Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday May 18, 2024

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/128/65234.html

Tex König- One Morning in May

Königsblende (Music Cellar)

Wendy Grossman- My Sweet Wyoming Home

The Last Trip Home (Riverlark)

The Spain Brothers- Roseville Fair

Bright and Better Morning (The Spain Brothers)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- River

Recordings Celebrating 50 Years of a Musical Partnership (Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl)

Bill Staines- Rompin’ Rovin’ Days

Journey Home (Red House)

Penny Lang- Come Across to You

Gather Honey (Borealis)

Bruce Murdoch- First Robin of Springtime

Matters of the Heart (Bruce Murdoch)

Jaspar Lepak- Dandelion

The Seasons Project: Spring (Christine Lavin)

Hilary Field- Esperanza (Hope)

The Seasons Project: Spring (Christine Lavin)

Kat Goldman- Weight of the World

The Seasons Project: Spring (Christine Lavin)

Declan O’Rourke- The Harbour

The Seasons Project: Spring (Christine Lavin)

Christine Lavin- Another New York Afternoon

The Seasons Project: Spring (Christine Lavin)

Bill Hearne- Sixteen Miles

Always Trust Your Cape (Howlin’ Dog)

Brittany Jean- Early Morning Rain

Colors & Covers (Brittany Jean)

Gordon Lightfoot- Long River

The Original Lightfoot (EMI)

Stephen Mendel- Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Sing Me a Story (Stephen Mendel)

Evenchick & Hucul- Under Your Wing

This is My Story (Melissa Hucul & Mark Evenchick)

Gentle Sparrow- Shining a Light Over You

River (Heart Alchemy Music)

Boreal- Warm Hands

Recorded for a future album release

Kate Weekes- Tea in Reykjavik

Taken By Surprise (Artiste Extrordinaire Originals)

Tom Lewis- Chicken on a Raft

Sea-Dog, See Dog! (Flying Fish)

Maddy Prior & June Tabor- The Grey Funnel Line

Silly Sisters (Shanachie)

Garnet Rogers- Sammy’s Bar

Summer Lightning: Live (Snow Goose Songs)

Bruce Cockburn- O Sun By Day O Moon By Night

O Sun O Moon (True North)

Lynne Hanson- Hemingway’s Songbird

Just Words (Lynne Hanson)

Ana Egge- Door Won’t Close

Sharing in the Spirit (StorySound)

Paula Cole- Follow the Moon

Lo (675)

Eric Bibb- 500 Miles

Live at the Scala Theatre (Stony Plain)

Steve Howell & The Mighty Men- God’s Gonna Cut You Down

99½ Won’t Do (Out of the Past Music)

Jay Linden- Another Day

Ordinary Sunrise (Americana North)

Tom Mitchell- My Newest Friend

When the Moon is Right (Truesongs)

Heather Little- Saint Christopher

By Now (Heather Little)

James Talley- My Little Corner of the World

Bandits, Ballads and Blues (Cimarron)

Robin Holcomb- Be Still

One Way or Another, Vol. 2 (Robin Holcomb)

Gretchen Peters with Tom Russell- Guadalupe

One to the Heart, One to the Head (Scarlet Letter/Frontera)

Steve Young- Angel of Lyon

Switchblades of Love (Watermelon)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Tom Russell & The Norwegian Wind Ensemble- Goodnight Juarez

Aztec Jazz (Frontera)

Magpie- I Just Roll Along

Endless River (Long Tail)

Rosalie Sorrels- Elegant Hobo

What Ever Happened to the Girl That Was (Paramount)

Paul Geremia- I’ll Be Goin’

Just Enough (Folkways)

Judy Roderick- Born in the Country

Woman Blue (Vanguard)

Chris Smither- All About the Bones

All About the Bones (Signature Sounds)

Mike Regenstreif & David Amram (2004)

David Amram- Waltz from After the Fall

No More Walls (Flying Fish)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on June 15. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 20, 2024: Songs of Chuck Berry

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/595/63977.html

Theme: Songs of Chuck Berry (1926-2017)

Chuck Berry, who died in 2017 at the age of 90, was an influential guitar player, singer and songwriter and one of the founding and foundational figures of rock ‘n’ roll. Berry was a St. Louis blues musician who signed with Chess Records in Chicago and began releasing singles in 1955 and LPs in 1957. It wasn’t long before he was one of the early stars of rock ‘n’ roll.

