We had so much fun with our first installment a few months back that we thought it was worth a second installment…well, that and the depth and breadth of the American Songbag certainly lends itself to doing so. It doesn’t hurt either that it fits our deeper roots sensibilities so well. This installment finds us meandering about those classic songs whose topics include mellow blues ballads, hobo songs, Mexican border songs (how appropriate), tarnished love tales, and the ‘road to heaven’. Helping us through our sets we’ll be featuring an interesting collection of performers: Dave Van Ronk, Dock Boggs, Rosanne Cash, and Peter Case. A host of others will join in the fun on Community Radio for Sonoma County.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Dave Van Ronk
Willie The Weeper
Down In Washington Square: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection
3
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Willie the Weeper
Dirt, Silver & Gold Disc 1
4
Dan Zanes
Roll The Chariot
Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag
5
Josh White
Barbara Allen
Best Of Josh White
6
Delmore Brothers
Frozen Girl
Brown's Ferry Blues
7
Dock Boggs
Pretty Polly
Country Blues
8
The Carter Family
My Sweetheart Is a Poor Working Girl/Waves of the Sea (Instrumental)
On Border Radio – 1939 – vol. 1
9
Tony Rice
House Carpenter
Church Street Blues
10
Hylo Brown
Pretty Fair Maiden
Legends & Tall Tales
11
Ola Belle Reed, John Miller, Burl Kilby
The Orphan Girl
Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line
12
David Rawlings
Midnight Train
Poor David's Almanack
13
Arlo Guthrie
Gypsy Davy
Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (Remastered 2004)
14
Peter Case
Roving Gambler
Sings Like Hell
15
Rosanne Cash
Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow
The List
16
Aaron Copland, London Symphony Orchestra & William Warfield
Old American Songs (Set One): Zion's Walls
Copland Conducts Copland (Expanded Edition)
17
Louis Armstrong
Ezekiel Saw De Wheel
Louis And The Good Book
18
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Things That I used to do (and I Don't Do No More)
The Gospel Truth
19
The Robinson Children
I Ain't Gwine Study About War No More
Swinging Gospel Sounds (1935-1942)
20
The Bronzemen
Dese Bones Gwine Rise Again
The Bronzemen – Radio Transcriptions (1939)
21
Septeto Habanero
Cielito Lindo
Cuba. Por La Musica
22
Los Panchos
La Cucaracha – La Adelita
Cattle Call-Early Cowboy Music And It's Roots
23
Dan Zanes
Lo Que Digo
Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag
24
Kathy Reid-Naiman
Pretty Betty Martin
Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie
25
Laurie Lewis
Weevily Wheat
Laurie Lewis & Her Bluegrass Pals
26
Dan Zanes
Cuckoo Waltz
Parades And Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected By Carl Sandburg For The American Songbag
27
Tom Paxton
Times A-Getting Hard, Boys
Seeds – The Songs Of Pete Seeger, Vol. 3 (Disc 2 Of 2 – Friends Of Pete)
There are a handful of record labels that subscribe to the ‘deeper roots’ dogma. And our show tries to cover all of them. But East Bay’s own Arhoolie, whose catalog was recently acquired by Smithsonian Folkways is a very special example, maybe the premiere example, of what it means to dig deeper. Founded in 1960 by Chris Strachwitz, a German transplant who moved to the States in 1947, Arhoolie was founded on the principle that the best music could be found by traveling the backroads. And that is precisely how it got started, with a recording device in his trunk and an ear for the sublime. Join us this Friday evening as we explore just a hint of the music you’ll find on a landmark roots label.
