The Bear Family label, headquartered in Germany, has long featured deep track dives into American music of the past century. Whether that be rock, country, rhythm and blues, or Americana; much of it is as far off the beaten track as you can imagine. Their selections and the high quality of the liner notes and ephemera have long been the top shelf standard for collectors and aficionados of American music. This week on Deeper Roots we’ll be diving into their delightful ‘theme’ universe prefaced with the perfect title of “Destination”. We’ll be digging into the themes of ‘freeway’, ‘outer space’, ‘beach parties’, ‘ocean cruise’, ‘lust’ and ‘sex’. The music you’ll be hearing is an unusual ‘bucket of nuggets’ representing some of the very best of camp pop and rock. Tune in for a raucous blend of ‘never heard’.
Category Archives: Oldies
Rain Theme
Seven years after our community was ravaged by three different wildfires, we’re going to focus on the theme of rain in our show today. Call it a rain dance if you must but we’re hoping that not only will the weather give us one more year of respite from the flaming torrent of climate change-induced wildfires but also make it two years in a row with reservoir replenishment. So why not a theme that promotes rainy weather? We’ll go to every genre corner in the show today: gospel, jazz, country, rock ‘n roll, soul and rhythm & blues. Tune in for a themed collection this morning that includes the likes of Glenn Yarbrough, Percy Sledge, Leon Russell, Lonnie Johnson and Billy “The Kid” Emerson. There’s a whole lot more so join in and find out. A sunny September morning leads us to our rain dance…or whatever you call it.
Also Rans 1956
The charts for the year 1956 were overtaken by Elvis. No question. There were a few others that illuminated the jukebox namely Fats Domino, Webb Pierce, Little Richard, and The Platters. Rock ‘n roll’s impact swept the floor with most burying some fairly incredible performances in it’s wake. Call it an avalanche. Call it a mudslide. Call it what you like. As I began to assemble a show looking at the top of the charts for the year, I found that starting at the bottom and working my way up was a revelation. Whether it was country, rhythm & blues, rock ‘n roll or pop…there were some delicious also-rans that I could not ignore so chose to ignore the Top 30 and focused today’s show on the so-called losers below the waterline of the Top 40. And what a joy it was! We’ll hear from some of them including Big Joe Turner, The Dells, LaVern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, Carl Smith and Kitty Wells in today’s show. I hope you’ll find some time, morning, noon or night, to listen in.
Summer of Broken Hearts
The debate is over; what’s say we have ourselves another. There’s certainly no debating democracy at work. Today’s Deeper Roots show will find us circulating through the connective tissue of song: themes that connect with one another. A little bit of eclectic free form fused with all the delightful sounds of country, pop, rock and tradition. Our guiding light will be the truth and the American way. Yes, there’s always bubble gum, apple pie, and Sunday church but then we also have the bats**t crazies who will blame all the good, the bad and the ugly on those who don’t resemble themselves or their own views. So take a break with us on this summer of broken hearts and we’ll share country from Don Gibson to Rosanne Cash, rock and roll from The Stray Cats to Fats Domino, and a little bit of sass and blues from Etta James and Charles Brown. Summer’s almost over and election day is fast approaching. So make sure you vote.
Ride Away
It’s a mellow, laid back collection of sounds from the past century for you this morning. The “ember” months have arrived and we’re winding our way through the last sunsets of summer. So lay down your burdens and join us on another Deeper Roots Friday morning as we share some sweet sounds from near and far, all anchored in an American landscape of dreams and waning nights of warmth. And warmth is what we’ll focus on…from JJ Cale and Leon Russell to Leo Reisman’s Orchestra, Sam Cooke, Randy Newman and Levon Helm. All of this and more, as they say, as we approach the final two months of election promises. I’m hoping that everyone’s placed a high value on truth and goodness because the hate, the lies, the gutter talk all need to be evaporated at long last. Send the vermin back into their holes of hate and let’s get on with the business of making our lives better. Because it’s not politicians that can do that. It’s us.
Little Bit O’ Bad
A little bit of good, a little bit of bad, and a whole lot of Americana classics. This morning’s Deeper Roots show runs the gamut from boogie Woogie to country ballads, classic rock, soul, blues, gospel and everything but the kitchen sink. Dave Stroud will be featuring songs that celebrate the band of gold, bad boys, bad girls, schooldays nostalgia, and the silly notion that black cats are no more than a warning when, in fact, they are a sign from on high of the very best being yet to come. Tune in for the likes of Stephen Stills, Johnny Cash, Cleo Brown, NRBQ and…yes, Billie Eilish as we celebrate America’s roots from then until now where no ocean is wider nor mountain is high. Celebrate a free form extravaganza with us as we push our way through August, well past the dog days and into the breezy, cool nights of summer’s waning. All for you and the neighborhood on KOWS Community Radio.
Bluegrass, Newgrass
We’re taking a trip up into hill country to celebrate a true Americana sound. From it’s simple roots rolling out of Appalachia, celebrating music and culture going back even further, bluegrass music evolved from many different corners with a combination of many styles, including old-time mountain music, square dance fiddling, blues, gospel, jazz, and popular music. You can count on high energy, fast tempos and a most distinctive sound. This week’s show has the syncopated rhythms moving along like a freight train, those nostalgic remembrances, and heel-kicking improvisations…not to mention those high lonesome vocals. We’ve got Blue Highway, Bill Monroe, Mac Wiseman, Earl Scruggs, The Rice Brothers and a couple dozen others in a Friday morning bluegrass extravaganza, sharing both classic and contemporary performers. If you’re close by, tune into KOWS 92.5 FM or, better yet, stream us almost anywhere on planet Earth at kowsfm.com/listen.
Americana Roundup
Looking back over the past fifty-or-so years, we find a large gathering assembled under a large, all-inclusive tent, called Americana. There’s hardly a definition that’s been assigned and it’s hardly what we’d term ‘a genre’. It is, rather, a mood of the music and a narrative of the storytelling defines it. Like the dozens of genres that line it’s walls, we’ve come to know what we’re listening to: blues, gospel, folk and tradition, jazz, and everything in between. This week we’ll be stepping into that tent to congregate and celebrate that ‘sound we know’ called Americana. The digital bins will take us only so far back, celebrating the music of Bob Dylan, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch, Joe Ely, Old Crow Medicine Show and a couple dozen others. Just what’s needed and built on playlists worthy of the very best of the Americana Hours broadcast each morning here on KOWS Community Radio.
Dirty Money
We’ve heard them all, the quotes about money being the root of all evil, you can’t take it with you, money can’t buy happiness…but there’s this one little thing that is seldom expanded on and that is the story of ‘dirty money’. There’s plenty of fodder in that area…from the banker CEO to the coal company CEO…there’s never an effort to help raise all boats, only the yachts. Capitalism is our theme. No, wait, is it bank robbing? No, most likely the working man trying to put bread on the table. Hold on, I know. It’s runaway inflation and the blame game. In any event, we’ll be all over the board in today’s show, bringing you music about money cravin’ folks from Blind Alfred Reed, working down on Maggie’s Farm and we’ll also have ourselves a hint of a fireside chat to make us feel better. We’ll also head down to coal country and Bonnie and Clyde, Woody Guthrie, and “Voila! An American Dream” from Rodney Crowell. Tune in. Should be fun.
Tell Me a Story
Storytelling in song is not new. It’s mankind’s way of conveying, in both accuracy and reflection, the narrative from one perspective. Embellishments and hooks have long been the best way to make the story easy to digest and, if need be, to get a point (likely sociopolitical) across. We’ll be doing just that in this Friday’s episode: stories based in war, natural disasters, national tragedies and personal conflict. We’ll take a hundred year tour of storytelling from Bessie Smith to the Drive-by Truckers, from Memphis Minnie and The Tex-I-An Boys to Calexico, The Staple Singers and Marty Robbins. There are floods, murders, environmental catastrophes, bombings, and some wartime solemnity to be shared today. Tune into KOWS Community Radio every Friday morning for some fresh musical linens, curated by the outdoors and streaming to all of planet Earth on KOWSFM.COM/listen