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

The Chieftains -- San Patricio

THE CHIEFTAINS
San Patricio
Hear Music
thechieftains.com

Let me get my one significant quibble about this album out of the way first. The artist billing on the CD cover of San Patricio is The Chieftains featuring Ry Cooder. But Cooder only plays on four of the 19 songs – including “The Sands of Mexico,” which he wrote and sings. His main contribution was co-producing the album with Paddy Moloney, the chief Chieftain. So don’t approach this album expecting to hear lots of Ry Cooder.

What you will hear, though, is the Chieftains collaborating with many other singers and bands in a unique fusion of Irish and Mexican folk music that is meant to recall the San Patricios, a small band of American soldiers – mostly recent Irish immigrants, but also from other countries, as well as some runaway slaves – who deserted from the American Army to fight for the Mexicans in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. After their last stand against the Americans, many of the surviving San Patricios were hung as traitors by the Americans while others were allowed to live after having their faces branded with the letter D for deserter. The San Patricios were reviled by the Americans but revered as folk heroes by the Irish and the Mexicans.

The actual story of the San Patricios is told in two of the album’s tracks: Cooder’s “The Sands of Mexico,” written and sung from the perspective of an Irish San Patricio soldier about to hanged who tells his story and states his conviction that history will absolve the San Patricios; and “March to the Battle (Across the Rio Grande),” featuring actor Liam Neeson’s narration in a poetic tribute to the perceived heroism of the San Patricios.

Other songs, mostly Mexican, some Irish, mostly traditional, some composed, feature the Chieftains musically interacting with some of the greatest Mexican or Mexican-American singers and musicians in a representation of the Irish-Mexican cultural fusion suggested by the idea of the San Patricios fighting for the Mexicans.

The combination of the Chieftains with their collaborators is brilliant, exciting and thrilling. Singer Lila Downs is heard on two exciting Mexican folksongs, “La Iguana” and “El Relampago,” while Linda Ronstadt’s singing on “A La Orilla de Un Palmar” is a thing of great beauty. Another of the most thrilling vocal tracks is “Ojitos Negros,” featuring the voices of Los Cenzontles singing almost a cappella but for Paddy Moloney’s pipe drones. “Persecución de Villa,” featuring the Mariachi Santa Fe de Jesus (Chuy) Guzman is a great track that has the Mariachi musicians interacting with the Chieftains on a song about the Mexican Revolution of 1910 (obviously not one that would have been sung at the time of the San Patricios). I could on about virtually every cut on the album.

The Chieftains have done many albums over the years that feature them in various collaborations. San Patricio is one of the most interesting and most exciting projects in their deep discography.

--Mike Regenstreif