Tim Hardin, Lady Came from Baltimore
Arlo Guthrie, Percy's Song. Dylan's 1963 original
Byrds, Pretty Boy Floyd
Marty Robbins, El Paso
Bob Dylan, Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache
Bob Luman, Let's Think About Livin'
Charley Ryan, Hot Rod Lincoln, the original. Before Johnny Bond, before Commander Cody.
Dave Dudley, Six Days on the Road
Red Sovine, Phantom 309. Tom Waits' cover. YouTuber comment:
I don't know what it is about this particular Tom Waits song. Out of all the music I've heard, this is the only one that tears me up from the first chord. I'm a big boy, all grown-up. But I'm helpless to stop those tears. I've seen my fair share, and more, of pain and suffering and death, and so should be fairly immune to such sentimentality. Many songs are supposedly more tear-jerking, . . . but NOT ONE moves me like this. Maybe because I used to hitchhike a lot? Maybe because I've seen, and been involved in, several car accidents? Maybe because a trucker friend was drowned when the ferry he was travelling on sunk? I don't know. I've always appreciated, and liked a lot, Tom Waits' compositions and performances, and yet this one song captures me completely, emotionally. Perhaps I'm turning into a softy. More likely, I'm just getting too old for this life. Answers on a postcard, please… (Tom Foyle)
Yes, one can get too old for this life.