Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday May 3, 2022: Songs of – or inspired by – Jesse Winchester (1944-2014)

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoons 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 prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/56097.html

Theme: Songs of – or inspired by – Jesse Winchester  (1944-2014)

Jesse Winchester- Nothing but a Breeze
Nothing but a Breeze (Stony Plain)

Bob Stark describes “I Can’t Be Sure” as a fictional sequel to Jesse Winchester’s “Yankee Lady.”

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady
Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)
Bob Stark- I Can’t Be Sure
Sculpted Pieces of Love (Bob Stark)
Lisa Moscatiello- Biloxi
Second Avenue (Machine Heart)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Emmylou Harris- Skip Rope Song
The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)
Rick Fines- That’s What Makes You Strong
Solar Powered Too (Rick Fines)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- It’s a Shame About Him
Love Filling Station (Appleseed)

Myles Goodwyn- Isn’t That So
And Friends of the Blues (Linus)
Bailey Bigger- Mississippi You’re On My Mind
Coyote Red (Madjack)
William Bell- All of Your Stories
This is Where I Live (Stax) 

Jesse Winchester & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Mimi Fariña with Lowell Levinger- Defying Gravity
Live in Germany: To Benefit Bread & Roses (Dogfish Music)
Jesse Winchester- Black Dog
Seems Like Only Yesterday – Live in Montreal 1976 (Real Gone Music)

Steve Lundquist’s “Tennessee Kid” was inspired by Jesse Winchester. The title is a reference to a line in Jesse’s “Brand New Tennessee Waltz.”

Steve Lundquist- Tennessee Kid
My Life in Song (Steve Lundquist)
Ralph Stanley & Del McCoury- Brand New Tennessee Waltz
Man of Constant Sorrow (Cracker Barrel)
Christine Albert- L’air de la Louisiane
Paris, Texafrance (MoonHouse)
Susie Burke & David Surette- I Turn to My Guitar
Waiting for the Sun (Madrina Music)
Jesse Winchester- Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding
Love Filling Station (Appleseed)

Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers- My Songbird
Ramble in Music City: The Lost Concert 1990 (Nonesuch)
Chris Smither- Thanks to You
Small Revelations (HighTone)
Lucy Kaplansky- Everybody Knows but Me
The Tide (Red House)
Jesse Winchester- Blow On, Chilly Wind
Let the Rough Side Drag (Stony Plain)
Steve Lundquist & Mike Fjerstad- I Wave Bye Bye
Unreleased recording – used with permission

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- Just So Much
A Reasonable Amount of Trouble (Appleseed)

Next week: Rooty Toot Toot for the Moon.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday April 27, 2021

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoons 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 – Episode #12 – was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/51764.html

 

Theme: April in Paris

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong- April in Paris
Ella and Louis (Verve)
Christine Albert- Mademoiselle de Paris
TexaFrance-Encore! (MoonHouse)
Don Armstrong- Going to Paris
Mother Don’t Give Up on Me Now (Ronstadt Record Co.)

Ronney Abramson- Jukebox of Paris
Jukebox of Paris (Castor Island Music)
Martha Wainwright- Le Métro de Paris
San Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright’s Piaf Record (MapleMusic)
Kat Goldman- Letter from Paris
Gypsy Girl (Kat Goldman)
Melody Gardot- From Paris with Love
Sunset in the Blue: Deluxe Edition (Decca)

Buffy Sainte-Marie- Guess Who I Saw in Paris
Illuminations (Vanguard)
Nicki Parrott- The Last Time I Saw Paris
The Last Time I Saw Paris (Venus)
Joni Mitchell- Free Man in Paris
Court and Spark (Elektra)
Gordon Fleming- Parisian Thoroughfare
According to Gordie (Just a Memory)
Andrew Calhoun- A Hoosier in Paris
Shadow of a Wing (Waterbug)

Eric Andersen- Trouble in Paris
The Essential Eric Andersen (Real Gone Music)
Nikki Matheson- It’s Still Raining in Paris
Invisible Angel (Nikki Matheson)
Claribol Stompers- Swing de Paris
Swingattic (Claribol)
Jacques Labrecque- À Paris, sur le petit pont
Folk Songs of France and French Canada (Folkways)

