Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday June 20, 2023: The Philosophy of Modern Song, Part 2

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

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

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/60948.html

Theme: The Philosophy of Modern Song, Part 2.

Bob Dylan wrote about each of the songs on this show in his book, The Philosophy of Modern Song. Except where noted, these tracks are the versions of the songs that Dylan cites.

Dylan cites the 1956 version of “Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man?” by The Osborne Brothers.

Carolina Chocolate Drops- Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man?

Leaving Eden (Nonesuch)

Dylan cites the 1958 version of “Volare” by Domenico Modugno.

The Gipsy Kings- Volare

The Best of The Gipsy Kings (Nonesuch/Elektra)

The Clash- London Calling

London Calling (Epic)

Hank Williams- Your Cheatin’ Heart

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

Roy Orbison- Blue Bayou

In Dreams (Monument)

Dylan cites the 1970 version of “Midnight Rider” by The Allman Brothers.

Greg Allman- Midnight Rider

T-Bone Burnett presents The Speaking Clock Revue: Live from The Beacon Theatre (Shout! Factory)

Carl Perkins- Blue Suede Shoes

The Rockin’ Guitar Man: The Singles 1955-1962 (Jasmine)

Little Richard- Long Tall Sally

18 Greatest Hits (Rhino)

Warren Zevon- Dirty Life and Times

The Wind (Artemis)

Mose Allison- Everybody Cryin’ Mercy

I’ve Been Doin’ Some Thinkin’ (Atlantic)

Johnny Cash- Big River

The Legend of Johnny Cash (American Recordings)

Ernie K-Doe- A Certain Girl

Finger Poppin’ and Stompin’ Feet: 20 Classic Allen Toussaint Productions for Minit Records 1960-1962 (Crescent City Soul)

Dylan cites the 1964 version of “Blue Moon” by Dean Martin.

Ian Tyson- Blue Moon

Live at Longview (Stony Plain)

Waylon Jennings- I’ve Always Been Crazy

Nashville Rebel (RCA/Legacy)

Judy Garland- Come Rain or Come Shine

Judy (Capitol)

Jimmy Reed- Big Boss Man

Found Love (Vee-Jay)

Dylan cites the 1928 version of “Old and Only in the Way” by Charlie Poole.

Loudon Wainwright III- Old and Only in the Way

High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project (2nd Story Sound)

Nina Simone- Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Broadway-Blues-Ballads (Philips)

Pete Seeger- Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs (Columbia)

Elvis Presley- Viva Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas (RCA)

Dylan cites the 1996 version of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” by Jimmy Webb.

Susie Arioli Band featuring Jordan Officer- By the Time I Get to Phoenix

Learn to Smile Again (Justin Time)

Frank Sinatra- Strangers in the Night

Greatest Love Songs (Reprise)

Santana- Black Magic Woman

Abraxis (Columbia)

Next week: Songs of Bruce Cockburn.

--Mike Regenstreif

Jayme Stone’s Folklife

JAYME STONE’S FOLKLIFE

Jayme Stone’s Folklife

Borealis Records

jaymestone.com

borealisrecords.com

A little over two years ago, the masterful banjo player Jayme Stone released Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project, an superb album in which he and a revolving cast of singers and musicians reimagined 19 songs – mostly traditional folksongs – that had been collected by legendary folklorist Alan Lomax (1915-2002) over a period of many years. As I noted in my review, “it is an extraordinary collection at once timeless, traditional and utterly contemporary.”

Although the CD featured different musicians and singers on different tracks Jayme worked with more focused smaller groups when taking the Lomax Project out on the road. The superb Lomax Project concert that I got to see and hear – March 16, 2016 in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage – featured Jayme with primary lead singer and accordionist Moira Smiley, bassist Joe Phillips and fiddler Sumaia Jackson. Moira and Joe had each appeared on about a third of the tracks on Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project while Sumaia was recruited sometime after the recording was completed.

While I went into that concert wondering if Jayme, Moira, Joe and Sumaia would be credible performing the often complex arrangements that had been played by other combinations of musicians on the CD, it was quickly obvious that the four had formed a wonderful, tight performing unit. It was one of the finest concerts I’ve seen in recent years.

Jayme Stone’s Folklife is the follow-up to the Lomax Project CD. At about 43 minutes and 10 songs it’s a shorter CD than the first one (which had 19 songs and clocked in at 66 minutes). But it’s a tighter, more focused group with nine of the 10 songs featuring the core group of Jayme, Moira, Joe and Sumaia – sometimes augmented by drummer Nick Fraser and/or harmony singers Felicity Williams and Denzel Sinclaire. And although most of the songs come from Lomax field recordings, there are a couple here that came through other collectors.

Although each of these tracks is a terrific performance highlighted by great playing and Moira’s charismatic lead vocals, a few of my very favorites include “Mwen Pas Danse” with its bouncy, breezy Caribbean rhythms; “Hey, Lally Lally Lo,” which I learned at summer camp in the 1960s as a singalong song that we’d improvise verses to, but which Moira turns into a sexy torch song; and the a cappella finale, “Wait on the Rising Sun,” with Moira’s lead vocals supported by Jayme, Sumaia, Joe, Felicity and Denzel in glorious harmonies.

“Buttermilk” is the only song on Jayme Stone’s Folklife not to feature the core musicians. On this song Jayme, on banjo, is joined by Dom Flemons who sings and plays guitar and quills (a panpipe flute made from cane reeds) and jazz musician Ron Miles on cornet. It’s a delightful, energetic performance on which you can also hear percussive bones playing – I assume by Dom who I’ve seen play them during his days with the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

As I said about Jayme Stone's Lomax Project, this album is “an extraordinary collection at once timeless, traditional and utterly contemporary.”

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Ottawa Folk Festival – Sunday, September 8

Mark Monahan presents the Helen Verger Award to Lynn Miles

If there’s been a dream night for the traditional folk festival audience at the Ottawa Folk Festival over the past three years it was surely Sunday night with back-to-back concerts by Ottawa’s Lynn Miles, among the finest of Canada’s contemporary singer-songwriters, the dynamic Carolina Chocolate Drops, who are at the forefront of the recent revival of the African American string band tradition, and legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.

The evening began with the announcement that Lynn, a stalwart of Ottawa’s folk music scene for more than two decades – she performed at the first Ottawa Folk Festival in 1994 – was the 2013 recipient of the Helen Verger Award. Named for the founder of Rasputin’s the late, lamented Ottawa folk café, the award has been presented annually by the Ottawa Folk Festival to someone for outstanding contributions to Canadian folk music. Lynn, who, as well as being a great singer-songwriter in her own right, has also been a champion of so many other artists, was an excellent choice for this year’s award.

Immediately after Ottawa Folk Festival executive and artistic director Mark Monahan presented the award to Lyn, she gave a terrific hour-long concert accompanied throughout by the exceptional guitar playing of Keith Glass and, for one song, a cover of “Helpless,” a nod to the festival’s missing headliner, Neil Young, by vocalist Rebecca Campbell.

Lynn Miles

Songs from Downpour, Lynn’s superb new album, dominated a set that also included several of her classics including “Black Flowers,” one of the best coal mining songs of recent decades.

As Lynn finished her concert on the RavenLaw Stage, the CUPE Stage came alive with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who turned in one of the most dynamic sets of traditional music I’ve heard in Ottawa in years with original members Dom Flemons and Rhiannon Giddens – who are both multi-instrumentalists – joined by Hubby Jenkins, also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, and cellist Leyla McCalla.

Dom Flemons & Rhiannon Giddins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops

Using varying combinations of instruments, with Dom and Rhiannon trading lead vocal roles, they ranged through a repertoire of traditional African American folk music, including much from the African American string band and blues traditions, as well as the occasional foray into other styles – including a terrific performance of Celtic mouth music by Rhiannon. At one point, Rhiannon was joined by her sister, Lalenja Harrington, for a dynamic a cappella gospel song.

A few minutes after the Carolina

Gordon Lightfoot

Chocolate Drops finished up, Gordon Lightfoot and his band took to the RavenLaw Stage for an extended set. While Gordon’s voice was just a shadow of what it was in his prime – it sounded almost like a whisper early in the set but grew stronger as the concert went on – it almost didn’t matter as we were really responding to a Canadian music icon responsible for one of the richest song catalogs of the past half-century.

While Gordon’s set leaned heavily on hits from the 1970s and ‘80s, and even material from the ‘90s, the best moments – at least for me – came with “Ribbon of Darkness” and “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” two essential songs from the 60s. I must confess there were other ‘60s songs – “Early Morning Rain,” for example – that I wished he’d done.

Still though, we (the audience) were responding to Canadian folk music legend and thanking him for his hundreds of songs and thousands of concerts over the years.

Chris Smither

After Gordon’s set, we made it over to the Hill Stage in time to hear the last three songs – including a bravura rendition of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues – by the sublime folk and blues artist Chris Smither. Chris, who I almost didn’t recognize without his blue guitar (just kidding), was in great form and I wish I’d been able to see more.

Highlights from stage bouncing earlier in the day included a workshop called “Peace, Love and Understanding” with John Allaire, Martyn Joseph, the dynamic Welsh singer-songwriter, and Trent Severn, an impressive trio of three women from Startford, Ontario; a solo concert by young Halifax singer-songwriter Mo Kenney; and some impressive songs by Dave Hadfield (Chris’ brother) who was accompanied by Trent Severn fiddler Laura C. Bates in the “Wild People, Wild Places” workshop.

As always in a big festival, there many sets I missed over the course of the Ottawa Folk Festival that I would have liked to have seen. Among them, concerts by Terry Gillespie, Sheesham & Lotus, David Lindley, Matt Andersen, and Patti Smith.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif