Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 25, 2025: A Tribute to Nina Simone

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/595/69011.html

Theme: A Tribute to Nina Simone (1933-2003).

Nina Simone – who died in 2003 at age 70 – was a singer, songwriter, and pianist whose music encompassed classical, jazz, blues, folk, gospel and pop styles. She was also an activist and was often referred to as “the High Priestess of Soul.”

Nina Simone- Suzanne

To Love Somebody (RCA)

Nina Simone- Rags and Old Iron

Forbidden Fruit (Colpix)

Oscar Brown, Jr.- Work Song

The Voice of Cool (Not Now Music)

Nina Simone- Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit (Colpix)

Nina Simone- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

To Love Somebody (RCA)

Tom Russell & The Norwegian Wind Ensemble- Nina Simone

Aztec Jazz (Frontera)

Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir- See Line Woman

Front Porch Music (EarthBeat!)

Susan Werner- House of the Rising Sun

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Missy Burgess- Trouble in Mind

Missy Burgess with The Blue Train Live (Missy Burgess)

Sneezy Waters- Solitude

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Nina Simone- The Gal from Joe’s

Nina Simone Sings Ellington (Colpix)

Odetta- When I was a Young Girl

Odetta at Carnegie Hall (Vanguard)

Rufus Wainwright- Hush Little Baby

Folkocracy (BMG)

Nina Simone- Silver City Bound

Folksy Nina (Colpix)

Nina Simone- Mississippi Goddam

The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Nina Simone- Stars

The Montreux Years (BMG)

Janis Ian- Nina

The Light at the End of the Line (Rude Girl)

Willie Nelson- Come Ye

Last Leaf on the Tree (Legacy)

Nina Simone- Balm in Gilead

Baltimore (Epic/Legacy)

Ledisi- I’m Going Back Home

Ledisi Sings Nina (BMG)

Nina Simone- I Shall Be Released

To Love Somebody (RCA)

Next week: A Tribute to Fats Domino on Mardi Gras Day.

--Mike Regenstreif

Eric Bibb – Blues People

ERIC BIBB
Blues People
Stony Plain 
ericbibb.com

As I’ve said before, Eric Bibb is one of the most inspired and inspiring of contemporary blues (and folk) artists. Blues People is yet another offering from the prolific singer, guitarist and songwriter that reinforces that opinion.

Some of my favorites of Eric’s albums are relatively simple productions that feature just him and perhaps another musician or two. Others, like Blues People, are much more elaborate productions with extensive back-up and many special guests turning up on specific tracks.

There is a concept to Blues People as its songs – 11 of which were written or co-written by Eric while four were drawn from other sources – capture snippets of the lives of musicians who have played blues over the past century or so and place them in the context of the times and changing times in which they’ve lived.

Michael Jerome Browne, Mike Regenstreif, Eric Bibb (2005)

Among the album’s highlights is “Driftin’ Door to Door,” co-written by Eric and Montreal’s own Michael Jerome Browne, and sung from the perspective of an itinerant musician – perhaps someone like Booker (Bukka) White. Eric notes that Michael’s outstanding slide work on this track was played on White’s own National guitar.

Other highlights from among the original songs are the very moving “Rosewood,” sung from the perspective of a man who survived the hate-motivated 1923 arson attacks and murders in which all of the African American homes in Rosewood, Florida were burned down; “Remember the Ones,” an R&B duet with Linda Tillery that pays tribute to the many heroes of the Civil Rights Movement; and “Dream Catchers,” also sung in an R&B mode by Eric and co-writers Ruthie Foster and Harrison Kennedy, in which they emphatically place themselves among contemporary people continuing the work and legacies of those civil rights heroes.

Among my favorites are several songs not written or co-written by Eric. These include a down home duet with Guy Davis on Guy’s “Chocolate Man,” almost certainly inspired by Mississippi John Hurt’s “Candy Man”; an uplifting rendition of Reverend Gary Davis’ “I Heard the Angels Singin’” on which Eric’s vocals and guitar are joined by Michael Jerome Browne on 12-string, JJ Milteau on harmonica and the Blind Boys of Alabama with their inspiring singing; and “Needed Time,” a traditional gospel song that Eric has previously recorded in several different arrangements. This one starts with Taj Mahal, alone on vocal and banjo, in what sounds like an old field recording before shifting into a multi-layered arrangement with Eric singing lead and glorious harmonies from the Blind Boys of Alabama and Ruthie Foster.

Blues People is certainly among the best folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of the year.

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--Mike Regenstreif