#BoTB Round 11 ‘Stairway To Heaven’ showdown
Welcome to my first BoTB comeback post!
After a long hiatus from the battles, I’m ready to get the show going again. Don’t worry, 4Mers, you’ll find the linky party at the bottom of the post to snag or link up. 😉
In this showdown round, I’m pulling from a past 4M theme for inspiration where I shared today’s battle song – Led Zeppelin 1971 hit, Stairway to Heaven.
According to the site, SecondHandSongs, there are 126 versions. Judging by the list I’d say about half are instrumental versions. Wanting to do something a little different, I stirred clear of rockers covering this classic and decided on two artists from the country/folk genre. I invite you to listen, then tell me in comments which artist you like the best (recommended) and why (optional)!
My first contestant was a bit of a shocker to discover. In 2002 Dolly Parton covered it her way and truly making it a special song suiting her purrfectly!
This new-to-me bluegrass band released their version in 2005, Iron Horse!
**Poll closes at noon (EST) September 21st**
Who gets your vote, Dolly Parton or Iron Horse?
Tell me which artist is your favorite rendition. There’s no wrong way to vote unless you don’t vote at all. If you want, you can spill the beans on why you think your artist deserves to win.
Finally, let me point out that you’ll find more awesome battles underway at some of these blog listed below (not everyone is doing the bi-monthly showdowns now) and if you’d like to be included in the fun, then contact Stephen requesting to be added to the list.
✩ai loves music✩ (Amy), Angels Bark (Michele), Cherdo on the Flipside, The Doglady’s Den (Debbie), Jingle Jangle Jungle (Mary), Mike’s Ramblings, STMcC Presents BoTB (Stephen, BoTB Manager), The Sound of One Hand Typing (John), & Tossing It Out (Lee)
Once again, please don’t forget to cast your vote for your favorite artist in this showdown in comments and be sure to check back next week in my 4M on Sunday (22nd) post to see if your favorite artist is named the winner in this round of Battle of the Bands.
I’m gonna close with one more cover of Zeppelin’s classic by a very young rocker chick. This one doesn’t count, folks, so PLEASE refrain from voting for Miss Rylee. 😉
X💋X💋, Cathy
Please be sure to return tomorrow to hit the 4M dance floor. Tomorrow’s theme Mary asked us to build a playlist featuring Farm Aid past/presents artists. You’re invited to link your 
mewsic posts below. If you join the party, please add a link back to the 4M (Marie, Stacy, Alana, Colette, or Cathy) hostess of your choice and you’re welcome to add the linky code in your post, too. 😉 Remember, all other posts are subject for immediate removal or labeled NO MUSIC. Let’s boogie!💃🕺
26 Comments
Arlee Bird
This song is one of the earliest Battle songs that I came up with so many years ago and never used. One of my top choices was going to be Dolly Parton since I like her version so much. The album it came from is a rich one to mine for covers so I might still go back to it and use one of the other songs on it. Great album.
I like the Iron Horse version. I’ve considered using some of their other covers for Battles. “Stairway” works great as a bluegrass tune and their version is outstanding.
Still, my heart belongs to Dolly. Give my vote to her version.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Cathy Kennedy
Lee,
Oh, that’s so cool that my battle song is one that you’ve had on the back burner but what’s even cooler is that you were considering Dolly. 🙂 Thanks for making time to stop in to vote for a small town East Tennessee gal! 😀
Michael Todd
I wish to cast a vote for Dolly Rebecca, please… I bought the Halos and Horns album, to get this track, when it was new. Several people did. That album charted high for a bluegrass record.
Cathy Kennedy
Myke,
You put Dolly in the lead and perhaps the winner if no one else votes. Thanks for playing along, my friend!
Stephen T. McCarthy
HiYa, CATHY! Welcome back to BOTB.
Definitely a unique approach to this famous song.
I got to 6:02 of Dolly’s version and just couldn’t go on any further. I shut ‘er down only 25 seconds before the end. Ha!-Ha! I hated to give up when I was THAT close to the finish line, but I just didn’t have 25 more seconds left in me. :^D
Never been a Dolly fan – her voice is way too high-pitched for me, and in this song, I think she very nearly reached the inaudible pitch of a dog whistle. I could hear my neighbors’ dogs starting to howl, and had she gone any higher, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hear her and could have made it that final 25 seconds.
IRON HORSE gets my vote. I kinda liked that. I almost felt like I was listening to [Link> ‘The Darling Family’ from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’. All they needed was Briscoe Darling blowing on a jug.
~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Cathy Kennedy
Stephen,
Generally, I’m like you, I don’t care for high-pitched female vocals but I enjoyed Dolly’s cover very much. I think it’s the overall sense of her version that I dig. Granted she got a bit too high but not like some I’ve heard that nearly shatter what hearing I have left. lol I had to laugh with your vote pick Iron Horse to the Andy Griffith’s Darling family comparison and I do hear that. I heard by way of the grapevine that Iron Horse tried persuading Briscoe to join in but he said it wasn’t interested unless there was white lighting in his jug. That’s why there isn’t a jug blower in this bluegrass cover of ‘Stairway To Heaven’. 😀
Birgit
I didn’t expect to like Dolly Parton’s version of this song but i really enjoyed it. She kept me interested in the song and put real feeling into the lyrics plus I liked the |Banjo or was it the mandolin?? i am so bad. the second one just sounded liked they were strumming away without any feel for the song. Gosh, how much I recall that every high school dance ended with this song. they would all dance slow but at the end, they had no clue how to keep dancing..hahahaa
Cathy Kennedy
Birgit,
Initially, when I saw Dolly’s name associated with this song I thought, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know about that” and then after I listened to it, I was like ‘WOW, I love it, I’ve gotta use it’. There’s definitely a banjo but there could be a mandolin as well. I’m hearing two different string sounds but my ear isn’t too keen for noting these things like I once could. Whatever it is sure adds a lovely texture to her cover. Thanks for voting for Dolly Parton. She’s holding her own!
Mary B
Very interesting battle, Cathy! Who knew Dolly had covered this song? It’s just not something that is in her typical wheelhouse. She did a pretty decent job, but in the end it was Iron Horse that won me over. Give my vote to them!
Cathy Kennedy
Mary,
I’m with you on Dolly’s cover. I would not have guessed her doing this song in a million years…well, I would’ve recognized her voice but I certainly never saw her covering it. She did a great job, though. This is a tight showdown. You brought things back to even with your Iron Horse vote. Thanks for stopping in! 😉
messymimi's meanderings
Dolly. She simply nailed how the song should feel.
Cathy Kennedy
Mimi,
With your vote for Dolly, she’s now ahead by one! Thanks for voting. 😉
John Holton
“Stairway to Heaven” is an EBS Special for me: I heard it one too many times on 96 Rock and ended up finding a different station to listen to during the workday. So, it’s not my favorite song.
In the contest, I much preferred Iron Horse to Dolly Parton. Iron Horse did a better job of molding the song to their style, and the result was very good. The way Dolly kept shouting “Stairway to heaven!” at the end indicated she didn’t know what she was doing at the end. So: Iron Horse for the win.
Jaydn Riley, bless her heart, gave it a good try. She has a sweet voice and I’m sure I’d like her on something other than this.
Cathy Kennedy
John,
Thanks for stopping by to play along. I have you down for Iron Horse bringing the contenders neck to neck. Jaydn is a sweetie but I thought she did quite well for someone so young. It’ll be interesting to see how she does over time. Some of the young talent if they stay on track could blossom into megastars one day.
scr4pl80
Dolly for me. The Bluegrass didn’t catch me at all. Nicely done!
Cathy Kennedy
Janet,
Excellent, another vote for Dolly! Thanks for dropping in, Sweetie!
aisasami
Cathy, happy Sunday! I am glad you are back in the ring with your Battle of the Bands! I really love Dolly Parton’s version the best. She has amazing vocal and her take on the classic rock song is breath-taking! Has this appear on any of her albums?
Cathy Kennedy
Amy,
Thanks for joining me on Sunday and I so appreciate your vote for Dolly Parton. Have a bandtastic week, dearie!
