Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday September 26, 2023: Remembering Gram Parsons (1946-1973)

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/595/62049.html

Theme: Remembering Gram Parsons (1946-1973).

Gram Parsons, one of the most influential musicians in the development of country rock, flamed out and died of an overdose of alcohol and morphine, 50 years ago this past week, on September 19, 1973. He was only 26 years old.

International Submarine Band- Luxury Liner

Safe at Home (LHI)

The Byrds- Hickory Wind

Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Columbia)

Christian Parker- One Hundred Years from Now

Sweethearts: A Tribute to The Byrds ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ (Subcat)

The Byrds- You’re Still On My Mind

Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Columbia)

Christian Parker- Drug Store Truck Driving Man

Sweethearts: A Tribute to The Byrds ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ (Subcat)

The Flying Burrito Brothers- Christine’s Tune (Devil in Disguise)

The Gilded Palace of Sin (A&M)

The Good Lovelies- Juanita

Live at Revolution (Six Shooter)

The Refugees- Sin City

California (Wahubo/Longhouse)

Gene Clark & Carla Olson- I’m Your Toy (Hot Burrito #1)

So Rebellious a Lover (Rhino)

Emmylou Harris- Hot Burrito #2

Evangaline (Reprise)

The Flying Burrito Brothers- Cody, Cody

Burrito Deluxe (A&M)

The Seldom Scene featuring Emmylou Harris- Wheels

15th Anniversary Celebration (Sugar Hill)

The Wailin' Jennys- Boulder to Birmingham

Fifteen (True North)

Gram Parsons- She

G.P. (Reprise)

Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield- $1000 Wedding

Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons (Almo Sounds)

Gram Parsons- Ooh Las Vegas

Grievous Angel (Reprise)

Barrence Whitfield & Tom Russell- Brass Buttons

Cowboy Mambo (Stony Plain)

Tom Russell- Joshua Tree

Road to Bayamon (Philo)

Gram Parsons- The New Soft Shoe

G.P. (Reprise)

Lucy Kaplansky- Return of the Grievous Angel

Flesh and Bone (Red House)

Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris- Love Hurts

Grievous Angel (Reprise)

Emmylou Harris- The Road

Hard Bargain (Nonesuch)

Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris- In My Hour of Darkness

Grievous Angel (Reprise)

Next week: Part 1 – Conversation and Songs with Alan Bern of The Semer Ensemble; Part 2 – “I’ll sing you this October Song.”

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday September 7, 2021: A Tribute to The Everly Brothers

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/595/53344.html

Theme: A Tribute to The Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers – Phil Everly, who died in 2014 at age 74, and Don Everly, who died on August 21st at age 84 – were a highly influential duo whose music encompassed rock ‘n’ roll, country and folk music. All the songs on this show were recorded, at one time or another, by The Everly Brothers.

The Everly Brothers- This Little Girl of Mine
Cadence Classics: Their 20 Greatest Hits (Rhino)

Madeleine Peyroux- Bye Bye Love
The Blue Room (Decca)
Simon & Garfunkel- Wake Up Little Susie
The Concert in Central Park (Warner Bros.)
Kate Brislin & Katy Moffatt- Sleepless Nights
Sleepless Nights (Rounder)
The Persuasions- All I Have to Do is Dream
Good News (Rounder)
The Everly Brothers- Sweet Dreams
Walk Right Back: The Everly Brothers on Warner Bros. 1960 to 1969 (Warner Archives)

Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris- Love Hurts
Grievous Angel (Reprise)
Linda Ronstadt- When Will I Be Loved
Heart Like a Wheel (Capitol)
The Everly Brothers- (‘Til) I Kissed You
Cadence Classics: Their 20 Greatest Hits (Rhino)

Andy Hedges- Roving Gambler
Cowboy Songster (Yellowhouse)
Ian & Sylvia- Down By the Willow Garden
Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)
Tim Grimm & Carrie Newcomer- Barbara Allen
Names (Wind River)
Billie Joe + Norah- Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?
Foreverly (Reprise)
The Everly Brothers- I’m Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail
Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (Rhino)

Nanci Griffith- Walk Right Back
Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (Elektra)
The Everly Brothers- On the Wings of a Nightingale
EB 84 (Mercury)

John Sebastian- Stories We Could Tell
Faithful Virtue: The Reprise Recordings (Rhino)
The Everly Brothers- The Brand New Tennessee Waltz
Stories We Could Tell (RCA)
Jesse Winchester- Bowling Green
Seem Like Only Yesterday: Live in Montreal 1976 (Real Gone Music)

