Brilliant thread!!!!!!!
I love the Johnny Cash version of first time. Like Nina Simone he was a great interpreter of songs and usually transformed them into something other. (For evidence, check out his version of Nine Inch Nail’s version of Hate).
I’m a great fan of Bjork and Ane Brun’s version of Joga is so heartfelt it gives you goosebumps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4RTMsb8bA
If anyone saw the brilliant On Top of the Lake on the Beeb recently, they would have noticed another haunting version of this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnEGSr5hRk4
And here’s another Ane Brun offering from a rather decent album of Scandinavian people having the gall to take on Leonard Cohen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StB7G6zFG1k
and finally, hopefully this is a treat for Nick Drake fans, great songs deserve great voices: