Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 28, 2024: 50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 1


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/595/65341.html

Theme: 50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 1.

Mike Regenstreif at The Golem (1975)

It was 50 years ago, on May 24, 1974, that I took over running The Golem, Montreal folk club. 

The Golem had been established in 1973 in the McGill Hillel building at 3460 Stanley Street by Saul Markowicz. I had done my basic training in folk club management with Chuck Baker at the Yellow Door, and had been producing concerts in Montreal at Dawson College and McGill University for about two years when Saul approached me in the spring of 1974 and asked if I’d be interested in taking over The Golem.

I actually ran The Golem twice – from 1974 until 1976 and from 1981 until 1987. The Golem was also run for about a year after my first tenure by Marc Nerenberg (who, by the way, is responsible for keeping the Yellow Door going still). The Golem was closed between 1977 and when I returned and re-opened it in 1981. And, after my second tenure, a committee including Helen Fortin and Dave Clarke of Steel Rail fame kept the Golem going until 1991.

All of the songs on this show were played back in the day by artists who performed during my two tenures running the Golem. As I was preparing this show, I found there was no way I could play all of the artists I’d like to include, so I’ll be doing a part 2 to this theme on the June 18 edition of Stranger Songs.

Bruce Murdoch- Fool Like Me
Bruce Murdoch (Radio Canada International)

Mike Regenstreif, Bruce Murdoch & Sneezy Waters (2014)

Sneezy Waters- (You’ve Got) Sawdust on the Floor of Your Heart
Live in the CKCU studio during Stranger Songs – July 4, 2023
Jim Ringer- Going Away
Waitin’ for the Hard Times to Go (Folk-Legacy)
Tom Mitchell, Mike Regenstreif & Mary McCaslin (199)

Mary McCaslin
- Down the Road
Way Out West (Philo)
Chris Rawlings & Mike Regenstreif (2007)

Chris Rawlings
- Pearl River Turnaround
Pearl Soupe (Cooking Fat Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt
Learn to Love It (Stony Plain)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore
Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Ronney Abramson & Mike Regenstreif (2016)

Ronney Abramson- Three O’Clock Ride
Three O’Clock Ride – single (Ronney Abramson)

Artie Traum & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Artie Traum- Montreal
The Test of Time (Roaring Stream)
Ferron- Ain’t Life a Brook
Not a Still Life (Cherrywood Station)
Mike Regenstreif & Bill Staines (1993)

Bill Staines- Tulsa
Miles (Mineral River)
Mike Regenstreif & Priscilla Herdman (1978) photo: Ron Petronko

Priscilla Herdman- Andy’s Gone with Cattle
The Water Lily (Philo)
Eric Bogle- Now I’m Easy
Scraps of Paper (Flying Fish)

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

Utah Phillips- Larimer Street
The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)
Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- Postcard from India
Travelin’ Lady (Sire)
Tom Mitchell- Eastern Beer
1976 live recording – used with permission
Mimi Fariña- Defying Gravity
Live in Germany: To Benefit Bread & Roses (Dogfish Music)

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

Tom Paxton- Outward Bound
The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) (Rhino Handmade)
Odetta- Hold On
Odetta at Carnegie Hall (Vanguard)
Dave Van Ronk- Green, Green Rocky Road
…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Hartford- Steamboat Whistle Blues
Aereo-Plain (Rounder)
Skyline with Tony Trischka- Ticket Back
Ticket Back: A Retrospective (Flying Fish)
Nanci Griffith- There’s a Light Beyond These Woods
There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Philo)

Stan Rogers- The Mary Ellen Carter
Between the Breaks…Live! (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Next week: Part 1: Remembering Spider John Koerner / Part 2: The Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis

--Mike Regenstreif

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