Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 4, 2025: Remembering Jane McGarrigle and Garth Hudson

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/595/68828.html

Themes: Remembering Jane McGarrigle (1941-2025) and Garth Hudson (1937-2025).

Remembering Jane McGarrigle

Jane McGarrigle, the older sister and frequent collaborator of Kate & Anna McGarrigle, died on January 24 at age 83. Jane was an old friend that I’d known since I started producing concerts with Kate & Anna in 1974.

The next four songs are among Kate & Anna’s recordings that Jane sang and/or played on.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Heart Like a Wheel

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Blanche Comme La Neige

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Perrine Etait Servante

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Move Over Moon

Love Over and Over (Polygram)

Jane McGarrigle sang the lead vocal on “Bon Voyage.”

Jane, Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Bon Voyage

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

“Love Is” was co-written by Kate, Anna & Jane McGarrigle.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Love Is

Heartbeats Accelerating (Private)

The What Four included Jack Nissenson & Peter Weldon of the original Mountain City Four with Jane McGarrigle, Kathleen Weldon, Lily Lanken, John Knowles, Marvin Segal, Andrew Cowan & Stephen Barry.

The What Four- Shenandoah

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Remembering Garth Hudson

Garth Hudson – who died on January 21 at age 87 – was the last surviving original member of The Band. Garth played organ, accordion, electric keyboards and saxophone with The Band and was their principal arranger.

After Garth died, Bob Dylan released a statement that said Garth Hudson “was a beautiful guy and the real driving force behind The Band. Just listen to the original recording of ‘The Weight’ and you’ll see.”

The Band- The Weight

Music from Big Pink (Capitol)

The Band- Stage Fright

Stage Fright (Capitol)

The Band- Acadian Driftwood

Northern Lights-Southern Cross (Capitol)

Chantel Kreviazuk with Garth Hudson- Tears of Rage

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Bruce Cockburn & Blue Rodeo with Garth Hudson- Sleeping

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Great Big Sea with Garth Hudson- Knockin’ Lost John

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle with Garth Hudson- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Garth Hudson also played on many albums as a session musician. The next four songs are some examples.

Leonard Cohen- Our Lady of Solitude

Recent Songs (Columbia)

Eric Andersen- Violets of Dawn

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Karla Bonoff- The Water is Wide

All My Life: The Best of Karla Bonoff (Columbia/Legacy)

Colin Linden with Rick Danko & Garth Hudson- When the Spirit Comes

When the Spirit Comes (True North)

Garth & Maud Hudson- No Depression in Heaven

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited (Shout! Factory)

Next week: Four Strong Winds.

--Mike Regenstreif 

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday September 27, 2022: Songs of The Mountain City Four and Kate & Anna McGarrigle

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 prerecorded and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/57707.html

Theme: Songs of The Mountain City Four and Kate & Anna McGarrigle.

The Mountain City Four was a folk group in Montreal in the 1960s that included Anna McGarrigle, the late Kate McGarrigle, the late Jack Nissenson, and Peter Weldon. The Mountain City Four never released an album back in the day but there is a selection of live and home recordings and Peter Weldon has assembled them on a CD – just called Mountain City Four – that will be released on September 23.

Mountain City Four- Motherless Children

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore

Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Chaim Tannenbaum- (Talk to Me of) Mendocino

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Katie Moore- Heart Like a Wheel

Montebello (Katie Moore)

Mountain City Four- Blue Moon of Kentucky

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Kiss and Say Goodbye

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Robert Resnik- Come a Long Way

Playing Favorites (Thunder Ridge)

Maria Muldaur- Cool River

Waitress in a Donut Shop (Reprise)

Mountain City Four- En Filant Ma Quenouile

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

The Mountain City Four in 1964: Kate McGarrigle, Jack Nissenson, Anna McGarrigle and Peter Weldon (Photo: Brian Merrett, Merrett Images)

Mountain City Four- You’ve Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- My Town

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Linda Thompson & Richard Thompson- Go Leave

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Kevin Roth- Complainte pour Ste-Catherine

Dulcimer Man (Folkways)

Mountain City Four- Reuben Ranzo

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Matapedia

Matapedia (Hannibal)

Martha Wainwright- Tell My Sister

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Rufus Wainwright- Walking Song

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Mountain City Four- This Train

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Mike Regenstreif, Peter Weldon (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Goin’ Back to Harlan

Matapedia (Hannibal)

Linda Ronstadt- You Tell Me That I’m Falling Down

Prisoner in Disguise (Asylum)

Judy Collins- Sun Son

Times of Our Lives (Elektra)

Mountain City Four- V’Là L’Bon Vent

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle with Joe Boyd- Dancer with Bruised Knees

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Kate McGarrigle, Martha Wainwright & Lily Lanken with Anna McGarrigle, Rufus & Loudon Wainwright, Chaim Tannenbaum, Dane & Sylvan Lanken- Johnny’s Gone to Hilo

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Jack Nissenson & Peter Weldon with Kathleen Weldon & Lily Lanken, Jane McGarrigle, John Knowles, Marvin Segal, Andrew Cowan & Stephen Barry- Shenendoah

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Next week: A Week’s Worth of Songs.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Jack Nissenson 1933-2015

The Mountain City Four in 1964: Kate McGarrigle, Jack Nissenson, Anna McGarrigle and Peter Weldon (Photo: Brian Merrett, Merrett Images)

I was saddened to hear that traditional folksinger and storyteller Jack Nissenson passed away this week in Montreal at age 82.

Jack started performing traditional folksongs in Montreal in the 1950s and was a member of an early-‘60s folk group called the Pharisees.

Circa 1964, Jack and Peter Weldon, also a member of the Pharisees, met teenaged sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle and formed the Mountain City Four, the most legendary of 1960s folk groups in Montreal.

After the Mountain City Four, Jack performed as a soloist and in several other groups – most recently the What Four, which also included Peter Weldon and Jane McGarrigle. He was also active in storytelling circles.

On July 2, 1962, when the still relatively unknown Bob Dylan performed at Shimon Ash’s Finjan coffeehouse on Victoria Avenue in Montreal, Jack recorded the set and, years later, the tape became one of the best Dylan bootleg albums.

Jack was one of my early mentors on the Montreal folk scene. I learned much from him in the late-1960s and ‘70s. Although I didn’t see him often in recent years, I continued to enjoy his friendship whenever our paths crossed.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Kate McGarrigle tribute at Luminato Festival

This Friday evening, June 15, I’ll be in Toronto to attend Love Over and Over – The Songsof Kate McGarrigle, the Luminato Festival’s tribute to my late friend Kate McGarrigle at Massey Hall.

The concert is a fundraiser for the Kate McGarrigle Fund which supports research into sarcoma, the form of cancer which claimed Kate’s life in 2010.

The concert is being curated by Joe Boyd, who produced the first two Kate & Anna McGarrigle albums in the 1970s and The McGarrigle Hour album in 1998, and will include performances of Kate’s songs by such family members as Anna and Jane McGarrigle; Rufus and Martha Wainwright; Dane, Sylvan and Lily Lanken; longtime friends and musical associates like Chaim Tannenbaum and Joel Zifkin; and a wide array of artists including, among others, Emmylou Harris, Peggy Seeger, Bruce Cockburn, Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry and Robert Charlebois.

I'm sure it will be a fabulous, poignant evening filled with great songs, laughter and tears.

My friendship with Kate dates back to the early-1970s. I worked extensively with Kate and Anna from 1974 to 1980, producing concerts in Montreal and as an agent arranging concerts at such venues as the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) Convocation Hall (Toronto) and Carnegie Hall (New York). Later on, I wrote about Kate and Anna often for such publications as the Montreal Gazette, the National Post and a major cover feature in Sing Out! magazine. As well, Kate and Anna were my frequent guests on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio program.

My remembrance of Kate written just after she passed away is at this link.

Since then, I’ve also written reviews of Oddities, a collection of Kate and Anna’s previously unreleased tracks at this link, and Tell My Sister, the 3-CD collection which includes re-mastered versions of the first two albums – Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Dancer with Bruised Knees – as well as an absolutely essential collection of early solo and duo demos at this link.

--Mike Regenstreif

Festival Folk sur le canal June 19-20

Festival Folk sur le canal is back for year number three on the St. Ambroise Terrace, on the Lachine Canal, behind the McCauslin Brewery at 5080 St. Ambroise Street. For the first time, it’ll be a two-day fest on Saturday and Sunday June 19 and 20.

The festival has an impressive line-up this year that includes some of the best and most interesting artists from the Montreal roots scene including Lake of Stew, Katie Moore, Notre Dame de Grass, the Kitchen Shakers, Dave Gossage, and the What 4, a group that includes Jane McGarrigle.

Among the out-of-towners I’m looking forward to hearing are Old Man Luedecke, Jenny Whiteley, Kathleen Edwards, Jon Brooks and Anaïs Mitchell (who was part of a songwriters’ workshop I hosted a few years ago at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival in Vermont).

And like any good festival, there are some performers – including Peter Katz and Craig Cardiff – who are new to me that I’m looking forward to hearing for the first time.

I’m very happy to see that this year’s edition of the festival will include several workshop sessions. Coming from the Mariposa of the ‘70s generation, I’ve always felt that workshops are the heart and soul of folk festivals. They’re also promising some great music and other activities for kids.

And I’ll be back for my third year as one of the MCs. Look for me from mid-late Sunday afternoon.

The festival has grown nicely over its three years. Congratulations to Matt Large and Rebecca Anderson of Hello Darlin’ Productions and Carl Comeau of Hyperbole Music for for a great job of putting it together and making it happen.

Lots more info at montrealfolkfest.com.

--Mike Regenstreif