We are remembering what happened here in Sonoma County last October when the firestorm hit, devastating communities and lives. Over 5000 homes and dozens of lives were lost. Disaster struck overnight and our music today reflects back with songs of disaster, songs of burning hell, and music that reminds us that Mother Nature will have its way. Blues from John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf, traditional country gospel from Bill Neely and Kitty Wells, and more in a Friday evening remembrance.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
The David Thom Band
California's Burning
That Old Familiar
3
Under The Radar
Ride These Flames
Beyond The Niche
4
Kitty Wells
He Will Set Your Fields on Fire
Dust on the Bible (1959)
5
Kilby Snow, Mike Seeger
He Will Set Your Fields On Fire
Close To Home: Old Time Music From Mike Seeger's Collection, 1952-1967
6
Clyde Moody
06 – Where There's Smoke (There's Bound to Be Fire)
The Hillbilly Waltz King
7
Bill Neely
Satan's Burning Hell
Texas Law & Justice
8
Howlin' Wolf
The Natchez Burning
Blues From Hell
9
John Lee Hooker
Burning Hell
The Ultimate Collection 1948-1990 [Disc 2]
10
John Lee Hooker
The Motor City Is Burning
The Definitive Collection
11
Otis Spann
Burning Fire
The Great Blues Men
12
Bob Brozman
American House Fire Blues
Fire in the Mind
13
Dave Alvin
Barn Burning
King Of California
14
Dave Alvin
California's Burning
Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women
15
John Mellencamp
Eden Is Burning
John Mellencamp
16
Dixon Brothers
The School House Fire
Down In The Basement: Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove Of Vintage 78s: 1926-1937
Merle Travis’ influence on country music cannot be ignored. Along with a select few entertainers of the mid-century, he bridged the hillbilly and Appalachian folk institutions to the Golden Age of Country. His influences were not only the ‘picking style’, but also his keen sense of populist stories told from the front lines. We’ll hear from and early influence, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, as well as those he influenced. All songs written by Merle and some performed by Merle himself. Our show will also feature Merle Travis interview excerpts from the sixties. It’s a Friday morning collection of the very best of Merle Travis.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Merle Travis
I'll See You In My Dreams
The Guitar Picker CD3 (1951-53)
3
Joe Maphis & Merle Travis
Alabama Jubilee
Country Guitar Thunder (Joe Maphis & Merle Travis 1977-1981)
Tales of lonesome saddles, lost loves, broken hearts, and lonely rooms…a mood, a tone, and short vignettes so common among those themes of country music. We’ve got that and much more in this week’s episode of Deeper Roots. Performances from Grandpa Jones, The Stanley Brothers, Lefty Frizzell, Mel Tillis, and many others, will take us on a ride on a country road, drinking new wine from an old jug. That will also include stories of highway mishaps, the bottom of the bottle, and a mystery of the Tallahatchie Bridge. Friday solemn sounds from the past century on Sonoma County community radio.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Bobbie Gentry
Ode To Billie Joe
Billboard Top Pop Hits: 1967
3
Elvis Presley
Don't Cry Daddy
Always on My Mind
4
Tammy Wynette
D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Country Legends
5
Hank Williams
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
24 Greatest
6
Bobby Bare
Jeannie4s Last Kiss (1963)
All American Boy – CD 2
7
Doc & Merle Watson
The Tragic Romance
Ballads From Deep Gap
8
David Grisman w/Alan O'Bryant
Tragic Romance
Life Of Sorrow
9
Grandpa Jones
Tragic Romance
Makes The Rafters Ring
10
The Stanley Brothers
Tragic Love
An Evening Long Ago: Live 1956
11
Lefty Frizzell
The Tragic Letter (& Wayne Raney) 1965
Life's Like Poetry (Disc 3)
12
Red Fox Chasers
Wreck On The Mountain Road
People Take Warning [Disc 1] – Man Vs. Machine
13
Esco Hankins
Wreck on the Highway
1947-1951 (Warped 4732)
14
Vernon Dalhart
The Wreck Of The Old '97
American Roots- A History Of American Folk Music: [Disc 1]
15
Lefty Frizzell
Long Black Veil
Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 3: Americana
16
Mel Tillis
Life Turned Her That Way
36 All Time Greatest Hits
17
Mary Gauthier
Mercy Now
Mercy Now
18
Townes Van Zandt
Waiting Around to Die
Legend: The Very Best Of Townes Van Zandt
19
Vern Gosdin
Chiseled in Stone
Chiseled in Stone
20
Ray Charles & Willie Nelson
Seven Spanish Angels
The Many Sides Of Willie Nelson [Cd 3 "Duets"] (1992)
21
James King
He Stopped Loving Her Today
Three Chords & The Truth
22
Lucinda Williams
Sweet Old World
Sweet Old World
23
Dwight Yoakam
I Sang Dixie
Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room
24
Willie Nelson
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
Artist's Choice: Sheryl Crow
25
Merle Haggard
Sing Me Back Home
The Lonesome Fugitive: The Merle Haggard Anthology 1963-1977 [Disc 1]
26
Red Foley
Old Shep
Smoke on the Water / Hillbilly Fever
27
Walter Brennan
Old Rivers
Classic Country Great Story Songs [Disc 2]
28
Charlie Louvin
Wreck on the Highway
Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs
29
Doc & Merle Watson
The Wreck of The Old #9
Ballads From Deep Gap
30
Faron Young
Hello Walls
Hello Walls / The Young Approach
31
Merle Haggard
If We Make It Through December (2006 Digital Remaster)
A notorious theme in our world today. But it’s not like there is a thin line between truth and lies in the end. The line is clearly defined and yet people would rather imagine anything but what is clearly painted before them. Our show today looks at what the worst often looks like. Dirty lies, white lies, poison lies, and all of those falsehoods made in earnest or in self promotion. There are those who proudly wear the color of lies and hate to remind us that vigilance is more important now than ever. Call out the lies. This week, we look at it through the gospel lens with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, swim into the rock oldies pool with The Knickerbockers, swing soft and winsome country with Carl Smith and The Carters, and we’ll also bring in some contemporary sounds including tracks from Mavis Staples, David Olney, and Robert Ellis. I don’t know about you but I’m sick about what’s happening.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Mavis Staples
We Go High
If All I Was Was Black
3
Fats Domino
Telling Lies
Out Of New Orleans, Vol. 4
4
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
No Room In the Church for Liars
Precious Memories
5
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Let That Liar Alone
ABC Of The Blues Vol 43
6
Reverend A. Johnson
Let That Liar Pass On By
1950s Gospel Classics
7
Radio Yesterday
Lights Out
Flashbacks # 6: Hitler & Hell
8
Martha Fields
Southern White Lies
Southern White Lies
9
Laurie Lewis And The Right Hands
Let That Liar Alone (Featuring Tom Rozum, Patrick Sauber, Harley Eblen & Andrew Conklin)
The Hazel and Alice Sessions
10
The Carter Family
You Better Let That Liar Alone
Carter Family, vol. 2: 1935-1941 (Disc 3)
11
David Olney
No Lies
One Tough Town
12
Rosalie Allen
Hitler Lives
Flashbacks # 6: Hitler & Hell
13
Carl Smith
Wicked Lies
Kisses Don't Lie
14
The Nashville Bluegrass Band
The Biggest Liars in Town
Home of the Blues
15
Flatt & Scruggs
Poison Lies
The Stanley Brothers: Selected Sides 1947-1953 [Disc 2]
16
Les Paul & Mary Ford
Lies
Bye Bye Blues/Les and Mary
17
Cyndi Lauper
Lies
A Hat Full Of Stars
18
The Roosevelts
Tell Only Lies
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn
19
Ian Gomm
Dirty Lies
Summer Holiday
20
The Castaways
Liar, Liar
Good Morning Vietnam [Soundtrack]
21
The Knickerbockers
Lies
Nuggets Sampler 1965-1968
22
Tex Grande & His Range Riders
Hitler's Reply to Mussolini
Flashbacks # 6: Hitler & Hell
23
Bill Boyd's Cowboy Ramblers
Tellin' Lies
The Eyes of Texas
24
John Hartford
Politic
Hamilton Ironworks
25
Mimi & Richard Farina
House Un-American Blues Activity Dream
Generations of Folk, Vol. 2 Protest & Politics
26
Dar Williams/Doug Wainoris/G.E. Smith/Steve Holley/T-Bone Walk
All Men Are Liars
Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe
27
J.J. Cale
Lies
The Very Best of J.J. Cale
28
Frankie Boots And The County Line
Pack Of Lies
Frankie Boots And The County Line
29
Neko Case
Lonely Old Lies
The Virginian
30
Johnnie Taylor
Running Out Of Lies
Lifetime: A Retrospective Of Soul, Blues & Gospel 1956- 1999 [Disc 3]
The winds of social change become the storm from every direction when authoritarianism, tyranny, and facism begin to take shape. And music has always played a part when speaking truth to power. The most important role of an American citizen is to vote. There is no greater enemy than apathy. The songs we share on Deeper Roots today focus on Civil Rights, war for the cause of oil, voting as voice, and the fight for power in the New World Order. Tune in for performances from Phil Ochs, Ben Harper, Drive-By Truckers, Roy Zimmerman, and Iris DeMent on a show that explores some political science in harmony, vocals, and melodies to make a stand.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Roy Zimmerman
Real America
Real American
3
Jackson Browne
The Dreamer
The Dreamer
4
Steve Earle with Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark
16 Immigrant Eyes
Together at The Bluebird Cafe
5
Steve Earle
City Of Immigrants (With Forro In The Dark)
Washington Square Serenade
6
Roy Zimmerman
My Vote My Voice My Right
The Faucet's On Fire
7
Phil Ochs
I Ain't Marching Anymore
There But for Fortune
8
The Byrds
Draft Morning
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
9
Barry McGuire
Eve of Destruction
Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1965
10
Bruce Cockburn
If I Had A Rocket Launcher
Waiting For A Miracle: Singles 1970-1987
11
Randy Newman
Political Science
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1
12
Joan Baez
The President Sang Amazing Grace
Whistle Down the Wind
13
Drive-By Truckers
What It Means
American Band
14
Drive-By Truckers
Guns Of Umpqua
American Band
15
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Call It What It Is
Call It What It Is
16
Mavis Staples
We Go High
If All I Was Was Black
17
Sam Cooke
A Change Is Gonna Come
Portrait Of A Legend 1951-1964
18
C.O.R.E. Freedom Singers
Get Your Rights, Jack
Voices Of The Civil Rights Movement, [Disc 2] (Ensembles)
19
Nina Simone
To Be Young, Gifted And Black
Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Songs Of Freedom And Spirit
20
The Staple Singers
Freedom Highway
Freedom Highway
21
The Almanac Singers
Dear Mr. President
Woody Guthrie And American Folk Giants
22
Woody Guthrie
This Land Is Your Land
American Roots Music [Disc 3]
23
Joan Baez
I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill
Folk Song America-A 20th Century Revival [Disc 4]
24
Marvin Gaye
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Marvin Gaye, Vol. 2
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.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Zora Layman & The Hometowners
When The Curtains Of The Night Are Pinned Back By The Stars
The first of two gospel Friday mornings coming up on Deeper Roots in June. This week, we’ll follow a ‘heavenly’ theme. The Christian vision of afterlife’s reward is expressed in music on a Friday morning in West County (of all places). There will be country and black gospel sounds emanating from the UMC in downtown Sebastopol on KOWS radio as we share performances about heaven including the electric voices of Marion Williams and Marie Knight; the rocking celebration of the good book from Sister Rosetta and Brother Claude Ely; and country gospel enlightenment from Willie and Bobbie Nelson. This one is worth the wait and worth it’s weight in heavenly gold. Tune in!
