Saddle up, but don’t expect the usual Hollywood version of the American West. We’re heading beyond the familiar standards to explore songs, stories and voices that grew out of bunkhouses, chuck wagons and wide-open country, reaching back nearly a century for early cowboy recordings, among them Carl T. Sprague, Billie Maxwell, Harry “Haywire Mac” McClintock and Jess Morris. Tales where ornery horses, stampeding cattle, lousy wages, worse cooking and lonely nights on the trail were simply part of the job. Along the way we’ll discover a West far more diverse than the one portrayed on the silver screen, with music touching on Black cowboys, Mexican and California traditions, ranch hands, buffalo hunters, outlaws and gunfighters. We’ll then follow those old trails forward and into the hands of later storytellers including Ian Tyson, Dom Flemons, and Colter Wall. Somewhere between history and mythology lies the West that survives in these songs — sometimes romantic, sometimes brutal.
| No. | Artist | Title | Album | Year | Start At |
|---|
| 1 | The Johnson Sisters | Ridin' Down The Trail | Cowboy Crooners Sing Songs of the West | 1939 | 00:00 |
| 2 | Carl T. Sprague | Following The Cowtrail | Cowtrails Longhorns and Tight Saddles | 1926 | 02:48 |
| 3 | Harry 'Haywire Mac' McClintock | Utah Carrol | Haywire Mac | 1950 | 05:52 |
| 4 | Joan O'Bryant | Zebra Dun | Classic American Ballads From Smithsonian Folkways | 1957 | 07:20 |
| 5 | Powder River Jack & Kitty Lee | Tying A Knot In The Devil's Tail | Cattle Call-Early Cowboy Music And It's Roots | 1930 | 09:43 |
| 6 | Billie Maxwell | Haunted Hunter | When I Was A Cowboy: Early American Songs Of The West Classic Recordings From The 1920's & 30's. Vol. 1 | 1939 | 16:09 |
| 7 | Cartwright Brothers | Texas Ranger | The Return Of The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of | 2012 | 19:18 |
| 8 | Girls Of The Golden West | My Love Is A Rider (Bucking Bronco) | Cattle Call-Early Cowboy Music And It's Roots | 1934 | 22:28 |
| 9 | Jess Morris | Goodbye Old Paint | Cowboy songs ballads and cattle calls from Texas | 0 | 24:59 |
| 10 | Johnny Prude | The Dying Ranger | Cowboy songs ballads and cattle calls from Texas | 0 | 26:23 |
| 11 | Slim Critchlow | Forty A Month And Found | Cowboy Songs The Crooked Trail To Holbrook | 2009 | 33:03 |
| 12 | Andy Hedges Pipp Gillette | Punchin' the Dough (Feat. Pipp Gillette) | Roll On Cowboys | 2023 | 34:58 |
| 13 | Harry Jackson | The Pot Wrassler | The Cowboy: His Songs Ballads and Brag Talk | 1959 | 39:05 |
| 14 | Dave Fredrickson | Cowboy's Life is a Very Dreary Life | Songs of the Wesst | 1961 | 40:46 |
| 15 | Lead Belly | Out on the Western Plains | Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection | 1943 | 41:44 |
| 16 | Dom Flemons | Steel Pony Blues | Black Cowboys | 2018 | 45:54 |
| 17 | Don Edwards | The Master's Call | Best of Don Edwards | 0 | 50:24 |
| 18 | Ian Tyson | The Gift | All The Good 'uns | 1996 | 53:45 |
| 19 | Michael Martin Murphey | Cowboy Logic | Cowboy Songs | 1990 | 57:52 |
| 20 | Sons Of The San Joaquin | The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta | Way out Yonder | 2005 | 1:01:45 |
| 21 | Dave Stamey | The Skies Of Lincoln County | If I Had A Horse | 2007 | 1:10:07 |
| 22 | Brenn Hill | Call You Cowboy | Rangefire | 1997 | 1:15:17 |
| 23 | Corb Lund | S Lazy H | Things That Can't Be Undone | 2015 | 1:19:10 |
| 24 | Colter Wall | Cowpoke | Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs | 2020 | 1:24:29 |
| 25 | Ramblin' Jack Elliott | Diamond Joe | The Long Ride | 1999 | 1:27:33 |
| 26 | Marty Robbins | They're Hanging Me Tonight | Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs | 1959 | 1:33:28 |
| 27 | Johnny Cash | Sam Hall | Sings The Ballads Of The True West | 1965 | 1:36:29 |
| 28 | Woody Guthrie | Buffalo Skinners (traditional arr. Woody Guthrie) | Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection [Disc 2] | 1945 | 1:39:40 |
| 29 | Guy Clark | The Last Gunfighter Ballad | The Essential Guy Clark | 1976 | 1:42:54 |
| 30 | Mary McCaslin | Prairie In The Sky | Prairie In The Sky (Reissued 2015) | 1975 | 1:45:41 |
| 31 | Rosalie Sorrels | Empty Coats In The Bunkhouse Tonight | Folk Songs Of Idaho And Utah (Vinyl) | 1961 | 1:54:21 |
| 32 | Peter Rowan And Don Edwards | Trail To Mexico | High Lonesome Cowboy | 2002 | 1:56:32 |
No particular destination this week, although we’ll begin on an Island of Dreams. Deeper Roots is going free form once again, rummaging around in the dusty digital archives and following the music wherever it happens to lead us. We’ll start things off with a decidedly British flavor, with Nick Lowe, Martin Belmont & Geraint Watkins, Mickey Jupp and Dave Edmunds before crossing a few oceans, decades and musical boundaries. Along the way we’ll hear vintage country from Johnnie & Jack, Ernest Tubb and Faron Young and some newer music from Charley Crockett and Brandon Flowers. And because the blues are never very far from the heart of Deeper Roots, we’ll spend some time a roster of some of the greats as well as vocal sounds from the likes of the Donays and Cookie & The Cupcakes. It’s another musical road trip with no map and no particular reason to hurry. Join Dave Stroud for Island of Dreams, Friday morning at 9 Pacific on KOWS 92.5 FM in West Sonoma County—and streaming everywhere else on the planet.
