Leon Redbone 1949-2019

I was deeply saddened today by the news that Leon Redbone passed away this morning. Leon – who retired from performing in 2015 due to health concerns – was a man of self-created mystery who cultivated that mystery from the beginning of his career. He was a unique character, who I never saw break character.

Once, in the 1970s, I went to pick Leon up at the Montreal airport. I watched for him at the international arrivals gate for what seemed like a very long time and finally assumed he was a no-show. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around, and Leon said, “I hope you arranged to have fan dancers at the show tonight. I can’t do the show without fan dancers.” He had ducked out of Canada Customs through a side door and watched me watching for him for a while.

Leon was a brilliant singer, guitarist and stage performer whose repertoire was pulled from old jazz, blues and Tin Pan Alley songs.

I produced several concerts with Leon in Montreal in the ‘70s and wrote about them, and about the last concert I saw him do in Ottawa, in a 2011 article at this link.

My deepest condolences to Leon’s wife, Beryl Handler, who was already Leon’s manager when I first produced a concert with him in 1974, and to their daughters.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday May 25, 2019

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning can be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/43087.html

Kathy Kallick Band- Cotton-Eyed Joe

Horrible World (Live Oak)

Mara Levine w/Gathering Time & John Guth- Bitter Green

Facets of Folk (Mara’s Creations)        

Gordon Lightfoot- Minstrel of the Dawn

If You Could Read My Mind (Reprise)

April Verch- The French Song

Once a Day (Slab Town)

Craig Moreau- A Different Kind of Train Song

A Different Kind of Train (Craig Moreau)

Andy Hedges- Song of the Cuckoo

Shadow of a Cowboy (Andy Hedges)

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves- Buffalo Gals

Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (Free Dirt)

Lynn Miles w/Keith Glass- I Loved a Cowboy

Road (Lynn Miles)

Dom Flemons- Lonesome Old River Blues

Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys (Smithsonian Folkways)

Pierce Pettis- A Showman’s Life

Father’s Son (Compass)

Harvey Reid & Joyce Andersen- Defying Gravity

The Song Train (Woodpecker)

Jesse Winchester- My Songbird

Live from Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music)

Ben Bullington- Kanesville Down to Pray

Satisfaction Garage (Ben Bullington)

Tom Russell- Red Oak Texas

October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)

The Wailin' Jennys- Keep Me In Your Heart

Fifteen (True North)

Jamie Anderson- Hold My Breath

The Truth Appears (Tsunami)

Extended feature: Songs of Paul Siebel – the next 14 songs were written by Paul Siebel.

Marley's Ghost- She Made Me Lose My Blues

Jubilee (Sage Arts)

Kate Wolf- Then Came the Children

Carry It On (Flat Rock)

Paul Siebel- My Town

Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

The Village Dudes- Tomorrow’s Train

Another Time and Place (Blue Flute Music)

Rosalie Sorrels- Bride 1945

Then Came the Children – Live (Green Linnet)

Paul Siebel- The Ballad of Honest Sam

Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

Staber & Chasnoff- Spanish Johnny

Free To Dream (Bubkes)

Mary McCaslin- Pinto Pony

A Life and Time (Flying Fish)

Bill Garrett- You Don’t Need a Gun

Bill Garrett (Borealis)

Paul Siebel- Jeremiah’s Song

Jack-Knife Gypsy (Elektra)

Dave Fry- Louise

Troubadour (Dave Fry)

Katie Moore- Any Day Woman

Only Thing Worse (Borealis)

Jerry Jeff Walker- Long Afternoons

Gypsy Songman (Rykodisc)

Paul Siebel- The Legend of the Captain’s Daughter

Jack-Knife Gypsy (Elektra)

Old Man Luedecke- I Wanna Go

Easy Money (True North)

Benjamin Dakota Rogers- Better By Now

Better By Now (Benjamin Dakota Rogers)

Geneviève Racette- Margo’s Song

No Water, No Flowers (Geneviève Racette)

Joel Rafael- All My Relations

Rose Avenue (Inside)

Doug McArthur- Sleeping in Dublin

The Horses of the Sea: A Personal Exploration of Ireland (dougimac.com)

Moore & McGregor- The Fields of Athenry

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Rain Perry- Vapor

Let’s Be Brave (Precipitous)

Danny Schmidt- Words are Hooks

Standard Deviation (Live Once)

CC Railroad- Start the Process

Black Horse Motel (Elizabeth)

Our Native Daughters (Leyla McCalla w/Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell & Amythyst Kiah)- Lavi Difisil

Songs of Our Native Daughters (Smithsonian Folkways)

Susan Werner- Get You from Below

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Leon Redbone- Sweet Substitute

Any Time (Rounder)

Jelly Roll Morton- Buddy Bolden’s Blues (I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say)

Last Sessions: The Complete General Recordings (Commodore)

Susan Werner- Free Your Ass

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Andy Statman- Ain’t No Place for a Girl Like You

Monroe Bus (Shefa)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on June 22.

I’ll also be hosting Canadian Spaces on June 8, 10 am-noon.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif