even a negative comment. It's all about perception of the listener/voter. Of course, we all wouldn't like the same thing, all of the time.
DeleteJohnny Cash strikes again.
It's so kind of Tom to keep you company. Does he wear one of his interesting hats when he sings to you? I have to vote for Johnny. He's a favorite of mine. Kris's voice is a little too rough.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Hi Janie, thanks for coming by and casing a vote.
DeleteYes, Tom the man of many 'interesting' hats, using dons a chapeau when he sings to me and being Tom, they are always flamboyant and interesting, Ha!
Don't like the rough stuff, eh? Got you down as a vote for Johnny..
Is Kris Kristofferson gargling razor blades? Because his words say one thing, and yet it really sounds like he is backing down.
ReplyDeleteThe music on his version is actually pretty nice, but I just can't stand his voice. Not that Johnny Cash exactly had the voice of an angel, but I find his more listenable overall. Meanwhile, my cohort is a Cash fan. Meaning we both vote for Cash.
He adds: I've been drinking, but not enough to make Kris sound good... yet. Ask me after another 2 beers and I might give you a different answer. Or not.
Those first two sentences made me LOL!
DeleteTwo votes for Cash (as though he needed them here). Tell Brandon if he switches to Tequila maybe that will help Kris to go down a little easier (no pun intended).
I only just now, this very moment, finished my voting on your BOTB contests. Whew! that took me a long time. I hope nobody felt too bad that I didn't make it to their post on the first day, but sometimes that's just how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI do promise that I will return here shortly and reply to each and every one of your comments, but not right now. Please be patient with me. Your votes are important and I do appreciate you coming by.
I like all three versions but I will vote for Kris Kristofferson I like the slowed down version. It is emotional and has a Warren Zevon quality to it.
ReplyDeleteHey Mike, you made it. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it and I'm sure Kris does too.
ReplyDeleteOh Come On now you already know who I'd vote for, but so it gets counted.......Johnny "man in black" cash!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't like to make no assumptions. Thanks for coming by and making it official.
Delete