| No. | Artist | Title | Album | Year | Start At |
|---|
| 1 | Nick Lowe | Jet Pac Boomerang | Indoor Safari | 2024 | 00:00 |
| 2 | Martin Belmont & Geraint Watkins | Island of Dreams | The Guest List | 2009 | 05:43 |
| 3 | The Springfields | Island Of Dreams | Simply ? Dusty [Disc 1] | 1962 | 09:33 |
| 4 | Geraint Watkins | It's a Wonderful Life | Watkins Bold as Love | 1997 | 12:07 |
| 5 | Mickey Jupp | You'll Never Get Me Up In One of Those | The Stiff Singles (Vol.1) | 2005 | 15:04 |
| 6 | Dave Edmunds | Worn Out Suits Brand New Pockets | Get It | 1977 | 18:13 |
| 7 | The Andrews Sisters | Money is The Root of All Evil | Golden Age of the Andrews Sisters [Disc 2] | 1945 | 20:32 |
| 8 | Johnnie and Jack | Love in the First Degree | 1947-1950 (Warped 4720) | 2010 | 29:37 |
| 9 | Leon Redbone | Desert Blues (Big Chief Buffalo Nickel) | On The Track | 1975 | 32:16 |
| 10 | Ernest Tubb | Sad Songs and Waltzes | Last Sessions: All Time Greatest Hits Disc 2 | 1999 | 35:57 |
| 11 | k.d. lang & the Reclines | Three Days | Absolute Torch and Twang | 1989 | 38:34 |
| 12 | Charley Crockett | Bad Company | Can't Get Enough: A Tribute To Bad Company | 2025 | 41:42 |
| 13 | Jack Clement | The Spell Of The Freight Train | For Once And For All | 2014 | 45:11 |
| 14 | Merle Haggard | Sin City Blues | 1996 | 1996 | 53:31 |
| 15 | Doug Sahm | Home At Last | The Last Real Texas Blues Band Feat. Doug Sahm | 1994 | 55:58 |
| 16 | Faron Young | Country Girl | 30 Years Of No. 1 Country Hits 2/4 | 0 | 1:00:22 |
| 17 | George Morgan | Country Boy – City Girl | Warped 6365 – George Morgan – 1963 – 1964 | 2010 | 1:02:53 |
| 18 | Brandon Flowers | Tiger's Blood | Thrasher | 2026 | 1:05:46 |
| 19 | Joe Liggins | Freight Train Blues | Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers | 1952 | 1:14:39 |
| 20 | The Treniers | Long Distance Blues | Talking On The Telephone Vol.1 – Blues R&B And Gospel | 1951 | 1:17:22 |
| 21 | Muddy Waters | Young Fashioned Ways | The Anthology [Disc 1] | 1955 | 1:20:30 |
| 22 | B.B. King | Walkin' Dr Bill (ala Gotta Find My Baby) | Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob Dylan – Season 2 [[Disc 1]] | 1960 | 1:23:27 |
| 23 | Lightnin' Hopkins | Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes | The Complete Prestige-Bluesville Recordings [Disc 2] | 1961 | 1:27:04 |
| 24 | The Donays | Devil In His Heart | Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob Dylan [Disc 1] | 1962 | 1:33:24 |
| 25 | Marc Benno | Speak Your Mind | Minnows (Vinyl) | 1971 | 1:35:54 |
| 26 | Berna Dean | I Walk In My Sleep | Theme Time Radio Hour with Your Host Bob Dylan [Disc 2] | 1961 | 1:40:35 |
| 27 | Cookie & The Cupcakes | I Cried | Bob Dylan Presents: Radio Radio Theme Time Radio Hour | 1954 | 1:43:46 |
| 28 | The Prisonaires | Just Walking In The Rain | The Best Of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour Vol 2 | 1953 | 1:46:07 |
| 29 | Billy Bunn & His Buddies | That's When Your Heartaches Begin | Bob Dylan Presents: Radio Radio Theme Time Radio Hour Vol. 1 | 1952 | 1:52:06 |
| 30 | Alphabetical Four | When the Moon Goes Down in the Valley of Time | Complete Recorded Works 1938-1943 | 1938 | 1:54:36 |
| 31 | Dean Martin | Night Train To Memphis | The Capitol Years | 1951 | 1:57:07 |
Everybody loves a good story…and this week on Deeper Roots we’ll be spinning a few of them. Tall tales, fables, murder ballads, historical yarns, talking blues and outright stretchers are all part of the American musical tradition, and we’ll be digging into that tradition this Friday morning. Our stories come mostly from the years between 1925 and 1960, when an old tale might travel from a front porch to a 78, from a newspaper headline to a country ballad, or get passed from singer to singer until fact and folklore became pretty hard to separate. We’ll hear tales of outlaws and drifters, sinners and saints, disasters and deeds of questionable truth from the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Woody Guthrie, the Golden Gate Quartet, Tex Ritter, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins and more. There’ll even be a few whoppers along the way.
