A good year…if I do say so myself. We’re going to count down the top ten of the year 1952…in pop, country, and R&B. The music that year featured sounds that portended the birth of rock ‘n roll, the blossoming of the Golden Age of Country, and the droll mainstream charts couldn’t have been more ripe for steamrolling. Webb Pierce and Hank Williams dominated the country charts while the white bread pop charts found Al Martino, Johnny Ray, and Rosemary Clooney. But it was the R&B charts that mirrored the emerging energy of swing, rhythm and blues, and rock with the likes of The Clovers, Ruth Brown, and The Five Royales. The DOW Jones average closed at an all-time high of (a whopping) 269.86. Tune in for the countdown. 67 years in the rear-view on Sonoma County Community Radio.
Category Archives: Oldies
Country Leftovers
Turkey leftovers? No, country leftovers. “…and I fell asleep with a troubled dream and dreamed I road on the hellbound train.” Just one line from one track from our Friday morning Deeper Roots show which focuses on some country songs ‘from the edge’. An eclectic blend of sometimes morose and other times kitschy stories of mid-century country singers looking for the next “Big Bad John” with stories of engine mishaps, disturbances of mind and relationships, and the general consensus of lyrical country that ‘the world is a monster’. Hillbillies, rabble rousers, and would-be crooners give us those tormented testimonies of country music. Join Dave Stroud for a very unusual collection of sounds from the archives of the fifties and sixties, when country blossomed; the songs he’s going to feature had a hard time cracking the Top 100 because the stories told are ‘out there’, even for country music.
Party at the House
November kicks off with a party at our house. Some rare R&B nuggets, some classic old time country and honky-tonk, and a little bit of the New Orleans and house party themes to kick off the morning here on Deeper Roots. House parties, rent parties, and dance hall jamborees are celebrated by Bob Wills, Babs Gonzales, Little Esther, Jackie Brenston, and Dale Watson. We’ll also hear from Willie, T-Bone, and Merle on a Friday morning show that brings a little bit of light into the Sonoma County after weeks of trepidation from the fires. Please join Dave Stroud broadcasting live from downtown Santa Rosa.
Free Form After Kincade
A last minute playlist…some gentle sounds for listeners who’ve had a tough week here in Sonoma County. Songs of reflection take center stage on Deeper Roots where the scheduled playlist was a bit too frivolous to put on the air. With everyone focused on rebuilding, rehoming, and getting their power back as well as building a support network for those impacted through lost homes and property. And here’s to the first responders, the city and county officials who get it right this time…join Dave Stroud on a Saturday morning in October in a county still reeling from the firestorm of two years back. Easy listening is the order of the day.
Swing on a Star
We’ve got an eclectic collection of sounds today as we take on yet another free form collection of soul, folk, doo wop, R&B, country, blues, and Americana on Deeper Roots. Listen in as we spend time with Billy Ward & The Dominoes, Etta James, Tom Waits, The Harlan County Four, and Buck Owens. The show features mini-themes of Sonoma County, Bakersfield, and birthdays….nothing too political, nothing to lovey dovey…just a collection of fun sounds from some recent Americana talents and some legends, all for you, all on KOWS Community Radio this week, streaming to the world on www.freespeechnobull.com.
Covering Elvis
This morning’s show will be a collection of Elvis covers; songs that hit the charts for Elvis from 1956 into the break of the 1970s. Mostly number ones, but some repeated favorites, all covered by a cross-section of his contemporaries and those from another generation. We’ll have everyone from Santo & Johnny and Bobby Gentry to Rosie Flores and John Prine putting forward covers of Elvis Presley treats. We’ve also got a version of Heartbreak Hotel by Hanni El Khabib, a rare piece by rocker and session man (not bluesman) Robert Johnson, Billy Burnette’s bluegrass, and some C. J. Chenier to keep the eclectic blend alive. We’re on Friday mornings at 9 Pacific on KOWS and Friday evenings at 9 Pacific on KWTF.
Moon Baby
A laid back Friday morning in store as we celebrate a century of America’s music with classics from every corner. Dave Stroud hosts with a potpourri of doo wop, gospel, rock, R&B, soul, and country wrapped up just for Deeper Roots listeners out there. We’ll be hearing from Johnny Cash, The Ravens, Mike Farris, (more than one) Bo Diddley, and The Neville Brothers as we watch the trees turn their late summer umber under warm Sonoma County September skies. Tune in for the very best, including The Living Sisters and The Andrews Sisters, side by side, this one time. Only on Community Radio because all other $$$ stations fail to play with heart.
Country Gamblers
Gamblers, ramblers, casinos. Barstools, loaded dice, tumbling dice, poker hands, and the demon rum, and chance. Honky-tonks, Vegas, and craps…all for you on the country side. Join Dave Stroud for a high-falootin’ time on Deeper Roots as the demon chance teams up with casino country in music. We’ll walk the fine carpets of the Vegas casino as well as the sawdust floors of the country bar with performances by Buck Owens, Tex Williams, The Country Gentleman, and Jimmie Dolan. We’re heading out west to pay a little bit of an homage to the gaming side of the stories this week on Community Radio for Sonoma County. Hope you can join in.
Covered by the Stones
It had to start somewhere. And it did. The music that inspired rock and roll also inspired the countless British Invasion groups that littered the charts beginning in the early-to-mid 60s. Mayall, The Yardbirds, and, of course, The Rolling Stones. The early years of the Stones found them playing covers of some of the great stateside R&B, blues, and soul classics. Our Deeper Roots show today feasts on the originals (as did Jagger, Richard and company) and brings you the seminal sounds of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Solomon Burke, Arthur Alexander, and a host of others in our tribute to the music that was a fusion of blues, R&B, and soul. Music that made rock and roll the world music phenomenon that it was to become. Tune into Community Radio on Fridays for roots music.
Summer Songs
Summer is here and so we’ll be celebrating those lazy, hazy, crazy days that come with it. We’re approaching the dog days, as they say, and that also means festivals, music, cool drinks, swimming gear, and lighter beers. This week’s show has us getting serious about summer songs: Elvis, Sam Cooke, The Chantels, Dolly Parton, Dave Brubeck, and just a touch of surf sounds from The Sandals. Summer winds, summer wages, summer rain, and summer love this week on Deeper Roots, recorded at the KOWS studios planted square in the Cherry Street District of Santa Rosa.