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.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Mac Wiseman
Wreck Of The Old '97
Sings Old Time Country Favorites
3
Jimmie Driftwood
The Battle of New Orleans
Six Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles
4
Marty Robbins
Ballad Of The Alamo
My Rifle, My Pony And Me
5
Johnny Horton
Sink The Bismark
Classic Country Great Story Songs [Disc 2]
6
Calexico
Victor Jara's Hands
Carried To Dust
7
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Ohio
So Far
8
Joni Mitchell
Woodstock
Hits
9
Grateful Dead
New, New Minglewood Blues
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been Disc 1
10
Grateful Dead
New Speedway Boogie
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been Disc 1
11
Arlo Guthrie with The Dillards
Ludlow Massacre
Thirty Two Cents Postage Due
12
Tom Petty
Jefferson Jericho Blues
Mojo (Extra Mojo Version)
13
Randy Newman
Burn On
Sail Away
14
Charlie Haden
Is This America? (Katrina 2005)
Charlie Haden Family & Friends – Rambling Boy
15
Johnny Cash
Five Feet High And Rising
Songs Of Our Soil
16
Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie
When the Levee Breaks
People Take Warning [Disc 2] Man Vs. Nature
17
Sin-Killer Griffin
Wasn't That A Mighty Storm
Field Recordings, Vol. 5: Louisiana, Texas, Bahamas (1933-1940)
18
The Tex-I-An Boys
Wasn't That A Mighty Storm?
Classic American Ballads From Smithsonian Folkways
19
Bessie Smith
Backwater Blues
Columbia Records' 125th Anniv.
20
Rory Block
Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down)
Confessions of A Blues Singer
21
Chill Pill Dancers
Zoot Suit Riot
Swing: Next Generation
22
Mimi & Richard Fariqa
Birmingham Sunday
Troubadours: Folk And The Roots Of American Music 4: 10 The West Coast