Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 26, 2025: Songs of August & Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited

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/595/71687.html

Themes: Part 1 – Songs of August; Part 2 – Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited.

Part 1 – Songs of August

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tran- August Flower

From China to Appalachia (Community Music)

Emily Triggs- Beautiful August

The Great Escape (Emily Triggs)

Jay Linden- August Night

Satchel (Jay Linden)

The Lucky Sisters- On an August Night

So Lucky (Patio)

Preservation Hall Jazz Band- August Nights

That’s It (Legacy)

Joan Baez- The 33rd of August

Blessed Are (Vanguard)

Jeanie Stahl- The August of Our Years

Mysteries (Daring)

Benny Carter- August Moon

Aspects (United Artists)

Part 2 – Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited.

It was 60 years ago, on August 30, 1965, that Bob Dylan released his monumental folk-rock album, Highway 61 Revisited.

Rory Block- Like a Rolling Stone

Positively 4th Street: A Tribute to Bob Dylan (Stony Plain)

Tim O’Brien- Tombstone Blues

Red On Blonde (Sugar Hill)

Ian Hanchet- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Dealin’ from the Bottom (of My Heart) (Ian Hanchet)

Bob Dylan- From a Buick 6

Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia)

Ben Sidran- Ballad of a Thin Man

Dylan Different (Bonsai)

Emma Swift- Queen Jane Approximately

Blonde on the Tracks (Tiny Ghost/CRS)

Ray Benson- Highway 61 Revisited

Swingin’ and Skankin’ (Primary Wave Music)

Tom Russell & Joe Ely- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Bill Camplin- Desolation Row

Bob Dylan Project One (Bill Camplin)

Bob Dylan recorded versions of the next three songs during the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited but did not include them on the album.

Lucinda Williams- Positively 4th Street

The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village (429)

Bob Dylan & The Hawks- Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (single version)

Side Tracks (Columbia/Legacy)

Bob Dylan- Sitting On a Barbed Wire Fence

The Best of the Cutting Edge 1965-1966 (Columbia/Legacy)

Next week: Crazy Blues and Other Crazy Songs.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – March 4, 2025: Remembering Roberta Flack; A Tribute to Fats Domino on Mardi Gras Day

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/595/69216.html

Themes: Part 1 – Remembering Roberta Flack (1937-2025); Part 2 – A Tribute to Fats Domino (1928-2017) on Mardi Gras Day.

Part 1 – Remembering Roberta Flack (1937-2025)

Roberta Flack, who died on February 24 at age 88, was a singer and pianist who blended elements of R&B, jazz, folk, blues and pop music.

Roberta Flack- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

First Take: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino)

Roberta Flack- Ballad of the Sad Young Men

First Take: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino)

Roberta Flack- Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye

First Take: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino)

Roberta Flack- Reverend Lee

Chapter Two: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino)

Roberta Flack- Just Like a Woman

Chapter Two: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino)

Part 2 – A Tribute to Fats Domino (1928-2017) on Mardi Gras Day

Fats Domino was born in New Orleans in 1928 and died there in 2017 at age 89. One of the all-time greats of New Orleans music, Fats Domino was one of the true pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll.

Fats Domino- When the Saints Go Marching In

Fats in Stereo 1959-1962: Imperial Hit Singles As & Bs (Jasmine)

Bobby Charles with Fats Domino- Walking to New Orleans

Wish You Were Here Right Now (Stony Plain)

Norah Jones- My Blue Heaven

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Taj Mahal & The New Orleans Social Club- My Girl Josephine

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Robert Plant & The Soweto Gospel Choir- Valley of Tears

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Fats Domino- Bo Weevil

Fats Rocks! (Bear Family)

Lowell Levinger- Blue Monday

Down to the Roots (Grandpa Raccoon)

J.D. Crowe & The New South- I’m Walkin’

J.D. Crowe & The New South (Rounder)

Saul Broudy- I’m Gonna Be a Wheel Someday

Travels with Broudy (Saul Broudy)

Hans Theessink & Terry Evans- Let the Four Winds Blow

Visions (Blue Groove)

Fats Domino- Country Boy

Fats Rocks! (Bear Family)

George Benson- Ain’t That a Shame

Walking to New Orleans: Remembering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino (Provogue)

Lucinda Williams- Honey Chile

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Bruce Cockburn with Margo Timmins- Blueberry Hill

Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu (True North)

Bonnie Raitt & Jon Cleary- I’m in Love Again/All By Myself

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Fats Domino- Lady Madonna

Fats is Back (Bullseye Blues & Jazz)

Pau McCartney featuring Allen Toussaint- I Want to Walk You Home

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Dr. John- Don’t Leave Me This Way

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)

Fats Domino- Shu Rah

Fats Rocks! (Bear Family)

Next week: Hello in There.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 21, 2025: Blood on the Tracks Revisited and A Complete Unknown

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/595/68626.html

Themes: Blood on the Tracks Revisited and A Complete Unknown.

