After four years, London’s premier/only Sunday afternoon folk music/roast dinner symposium In The Pines is calling it a day on March 29th at The Harrison, Harrison Street, WC1.
Former guests have included Micah P. Hinson, Adam Green, James Blackshaw, Fionn Regan, Josephine Foster, Sharron Kraus and loads more but this time it’ll be The Owl Service and Alessi doing the honurs.
The name of the club was stolen from a 19th Century Appalachian folk song of indiscriminate origin. Occasionally also called ‘Black Girl’ or ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?’ it’s probably the only song covered by Dolly Parton, Nirvana and Snowman from Smokey And The Bandit.
For more info on the last hurrah visit the In The Pines website.
And we’re not in a position to judge what the definitive version of the song is but here are some outstanding versions chosen by our mate Pat Long who runs the eponymous recovery session.
Nirvana – ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?’ (1993)
Although it’s been around as a song since at least the 1870s, most people know ‘In The Pines’ from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged recording. Cobain also played on a version on Mark Lanegan’s 1990 solo album The Winding Sheet.
Smog – ‘In The Pines’ (2005)
One of the most recent – and most affecting – versions. Taken from the Bill Callahan album A River Ain’t Too Much Love.
The Grateful Dead – ‘In The Pines’ (1966)
Wonderfully injudicious application of the hammond organ.
Leadbelly – ‘In The Pines’ (1944)
Leadbelly wasn’t the first person to record ‘In The Pines’, but he was certainly the most persistent, putting down at least six different versions.
Joan Baez And Bob Dylan – In The Pines (1963)
The song’s position as a folk standard is affirmed by this Baez/Dylan live recording.
