Daily Top Five: Favorite YouTube Finds

What are some of your favorite music Youtube finds? Here are five of mine.

1. Vince Gill & Patty Loveless, “Go Rest High on that Mountain”

This is from George Jones’ memorial service from a couple of years ago. The spoken tributes from Vince and Patty are nice, but if their emotional performance doesn’t move you, then I’m not sure what would.

2. Dierks Bentley, “Riser”

This is Dierks Bentley performing a stripped down version of “Riser” on the Late Show with David Letterman. It’s better than the studio recording.

3. Rhiannon Giddens, “Cry No More”

This is Rhiannon Giddens, from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, performing “Cry No More.” It was recorded in response to the recent Charleston shootings and it’s very powerful.

4. Isaiah Qualls, “Middle of June”

I’ve been reading a blog for a few years and the blogger randomly posted a YouTube link of her son singing last summer. Out of curiosity, I clicked on it and was surprised at how genuinely great it was. This was recorded in the basement of his parents’ house, but the sound quality is surprisingly crisp, not to mention Qualls’ rich vocal performance. It’s not country, but it’s something that I’ve listen to very often.

5. Jeff Daniels, “That’s How I Got to Memphis”

From HBO’s The Newsroom, this is Jeff Daniels covering Tom T. Hall. It’s indulgent and kind of strange outside of the context of the show, but Daniels does a nice job covering a good song and it’s always nice when a great country song is featured in a popular television show.

15 Comments

  1. 1. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert’s version of “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma” (2005).
    2. O Brother Where Art Thou Grammy Performance (2002) Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss -“Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby”; Ralph Stanley – “O Death”; Soggy Bottom Boys, feat. Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas & Ron Block – “Man Of Constant Sorrow”
    3. Taylor Swift, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill – Red – The 47th Annual CMA Awards – 11/6/2013
    4. Hank Williams Jr – All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight (Official Music Video)
    5. Brad Paisley “Crushin’ It” – Official Video

  2. NOTE: If you include more than 3 links (I believe), we have to approve your comment in order for it to post. So, go ahead and include your links and we’ll be happy to approve them.

  3. Sunday Valley (Sturgill Simpson) – Sometimes Wine (Live in a Barn)
    Jamie Lin Wilson – Just Like Heartache (Live)

  4. Sorry folks, I didn’t realize you wanted the links (not drinking my usual coffee today)
    1. Miranda and Blake – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxiLoXntRMU
    2. Soggy Bottom Boys – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-C_HVoiJpY
    3. Taylor’s Last Country performance – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiXmnGWw2EU
    4. Hank being Hank – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2GBQqSKl8w
    5. Brad punks everyone (note the Beavis and Butthead reference) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E8FGdIl7HM

  5. 1. Zac Brown Band Free / Into The Mystic [Live From Bonnaroo] https://youtu.be/wsvyjCeZNKs
    2. Sara Evans & Maroon 5 Storytellers Leather & Lace
    https://youtu.be/EtGv9KBtr58
    3. Adele feat. Darius Rucker “I Need You Now ” ( Lady Antebellum Cover )
    https://youtu.be/bD-o_7iuOrM
    4. The Raconteurs – ‘Old Enough’ (Feat. Ricky Skaggs & Ashley Monroe)
    https://youtu.be/v4QbEcVVBHM
    5. Kelly Clarkson – Don’t Rush (CMA Awards Performance 2012)
    https://youtu.be/CcAecOpUi3k

  6. The Josh Turner/Randy Travis Crossroads series
    Alan Jackson singing “The Fireman.”
    Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert’s version of “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma”
    Brad Paisley “Crushin’ It” – Official Video
    “Bench Seat” by Josh Turner

  7. My five

    1. THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST–Linda Ronstadt (from a November 1973 Midnight Special show with Cat Stevens, who originally wrote the song in 1967): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNtgPsjuf8

    2. TIGER MAN–Elvis Presley (from The Man’s 1968 NBC special): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TZ06EYcyY4

    3. DIFFERENT DRUM–Carrie Underwood (from the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame segment honoring Linda’s induction): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vEH3blIu18

    4. HEY GOOD LOOKIN’–Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Linda Ronstadt (from early 1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QObWRqp4z5c

    5. FAITHLESS LOVE–Caitlin Rose (live concert from 2011 in Berlin, as Caitlin does the J.D. Souther song that Linda made famous on her landmark 1974 album Heart Like A Wheel): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bA8ehd1Pl8

  8. Good choice for a topic here, Leeann!

    Paul, I first discovered The Shaggs in college; they are an especially fascinating trainwreck. Once “My Pal Foot Foot” gets stuck in your head, your day is pretty well ruined.

    I’ll reserve my choices for videos of live performances rather than official music videos, but I will say that I do love how YouTube and Vimeo have greatly expanded the accessibility of the music video format.

    1. Lari White, “There is Power in the Blood.”
    White and a full gospel choir show up and more or less scare the living daylights out of Bill Gaither and pals. This is a great showcase of White’s voice– there isn’t a note in this that isn’t in the dead center of the pitch, and she loses nothing in the quality of her vocal tone when she really starts to belt.

    http://youtu.be/QQg4TPiyZrs

    2. Miranda Lambert & Ashton Shepherd, “The Way I Am.”
    I hate that the first couple of bars of this are missing, but Miranda and the deeply underrated Ashton Shepherd harmonize beautifully on a killer rendition of one of my favorite Merle Haggard songs.

    http://youtu.be/DFub1hNly1s

    3. Little Big Town, “Boondocks”
    From an “Unplugged” special for CMT, the arrangement they give the first verse reinvents one of their most familiar hits and is a showcase for Jimi’s exceptional singing. And then they sing the fire out of the rest of the song, and I’m willing to forgive them for “Day Drinking.”

    http://youtu.be/78UZr_D2GzY

    4. Kelly Clarkson, “Home”
    Performances like this, in which the first and still best Idol winner belts the everliving shit out of a brilliant Marc Broussard song, are what keep me on edge for her eventual proper country album.

    http://youtu.be/inhQBhJE4vg

    5. Nickel Creek, “Toxic”
    Because obviously.

    http://youtu.be/CWQo0bktuAI

  9. Jonathan – I first encountered the Shaggs while in high school. While they seemed to be singularly untalented, they certainly were unique. I don’t have anything by them in my collection (45 seconds or so is about all I can stand to listen anyway), but I would imagine it to be an extremely rare and valuable piece of vinyl to own

  10. 1. Vince Gill, “The Key to Life” – CMA Awards 1998. Most heartbreaking performance I’ve ever seen on an awards show.

    https://youtu.be/Zmwbx1dWW9Y

    2. Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris, “I Can’t Help it (If I’m Still in Love With You)” – Still my favorite celebrity harmony track.

    https://youtu.be/MZbUYS7Qos4

    3. Dolly Parton, “Don’t Let it Trouble Your Mind” – rarity brilliantly interpreted by Rhiannon Giddens this year.

    https://youtu.be/VqKgUmMG0gA

    4. June Carter Cash accepting the ridiculous CMT Flameworthy Award in honor of Johnny Cash, on the ridiculous CMT Flameworthy Award show.
    (“This is beautiful. I don’t know what it is, but here it is.”)

    https://youtu.be/tfvpe720RRc

    5. Cindy Walker reads a poem at her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1997 CMA Awards.)

    https://youtu.be/9KfU3FGZXKU

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