Blood on the Tracks Revisited

It was 50 years ago this week, on January 20, 1975, that Bob Dylan released Blood on the Tracks, one of his greatest albums. On this program, we revisit the songs from Blood on the Tracks, in order, played by various artists.

Ben Sidran- Tangled Up in Blue

Dylan Different (Bonsai)

Dave's True Story- Simple Twist of Fate

Simple Twist of Fate: DTS Does Dylan (BePop)

Emma Swift- You’re a Big Girl Now

Blonde on the Tracks (Tiny Ghost/CRS)

Lucinda Williams- Idiot Wind

Bob’s Back Pages: A Night of Bob Dylan Songs (Highway 20)

Barney Bentall & Valentino Trapani- You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Cosmic Dreamer (True North)

Sloan Wainwright- Meet Me in the Morning

Rediscovery (Derby Disc Music)

Tom Russell, Eliza Gilkyson & Joe Ely- Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs (HighTone)

Erik Balkey- If You See Her, Say Hello

If You See Her, Say Hello – single (Hudson Harding)

Crowe’s Pasture- Shelter from the Storm

Edge of America (Crowe’s Pasture)

Dave Van Ronk- Buckets of Rain

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bob Dylan recorded two other songs during the sessions for Blood on the Tracks that he left of the original album. "Call Letter Blues" and "Up to Me" were included, though, on More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14, a 2018 box set that included every take of every song Dylan recorded for Blood on the Tracks.

Bob Dylan- Call Letter Blues

More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 (Columbia/Legacy)

Bob Dylan- Up to Me

More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 (Columbia/Legacy)

A Complete Unknown

A Complete Unknown is a partly true, partly fictional account of Bob Dylan from his arrival in New York City in 1961 until his first electric performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

As a movie, I really enjoyed A Complete Unknown and thought the main cast members –  Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as the Suze Rotolo character renamed Sylvie Russo, and the rest – were all very good. 

Fo the most part, I didn’t mind the many historical inaccuracies I recognized in the film and thought A Complete Unknown did a good job of capturing the essence of Dylan’s rise in the first half of the 1960s.

Timothée Chalamet- Song to Woody

A Complete Unknown soundtrack (Columbia)

Monica Barbaro- Silver Dagger

A Complete Unknown soundtrack (Columbia)

Edward Norton- Wimoweh (Mbube)

A Complete Unknown soundtrack (Columbia)

Timothée Chalamet & Edward Norton- When the Ship Comes In

A Complete Unknown soundtrack (Columbia)

Monica Barbaro &  Timothée Chalamet- It Ain’t Me, Babe

A Complete Unknown soundtrack (Columbia)

Timothée Chalamet- Like a Rolling Stone

A Complete Unknown soundtrack (Columbia)

Next week: Harmonica.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 23, 2024: Songs of Shel Silverstein

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/595/64883.html

Theme: Songs of Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)

Shel Silverstein – who died of a heart attack in 1999 at age 68 – was a renaissance man: an author, poet, cartoonist, singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright.

Shel Silverstein- Folk Singer’s Blues

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

Tom Paxton, Anne Hills & Bob Gibson- Sing for the Song

Best of Friends (Appleseed)

Bob Gibson- Whistlers & Jugglers

Makin’ a Mess: Bob Gibson Sings Shel Silverstein (Asylum)

Martin Simpson- In the Hills of Shiloh

Rooted (Topic)

Sarah Jarosz with Black Prairie- Queen of the Silver Dollar

Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (Sugar Hill)

Shel Silverstein- Bury Me in My Shades

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

John Prine- This Guitar is for Sale

Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (Sugar Hill)

The Irish Rovers- The Unicorn

The Best of The Irish Rovers (MCA)

Dr. Hook- Sylvia’s Mother

Gold (Crimson)

Johnny Cash- A Boy Named Sue

The Legend of Johnny Cash (American/Columbia/Legacy)