Kate Brislin & Katy Moffatt- So Sad
Sleepless Nights (Rounder)
Roberta Flack- Let It Be Me
Chapter Two (Atlantic)
Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris- Brand New Heartache
Sleepless Nights (A&M)
Doc Watson- Bird Dog
Docabilly (Sugar Hill)
The Everly Brothers- I’m Movin’ On
Walk Right Back: The Everly Brothers on Warner Bros. 1960 to 1969 (Warner Archives)

The Everly Brothers- Asleep
EB 84 (Mercury)

Next week: Strange Songs and Stranger Songs

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday March 2, 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 #4 – was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/51049.html

 

Today’s theme: Tom Russell Tributes – Some of the songs Tom Russell has written – or, in a couple of cases, co-written – about other artists. Also, a song from each of the artists Tom was paying tribute to.

Gram Parsons- Return of the Grievous Angel
Grievous Angel (Reprise)
Tom Russell with Patricia Hardin- Joshua Tree
The Tom Russell Anthology: Veteran’s Day (Shout! Factory)

Bill Haley & The Comets- Rock Around the Clock
Bill Rocks (Bear Family)
Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men- Haley’s Comet
Out in California (HighTone)

Nina Simone- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
To Love Somebody (RCA)
Tom Russell & The Norwegian Wind Ensemble- Nina Simone
Aztec Jazz (Frontera)

Ian Tyson- Wolves No Longer Sing
Carnero Vaquero (Stony Plain)
Tom Russell- I’ll Never Leave These Old Horses                                                                                 Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2018)

Rosalie Sorrels- Travelin’ Lady
My Last Go Round (Red House)
Tom Russell- Pork Roast and Poetry
Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Bob Dylan- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (Columbia/Legacy)
Tom Russell- Mesabi
Mesabi (Shout! Factory)

Édith Piaf- La Vie en Rose
30e Anniversaire (EMI France)
Sylvia Tyson- Chocolate Cigarettes
Gypsy Cadillac (Silver City)

Dave Van Ronk- Another Time and Place
Down in Washington Square (Smithsonian Folkways)
Tom Russell- Van Ronk
Hotwalker (HighTone)

Jack Kerouac with Steve Allen- MacDougal Street Blues
The Kerouac Collection (Rhino)
Tom Russell- October in the Railroad Earth
October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)

Next week – Songs of Malvina Reynolds.

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Ottawa Folk Festival – Friday, September 6

Emmylou Harris, bassist Byron House & Rodney Crowell.

After missing the first two nights of the 2013 Ottawa Folk Festival (I was with family in Montreal for the Jewish New Year), I returned to Ottawa last night for a great night at the Tartan Homes Stage at the north end of Hog’s Back Park that was capped off by a fabulous 90-minute set by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell and their very hot Glory Band.

As I’ve been saying since 2011 when the Ottawa Folk Festival became part of the Bluesfest operation – truth be told, in taking over the folk festival, Bluesfest saved it from financial ruin – there were two very different festivals taking place last night on the grounds of Hog’s Back Park. There was a real folk festival at one end of the site – attended by a strong folk festival audience, the folks who turned out year after year at Britannia Park – and a big, very young audience at the south end of the site for a hip hop festival. Judging by all the university-age kids streaming into Hog’s Back Park and passing right by Emmylou and Rodney and by all of us folkies streaming out of the park to the sounds of hip hop headliner Kendrick Lamar who started just as Emmylou and Rodney finished, it was, with apologies to Rudyard Kipling, a night when folk was folk and hip hop was hip hop “and never the twain shall meet.”

I’ve seen Emmylou Harris in a bunch of different settings over the years but last night’s show took me back to my first Emmylou concert sometime in mid-1970s when Rodney Crowell, an excellent singer-songwriter in his own right, was playing rhythm guitar and singing harmony in her Hot Band – a group dedicated to moving down the musical road paved by Emmylou’s duet partner Gram Parsons in his all-too-brief career.

In fact, the set began with Emmylou singing harmony to Rodney’s lead on a couple of Parsons’ classics: “Return of the Grievous Angel,” on which Emmylou sang harmony on Parsons’ original recording, and “Wheels” from his Flying Burrito Brothers days. Later in the set they rocked out on Parsons’ “Luxury Liner,” a song from his early International Submarine Band which was the title track of one of Emmylou’s early albums.

