An old acquaintance of mine had a show on the campus radio station when we were in college. One day, he played the Judy Collins version of "Coal Tattoo", which sounded OK until he followed it with Hazel Dickens' version. Again, I can't fault Collins' voice but it was immediately obvious who had grown up in a coal camp and who hadn't.

As much as I hate to say this, Willie Nelson, early on, recorded a version of "San Antonio Rose" that is absolutely awful. He even destroyed the tune, which amazes me because it has to be one of the more distinctive pop-country tunes out there.