Coven - One Tin Soldier (MGM version 1971)

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

It is 17 December, 2023 as I comment. I was just introduced to this song late last night by one of my dearest friends. It is entirely apropos to what is presently in progress on several continents of this planet. It was written in 1969, and it is relevant nearly 55 years later in more ways than one.

[@shippo36able]

It was written the year I was born. Look up Coven. That beautiful voice is Jinx Dawson, a self proclaimed Satanist. You'll see.

[@brendamcdougle7228]

Everyone should listen to this song until they truly get it, if they ever do get it!!!

[@michellewilliams4553]

The Legend... I first heard this song when I was in grade school in the early 70s. My older sisters would play it over and over. #memories

[@RobertNeville-kf7ji]

This was the hit on the radio.

[@joannwinn8545]

I always love this song. It’s even more important now.

[@rafael7899]

according to Chris Cornell's biography this is the first song he sang to an audience, at his sixth grade

[@metaronger2225]

Exactly why I'm here, I just started reading it

[@catherineurbanowski1794]

Wow are u serious ?me and my cousin as kids would roller skate with the disco ball on listening to this on the eight track player ... Good times

[@kbencsik1]

This song gives me chills. Her voice is so beautiful.

[@vapordreams983]

Was it this version or the og?

[@timothyjuarez5306]

Same. Had a hippy Music Teacher, who taught us a lot of Dylan, John Denver and this one. Bless that music teacher, though I didn't remember her name.

[@Rick123691]

I’m a simple man , I like simple things, this was one of my favorite things in my life ❤️, I can’t explain in words what this movie meant to me ! 🚔

[@GavinQuick-o2s]

He became what his followers hated

[@tntamusements]

What a great song and lyrics...this should have won an Emmy!

[@KanTexCali]

Oscar if it was nominated for best song in a movie, or Grammy, if it was nominated in one of the pop vocal performance categories. An Emmy is awarded for television. Just an FYI, no biggie. Also I agree, it should have won an award. ☮️

[@michaeldanao6326]

I had the original 45 ! , that and 876 one hit wonders !

[@ja-is2lf]

In the mid-70's, my elementary school music teacher would have the kids in her class sing this seemingly every time (along with "This Land is Your Land," and "{Old) John Henry." She used to write out all the lyrics to all the songs on giant sheets of paper for the kids to sing from while she played electric piano to accompany us. Ah, memories, I was one of three or four kids who would have rather been burned alive on a stake before we would ever even lip-sync, let alone ever sing. A lot of boys back then such as myself always thought singing was for girls, lol. No offense, just the way we thought back then. Of course I don't believe that by any means now, lol.

[@ramschick4life204]

In the mid-70s my 5th grade teacher Mrs. McCulley taught the class the words to this enlightening song and she would have us sing along with the recorded version throughout the school year. She didn't discuss the lyrics; she let us "feel" them and come to "understand" them on our own. Also, this awesome teacher and her husband would take our class (in groups of fours) sailing in their sailboat in the Ventura Harbor, simply for the experience (which many might have never known, otherwise). Loved her then for all she did for us and the knowledge she shared with us; love her now for the beautiful memories and for being a part of "my village." (It takes a village.❤)

[@damonstapleton7931]

Great song....true today as was back then ..

[@DNulrammah]

Check out the version that The late Brittany Murphy did (As Luann Platter - "King of the Hill) A cover of this song was also used in a few episodes of "iZombie" (S3).

[@michaelmay9059]

Yes! I searched for this song because I just started listening to Chris Cornell's biography and this is the 1st song he ever performed in front of an audience. He sang it in the 6th grade in front of his catholic school.

[@metaronger2225]

I'm reading that right now hahah

[@pppkidd6630]

Great song, great movie!!

[@chrismulwee4911]

Don't know if Coven still ever performs this in their concerts, but if they do, I would imagine they save it for the finale.

[@lucalapaglia3941]

They still perform but they don't play this one at all, only the satanic stuff

[@chrismulwee4911]

@@lucalapaglia3941 Dang. It's the VERY song they are known for and they don't even perform it. Rats.

[@PrinceRyanMcReynolds]

@@lucalapaglia3941 This is the only Coven song I like as I for sure am not a fan of the group itself due to their satanic music links and all that

[@AngelPrimsepski]

@@PrinceRyanMcReynoldsYou do know this is about the hypocrisy of Christianity right

[@tomevans4402]

Peace and love to all🙏

[@strawberryseason]

This is a very compelling vocal performance. I love her voice!

[@srebmahc8295]

I sang this as a 70s kid at church. Listening today after the 2024 election ...

[@thebarbaryghostsf]

I think both versions have their merits. Jinx has a lot more attitude, which compliments the lyrics. But the Original Caste's vocalist also fits really well. She's a bit more melodramatic. Which I dig.

[@jcedwards8363]

on the bloody morning after .......

[@SarahBullard-c4l]

I sang this in Sunday School in the 70's.

[@traxel14]

This absolutely one of the best ever heard. Burt, I would like t hear from the 60s.

[@chrismulwee4911]

This is the later full band rerecording, as opposed to the "Billy Jack" version was was Esther "Jinx" Dawson solo, with the MGM Orchestra. Boyjohn, is it just me, or is this one slightly faster, and with a heavier drumbeat? Sure sounds that way.

[@boyjohn]

Yes, this is slightly faster than the WB version and was released about 4 months after it (June/October 1971). I'm really not sure what prompted the re-recording. There is some info in Billboard about it, but it really isn't very clear. The WB version finally charted in Sep 1971 (BB #26), and then both versions charted in 1973 (BB #73/#79). The arrangements are very similar with slight differences (I think the WB one brings up the piano a bit in the mix if I remember correctly) and some differences in the vocal. Evidently this song was one of the most played songs on the radio in the early 70s, even though it didn't chart that high.

[@chrismulwee4911]

@@boyjohn Coven is categorized as "Metal" but they really weren't. They were more psychedelic rock like Jefferson Airplane or The Doors. I've listen to samples of their first three albums, and it's nowhere as instense as Metallica or Motorhead which ARE metal.

[@baylinkdashyt]

Are you sure about that, Chris? The topic of the multiple versions just came up in a Facebook group, so I've been listening through them tonight, and if I'm not mistaken, *this* recording is the Warner Brothers Orchestra version: it is much more lushly orchestrated than the 'Coven' recording (also here on Facebook as a tribute to the film with lots of clips of Laughlin kicking people in the face). Notable items are the tuba notes in the opening, and what I think are some French horn countermelody going through the verses. The crack in her voice at the end of the second verse is pretty distinctive too. I'm pretty sure this recording is the one with the orchestra from the film soundtrack.

[@chrismulwee4911]

@@baylinkdashyt Yes I'm sure. This version is the one that closes out the bands 2nd self-titled album. Compare this final closing track full band version which is the same as thiskzbin.info/www/bejne/hn3QnGewi8ike9k with the Billy Jack Warner Studio version that you are thinking about kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3K2k4NpetZkjKc. The thing this this full Coven version while recorded just 4 months later after the Dawson solo version in 1971, didn't become a single until '73 along with the rerelease of the BJ version. Hope that clears things up

[@chrismulwee4911]

BTW BOTH solo and group recordings have lush orchestral arrangements.

[@joebrettgale3306]

For you Cathy Ogilvy of Georgia RIP 😔🥀(7Yrs)

[@daviddigregorio424]

As incredibly on point today as it was 50 years ago. Prophets come in all shapes and sizes.

[@emmanuelgoldstein1918]

Heard the song at the movies when "Billy Jack" was released. I've always liked the song. Seems to me that those who incessantly claim to be better, more inclusive, more peaceful, more smarter, more tolerant, more victimized, are the most righteously indignant narcissists who tend towards violence when they don't get their way. -- If you live in a glass house, don't throw stones or stow thrones. And if you live in a village on a mountain, don't tell the surrounding valleys you have a treasure buried there.

[@tabbycat8511]

If you have the original MGM single, could you please post the B side? Believe that version of “I Guess It’s a Beautiful Day” is a different mix from the album, with hand claps in the break.

[@boyjohn]

Here ya go kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpaxhnVqpql8gLs

[@edwardroque8563]

Billy Jack 😁👍🏼

[@suzannahschulthies1260]

" When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law, only the fight for survival." Still holds true today.✊️

[@kissfanmac]

This MGM version is a re-recording from 1973. The Warner Brothers version is the original and that is from 1971. They sound so similar.

[@ronlee2611]

Jinx Dawson is incredible. This song has a dark menacing theme. It's amazing that people have taken to it, like some hippie anthem. Listen closely.☠️

[@MichelleStanton-j3q]

Best song. 1:52

[@joethetallguy2794]

This is the best version and I haven’t been able to buy it to download. I’ve had the Original Caste version forever. Is there a reason why ?

[@RibEaterDutch]

I came across this video because of the same question

[@ericmusgrave1688]

This is the version they always played on the radio when I was a kid

[@Aleph3575]

Probably because this is an old ass song by a band that most people who weren't alive for it have only ever heard of because of it randomly being in Chris Cornell's biography or because of Todd in the Shadows' One Hit WonderLand episode on it.