| No. | Artist | Title | Album | Year | Start At |
|---|
| 1 | Ma Rainey | Stack O'Lee Blues | The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records Volume 1 (1917-1927) | 1925 | 00:00 |
| 2 | Furry Lewis | Billy Lyons And Stack O'Lee | The Return Of The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of | 2012 | 06:21 |
| 3 | Mississippi John Hurt | Stack O' Lee | Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKeh Recordings | 1928 | 08:58 |
| 4 | Lloyd Price | Stagger Lee | Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1959 | 1959 | 11:52 |
| 5 | Mississippi John Hurt | Frankie | Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKeh Recordings | 1928 | 14:09 |
| 6 | Jimmie Rodgers | Frankie And Johnny | The Essential Jimmie Rodgers | 1929 | 17:30 |
| 7 | Lead Belly | John Hardy | Classic African-American Ballads (Smithsonian Folkways) | 1945 | 26:06 |
| 8 | Bill Frisell & Petra Haden | John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man | Petra Haden And Bill Frisell | 2003 | 28:47 |
| 9 | The Carter Family | John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man | American Roots- A History Of American Folk Music: [Disc 2] | 0 | 31:19 |
| 10 | The Weavers | The Frozen Logger | The History Of American Folk | 1951 | 34:10 |
| 11 | Cisco Houston | The Frozen Logger | The Folkways Years: 1944-1961 | 1954 | 36:40 |
| 12 | Merle Travis | Dark As A Dungeon | Hot Pickin' [Disc 1] | 1946 | 44:52 |
| 13 | Mr. Connie Dycus | Dark As A Dungeon | Birth / Work / Death – Work Money And Status In Country Music (1950-1974) | 1970 | 47:53 |
| 14 | Grandpa Jones | Dark As A Dungeon | An American Original | 1998 | 50:38 |
| 15 | Vernon Dalhart | The Wreck Of The Old '97 | American Roots- A History Of American Folk Music: [Disc 1] | 1924 | 53:22 |
| 16 | Roy Acuff | The Great Titanic | compliments of grimriper2u@yahoo.com | 0 | 56:28 |
| 17 | Rory Block | Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down) | Confessions of A Blues Singer | 1998 | 59:35 |
| 18 | Tony Rice | Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald | Church Street Blues | 1989 | 1:01:38 |
| 19 | The Plainsmen Quartet | Jack O'Diamonds | Cowboy Crooners Sing Songs Of The West Cd 2 | 0 | 1:12:28 |
| 20 | Michael Martin Murphey | Jack Of Diamonds | Cowboy Songs | 1990 | 1:15:07 |
| 21 | Tex Ritter | Rye Whiskey | Cattle Call-Early Cowboy Music And It's Roots | 1945 | 1:16:10 |
| 22 | Johnny Horton | The Battle Of New Orleans | American Originals | 1959 | 1:19:18 |
| 23 | Jimmie Driftwood | The Battle of New Orleans | Six Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles | 1959 | 1:21:45 |
| 24 | Chubby Parker & His Old Time Banjo | King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O | Anthology Of American Folk Music Vol. 1A: Ballads | 1928 | 1:25:07 |
| 25 | Woody Guthrie | Pretty Boy Floyd | Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection | 1944 | 1:31:06 |
| 26 | The Byrds | Pretty Boy Floyd | Sweetheart of the Rodeo | 1968 | 1:34:01 |
| 27 | Merle Haggard And The Strangers | The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde (2006 Digital Remaster) | Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard | 2006 | 1:36:30 |
| 28 | Marty Robbins | El Paso | A Lifetime of Song (1951-1982) | 1983 | 1:38:30 |
| 29 | Lefty Frizzell | Long Black Veil | Columbia Country Classics Vol. 3: Americana | 1990 | 1:43:08 |
| 30 | The Kingston Trio | Tom Dooley | Absolutely the Best | 1958 | 1:46:07 |
| 31 | Johnny Horton | Johnny Reb | Classic Country: More Great Story Songs | 1959 | 1:52:18 |
| 32 | Johnny Cash | Rock Island Line | Get Rhythm [Sun] | 1969 | 1:54:38 |
| 33 | Hart Valley Drifters | Handsome Molly | Folk Time | 2016 | 1:56:45 |
A Century of America's Music
