Showing posts with label Mary Flower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary Flower. Show all posts

Friday, June 21, 2024

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 25, 2024: 50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 3/Songs and Conversation with Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower


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/595/65724.html

Themes: 50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 3/Songs and Conversation with Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower

50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 3

Mike Regenstreif at The Golem (1987) (Montreal Gazette photo)

It was just over 50 years ago, on May 24, 1974, that I took over running The Golem, Montreal folk club. 

The Golem had been established in 1973 in the McGill Hillel building at 3460 Stanley Street by Saul Markowicz. I had done my basic training in folk club management with Chuck Baker at the Yellow Door, and had been producing concerts in Montreal at Dawson College and McGill University for about two years when Saul approached me in the spring of 1974 and asked if I’d be interested in taking over The Golem.

I actually ran The Golem twice – from 1974 until 1976 and from 1981 until 1987. The Golem was also run for about a year after my first tenure by Marc Nerenberg (who, by the way, is responsible for keeping the Yellow Door going still). The Golem was closed between 1977 and when I returned and re-opened it in 1981. And, after my second tenure, a committee including Helen Fortin and Dave Clarke of Steel Rail fame kept the Golem going until 1991.

All of the songs on this part of the show were played back in the day by artists who performed during my two tenures running the Golem.

Connie Kaldor- Wood River
Wood River (Coyote Entertainment)

The Friends of Fiddler's Green- The Golden Vanity
This Side of the Ocean (FOFG Productions)
Margaret Christl- Rattlin Roarin Willie
The Picture in My Mind (Waterbug)
Willie P. Bennett- Me and Molly
Tryin’ to Start Out Clean (Bnatural Music)
Mike Regenstreif & Steve Gillette (1994)

Steve Gillette- Darcy Farrow
Steve Gillette (Vanguard)
Jack Hardy- Potter’s Field
The Nameless One (Great Divide)
Stephen Barry Band- Poor Boy
Live (Fix it in the Mix Music)

Saul Broudy & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Saul Broudy- Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn
Travels with Broudy (Saul Broudy)

“50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 1” was heard on the May 28 edition of Stranger Songs and can be streamed at this link. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/65341.html

“50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part w” was heard on the June 18 edition of Stranger Songs and can be streamed at this link. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/65644.html

Songs and Conversation with Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower


My conversation with Michael Jerome Browne and Mary Flower was recorded earlier this month on Zoom. I was in Ottawa, Michael was in Montreal and Mary was in Portland, Oregon. 

Michael Jerome Browne with John Sebastian, Happy Traum & John McColgan- Living with the Blues
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)
Mary Flower- Livin’ with the Blues Again
Livin’ with the Blues Again (Little Village Foundation)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower- I’ve Got the Big River Blues
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower with John Sebastian- Coffee Blues
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower- Black Dog Blues
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower- Married Man Blues
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower- Wisecrack
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Mary Flower- See See Rider
Livin’ with the Blues Again (Little Village Foundation)
Stephen Barry Band featuring Michael Jerome Browne- Sugar Baby
Happy Man (Bros)

MARY FLOWER- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime
Bywater Dance (Yellow Dog)

Michael and Mary will be here in Ottawa at Red Bird Live on Saturday June 29. They’re also doing a guitar workshop in Ottawa that afternoon. They’ll also be at Hugh’s Room Live in Toronto on Wednesday June 26, at Emmanuel United Church in Waterloo on Thursday June 27, and at a house concert in Morin Heights, Quebec on Monday July 1. More information and links to buy tickets at this link. https://www.michaeljeromebrowne.com/shows

Next week: 1964.

--Mike Regenstreif

Monday, May 27, 2024

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 4, 2024: Remembering Spider John Koerner; The Enduring Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis


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/595/65407.html

Themes: Part 1: Remembering Spider John Koerner (1938-2024) / Part 2: The Enduring Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis (1896-1972)

Part 1: Remembering Spider John Koerner


Spider John Koerner was an influential folk and blues legend who died of cancer on May 18 at age 85.

Spider John Koerner was already one of the leading performers on the Minneapolis folk scene when Robert Zimmerman, still a teenager, moved there to attend the University of Minnesota. Spider John was highly influential in the musical direction that Zimmerman took that year – including beginning to call himself Bob Dylan. In his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan wrote: “Koerner was tall and thin with a look of perpetual amusement on his face. We hit it off right away … when he spoke he was soft-spoken but when he sang he became a field holler shouter. Koerner was an exciting singer and we began playing a lot together.”

I first discovered Spider John Koerner while I was a teenager. It was probably 1969 or ’70 when I bought an LP called Blues, Rags & Hollers by the trio of Koerner, Ray & GloverSpider John Koerner, Dave "Snaker" Ray and Tony "Little Sun: Glover. The album, from 1963, was mostly solo cuts by one or another of the three, along with a few duo cuts by two of the three.

Koerner, Ray & Glover- Linin’ Track
Blues, Rags & Hollers (Red House)
Ray Wylie Hubbard- Spider, Snaker and Little Sun
Tell the Devil I’m Coming As Fast As I Can (Bordello)
Spider John Koerner & Dave "Snaker" Ray- Black Dog
(Lots More) Blues, Rags & Hollers (Red House)
Koerner, Ray & Glover- What’s the Matter with the Mill
(Lots More) Blues, Rags & Hollers (Red House)

Spider John Koerner- Froggie Went a-Courtin’
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Been (Red House)
Spider John Koerner- The Roving Gambler
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Been (Red House)
Spider John Koerner- The Days of Forty-Nine
StarGeezer (Red House)

Spider John Koerner- Taking My Time
StarGeezer (Red House)

Part 2: The Enduring Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis


Reverend Gary Davis
, who died in 1972 at age 76, was a street preacher and a highly influential legend of blues, gospel and folk music. His guitar playing influenced many of the artists who came into the folk scene in the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s and continuing to the present.

Reverend Gary Davis- You Got to Move
A Little More Faith (Prestige/Bluesville)
Mountain City Four- Motherless Children
Mountain City Four (Omnivore)
Mr. Rick- I’ll Fly Away
Mr. Rick Sings About God + Booze (Mr. Rick)
Mary Flower- Sit Down on the Banks
Gary Davis Style: The Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis (Riverlark)
Michael Jerome Browne- Reverend Strut
Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Reverend Gary Davis- I’m Glad I’m in That Number
A Little More Faith (Prestige/Bluesville)
Marie Knight- When I Die
Let Us Get Together: A Tribute to Reverend Gary Davis (M.C.)
Andy Cohen- Pure Religion
Oh Glory, How Happy I Am: The Sacred Songs of Rev. Gary Davis (Riverlark)
William Lee Ellis- I Heard the Angels Singing
Gary Davis Style: The Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis (Riverlark)
Roy Book Binder- The Preacher Picked the Guitar
Singer-Songwriter Bluesman (PEGleg)

Dave Van Ronk- Cocaine
Live at Sir George Williams University (Just a Memory)
Reverend Gary Davis- Buck Dance
Live & Kickin’ (Just a Memory)
Guy Davis- Candy Man
Stomp Down Rider (Red House)
Penny Lang & Friends- God Knows How Much We Can Bear
Gary Davis Style: The Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis (Riverlark)
Mitch Greenhill & Mayne Smith- Samson & Delilah
Gary Davis Style: The Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis (Riverlark)
Bruce Cockburn- Twelve Gates to the City
Bone on Bone (True North)

Reverend Gary Davis- I Will Do My Last Singing in This Land Somewhere
Live at Newport (Vanguard)

Next week: Songs for Fathers

--Mike Regenstreif