Americana Roundup

Looking back over the past fifty-or-so years, we find a large gathering assembled under a large, all-inclusive tent, called Americana. There’s hardly a definition that’s been assigned and it’s hardly what we’d term ‘a genre’. It is, rather, a mood of the music and a narrative of the storytelling defines it. Like the dozens of genres that line it’s walls, we’ve come to know what we’re listening to: blues, gospel, folk and tradition, jazz, and everything in between. This week we’ll be stepping into that tent to congregate and celebrate that ‘sound we know’ called Americana. The digital bins will take us only so far back, celebrating the music of Bob Dylan, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch, Joe Ely, Old Crow Medicine Show and a couple dozen others. Just what’s needed and built on playlists worthy of the very best of the Americana Hours broadcast each morning here on KOWS Community Radio.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Old Crow Medicine Show Wagon Wheel O.C.M.S. Amazon
3Bob Dylan Hard Times Good As I Been To You Amazon
4Keb' Mo' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute Amazon
5Sheryl Crow No Depression In Heaven The Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage Of The Carter Family Amazon
6Rosanne Cash Motherless Children The List Amazon
7Ray Wylie Hubbard Tell The Devil I'm Gettin' There As Fast As I Can Tell The Devil I'm Getting There As Fast As I Can Amazon
8Buddy Miller & Julie Miller Forever Has Come To An End Buddy & Julie Miller Amazon
9Lyle Lovett If I Had a Boat Anthology, Vol. 1: Cowboy Man Amazon
10Guy Clark Fort Worth Blues Cold Dog Soup Amazon
11Lucinda Williams Lake Charles Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Amazon
12The Texas Tornados The Gardens 4 Aces Amazon
13Buddy Miller That's How I Got To Memphis Your Love And Other Lies Amazon
14The Flatlanders Dallas More a Legend Than a Band Amazon
15Joe Ely If You Were A Bluebird Joe Ely Amazon
16Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Killing The Blues Raising Sand Amazon
17Alison Krauss & Union Station The Lucky One New Favorite Amazon
18Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris All The Roadrunning All The Roadrunning Amazon
19Steve Earle Copperhead Road Copperhead Road Amazon
20Blaze Foley Clay Pigeons Wanted More Dead Than Alive Amazon
21Justin Townes Earle Harlem River Blues Harlem River Blues [Explicit] Amazon
22Gillian Welch Red Clay Halo Time (The Revelator) Amazon
23Gillian Welch Caleb Meyer Hell Among the Yearlings Amazon
24Van Morrison Till I Gain Control Again Pay The Devil Amazon
25First Aid Kit Emmylou The Lion's Roar (Bonus Track Version) Amazon
26John Hiatt Drive South Slow Turning Amazon

Dirty Money

We’ve heard them all, the quotes about money being the root of all evil, you can’t take it with you, money can’t buy happiness…but there’s this one little thing that is seldom expanded on and that is the story of ‘dirty money’. There’s plenty of fodder in that area…from the banker CEO to the coal company CEO…there’s never an effort to help raise all boats, only the yachts. Capitalism is our theme. No, wait, is it bank robbing? No, most likely the working man trying to put bread on the table. Hold on, I know. It’s runaway inflation and the blame game. In any event, we’ll be all over the board in today’s show, bringing you music about money cravin’ folks from Blind Alfred Reed, working down on Maggie’s Farm and we’ll also have ourselves a hint of a fireside chat to make us feel better. We’ll also head down to coal country and Bonnie and Clyde, Woody Guthrie, and “Voila! An American Dream” from Rodney Crowell. Tune in. Should be fun.