Mike Regenstreif & Erik Frandsen (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Lenka Lichtenberg with Fray- Pigeons in Paris
Embrace (Sunflower)
The Hot Sardines- I Love Paris
Live at Joe’s Pub (The Hot Sardines)
Erik Frandsen- Another Song About Paris
The Greenwich Village Folk Festival 1989-1990 (Gadfly)
Erroll Garner- Paris Bounce
Paris Impressions (Columbia)

Marianne Faithfull- No Moon in Paris
Negative Capability (BMG)
Jacques Brel- Les Prénoms de Paris
The Very Best of Jacques Brel (Select)
The Swing Commanders- Bye Bye Paris
Steelin’ Back (North Western)

Duke Ellington- Paris Blues
Midnight in Paris (Columbia)

Next week – The Second Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday May 27, 2017

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 http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/32500.html.

Extended feature – Songs of Bruce “Utah” Phillips

This program was dedicated to the memory of the late Jimmy LaFave (1955-2017). I wrote about Jimmy’s passing on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog.

Chuck McDermott- Belvedere

Gin & Rosewater (Amber Gate)

Mike Regenstreif & Jimmy LaFave (2017)

Jimmy LaFave- One Too Many Mornings

Trail (Bohemia Beat)

Gretchen Peters w/Tom Russell- Guadalupe

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

Jimmy LaFave- On a Bus to St. Cloud

Favorites 1992-2001 (Music Road)

Christine Albert- Keep Me in Your Heart

Everything’s Beautiful Now (MoonHouse)

Jimmy LaFave- Buffalo Return to the Plains

Favorites 1992-2001 (Music Road)

Andrew Calhoun & Campground featuring Casey Calhoun- Turkle Dove

Bound to Go (Waterbug)

Eric Bibb- Mornin’ Train

Migration Blues (Stony Plain)

Happy Traum- Things are Coming My Way

Just for the Love of It (Lark’s Nest Music)

Bessie Jones & the Georgia Sea Island Singers- Sheep Sheep Don’t You Know the Road

Get In Union: Recordings By Alan Lomax 1959-1966 (Tompkins Square)

Jayme Stone, Moira Smiley, Sumaia Jackson, Joe Phillips, Felicity Williams & Nick Fraser- There is More Love Somewhere

Jayme Stone’s Folklife (Borealis)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- The Hill

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Moore & McGregor- Dancing Shoes

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Tom Russell- The Night the Chinese Restaurant Burned Down

Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)

Doug McArthur- Stumble from Vesuvio

Tears Like Rain (Doug McArthur)

Lynne Hanson- Stronger

Uneven Ground (Song Shop)

Lynn Miles- Black Flowers

Black Flowers Volume 1-2 (True North)

Magpie, Dan Schatz, Emma's Revolution- Singing Through the Hard Times

Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Utah Phillips (Righteous Babe)

Fred Holstein- The Telling Takes Me Home

Fred Holstein: A Collection (Fred Holstein)

Finest Kind- The Goodnight-Loving Trail

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard- The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia

Hazel & Alice (Rounder)

Utah Phillips- She’ll Never Be Mine

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Utah Phillips & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Rosalie Sorrels- Rock Me to Sleep

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen- Going Away

Live in Concert (Compass Rose)

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- Walking Through Your Town in the Snow

Heart Songs: The Old Time Country Songs of Utah Phillips (Rounder)

Finest Kind- The Faded Roses of December

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

Priscilla Herdman & Utah Phillips- I Remember Loving You

Darkness into Light (Flying Fish)

John McCutcheon- All Used Up

Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Utah Phillips (Righteous Babe)

Mark Ross- Look for Me in Butte

Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Utah Phillips (Righteous Babe)

Kate MacLeod- Nevada Jane

Long Gone: Utah Remembers Bruce “Utah” Phillips (Waterbug)

Bruce Brackney- Hood River, Roll On

Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Utah Phillips (Righteous Babe)

Utah Phillips- Eddy’s Song

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Michael Earnie Taylor Orchestra- Rock Salt and Nails

$3 Pants (Laughing Cactus Music)

Penny Lang- If I Could be the Rain

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Brent Bradford- I Think of You

Long Gone: Utah Remembers Bruce “Utah” Phillips (Waterbug)

