Friday, July 1, 2016

Battle of the Bands: O Death R.I.P Ralph Stanley


Picking songs and ideas for the Battle of the Bands can get tough when you get distracted by other songs you find.


Here are the rules: You pick the one you like best by casting your vote in the comments. I tally them up and I will announce the winner on the 7th. I encourage you to check out the other mighty Battles and if you want to join up details can be found here!

Ralph Stanley a bluegrass legend passed away on June 23. He is the inspiration for this Battle. Bluegrass and Americana make appearances on my Battles once in a while. I'll try to keep the twang to a minimum.

The song I choose is "O Death." A traditional song dating back to the 1920's. Perhaps penned by Lloyd Chandler. Where ever the roots of this song come from Dr. Stanley turned it into a Grammy. I think the song s fitting..

Ralph singing it...


Vote for one of the contenders. Not Ralph Stanley. He already won a Grammy.

Contender One: Lauren O'Connell


Contender Two: Jen Titus



It should be an interesting battle. I look forward to seeing who wins. The winner is decided by your votes in the comments so vote away!

9 comments:

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, Mike!

You have presented me with the toughest decision I ever had to make in a band battle. Both covers of "O Death" are sensational. Lauren O'Connell's voice is clean and clear as a mountain stream, and I was amazed to see that she also plays all of the instruments and sings backup for herself. It's truly a remarkable performance. Jen Titus has a beautiful voice, too, and her recording, used in the soundtrack of the Supernatural TV series, is also fabulous and sends chills down my spine. By the narrowest margin I will give my vote to Lauren simply because she wowed me by being a one woman band.

You picked two great contenders, Mike. Thanks a lot!

Arlee Bird said...

Both of these versions are interesting. Jen Titus started wearing thin after a while. But the Lauren O'Connell version is fantastic--probably better than any other version I've ever heard. Totally cool. A big vote for Lauren O'Connell.

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

Stephen T. McCarthy said...

MIKE ~
I really liked the instrumentation of Lauren's version. Cool that she did all the playing herself. Either that or it's a gaggle of identical twins. Unfortunately though the song was spoiled by her poor singing. The girl simply has no voice and strains to hit notes that wouldn't really be all that impressive even if she could hit them cleanly. She could maybe become a real musical force but she'll need professional voice lessons first.

I liked the somber moodiness of the JEN TITUS version. This is DEATH we're talking about, after all. Vote to JEN.

~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'

Cathy Kennedy said...

Mike, I heard about Ralph Stanley passing. That's sad. His vocals remind me so much of the old timers singing in the little backwoods churches in southern WV where I grew up. Your rivaling artists are different. Jen Titus' rendition belongs in a movie. After listening to her cover several seconds it lost its appeal, but contender #1's cover pulled me in. Lauren O'Connell did an amazing job and steals my vote. Cool battle!

American Girl #BoTB showdown

Michele at Angels Bark said...

Great song. I never heard it before and I really like it. Lauren O'Connell's version is fabulous! I liked the Jen Titus version just fine but I found that I got bored with it as it continued on. Lauren's version had me toe-tapping and I liked how she picked up the tempo. Really great version! Please give my vote to Lauren O'Connell.

Neat battle. And very appropriate...

Michele at Angels Bark

Guilie Castillo said...

I also hadn't heard this one before, original or covers (or of any of the artists... shame on me) — but it's fabulous! Lauren gets my vote here... I loved LOVED her grassroots sound, and her voice has a uniqueness to it that won me over. Jen's is awesome, too... really dark and sombre, and I'd listen to either any time.

Fantastic battle, Mike!
Guilie @ Quiet Laughter

Dixie@dcrelief said...

How interesting. Lyrics get me! Jen was too much of a downer.
My vote is for Lauren McConnell.

Happy 4th, Mike!

Cherdo said...

What a great choice for the battle! Lauren McConnell steals this one, Mike!

Jeffrey Scott said...

There were parts of the song from Jen that I really liked and there were bits I really did not like. However, Lauren was consistent and I liked her version so give her my vote please.