First Love ( #BOTB )

If February is the month of love then the First of February might be considered the day of First Love.  Who or what was your first love?  

Photo credit

February: Month of Love

         February represents a number of things to different people, but Valentine's Day is kind of the real stand-out day for most of us.  This being the case, my Battle of the Bands entries for the month will be songs about love.  So many songs to choose from on a topic that so many songs celebrate.  What better place to start than a song about first love.

         For this first "Love" round I've chosen a song called "First Girl (or Boy) I Loved".   Typically I would avoid using a first version as done by the original artist, but in this case that artist is so obscure (as is the song) that this first version wouldn't have much advantage on the voting (other than a certain strangeness to the sound of it).

         The first time I heard this song was in early 1969 after my mother got the Judy Collins album Who Knows Where the Time Goes from the record club to which she belonged.  I immediately took an interest in this album since it included the song "Someday Soon" which had been receiving a lot of airplay at the time.  There are some outstanding songs on this album, but initially I was perplexed by the Collins recording of "First Boy I Loved"--it had an oddly unique quality to it.  But as I listened to it more, the song took hold of me and I began to like it a great deal.

         It would be over forty years later that I would hear the original version by The Incredible String Band (ISB) and I understood why the song had such a unique sound.  After all, ISB has been one of my favorite groups since I first happened upon them in 1970.  I had been initially baffled by their style and the sound of their songs, but me being drawn to weirdness as I am, I soon took a great liking to their music and began accumulating any album by them that I could find.  The early album that contained "First Girl I Loved" was one that I never ran across back then, therefore missed hearing until I finally bought the album for my CD collection sometime in this current century.

         In my Battle I'm going to start out with the more alien sounding version by ISB and then will offer the version by Judy Collins.  I think I can predict how this Battle will go--likely very lopsided--but then I never really know how these things will turn out.  So now it will be up to you to decide on the winner...


Battle of the Bands

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.


Incredible String Band   "First Girl I Loved"  (1967)






Judy Collins   "First Boy I Loved"   (1968)






Time to Vote!

         I hope you loved--or at least kind of liked--the song I chose for this Battle.  I like both versions, but I'm going to pick one as a favorite.  I hope you'll play along with us.   Which song version do you prefer?   Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.



Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘Storms and Stardust’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Cherdo on the Flipside 

A I Love Music


Winner of this Battle Announced on Monday February 10th

         There will be another post on Wednesday February 5th for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, but voting on this BOTB post will be open until Saturday February 8th.  Please vote!!