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: Free Form
Saved!
We go back to the church for a rousing celebration for the converted and soon-to-be-faithful. That’s right, we’re in the pews and joining in the hymnal, at least for this two hours, as Sunday morning forgiveness will always follow Saturday night’s sinner’s baptismal. We’re going to hear the echoes of the past century’s gospel songs with a general theme of being saved and born again…and there is certainly plenty to go around whether that’s southern Baptist, Appalachian harmonies or classic African American celebratory gospel. We’ve got it this morning including The Dixie Hummingbirds, Hank Williams, Carl Story, Lonnie Farris, and some contemporary selections from Shannon McNally, Bob Dylan and Solomon Burke. Let’s join in, you the faithful congregation of Deeper Roots from the past century of America’s music, for two hours celebrating that incredible wellspring of gospel sounds.
Flying Home
A fine blend of vintage sounds on the show today, all driving down a free form track. The blend mixes gospel from Mavis Staples, some classic mid-century rock from Little Feat and Rick Nelson, all dressed up alongside to lounge and cool jazz sounds of Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Pearl Bailey, and a some classic and contemporary tunes featuring the late, great Tony Bennett. We’ve got Zydeco, classic and contemporary country, some alternative sounds from E and the Eels to share as well. We enjoy sharing a mix of the very best in a free form show every month or so and today will not disappoint. There will also be some recent tracks from Sarah Jarosz, Charley Crockett and The Brother Brothers to measure up against the throwback sounds. We’d be glad to have you once again; just dial-up your internet browser to kowsfm.com/listen or, if you’re on the run, take us with you on your mobile device by installing the KOWS app from the Google Play store or Apple App Store.
Soothe Me
Summer Sun
Summer’s here and you know what that means…we’ll be running through a bit of theme, this time with the focus on all that we celebrate in summer. With the Fourth of July coming up we’ll turn our attention to barbecues, baseball, ice cream treats, the warmth of the sun, swimming holes, and everything summer. Tune in for some terrific tracks from Dean Martin, Johnny Rivers, The Four Preps, Walter Wanderly and a whole lot more. It took us six months for the days to get longer and now it’s another six months of diminished daylight but that’s what make three other seasons something to relish…I guess. So whether you’re shipping kids off to summer camp, planning for this year’s visit to the Fair, or planning a trip to a ballpark or beach, know that it’ll be warmer than colder and we’re here to play the background music here on Sonoma County Community Radio, KOWS-LP, 92.5 FM Occidental, streaming to all over this big blue marble on kowsfm.com/listen.
Soul Divas
The sound of both longing and empowerment surfaces in this morning’s Deeper Roots show as we take the wayback machine to the 1960s for some of the very best in female soul. With every female vocalist, group-based or solo, that surfaced from the Motown stable there were dozens upon dozens of hopefuls lined up by other labels and producers. We’ve visited many of them in past shows but there are always more to share and some memorable performances that can get easily overlooked in the crowded field. And while we’ve heard a number of these performers in past shows: Betty Everett, Mary Wells, and Carla Thomas…there are also the unknowns who deserve attention. We’ll spend some more time with Mitty Collier, Dee Dee Warwick and Etta James and find some other names to pay attention to including Odessa Harris, Helene Smith, and Delilah Keenebruew. Tune in Friday morning at 9 Pacific for some deep tracks and favorites from a few of those 60s soul divas.
Songs About The Telephone
A theme show once again, this week with the telephone as our muse. Songs about the most important of communication devices which has fused with social media to the benefit, and equal detriment, of all mankind. From the early call from Bell to Watson to the proverbial football that our fearless leader carries around to make the one call to eradicate or, better yet, save mankind. This week we’ll visit the long lost guide known as the “operator” and the equally antiquated term “dial” with music from country, pop, soul, and rock archives of yesterday. Kick back and be entertained by the sounds of Brenda Lee, Sister Wynona Carr, Stonewall Jackson, Loretta Lynn & Ernest Tubb, and Bill Fury in a collection of the very best from multiple genres here on Sonoma County Community Radio, broadcasting in West County on 92.5 FM and streaming to all mankind on kowsfm.com/listen. Drop in why don’t you?
Sass & Gas
An eclectic episode full of sass, gas and plenty of brass. We’re going the free form route today and there’ll be plenty of embellishments to the morning as we take a blindfolded trip through a hall of mirrors with some classy vocals from Frankie, Peggy Lee and Helen Forrest; some honky tonk whiskey-in-the-bottle twangin’ from George Jones, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee; rocking rhythm passion from Tina Turner, The Marquees, and Elmore James; and much more including some little known nuggets from Bob Dylan, Merle Travis, and Daddy Cleanhead. We’re going to set the morning on fire with plenty of fuel from the deeper wells of the past century of America’s music. You don’t want to miss out. Join Dave Stroud for another Friday morning selection of wild tune-age on KOWS Community Radio.
Rhythm & Blues Jezebels
Wild and sassy sounds from the archives of 40s and 50s rhythm & blues featuring some of the female dynamos of the genre coming your way on a Friday morning here on Deeper Roots. We’ll be featuring some great performances from the catalog of Jubilee Records (those Jubilee Jezebels) and a host of peers including some early scorchers from Little Sylvia (Robinson), Big Maybelle, Viola Watkins, Fay Simmons, and Ruth Brown. For the first three or four decades of the recorded blues and jazz, women played a major part in black music’s popularity and there was a resurgent ‘boom’ post-war that played a bigger part than we imagined in that tidal wave of wild rhythm beat that would become rock and soul. These are some classic tracks that don’t always get the attention they deserve…but they will here on Deeper Roots on a Friday morning on KOWS.
Payday Saturday Night
The pickins are thin until payday rolls around. Money is short and there’s none to spare. Although we’ve been wanting to save for a rainy day, the cupboards still need fillin’ and we also need enough to have some fun. If that eagle flies on Friday then Saturday night is when the time is right. This week we’ll be banking on that combined theme of payday, money and taxes. Belly up to the barroom country sounds of Faron Young, Lefty Frizzell and The Sons of the Pioneers and then find some rhythm and blues with The Fiestas, The Harlem Hamfats, Bobby Charles and Dom Flemons. It’s all about cashing out every couple of weeks and spreading thin with savings being thinner. We’ve got greenbacks, dollar down payments, songs about payday, the taxman and that almighty dollar to remind us that, as Peter Case points out, that “there’s two kinds of justice everybody knows, one for folks up on the hill and one for the others down below”.