Cold: Rain and Snow

Pentangle: Rain and Snow

[purchase]

Like many old blues songs, "Rain and Snow" (more commonly known as "Cold Rain and Snow) seems to be an amalgam of several old folk songs. I have fourteen version of this song of marital woe by the Grateful Dead alone, but this version by British folk-rockers Pentangle remains my favorite. It comes from their 1971 album Reflection, where the band members were really expanding their influences. This song alone features both banjo and sitar (provided by the band's guitarists, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, respectively), and it's that seemingly unlikely combination that makes it stand out for me.