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My favorite “Wayfaring Stranger”

3 comments

Tennessee_Ernie_Ford

Of all the versions I have heard of “Wayfaring Stranger,” this is my favorite. This is Tennessee Ernie Ford singing with a lone guitarist on Ford’s television show way back in the late 1950’s. What makes this version stand out to me is Ford’s voice (if you haven’t heard it, treat yourself), the sparseness of the instrumentation (which suits the song), and the classical guitar (which is a performance in itself without ever getting in the way of the vocals).

 

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  1. My favorite version is Tim O’Brien’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBt5PQ3hs4c

    I sang this at my cousin’s funeral a few years ago.

  2. Nice. My favorite of the country music versions is Emmylou Harris’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt7viU91DTg. It’s a great arrangement, and Harris had a great band. One of the musicians and background vocalists is Ricky Skaggs before he made it big.

  3. Bob Clawson says:

    Unbeknownst to her, a friend put my daughter’s a capella version of it, singing in a noisy bistro, on You Tube: Kane Clawson. I wanted to compare how she did among other singers, and I settled on Ernie’s being the best, musically and emotionally, compared with hers. I think Ernie would have enjoyed Kane’s version and I know that she loves his.

    Check out You Tube Kane Clawson

    Proud Papa