The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) produced a list a few years back that they called the “Songs of The Century”. It was concocted based on a questionable set of sampling and was to represent and “promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage.” The voting pool was a strange mixture elected officials, school students and teachers, as well as industry professionals. The respondent pool was about 200. The list is woefully inadequate but certainly worth discussing. Deeper Roots will spend this week exploring the top 30 (of 365) and follow up with its own list in a second episode next week. Listen in as we stretch the imagination.
All posts by Dave
Wake Up! – KOWS August 8, 2015
It’s a joy to queue up a century of America’s music every other Saturday morning in West County…live from the heart and voice of West Sonoma County’s KOWS studios in downtown Occidental. A common theme will run through this morning’s show and it’s all about waking up: gospel’s Mahalia Jackson and When I Wake Up in Glory, Roy Milton and the Wake Up Blues, James Brown’s Get Up Offa That Thing … and more!
Beautiful Dreamer – KOWS August 3, 2015
Mark Hogan’s Bluegrass and Old-Time Hour is on hiatus for two weeks while Mark is back in Galax, Virginia checking out the summer activities including a Fiddler’s Convention. And we’re going to honor his muse this week, the first of two Monday episodes where Deeper Roots fills his spot in the schedule on KOWS. We’ve got plenty of bluegrass in the first hour featuring new music from Trout Steak Revival and classics from Bill Monroe and Mac Martin. Our second hour rolls out a run of Stephen Foster covers done by Jack Clement, Jonathan Edwards, The Sons of the Pioneers, and others.
Songs of Protest
This week’s show on KWTF runs down a century’s worth of protest music. We’ve got some of the familiars, but we’ve also got some of the not-so-familiars. Out playlists will focus on a couple of the major issues of half century ago that we find ourselves embroiled in today. We’ll hear civil rights anthems and performances from some of the more emphatic musical voices of the sixties that were railing against a war. You’ll also hear topics of union organizing and social justice including the sounds of Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Pete Seeger, the SNCC Freedom Singers, Marvin Gaye, and many others.
Connections II
We take another trip down the roots rabbit hole with the usual selections of blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, and tradition in a show that follows a thread that begins with The Del McCoury Band’s bluegrass cover of Mama’s Hungry Eyes and winds its way to conclusion down the endless black ribbon. In between we’ve got kind words and last words, chain gangs and jailers, and songs about bird dogs and mockingbirds. The show is a special ‘stream of musical roots consciousness’ called “Connections”.
Ragged But Right – KOWS July 25, 2015
Hot summer days…cool West County nights. Deeper Roots finds the right balance on Saturday mornings in Occidental this week with music about ramblers and gamblers featuring Ralph Stanley, Tom Russell, and Sturgill Simpson. We’ll also find ourselves in the crosshairs of country, blues, and southern gospel with songs of light and life featuring Hank Williams, Gary Davis, and Marty Stuart. Riley Puckett, The Sons of the Pioneers, and the Selah Jubilee Singers also join in on another Saturday morning filled with roots music on KOWS 107.3-LP FM. Tune in on TuneIn!
Ladies of Gospel
The influence of gospel music on the forms of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, and soul are fairly well documented. The elements of early black gospel music arose from a tradition of work songs, anthems, spirituals, hollers, and the stylized performance of hymns. The evolution of the form, particularly in the Church of God In Christ (COGIC), reveals a freedom of expression that made its listeners ‘move with the spirit’. We’ll hear from the ladies from the COGIC as well as the traditionalists that could bring in the masses to the church with their uplifting, sometimes roaring voices including Sister Ernestine Washington, Edna Gallmon Cooke, Sister Goldia Haynes, Mahalia Jackson, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Dirty Dog – KOWS July 11, 2015
West County is the place to be in summer. The inland heat is pulling in the right amount of tempered cool from the coast…and Deeper Roots sounds will ride the wave on a Saturday morning. Join us for music from Arlo Guthrie, Chubby Newsome, Jimmie Revard, Mahalia Jackson, and more. The sounds we’ll hear come from country, country swing, classic gospel, mountain tradition, and just a little bit of the blues so please join us as we fill the airwaves with classic roots music on a Saturday morning, live from the KOWS studios in Occidental.
Songs About Telephones
It’s ‘theme time’ in this episode as we find a muse that songwriters have been looking to since it’s appearance in the 19th century: the telephone. Join us for operators, dial tones, party lines, busy signals, and hang-ups…just a few of the topics in a show featuring gospel from the Selah Jubilee Singers and Sister Wynona Carr, sixties soul from The Marvelettes and The Orlons, tradition from Bill Monroe and Wade Mainer, and more.
Ruler Of My Heart – KOWS July 27, 2015
Saturday morning in West County…our first week of summer with Deeper Roots and we’ve got an early set of New Orleans swamp classics followed by shreds of rockabilly and sounds from The Killer. There’s also gospel with The Staple Singers, high octane early century pop from The Boswell Sisters and Johnny Hamp and the Orchestra. We’ll sum the day up with folk, pop, and R&B…and everything in between.