When trying to put together a Deeper Roots episode that covered the great session masters from the past one hundred years it became exceedingly clear that the show would need to be broken up into multiple parts. Percussion, keyboards, brass, bass and all the rest will follow but this week we’re going to focus on the string masters; those guitar stars who account for the bulk of Top 30 hits that graced our lives over the second half of the 20th century. They include Hank Garland, Grady Martin, James Burton, Joe Messina, Glen Campbell, Jimmy Johnson and, of course, Tommy Tedesco. There are many others who deserve the recognition but our show is only a two hour show and, even at that, picking only three or four examples per performer doesn’t do it justice. We’re going to give credit where it’s due…those who stood in the shadows.
Monthly Archives: November 2022
Sweet Dreams
Our show this week features sweet dreams, swamp pop, Americana, doo wop, and all that makes the past century of America’s music a delight to dream on. We’ll touch on the new album from a legend who is most deservedly having his moment right now with a new album and where a one hit wonder once existed. Tommy McLain’s new album is a revelation and reminds us that music, when carried and shared with a passion like his, will always bring a bright light even in the darkest of times. This week’s show is a free form romp featuring Tommy, Mark Knopfler, Robert Plant, Bill Kirchen, Corb Lund, Bob Wills, Paul Thorn, and a couple dozen others. Some fiery rock and roll blended with country, doo wop, pop and lots of circumstance. Please join in…we’d be delighted to spend a Friday morning with you on Sonoma County Community Radio.
Top Country Albums of All Time
It’s list time! For better or worse, we’re going with the top tier of the Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Country Albums of all Time as our guidepost. There’s some great ones here, in fact the majority are agreeable in our estimation but there are also some “huh?” moments. We’ll just assume that that is par for the course with any opinion-based list by a disparate group of critics. For the most part, it captures the core of country pretty well. We’ll share music from Tom T. Hall, The Carters, George Strait and a few nineties and aught pop stars that made the list because they swim the pop country charts. Join Dave as he walks down the list, one that has its cringe-worthy moments, right alongside moments of pure Americana country gold.
Loretta & Jerry
This past October, we lost a couple of very important ties to two whose stars shone bright in both the Golden Age of Country and the Golden Age of Rock ‘n Roll. We’ll take on a dual tribute to the passing of Loretta Lynn and Jerry Lee Lewis. The torch has surely passed but their fire burned white hot as their stars rose, both sharing controversy and almost overnight fame. They also continued to perform into their later years, teaming up with songwriters and performers who were relevant to new generations, but true to their core calling. Our first hour take time to visit Loretta Lynn’s humble but no-nonsense storytelling and the second hour will take us into the whirlwind of unapologetic badassness that was Jerry Lee Lewis.