Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Lead Belly)

This is a live performance by American grunge band Nirvana playing the song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night". The performance is from the band's MTV Unplugged performance from 1993.
The song is an American folk song which dates back to around the 1870's. It is also known under the alternate titles: "Black Girl" and "In the Pines". The person who is most commonly associated with the song is Huddie Leadbetter aka Lead Belly. He recorded various versions of the song throughout the 1940's and it is also this version that Nirvana covers and re-interprets in their own way. (Original Lead Belly version embeded below).

The song has been done by a long list of artists, including: Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Hole, Grateful Dead, and Dolly Parton.
I love both versions and I really think that what Nirvana did was very interesting. They took Lead Belly's original arrangement of the song and used it with the set-up of two guitars, bass, drums, and a cello. It sounds beautiful and it definitely captures some of that beautiful energy of the original recording. A great acoustic performance.

Enjoy ; )

Rory Gallagher - Out on the Western Plain

This is a live performance by blues and folk musician Rory Gallagher. He plays his version of the classic folk song "Out on the Western Plain".
The song was originally a folk song performed by the artist known as Leadbelly or Lead Belly. He was a folk and blues singer in the late 1880's up until his death in 1949. He was known for his strong voice, his virtuosity on the 12-string acoustic guitar, for playing the accordion, harmonica, piano, violin and concertina and for introducing a huge catalogue of folk standards.
Gallagher's version is quite different from the original recording though the lyrics are the same. Gallagher plays it with a pick and his fingers in an Open-D tuning. Leadbelly also used low tunings, but it was a baritone standard tuning (B-E-A-D-F#-b) on a 12-string acoustic. The Open-D also gives that low feel which is what I think Gallagher went for intentionally when he decided to interpret the song.
A good song that really sets the mood. You just feel like you're out on the Western Plain after listening to it.

Enjoy ; )