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Your Favorite Traditional Ballad

I could only find a thread with "Power Ballads". I find myself drawn to more traditional ballads lately. Here are a few of my favorites:

1952 Vincent Black Lightening, Richard Thompson
The Ballad of the Runaway Horse, Emmylou Harris
Pretty much any of the traditionals as sung by Kate Rusby
Ballad of Copper Junction (a Journeyman's Lament), Jeffrey Foucault
Folklore (the entire album is outstanding...my favorite would have to be "The Outlaw Song"), 16 Horsepower

I respect how, with such an economy of words, a songwriter can engrave such deep and powerful stories that resonate and linger.

What are some of your favorites in traditional ballads?
jax2

Showing 2 responses by swampwalker

swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Man, there are so many and to me, the diff between a good ballad and a great one is the emotional connection. So by that criterion, the list is highly personal. A few of my favorites:

Nancy Griffith's cover of Townes van Zant's Tecumseh Valley

EmmyLou Harris- Most anything from Angel Band if you are counting gospel. Otherwise (and more contemporary), Broken Man's Lament or Kern River.

Richard and Linda Thompson- Bee's Wing

Jackson Browne- After the Deluge (not a traditional ballad but a ballad nonetheless, IMO).

Patty Loveless- You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

Dimming of the Day- lots of covers; maybe Bonnie Raitt or Richard Thompson.

Eddie From Ohio- Minnesota 1945

Vince Gill- Pretty Little Adriana

Michelle Shocked- Anchorage
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Tom Dooley is a good one. Also "Long Black Veil" qualifies as a traditional ballad for sure. Joan Baez' recording from mid 60s used to make shivers go up and down my spine.

Marco- what I meant was that the total "performance" strikes an emotional chord w/in me. It can be the words, the melody, the playing, the singer's interpretation, or as in Jackson Browne's Before the Deluge, its all of the above, plus the ability of the lyric to evoke a period of my life that was transforming. Sure its not a traditional ballad, maybe more like an anthem of the times, but its one song that I cannot sing along w w/o getting very emotional.
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