Chuck Berry- Rock and Roll Music

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

The Beatles- Roll Over Beethoven

With The Beatles (Parlophone)

The Rolling Stones- Carol

The Rolling Stones (Decca)

Mollie O'Brien- Brown Eyed Handsome Man

Big Red Sun (Sugar Hill)

Ken Hamm- Maybellene

Live ’05 (North Track)

Chuck Berry- Beautiful Delilah

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks- Forty Days

The EP Collection (See for Miles)

The Band- Promised Land

Moondog Matinee (Capitol)

Linda Ronstadt- Back in the U.S.A.

Living in the U.S.A. (Asylum)

Chuck Berry- Sweet Little Sixteen

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Memphis, Tennessee

Jug Band Music (Vanguard)

Geoff & Maria Muldaur- Havana Moon

Sweet Potatoes (Omnivore)

Geoff Muldaur & Amos Garrett- La Juanda

Geoff Muldaur & Amos Garrett (Flying Fish)

George Benson- How You’ve Changed

Walking to New Orleans: Remembering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino (Provogue)

The Stephen Barry Band- You Can’t Catch Me

Happy Man (Bros)

Tom Rush- Too Much Monkey Business

Tom Rush/Take a Little Walk with Me (BGO)

Emmylou Harris- (You Never Can Tell) C’est La Vie

Luxury Liner (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Dion- Johnny B. Goode

Born in the Bronx (Dance House)

Chuck Berry- Bye Bye Johnny

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

Jim Byrnes- Nadine

St. Louis Times (Black Hen Music)

Ry Cooder- 13 Question Method

Get Rhythm (Warner Bros.)

Ann Rabson- School Days

Struttin’ My Stuff (M.C.)

Jerry Lee Lewis- Little Queenie

Jerry Rocks (Bear Family)

Chuck Berry- Let It Rock

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

Chris Smither- Tulane

Another Way to Find You (Flying Fish)

Geoff Bartley- No Money Down

Hear That Wind Howl (Waterbug)

Gerry & The Pacemakers- Reelin’ and Rockin’

The EP Collection (See for Miles)

Chuck Berry- Downbound Train

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

Chuck Berry- Berry Pickin’

Best of the Chess Years (Not Now Music)

Next week: “Take the ‘A’ Train”: A Tribute to Duke Ellington.

--Mike Regenstreif

Andy Cohen – Road Be Kind

ANDY COHEN

Road Be Kind

Earwig Music

andycohenmusic.net

Five years ago, reviewing an album called Built Right on the Ground by Andy Cohen, I wrote an introduction that bears repeating.

It’s probably close to 40 years since the first time I encountered Andy Cohen. I was a teenager immersed in the folk scene and he would have been in his 20s and already an accomplished traditional blues revivalist. I think I first heard him when Bruce “Utah” Phillips got me to come down and hang out in Saratoga Springs where he was a prime mover in Wildflowers, a musicians’ co-op that also included Andy. Not too long after that, I recall him showing up in Montreal to play at the Yellow Door. I sat and listened closely to Andy play three sets a night for three nights in a row.

Thinking back to those days, I’m reminded of something the young Bob Dylan said about 10 years earlier:

“I ain't that good yet. I don't carry myself yet the way that Big Joe Williams, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Lightnin’ Hopkins have carried themselves. I hope to be able to someday, but they're older people.”

Dylan’s point – I think – was that this kind of music is something you keep growing into, something that reflects your lifetime of experience. The truly dedicated revivalists of that period – people like the late Dave Van Ronk, the late “Philadelphia” Jerry Ricks, Paul Geremia, Roy Book Binder, Chris Smither, Martin Grosswendt, Rory Block and a few others, including Andy Cohen – have kept on getting better as they’ve gotten older. Listening to Andy now, in concert – I saw him do a house concert in Ottawa recently – or on this fine new CD, is a much deeper musical experience than it was, circa 1972, when I saw him at the Yellow Door.

I’ve repeated that review intro because it’s essentially the same thing I would want to say again now to anyone who might not know or be familiar with Andy Cohen.

Andy is best known as a traditional blues revivalist but, like many, perhaps most, of the songsters he studied and emulated – either directly or from old records – his repertoire is much broader than that and Road Be Kind – a solo recording, just Andy’s guitar and voice – also includes quite a bit of more contemporary and folk-based material. But even the most contemporary material here feels like it is right in the tradition.

Of that contemporary, folk-based material, I was quite pleased to be reminded of several songs by old friends, a couple of which – the late Luke Baldwin’s “Seldom Seen Slim” and Scott Alarik’s “Road Be Kind – I don’t think I’ve heard in decades.

“Seldom Seen Slim,” taken from Luke’s only LP, The Tattoo On My Chest, is a vivid portrait of a hermitic old desert rat, while “Road Be Kind,” an early song of Scott’s, is a lovely tribute to all the friends along the road who are vital to touring musicians’ survival and sanity.

Another song written by an old friend is “The Goodnight-Loving Trail,” by the late Bruce “Utah” Phillips, a bittersweet ode to an “old woman,” a trail cowboy too old or banged up to sit on a horse who is now the company cook. There have been many great versions of “The Goodnight-Loving Trail” over the years but none that capture the song’s heartbreak in the guitar arrangement the way Andy’s does.

Some of my other favorites include a slow, beautiful version of “Ten and Nine,” often known as “The Jute Mill Song,” a song written by Mary Brooksbank, a former Scottish mill worker and labor organizer, about the lives of women mill workers; Andy’s own “Five and Ten Cent Blues,” a tongue twister set to a snappy ragtime guitar arrangement; and “Mysterious Mose,” a great little ditty written for a Betty Boop cartoon from 1930. (Check it out on YouTube.)

There are also several fine instrumentals including a lovely, album-ending version of “Blackbird,” perhaps the prettiest melody John Lennon and Paul McCartney ever wrote for the Beatles.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 14 for 2014

Here are my picks for the Top 14 folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of 2014 (including reissues). As in past years, I started with the list of more than 400 albums that landed on my desk over the past year and narrowed it down to a short list of about 30. I’ve been over the short list a bunch of times and came up with several similar – not identical – Top 14 lists. As I’m about to take a break from blogging until January, today’s 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.

1. Jesse Winchester – A Reasonable Amount of Trouble (Appleseed). My late friend Jesse Winchester wrote most of these songs in the wake of his first bout with cancer and finished recording the album just a few weeks before he passed away after the cancer returned. As I noted in the Montreal Gazette, there is a sense of mortality to many of the songs and the “album ends with ‘Just So Much,’ a beautiful and deeply affecting reflection on faith in God, on love, and on coming to terms with approaching death. A sad but perfect finale to a brilliant songwriting career.”

Click here for my full-length review of A Reasonable Amount of Trouble.

2. Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete (Columbia/Legacy). The most mythologized bootleg recordings of all time are finally released in their (more or less) complete form in a beautifully packaged 6-CD set. Old folk, country, blues and rock ‘n’ roll songs, covers of songs written by contemporary peers like Ian Tyson, Utah Phillips and Johnny Cash, lead into early versions of many Dylan classics and obscurities. As I noted, it is “endlessly fascinating” and “a great addition to the old weird Americana that is so much a part of what folk music is.”

Click here for my full-length review of The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.

3. Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems (Columbia). As I noted, “it occurs to me as I’ve listened and re-listened to the songs on Popular Problems that it is Leonard the poet as much as Leonard the songwriter that we’re listening to. Many of them are sung in a way that suggests recitation as much as singing and some of them have musical accompaniments that bolster the singing/recitation with pulse or heartbeat rather than melody… Popular Problems is yet another compelling masterwork. These are songs I fully expect will continue to reveal more layers of meaning with every hearing.”

Click here for my full length review of Popular Problems.

4. Dave Van Ronk – Live in Monterey (Omnivore). The late, great Dave Van Ronk was at the peak of his form when this unreleased-until-this-year set was recorded in 1998. The set list includes many songs from the standard Dave Van Ronk canon but ends with a beautiful version of Ian Tyson’s classic “Four Strong Winds.” Dave recorded “Four Strong Winds” on To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places, but I don’t recall ever hearing him do it live.

Click here for my full-length review of Live in Monterey.

5. Tom Russell – Midway to Bayamon (Frontera). A collection of rarities recorded between 1982 and 1992, most of them are from a pair of cassette-only releases from 1985 and 1987, as well as several demos, 45s and unreleased live cuts. An essential set by the artist I regard as the finest songwriter of my generation.

Also noteworthy are two other Tom Russell compilations released this year: Tonight We Ride: The Tom Russell Cowboy Anthology (Frontera) and The Western Years (RockBeat).

Click here for my full-length reviews of Midway to Bayamon, Tonight We Ride and The Western Years.

6. Eric Bibb – Blues People (Stony Plain). “As I’ve said before, Eric Bibb is one of the most inspired and inspiring of contemporary blues (and folk) artists. Blues People is yet another offering from the prolific singer, guitarist and songwriter that reinforces that opinion… There is a concept to Blues People as its songs – 11 of which were written or co-written by Eric while four were drawn from other sources – capture snippets of the lives of musicians who have played blues over the past century or so and place them in the context of the times and changing times in which they’ve lived.”

Click here for my full-length review of Blues People.

7. Garnet Rogers – Summer’s End (Snow Goose Songs). “Seven years on from his last album, and after years of thinking he was done with recording, Garnet Rogers has released Summer’s End, a collection of beautiful heartrending songs about memory, grief, hope and love… A quietly subdued tour de force.”

Click here for my full-length review of Summer’s End.

8. Catherine Russell – Bring It Back (Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi). Another in a series of great albums by my favorite present-day jazz singer. Catherine Russell fully understands the roots of early jazz and classic blues while bringing a contemporary sensibility and swing to her performances. On Bring It Back, Cat draws on such sources as Duke Ellington, Ida Cox, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday and her father, Luis Russell.

9. Various Artists – Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie (Compass).

Jean Ritchie, who turned 92 today (December 8), is one of the great links between traditional Appalachian folksongs and contemporary folk-rooted songwriting. “On the two CDs of Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie, a remarkable group of artists – some very famous, some relatively unknown – pay tribute to Jean’s legacy with loving, joyous performances of 37 songs, many of them Jean’s own songs, others traditional folk songs from her repertoire.”

Click here for my full-length review of Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie.

10. Chris Smither – Still on the Levee: A 50 Year Retrospective (Signature Sounds). Chris Smither “is one of those musicians who has continued to mature and become more compelling with time and on Still on the Levee, a superb 2-CD set, he returned to [his hometown of] New Orleans to re-imagine and reinterpret 24 songs” he’s written over the course of his 50-year career.

Click here for my full-length review of Still on the Levee: A 50 Year Retrospective.

11. John Gorka – Bright Side of Down (Red House). John Gorka writes and sings beautifully crafted songs that capture the lives, feelings and turning seasons of real, believable people. Along with 11 of his own songs on Bright Side of Down, John also includes a lovely version of the late Bill Morrissey’s “She’s That Kind of Mystery.”

12. Anne Hills – Tracks (Hand & Heart Music). “On the appropriately named Tracks, Anne Hills turns her beautiful voice and highly skilled songwriter’s pen to songs about trains and people whose lives are affected by them. Like almost all of Anne’s solo albums and her many collaborative efforts, Tracks – with nine of Anne’s songs and four well-chosen covers – is filled with gorgeous singing and seemingly simple yet elegantly perfect acoustic arrangements.”

Click here for my full-length review of Tracks.

13. Shari Ulrich – Everywhere I Go (Borealis). A lovely and lovingly-produced collection of songs that deal perceptively with themes of nature, love, loss, and life’s choices. Having heard just about all of Shari Ulrich’s group and solo work dating back to the ‘70s, I think Everywhere I Go represents her best work yet.

14. Notre Dame de Grass – That’s How the Music Begins (Notre Dame de Grass). With That’s How the Music Begins, Notre Dame de Grass, the finest pure-bluegrass band to ever come out of Montreal, offers “a textbook example of everything a traditional bluegrass fan would want in an album. There’s some excellent original material, some traditional standards, some outstanding instrumentals, and some gospel, all played and sung within the standard bluegrass instrumentation and vocal styles defined by Bill Monroe and other first-generation bluegrassers like the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs.”

Click here for my full-length review of That’s How the Music Begins.

Find me on Twitter.twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif