Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 14, 2025: Remembering Peter Yarrow

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/595/68573.html

Theme: Remembering Peter Yarrow (1938-2025).

The theme on this edition of Stranger Songs is Remembering Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary. Peter died on January 7 at age 86 following a four-year battle with bladder cancer.

This program includes songs performed by Peter and Peter, Paul & Mary, as well as some songs from his or their repertoire performed by several other artists.

Peter Yarrow- Don’t Ever Take Away My Freedom

Peter (Warner Bros.)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Puff (The Magic Dragon)

Moving (Warner Bros.)

Dave Van Ronk- River Come Down (Bamboo)

Down in Washington Square (Smithsonian Folkways)

Priscilla Herdman- Autumn to May

Stardreamer (Stardreamer Music)

Kronos Quartet with Sam Amidon, Brian Carpenter, Lee Knight & Aoife O'Donovan- Where Have All the Flowers Gone

Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet & Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bethany Yarrow with Peter Yarrow- The Cruel War

Rock Island (Little Monster)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Blowin’ in the Wind

In the Wind (Warner Bros.)

Peter Yarrow & Richie Havens- The Great Mandala (The Wheel of Life)

Lifelines Live (Warner Bros.)

Cliff Eberhardt- 500 Miles

500 Miles (Red House)

Grayson Capps- Early Morning Rain

Heartbreak, Misery & Death (Royal Potato Family)

Penny Lang- If I Had a Hammer

Live at the Yellow Door (She-Wolf)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Rich Man Poor Man

Late Again (Warner Bros.)

Tom Paxton- The Last Thing On My Mind

The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) (Rhino Handmade)

Peter Yarrow- Tall Pine Trees

Peter (Warner Bros.)

Stan Rogers- Delivery Delayed

Between the Breaks…Live! (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Day is Done

The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Noel Paul Stookey & Peter Yarrow with The Paul Winter Consort- Et Misericordia

Something New and Fresh (Neworld)

Peter Yarrow- Freedom Medley: Woke Up This Morning with My Mind on Freedom/Oh Freedom/This Train is Bound for Glory/Twelve Gates to the City/Down by the Riverside/We Shall Overcome

Lifelines Live (Warner Bros.)

Peter Yarrow- Weave Me the Sunshine

Peter (Warner Bros.)

Peter, Paul & Mary with Tom Paxton, Fred Hellerman, Ronnie Gilbert, Odetta, Richie Havens, Dave Van Ronk, Susan Werner, Buddy Mondlock & John Sebastian- River of Jordan

Lifelines Live (Warner Bros.)

Next week: Blood on the Tracks Revisited.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday December 6, 2022: Songs of Eric Andersen

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/595/58558.html

Theme: Songs of Eric Andersen

Eric Andersen, who will turn 80 on February 14, and who is still actively performing and writing, has been a significant singer-songwriter since he started on the folk scene in the early-1960s. I’ve known Eric for about 40 years – the first time he played at the Golem, the folk club I was then running in Montreal, was on February 12, 1983.

Eric Andersen & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Eric Andersen- Thirsty Boots

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Pete Seeger- My Land is a Good Land

God Bless the Grass (Columbia/Legacy)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Rolling Home

Album 1700 (Warner Bros.)

Eric Andersen- I Shall Go Unbounded

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Violets of Dawn

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music) or The Village: A Celebration of Greenwich Village (429)

The Kennedys- Waves of Freedom

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Cliff Eberhardt- Dusty Box Car Wall

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Dom Flemons- Song to J.C.B.

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Happy Traum- Mary, I’m Coming Back Home

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music) or There’s a Bright Side Somewhere (Lark’s Nest Music)

Denice Franke- Baby, I’m Lonesome

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Eric Andersen- Sign of a Desperate Man

Eric Andersen (Warner Bros.)

