Category Archives: Country Blues

Carl Sandburg’s Songbag

Published in 1927, populist poet Carl Sandburg’s anthology of American folksongs was in print for over 70 years. It influenced generations of musicians and is a cornerstone in the foundation of American folk and tradition. Sandburg himself described it as a “ragbag of stripes and streaks of color from nearly all ends of the earth…rich with the diversity of the United States.” Today’s show pulls samples from the book featuring performances by Dan Zanes, Bob Dylan, The Weavers, The Blue Sky Boys, and David Rawlings. True Americana from the deeper wells of America’s music.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Zora Layman & The Hometowners When The Curtains Of The Night Are Pinned Back By The Stars Howdy! 25 Hillbilly All-Time Greats Amazon
3Johnny Cash The Streets of Laredo Come Along And Ride This Train [Disc 2] Amazon
4Sons of the Pioneers Lone Star Trail Songs of the Prairie – CD2 Amazon
5Tex Ritter Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Git Along Little Dogies) Have I Stayed Away Too Long Amazon
6The Weavers Get Along Little Dogies The Weavers Almanac Amazon
7Woody Guthrie Buffalo Skinners (traditional, arr. Woody Guthrie) Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection [Disc 2] Amazon
8Oscar Brand The Tenderfoot Pie In The Sky Amazon
9The Blue Sky Boys Trail To Mexico American Roots- A History Of American Folk Music: [Disc 1] Amazon
10Marc Williams The Little Old Sod Shanty On My Claim Howdy! 25 Hillbilly All-Time Greats Amazon
11Mac Wiseman Turkey In The Straw Sings Old Time Country Favorites Amazon
12The Blue Sky Boys Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet Presenting The Blue Sky Boys Amazon
13Dan Zanes I Was Born Almost Ten Thousand Years Ago Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag Amazon
14Dan Zanes California Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag Amazon
15Hylo Brown Sweet Betsy From Pike Legends & Tall Tales Amazon
16BR5-49 Sweet Betsy from Pike Song of America Amazon
17Tennessee Ernie Ford Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot This Lusty Land Amazon
18Gid Tanner & The Skillet Lickers The Old Gray Mare And The Skillet Lickers Vol. 2 Amazon
19David Rawlings Money Is the Meat in the Coconut Poor David's Almanack Amazon
20Kilby Snow Chicken Reel (Folk) Masters of Old-Time Country Autoharp Amazon
21The Everly Brothers Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet Songs Our Daddy Taught Us Amazon
22Carolina Chocolate Drops Sourwood Mountain Dona Got A Ramblin' Mind Amazon
23Molly Mason & Jay Ungar The Lover's Lament The Lovers' Waltz Amazon
24Marty Robbins Red River Valley All-Time Greatest Hits Amazon
25Dick Curless Red River Valley A Tombstone Every Mile (7CD Set) CD2 (1950-1969) Amazon
26The Doc Watson Family One Morning In May Tradition Amazon
27Dave Van Ronk Kentucky Moonshiner Inside Dave Van Ronk Amazon
28Otis Redding Down In The Valley Dreams To Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology [Disc 1] Amazon
29Slim Whitman Down In The Valley Country Greats #2 Amazon
30Bob Dylan Froggie Went A-Courtin' Good As I Been To You Amazon
31Tex Ritter Froggie Went A-Courtin' Singing In The Saddle Amazon
32Dan Zanes The Monkey's Wedding Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag Amazon
33Doc Watson The Ship That Never Returned My Dear Old Southern Home Amazon
34Hank Penny It Ain't Gonna Rain No More King Of Hillbilly Bebop [Disc 1] Amazon

Naughty Blues

For goodness sake! We’re going to toss aside our puritan ethics (what ethics, you ask) and look towards the sideways glances and double entendres for our inspiration this week on Deeper Roots. Songs about Sam The Hot Dog Man, keyholes, sugar bowls, poodles, jockeys, and lemons…all subjects that find their way in and around the blues in an auspiciously direct route to the heart of the matter. We’ve got the naughty blues today…songs that will encourage a blush or two…or three. We’ve got The Swallows, Lil’ Johnson, Emma Barrett, Tampa Red, and a host of other blues greats on a Sonoma County spring morning. Be sure to tune in and find your own blush point…

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2The Delta Rhythm Boys Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem Amazon
3Crown Prince Waterford Move Your Hand Baby Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
4Barrelhouse Annie If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
5Memphis Minnie Dirty Mother For You Blues Classics: '27_'69 [Disc 1] Amazon
6Tampa Red Let Me Play With Your Poodle ABC Of The Blues Vol 38 Amazon
7Lightnin' Hopkins Let Me Play With Poodle Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
8Hattie Hart I Let My Daddy Do That Vintage Songs of Sex, Drugs & Cigarettes Amazon
9Emma Barrett I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of This Jelly Roll Sweet Emma Amazon
10Butterbeans & Susie I Wanna Hot Dog For My Roll [Explicit] Those Dirty Blues Volume 1 [Explicit] Amazon
11Lil Johnson Sam The Hot Dog Man Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
12Mabel Scott Just Give Me A Man Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
13Connie Allen Rocket 69 Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
14The Swallows It Ain't The Meat It's The Motion Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
15Julia Lee My Man Stands Out The Essential Julia Lee Vol 1 Amazon
16Julia Lee King Size Papa Kansas City Star [Disc 3] Amazon
17Al Miller I Found Your Keyhole Vintage Songs of Sex, Drugs & Cigarettes Amazon
18Charlie Pickett Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon Vintage Sex Songs Amazon
19Bessie Smith Kitchen Man Vintage Songs of Sex, Drugs & Cigarettes Amazon
20Bessie Smith Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl The Essential Bessie Smith Amazon
21Hunter & Jenkins Lollypop Raunchy Business: Hot Nuts & Lollypops Amazon
22Frankie Half Pint Jaxon and The Harlem Hamfats Wet It [Explicit] Those Dirty Blues Volume 1 [Explicit] Amazon
23Victoria Spivey How Do You Do It That Way? Black Snake Blues – The Best Of Amazon
24Madelyn James Stinging Snake Blues Vintage Songs of Sex, Drugs & Cigarettes Amazon
25Lucille Bogan Skin Game Blues [Album Version] Shave 'Em Dry: The Best Of Lucille Bogan Amazon
26Lil Johnson Get 'Em From The Peanut Man (Hot Nuts) [Album Version] Raunchy Business: Hot Nuts & Lollypops Amazon
27Lonnie Johnson I Got The Best Jelly Rollin In Town Dirty Blues [Disc 2] Amazon
28Wynonie Harris Hard Ridin Mama Playful Baby Amazon
29Bull Moose Jackson Big Ten Inch Record Badman Jackson Thats Me Amazon
30Blu Lu Barker Don't You Feel My Leg Chronological Blue Lu Barker (1946-1949) Amazon
31Blu Lu Barker Buy Me Some Juice Don't You Feel My Leg Amazon
32Lillie Mae Kirkman He's Just My Size Raunchy Business: Hot Nuts & Lollypops Amazon
33Lil Johnson & Black Bob Press My Button, Ring My Bell Flashbacks #3 CopulationBlues 1926-1940 Amazon

Ships Upon the Sea

A wayfaring lot…music that touches on seafaring tragedies, punctuated by the loss of that most famous of them all: the HMS Titanic. This week’s show will focus on music that commemorated the ships that were lost at sea; tragedies that were headlines around the world; songs of the seafaring life and the sailors and crew that were a part of it.  The stories are told in songs from the wells of tradition. We’ll hear from Frank Hutchison, Papa Harvey Hull, Pink Anderson, The Dillards and Dan Zanes. We’ll also hear some classic maritime music from the Smithsonian catalogs. Blues, country, folk, and so much more…all celebrating those ships upon the sea and the ones we lost along the way.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Bob Gibson Titanic Joy Joy! The Young and Wonderful Bob Gibson Amazon
3Rory Block Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down) Confessions of A Blues Singer Amazon
4Pink Anderson The Ship Titanic Gospel, Blues, and Street Songs Amazon
5Charley Jordan Titanic Blues Charley Jordan Volume 2 1931-1934 Amazon
6Hi Henry Brown Titanic Blues 21 Classic Blues Songs From The 1920's Vol. 10 Amazon
7Bessie Jones And Group The Titanic Alan Lomax Collection Sampler Amazon
8Papa Harvey Hull & "Long Cleve" Reed Sinking Of The Titanic Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice Amazon
9Richard (Rabbit) Brown Sinking Of The Titanic Times Ain't Like They Used To Be – Volume 1 Amazon
10Lead Belly Titanic The Definitive Leadbelly [Disc 3] – Leaving Blues Amazon
11Frank Hutchison The Last Scene Of The Titanic If You Take Me Back Amazon
12Clyde Spencer And Harry Fannin The Sinking Of The Titanic Folksongs Of Another America: Field Recordings From The Upper Midwest, 1937-1946 [Disc 1] Amazon
13Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton After The Sinking Of The Titanic On The Banks Of A Lonely River Amazon
14Roy Acuff The Great Titanic compliments of grimriper2u@yahoo.com Amazon
15Woody Guthrie When That Great Ship Went Down This Land Is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Vol. 1 Amazon
16Ralph Stanley Storms Are On The Ocean [Album Version] A Distant Land To Roam: Songs Of The Carter Family Amazon
17Gordon Lightfoot The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Songbook [Box Set] Disc 3 Amazon
18Jimmie Driftwood The Ship That Never Returned Americana, Vol. 3 Amazon
19Little Jimmy Dickens When The Ship Hit The Sand The Essential "Little" Jimmy Dickens Amazon
20Arlo Guthrie with The Dillards The Sinking of the Ruben James Thirty Two Cents Postage Due Amazon
21June Carter Cash Sinking in the Lonesome Sea Wildwood Flower Amazon
22Ashley Monroe The Storms Are On The Ocean Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited Amazon
23Cowboy Copas A Thousand Miles of Ocean Settin' Flat On Ready Amazon
24Red Allen Out on the Ocean Lonesome and Blue: The Complete County Recordings Amazon
25The Country Gentlemen Take Me In A Lifeboat The Early Rebel Recordings [Disc 2] Amazon
26Dan Zanes Across The Western Ocean Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag Amazon
27The Dicey Doh Singers The Sloop John B. Classic Maritime Music Amazon
28Sam Eskin Clear Away the Track and Let the Bullgine Run Classic Maritime Music Amazon
29Henry Morrison & St. Simon's Island Singers I'm Gonna Sail Like A Ship On The Ocean Sounds of the South [Disc 3] – Negro Church Music & White Spirituals Amazon
30Louis Prima & Keely Smith Barnacle Bill The Sailor Breaking It Up! Amazon

Deeper Mississippi John Hurt

Join us as we peer into the music of Mississippi John Hurt, performed by contemporary artists with some bits and pieces of his own music. We’ll also feature some fragments from the original interview conducted by Tom Hoskins in 1963 after some simple sleuthing, in the town of Avalon not far from Hurt’s boyhood home of Teoc, Mississippi. The story of his rediscovery after the sixties folk revival (and Harry Smith’s original Anthology of American Folk Music) is legend. Sit back on a Friday morning and listen in for some of the great music of the minstrel from Teoc

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Bruce Cockburn Avalon, My Home Town Avalon Blues: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt Amazon
3Jesse Colin Young Creole Belle Together Amazon
4John Oates Spike Driver Blues Arkansas Amazon
5Doc & Merle Watson Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied) Live & Pickin' Amazon
6Bill Morrissey Avalon Blues The Essential Collection Amazon
7Taj Mahal Frankie And Albert The Best Of Taj Mahal Amazon
8John Hiatt I'm Satisfied Avalon Blues: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt Amazon
9David Johansen Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me Shaker Amazon
10Dave Van Ronk Spike Driver Blues Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk Amazon
11Rhiannon Giddens The Angels Laid Him Away Freedom Highway Amazon
12JL Stiles Trouble I Had All My Days Solo Sessions Amazon
13Taj Mahal Satisfied 'N' Tickled Too The Essential Taj Mahal Amazon
14Chris Smither Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt Honeysuckle Dog Amazon
15John Fahey Requiem for John Hurt Essential John Fahey Amazon
16Big Bill Broonzy Frankie And Johnny Classic African-American Ballads (Smithsonian Folkways) Amazon
17Ben Harper Sliding Delta Avalon Blues: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt Amazon
18Bettye LaVette Nobody's Dirty Business American Epic: The Sessions [Disc 2] Amazon
19Mike Dowling Blue Harvest Blues The Blues Ain't News Amazon
20Rory Block Candy Man Avalon: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt Amazon
21Lucinda Williams Angels Laid Him Away Avalon Blues: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt Amazon
22Dave Alvin With Dean Schlabowske Louis Collins The Executioners Last Songs, Volume 2 Amazon
23Mississippi John Hurt Chicken Best Of Mississippi John Hurt [Live] Amazon
24John Oates My Creole Belle Arkansas Amazon
25Doc & Merle Watson Stack O'lee Ballads From Deep Gap Amazon
26Mississippi John Hurt Avalon Blues Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKeh Recordings Amazon
27Spuyten Duyvil Make Me A Pallet Social Hour Music Amazon

Early Gospel Blues

Gospel music informed much of the music from the early century and the blues took it’s soul and inspiration from many passages. Numerous street corner buskers promoted the scripture and many, like Blind Willie Johnson, Gary Davis, Oda Mae Terrell, and Mother McCollum were known as musical evangelists in addition to their place in the church. And the spirituals also informed the music of Blind Boy Fuller, Charley Patton, Barbecue Bob, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and so many early blues men and women. We’ll sample a few and take our Friday evening show with some reverence and grit.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Washington Phillips Denomination Blues – Part 1 Preachin' The Gospel – Holy Blues Amazon
3Mississippi John Hurt Praying On The Old Camp Ground Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKeh Recordings Amazon
4Mother McCollum Jesus Is My Air-O-Plane Guitar Evangelists (1928-1951) Amazon
5Mother McCollum Oh Lord I'm Your Child Guitar Evangelists (1928-1951) Amazon
6Blind Lemon Jefferson He Arose From The Dead The Complete Classic Sides Remastered: Atlanta & Chicago 1926 [Disc 2] Amazon
7Blind Joe Taggart And Joshua White Scandalous And A Shame (Pm 12780, 20942-4) The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 2 (1928-1932) Amazon
8Sam Collins I Want To Be Like Jesus In My Heart Complete Recorded Works 1927-31 Amazon
9Barbecue Bob When The Saints Go Marching In Complete Recorded Works Vol 1 Amazon
10Blind Willie Johnson I'm Gonna Run To The City Of Refuge Preachin' The Gospel – Holy Blues Amazon
11Charley Patton Lord I'm Discouraged Blues Images Presents: 1920's Blues Classics Vol.14 Amazon
12Bukka White I Am In the Heavenly Way Masters Of The Delta Blues: The Friends Of Charlie Patton Amazon
13Bo Weavil Jackson (Sam Butler) Heaven Is My View Backwoods Blues (1926-1935) Amazon
14Lil McClintock Sow Good Seeds 21 Classic Blues Songs From The 1920's Vol. 10 Amazon
15Blind Nesbit Gussie Pure Religion Vol. 2-(1929-34) Amazon
16Blind Gussie Nesbit Canaan's Land When I Reach That Heavenly Shore: Unearthly Black Gospel 1926 – 1936 Amazon
17Skip James Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader Complete Early Recordings Amazon
18Blind Boy Fuller Precious Lord Heart Ease Blues (The Blues Collection Vol.55) Amazon
19Blind Boy Fuller Must Have Been My Jesus Heart Ease Blues (The Blues Collection Vol.55) Amazon
20Josh White Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed Preachin' The Gospel – Holy Blues Amazon
21Josh White Lord, I Want To Die Easy Complete Recorded Works 1929-1940 Vol. 2 Amazon
22Blind Willie McTell I Got Religion I'm So Glad (w/ Kate McTell) The Classic Years: 1933 – 1935 New York " Chicago Amazon
23Bull City Red I Feel Like Shoutin' Blues And Gospel From The Eastern States (1935-1944) Amazon
24Memphis Minnie Let Me Ride Memphis Minnie – Queen of Country Blues, 1929 – 1937 [Disc 4] Amazon
25Brownie McGhee Done What My Lord Said The Complete Brownie McGhee [Disc 2] Amazon
26Jimpson & Group No More My Lord Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959 Amazon
27Sister O. M. Terrell God's Little Birds Country Gospel 1946-1953 Amazon
28Rev. Gary Davis Get Right Church Gospel, Blues, and Street Songs Amazon
29Reverend Gary Davis I Am The Light Of This World Harlem Street Singer Amazon
30Blind Willie McTell Lord Have Mercy If You Please Pig 'n Whistle Red Amazon
31Sister Rosetta Tharpe Everybody's Gonna Have A Wonderful Time Up There Vol. 3-1946-47 Complete Record Amazon
32Sister Rosetta Tharpe Saviour Don't Pass Me By Complete Recorded Works, 1938 – 1944; Volume 1 Amazon
33Big Joe Williams King Jesus Shake Your Boogie Amazon

Dead Roots

While the lyrics and music of Robert Hunter took the Grateful Dead into remarkable directions, codifying their place among the bands of the latter half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, by the time they reached their peak their roots were already firmly established. Their early music was clearly anchored in the sounds of tradition, reaching from the Appalachians to the Texas Gulf Coast. We’ll hear early (and contemporary) performances that inspired the band with songs of Blind Willie Johnson, Red Allen, The Mississippi Sheiks, Henry Thomas and Obray Ramsey. The landscape we’ll traverse includes blues, gospel, hillbilly, and folk…no Dead music, only music that served to inspire. This week on Sonoma County Community radio.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2David Grisman/Jerry Garcia Been All Around This World Been All Around This World Amazon
3Dave Van Ronk Hang Me, Oh Hang Me Dave Van Ronk Amazon
4Obray Ramsey Rain And Snow Best Of The Troubadours Amazon
5Vince Martin & Fred Neil I Know You Rider Tear Down The Walls/Bleecker & MacDougal Amazon
6Henry Thomas Dont Ease Me In Ragtime Texas Complete Recorded Works 1927-29 Amazon
7The Memphis Jug Band On The Road Again Times Ain't Like They Used To Be – Volume 1 Amazon
8The Memphis Jug Band Stealin' Stealin' Memphis Jug Band Vol. 2 (1928-1929) Amazon
9Cannon's Jug Stompers Viola Lee Blues First Time I Met the Blues (When the Sun Goes Down series) Amazon
10Hammie Nixon Viola Lee Blues Living Country Blues: An Anthology Disc 3 Amazon
11The Monroe Brothers Rosa Lee McFall Early Blue Grass Music Amazon
12Prairie Ramblers Deep Elem Blues White Country Blues (1926-1938) Amazon
13Mississippi Sheiks Sittin' On Top of the World Columbia Records' 125th Anniv. Amazon
14Roscoe Holcomb Sittin' On Top of the World Classic Piedmont Blues from Smithsonian Folkways Amazon
15Dillard Chandler Rain and Snow Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways Amazon
16The Chieftains Rain And Snow Down The Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions Amazon
17Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers Minglewood Blues Bob Dylan Presents: Cover to Cover – The Originals Amazon
18Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, et. al. New Minglewood Blues Jug Band Extravaganza Amazon
19Blind Willie Johnson Nobody's Fault But Mine Various Artists: Bob Dylan – Cover To Cover – The Originals VOL. 2 [Disc 3] Amazon
20Sister Rosetta Tharpe Nobody's Fault But Mine The Great Gospel Women Amazon
21Rev. Pearly Brown Nobody's Fault But Mine You're Gonna Need That Pure Religion Amazon
22Lightnin' Hopkins See That My Grave Is Kept Clean The Real Blues Brothers Vol. 2 Amazon
23Lightnin' Hopkins One Kind Favor Jake Head Boogie Amazon
24Memphis Slim Next Time You See Me The Greatest Hits Of Amazon
25Bob Dylan Jack-A-Roe World Gone Wrong Amazon
26Joan Baez Jack-A-Roe Rare, Live & Classic [Box] (3 of 3) Amazon
27The Sunshine Boys What's the Matter With Deep Elem The Western Swing: Doughboys, Playboys, and Cowboys – Oakie Boogie [Disc 4] Amazon
28Red Allen Deep Elem Blues The Folkways Years 1964 – 1983 Amazon
29The Light Crust Doughboys Sittin' On Top Of The World 1936-1941 Amazon
30Dock Walsh In The Pines In The Pines – Tar Heel Folk Songs And Fiddle Tunes – Old-Time Music Of North Carolina 1926-1936 Amazon
31John Sebastian Minglewood Blues Chasin' Gus' Ghost Amazon

Back on the Farm

The farmer, the farm, and songs of farming are at the core of this week’s theme show. Whether the songs’ focus is that of the hard-working folk of the farm, the raw materials, or the nostalgic reminders of life on the farm, we’ll push forward the playlist plough and take you to the barn for an early morning celebration with performers including bluegrass from James King, gritty Americana from Levon Helm and Bill Neely, core country from Bobby Bare and Porter Wagoner, or maybe some field recordings from the 20s featuring the likes of the Carolina Tar Heels…all of this music going Back On The Farm.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Marty Stuart/Merle Haggard Farmer's Blues Country Music Amazon
3Freeman Stowers Sunrise On The Farm Sinners and Saints: Complete Recorded Works 1926-1931 Amazon
4Bill Frisell Farmer Disfarmer Amazon
5Levon Helm Poor Old Dirt Farmer Dirt Farmer Amazon
6Bill Neely Black Land Farmer 16 Down Home Country Classics Amazon
7James King Thirty Years of Farming Bluegrass Number 1's: A Collection of Chart-Topping Songs Amazon
8Junior Sisk with Becky Isaacs Bowman and Sonya Isaacs Yeary The Wheat Crop Mac Wiseman – I Sang The Song Amazon
9Lemuel Jones Po' Farmer (Poor Farmers) Field Recordings, Vol. 1: Virginia (1936-1941) Amazon
10Peter Rowan Let the Harvest Go To Seed Bluegrass Boy Amazon
11Carolina Tar Heels Got The Farm Land Blues Anthology Of American Folk Music, Vol. 1B: Ballads Amazon
12Cisco Houston Farmer's Lament The Folkways Years: 1944-1961 Amazon
13J.E. Mainer & The Mountaineers (With Morris Herbert) 17 Living On The Farm The Legendry J.E. Mainer, Volume 4 Amazon
14Walter Brennan Old Rivers Old Rivers Amazon
15The Bently Boys Down On Penny's Farm Anthology Of American Folk Music, Vol. 1B: Ballads Amazon
16Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur Down on Penny's Farm Penny's Farm Amazon
17The Four Wanderers Farmer's Life For Me Black Vocal Groups Vol. 9 (1929-1942) Amazon
18Ben & Ellen Harper Farmer's Daughter Childhood Home Amazon
19Bobby Bare The Farmer Feeds Us All Hard Time Hungrys Amazon
20Porter Wagoner The Farmer and the Lord 20 All-Time Greatest Hits Amazon
21Paula Brown Farm Hollers Hollerin' Amazon
22Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers McDonald's Farm (1928) Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard: Hard Time, Good Time, And End Time Music, 1923-1936 Amazon
23Bubby Bishop I Want To Go Back To The Farm The Great Vintage Country Amazon
24Wilf Carter (Montana Slim) On A Little Two Acre Farm Dynamite Trail-The Decca Years, 1954-58 Amazon
25Goose Island Ramblers I Worked For a Farmer Polkabilly Amazon
26Buster Carter & Preston Young A Lazy Farmer Boy Before The Blues Vol. 3 Amazon
27Rosetta Howard Plow Hand Blues [Album Version] Roots 'N' Blues/The Retrospective 1925-1950 Amazon
28Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys I'll Reap My Harvest In Heaven King of Country Music [Disc 3] : Fireball Mail Amazon
29Fiddlin' John Carson Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Them All [Remastered 2003] Poor Man's Heaven – Blues And Tales Of The Great Depression – When The Sun Goes Down Series Amazon
30Ray Wylie Hubbard After the Harvest Crusades of the Restless Nights Amazon
31Dry Branch Fire Squad Devil, Take The Farmer 481 Bluegrass Class of 1990 Amazon
32Glen Campbell Arkansas Farmboy Adios Amazon
33Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies When It's Harvest Time, Sweet Angeline Daddy of Western Swing, Vol. 4 : Keep a Knockin' Amazon
34Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs With Mother Maybelle Carter The Homestead On The Farm [Album Version] Songs Of The Famous Carter Family Amazon