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Thomas A. Dorsey with Alex Bradford
It's A Highway To Heaven
Precious Lord Recordings Of The Great Gospel Songs Of Thomas A. Dorsey
3
Fisk Jubilee Singers
Shout All Over God's Heaven
Recordings In Chonological Order, Vol. 2: 1915-1920
4
The Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir
Heaven Belongs To You
Shakin' The Rafters
5
The Staple Singers
What Are They Doing? (In Heaven Today)
Amen/Why
6
Washington Phillips
What Are They Doing In Heaven Today
Folk Blues & Gospel: Will the Circle Be Unbroken
7
Mahalia Jackson
A City Called Heaven
Gospels, Spirituals, & Hymns
8
Mahalia Jackson
Walk Over God's Heaven
16 Most Requested Songs
9
Clara Ward
When We All Get To Heaven
The Very Greatest
10
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Walk All Over To God's Heaven
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
11
Original Gospel Stars
I Want To Go To Heaven
Nuggets Of The Golden Age Of Gospel 1945-1958
12
Blind Gussie Nesbit
Canaan's Land
When I Reach That Heavenly Shore: Unearthly Black Gospel 1926 – 1936
13
Mother McCollum
When I Take My Vacation In Heaven
When I Reach That Heavenly Shore: Unearthly Black Gospel 1926 – 1936
14
Willie and Bobbie Nelson
When We All Get To Heaven
Farther Along
15
Patsy Cline
Life's Railway to Heaven
Country's 20 Classic Gospel Songs of the Century
16
Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys
I'll Reap My Harvest In Heaven
King of Country Music [Disc 3] : Fireball Mail
17
Alison Krauss & The Cox Family
Walk Over God's Heaven
New Country December 1994
18
The Stanley Brothers
Angels Are Singing (In Heaven Tonight) [Album Version]
The Complete Columbia Stanley Brothers
19
Jimmy Martin
Little Angels In Heaven
Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys 1954-1974 [Disc 2]
20
Ethel Davenport & Ehel Davenport Singers
Heavenly Express
Powerhouse Gospel
21
The Staple Singers
On My Way To Heaven
Four Classic Albums
22
Blind Gussie Nesbit
Pure Religion
When I Reach That Heavenly Shore: Unearthly Black Gospel 1926 – 1936
23
Sister Cally Fancy
Goin' On To Heaven In The Sanctified Way
Goodbye, Babylon – Deliverance Will Come [Disc 2]
24
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Heaven Is Not My Home
Vol. 3-1946-47 Complete Record
25
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Beams of Heaven
The Original Soul Sister: This Train [Disc 4]
26
Marie Knight
Seal Of Heaven
Hallelujah What A Song!
27
Dorothy Love Coates & The Original Gospel Harmonettes
Heaven I Heard So Much About It
I Heard The Angels Singing : Electrifying Black Gospel From the Nashboro Label 1951-1983
28
Dorothy Love Coates
When I Reach My Heavenly Home
The Best Of Dorothy Love Coates And The Original Gospel Harmonettes
Winsome sounds from every corner, opening with Johnny Horton and closing somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line with the soul of Barbara Lynn. Today’s show reaches into the jazz bins for something new and old…a Duke Ellington cover by Wynton Marsalis; gospel covers by Nick Lowe, tradition from Bill Monroe, and Johnny Cash along with a number of so-called Cash-a-likes. It’s a free form collection in our Friday morning show from West County. So what’s it all got to do with Alaska, you ask. Not much, only a great song name to suggest cool music and a Friday full of colorful music.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Johnny Horton
When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)
Honky Tonk Man: The Essential Johnny Horton 1956-1960 (2 of 2)
