Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 10, 2026: Songs of – or inspired by – the Civil Rights Movement

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/74038.html

Theme: Songs of – or inspired by – the Civil Rights Movement.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963

, 
As Julius Lester sings in our opening song, “freedom is a constant struggle.” This is especially true now when the current American president and his administration is working to undo decades of progress made by the Civil Rights Movement.

Julius Lester- Freedom is a Constant Struggle

Freedom is a Constant Struggle (Folk Era)

Fannie Lou Hamer- Woke Up This Morning

Songs My Mother Taught Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

SNCC Freedom Singers- Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)

The Sojourners- Eyes On the Prize 

Hold On (Black Hen Music)

Harry Belafonte- Michael Row the Boat Ashore 

The Midnight Special (RCA)

Mavis Staples with Ladysmith Black Mambazo- We Shall Not Be Moved

We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti-)

Nina Simone- Mississippi Goddam 

The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Reggie Harris- Been Down Into the South

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt- Still on the Bridge

We are Welcomed (Pragmavision)

The Staple Singers- Freedom Highway

Freedom Highway (Columbia/Legacy)

Odetta- Freedom Trilogy: Oh Freedom, Come & Go With Me and I’m On My Way

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Joan Baez- All My Trials

Joan Baez (Vanguard)

Bob Dylan- Only a Pawn in Their Game

The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Columbia/Legacy)

Peter, Paul & Mary- If I Had a Hammer

Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner Bros.)

Mahalia Jackson- How I Got Over

Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting with Mahalia Jackson (Columbia/Legacy)

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr..- Excerpt from “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on August 28, 1963 at The March on Washington

Kim & Reggie Harris- Free At Last

Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad (Appleseed)

Sam Cooke- A Change is Gonna Come 

Ain’t That Good News (RCA)

The Impressions- People Get Ready

People Get Ready (ABC Paramount)

Pete Seeger- We Shall Overcome

We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert (Columbia)

Charlie Haden & Hank Jones- We Shall Overcome

Steal Away: Spirituals, Hymns and Folk Songs (Verve)

Next week: A Mardi Gras Day Tribute to Louis Prima.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 3, 2026: A Tribute to Jackie Washington

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73942.html

Theme: A Tribute to Jackie Washington (1919-2009).

Jackie Washington & Mike Regenstreif (2008)

Jackie Washington was a legendary Canadian blues, jazz and folk artist who died in 2009 at age 89. Jackie was born in 1919 in Hamilton, Ontario to a musical family and began his professional career in the 1930s as one of The four Washington Brothers. In the mid-1960s, Jackie began performing on the Canadian folk scene as a solo artist and was a great influence on many artists, and a great friend to many of us on the Canadian folk scene. It was a thrill for me to bring Jackie to Montreal to perform at the Golem, the folk club that I ran in the 1970s and ‘80s. From the 1990s until his death in 2009, he frequently collaborated with Mose Scarlett and Ken Whiteley and the last time I got a chance to visit with Jackie was in 2008 when Jackie, Mose & Ken were in Ottawa for a concert at Library & Archives Canada.

By the way, Jackie Washington should not be confused with the American folksinger and actor Jack Landron, who recorded several albums in the 1960s under the name Jackie Washington.

Jackie sang and played guitar and piano and during this show we hear some of his recordings and many other songs from his huge repertoire performed by other artists.

Jackie Washington- When that Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’

Midnight Choo Choo (Borealis)

Chick Webb & His Orchestra with Ella Fitzgerald- I Want to Be Happy

The Best of Chick Webb and His Orchestra with Ella Fitzgerald (MCA)

The Andrews Sisters- Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar

Ultimate Edition (Nostalgic Melody Music Production)

Sneezy Waters- Solitude 

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Leon Redbone- Lulu’s Back in Town

On the Track (Warner Bros.)

Jackie Washington- All of Me

The World of Jackie Washington (Borealis)

Katy Moffatt- Miss Otis Regrets

Chrysalis (Sunset Blvd.)

Jackie Washington- Columbus Stockade Blues

The World of Jackie Washington (Borealis)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Triskaidekaphobia

Wahoo! (Community Music)

Danny Barker- Save the Bones

Save the Bones (Orleans)

Martha Davis & Spouse- Blue Turning Grey Over You

Slightly More Than Wonderful (Jasmine)

The Hot Sardines- Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now

Welcome Home, Bon Voyage (Eleven)

Mose Scarlett, Jackie Washington & Ken Whiteley- A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet

Where Old Friends Meet (Pyramid)

Pearl Bailey- I Ain’t Got Nobody (and Nobody Cares For Me)

Pearl Bailey (Coral)

Howard Armstrong- Dinah

Louie Bluie (Blue Suit)

Hoagy Carmichael- Lazy River

Stardust Melody (Bluebird)

Emmalisa Hollander- Street of Dreams

Out of Reach (Prophone/Naxos Sweden)

Jackie Washington- Sleepy Town Train

Keeping Out of Mischief (Pyramid)

Jay McShann- Goin’ to Chicago

Still Jumpin’ the Blues (Stony Plain)

Colin Linden- Ain’t That Gravy Good

The World of Jackie Washington (Borealis)

Nicki Parrott- Them There Eyes

Fly Me to the Moon (Venus)

Bebop Cowboys- Sugarfoot Rag

Some Kind of Fantasy (Bebop Cowboys)

Jackie Washington- Take the ‘A’ Train

Keeping Out of Mischief (Pyramid)

Jackie Washington- Gotta Go 

The World of Jackie Washington (Borealis)

Next week: Songs of – or inspired by – the Civil Rights Movement.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 27, 2026: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73873.html

Theme: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked annually on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27, 1945. During the Holocaust, more than one million Jews were gassed to death at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In these times of exploding antisemitism and other forms of racism and hatred, it’s important for us to pause and remember the lessons of the Holocaust when Hitler’s Nazi Germany systematically murdered 6 million Jews – about two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe. Many of the lessons of the Holocaust, and what led to it, are sadly relevant to what’s going on in the world today.

SONiA disappear fear- By My Silence

By My Silence (Disappear)

John McCutcheon- MS St. Louis

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

Brendan Nolan- Watching Myself Watch My Son

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Simon Spiro- Obodivke Camp (In Obodivker Lager)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Alice Zawadzki- The Sad Camp (Fun a Troyerikn Lager)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Cantor Allan Robuck- So the World Would Know

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Lee Oskar- Never Forget

Passages Through Music: Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Madeleine Peyroux- Dance Me to the End of Love

Careless Love (Rounder)

Leonard Cohen- Lovers

Six Montreal Poets (Folkways)

Leonard Cohen- Puppets

Thanks for the Dance (Columbia/Legacy)

Rod MacDonald- Auschwitz

The Man on the Ledge (Shanachie)

Tim Grimm- Anne in Amsterdam

The Turning Point (Cavalier)

Nefesh Mountain- Piece of the Sun (for Anne Frank)

Songs for the Sparrows (Eden Sky)

Brendan Nolan- Parallel Limbs

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Feel with Blood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Wintry Dusk

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Psoy Korolenko- Transnistrian Lullaby (Transnistria Viglid)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Alice Zawadzki- A Girl from Kyiv (A Meydele from Kyiv)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Theodore Bikel- Partizaner-March (March of the Partisans)

While I’m Here (Red House)

Perla Batalla- The Partisan

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Noel Paul Stookey- Jean Claude

Just Causes (Neworld)

Frank London with Cantor Sveta Kundish- Minutn fun bitokhn (Moments of Hope)

Ghetto Songs (Felmay)

Next week: A Tribute to Jackie Washington.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 24, 2026

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/73826.html

Bill Camplin- January Guitar

January Guitar – single (Tool Room)

Sylvia Tyson & Mike Regenstreif (1997)

Ian & Sylvia- January Morning

So Much for Dreaming (Vanguard)

The Refugees- January Sky

Three (Wahubo)

Catherine MacLellan- January Song

Church Bell Blues (True North)

Tommy Makem- The Month of January

Songs of Tommy Makem (Tradition)

Don Williams- If I Were Free

Reflections (Sugar Hill)

Emmylou Harris- Thanks to You

Cowgirl’s Prayer (Asylum)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- Humour Me

Humour Me (Sugar Hill)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- The Future

Together Again (Appalsongs)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Old Dog

Together Again (Appalsongs)

Katie Moore- My Old Dog

Only Thing Worse (Borealis)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Staines (1993)

Bill Staines- Old Dogs

Old Dogs (Red House)

Woody Guthrie- I’ve Got to Know

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

Mike Regenstreif & David Amram (2004)

The David Amram Quintet- Peace Pin Boogie

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Tom Russell- Salt on the Rim

Mount Olive (Frontera)

Graham Lindsey- Pen Pal Waltz

Tune Machine (Graham Lindsey)

Meredith Moon- East City Blues

From Here to the Sea (New Motor)