Shel Silverstein- 25 Minutes to Go

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

Gordon Lightfoot- On Susan’s Floor

Don Quixote (Reprise)

Bob Gibson- Stops Along the Way

Makin’ a Mess: Bob Gibson Sings Shel Silverstein (Asylum)

Lucinda Williams- The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (Sugar Hill)

Papa John Kolstad & Wildman Mike Turk- Beans Taste Fine

Beans Taste Fine (Wampus Cat)

Shel Silverstein- Have Another Espresso

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

The Folk Legacy Trio- The Mermaid

Homecoming (The Folk Legacy Trio)

Rosalie Sorrels- You’re Always Welcome at Our House

Be Careful, There’s a Baby in the House (Green Linnet)

Shel Silverstein- Boa Constrictor

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

Nanci Griffith- The Giving Tree

Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (Sugar Hill)

Bobby Bare- Rosalie’s Good Eats Café

Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies (RCA)

Bob Gibson- Living Legend

The Living Legend Years (Bob Gibson Legacy).

Next week: Remembering Pete Seeger.

--Mike Regenstreif 

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday January 27, 2024

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/63707.html

Jamie Anderson- January

Better Than Chocolate (Tsunami)

Bob Dylan- Girl from the North Country

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (Columbia/Legacy)

Cat Power- She Belongs to Me

Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (Domino)

Peter Keane- I Want You

Walkin’ Around (Flying Fish)

Nanci Griffith- Boots of Spanish Leather

Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)

Iris DeMent- Banks of the Pontchartrain

More Than a Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith (Rounder)

Amos Lee- Bus to Baton Rouge

Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams (Hoagiemouth/Thirty Tigers)

Lucinda Williams- Mississippi You’re On My Mind

Quiet About It: A Tribute to Jesse Winchester (Mailboat)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- How Far to the Horizon?

Learn to Love It (Stony Plain)

Penny Lang- I Can’t Stand Up Alone

Ain’t Life Sweet (She-Wolf)

Suzie Vinnick- Raino

Fall Back Home (Suzie Vinnick)

Sylvia Tyson- No Crowd, No Show

At the End of the Day (Stony Plain)

Murray McLauchlan- Sweeping the Spotlight Away

Songs from the Street: The Best of Murray McLauchlan (True North)

Isle of Klezbos- Noiresque

Yiddish Silver Screen (Rhythm Media)

Mike Regenstreif, Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop (2014)

Bill Garrett, Sue Lothrop & Shelley Posen- The Price of Gasoline

The Price of Gasoline – single (Willymac Productions)

Orit Shimoni- Numbers

Winnipeg (Orit Shimoni)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Der Binyen/The Building

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

Sasha Lurje & Lorin Sklamberg- A idisher kvartet

Jac Weinstein’s Helsinki Yiddish Cabaret (Global Music Centre)

Dave Van Ronk- Another Time and Place

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

Christine Lavin- The Kind of Love You Never Recover From

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

David Buskin & Robin Batteau- Lancelot’s Tune (Guinevere)

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen & Steve Gillette- Stars

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

Free Wheelin’ Fools- Witch Hazel

The Songs of Tom Gala (Free Wheelin’ Fools)

Small Potatoes- The Terror Time

Time Flies (Folk Era)

Sean Gagnier- (Song of the) Wheelhouse Door

Circle Harbor (Sean Gagnier)

Steel Rail- (Just) Waiting for a Train

Coming Home (Crossties)

Bill Staines- Railroad Blues

Third Time Around (Catfish)

JackDaw- New York Central Line

Ghost in the Big House (Cutthroat)

David Francey featuring Terra Spencer- Narrow Boats

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

Amanda Rheaume- Supposed to Be

The Spaces In Between (Ishkõdé)

Ian Tamblyn- Arc of Dreams and Prayers

Scenes Through a Mirror (North Track)

Noam “Nani” Vazana- Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life)

Ke Haber (Noam Vazana) 

Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars featuring Michel "Meshach" Nestor- Unity (Carnival in Crown Heights)

Chronika (Borscht Beat)

Leon Redbone- Shine On Harvest Moon

Double Time (Warner Bros.)

Alice Di Micele- Harvest Moon

Interpretations Vol 1 (Alice Otter Music)

Zoe Muth & The High Rollers- Harvest Moon Blues

Starlight Hotel (Signature Sounds)

Taj Mahal- I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So

Savoy (Stony Plain)

Susie Arioli Swing Band featuring Jordan Officer- Pennies from Heaven

Pennies from Heaven (Justin Time)

Jay McShann with Johnnie Johnson- Kansas City (Revisited)

Goin’ to Kansas City (Stony Plain)

Ian & Sylvia- Handsome Molly

Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)

Mustard's Retreat- Gather the Family

By Request (Yellow Room)

Hank Woji featuring Jaimee Harris- I’ll Be Here in the Morning

Highways, Gamblers, Devils and Dreams (KZRecords)

Mike Regenstreif & Marc Nerenberg (2009)

Marc Nerenberg- Come By Here

Lies, Butterflies, and Tyrants (Marc Nerenberg)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on February 24. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 17, 2023: Remembering Kate Wolf

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/595/62361.html

Theme: Remembering Kate Wolf (1942-1986).

Kate Wolf was a very fine singer and songwriter, and folk music activist, who died of leukemia on December 10, 1986, about six weeks before she would have turned 45. Although her career as a touring and recording artist was relatively brief, Kate was, in her time, and to this day, a highly influential artist.

Kate Wolf- The Minstrel

Weaver of Visions: The Kate Wolf Anthology (Rhino)

Kate Wolf- Emma Rose

Back Roads (Rhino)

Dave Alvin- These Times We’re Living In

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Nanci Griffith- Friend of Mine

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

John Gorka- Sweet Love

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Give Yourself to Love

Discovered: Live in Concert (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Kate Wolf- Safe at Anchor

Safe at Anchor (Rhino)

Eric Bogle- Katie and the Dreamtime Land

Something of Value (Philo)

Eric Bogle- Cornflower Blue

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Kate Wolf- Poet’s Heart

Poet’s Heart (Rhino)

Utah Phillips- See Here, She Said

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- Across the Great Divide

Forty (Daring)

Lucinda Williams- Here in California

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Greg Brown- Kate’s Guitar

In the Hills of California (Red House)

Kate Wolf- Old Jerome

The Wind Blows Wild (Rhino)

Kate Wolf- All He Ever Saw was You

Poet’s Heart (Rhino)

Steve Fisher- Streets of Calgary

River (SNR Music)

Eve Goldberg- Traveling Day

Ever Brightening Day (Sweet Patootie)

Rosalie Sorrels- In China, or a Woman’s Heart

Report from Grimes Creek (Green Linnet)

Steven Gellman- California (For Kate)

All You Need (Hidden Poet Music)

Kate Wolf- Bird on a Wire

Looking Back at You (Rhino)

Next week: A conversation with Terri Thal, author of My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday August 29, 2023: “Nebraska” and Other Songs of Bruce Springsteen

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/595/61669.html

Theme: “Nebraska” and Other Songs of Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen (photo: Bell Ebbesen)

Bruce Springsteen- House of a Thousand Guitars

Letter to You (Columbia)

Erik Balkey- Born in the U.S.A.

Everything is Great (Hudson Harding)

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit- I’m On Fire

In Good We Trust (Stony Plain)

Dale Boyle- My Hometown

Small Town Van Gogh (Route 132 Productions)

Lucinda Williams- Factory

The Ghosts of Highway 20 (Highway 20)

Joy Zimmerman & Katie Dahl- If I Should Fall Behind

Where the Light Lives (Cultivate Joy)

Bruce Springsteen- Land of Hope and Dreams

Springsteen on Broadway (Columbia)

Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska

Nebraska (Columbia)

Finny McConnell- Atlantic City

The Dark Streets of Love (True North)

Aoife O’Donovan- Mansion on the Hill

Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska (Yep Roc)

Tim Grimm- Johnny 99

Names (Wind River)

Johnny Cash- Highway Patrolman

Johnny 99 (Columbia)

Fafard & Schwartz- State Trooper

Borrowed Horses (Joël Fafard & Joel Schwartz)

Bruce Springsteen- Used Cars

Nebraska (Columbia)

Bruce Springsteen- Open All Night

Nebraska (Columbia)

Amy Speace- My Father’s House

Tuscon (Windbone)

The Blue Warblers- Reason to Believe

Birds (BorderBag Productions)

Bruce Springsteen- The Ghost of Tom Joad

The Ghost of Tom Joad (Columbia)

Tom Russell- Across the Border

Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches (Appleseed)

Lucy Kaplansky- Thunder Road

Everyday Street (Lucy Kaplansky)

Bruce Springsteen- Hitch Hikin’

Western Stars (Columbia)

Next week: Joni Mitchell and Others at the Newport Folk Festival.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday April 25, 2023: Willie Nelson at 90

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/595/60138.html

Theme: Willie Nelson at 90.

Willie Nelson will turn 90 on April 29th and as Bob Dylan wrote in his book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, “Willie Nelson could, as they say, sing the phone book and make you weep – he could also write the phonebook.”

Willie Nelson- My Own Peculiar Way

My Own Peculiar Way (RCA)

Patsy Cline- Crazy

The Unforgettable Patsy Cline (PolyTel)

Lucinda Williams- Funny How Time Slips Away

Funny How Time Slips Away: A Night of ‘60s Country Classics (Highway 20)

The Little Willies- Night Life

The Little Willies (Milking Bull)

Willie Nelson- Mr. Record Man

Absolutely the Best, Volume 1 (Fuel 2000)

Bobby Bare- One Day at a Time

Constant Sorrow (RCA)

k.d. lang & the reclines- Three Days

Absolute Torch and Twang (Sire)

Colleen Peterson- Sad Songs and Waltzes

Beginning to Feel Like Home (Capitol)

Willie Nelson- Hello Walls

Absolutely the Best, Volume 1 (Fuel 2000)

Willie Nelson- Time of the Preacher

Red Headed Stranger (Columbia/Legacy)

Doc & Merle Watson- I Couldn’t Believe it was True

Elementary Doctor Watson (Tomato)

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Kerouac’s Last Dream (Appleseed)

Willie Nelson- Red Headed Stranger

Red Headed Stranger (Columbia/Legacy)

Willie Nelson- Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

Stardust (Columbia)

Kerri Powers- Always On My Mind

Words on the Wind (Must Have Music)

Emmylou Harris- Sister’s Coming Home

Blue Kentucky Girl (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Willie Nelson- Me and Paul

Wanted! The Outlaws (RCA)

Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel- Hesitation Blues

Willie and the Wheel (Bismeaux)

Willie Nelson & Kimmie Rhodes- I Just Drove By

Just One Love (Justice)

Kinky Friedman & Willie Nelson- Bloody Mary Morning

The Loneliest Man I Ever Met (Avenue A)

Judy Collins & Willie Nelson- When I Go

Strangers Again (Wildflower/Cleopatra)

Wynton Marsalis Septet featuring Willie Nelson- Milk Cow Blues

United We Swing: Best of the Lincoln Centre Galas (Blue Engine)

Willie Nelson & Bonnie Raitt- Getting Over You

Across the Borderline (Columbia)

Townes Van Zandt & Willie Nelson- Marie

Texas Rain: The Texas Hill Country Recordings (Tomato)

Mary Kay Place & Willie Nelson- Something to Brag About

The Ahern Sessions 1976-1977 (Raven)

Next week: Stompin’ at the Savoy.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists – God Don’t Never Change; Mr. Rick Sings About God + Booze

VARIOUS ARTISTS

God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson

Alligator Records

alligator.com

Like many, my first exposure to Blind Willie Johnson was via his recording of “John the Revelator,” included on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, a monumental collection of recordings from the 1920s and ‘30s that was so influential on the generations of folk-rooted artists that came to the fore in the 1950s, ‘60s and beyond. The artists on the Anthology – including Johnson – are the anchor of what Greil Marcus has termed the “old weird America.”

Johnson could have been one of the deepest sounding of the early bluesmen but was devoutly religious and only sang the gospel and spiritual songs he wrote or adapted from earlier sources. He recorded 30 tracks in all between 1927 and 1930 when the Great Depression effectively killed his recording career – the 2-CD set, The Complete Blind Willie Johnson (Columbia/Legacy) is highly recommended – but many of those songs have become standards of revival folk and blues artists from Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul & Mary to Eric Clapton.

God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson is a set of 11 of Johnson’s songs performed by an interesting group of contemporary artists.

Tom Waits – whose voice on some of his later recordings seems almost genetically descended from Johnson’s – leads off the set with a compelling version of “The Soul of a Man,” that is built on a sampled guitar track taken from a field recording of Smith Casey recorded by John Lomax and featuring Waits’ wife, Kathleen Brennan, on background vocals and their son, Casey Waits on drums. Waits returns later in the album with “John the Revelator.”

Lucinda Williams, who has a deep understanding of traditional southern music running through much of her own music, also turns in effective performances on two songs: “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” and the title track, “God Don’t Never Change.”