So the spirit of Gram Parsons, who pioneered the blending of traditional country music with rock ‘n’ roll, was very much in evidence throughout the set. But, beyond the Parsons songs, there were so many other highlights.

Emmylou did a riveting version of Townes Van Zandt’s “Poncho and Lefty” and she and Rodney 

Emmylou Harris singing "Darling Kate"

combined for gorgeous duets on Townes’ “If I Needed You,” Guy Clark’s “She Ain't Goin’ Nowhere” and Rodney’s sublime “Till I Gain Control Again.”

Others of Rodney’s originals that highlighted the show were the Cajun-inspired “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”; “Rock of My Soul,” a memoir about growing up in Houston with an alcoholic father; “I Ain’t Living Long Like This,” another number for the band to rock out on; and “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” inspired by the seminal ‘70s novel by Tom Robbins.

Although not primarily a songwriter, Emmylou also contributed a couple of excellent originals to the set: “Red Dirt Girl,” a memoir of growing up with a best friend in Alabama; and “Darling Kate,” an elegy for her (and my) late friend, Kate McGarrigle. She movingly performed “Darling Kate” solo without the band.

Emmylou and Rodney also performed several songs from Old Yellow Moon, their recent album of duets, including the sweet title track and a terrific version of Roger Miller’s classic country shuffle, “Invitation to the Blues.”

Beth Orton

Earlier in the evening there were fine sets by British singer-songwriter Beth Orton and Ottawa favourite Amanda Rheaume.

Unfortunately, Beth, who was accompanied on guitar, fiddle and harmony vocals on many of her songs by her husband, the American singer-songwriter Sam Amidon, had to contend with the highly distracting sound bleed from hip hop artist Shad playing at the other end of the park. To a solid round of applause, Beth spoke out critically about scheduling hip hop at the folk festival – particularly in a way that takes away from a much quieter “folk” performance.

But, Beth did rise above the distractions and turned in a set of melodic contemplative songs that won over the audience.

The evening began with a solid set by Amanda that included many of the songs from Keep a Fire, her

Amanda Rheaume

new album, which explores her family roots and history.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Rain Perry – Men

RAIN PERRY

Men

Precipitous Records

rainperry.com

The nicest things about writing music reviews mostly for my own blog – as opposed to for newspapers and magazines, which I did for decades and still do on rare occasions – is that I only have to write about music that I really care about and about albums and artists that whose praises I want to sing. I don’t have nearly enough time to write about all that I’d truly like to write about so I don’t spend any time writing about music and artists I’m not enthusiastic about.

I say that because Men by California singer-songwriter Rain Perry is not the kind of album I generally like. I generally don’t care for recordings where all of the tracks are layered on by one musician playing most of the parts, or where many of the instruments are synthesized. I much prefer the sound of real instruments, particularly acoustic instruments, being played by different musicians, preferably at the same time. And like every rule, there are occasional exceptions: Leonard Cohen’s albums like I’m Your Man that were built around keyboards and drum machines or some of Laurie Anderson’s work, for example.

Rain’s Men is another exception. Although there are other musicians and singers making an occasional cameo on some of the songs, most of the songs are just Rain’s vocals on top of layered arrangements with producer and occasional songwriting collaborator Mark Hallman playing all the instruments – usually five or six different instruments per song.

But, there’s something about the quality of the songwriting and the warmth of Rain’s singing, that makes Men a rewarding collection.

Among the highlights are “Get in the Car,” a breezy rock ‘n’ roll tune for mature adults that includes a great Gram Parsons reference, “One of Those Days,” a mostly acoustic country-folk tune done as a duet with Matt the Electrician, and “Runaway Train,” a terrific rockabilly tune about a man who can’t be tied down that features several guest musicians, including Andrew Hardin, one of my favorite guitar players.

But the most extraordinary piece is “Atlas,” a combination of spoken beat poetry and quietly hypnotic electronic music somewhat reminiscent of Laurie Anderson’s best work, in which Rain fantasizes about what happens to Atlas, and to the world, when the Titan of Greek mythology gives up on holding the world on his shoulders in modern times.

As well as eight of her own songs, Rain also includes a couple of covers including a terrific version of “Then Came Lo Mein,” Robert Earl Keen’s story of a nervous breakdown in a Chinese restaurant.

Listening, I soon forgot my prejudices about the way this album was produced, and managed to lose myself in Rain Perry’s fine singing, her equally fine songs, and even in Mark Hallman’s arrangements.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif