Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – October 22, 2024: Remembering Nick Gravenites, Kris Kristofferson, JD Souther, and Billy Edd Wheeler

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/595/67349.html

Theme: Remembering Nick Gravenites, Kris Kristofferson, JD Souther, and Billy Edd Wheeler – four important songwriters who passed away in September.

Songs of Billy Edd Wheeler (1932-2024)

Billy Edd Wheeler – who died on September 16 at age 91 – was a singer, songwriter and playwright from West Virginia whose songs were widely covered by folk, country, pop and rock artists. Long before the environmental movement began, Billy Edd Wheeler was writing songs about the terrible effects of coal mining on the land and on the lives of coal miners.

Judy Henske- High Flying Bird

The Elektra Albums: High Flying Bird (Ace)

Judy Collins- Red-Winged Blackbird

Judy Collins 3 & 4: The Judy Collins Concert (Wildflower)

Priscilla Herdman- The Coming of the Roads

Darkness into Light (Flying Fish)

Laurie MacAllister- Coal Tattoo

The Things I Choose to Do (Laurie MacAllister)

Billy Edd Wheeler- The Reverend Mr. Black

Wild Mountain Flowers (Flying Fish)

Songs of Nick Gravenites (1938-2024)

Nick Gravenites was a blues artist, songwriter and record producer who died on September 18 at age 85. He grew up in Chicago and met Paul Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield there when they were all students. 

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band- Born in Chicago

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (Elektra)

Nick Gravenites- My Labors

My Labors (Columbia)

Amos Garrett- Buried Alive in the Blues

Off the Floor Live! (Stony Plain)

Janis Joplin- Work Me, Lord

I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again, Mama (Columbia)

Nick Gravenites- Blues Singers

Rogue Blues (M.C.) 

Songs of JD Souther (1945-2024)

JD Souther – who died on September 17 at age 78 – was a singer, songwriter and actor, known for his own albums and for writing or co-writing songs for such artists as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and The Eagles.

JD Souther- The Sad Café

Natural History (Eone)

The Eagles- New Kid in Town

Hotel California (Asylum)

James Taylor with JD Souther- Her Town Too

Dad Loves His Work (Columbia)

Linda Ronstadt with JD Souther- Faithless Love

Heart Like a Wheel (Capitol)

JD Souther- Prisoner in Disguise

Natural History (Eone)

Songs of Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024)

Kris Kristofferson – who died on September 28 at age 88 – was a singer, a highly influential songwriter, and an actor. I knew Kris a little bit. In 2007, he participated in a panel discussion that I moderated on Woody Guthrie at the Ottawa Folk Festival, and, in 2017, we had a nice visit before Kris performed at the International Folk Music Awards ceremony in Kansas City when I was inducted into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame created by Folk Alliance International. The photo of Kris was taken that night.

Kris Kristofferson- To Beat the Devil

Me and Bobby McGee (Monument)

Johnny Cash- Just the Other Side of Nowhere

Cash Unearthed Volume 1: Who’s Gonna Cry (American)

Anne Hills- Here Comes That Rainbow Again

Woman of a Calm Heart (Flying Fish)

Gordon Lightfoot- Me and Bobby McGee

If You Could Read My Mind (Reprise)

Katie Moore- Sunday Morning Coming Down

Only Thing Worse (Borealis)

Kris Kristofferson- The Pilgrim: Chapter 33

The Silver Tongued Devil and I (Monument)

Next week: Skies and Stars (CKCU Funding Drive)

--Mike Regenstreif 

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday March 7, 2023: Songs of Kris Kristofferson

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/595/59628.html

Theme: Songs of Kris Kristofferson.

Kris Kristofferson performs at The International Folk Music Awards (2017)

Kris Kristofferson – who recently retired from performing and recording – had tremendous success as a singer and songwriter, and, as an actor. 

I met Kris a couple of times. In 2007, we spent an hour together onstage, and a few minutes chatting beforehand, when I moderated a panel discussion at the Ottawa Folk Festival on the enduring legacy of Woody Guthrie and Kris, along with Nora Guthrie and Jimmy LaFave, was one of the panelists. Then, in 2017, I was an award recipient at the International Folk Music Awards in Kansas City during the Folk Alliance International conference, and Kris was one of the artists who performed at the ceremony, and we had a nice chat at the reception. In both of my encounters with him, Kris couldn’t have been nicer or more humble.

Kris Kristofferson- To Beat the Devil

Me and Bobby McGee (Monument)

Gordon Lightfoot- Me and Bobby McGee

If You Could Read My Mind (Reprise)

Katie Moore- Sunday Morning Coming Down

Only Thing Worse (Borealis)

Johnny Cash- Just the Other Side of Nowhere

Cash Unearthed Volume 1: Who’s Gonna Cry (American)

The Little Willies- For the Good Times

For the Good Times (Milking Bull)

Kris Kristofferson- The Silver Tongued Devil and I

The Silver Tongued Devil and I (Monument)

I noted that Kris Kristofferson was a panelist in a discussion on the enduring influence of Woody Guthrie that I moderated at the Ottawa Folk Festival in 2007. At one point, we were talking about Woody Guthrie’s song, “Tom Joad,” which was essentially a synopsis of John Steinbeck’s book, The Grapes of Wrath, and I mentioned to Kris that one of the few parts of the book that Woody left out of his song was the scene that Kris described in his song, “Here Comes That Rainbow Again.”

Mike Regenstreif, Nora Guthrie, Kris Kristofferson & Jimmy LaFave (2007)

Anne Hills- Here Comes That Rainbow Again

Woman of a Calm Heart (Flying Fish)

Willie Nelson- The Legend

The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson (American Roots Publishing)

Marta Gómez- The Circle

The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson (American Roots Publishing)

Kris Kristofferson- Duvalier’s Dream

Me and Bobby McGee (Monument)

Jessica Chastain- Help Me Make It Through the Night

George & Tammy soundtrack (Sony Masterworks)

Roy Orbison- Something They Can’t Take Away from Me

For the Good Times: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson (Ace)

Joan Osborne- Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends

Pretty Little Stranger (Vanguard)

Chris Hillman- The Taker

Morning Sky (Sugar Hill)

Kris Kristofferson- Jody and the Kid

The Silver Tongued Devil and I (Monument)

Kris Kristofferson- Broken Freedom Song

The Cedar Creek Sessions (KK)

Johnny Cash- Casey’s Last Ride

Cash Unearthed Volume 1: Who’s Gonna Cry (American)

Rosanne Cash- Lovin’ Him was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)

The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson (American Roots Publishing)

Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God- Darby’s Castle

The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson (American Roots Publishing)

Kris Kristofferson- The Pilgrim: Chapter 33

The Silver Tongued Devil and I (Monument)

Janis Joplin- Me and Bobby McGee

Pearl (Columbia)

Next week: Gamblers.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 4, 2022: A Week’s Worth of Songs

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/595/57765.html

Theme: A Week’s Worth of Songs.

The show begins and ends with songs about every day of the week. In between are songs about each day of the week.

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- Different Blues

Working Man Blues (Sunset Blvd.)

Spanky & Our Gang- Sunday will Never Be the Same

Spanky & Our Gang (Mercury)

Mike Regenstreif & The Durham County Poets (2014)

Durham County Poets- Monday Morning

Grimshaw Road (Durham County Poets)

Cowboy Junkies- Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning

The Caution Horses (BMG)

Taz Halloween- Wednesday’s Blues

I Am/Songs by Lynn Swisher Spears (Ugwerks)

Sam Baker- Thursday

Horses and Stars (Blue Limestone Publishing)

The Whiteley Brothers- Friday Night Blues

Sixteen Shades of Blue (Borealis)

Stan Rogers- Acadian Saturday Night

From Coffee House to Concert Hall (Fogarty’s Cove)

Kris Kristofferson- Sunday Morning Coming Down

Me and Bobby McGee (Monument)

The Mamas & The Papas- Monday, Monday

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (MCA)

Jack Williams- Tuesday Night at the Candlelight

Far Away, Long Ago (Wind River)

Tom Russell & Gretchen Peters- Ash Wednesday

The Tom Russell Anthology: Veteran’s Day (Shout! Factory)

Dakota Dave Hull- Sweet Thursday

Under the North Star (Arabica)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2009)

Tom Paxton- Angeline is Always Friday

Tom Paxton 6 (Elektra)

Gordon Lightfoot- Saturday Clothes

If You Could Read My Mind (Reprise)

Caroline Doctorow- Sunday Morning

Dreaming in Vinyl (Narrow Lane)

Mississippi John Hurt- Monday Morning Blues

Mr. Hurt Goes to Washington (Sunset Blvd.)

Terri Hendrix- Double Shift Tuesday

The Slaughterhouse Sessions: Project 5.2 (Wilory)

Charles Mingus- Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting

Blues & Roots (Atlantic)

The Cats & The Fiddle- Thursday Evening Swing

That's on, Jack, That's On: Selected Singles 1939-1950 (Jasmine)

Norma Waterson- On Fridays He’s Fred Astaire

The Very Thought of You (Hannibal)

Bebop Cowboys with Chris Whiteley- Dancing on a Saturday Night

Canadian Dance Hall (Bebop Cowboys)

Sylvia Tyson & Mike Regenstreif (1997)

Ian & Sylvia- Sunday

Movin’ On 1967-1968 (Mercury)

Fats Domino- Blue Monday

Fats Rocks! (Bear Family)

Tom Rush- Every Day in the Week

Blues, Songs and Ballads (Fantasy)

Next week: Songs of Jimmie Rodgers. Update (October 3): The Jimmie Rodgers theme will be postponed to a later date. Next week's show will a tribute to old friend Mary McCaslin, who passed away today at age 75,

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday August 2, 2022: The Legacy of Johnny Cash

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 be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/57120.html

Theme: The Legacy of Johnny Cash.

In my opinion, Johnny Cash – who died in 2003 at age 71 and who drew on folk music, blues and rockabilly influences – was the single greatest figure in country music history. On this show, we’ll hear a few of Johnny Cash’s recordings and some songs from his repertoire performed by other artists.

Johnny Cash- I Walk the Line
Classic Cash (Mercury)

Johnny Cash- Red Velvet
The Man in Black, 1963-1969, Plus (Bear Family)
Ian & Sylvia- Come in Stranger
Early Morning Rain (Vanguard)
Johnny Cash- Four Strong Winds
American V: A Hundred Highways (American Recordings)
Ian & Sylvia- Big River
Movin’ On 1967-1968 (Mercury)

Rosanne Cash- Tennessee Flat Top Box
King’s Record Shop (Columbia)
John Stewart- Get Rhythm
Airdream Believer (Shanachie)
Johnny Cash- W. Lee O’Daniel (and the Light Crust Dougboys)
Johnny Cash is Coming to Town (Mercury)
Fred Holstein- Folsom Prison Blues
Live at the Earl of Old Town (Holstein)

Johnny Cash- Veteran’s Day
Wounded Heart of America (Tom Russell Songs) (HighTone)
Tom Russell- Wreck of the Old 97
October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)
Norah Jones- Cry, Cry, Cry
The Fall: Deluxe Edition (Blue Note)
Roy Forbes- I Still Miss Someone
Some Tunes for that Mother of Mine (AKA)

Johnny Cash- Joshua Gone Barbados
Johnny 99 (Columbia)
Brendan Nolan- The Forty Shades of Green
Live at the Side Door (Ould Segosha)
Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter & Sheryl Crow- Flesh and Blood
Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash (Lucky Dog)
Johnny Cash- If You Could Read My Mind
American V: A Hundred Highways (American Recordings)

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash- Girl from the North Country
Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 15, 1967-1969 (Columbia Legacy)
Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash- It Ain’t Me Babe

Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (Columbia/Legacy)
Bob Dylan- Train of Love
Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash (Lucky Dog)
Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash- Guess Things Happen That Way
Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 15, 1967-1969 (Columbia Legacy)

Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash- Jackson
The Legend of Johnny Cash (American Recordings)
Shel Silverstein- Boy Named Sue
Boy Named Sue and His Other Country Songs (Water)
Kris Kristofferson- Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
Me and Bobby McGee (Monument)
Johnny Cash- Bird on a Wire
American Recordings (American Recordings)

Next week: “Acapella Stella” and other a cappella songs.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday July 5, 2022: Just Who Was It Who Wrote That Song?

