Happy Holidays! Proving that there is no war on Christmas and looking forward to the coming year, join Dave Stroud as he shares some of the great holiday chestnuts from years past. He’ll be sharing celebratory sounds from every decade, moving the needle from the 40s to the 10s in a new Deeper Roots Christmas shindig. Tune in for everyone from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Frank Sinatra to Ella, The Andrews Sisters, Los Straitjackets and Otis Redding’s Merry Christmas Baby. As we barrel out of 2020 as fast as we can, we remind ourselves of the fortunes of the few and the need of the many in this season of desperation. So get out that Georgia vote, folks, and stand steadfast against the anarchy of this dying administration’s push towards fascist principles for power. We have the power to do this. We do.
Category Archives: American Popular
Big Band Blowout!
Swing with us here on Deeper Roots on a Friday morning, one week ahead of the Christmas festivities. The big band sound is that apple pie sound that grew out of the traveling musicians and dance hall bands of the 1920s. From the radio to ballrooms across the land, as the jazz orchestras grew in size, the arrangements had to be formalized to avoid mass confusion. The arranger became the focal point of the band. Improvisation during solos was written into the arrangements but their location and duration were controlled and the vocal stylings grew around the easy flowing style of the evolving jazz that would become known as ‘Swing’. Tune in for two hours of exploration of a century of America’s music.
Finger Poppin’ Doo Wop
From Big Sandy to Hank Ballard and The Flamingos…here we go on another Deeper Roots Friday morning. High energy rhythm and blues, doo wop, and foot-tapping sounds to celebrate everything that’s happened…and revel in all that hot rockin’ stuff that erupted in the fifties. This week’s episode focuses on playlists that keep the tempo hot and the rug getting cut with slamming sounds from the high side of vocal harmonies. Wild sounds from The Cadets, The Cadillacs, The Larks, The Crests, The Regals, and The Lollypoppers; and that’s just getting the kettle hot. We got your water boiling and we’re gonna cook your goose…and “we ain’t gonna turn you loose”. Rhythm and blues and doo wop from the late century on this week’s episode of Deeper Roots. Drop on by at 92.5 FM or streaming at freespeechnobull.com/listen. We’d love to have you.
Tiki Torch Exotica
This week’s Deeper Roots takes an historical journey into a sidelight of America’s music: Exotica. The music was a phenomenon mostly attributed to a popularity born of World War II; servicemen returning from the South Seas, Hawaii, and other Asian locales had been exposed to the music and culture. Post-war found two composers who nurtured this sudden boom of south sea influences: Les Baxter and Martin Denny, both releasing groundbreaking popular performances that were an instant success. Even though these two composers were among a small cast of characters, like any popular American music that showed legs on the charts, their sound led to copy-cats and variations on the theme that were too eclectic to pigeonhole and today’s show will tap into a few of those nooks and crannies. It’s all in good fun with wild and sensual sounds from the lounge of mid-century performers like Arthur Lyman, Yma Sumac, Peggy Lee, and 80 Drums Around the World. We’ll also dig into some novel easy listening sounds from the deeper, dustier archives, retooled for a new generation by the Numero Group on their anthology called Technicolor Paradise, release in 2018. Join the rest of the castaways on our two hour tour this week on Sonoma County Community Radio.
Girl Groups – 50s & 60s
Soul and rhythm, heartbreak and boy trouble, big hair and sequined dresses. Deeper Roots goes on a romp through the early years of rock and soul sharing the very special talents that filled the AM airwaves of the fifties and sixties. It was almost impossible to select one song from each of these groups but we had to given the time constraints. There were the “Ettes”: The Chordettes, The Bobettes, The Marvelettes, The Ronettes, and The Ikettes; The Angels, The Murmaids, The Crystals, The Jelly Beans, and The Tammys. There were the Detroit sounds, the Wall of Sound, the Brill Building, and the Philly sounds. Perfectly delicious and light-hearted pop and soul from every corner. Tune into for a listen. Two hours of Deeper Roots this week.
