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.
Category Archives: Jazz
Mama’s Getting Hot
Free Form Friday is considered the calm before two upcoming events, both suspenseful in nature. Halloween and Election Day. Halloween because we’ll be sharing some of the haunted reminders as well as social distancing, whereas Election Day will send the right message and send the ghouls, rats, and seditionists scurrying back to their nests. This morning’s music is the bright reminder that good still can come of our situation, taking a time out for music that keeps us centered. We’ll make the leap from Mama Cass to Geraint Watkins, Ella to Laura Nyro, John Prine to The Beach Boys…all in perfect form. Join Dave Stroud for another celebration of a hundred years of America’s music on KOWS radio, a bastion of free speech and no bull, streaming to your ears on www.freespeechnobull.com. And donate to support community radio.
Murder Most Foul
Our show this week is brought to you by a song, a narrative like no other Bob Dylan has ever produced. Murder Most Foul was released earlier this year as the first single from his latest album Rough and Rowdy Ways. It is a 16 minute narration of cultural reflection that speaks to the passing of time in the context of what has been lost and what still might be lost yet still celebrating our gains. The Kennedy assassination is one of those times that we reflect on, remembering the day that it happened with as much clarity as time permits. What Dylan does is use pastel images of ‘what was then’ with who we are now as he speaks to cultural touchstones in his (and our) life. And he warns us, once again, that the times are indeed changin’ and that we should likely hear this song as a storm warning. Tune into for a listen. Two hours of Deeper Roots this week. You can also find out more about the Dylan song at https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/murder-most-foul-and-the-haunting-of-america.
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.
Crazy Blues Centennial
It was the year 1920. One of the more important events in the annals of popular music in the United States occurred 100 years ago this month. Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds’ recording of Perry Bradford‘s tune “Crazy Blues” became an instant hit and was the first significant recording in the blues genre. And Mamie herself was also the first African American female popular singer to lead a commercial recording. This week on Deeper Roots we celebrate with the first installment of a show featuring two hours of music including two very special guests: Gillian and Gary Atkinson, proprietors of Document Records in the UK. I had a chance to interview the two about the label and about the dawn of blues and jazz recording including the early century social impact of black artists. A very special opportunity offered for a very special time. We’ll also hear about a recent video release called Searching for Secret Heroes, a resurrection of a long lost documentary made by Sam Charters, released by Document this past April.
Lazy River
A well of free form today, mixing gospel, jazz, country, and everything in between. No theme, no tribute, not focus on a specific genre or songwriter. Just all of the above and more on a Friday morning on Sonoma County community radio. Tune in for contemporary sounds from The Handsome Family and The Devonns, classic country and bluegrass from Ralph Stanley and Bobby Bare, vocals featuring Helen Humes, Timi Yuro, and Lil Green (catches his breath), and some blended gospel infused classics from Eartha Kitt and Edna Gallmon Cook. Tune in on Friday morning at 9am Pacific for Deeper Roots.
Juneteenth 2020
On this most relevant of days, we’ll be digging through some of the important songs from the past century focusing on its meaning and significance. While the embodiment of the music could have touched on every genre because the influences are vast, we’ll settle on the inspirational sounds from every corner. Juneteenth is a jubilant, high energy celebration of a somber reality. First recognized in 1865 it is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger led thousands of federal troops to Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended, and slaves had been freed. Our observation on Deeper Roots includes tracks from Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, and gospel sounds galore leading off with Mahalia Jackson.
Papa Come Quick
Friday morning free form sounds from the Cherry Street Historic District of Santa Rosa, California. We’ve been doing this Deeper Roots thing for almost nine years and, if you’re a regular, you’ll know that Dave’s always itching for a free form collection of sounds to complement the targeted shows that are featured weekly. This week we’ll be rolling out some Bill Kirchen, Dave Van Ronk, Ricky Nelson, Annisteen Allen, and Ethel Merman…to name a few. Blues, country, doo wop, rhythm & blues, gospel, and jazz all bundled up for your late spring listening enjoyment while sequestered for health and safety. Tune in on your FM if you’re local at 92.5 or stream us at kowsfm.com/listen.
Devil In Me
Dark days with the devil. Self-centered, morally lacking, and incapable of empathizing with human kind. Sound like someone you know? This morning’s show finds us down in the hole where Satan never sleeps and where darkness pervades. There’s a very wide range of topics in our show, including the harnessing of the atom, the soul of man, and the valley where Jordan slices across the heart. Hillbillies from hell, a trip to St. James Infirmary, the lion’s den, and the belly of the whale are all to be seen with tracks from Brother Claude, the Jordan River Boys, The Doors, El Radio Fantastique, and Otis Spann in a show that is certain to have you taking stock of yesterday, today, and tomorrow as we make this social distancing a not-so-transient fixture in our lives. Balance this theme against the sun shining bright on a Spring morning in Sonoma County.
Ants In My Pants
Whether it was Prohibition, the need for comic relief from the worst Depression our country has known, or the release from Victorian norms in the age of the flapper…something was afoot. The humor it portended is not something that we all understand in this age… but it’s worth looking at. Novelty ruled the day and every Victrola and Edison radio spilled a silly song, whether it worked from puns or light humor (pop music), corny songs that sometimes had hidden charms (country and folk), or right in your face real life naughty bits (the blues)…there was something for everyone to sample. We’ll hear from Lonzo and Oscar, Milton Brown, Frank Crumit, George Formby, and Lonnie Johnson in this week’s episode of Deeper Roots. A hoot and a holler by any other name on Sonoma County Community Radio.