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/595/56819.html

Theme: Just Who Was It Who Wrote That Song?

These are songs that have been widely covered by other artists, or that were hits by other artists, but these versions are by the original songwriters.

Kris Kristofferson- Me and Bobby McGee
Me and Bobby McGee (Monument)

Sylvia Tyson & Mike Regenstreif (1997)

Ian & Sylvia- Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson)
Four Strong Winds (Vanguard)
Ian & Sylvia- You Were On My Mind (Sylvia Tyson)
Northern Journey (Vanguard)
Steve Gillette- Darcy Farrow
Steve Gillette (Vanguard)
Gordon Lightfoot- Early Morning Rain
Songbook (Warner Archives/Rhino)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Mike Regenstreif (1976) Photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Heart Like a Wheel (Anna McGarrigle)
Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Talk to Me of Mendocino (Kate McGarrigle)
Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)
Fred Neil- Everybody’s Talkin’
The Many Sides of Fred Neil (Collectors’ Choice Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Michael Smith (2014)

Shel Silverstein- The Unicorn
Inside Folk Songs (Water)
Steve Goodman- City of New Orleans
No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology (Red Pajamas)
Michael Smith- The Dutchman
Michael Smith/Love Stories (Flying Fish)

Elizabeth Cotten- Freight Train
Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jesse Fuller- San Francisco Bay Blues
San Francisco Bay Blues (Good Time Jazz)
John Hartford- Gentle On My Mind
Gentle On My Mind and Other Originals (RCA)
Jerry Jeff Walker- Mr. Bojangles
Five Years Gone (Atco)

Ron Hynes & Mike Regenstreif (2007)

Jesse Winchester- The Brand New Tennessee Waltz
Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)
Ron Hynes- Sonny’s Dream
Face to the Gale (Artisan Music)
Bonnie Dobson- Morning Dew
Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew (Hornbeam)
Joni Mitchell- Both Sides Now
Clouds (Reprise)
Leonard Cohen- Hallelujah
Various Positions (Columbia)

John Stewart- Daydream Believer
The Lonesome Picker Rides Again (Collectors’ Choice Music)
Townes Van Zandt- Pancho & Lefty
Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos (Omnivore)

Tom Paxton- The Last Thing On My Mind
The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) (Rhino Handmade)

Next week: Songs of Woody Guthrie, Part 1: Classic Songs

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

John Prine 1946-2020

I was devastated tonight when the news broke that John Prine, one of the greatest of the folk-rooted singer-songwriters, had died following a battle with COVID-19 at age 73.

I met John a few times over the years. I got to hang out with him a couple of times. Saw him do a few concerts, and interviewed him a couple of times – once for radio and once for the Montreal Gazette. 

I was introduced to John backstage when he came to perform in Montreal for the first time in 2001 and mentioned that we’d met once before, about 25 years earlier. John looked me up and down and said something like, “Oh yeah, Steve Goodman introduced us at Mariposa.” He was absolutely correct.

When Sylvie and I were on vacation in Florida in December, John was doing a concert nearby at Ruth Ekerd Hall in Clearwater and we went to see him. It was a fabulous show but I didn’t try and go back to say hello because I knew that John was scheduled to be at the National Arts Centre here in Ottawa this coming July, that it would be easier to connect then. But that was before this horrible pandemic hit.

My deepest condolences to Fiona Prine, their sons, and all of John’s loved ones – and to all of us who loved his songs.