[@frankkoller2622]

You'll probably find it on Amazon or eBay. Remember this is the recording from the movie soundtrack not the studio version.

[@steveanderson1368]

I've never been able to find all the details, but it's possible that nobody can release this version without risking a lawsuit. It seems Tom Laughlin and Mundell Lowe arranged for the band Coven to record a cover version for the soundtrack of Billy Jack. Laughlin and Mundell didn't like the result, so they subsequently recorded the version heard here. This version was performed by Coven's singer, Jinx Dawson, but she was backed by studio musicians, not Coven. The fact that Coven was still listed as the recording artist turned into a problem when the song became an unexpected hit. According to Wikipedia, Coven recorded their own version in 1973, but I've never heard it. In any case, this is the version that us 70s kids remember.

[@darryl3422]

Theme from Billy Jack

[@ranchokitty1]

"I'm going to put this foot across your face and there's nothing you can do about it!"

[@madonnacrandall3187]

These lyrics ring truth ... wish governments..would agree to turn a stone of man kind.. not greed..

[@kylemcintyre4182]

Jinx has such a sexy voice

[@TheAudivisioner]

This was the main version. Less production was sufficient. Another great song written by songwriting team of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

[@chaunezkalk9822]

NO! A new chapter has begun. Absolutely! ‘ For, their very own’? Is a past mindset that is trying to punish. Absolutely!

[@brandonleague3641]

Jinx? Where's Satan?

[@gregorymcgee100]

Yeah, she sounds pretty good for a demon.

[@MysteryBoy-x4t]

Hearing this version 1st time. Of all the recordings of this Great Song, I'll stick listening to just Skeeter Davis' version.

[@franciscosalinas8686]

One tin soldier rides away because he smoked the peacepipe with the chief and that ment peace ✌ not war and so many died because it was a lie and all he could do is dead bodies as he left he cried on his last ride

[@philiphatfield5666]

I hope Kelly Clarkson and some of those other 'cover' crazy oafs keep their paws off of this!

[@nd_irish_fan744]

In case you didn't know, this is a cover. It was first recorded by The Original Caste in 1969. Coven (this version) recorded it in 1971, and this is the version that appeared in Billy Jack.

[@justinmathewson3692]

Jinx Dawson was a Goddess

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Great rip! I recall the Coven version used here.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3K2k4NpetZkjKc

[@boyjohn]

Thanks, the version in the cartoon is the WB version, much more common than this (extremely hot and compressed) MGM version. Ths (MGM) version is a little faster (though similar) and you can tell the difference when she sings "draw your sword", the MGM in inflected differently on "sword". This version charted in the summer of 1973 (when the movie Billy Jack was riding high on a re-release) , even though it was originally released (as was the WB version) in 1971.

[@chaunezkalk9822]

Whose, story? This is a huge question in geopolitical terms. Absolutely! Yet; the forces are still killing an$ making their statements. Absolutely! I’m not, going anywhere; until my Lord, calls. Absolutely!

[@MichaelHansenFUN]

same band that brought you this kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnmkn4VmZp5rjJY

[@schensho6567]

Yep...

[@gamefan6219]

The Simpsons.

[@heatmiser9094]

This should be America's final anthem...... if people can't get it.... They're not good people

[@dma124]

The murderous “people of the valley” are the MAGATS. “Do it in the name of Heaven, you can justify in the end..”. Trump’s people are doing just that.

[@monkeytennis7477]

Beautiful song from a slightly creepy band, however. 🔥

[@teller1290]

Interesting,...how so?

[@jakelee7639]

@@teller1290 they were a satanic themed band

[@teller1290]

@@jakelee7639 you mean in their name or their song titles? Btw, I find it odd that I make a comment, "Interesting," and the comment that I quoted "interesting," from is no longer posted. Happens on YT to me all the time.

[@jakelee7639]

@@teller1290 no offense meant,..just responding to the “how so” of interesting...check out covens witchcraft destroys minds lp and you will find an audible recording of a satanic black mass as the final track, along with each song having varying degrees of satanic lyrics.....very odd for late 1960’s,..now nothing is shocking

[@paulenemaehinds9848]

Anyone here since pitons tirade on Ukraine. So sad what man can do.

[@joechruscinski97]

For Diane niewdach the love of my life

[@itchybum9]

Usually not a fan of auto tune but could have helped here.

[@strawberryseason]

R u crazy? She's fantastic!

[@bobmerlington1330]

u must be young