Below the Mason-Dixon Line

Songs that highlight the states below the ‘line’ of intransigence. Portions are better known as Dixie, others (like Florida and Texas) appear as appendages or after-market expanses. The music this evening will explore songs of Louisiana from Doug Kershaw, Texas from Asleep at the Wheel, Alabama from Mance Lipscomb, and West Virginia featuring Louis Jordan. There’s a whole lot more including Taj Mahal, Bill Kirchen, The Louvin Brothers and Pokey LaFarge; all on a journey through a collection of states that two surveyors by the name of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in an attempt to resolve a dispute, attached their names to in the late 18th century.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Jimmie Rodgers Somewhere Down Below The Mason Dixon Line Recordings 1927 – 1933 [Disc 5] Amazon
3Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton Down In Florida On A Hog Darby & Tarlton – Disc A (Atlanta 1927-29) Amazon
4Muddy Waters Deep Down In Florida #2 King Bee Amazon
5Claire Lynch My Florida Sunshine Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration: A Classic Bluegrass Tribute Disc 1 Amazon
6The Swe-Danes Georgia Camp Meeting New Discgems From Warner Brothers Amazon
7Dave Van Ronk Georgia Camp Meeting Dave Van Ronk And The Ragtime Jug Stompers Amazon
8Alex Campbell, Ola Belle Reed, Burl Kilby Bringing in the Georgia Mail Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line Amazon
9Curley Williams & His Georgia Peach Pickers Georgia Boogie Travellin' Boogie Amazon
10Guy Clark Virginia's Real Texas Cookin' Amazon
11The Carter Family Mid The Green Fields Of Virginia The Carter Family 1927 – 1934 [Disc 3] Amazon
12Al Bowlly My Sweet Virginia Just A Bowl Of Cherries Amazon
13Ethel Waters I'm Coming Virginia On Stage And Screen 1925 – 1940 Amazon
14Hazel Dickens West Virginia, My Home Hand-Picked: 25 Years Of Bluegrass On Rounder Records [Disc 1] Amazon
15Louis Jordan Salt Pork, West Virginia The Chronological Louis Jordan 1945-1946 Amazon
16Dr. Horse South Poke West Virginia Harlem Rock N' Blues Amazon
17Mance Lipscomb Alabama Bound Ash Grove 12/6/1964 Amazon
18Evan Marshall The Alabama Jubilee Mandolin Magic Amazon
19The Louvin Brothers Alabama Hand-Picked Amazon
20Neil Young/Stray Gators Alabama Harvest Amazon
21Jimmie Driftwood Arkansas Traveler Americana, Vol. 1 Amazon
22Carolina Cotton Three Miles South Of Cash (In Arkansas) Oxford American 11th Edition Southern Music CD [Disc 2, "Arkansas Masters"] Amazon
23Bill Kirchen Arkansas Diamond (Album) Word To The Wise Amazon
24Taj Mahal Texas Woman Blues The Essential [Disc 1] Amazon
25Asleep at the Wheel Miles and Miles of Texas The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel Since 1970 Amazon
26Tommy Duncan Texas Moon Texas Moon Amazon
27Tony Rice He Rode All the Way to Texas Night Flyer: The Singer Songwriter Collection Amazon
28Waylon Jennings Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) The Essential Waylon Jennings [2007] Disc 2 Amazon
29Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Going Back To Louisiana Doctors Professors Kings & Queens: Box New Orleans Amazon
30Doug Kershaw Louisiana Man Diggy Diggy Lo Amazon
31Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three Mississippi Girl Middle of Everywhere Amazon
32Nina Simone Mississippi Goddam Anthology Disc 1 Amazon
33Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra Mississippi Mud Paper Moon Amazon
34The Andrew Sisters When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabama Double Goldies [CD1] Amazon

The Hangman’s Rope

Songs about one of the most controversial of mankind’s attempt to balance the scales: the death penalty. Studies point to the fact that at least one in 25 people sentenced to the death penalty in the U.S. are innocent and yet the death penalty is legal in 32 states. In China, corporate fraud can be punishable by death…if it were the case here, our government would probably be on the straight and narrow. But I digress. The music this week will explore the long walk to eternity through the eyes of the condemned; the knowledge of the eventuality of the executioner’s song is clarity. And we’ve got country from a whole host of obscure characters, some blues and boogie, along with just a little bit of folk and bluegrass. A hundred years of the hangman’s rope in reflection.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Johnny Cash I Hung My Head American IV: Man Comes Around Amazon
3Gurf Morlix Theyre Hangin Me Tonight The Executioner's Last Songs, Volume 3 Amazon
4Johnny Bond At Dawn I Die The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972) Amazon
5Marty Robbins The Hanging Tree All-Time Greatest Hits Amazon
6Peter, Paul & Mary Hangman See What Tomorrow Brings Amazon
7Marty Stuart Hangman Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions Amazon
8Ralston Bowles and May Erlewine-Bernard Hangman Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie Amazon
9Cowboy Copas Hangman Boogie Hillbilly Boogie Box [Disc 4] Amazon
10The Pine Valley Cosmonauts & Puerto Muerto The Hangman's Song The Executioner's Last Songs, Vol. 1 Amazon
11Al Dean Hangman The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972) Amazon
12Leadbelly Gallows Pole Too Late, Too Late – Vol. 12 – 1917-48 Amazon
13Furry Lewis Judge Harsh Blues Furry Lewis 1927 – 1929 Amazon
14Brownie McGhee Hangman's Blues The Folkways Years (1945-1959) Amazon
15Blind Lemon Jefferson Hangman's Blues Complete Recordings Vol. 3 Amazon
16Blind Lemon Jefferson Electric Chair Blues Images Presents 1920's Blues Classics, Vol. 13 Amazon
17Lonesome Johnny Death Row The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972) Amazon
18Jimmy Minor Death Row The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972) Amazon
19Porter Wagoner (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972) Amazon
20Dave Alvin Sonora's Death Row West of the West Amazon
21Lee Hazelwood The Girl On Death Row Twisted Tales From The Vinyl Wastelands Volume 2 Amazon
22Johnny Cash The Mercy Seat American III: Solitary Man Amazon
23Bessie Smith Send Me To The Lectric Chair Empress Of The Blues Volume 2: 1926-1933 (CD A, 1926-1928) Amazon
24Booker T. & the MG's Hang 'Em High The Very Best of Booker T. & the MG's Amazon
25Hoyle Miller Twelve Years On Death Row The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972) Amazon
26Steve Earle Walking Down Death Row If I Had A Song: The Songs Of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2 Amazon
27The Blue Sky Boys Story Of The Knoxville Girl Absolutely Bluegrass Amazon
28Bob Dylan Seven Curses The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 [Disc 2] Amazon
29Joan Baez Geordie The First 10 Years Amazon
30The Pine Valley Cosmonauts & Dean Schlabowske Gary Gilmore's Eyes The Executioner's Last Songs, Vol. 1 Amazon

Bad Luck Blues

We’re exploring the blues this week on Deeper Roots. And it’s all about bad luck blues…when the dice roll snake eyes, when the crops won’t make the rent, when your woman asks for money and all you got is the dust in your pockets…when you ain’t got no money.  Join Dave Stroud for a collection of the very best including Big Joe Williams’ Jinx Blues, bad luck stories from Dinah Washington and Memphis Minnie, piano moaning from Leroy Carr and Ivory Joe, as well as further tales of gambling, dice, and no luck from Clifford Gibson and Black Boy Shine. Friday evening blues….what more?

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Little Milton Bad Luck Delmark: 50 Years Of Jazz & Blues: Blues [Disc 1] Amazon
3Rory Block Jinx Blues Blues Walkin' Like a Man: A Tribute To Son House Amazon
4Son House The Jinx Blues ABC Of The Blues, Vol. 41 Amazon
5Big Joe Williams Jinx Blues Classic Delta Blues Amazon
6Black Boy Shine Gamblin' Jinx Blues Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey [Disc 2] Amazon
7Memphis Minnie I'm A Bad Luck Woman Queen Of Country Blues [Disc 5] (1936-1937) Amazon
8Mel Walker Unlucky Man Mercury R&B Story '45-'55 – [Disc 6] West Coast Blues V2 Amazon
9Nat King Cole Trio Chant Of The Blues (Dog-Gone Unlucky Blues) The Nat King Cole Trio: The Complete Capitol Transcription Sessions [Disc 1] Amazon
10Dinah Washington Bad Luck Dinah Washington Sings The Blues Amazon
11Jimmy Lewis/Ray Charles If It Wasn't for Bad Luck Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection Disc 4 Amazon
12Robert Belfour Bad Luck What's Wrong with You Amazon
13Muddy Waters Mother's Bad Luck Child Can't Get No Grindin' Amazon
14Lightnin' Slim Bad Luck Blues The Best Of Excello Records Amazon
15Lightnin' Hopkins Bad Luck And Trouble Blues Kingpins Amazon
16Blind Lemon Jefferson Bad Luck Blues Classic Sides Disc 1 Amazon
17Cliifford Gibson Bad Luck Dice Complete Recorded Works Amazon
18Guitar Welch Bad Luck Blues Southern Prison Blues (Digitally Remastered) Amazon
19Kokomo Arnold Bad Luck Blues Complete Recorded Works Volume 4 (1937-1938) Amazon
20Ivory Joe Hunter No Money, No Luck Blues The Chronological Ivory Joe Hunter 1947 Amazon
21Bill Gaither Bad Luck Child's Request When The Sun Goes Down 1934-1941 Amazon
22Leroy Carr Bad Luck All The Time Sloppy Drunk [Disc 2] Amazon
23Champion Jack Dupree Bad Luck Bound To Change Two Classic Albums Plus Singles Amazon
24Fats Domino Bad Luck and Trouble Fats Domino Out of New Orleans Amazon
25John Mayall Bad Luck Time Room To Move 1969-1974 [Disc 2] Amazon
26Tommy Castro And The Painkillers Bad Luck Method To My Madness Amazon
27Larry Campbell Bad Luck Charm Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams Amazon
28The Harlem Hamfats Bad Luck Man Harlem Hamfats Vol. 1 1936 Amazon
29Charlie Musselwhite If I Should Have Bad Luck Deluxe Edition – Charlie Musselwhite Amazon