No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2David Rawlings Money Is the Meat in the Coconut Poor David's Almanack Amazon
3The Andrews Sisters Money is The Root of All Evil Golden Age of the Andrews Sisters [Disc 2] Amazon
4Randy Newman It's Money That Matters Land of Dreams Amazon
5Rodney Crowell Voila, An American Dream Collection Amazon
6Bob Brozman Follow The Money Post-industrial Blues Amazon
7Eartha Kitt/Henri René & His Orchestra Just an Old Fashioned Girl Purr-Fect: Greatest Hits Amazon
8Dr. John (Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away The Atco/Atlantic Singles 19681974 Amazon
9Ry Cooder No Banker Left Behind Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down Amazon
10Woody Guthrie The Jolly Banker (Woody Guthrie) Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection [Disc 2] Amazon
11Jake Xerxes Fussell All in Down and Out Jake Xerxes Fussell Amazon
12Roy Zimmerman Joel Osteen Rize Up Amazon
13Bob Dylan Maggie's Farm The Essential Bob Dylan [Disc 1] Amazon
14Blind Alfred Reed Money Cravin Folks Complete Recorded Works 1927-29 Amazon
15Barbecue Bob We Sure Got Hard Times Now Bankers Blues – A Study in the Effects of Fiscal Mischeif Amazon
16Bo Carter Times Is Tight Like That Bankers Blues – A Study in the Effects of Fiscal Mischeif Amazon
17Betty O' Brian Money Honey Point Of No Return: The Liberty Records Story 1962 Amazon
18The O'Jays For The Love Of Money Funk Explosion Amazon
19Solomon Burke Honey Where's The Money Gone Nashville Amazon
20John Lee Hooker I Need Some Money That's My Story ( Sings the Blues) Amazon
21SNCC Freedom Singers; Reagon, Cordell Which Side Are You On? Voices Of The Civil Rights Movement, [Disc 2] (Ensembles) Amazon
22Bruce Springsteen The Ghost of Tom Joad Chapter & Verse Amazon
23Wray Family (Dark As A Dungeon Way) Down In The Mine Birth / Work / Death – Work, Money And Status In Country Music (1950-1974) Amazon
24Band Of Ruhks Coal Mining Man featuring Dr. Ralph Stanley Band Of Ruhks Amazon
25Buddy Durham Sixteen Tons Birth / Work / Death – Work, Money And Status In Country Music (1950-1974) Amazon
26Justin Townes Earle Down In The Valley Coal Country Music Amazon
27Stan Farlow 1040 Blues Birth / Work / Death – Work, Money And Status In Country Music (1950-1974) Amazon
28Rex Allen Money, Marbles And Chalk The Versatile Rex Allen [Disc 2] Amazon
29Merle Haggard And The Strangers The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde (2006 Digital Remaster) Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard Amazon
30Merle Haggard Working Man Blues Merle Haggard Country Legend-Disc 1 Amazon
31Ferlin Husky 22 – Money Greases the Wheels Ferlin Husky Singles Amazon
32J.J. Cale Money Talks The Very Best of J.J. Cale Amazon
33Kronos Quartet Which Side Are You On Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet and Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger Amazon

Tell Me a Story

Storytelling in song is not new. It’s mankind’s way of conveying, in both accuracy and reflection, the narrative from one perspective. Embellishments and hooks have long been the best way to make the story easy to digest and, if need be, to get a point (likely sociopolitical) across. We’ll be doing just that in this Friday’s episode: stories based in war, natural disasters, national tragedies and personal conflict. We’ll take a hundred year tour of storytelling from Bessie Smith to the Drive-by Truckers, from Memphis Minnie and The Tex-I-An Boys to Calexico, The Staple Singers and Marty Robbins. There are floods, murders, environmental catastrophes, bombings, and some wartime solemnity to be shared today. Tune into KOWS Community Radio every Friday morning for some fresh musical linens, curated by the outdoors and streaming to all of planet Earth on KOWSFM.COM/listen

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Mac Wiseman Wreck Of The Old '97 Sings Old Time Country Favorites Amazon
3Jimmie Driftwood The Battle of New Orleans Six Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles Amazon
4Marty Robbins Ballad Of The Alamo My Rifle, My Pony And Me Amazon
5Johnny Horton Sink The Bismark Classic Country Great Story Songs [Disc 2] Amazon
6Calexico Victor Jara's Hands Carried To Dust Amazon
7Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Ohio So Far Amazon
8Joni Mitchell Woodstock Hits Amazon
9Grateful Dead New, New Minglewood Blues What a Long Strange Trip It's Been Disc 1 Amazon
10Grateful Dead New Speedway Boogie What a Long Strange Trip It's Been Disc 1 Amazon
11Arlo Guthrie with The Dillards Ludlow Massacre Thirty Two Cents Postage Due Amazon
12Tom Petty Jefferson Jericho Blues Mojo (Extra Mojo Version) Amazon
13Randy Newman Burn On Sail Away Amazon
14Charlie Haden Is This America? (Katrina 2005) Charlie Haden Family & Friends – Rambling Boy Amazon
15Johnny Cash Five Feet High And Rising Songs Of Our Soil Amazon
16Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie When the Levee Breaks People Take Warning [Disc 2] Man Vs. Nature Amazon
17Sin-Killer Griffin Wasn't That A Mighty Storm Field Recordings, Vol. 5: Louisiana, Texas, Bahamas (1933-1940) Amazon
18The Tex-I-An Boys Wasn't That A Mighty Storm? Classic American Ballads From Smithsonian Folkways Amazon
19Bessie Smith Backwater Blues Columbia Records' 125th Anniv. Amazon
20Rory Block Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down) Confessions of A Blues Singer Amazon
21Chill Pill Dancers Zoot Suit Riot Swing: Next Generation Amazon
22Mimi & Richard Fariqa Birmingham Sunday Troubadours: Folk And The Roots Of American Music 4: 10 The West Coast Amazon
23Archie Shepp Blues for Brother George Jackson Verve Unmixed, Vol. 2 Amazon
24Drive-By Truckers What It Means American Band Amazon
25Will And Jehnean Trail of Tears Song of America Amazon
26Don McLean American Pie Songs For The Open Road [Platinum Legends] Amazon