Rain Frances
I love Dolly Parton’s voice, but I am a big fan of Blue Grass, so I’m voting for the Blue Grass tribute!!
Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I saw a band play called Dread Zeppelin. I went to three of their shows and they were awesome, such a great show, I think actually it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen the Stones, Michael Jackson and Tom Jones! Anyway, Dread Zeppelin had an Elvis impersonator as the lead singer (Fat Elvis), and the band was a reggae band. I’m sure you can’t even imagine how the songs sounded, but they were great, and often really hilarious. I found Dread Zeppelin’s audio version of Stairway to Heaven on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7DqjyNGHJU I would vote this as the best version if I could lol!
Cathy Kennedy
Rain,
Dread Zeppelin’s cover is unique. It would be interesting to see if it would pull any votes in a showdown but if I’m honest, it might be too different or too reggae. Many of those who play along seem to shy away from the reggae genre in the past. Thanks for sharing your pick, darlin’!
Debbie D.
What a wonderfully unique idea for a battle, Cathy! 👌 That is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Coincidentally, I used Iron Horse (covering Metallica) in January 2016. Although not a fan of bluegrass generally, I do like their approach. Dolly did a good job, but somehow, her vocal tone seemed a bit jarring, here. Please give my vote to Iron Horse. Have a good week!
Cathy Kennedy
Debbie,
I was fairly certain someone used Iron Horse but I couldn’t remember who, so thanks for clearing that mystery for me. 🙂 I have you logged for Iron Horse. Thanks for voting!
Brian Frum
WOW, we hadn’t heard any of those versions but they are all so cool, we like!
Cathy Kennedy
Brian, thank you for stopping in to listen to my contenders in my BoTB comeback tour!
Thomas Anderson
Hi, Cathy!
Happy Sunday, dear friend! It’s good to see you staging a band battle again.
“It starts with a great song,” I always say, and “Stairway To Heaven” is a great song. No wonder it has been covered by so many artists. I thought I had heard it all when Ann Wilson sang the song as a tribute for Led Zeppelin at the Kennedy Center in 2012. Dolly’s recording, the last song on her 2002 country/folk/bluegrass album Halos & Horns, is another masterpiece, a new classic in its own right, and Robert Plant was reportedly pleased upon listening to it for the first time. Dolly sells the song, makes it her own, makes me believe it. I took the whole 6-27 ride because I was unable to tear myself away and didn’t want to miss a single note.
I read that those ‘Bama boys, Iron Horse, specialize in bluegrass covers of rock and metal including tributes to Metallica, Ozzy & Sabbath, Van Halen, Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana. Dolly is an extremely tough act to follow and the Iron Horse version of “Stairway” lacked Parton’s power punch. With their lighter approach to the material, which reminded me of The Smothers Brothers, I’d like to hear Iron Horse cover “Flowers On The Wall” by The Statlers.
The decision was easy for me this time. As a representative of the great state of Florida, I hereby proudly cast my entire one vote for Dolly Parton, and thank you very much for leading me to this remarkable new-to-me version of “Stairway To Heaven.”
I am familiar with Jadyn Rylee, the young Canadian singer and YouTube star who has been singing since the age of two. She is accompanied here by German drummer girl Sina and the fabulous Romanian guitarist Andrei Cerbu, two artists I have presented at Shady’s Place. I hope everybody takes time to watch the entire performance because it is another great rendition of “Stairway.” A few months ago, I found another song by Jadyn that I will be posting soon. It does my heart good to see young singers and musicians around the world bringing back boomer era classics and performing them so well.
Thank you for offering a heaping helping of great mewsic this morning, dear friend Cathy, and have a wonderful week ahead!
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
Thanks for taking time out our of your Sunday to visit and cast your vote in my comeback BoTB edition. I couldn’t have been more surprising to learn that Dolly covered such a classic heavy rock song but I love her version but I like Iron Horse equally well. Each brings something special to Led Zeppelin’s hit. I’ve put you down for Dolly Parton, my friend!
Incidentally, I think it was you who introduced me to Jadyn Rylee and I should’ve given you credit but at the time I pulled this battle together I guess it slipped my pea-sized memory bank. Thanks for refreshing my memory. 🙂