Combing the Archives

September 30, 2015 Dave

Some of the most revealing music I listen to hints at what’s in store for humankind by expressing its own historical presence through dialect and direct purpose. It is done in the artistry of music, something that the children’s author Hans Christian Andersen opined that “where words fail, music speaks”. Music is an essential component of our humanity and is an art like no other in that it is the most direct of all art forms. So I find that what’s old to some may be new to me.

Finding music from the early 20^th century is an exercise. Sometimes it is found buried in the wells of collector’s catalogs that are priced beyond anyone’s reach or in carefully curated and targeted anthologies. It can also be found on public domain sites curated by educational entities including the Library of Congress. Rest assured, it is no small effort to sit down early on a Sunday morning and browse these sites, including www.archive.org and Juneberry for items that, while sometimes poor in quality, reveal from behind that ‘gauze of static’ as faces long-since passed. But my Sunday mornings are rarely lacking reward whether that be a King Oliver jazz recording, rough blues from Blind Lemon Jefferson, or even an early century pop from an Annette Hanshaw.

When I think that I’ve heard it all, something new grabs my ear and imagination and drives me to later fulfill my curiosity by reading more about the artist, songwriter, or song. And that is what my show is about: sharing what I discover with the listener. My show is Deeper Roots: A Century of America’s Music and airs on KOWS.fm on even Saturday mornings from 9-11 and on even Sunday and Monday nights from 10-midnight. For more information about my shows I’d encourage you to visit my web site at www.deeperrootsradio.com. The site also features links to my Facebook page as well as archives of over a hundred past shows.

Looking ahead, and speaking of musical archives, there are a handful of record labels that are indispensable to those who equally cherish the ephemera, no matter the luster, of American (as well as world) music. Join me on Deeper Roots over the coming months as I highlight these labels, not least of which are Document Records, The Dust-to-Digital label, The Numero Group, Tompkins Square, veterans Arhoolie and Yazoo, Old Hat, and Bear Family.

High Noon

September 26, 2015 Dave

It’s a new morning…as it always is…and was when we celebrated another Saturday morning in Occidental with Deeper Roots Radio: A Century of America’s Music with host Dave Stroud. This twice-monthly show opens with a mule kicking in the stall, some barnyard rhythm and then moves swiftly into a blend of 1950s country and big band. Ray Charles, Frankie Laine, Chick Webb, Otis Spann, and Merle Travis are just a sampling of performers we’ll hear from. West County living deserves roots music wafting over the airwaves on a Saturday morning in early autumn. Let’s set the airwaves stage with some Otis Spann.

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	Nellie Lutcher	He's A Real Gone Guy	Capitol Records' From The Vaults, Volume 5 – Roots Of Rock 'N' Roll – 1944-53
3	Nellie Lutcher	There's Another Mule In Your Stall	Nellie Lutcher & Her Rhythm [Disc 1]
4	Otis Spann	Mule Kicking In My Stall	Cryin' Time
5	Louis Jordan	Barnyard Boogie	Jivin' With Jordan
6	Joe Liggins	Rhythm In The Barnyard	Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers
7	The Andrews Sisters	A Man is a Brother To a Mule	Golden Age of the Andrews Sisters [Disc 4]
8	Charlie Poole With Sid Harkreader and Uncle Dave Macon	Man that Rode the Mule Around the World	You Ain't Talkin' To Me: Charlie Poole And The Roots Of Country Music [Disc 2]
9	Ralph Stanley	I've Got A Mule To Ride	Old-Time Pickin': A Clawhammer Banjo Collection
10	Tennessee Ernie Ford	Mule Train (1996 Digital Remaster)	Vintage Collections
11	Frankie Laine	That Lucky Old Sun [Album Version]	Frankie Laine's Greatest Hits
12	Ray Charles	That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)	Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection Disc 3
13	Merle Travis & Joe Maphis	High Noon	Country Guitar Giants
14	Frankie Laine	Rawhide	Country Greats #2
15	Chick Webb and his Orchestra	Don't Be That Way	from CD; orig. Decca 483
16	Ella Fitzgerald	Melinda the Mousle	Chronological Classics: Ella Fitzgerald 1940-41
17	Annette Hanshaw	Who's That Knocking At My Door	The Twenties Sweetheart
18	Brother Grady Coffee	I'm Working on a Building	This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel on 45RPM, 1957-1982
19	Elvis Presley	Working on the Building	Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Songs Disc 1
20	Murry Hammond	In The Shadow Of Clinch Mountain	The Winding StreamThe Carters, The Cashes And The Course Of Country Music
21	John & Jamie Hartford	When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland	Hartford & Hartford
22	June Carter Cash	Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?	Wildwood Flower
23	George Jones	Worried Man Blues	The Winding StreamThe Carters, The Cashes And The Course Of Country Music
24	The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band	I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes	Will the Circle Be Unbroken [Bonus Tracks] Disc 2
25	David Lindley and Wally Ingram	Coot From Tennessee	Twango Bango Deluxe
26	Ole Ramussen	Sleepy Eyed John	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys
27	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	Oozlin' Daddy Blues	Legends of Country Music Disc 2
28	Cliff Hobbs;Bill Cox	Oozlin' Daddy Blues [Album Version]	White Country Blues (1926-1938)
29	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	Big Mamou	We've Got a Live One Here!
30	Ella Mae Morse w/Big Dave and His Orchestra	Big Mamou	Barrell House Boogie and the Blues
31	Bonnie Guitar	Noon Train	Affair
32	Norridge Mayhams And The Blue Chips	If I Had My Way	Norridge Mayhams and The Blue Chips

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Folk and Tradition, Gospel, Mountain Music

The Dust-to-Digital Label

September 26, 2015 Dave

Our weekly KWTF show is about a label whose chief purpose is the resurrection of that curious mix of ephemera, folklore, ancestry, and musicianship that reveals itself as folk music: whether it be pre-Monroe bluegrass, gospel, blues, or early pop. The label I speak of is Dust-To-Digital and we’ll scratch the surface of some of the great work that they’ve issued since 1999, the year Lance Ledbetter and his wife April open shop in Atlanta, Georgia.Their mission is the same as it was then: to produce high quality cultural artifacts.

Pitchfork magazine put it this way: “Although the folklorists lugging around tape recorders (and the performers carrying on ancient traditions) are worthy of much heralding, it’s equally astounding how essential Lance Ledbetter’s work at Dust-to-Digital has been to the preservation of traditional American folksong. It’s easy to buy and appreciate these sets without realizing that the bulk of the material might have been lost — or, at the very least, tethered to archives, readily accessible only to curious faculty, paper-writing students, and bespectacled researchers — without Ledbetter’s interference.”

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	Jimmy Murphy	We Live A Long Time To Get Old	Desperate Man Blues
3	Tennesee Messarounds	Mandolin Blues	Desperate Man Blues
4	Lonnie Johnson	Death Valley is Just Half Way To My Home	Desperate Man Blues
5	Chubby Parker	Bib-a-lollie-boo	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
6	Ernest Thompson	In the Baggage Coach Ahead	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
7	Roy Smeck Trio	Reaching for the Moon	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
8	Lew Childre	It Don't Do Nothing but Rain	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
9	Sara Martin & Sylvester Weaver	I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
10	Sister O.M. Terrell	The Bible's Right	Goodbye, Babylon – Deliverance Will Come [Disc 2]
11	Mahalia Jackson	God's Gonna Separate The Wheat From The Tares	Goodbye, Babylon – Introduction [Disc 1]
12	The North Carolina Cooper Boys	Daniel In The Den Of Lions	Goodbye, Babylon – Deliverance Will Come [Disc 2]
13	Moses Williams	The Train	Drop On Down in Florida [Disc 1]
14	Emmett Murray	She's a Fool, She Ain't Got No Sense	Drop On Down in Florida [Disc 1]
15	Rev. Johnny L. Jones	Huff Construction Company (Radio Commercial)	The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta
16	Rev. Johnny L. Jones	I Love the Lord	The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta
17	Dorothy Lee	You Got to Give an Account (feat. Norma Jean, Shirley Marie Johnson & Robert nighthawk Johnson)	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
18	Babe Stovall	When the Circle Be Unbroken	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
19	Robert nighthawk Johnson	Cant No Grave Hold My Body Down	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
20	Henagar Union Sacred Harp Convention	Save, Lord, or We Perish 224	I Belong to This Band: Eight-Five Years of Sacred Harp Recordings
21	Denson's Sacred Harp Singers of Arley, Alabama	Ninety-Fifth 36B	I Belong to This Band: Eight-Five Years of Sacred Harp Recordings
22	Brother Claude Ely	Send Down The Rain	Satan Get Back
23	Uncle Eck Dunford and Ernest Stoneman	Barney McCoy	Lead Kindly Light
24	The Allen Brothers	Skipping and Flying	Lead Kindly Light
25	Georgia Yellow Hammers	Mary Don't You Weep	Lead Kindly Light
26	Charlie Parker and Mack Woolbright	Man Who Wrote the Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man	Lead Kindly Light
27	Loveless Twins Quartet	Lead Kindly Light	Lead Kindly Light
28	The Morrison Twin Brothers String Band	Ozark Waltz	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
29	Dr. Smith's Champion Hoss Hair Pullers	Just Give Me the Leavings	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
30	Wonder State Harmonists	Turnip Greens	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
31	Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers	Jaw Bone	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
32	Clarence Alexander	Disability Boogie Woogie	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
33	22 & Group	The Prettiest Train I Ever Saw	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
34	Henry Ratcliff	Look For Me In Louisiana	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
35	Willie Washington	My Jack Dont Drink No Water	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
36	The David Thom Band	Windy City	That Old Familiar

Country, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Folk and Tradition

Modern Americana in Tradition

September 19, 2015 Dave

We revisit tradition and roots with a number of contemporary performers who honor the American musical heritage with new arrangements, new interpretations, and songs whose lyrics might take on a different meaning in a new time. What was ripe for picking in the first part of the century might not mean all of the same in our world today. We’ll hear songs of love, death, destitution, prostitution, farmer’s work, the sky above and the sea below… You’ll hear Americana releases from as far back as 1971 and we’ll include a number of tracks from this year…the year 2015…with the one thing in common being that the songs performed have stories that go further back and, in most cases, go so far back that they are considered traditional.

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	Van Dyke Parks/Mondrian	Sail Away Lady	The Harry Smith Project Live Vol. 2
3	The Wailin' Jennys	Long Time Traveller	Firecracker
4	Rosanne Cash	Motherless Children	The List
5	Cyd Cassone/Ruthie Foster	Death Came a Knockin' (Travelin' Shoes)	Stages
6	Steve Martin	Sweet Heaven When I Die	Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited
7	Pharis and Jason Romero	Goodbye Old Paint	A Wanderer I'll Stay
8	Spuyten Duyvil	Stewball	The Social Music Hour Vol. 1
9	Alison Krauss	Cluck Old Hen	Every Time You Say Goodbye
10	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	East Virginia Blues	Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions
11	Adkins & Loudermilk	Swing Low Sweet Chariot	Adkins & Loudermilk
12	She & Him	Swing Low Sweet Chariot	Volume One
13	Ben Harper & The Blind Boys Of Alabama	If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again	There Will Be a Light
14	Allen Toussaint	St. James Infirmary	The Bright Mississippi
15	Ashley Monroe	The Storms Are On The Ocean	Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited
16	Uncle Tupelo	No Depression	No Depression
17	Band Of Ruhks	Lost Highway	Band Of Ruhks
18	Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men	What Does the Deep Sea Say?	Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land
19	Mudcrutch	Shady Grove	Mudcrutch
20	Dwight Yoakam/The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band	Some Dark Holler	Dwight's Used Records
21	Rhiannon Giddens	Round About the Mountain	Tomorrow Is My Turn
22	Leo Kottke	Cripple Creek	Mudlark
23	David Johansen	Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me	Shaker
24	David Johansen & The Harry Smiths	Richland Woman	David Johansen and the Harry Smiths
25	The Boxmasters	Knoxville Girl	The Boxmasters Disc 2
26	Bruce Springsteen	Shenandoah	We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions [DualDisc] Disc 1
27	Bruce Springsteen	O Mary Don't You Weep	We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions [DualDisc] Disc 1
28	Charlie Haden	Old Joe Clark	Charlie Haden Family & Friends – Rambling Boy
29	The Duhks	Banjo Roustabout	Beyond the Blue
30	Kate & Anna McGarrigle	Green Green Rocky Road	High On A Mountain
31	Emmylou Harris	Bury Me Beneath The Willow	Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited

Country Swing, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Fifties Country, Mountain Music

Hillbilly Fever

September 19, 2015 Dave

The sound was simple, fun, and certainly influential. It evolved from ancestral celebrations…finding its groove by the mid 1930s and playing itself out as a popular voice well through the early days of what was termed the Golden Age of Country Music, the 1950s. The entertainment industry collectively shunned the hillbilly term by the mid-50s, choosing the more sedate “Country and Western” moniker and certainly the even more narcoleptic sound of Nashvile going into the coming decade and beyond. Hillbilly music lives today only as splinter and special edge-case Americana. Listen and find out.