Here is my Montreal Gazette interview with John, published on April 19, 2005. Prine in his prime Musician and former mailman was honoured last month at Library of Congress as ‘a genuine poet of the American people’ By Mike Regenstreif After a stint in the army in the 1960s, John Prine spent six years as a mailman in Chicago and started making up songs as a way to amuse himself as he walked his route.

 
He certainly couldn’t have imagined then that one day he’d be honoured as a major literary figure for his songwriting at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. But there he was last month, being described by Ted Kooser, the poet laureate of the United States, as “a truly original writer, unequaled, and a genuine poet of the American people.”

Prine was still a mailman when he wrote classic songs like Sam Stone, Hello in There, Angel from Montgomery and Illegal Smile and started playing them at open-mike nights at the Earl of Old Town, a Chicago folk club. Heard at the Earl by Kris Kristofferson, who became his champion, Prine was signed to Atlantic Records which released his self-titled debut album in 1971.

Prine’s songs have been covered by artists ranging from Bette Midler and Bonnie Raitt to Johnny Cash and Nanci Griffith. Prine’s last two albums were 1999’s In Spite of Ourselves, a collection of country standards sung as duets with a variety of women singers, and Souvenirs, a set of early Prine songs that he re-recorded in 2000.

On April 26, Prine will release Fair & Square, his first album of new material since Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings came out a decade ago. Though he rarely agrees to interviews, he spoke by phone last week from his home in Nashville.

Prine, who became a father at the age of 49, pointed to parenthood for a slowdown in his output of new material. “My two sons are 9 and 10. They were born when I went out on the road with Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings. The kids have a tendency to keep you busy.”

In writing songs for the new album, Prine had to make appointments with himself to find the time. “I used to sit around and wait for lightning to strike. But you can’t do that when you’ve got stuff to do all day with the kids.”

Something else that held Prine back for some time was a bout with neck cancer seven years ago. “I had a radical neck dissection and they had to do radiation across my throat for six weeks.”
Prine says he’s healthy now. “Things are going great. I go back once a year for a checkup and they tell me I don’t need to be there.”

The fact that Prine has owned Oh Boy Records, his own label, for 20 years also meant there wasn’t the typical record company pressure to keep the product flowing. After a series of albums in the 1970s and early-’80s for Atlantic and Asylum, Prine walked away from the majors to do Aimless Love in 1984.

“I didn’t think that the major labels were doing the same thing that I was doing. Mainly they want pop records that sell a lot and I could feel a lot of frustration with them trying to get my stuff on the radio. It was like working at a factory that you didn’t like so I decided to ... go directly to the people who were coming to the shows.”

By the time Prine did German Afternoons, his second indie album in 1986, he knew that he’d never go back to the majors. “I was in the studio singing the thing and people had already paid for it. It broke even before it came out. You can’t do that with a major label.”

Prine’s label has done so well that he’s signed several other artists to it including Janis Ian and Kristofferson, his early booster.

Prine has never shied away from confronting serious issues in his songs. Sam Stone, from his first album, tells the story of a soldier who fought in Vietnam and came home addicted to drugs.

“If somebody had asked me back then if I thought that 30 years later I’d be playing it, I’d probably have said no.”

Nor have politicians stopped leading the next generations of Sam Stones into war. In a spoken word passage from Some Humans Ain’t Human on the new album, Prine sings about how “some cowboy from Texas starts his own war in Iraq.”

Prine, whose wife, Fiona, is from Ireland, wrote the song when they were there on a family visit at the same time that President George W. Bush made his own visit to Ireland. “Tens of thousands of people turned out to demonstrate against him and against the U.S. being in Iraq, but they hid all those people, keeping them about 15 miles from the airport.”

Like much of Prine’s output, the songs on Fair & Square feel new and unique yet instantly familiar. Whether filled with humour like Crazy as a Loon, a send-up of ephemeral fame and stardom, or a sad love song like The Moon Is Down, Prine’s lyrics are beautifully crafted and his melodies the model of perfect simplicity.

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–Mike Regenstreif