"Ain't No Sunshine" Which version is better?

[CTyankee]

I say Joe Cocker's:

buddy says Bill Wither's:

Buddy thinks I'm SO WRONG...

Whaddya think?

[hlthe2b]

1. Both excellent. I have a soft spot for Wither's original (no pun intended). But, Cocker's is

especially emotional.

I do have Wither's on a large playlist. I might just have to add Cocker's version too.

[CTyankee]

4. Yeah, I think our buddy has that "soft spot" too as a former musican...

I have a large playlist myself but I've been dividing it up cuz my son (a fierce amateur musician) will give me an argument on a number of versions of songs.

One thing: Chuck Berry's music will never be on any playlist of mine. I have made that clear and added "NO WHINING" to my notes re this.

[hlthe2b]

13. I don't mind hearing his music on tv or occasional radio inclusion, but no, I don't include on

any playlists either. The origins of "Rock & Roll" is one thing, but in general, the music of the '50s isn't among my favorite genre.

[Harker]

38. The unintended puns

are often among the best.

[PBC_Democrat]

2. Bill Wither's

Joe's version is too 'jerky' for my taste.

That being said, I prefer Joe's version of "She came in thru the bathroom window"

[CTyankee]

5. The title alone wins...

[Polly Hennessey]

3. Withers. Both are excellent.

Oh, god, does this bring back memories. Hits me right in the pit of stomach. On a Sunday morning you have made the memories flood back. I haven’t even had my coffee. Better go seek out the dogs. They are my antidote.

[CTyankee]

6. Sorry. I got a playlist in mind and in My Documents but I keep changing it...

got an event coming up and my son is helping me with the playlist...

[flibbitygiblets]

7. May I propose a third contender? Buddy Guy with Tracy Chapman cover:

[CTyankee]

8. Those two...great combination of talents...

[lark]

14. Buddy Guy with the win for the instrumental portion.

Bill Withers for the best vocal rendition, IMO.

[Iggo]

9. Buddy is right. (n/t)

[CTyankee]

11. I'm gonna try harder to like the Withers version...

[Lochloosa]

10. May I propose a fourth contender? What were you doing at 12?

[CTyankee]

12. Lovely. But what is your reference to? 12?

[Lochloosa]

16. Canen is 12 in that video. She's 15 or 16 now.

[CTyankee]

19. She did an artful rendering but alas, too young to sing that...but give her some years of

inevitable strife and sadness and she'll have much more to offer...

[lark]

15. OK, you changed my mind.

Whoever this young woman is she has a beautiful voice and of the 4 submissions, she wins the vocal part of the challenge.

[Lochloosa]

24. Canen.

[PennyK]

17. Wow, both great

I'd never heard Joe's version, and it's very good, but I'll stick with Bill Wither's. I do think the arrangement is very similar and is a huge part of the soulful feeling.

[DFW]

18. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.......

Bill Withers

[area51]

20. Wow, hadn't heard Joe Cocker's version before;

I like it better than Withers' version.

[CTyankee]

21. That and "You are so Beautiful" is almost unbearable to listen to...

plus, later versions show the deterioration of his voice due to alcohol abuse...

[Donkees]

22. Eva Cassidy - Ain't No Sunshine

Nov 2, 2014

[CTyankee]

23. VERY nice...love her voice, love that blues turn that I haven't heard anybody else do in this song..

[Donkees]

25. Eva Cassidy: Timeless Voice

[JudyM]

36. This is fantastic, Donkees.

I love Eva and never saw this little treasure vid.... will bookmark it!

[Donkees]

37. It's her documentary. She remains a treasure :)

[JudyM]

39. It's strikingly good audio quality for a live performance!

Her Fields of Gold can move me to tears... she is so heart-based.

[Donkees]

40. It seems that she paid for a professional recording of the events.

So Cassidy, 32, cashed in a small pension from her day job at a plant nursery to rent Washington’s most prominent jazz club, Blues Alley, for the first Monday and Tuesday of 1996. She paid for a live-recording truck to park outside the small brick building on a literal alley in D.C.’s tony Georgetown neighborhood, and begged her friends to fill the candlelit tables inside.

Despairing of landing a major-label deal, Cassidy and Biondo self-financed the recording at Blues Alley. Their gamble paid off when the album was released in May and began to attract more and more attention.

https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/the-brief-brilliant-tragic-life-of-eva-cassidy/

I too love her 'Fields of Gold'

[JudyM]

41. Oomph, did it again...

Good article too, going to share it.

[Lochloosa]

26. That was good. And she has the pain Canen is missing.

[CTyankee]

27. Give Canen some time...she's young. Life will happen...

[Lochloosa]

28. A friend once told me the way to tell an old hippie from a young one...

The young one has no pain in his eyes.

[NNadir]

32. I was going to go with Joe Cocker's version, but for me this one wins.

Every time I hear Eva Cassidy, I'm filled with sadness that we never got to know her when she was alive, except of course the DC locals.

[Brother Buzz]

29. Everyone covered Ain't no Sunshine, and Cocker's is at the top, but Withers totally owns it

It didn't hurt to have Stax Records session musicians backing him either.

[CTyankee]

30. You know more about this music than I do but I'm catching up...

[Brother Buzz]

31. Think Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's

Booker T. Jones, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Steve Cropper, and Al Jackson Jr. were extraordinary session musicians for Stax records. Google Dunn, Steve Cropper, or Al Jackson Jr, and you'll discover you've heard them hundreds of times without knowing their names.

Booker T. Jones produced Ain't No Sunshine. Donald Dunn played bass and Al Jackson was on drums. And interesting enough, Stephen Stills sat in on guitar.

Memphis R&B, Soul, and Blues sound, Baby!

[GemDigger]

33. Bill Withers.

Play it loud. Thanks.

[Skittles]

34. mmmmm

Joe is good, but Bill's is a classic

[retread]

35. Both Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Des'ree or The Neville Brothers