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	The Delmore Brothers	Hillbilly Boogie	26 All-Time Country Classics
3	Sons of The Ozarks	Plantation Blues	Hillbilly Blues
4	The Lone Star Cowboys	Deep Elm Blues	Hillbilly Blues
5	Ernest Tubb & Red Foley	Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age	Hillbilly Fever [Disc 2]
6	Bill Carlisle	Bell Clappin' Mama	Hillbilly Blues
7	Al Dexter	Hi-De-Ho Boogie On A Saturday Night	Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers ([Disc 4] Saturday Night Rag)
8	Al Dexter	Pistol Packin' Mama	Pistol Packin' Mama
9	Curly Williams	Southern Belle	Country & Western, Vol.2 [Disc 5]
10	Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers	Bring It On Home To Grandma	Theme Time Radio Hour – Season 3 – [Disc 1]
11	Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers	I Was A Gambler In Texas	Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers ([Disc 4] Saturday Night Rag)
12	Faron Young	If You Aint Lovin' (You Aint Livin')	Hillbilly Fever – Vol. 3: Legends Of Nashville
13	W. Lee O'Daniel & His Hillbilly Boys	There'll Be Some Changes Made	Okeh Western Swing
14	Clyde Moody	08 – Nobody's Business	The Hillbilly Waltz King
15	Little Jimmy Dickens	Hillbilly Fever	Roughneck Blues 1949 – 1956
16	Grandpa Jones	It's Raining Here This Morning (Remake)	Hillbilly Bop 'n' Boogie: King/Federal Roots of Rockabilly 1944 – 56
17	Ocie Stockard & His Wanderers	Bass Man Jive	Western Swing: Hot Hillbilly Jazz & Blues – 1935-1947
18	Joe Maphis & Rose Lee	Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)	Hillbilly Fever: Vol. 4 – Heroes Of Country Music – Vol. 4: Legends Of The West Coast
19	Hank Penny	Hadacillin Boogie	King Of Hillbilly Bebop [Disc 2]
20	Hank Penny	Hillbilly Jump	King Of Hillbilly Bebop [Disc 2]
21	Billy Jack Wills & His Western Swing Band	Troubles (Those Lonesome Kind)	Hillbilly Fever! Vol. 1: Legends Of Western Swing
22	Redd Stewart	Brother Drop Dead (Boogie)	Hillbilly Bop 'n' Boogie: King/Federal Roots of Rockabilly 1944 – 56
23	Charlie Gore	I Put My Britches On Just Like Everybody Else	Hillbilly Bop 'n' Boogie: King/Federal Roots of Rockabilly 1944 – 56
24	Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant	Bryant's Bounce	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys
25	Red Foley	Choc'late Ice Cream Cone	Hillbilly Fever [Disc 2]
26	The Light Crust Doughboys	Little Hillbilly Heart Throb	Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers ([Disc 1] Hot Mama Stomp)
27	Skeets McDonald	Scoot Git And Begone	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys
28	Jimmy Bryant	Jelly Beans Daddy	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys: The West Coast Indies
29	Luke Wills	Four Or Five Times	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys: The West Coast Indies
30	Rose Maddox & Her Brothers	Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys: The West Coast Indies
31	Robbie Fulks	We Live A Long Time To Get Old	13 Hillbilly Giants
32	The Ranch Girls & Their Ragtime Wranglers	Hillbilly Jive With a Boogie Beat	Can You Hear It?
33	Larry Nolen & The Bandits	Hillbilly Love Affair	Bear Family "Perfect for Parties" Highlight Album
34	The Osborne Brothers	Hillbilly Fever	World's Hottest Bluegrass
35	Bill Kirchen	Hillbilly Truck Drivin' Man	Tied to the Wheel
36	Junior Brown	Hillbilly Hula Gal	12 Shades of Brown
37	BR5-49	Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)	BR5-49
38	BR5-49	Cherokee Boogie	BR5-49

Country Blues, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Rhythm and Blues

Roots of R&B

September 5, 2015 Dave

“Rhythm n’ Blues” and “Rock n’ Roll” were both born of a raw sound that was an amalgam of lyrical call-and-response, the upbeat bounce of barrelhouse and juke joint piano, traditional rhyme, and an abundance of musical brilliance from the many itinerant performers who plied their trade. This week on Deeper Roots we’ll go find the “Roots of R&B” and find a stage that we often visit, spending time with the performers that we seem to always find in its lights. Big Bill Broonzy, Roosevelt Sykes, Leroy Carr, Memphis Minnie, and Lonnie Johnson are just a sampling of the music we’ll bring you on our show produced especially for KWTF 88.1 FM, listener-supported community radio for Sonoma County.

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	Mamie Smith	Crazy Blues	Folk Blues & Gospel: Will the Circle Be Unbroken
3	Tampa Red	It Hurts Me Too	Country Blues [Disc 1]
4	Tampa Red	Anna Lou Blues	The Guitar Wizard (The Blues Collection Vol.51)
5	Leroy Carr	How Long-How Long Blues	Whiskey Is My Habit, Women Is All I Crave: The Best of Leroy Carr Disc 1
6	Little Brother Montgomery	Vicksburg Blues (Pm 13006, L-502-1)	The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 2 (1928-1932)
7	Little Brother Montgomery	No Special Rider Blues (Pm 13006, L-501-1)	The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 2 (1928-1932)
8	Roosevelt Sykes	44 Blues	The Honey Dripper
9	Roosevelt Sykes	Night Time Is The Right Time	As Good As It Gets: Country Blues [Disc 2]
10	Georgia Tom	The Duck Yas-Yas-Yas	Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey [Disc 1]
11	Georgia Tom	Hear Me Beefin' at You	Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1928-1930)
12	Tampa Red;Georgia Tom	Dead Cats On The Line	Tampa Red The Guitar Wizard
13	Blind Boy Fuller	Truckin' My Blues Away	Country Blues [Disc 1]
14	Bill "Jazz" Gillum	Key To the Highway [Remastered 2002]	That's Chicago's South Side (When the Sun Goes Down series)
15	Bill 'Jazz' Gillum	Go Back to the Country	Heartbreakers Blue & Lonely
16	Lonnie Johnson	6 / 88 Glide	Steppin' On The Blues
17	Lonnie Johnson	Furniture Man Blues Pt. 1 (w/Victoria Spivey)	Complete Recordings Vol. 4
18	Memphis Minnie	Bumble Bee	Queen Of Country Blues
19	Memphis Minnie	Me And My Chauffeur Blues	Blues Was Her Business
20	Roosevelt Sykes	Drivin' Wheel	Chicago Boogie
21	Bill "Jazz" Gillum W/ Big Bill Broonzy	Jockey Blues	Broke, Black & Blue [Disc 3] : Good Whiskey Blues
22	Bill "Jazz" Gillum	Sarah Jane	Vintage Songs of Sex, Drugs & Cigarettes
23	Washboard Sam	Bucket's Got a Hole in It [Remastered 2002]	That's Chicago's South Side (When the Sun Goes Down series)
24	Washboard Sam	Let Me Play Your Vendor	Vol. 6 1941 – 1942
25	Big Bill Broonzy	How You Want It Done	Blues From The Vocalion Vaults
26	Big Bill Broonzy	Key to the Highway	Columbia Records' 125th Anniv.
27	Big Bill Broonzy	I Can't Be Satisfied	ABC Of The Blues Vol 5
28	Speckled Red	The Dirty Dozen	Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey [Disc 1]
29	Speckled Red	The Dirty Dozen Pt 2	Rude Dudes
30	Speckled Red	You Got to Fix It [Remastered 2002]	That's Chicago's South Side (When the Sun Goes Down series)
31	Speckled Red	Pinetop's Boogie Woogie	Classic Piano Blues
32	Sunnyland Slim	Illinois Central [Remastered 2002]	That's All Right (When the Sun Goes Down series)
33	Arthur Crudup	Mean Old Frisco Blues	Lonesome Whistle – An Anthology Of American Railroad Song
34	Arthur Crudup	That's All Right Mama	Bob Dylan Presents: Cover to Cover – The Originals

Deeper Roots

Monthly Archives: September 2015