I like listening to different versions of the same song. Especially when it is done in a completely different genre. "In The Pines", also known as "Black Girl" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" is one of those songs. Originally a traditional American folk song, it was widely known among the African American population as "Black Girl". That was probably how Lead Belly learned about the song and decided to record it in 1944.
Although he wasn't the one who wrote the song, nor the one who recorded it first, he is often mentioned as the original author. Lead Belly actually recorded several versions of this song. In the one below, you can hear his "Black Girl" version, in other versions he changes "Black Girl" into "My Girl", perhaps to make it appeal to a wider (non black) audience. In fact, Lead Belly was the first African American singer who was popular among the white population. After spending a few years in prison, he toured several American Universities with John Lomax, who had written a book on American folk music. Because the US was quite racist at the time, Lead Belly was hired as Lomax's driver, to be able to travel together.
Lead Belly - "In the Pines"
Bill Monroe, the pioneer of Bluegrass music, also recorded a version of "In the Pines" in the early 1940's. As many other Country and Bluegrass artists at the time he used old folk songs, and added some traditional country music instruments (banjo, fiddle, etc.) to it. Later, several other country artists covered Bill Monroe's version of the song; Dolly Parton, the Louvin Brothers, and Ralph Stanley. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a better YouTube version of the song, but I hope you'll enjoy it nevertheless.
Bill Monroe - "In the Pines"
Perhaps the best known version of the song was recorded by Nirvana on their 1994 unplugged album. They changed the title of the song into "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", but you can definitely hear that it is the same song as "In the Pines". Lead Belly is actualy wrongully mentioned as the song's author during this performance.
Nirvana - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