Broken Hearts For Sale
It’s theme time once more. We’ve got songs about the broken hearts, tears, and childhood souvenirs…but mostly broken hearts. Lost love, faded love, and remembering old love letters from the book of broken hearts featuring country, soul, and rhythm, all from the past century. Join in for some classic country from Don Williams and Billy Walker, brassy vocals from Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday, late movie Elvis, and a couple of rockabilly legends named Sonny Burgess and Warren Smith. And don’t miss out on Mary Wells, Jimmy Ruffin, Tom Petty, and The Louvin Brothers this week. It’s all there…a common theme in songwriting for being relatable, illustrative, and purposeful in its singular stories of love and loss. Tune into KRJF 92.3 FM, Sonoma County Community Radio with your host Dave Stroud this Friday evening at 9 Pacific.
Saucy Rhythm Serenades
Rhythm & Blues is the order of the day. Join Dave Stroud for an entertaining blast of fresh sounds from the well of the past century. What’s old is always new if you haven’t heard it, right? The playlist this morning features songs about the night time from Ray Charles, honeydripper rocking from Big Joe Turner, doo wop serenades from the The Jive Bombers, bluesy torch sounds from Erma Franklin, and so much more. We’ll stretch the boundaries of R&B with Elvis, Lonnie Johnson, and a few more as we take on some saucy serenades and unruly pleas from performers from the thirties to the early sixties. All without malice of forethought, I assure you. Tune into Sonoma County Community Radio every Friday morning at 9 Pacific.
Get Down With It
Free form Friday this month. Lots of favorites to share with you as we reach out to our awesome first responders once more here in Sonoma County. August, our static month of warm weather, has turned on us this year (as has everything else) as climate change once more comes knocking on our front and back doors. We’ll try to work on two hours of musical distraction with NRBQ, Little Richard, O. C. Smith, Marlene Dietrich, and Merle Haggard…how’s that for a lineup? Songs about San Antonio, a little place called Hickory Holler, some Madeline Kahn, Tommy Dorsey, and Nina Simone covering Chuck Berry. Money is the root of all evil, and Julia Lee will remind you this Friday morning. Tune into Sonoma County Community Radio once more at 9 Pacific on 92.5 FM, streaming to the world at freespeechnobull.com/listen.
Money Talks
We have, admittedly, visited the money theme in the past. But this week Deeper Roots emphasizes the impact of the filthy lucre on our day-to-day existence. We worship at it’s altar, politicians are possessed by it’s self-serving allure, and we welcome its arrival often without considering the source. We’ll call this a followup to our theme show of some time back, incorporating country, gospel, soul, R&B, rock, rockabilly, and pop including performances from Chuck Berry, Fred Astaire, Big Sandy, Randy Newman, and Bill Branch. It doesn’t end there. Early American humorist Artemus Ward once observed that “When a fellow says it ain’t the money but the principle of the thing, it’s the money.” A freshly-mown observation if there ever was one. We’ll be exploring music about money in this week’s edition of Deeper Roots on KOWS and KRJF Community Radio for Sonoma County. Tune in on Friday mornings at 9 on KOWS or Friday evenings at 9 on KRJF.
A Girl Named …
A sweet little theme this week, covering the female of the species from A to Z…by name. We’ll hear Alice to Zelda and Zindy Lou in today’s show. Songs that dedicate themselves to lost love, love rekindled, nostalgic walks, last dances, and songs that read like letters from the heart. We’ll hear songs written by everyone from The Everly Brothers to Bobby Fuller and Andre Previn in our show today with performances from Rose Maddox, Tom Petty, Elvis, Buddy Guy, and Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks. So why not drop in for a little chat, a little bit of a high note and E flat, and memories of the girl (or guy) that left you behind. Community radio for Sonoma County is your very best bet: KOWS-LP 92.5 FM Occidental, streaming everywhere at kowsfm.com.