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

Garnet Rogers- Edge of the Earth

Sparrow’s Wing (Snow Goose Songs)

Pat Moore & The Vinyl Frontier- Strange

Take It to Heart (Pat Moore)

Over the Moon- Strangers We Meet

Over the Moon (Over the Moon)

Lynne Hanson- Light in Me

Just a Poet (Lynne Hanson)

Mike Regenstreif & David Francey (2019)

David Francey- The Waking Hour

Maps (Laker Music)

Amy Speace- God Came to Me

The Blue Rock Session (Windbone)

Josh White, Jr.- It’s Chilly Out Tonight

Live at the Raven Gallery (Silverwolf)

Pete Seeger with Arlo Guthrie & Shenandoah- Precious Friend You Will Be There

Precious Friend (Warner Bros.)

Brian Claflin- ICE on the Road (for Renee Nicole Good)

ICE on the Road (for Renee Nicole Good) – single (Brian Claflin)

Mike Regenstreif & Maria Dunn (2017)

Maria Dunn- Coal is a Thirsty Business

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Lynn Miles (2017)

Lynn Miles with Keith Glass- Black Flowers 

Road (Lynn Miles)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2001) photo: Janice Hanson

Tom Paxton- Dogs at Midnight 

Tom Paxton 6 (Elektra)

Teilhard Frost- Lynchburgtown

Four and Twenty Blackbirds Dancing on a Deerskin (Wolfe Island)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott & Bob Weir- Friend of the Devil

Friends of Mine (HighTone)

Grateful Dead- Sugar Magnolia

American Beauty (Warner Bros.)

Madeleine Peyroux- Lonesome Road 

Careless Love (Rounder)

Kim Wilson- Kansas City

Slow Burn (M.C.)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Gateway Blues (Blues for Bessie)

Get to the Heart (Ripple)

Tinsley Ellis- Long Time

Labor of Love (Alligator)

Clela Errington- Careless Love

Walkin’ Each Other Home (Clela Errington)

Jory Nash & Mike Regenstreif (2024)

Jory Nash- Everybody Knows By Now

The Light Still Shines on the Main (Thin Man)

Bonnie Dobson & The Hanging Stars- Baby’s Got the Blues

Dreams (Loose Music)

John Gorka, Mike Regenstreif & Lucy Kaplansky (2012)

John Gorka- No Time to Cry

unentitled (Red House)

Lucy Kaplansky- Forget-Me-Not

The Lucy Story: unreleased and rare tracks, 1976-2023 (Lucyricky)

Jack Hardy- Singer’s Lament 

Bandolier (Great Divide)

Mike Regenstreif & Mark Rubin on Zoom (2025)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Nobody’s Pig Foot

Nobody’s Pig Foot – single (Rubinchik)

Shelley Posen & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom (2023)

Shelley Posen- Akhehr 

Mazel (Well Done Music)

Mavis Staples- We Got Have Peace

Sad and Beautiful World (Anti-)

Satellite Birdhouse- The Big Reveal

The Big Reveal – single (Satellite Birdhouse)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on February 21. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 20, 2026: Duets

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73740.html

Theme: Duets.

Odetta & Dr. John- Please Send Me Someone to Love 

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Mike Regenstreif, Anne Hills & Tom Paxton (2001)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Pathfinder

Together Again (Appalsongs)

Mike Regenstreif & Arlo Guthrie (1996)

Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger- Midnight Special

More Together Again In Concert (Rising Son)

Mike Regenstreif & Priscilla Herdman (1978)

Utah Phillips & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Priscilla Herdman & Utah Phillips- I Remember Loving You

Darkness into Light (Flying Fish)

John Gorka & Mike Regenstreif (2012)

Anne Hills & John Gorka- Spoon River

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Steve Gillette (1994)

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen- Jay Gould’s Daughter

Live in Concert (Compass Rose)

Over the Moon- Darcy Farrow

Chinook Waltz (Borealis)

Martin Grosswendt & Susanne Salem-Schatz- How Can You Have the Blues

New Songs, Old Hats (Martin Grosswendt & Susanne Salem-Schatz)

Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris- Sisters of Mercy

Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (Asylum)

Perla Batalla & David Hidalgo- Ballad of the Absent Mare

Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)

Jennifer Warnes & Leonard Cohen- Joan of Arc

Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen – 20th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

Willie Nelson & Kimmie Rhodes- I Just Drove By

Just One Love (Justice)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Tom Russell & Ian Tyson- Navajo Rug

Cowboy’d All to Hell (Frontera)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Morrissey (2005)

Bill Morrissey & Greg Brown- Summer Wages

Friend of Mine (Philo)

Laurie MacAllister & David Glaser- Birches

The Lies the Poets Tell (Laurie MacAllister)

Catherine MacLellan & John Connolly- The Call

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan (True North)

Reggie Harris & Colleen Kattau- Maybe It’s Love 

On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Rick Fines (2011)

Rick Fines & Suzie Vinnick- How’d You Know I Missed You

Nothing Halfway (Rick Fines & Suzie Vinnick)

John Prine & Dolores Keane- In a Town This Size

In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy)

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

Archie Fisher & Garnet Rogers- The Outside Track

The Best Times After All: Live (Snow Goose Songs)

Eliza Gilkyson & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Mike Regenstreif & JimmyLaFave (2017)

Eliza Gilkyson & Jimmy LaFave- Down by the Riverside

Secularia (Red House)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower- I’ve Got the Big River Blues

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Next week: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 13, 2026: Lightfoot! Revisited and Kate & Anna McGarrigle Revisited

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73656.html

Theme: Lightfoot! Revisited and Kate & Anna McGarrigle Revisited.

Lightfoot! Revisited

Gordon Lightfoot’s debut album – Lightfoot! – was released 60 years ago in January 1966. It was reissued as part of a 3-CD set called The Original Lightfoot.

Gordon Lightfoot- Rich Man’s Spiritual 

The Original Lightfoot – The United Artists Years: Lightfoot! (EMI)

J.P. Cormier- Long River

The Long River: A Personal Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot (Flash Publishing)

Julie Felix- The Way I Feel

Changes (Fontana)

Ian & Sylvia- For Lovin’ Me

Early Morning Rain (Vanguard)

Bonnie Dobson- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Philadelphia Folk Festival – 40th Anniversary (Sliced Bread)

Phil Ochs- Changes

Phil Ochs In Concert (Elektra/Rhino)

Rodney Brown- Early Morning Rain

The Gales of November: Songs of Gordon Lightfoot (Rodney Brown)

Spanky & Our Gang- Steel Rail Blues 

Live (Mercury)

Bill Hearne- Sixteen Miles 

Always Trust Your Cape (Howlin’ Dog)

Tony Rice- I’m Not Sayin’

Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot (Rounder) 

Hamilton Camp- Pride of Man

Paths of Victory (Collectors’ Choice Music)

Bruce Cockburn- Ribbon of Darkness

Rarities (True North)

Gordon Lightfoot- Oh, Linda

The Original Lightfoot – The United Artists Years: Lightfoot! (EMI)

Gordon Lightfoot- Peaceful Waters

The Original Lightfoot – The United Artists Years: Lightfoot! (EMI)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle Revisited

Kate & Anna McGarrigle’s self-titled debut album was released 50 years ago in January 1976. It was reissued as part of a 3-CD set called Tell My Sister.

Rufus Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle & Martha Wainwright- Kiss and Say Goodbye

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- My Town 

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Kate McGarrigle- Blues in D 

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

June Tabor- Heart Like a Wheel

At the Wood’s Heart (Topic)

Wade Hemsworth- Foolish You

The Songs of Wade Hemsworth (Blackfly Music)

Priscilla Herdman- Talk to Me of Mendocino

Forgotten Dreams (Flying Fish)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Complainte pour Ste-Catherine

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Peggy Seeger- Tell My Sister

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Loudon Wainwright III- The Swimming Song 

Attempted Moustache (Columbia/Legacy)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Jigsaw Puzzle of Life

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Linda Thompson & Richard Thompson- Go Leave 

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Travelling On for Jesus

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Next week: Duets.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 6, 2026: Remembering Tim Williams, Raul Malo, Steve Cropper and Joe Ely

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73574.html

Theme: Remembering Tim Williams, Raul Malo, Steve Cropper and Joe Ely.

Remembering Tim Williams (1948-2025)

Tim Williams – who died on November 28, at age 77, following a short battle with cancer – was born in California and had already recorded his first LP before he moved to Canada in 1970. He was based in Vancouver for several years before moving on to Alberta, where he worked for a time as a cowboy and then began a long career as an acoustic blues and folk artist based in Calgary.

Tim Williams- Pallet on the Floor

Evenings Among Friends (Cayuse)

Tim Williams- Alberta In My Dreams

When I was a Cowboy (Cayuse)

Cindy Church- Trying to Rope the Wind

Just a Little Rain (Stony Plain)

Tim Williams- The Ones Who Made the Blues

Indigo Incidents (Cayuse)

Tim Williams- It’s Enough to Be Remembered

Songster, Musicianer, Music Physicianer (Cayuse)

Remembering Raul Malo (1965-2025)

Raul Malo – who died on December 8, at age 60, from cancer – was both a solo artist and the lead singer with The Mavericks.

Raul Malo- Early Morning Rain

The Nashville Acoustic Sessions (CMH)

Raul Malo- You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

The Nashville Acoustic Sessions (CMH)

Raul Malo- I Guess Things Happen That Way

Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash (Dualtone)

Remembering Steve Cropper (1941-2025)

Steve Cropper – who died on December 3, at age 84 – was a guitarist, songwriter and record producer and as the guitarist in Booker T. & The MGs, was probably the definitive guitarist of Memphis soul music.

Booker T. & The MGs- Green Onions

Green Onions (Stax)

Wilson Pickett- In the Midnight Hour

In the Midnight Hour (Atlantic)

The Staple Singers- The Weight

Soul Folk In Action (Stax)

Otis Redding- (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay 

The Dock of the Bay (Atco)

Steve Cropper- Crop Dustin’

With a Little Help From My Friends (Volt)

Jesse Winchester- Club Manhattan

Gentleman of Leisure (Sugar Hill)

Remembering Joe Ely (1947-2025)

Joe Ely – who died on December 15, at age 78, from pneumonia after a battling Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia – was one of the great Texas singer-songwriters and song interpreters who recorded under his own name and as a member of The Flatlanders.

Joe Ely & Joel Guzman- Because of the Wind

Live Cactus (Rack ‘Em)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott- Me and Billy the Kid

Friends of Mine (HighTone)

The Chieftains & Joe Ely- The Moonshiner/I’m a Rambler, I’m a Gambler

Further Down the Old Plank Road (RCA)

Tom Russell- Indian Cowboy

Tonight We Ride: The Tom Russell Cowboy Anthology (Frontera)

Joe Ely- Gallo del Cielo

Letter to Laredo (MCA)

The Flatlanders- Right Where I Belong

Now Again (New West)

James Talley & Joe Ely- W. Lee O’Daniel and the Light Crust Doughboys

Touchstones (Cimarron)

Tom Russell & Joe Ely- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues 

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Joe Ely & Joel Guzman- Ranches and Rivers

Live Cactus (Rack ‘Em)

Next week: Lightfoot! Revisited and Kate &Anna McGarrigle Revisited.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 30, 2025: My top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2025

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73491.html

Theme: My top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2025.

These are always hard choices. I started with a list of about 30 of my favorite albums for the year. I’ve been over the list several times in the past couple of weeks and came up with several similar – but not identical – Top 10 lists. This list is the final one. The order might have been slightly different and there are several other worthy albums that might have been included, had one of the other lists represented the final choice.

The annotated and illustrated version of this top 10 list is available on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at … https://frfb.blogspot.com/2025/12/top-10-for-2025.html

10. Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One by Suzy Thompson

Suzy Thompson- Bride 1945

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Suzy Thompson- Long Afternoons

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

9. Personal History by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Girl and Her Dog

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers) 

Mary Chapin Carpenter- New Religion

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers) 

8. Field of Stars by John McCutcheon

John McCutcheon- Tikkun Olam

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

John McCutcheon with Windborne- Blessing

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

7. Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 by Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie- This Land is Your Land

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

Woody Guthrie- Peace Call

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

6. Hardscrabble Hope by Maria Dunn

Maria Dunn- Another Year

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

Maria Dunn- Leave It All On the Ice

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

5. unentitled by John Gorka

John Gorka- First Snow on the Mountains

unentitled (Red House)

John Gorka- Particle Wave (Goodness in the World)

unentitled (Red House)

4. Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith by Anne Hills

Anne Hills- Crazy Mary

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

Anne Hills- Sure Has Grown

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

3. Bones of Trees by Tim Grimm

Tim Grimm- Broken Truth

Bones of Trees (Vault)

Tim Grimm- Up in the Attic

Bones of Trees (Vault)

2. Dark Ages by Eliza Gilkyson

Eliza Gilkyson- Times Like These 

Dark Ages (Realiza) 

Eliza Gilkyson- Holy

Dark Ages (Realiza)

1. David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls by The David Amram Quintet

The David Amram Quintet- Talking Subway

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

The David Amram Quintet- When I’m Gone

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

Next week: Remembering Raul Malo, Tim Williams, Joe Ely and Steve Cropper.

--Mike Regenstreif