Rosalie Sorrels- Ashes on the Sea

Strangers in Another Country: The Songs of Bruce “Utah” Phillips (Red House)

Utah Phillips- Wabash Cannonball/Tolono

Good Though! (Philo)

Durham County Poets- The Outside Cat

Grimshaw Road (Durham County Poets)

The Vaudvillian- James St. Turnaround

Bringing Satan Down (Busted Flat)

Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley- Travelin’ Blues

Morning Sun (Electro-Fi)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Gateway Blues (Blues for Bessie)

Get to the Heart (Ripple)

The Eisenhauers- Rather Have You Around

The Road We Once Knew (Black Hen)

Sam Gleaves & Tyler Hughes- I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew

Sam Gleaves & Tyler Hughes (Community Music)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on June 24.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Jimmy LaFave 1955-2017

Jimmy LaFave

I was deeply saddened today when I received word that Jimmy LaFave passed away peacefully yesterday – May 21 – from spindle cell sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissues, at the age of 61.

Jimmy was a beloved figure in the folk and roots music community. Respected by his peers and audiences as a major contemporary songwriter, and as a song interpreter with a unique gift of communicating all of the meaning and subtext within a song. Jimmy, perhaps more than anyone I can think of, had a brilliant understanding of where folk music, rock ‘n’ roll, blues, country, jazz and popular song all met seamlessly and authentically. He was a leader and mentor to many in his hometown music community in Austin, Texas and a touring and recording artist who made many friends wherever he went. I know, I was one of them.

I started playing Jimmy’s music on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio show in Montreal in 1995 and I’m not sure when I first met him. It was probably at a Folk Alliance conference or festival around that time or, perhaps, when he started coming to Montreal to play club concerts produced by Billy Bob Productions. We bonded quickly over a shared love for the songs of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. Jimmy was one of the greatest interpreters of both Dylan and Guthrie.

Jimmy’s shows in Montreal in the late-1990s and early-2000s were great, whether he was fronting a full rock ‘n’ roll band or a smaller acoustic trio, and I so enjoyed having him as a guest on my radio show in 2000 during one of his trips to Montreal.

Mike Regenstreif, Nora Guthrie, Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy LaFave

Jimmy was at the forefront of “Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway,” a touring ensemble with a rotating cast of artists who did a very special tribute to Woody Guthrie. They brought the show to the Ottawa Folk Festival in 2007 and it was a great honor for me to moderate a panel discussion at the festival on the enduring legacy and influence of Woody Guthrie with Jimmy, fellow artist Kris Kristofferson, and Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter and the force of nature behind so many incredible Woody Guthrie projects. It was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done at a folk festival.

Finale of the Woody Guthrie tribute at the Kansas City Folk Festival

The last couple of times I saw Jimmy were at Folk Alliance International conferences – in Toronto in 2013 and just three months ago in February in Kansas City. It was always a treat to see him and get caught up.  

I saw Jimmy perform twice in Kansas City. The first was an official showcase of his own music during the conference. Although Jimmy was well into his battle with terminal cancer his performance was fabulous. The next day, at the Kansas City Folk Festival, Jimmy led an absolutely wonderful tribute to Woody Guthrie.

Mike Regenstreif and Jimmy LaFave

When we chatted in Kansas City, he was smiling and looked happy when our photo was taken.

Some of Jimmy’s friends, led by Val Denn, Jimmy’s long-time agent, Eliza Gilkyson and Christine Albert organized a concert – “Jimmy LaFave’s Songwriter Rendezvous” – which took place in Austin last Thursday night. It was Jimmy, himself, who chose the artists and requested the songs they performed. Eliza arranged for the concert to be streamed on Facebook and it was one of the most emotional nights of music I’ve ever witnessed – even though I was watching it from 1900 miles away over the Internet. The concert was a beautiful testimony to what Jimmy meant to so many people.

Christine Albert helps hold the mic for Jimmy LaFave

Jimmy came out on stage – in a wheel chair and connected to an oxygen tank – to lead the final song, “Goodnight Irene,” and address the audience. It had been just three months since I stood at Jimmy’s side and to see the difference in him, wrought by the cancer, was heartbreaking. But to feel the love coming from Jimmy was inspirational. Just three days later he passed away.

Jimmy LaFave will not be forgotten.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif