The calendar flipped yet again to a brand new month, kittens & dawgs. Do you know what this means?
Yep, that’s right it’s time for Battle of the Bands!
Fall is one of my favorite seasons, so with that I decided to use an old song, Autumn Leaves that originated as Les Feuilles Mortes translated: The Dead Leaves by a French screenwriter and poet in 1945.
One of Americans greatest lyricists, Johnny Mercer a Savannah native, penned the English words to this often recorded classic in 1947. It was Mercer’s version that was first recorded in 1950 by Jo Stafford (not included in battle showdown) and since covered hundreds of times.
Allow me to share the lyrics of Autumn Leaves…
The falling leaves Drift by my window The falling leaves Of red and gold / I see your lips The summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold / Since you went away The days grow long And soon I’ll hear Old winter’s song / But I miss you most of all My darling When autumn leaves Start to fall / Since you went away The days grow long And soon I’ll hear Old winter’s song / But I miss you most of all My darling When autumn leaves Start to fall
Michael Goldsen, an executive at Capital Records (co-founded by Mercer) who brought the French original to Johnny’s attention said this about the song, “…he , (referring to Mercer) read me the lyrics. Tears came to my eyes.”
I understand why Mercer’s got misty eyed after hearing it. The lyrics are beautiful and so is the music! There are 377 versions of this song. I narrowed it down for you folks and am anxious to get your reactions.
I present to you a new-to-me contender, Natasha Marsh.
Marsh is going against a not-so-new contender, Eric Clapton.
Is it a battle between the sexes or the new versus the old? In the end, all that matters is who did it best in your opinion. There is never a wrong way to vote, except when you don’t vote at all. Okay, you know what to do. Tell me in comments who you like the best in comments and if you want, this is totally optional, tell us why you liked your pick.
Meanwhile the fun continues with more epic battles taking place on these amazing bloggers sites. Check ’em out!
•Fae @ Far Away Series (brain child of this little meme) •Stephen @STMcC Presents ‘Battle of the Bands’ (hop coördinator of sorts) •Lee @Tossing It Out •Robin @ Your Daily Dose •Donna @Book Lover •Mike’s Ramblings •John @ The Sound of One Hand Typing •Dixie @ dcrelief ~ Battle of the Bands •Alex J. Cavanaugh •Kim @ The Belle Rocks •Tom @ Shady Dell Music and Memories •Debbie @The Doglady’s Den •Cherdo @Cherdo on the Flipside •Michele @ Angels Barks •Mary @ JingleJangleJungle •Janie @ Women: We Shall Overcome •Jeffrey @ J.A. Scott •Madilyn @ NovelBrews •Holli @ Holli’s Hoots and Hollers •Guilie @ Quiet Laughter
DUE TO SERVER PROBLEMS, polls close will close midnight October 13th ! I’ll will share the results on the eve of the next BOTB showdown, so mark your calendar and stop by to see if your pick gets named! Thanks for joining in on the fun. This is Curious as a Cathy signing off with have a bandtastic day!
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They are both very good, but I do like Natasha’s best….
Glad you’re back to normal, here. 🙂 This is a copy of my comment from your temp site:
Natasha’s version was really dragging and I didn’t much care for it, although she has a decent voice. Eric Clapton does a fantastic rendition and he’s putting out a Leonard Cohen-ish vibe that gives me goosebumps! ERIC ALL THE WAY!
Appropriate song for this time of year. We went from summer to fall practically overnight and the leaves are changing colour now.
Debbie, thanks for copying the comment. I should’ve added everyone’s votes from there here to keep everything together, but didn’t. I think I will do that, though. I’m VERY happy to have things back to normal again.
Hi, dear Cathy!
I well remember “Autumn Leaves” from my childhood. My parents owned the hit version recorded by Roger Williams in 1955. It is a beautiful and evocative song/melody combo. I enjoyed both versions in your contest. As expected, the Clapton version included a nice guitar solo. However, I am going through a female vocalist phase and was greatly impressed by the angelic singing of Natasha Marsh, an artist who is also new to me. Her outstanding performance with the lush orchestral backing render the song as it was always meant to be sung and Natasha gets my vote.
Thank you very much for a fine BOTB, dear friend Cathy!
Tom, thank you for coming back to vote…again. It’s been such a crazy week and I certainly appreciate your patience. I gotta you down for Natasha.
Good to see your comment section working again. Without elaborating as I did in my lost comments I’ll just cast my vote for Natasha Marsh.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
Lee, no problem with not going into details. I’m just glad you did a re-cast of your vote. I can’t begin to tell you how aggravating this whole process was for me, but I know you can imagine. Natasha is taking the lead in this competition.