January 03, 2010

YouTube has the darndest things

Here's an oddity: The Cowsills (forerunner and prototype to The Partridge Family) having fun with the old country song "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." It was first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956.

And Linda Ronstadt adding a little heat to the same song:

If you think that's unusual, from Wikipedia comes a list of performers who've sung it:

  • UK pop group the Springfields had a 1962 hit.
  • An early 1960s recording by Janis Joplin is on the 1975 Janis Joplin compilation album Janis.
  • The Cowsills recorded the song on their 1970 studio album IIxII. It peaked number 77 on the Billboard charts in September 1969.
  • The Grateful Dead performed the song several times between 1966 and 1970 featuring Bob Weir on the lead vocal and Phil Lesh singing harmony.
  • Linda Ronstadt covered the song on her 1969 studio album Hand Sown ... Home Grown.
  • Linda Ronstadt also recorded a country-pop crossover version for her 1973 Don't Cry Now album, released as a single in 1974.
  • English folk rock singer Sandy Denny recorded the song on her 1977 album Rendezvous.
  • In 1993, the country trio Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn recorded the song together on the album Honky Tonk Angels. Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris also performed the song as a trio on an episode of Parton's 1976 variety show Dolly!

Posted by Linkmeister at January 3, 2010 12:01 AM | TrackBack
Comments

The Cowsills hit me at my transition stage. I seem to remember hearing them about the time I hit puberty and was more drawn to those long hair gritty singers....the kind my parents despised and griped about - which provided me with a kind of a twofer. :)

Posted by: Karan at January 4, 2010 04:11 PM