It’s summer and what better time to roll out the scorchers; vocals with an emphasis on big beats, screamin’ guitars and performances that sweat quite profusely in the noonday sun. This week on Deeper Roots we’ll be digging through the archives of early rock, rhythm & blues and rockabilly for some tumultuous and head-splitting numbers from the past. Songs that woke up the neighbors if only played at a moderate level and woe be the terrified fifties’ parents when they heard the hi-fi blaring these songs from the youngster’s room. We’ve put together a collection of wildcat tamers, killer dillers, and not a bit of filler in the show today that will leave you breathless. Among those sparking the fuel that could set the hair on fire are Tarheel Slim, Jimmy Breedlove, Chan Romero, Big Mama Thornton, and the one and only Richard Penniman. Tune in for another Friday morning collection of the very best from the past century with your host, Dave Stroud, on KOWS Community Radio.
Category Archives: Early Rock
Cynthia Weil Tribute
In a June Substack tribute to Cynthia Weil’s legacy, Dan Epstein of “Jagged Time Lapse” observed that the “modern pop songbook would be significantly slimmer and less life-affirming without their work”. The ‘their’ referring, of course, to her husband and songwriting partner Barry Mann. From their early Brill Building output which included “Uptown” (The Crystals), “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (The Righteous Brothers), and “Walking In The Rain” (The Ronettes), to the chart-topping 80s classics of “Don’t Know Much” (Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville) and “Here You Come Again” (Dolly Parton), Cynthia Weil’s contributions to popular music were indeed affirming. This week’s Deeper Roots pays due respect to Cynthia, who was married to Barry Mann for almost 62 years, and was lyricist to his music. Their contributions to the sound of rock and roll and pop music in the 1960s rivaled luminaries like Burt Bacharach, Carole King and Neil Diamond.
Imperial Rhythm & Rockabilly
The Imperial label will be the subject of this week’s Deeper Roots show. Founded in 1947 by Lew Chudd, it’s early years featured some of the very best rhythm and blues and early rock you could find. Their lineup included some of the big names of early rock, not least of which was Roy Brown, Fats Domino, Frankie Ford and Ricky Nelson. They would dabble in country and jazz but also looked to strike while the iron was hot when Elvis hit with a blend of country and rhythm and blues in the mid-50s. They did so by looking for new names with ducktails and driving combos in the rockabilly era. This episode focuses primarily on the 1950s with a future episode taking us further into the label’s sale to Liberty Records in 1963 but not before Lew Chudd purchased Aladdin and Minit Records, bringing over even more of the R&B talent that they would be known for. It’s another Deeper Roots Friday morning on KOWS.
Trippin’ On The Instrumentals
We’re going silent today. Vocals-wise, anyway. Tune in Friday morning for the best rock instrumentals from the late fifties through the sixties as we journey through a slick set of the very best from Santo and Johnny to Mason Williams with our core focus being on the wild chart sounds of Duane Eddy, Sandy Nelson, The Tornados, Link Wray and more teen beat, pop and rock favorites from a particularly fertile time for rock n’ roll. Whether they were riffing on classic sounds of the past or blasting off into the outer stratosphere with sounds of space and surf, the instrumentals peppered the charts with themes for the time, owing more to roots than we appreciate. Join the fun on KOWS’ Friday mornings at 9 Pacific on Deeper Roots.
Elvis’ Influencers
Elvis Presley’s performances, in particular those from his first decade, were based in some very deep roots. Those roots tapped into almost anything that could be heard in the south on that cultural touchstone of radio. Blues, big band, jazz, hillbilly, pop, gospel and country all played an enormous role in molding the iconic performer he was to become. In our Deeper Roots show this week we’ll be exploring the ‘influencers’ of the day; songs that played on the radio, songs that Elvis personally revealed as his favorites, songs that he enjoyed with his family as a young boy. We’ve got Mahalia and Sister Rosetta tracks, Little Junior Parker and Jimmy Reed, Red Foley and Roy Acuff, and a host of others to share this week so we’re hoping that we can remember how radio’s lifeline to culture that spoke to Elvis in a very, very big way.
Session Masters: Guitar
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.
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.
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.
Fascinating Rhythm
Crazy rhythm! Big bands, scat vocals, syncopation, snapping fingers, drum and trumpet solos, all packed into two hours on a Sonoma County autumn morning on Deeper Roots. We’re celebrating that fascinating rhythm with some classic jazz, smooth vocals, and the voot of Slim Galliard as well as we take a trip through the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsey’s Clambake Seven, Cab Calloway, and Artie Shaw. That’s not all, though. We’ll also hear the celebrations of rhythm with the brothers and sister teams of the Boswells, the Colemans, the Delta Rhythm Boys, and Three Sharps and a Flat. Sweet and sentimental with a celebratory blast. Join Dave Stroud on a journey that celebrates rhythm with the best rhythm-makers on KOWS Community Radio.
The Spector Legacy
No tribute here, only an exploration of the musical legacy left behind by one of the premier production geniuses of 20th century rock and roll. We won’t dwell on the poor example of a human being attached to his personal legacy; but the music he gave us was pure gold and his ‘wall of sound’ became synonymous with early sixties classics from The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers, The Crystals, Gene Pitney, and so many others. His later career found him turning up in production studios with the likes of The Beatles, The Ramones, Leonard Cohen, and others. Along the line his name was also attached to a wide range of songs in copyright; songs that celebrated youth, love, blusterous rivers deep, and soaring mountains high. And we’ll fit as much as we can into our two hour show on Sonoma County Community Radio.