Alice Howe- Is It Really Love at All

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

David Buskin & Robin Batteau- Wind and Sand

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Linda Ronstadt- (I Ain’t Always Been) Faithful

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music) or Linda Ronstadt (Capitol)

Jim Wurster- Sheila

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Amy Helm- Blue River

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Lucy Kaplansky- Eyes of the Immigrant

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Eric Andersen- Rain Falls Down in Amsterdam

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Eric Andersen (2019)

Eric Andersen- Just a Country Dream

A Country Dream (Vanguard)

Next week: Joni Mitchell.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Get well, Ron Hynes!

My thoughts and best wishes are with good friend Ron Hynes as he battles cancer of the throat.

Ron has cancelled his concert schedule for the rest of 2012 while he undergoes treatment.

As I noted in my review of Sealing Genius, Ron’s most recent album, he is “without question, one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters – a writer whose genius can be found in decades worth of great songs.” I referred to Stealing Genius as the finest set of original songwriting released in Canada in 2010.

I’ve always enjoyed Ron’s company. The first time we worked together was in 2002 in a main stage workshop I hosted at the 2002 Ottawa Folk Festival called Short Stories That Rhyme which also included the late Bill Morrissey and Cliff Eberhardt. Five years later, Ron was one of my final studio guests on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio show in 2007.

Ron was in excellent form when we visited and I saw him perform at Irene’s Pub in Ottawa just five months ago. I know that I speak for all his friends and fans in wishing Ron a speedy recovery. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before he’s healthy and back on stage.

Pictured:

Ron Hynes performing; and Adrien Doucette, Ron Hynes and Mike Regenstreif at the 2007 Branches & Roots Festival in Ormstown, Quebec.

--Mike Regenstreif

Bill Morrissey 1951-2011

Bill Morrissey performing in 2010.

I woke up this morning to the very sad news that Bill Morrissey, one of the finest singer-songwriters of my generation (and a marvellous interpreter of Mississippi John Hurt songs), passed away yesterday.

I don’t know any details – apparently he was on a stopover in Georgia on his way north after some tour dates – but Bill has been in fragile health for a number of years. Bill did not look at all well when I last saw him in 2005 when he was in Montreal to perform for the Wintergreen Concert Series, but I’d heard he was recently feeling better; that he was overcoming alcoholism and depression, and Internet reports had him sounding good at recent concerts.

(Addendum, July 26, 2011: Autopsy results indicate Bill died from complications of heart disease.)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Morrissey in 2005.

I’ve been a great admirer of Bill’s music since the LP version of his first album, Bill Morrissey, came out in 1984 (he later re-recorded the album for the CD release). We first met at a folk festival around that time and I enjoyed talking with him whenever our paths crossed over the years. He was twice my guest on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio show and he was among the most-played artists over the run of the show. In 2002, I hosted a workshop called Short Stories That Rhyme with Bill, Ron Hynes and Cliff Eberhardt on the mainstage of the Ottawa Folk Festival.

Bill was also a very fine novelist. I loved Edson, his first novel published in 1996, about a musician in a New Hampshire mill town (not unlike the town depicted in his classic song, “Small Town on the River”). He'd completed a second novel, Imaginary Runner, that has not yet been published.

Life in New Hampshire, where Bill spent many years, was a theme that ran through many of his songs.

Bill’s novelist’s skills as a storyteller were reflected both in his songs and in the engaging way he talked on stage between songs.

Bill leaves behind a substantial body of superb work. While many of Bill’s songs were sad and serious, he also wrote some that were very funny and, today, I want to think that he’s somehow experiencing the heaven he once wrote about:

“And me, I couldn’t be happier

The service here is fine

They’ve got dinner ready at half-past nine

And I’m going steady with Patsy Cline

And just last night in a bar room

I bought Robert Johnson a beer

Yeah, I know, everybody’s always surprised to find him here

It’s a great life in heaven

It’s better than the Bible said

It’s a great life here in heaven

It’s a great life when you’re dead.”  --Bill Morrissey, “Letter from Heaven”

--Mike Regenstreif