Music comes in all shapes and sizes. There are always the also-rans, the one hit wonders, the bright little shiny piece that gets lost among the thousands of others of the same mint, the ones that couldn’t afford to compete, as well as all the B-sides and album leftovers. We’re picking a few of those and a couple dozen others that we found as we ‘walked the beach’ in search of the perfect playlist to share this morning. Tune in for a sweet mix of just about everything featuring David Seville, Scatman Crothers, Lou Monte, Neil Young, Esquivel, and Johnny Cash as we lay out a brimming sea of sound like so much flotsam and jetsam on the Sonoma County airwaves this morning. Tune in for an earful and more.
All posts by Dave
The House That Ruth Built
The decade of the fifties found the sounds of rhythm and blues being best represented on the Atlantic Records label. Founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, the catalog of artists and the quality of production were unparalleled for their time. And while Ertegun’s biography is subtitled “The House That Ertegun Built”, the performers were also undisputed heavyweights: Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter, and Lavern Baker to name a few. Things, however, exploded when a lady dubbed “Miss Rhythm” arrived with “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” leading to another moniker: “The House That Ruth Built”. This week’s show will feature some of the great tracks from Ruth Brown and the many contemporaries who made the label synonymous with R&B well into the seventies and beyond. Tune in for a special treat. Rock, rhythm, and dynamite doo wop from the Atlantic vaults on a Friday morning.
Gospel Firebrands
Classic pairings with some rocking gospel from Elvis, country and bluegrass classics, some sacred steel, tradition, and some of the richest black gospel performances from the past century, with the focus being on those performers who put the passion into the ‘word’. The roots of rock, jazz, blues, and country are closer to the surface than you’d imagine and we’re here to share it with you: The Golden Gate Quartet, Willie and Bobbie Nelson, The Jordanaires, Nina Simone, and a couple dozen others here to celebrate and evangelize through great music. Deeper Roots heads back through the church and barn doors from the past century where the power of music tells a story in all it’s glory. Join us!
Dallas Frazier Tribute
We lost one of the great country songwriters last week. You know his songs, no doubt, but it’s not likely you know his name. Dallas Frazier grew up with songsmithing in his blood. And he got around: the Bakersfield scene, penning a bit hit for The Hollywood Argyles and The Oak Ridge Boys, Portland, Los Angeles, Capitol Records and, of course, Nashville. He penned music for the likes of Elvis, Ferlin Husky, Connie Smith, George Jones, Charley Pride and dozens of others with a blending and re-imagining the kind of music he’d always been fond of: music of the early 20th century. Join us as we share the songs of Dallas Frazier and tell you a little bit about him in our next show here on Sonoma County Community Radio.
Time To Kill
Free form sounds with time to kill from the past century. This week’s Deeper Roots show features soul, seventies rock, some gospel, country and rhythm & blues. We’ll be sharing an interesting blend of under-the-radar sounds from some greats: Ben E. King, Wanda Jackson, The Band, Mavis Staples, Neil Young, and beyond. Sonoma County Community radio is community radio at it’s best. Join Dave Stroud for a selection of classics from the Cherry Street Historic District of Santa Rosa. We enjoy sharing and we hope you enjoy listening on Friday mornings on KOWS Occidental (and Friday evenings on KRJF Santa Rosa).
Brand New Day
That new car smell…applied to everything we can think of…all to celebrate this new 2022 thing…365 more rotations and one long trip around that giant luminous orb. What a long strange trip it was. So let’s celebrate all that’s new as we move into our second decade of celebrating the past century of America’s music. This week, we’re taking on the theme of ‘brand new’….new heartaches, new cars, new neighbors, new mornings, and new hopes…same as the old hopes no doubt, but with a different slant. We’ve got performances by Mel Tillis, Dion, Ruthie Foster, Fats Domino, Steve Earle and a couple dozen others to keep our dreams worth holding onto. Let’s put COVID in the rear view. Let’s send the truth-doubters back to their rat’s nests. And make good trouble. Welcome 2022 with a promise to hold those who led an insurrection and those who voted for the leaders accountable. Tune into the show. I promise we’ll keep it real.
Who We Lost 2021
New Year’s Eve will bring a look back at those we’ve lost this past year. 2021 was another year of COVID-19 with a couple of variants slipping into and out of the world. We wait patiently, for the most part, for vaccines and adult behavior to work. Unfortunately, there is a selfishness about our species that cannot be denied. This year’s losses have no boundaries musically: everyone from Biz Markie to Stephen Sondheim, Vicente Fernandez to Nanci Griffith, Lloyd Price to Stonewall Jackson. Performers of our lifetime. We go into 2022 having hope. Join Dave Stroud for a musical look back.
Old Devil Time
In an encore episode from 2015, we listen in as Dave explores the multi-generational sounds of not only bluegrass with Dillard and Clark and The Hackberry Ramblers, but we’ll also cross the genres (as we are wont to do) with Cowboy Copas, Clara Ward, Otis Spann, and Doris Day. There’s a couple of different threads that run through the show today, one being that of the ‘devil’ and the other being of ‘new mornings’. Tune in at a special time and see what’s in store on a late-fall morning in West County. And please, donate to community radio: kwtf.net.
Bourbon Street Rhythms
We enter December with hope. Join us for some sounds from the French Quarter and its environs. This Friday on Deeper Roots, tune in for a sweeping celebration taking the St. Charles trolley in time from Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong to the sounds of Tuba Fats, Mac Rebennack, Allen Toussaint and beyond. We’ll also find some Big Easy rocking treats by the water: Ernie K-Doe, Sugar Boy Crawford, Fats Domino, and Larry Darnell are also on the board from the Big Easy as well as sounds of piano pounders like Archibald, Champion Jack Dupree and Professor Longhair. KOWS radio’s antenna is moving so we highly recommend that you stream us on the KOWS web site (or via the KOWS app) because the FM signal will be out of commission as the transmitter has found a new home out in the hills above Bodega Highway.
When You Dance
It’s Black Friday here in Sonoma County and we don’t really know what to expect. Worn out from the ongoing pandemic, we’re still moderating here but we very much need music to help us light the way. We like to make that possible on Friday mornings on KOWS when we find another free form collection full of small themes and nuggets. With a sprinkling of classic Carole King, Sonny Bono and Brill Building sounds, we’ll move forward into the holidays with hand clapping gospel, soul stew from Booker T., some Leon Russell, Paul Simon, Gene Pitney, and The Cookies. The playlist this morning will circle back to celebrating all the things that matter in musical themes including true love, change, and (most of all) dance. Join us this week once again for some great sounds .