Freedom Train

Summer’s in full tilt and we’re not ready quite yet for the heat. But that won’t stop us cartwheeling down the musical halls as we take an eclectic ride on a free form Friday. Themes and tradition will rule today’s playlists, making way for some great roots rock favorites from Elvis, Chuck Berry and Roy Orbison. Country music is well represented with a lonesome George Strait train song, some hellbound Billy Strange, and a trip to Texas with Iris DeMent. KOWS Community Radio features Deeper Roots each and every Friday morning at 9 Pacific and this particular morning is no different save for a few snowflakes in the wind. We’ll also dig deeper for some tracks from The Ravens, The Golden Nuggets, The Beach Boys and a little bit of Dr. John. Join us on our free form journey!

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Bing Crosby The Freedom Train [Single Version] Their Complete Recordings Together [Disc 1] Amazon
3Iris DeMent Goin' Down To Sing In Texas Workin' On A World Amazon
4Randy Newman Political Science Sail Away Amazon
5Simon & Garfunkel America Old Friends Disc 2 Amazon
6Louis Armstrong Summer Song This Is Jazz Sampler Amazon
7The Ravens Summertime Old Man River Amazon
8Jim Byrnes Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City Long Hot Summer Nights Amazon
9Roy Orbison Summer Song Crying Amazon
10The Chimes Summer Night Another Banana Split, please Amazon
11The Beach Boys Your Summer Dream Surfer Girl Amazon
12Dr. John Such A Night The Atco/Atlantic Singles 19681974 Amazon
13Elvis Presley Such A Night The Essential 60's Masters I [Disc 1] Amazon
14Chuck Berry Downbound Train The Chess Box Disc 1 Amazon
15Billy Strange Hell Train Hillbillies In Hell (Country Music's Tormented Testament 1952-1974) Amazon
16The Golden Nuggets Gospel Train Oxford American Music Issue #13-Mississippi Amazon
17George Strait Trains Make Me Lonesome Strait Out of the Box [Disc 3] Amazon
18Mudcrutch Shady Grove Mudcrutch Amazon
19Doc Watson Shady Grove Songs From Home Amazon
20The Campbell Brothers Feat John Medeski Amazing Grace Can You Feel It? Amazon
21Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues Amazing Grace Dark Was The Night: A Red Hot Compilation [Disc 2] Amazon
22Norma Jean Let's Go All the Way 30th Anniversary Collection Disc 1 Amazon
23Ray Charles Let's Go Get Stoned Genius – The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection Amazon
24The Isley Brothers Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go [Remastered 1991] Complete United Artists Sessions Amazon
25Al Greene/Soul's Mate Back up Train Smooth Grooves: The '60s, Vol. 3: Late '60s Amazon
26Johnny Bond Lonesome Train Put Me To Bed Amazon
27Robert Gordon Lonesome Train (On a Lonesome Track) Robert Gordon with Link Wray/Fresh Fish Specials Amazon
28Elvis Presley Mystery Train Lonesome Whistle – An Anthology Of American Railroad Song Amazon
29Robert Gordon Drivin' Wheel [*] Robert Gordon with Link Wray/Fresh Fish Specials Amazon
30Chuck Berry Brown Eyed Handsome Man The Chess Box Disc 1 Amazon