WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION OF BOTB!
Hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands, this is where you listen to different recordings and choose the one you prefer. There are two “Battles” per month, on the 1st and 15th. Votes will be tallied and posted the following week. (Please note: Effective July 2017, I switched to once a month on the 15th only. This will allow me more time to share other types of material with you.) Click HERE to view a complete list of my BOTB entries. See below for a list of current participants. Care to join us? Contact our host, by clicking on the above link and leaving a comment on his blog. The more, the merrier!
Hoping to avoid yet another blow out with this one!
Here we have two late, great artists duking it out with English translations of a classic French song.
HISTORY
“Amsterdam” is a song by the late Belgian singer/songwriter/actor Jacques Brel. It combines a powerful melancholic crescendo with a rich poetic account of the exploits of sailors on shore leave in Amsterdam.
Brel never recorded this for a studio album, and his only version was released on the live album Enregistrement Publicà l’Olympia 1964. Despite this, it has been one of his most enduringly popular works
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JOHN DENVER
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. By 1974, he was one of America’s best-selling performers, and AllMusic has described Denver as “among the most beloved entertainers of his era”. He released a version of “Amsterdam” on his album, Take Me To Tomorrow (1970) as well as live versions in 1973 (An Evening with John Denver) and 1976 (Live in London).
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DAVID BOWIE
David Robert Jones (January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016), known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million albums worldwide, made him one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Bowie recorded several versions of “Amsterdam” in the early 1970s. The studio version was released as the B-side to his single “Sorrow” in September 1973.
VOTE NOW!
Please state your preference in comments below and why you chose it.
Voting remains open until 11:59 pm, February 21st,
after which I will count the votes, add mine and publish the results.
These are the other BOTB regulars and semi-regulars.
Please cruise on by their sites and, if they have a post up, vote on their selections as well:
[Check back – there’s no set posting time]ai love music / Cherdo On The Flipside / Curious as a Cathy / Jingle Jangle Jungle /
Mike’s Ramblings / Sound of One Hand Typing / HOST: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands / Tossing it Out
As always, “Sharing is Caring”. Spread this musical joy all over your social networks.
Hashtags are #BOTB and #dogladysden
Battle of the Bands #BOTB: PORT OF AMSTERDAM | Who did it better? Cast your vote! #dogladysden Share on X
Next Battle on this site will be March 15th.
In the meantime, come on back for some other cool stuff:
Every Wednesday:
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FEBRUARY 18th:
Writing challenge from WEP/IWSG.
You can sign up below if you’d like to participate~~~~~~~~ FEBRUARY 28th:
[Click image for details. New participants welcome!]
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ROCK ON!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
27 thoughts on “PORT OF AMSTERDAM #BOTB”
I love it that John was German descent. I also love his take on this song much more. More melancholy and not doing any weird th8ngs with his voice. David Bowie just didn’t do it for me
Hi Birgit; Yes, John was one of “ours”. 🙂 That’s another vote for Mr,, Denver. Thanks!
Debbie,
I didn’t know John Denver’s birth name. It sounds German or Dutch. Now, I was ready to give my vote to David Bowie in this round because I felt his voice was more suited but then David’s talking portion sorta blew it for me and changed my mind. I’m giving my vote to John Denver. Of course, I’ve always been a JD fan. Interesting battle!
Hi, Cathy; Deutschendorf is a German name, literal meaning “German village”. 🙂 I always liked John Denver’s music and was happy to discover his rendition for this battle. That’s another vote for Mr. D. Thanks for participating!
Debbie,
Thanks for sharing more factoids regarding John’s real sir name! I’m sorry for the last response. I’m cleaning up my in-box today. lol
David Bowie all the way for me. I never liked John Denver’s voice.
Another vote for Bowie. Thank you, John. 🙂
David Bowie gets my vote, his voice fit the song better.
Thanks for voting! David Bowie, it is. 🙂
Interesting matchup here. I haven’t heard John Denver in quite some time, but he is quite the story teller. But in this instance, I preferred David Bowie. His vocals were just a bit more appealing to me.
I’m glad you enjoyed the battle, Mary. It’s turning out better than previous ones, so far. 🙂 Another vote for David Bowie. Thanks!
DEBBIE ~
Ordinarily, I would much prefer listening to John Denver than to DAVID BOWIE. But this is one of those rarest of occasions where my own vote surprises me quite a bit. Please give mine to the weirdo with the mismatched eyeballs.
~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Hahaha! Seems like you and Arlee have the same opinion about David Bowie, and yet, you both preferred his version. Interesting! 😀 I don’t want to jinx it, but it appears, at least so far, that this will be a tight battle. Hope so! Thanks for coming by. Sorry your move isn’t going as well as planned.
Got to go with John, much better at this kind of story-song for me.
John Denver it is! I have a good feeling this battle will be a close one. Here’s hoping! 🙂
I said , “Bowie” without even listening to them. Then I listened and have to say…”BOWIE.”
I didn’t like the mood of the French spoken one, it reminded me of a pub crawl ditty gone awry with just a hint of sea chanty. When it comes to passion and angst who does it better than David Bowie? I think he generates a kind of desperate heat that can’t be matched. His accent only serves to send it home. John Denver doesn’t have the passion I’m looking for when singing about a seaport but I did find a sweetness in his rendition. I enjoyed the Bowie version so much I’m playing it again and will probably download it. RIP you lovely wild spaceman.
Welcome to BOTB, Jeanne! 🙂 You’re obviously a Bowie fan. His was a shocking loss and the music world will never be the same. 🙁 BTW, The French song is the original and there for reference only – not part of the battle – so it’s good you didn’t choose it. Another vote for David Bowie. Thank you for participating!
I like John Denver’s version best – but then I loved lots of his recordings.
Thanks for coming by to vote, Carol! 🙂 That’s another one for John Denver. Yes, the music world lost a good one when he died so tragically.
John Denver takes this one. Much better version.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. ♥
Welcome to BOTB, Sandee. 🙂 Thanks for coming by and casting your vote. John Denver, it is! Have a great long weekend.
I had forgotten about this recording by John Denver. I was not aware David Bowie had a version. Both are interesting and enjoyable.
John Denver gets my support here. Thank you.
I’m glad you enjoyed the song, Myke. 🙂 John Denver gets his first vote. Should be an interesting battle. Thanks for participating!
“Amsterdam” is a new song for me. Don’t remember it at least so I could have essentially ignored it since it’s not a style of song that I care for much. Both versions are pretty straight-forward interpretations, but Bowie’s is a touch bit weirder than Denver giving the song a bit of a different twist.
Give my vote to David Bowie.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I’m psyched to have found a song you don’t know, Lee! 😀 First vote goes to David Bowie for being weirder. This should be an interesting battle. Thanks for playing.