Interestingly, the only African American artists on the album, the Blind Boys of Alabama, turn in the single performance that seems least influenced by Johnson. Their infectious version of “Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time” is done in their time-honored style reflecting the religious joyousness that is always at the heart of their performances.

Among the other highlights are the call-and-response version of “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning” by Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi; a deeply felt rendition of “Light from the Light House” by Maria McKee; and a subdued, thoughtful reading of “Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground” by Rickie Lee Jones that effectively brings in a New Orleans-funeral-style horn arrangement near the end of the song.

MR. RICK

Mr. Rick Sings About God + Booze

mrrickmusicamericana.com

One of the Blind Willie Johnson standards not included on God Don’t Never Change was “You’ll Need Someone on Your Bond.” However, Mr. Rick – a.k.a. Rick Zolkower – does a nice, rockabilly-flavored version on Mr. Rick Sings About God + Booze, a mostly upbeat collection of traditional and contemporary Saturday night and Sunday morning songs.

Mr. Rick and his musical friends draw on all manner of roots styles in creating irresistible versions of such God songs as “Hush,” Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “One Kind Favor,” and “I’ll Fly Away,” and such boozers as Eric Von Schmidt’s “Champagne Don’t Drive Me Crazy,” Sleepy John Estes’ “Liquor Store Blues” and Mr. Rick’s own “Don’t Put My Bourbon Down.”

Perhaps my favorite track is “Two Little Fishes,” a biblical story song I first heard sung by Josh White, that takes on a klezmer feel thanks to Jono Lightstone’s clarinet playing.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists – Tulare Dust: a songwriters’ tribute to Merle Haggard (Expanded Edition)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Tulare Dust: a songwriters’ tribute to Merle Haggard (Expanded Edition)
RockBeat 
fronterarecords.com

Tulare Dust: a songwriters’ tribute to Merle Haggard, co-produced by Tom Russell and Dave Alvin and originally released in 1994, was one of the very finest tribute albums of that era and featured a great collection of 15 roots artists singing their favorite songs from Merle Haggard’s impressive catalog.

Tulare Dust has recently been reissued as an expanded 2-CD set; the first CD is the original album while the second CD is live tracks taken from the CD release concert which featured about half the artists each doing their Haggard selection plus one of their own.

Dave Alvin nails the significance of Haggard in the liner notes to this new edition when he writes that Haggard “has always been one of the great American songwriters in the folk music tradition. Being in this folk tradition doesn’t necessarily just mean strumming an acoustic guitar in a coffee house, it can also mean learning your musical craft from your elders, then taking what you’ve learned and finding your own voice inside that musical and community tradition. It’s what Muddy Waters and Bill Monroe did. It’s what Hank Williams, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Curtis Mayfield did. It’s exactly what Merle Haggard did.”

Haggard himself has paid tribute to some of those musical elders – notably Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills – who influenced him. But, as becomes obvious in listening to some of these songs, the influence of Woody Guthrie is also strongly felt in Haggard’s work. Listen to Tom Russell’s great medley of “Tulare Dust/They’re Tearing the Labor Camps Down” to understand that Haggard’s own family were among the waves of Okies who risked all of their do-re-mi trying to find a better life in California during the Dust Bowl era.

That Guthrie influence can also be heard in such songs as “Kern River,” sung from deep-in-the-traditional-well by Dave Alvin and “A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today,” sung with conviction by Peter Case.

Some of my other favorite tracks include Iris DeMent’s world-weary version of “Big City”; Lucinda Williams’ heartbreaking version of the heartbroken “You Don’t Have Very Far to Go”; Marshall Crenshaw’s rendition of the separation song “Silver Wings”; and Steve Young’s sad version of “Shopping for Dresses,” Haggard’s portrait of loneliness.

Another highlight is R&B singer Barrence Whitfield’s very affecting take on “Irma Jackson,” Haggard’s poignant song about inter-racial love – a song that was taboo-breaking in the world of early-1970s country music.

Among the best of the songwriters’ original material on the second CD are Tom Russell’s always exciting “Gallo del Cielo,” Dave Alvin’s “King of California,” Billy Joe Shaver’s “Georgia on a Fast Train,” and Peter Case’s “A Little Wind (Could Blow Me Away),” about Elvis Presley's comeback concert, which was co-written by Tom Russell.

Tulare Dust: a songwriters’ tribute to Merle Haggard was a great album 20 years ago and is made even greater by the inclusion of the second live disc.

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--Mike Regenstreif