Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 10, 2026: Songs of – or inspired by – the Civil Rights Movement

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/595/74038.html

Theme: Songs of – or inspired by – the Civil Rights Movement.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963

, 
As Julius Lester sings in our opening song, “freedom is a constant struggle.” This is especially true now when the current American president and his administration is working to undo decades of progress made by the Civil Rights Movement.

Julius Lester- Freedom is a Constant Struggle

Freedom is a Constant Struggle (Folk Era)

Fannie Lou Hamer- Woke Up This Morning

Songs My Mother Taught Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

SNCC Freedom Singers- Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)

The Sojourners- Eyes On the Prize 

Hold On (Black Hen Music)

Harry Belafonte- Michael Row the Boat Ashore 

The Midnight Special (RCA)

Mavis Staples with Ladysmith Black Mambazo- We Shall Not Be Moved

We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti-)

Nina Simone- Mississippi Goddam 

The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Reggie Harris- Been Down Into the South

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt- Still on the Bridge

We are Welcomed (Pragmavision)

The Staple Singers- Freedom Highway

Freedom Highway (Columbia/Legacy)

Odetta- Freedom Trilogy: Oh Freedom, Come & Go With Me and I’m On My Way

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Joan Baez- All My Trials

Joan Baez (Vanguard)

Bob Dylan- Only a Pawn in Their Game

The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Columbia/Legacy)

Peter, Paul & Mary- If I Had a Hammer

Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner Bros.)

Mahalia Jackson- How I Got Over

Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting with Mahalia Jackson (Columbia/Legacy)

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr..- Excerpt from “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on August 28, 1963 at The March on Washington

Kim & Reggie Harris- Free At Last

Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad (Appleseed)

Sam Cooke- A Change is Gonna Come 

Ain’t That Good News (RCA)

The Impressions- People Get Ready

People Get Ready (ABC Paramount)

Pete Seeger- We Shall Overcome

We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert (Columbia)

Charlie Haden & Hank Jones- We Shall Overcome

Steal Away: Spirituals, Hymns and Folk Songs (Verve)

Next week: A Mardi Gras Day Tribute to Louis Prima.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – November 29, 2025

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/128/73041.html

Bradsteet & Keesee- Renaissance

Live in London (Street)

Mike Regenstreif & Lynn Miles (2013)

Lynn Miles- Wintery Feeling 

Winter (Lynn Miles)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- A Touch on the Rainy Side

A Touch on the Rainy Side (Stony Plain)

Pierce Pettis- A Showman’s Life

Father’s Son (Compass)

Kathy Mattea- Little Glass of Wine 

Pretty Bird (Captain Potato)

Albert & Gage- I’m Looking for a Miracle

Jumpin’ Tracks (MoonHouse)

Boreal- Warm Hands

Winterbirds (Boreal)

Mike Regenstreif & Tim Grimm (2025)

Tim Grimm- New Boots

The Little In-Between (Vault)

Judy Collins & Mike Regenstreif (2014)

Judy Collins- My Father 

Forever: An Anthology (Elektra)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Mayn Tatns Hoyz (My Father’s House)

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik)

Woody Guthrie- Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

Mike Regenstreif & David Amram (2004)

The David Amram Quintet- Pastures of Plenty

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

John Gorka & Mike Regenstreif (2012)

John Gorka- Favorite Place

unentitled (Red House)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Tom Russell- I Grew Up On Western Movies

Mount Olive (Frontera)

James “Sparky” Rucker- Jesse James

Heroes and Hard Times: Black American Ballads and Story Songs (Tremont)

New Riders of the Purple Sage- Glendale Train

New Riders of the Purple Sage (Columbia)

Mike Regenstreif & Michael Smith (2014)

Michael Smith- Ballad of Dan Moody

Michael Smith/Love Stories (Flying Fish)

Mike Regenstreif & Anne Hills (2001)

Anne Hills- The Ghost of Lash LaRue

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

Lynne Hanson- Princess and Her Pea

Just a Poet (Lynne Hanson)

Alison Brown & Steve Martin featuring Tim O’Brien- 5 Days Out, 2 Days Back

Safe Sensible and Sane (Compass)

The Unfaithful Servants- Endless Highway

Fallen Angel (Servants)

Rodney Brown- Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The Gales of November: Songs of Gordon Lightfoot (Rodney Brown)

Mara Levine- Bitter Green

Facets of Folk (Mara’s Creations)

Mike Regenstreif & Rick Fines (2011)

Rick Fines- Ribbon of Darkness

Solar Powered (Rick Fines)

Eva Cassidy- Early Morning Rain

Imagine (Blix Street)

Gordon Lightfoot- Rich Man’s Spiritual

Lightfoot! (United Artists)

Mavis Staples- Anthem

Sad and Beautiful World (Anti-)

Veronneau- Carey

Blue Tapestry (Antidote Sounds)

Caroline Herring- Cactus Tree 

Golden Apples of the Sun (Signature Sounds)

Julie Christensen- Hejira

The Price We Pay for Love (Wirebird)

Joni Mitchell- For the Roses

For the Roses (Asylum)

Brandi Carlile- Joni

Returning to Myself (Interscope/Lost Highway)

Cole Quest & The City Pickers- Where I’m From

Homegrown (Jalopy)

Lonesome Ace Stringband- Stage Fright

Big Wing (Lonesome Ace Stringband)

Sage Christie- Rabbit Through the Woods

Little Deaths (Dignified Deathlings)

Steve Howell & Fats Kaplin- Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

Know You From Old (Out of the Past Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Maria Dunn (2017)

Maria Dunn- Walking the Miles

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

Bonnie Dobson & The Hanging Stars- Dreams

Dreams (Loose Music)

Tone of Voice OrchestraCHESTRA- Dominoes

Running from the Devil (Word for Word)

The Klezmatics- Bulgar á la Klezmatics

Rhythm + Jews Revisited (Piranha)

Willie Nelson- If We Make It Through December

Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle (Legacy)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on December 27. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday March 21, 2023: “Shout, Sister, Shout” and Other Songs from the Repertoire of Sister Rosetta Tharpe

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.

111 episodes of Stranger Songs are listed and available to stream on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/index.html

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/595/59755.html

Theme: “Shout, Sister, Shout” and Other Songs from the Repertoire of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973).

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who died in 1973 at age 58, primarily – but not exclusively – sang and played gospel and African-American spirituals. She played electric guitar and has been called “the godmother of rock ‘n’ roll.”

Sister Rosetta Tharpe with Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra- Shout, Sister, Shout!

Bring Back Those Happy Days: Greatest Hits and Selected Recordings 1938-1957 (Jasmine)

Odetta with The Holmes Brothers- Two Little Fishes and Five Loaves of Bread

Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C.)

Bobby McFerrin- Joshua (Fit the Battle of Jericho)

Spirityouall (Sony Masterworks)

Mountain City Four- This Train

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Ken Whiteley- Precious Memories

Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)

Phoebe Snow with The Holmes Brothers- Beams of Heaven

Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C.)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe- Is Everyone Happy

This Train in Concert (Sunset Blvd.)

Rory Block- Stand By Me

Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C.)

Ronnie Hawkins- Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child

The Folk Ballads of Ronnie Hawkins (Edsel)

Mavis Staples & Lucky Peterson- Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

Spirituals & Gospel (Gitanes)

Eliza Gilkyson & Jimmy LaFave- Down by the Riverside

Secularia (Red House)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe- That’s All

Bring Back Those Happy Days: Greatest Hits and Selected Recordings 1938-1957 (Jasmine)

Missy Burgess- Trouble in Mind

Missy Burgess with The Blue Train Live (Missy Burgess)

Marcia Ball with Tracy Nelson, Maria Muldaur & Angela Strehli- I Want a Tall Skinny Papa

Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C.)

Rhiannon Giddens- Up Above My Head

Tomorrow is My Turn (Nonesuch)

Bruce Cockburn- Twelve Gates to the City

Bone on Bone (True North)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe- Travelin’ Shoes

This Train in Concert (Sunset Blvd.)

Bernice Johnson Reagon, Kim & Reggie Harris- Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep

Get On Board: Underground Railroad & Civil Rights Freedom Songs, Volume 2 (Appleseed)

Marie Knight- Didn’t It Rain

Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C.)

Margaret Glaspy, Bruce Molsky, Brittnay Haas, Julian Lage, Joe Phillips & Jayme Stone- What is the Soul of Man?

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project (Borealis)

Lonnie Johnson- That Lonesome Road

The Complete Folkways Recordings (Smithsonian Folkways)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe- Jonah in the Whale

This Train in Concert (Sunset Blvd.)

Maria Muldaur, Marcia Ball, Angela Strehli & Tracy Nelson- Shout, Sister, Shout

Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C.)

Next week: Cowboys & Cowgirls.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday February 25, 2023

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard 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 Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/59512.html

Odetta- Mr. Tambourine Man

Odetta Sings Dylan (RCA)

Ben Sures- Cry Like a Flood

The Story That Lived Here (Ben Sures)

Kat Goldman- Gypsy Girl

Gypsy Girl (Kat Goldman)

Jason Lang- Firewater

Handled with Care (Famgroup/Genison Music)

Ken Pearson, Penny Lang & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Penny Lang- It’s Not Easy

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Jason Lang- Senses of Your Leave

Handled with Care (Famgroup/Genison Music)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott- South Coast

South Coast (Red House)

Hoyt Axton- Evangelina

The A&M Years (A&M)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Good Shabbes

The Triumph of Assimilation (Rubinchik)

Bonnie Raitt- Just Like That

Just Like That (Redwing)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- That’s What Makes You Strong

Gentleman of Leisure (Sugar Hill)

Emily White- Stone in Your Pocket

Songs You Didn’t Know I Wrote About You (Squeezed Fresh Productions)

Benny Bleu- Lost Goose

March of the Mollusk (Benny Bleu Haravitch)

Taivi- Ukraiyna

Ukraiyna – single (Taivi)

John McCutcheon- Ukrainian Now

Ukrainian Now – single (Appalsongs)

Artists for Action- Which Side Are You On? *

Which Side Are You On? – single (Figs D Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Eric Bibb (2005)

Eric Bibb- Masters of War

Migration Blues (Stony Plain)

*The Artists for Action singers and musicians are, in alphabetical order, Black Umfolosi, Ray Bonneville, Bruce Cockburn, Chris Corrigan, Guy Davis, Ani DiFranco, Maria Dunn, Adam Hill, Bob Jensen, James Keelaghan, Richard Knox, Lucy MacNeil, Tony McManus, Moulettes, Oysterband, Richard Perso, Heather Rankin, Martin Simpson, and Jon Weaver.

The Vanier Playboys- Reach Out and Touch a Hand

Deux (The Vanier Playboys)

Ball & Chain & The Wreckers- More

Satisfied (Ball & Chain)

Mike Regenstreif & Lynn Miles (2013)

Lynn Miles- Hockey Night in Canada

Black Flowers Vol. 3 (Lynn Miles)

Moore & McGregor- Don’t Let Us Get Sick

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Eric Kilburn- Waiting at Your Door

Reckonings (Wellspring)

Shelley Posen- Long, Long Tunnel

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Doug Cox & Linda McRae- Ready for the Times to Get Better

Beyond the Great Pause (42 RPM)

Annie Capps- Two Different Things

How Can I Say This? (Yellow Room)

Jaimee Harris- Love is Gonna Come Again

Boomerang Town (Thirty Tigers)

Danny Britt- Friends and Memories

All Over the Map (Red Dawg Music)

Taraf Syriana- Abdul Karim’s Tango

Taraf Syriana (Lulaworld)

Reggie Garrett- Stagecoach Mary

York’s Lament & other stories (WonderDog)

Dom Flemons- Steel Pony Blues

Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys (Smithsonian Folkways)

Odetta- Rock Island Line

Lookin’ for a Home: Thanks to Leadbelly (M.C.)

Preservation Hall Jazz Band & Ani DiFranco- Freight Train

Preservation (Preservation Hall)

Julian Taylor- 100 Proof

Beyond the Reservoir (Howling Turtle)

Mavis Staples & Lucky Peterson- Wade in the Water

Spirituals & Gospel (Gitanes)

Dave Rudolf- Mary Don’t You Weep

Traditional (MoneyTree)

Reggie Harris- Sheep, Sheep/Little David

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

The Klezmatics & Joshua Nelson- Didn’t It Rain

Brother Moses Smote the Water (Piranha)

Last Forever with John Cohen- Dillard Chandler

No Place Like Home/Last Forever (2nd Story Sound)

John Cohen- The Story That the Crow Told Me

Stories the Crow Told Me (Acoustic Disc)

Grateful Dead- Uncle John’s Band

Workingman’s Dead (Warner Bros./Rhino)

The Dumptrucks- Friend of the Devil

Selections (Laughing Cactus)

The Persuasions- Ripple

Might as Well: The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead (Grateful Dead)

CornMaiz Stringband- Jubilee

Fresh-Picked Kentucky Music (CornMaiz Stringband)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on March 25. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Mavis Staples -- You Are Not Alone

MAVIS STAPLES
You Are Not Alone
Anti-
mavisstaples.com

Now over 70, and 60 years after she started singing with her family band, the Staple Singers, Mavis Staples remains a tour-de-force of gospel music (and blues, too.)

Her last couple of albums, We’ll Never Turn Back and Live: Hope at the Hideout, revisited the civil rights era that the Staples Singers provided much of the soundtrack to and she showed how vital and contemporary those songs remain. On You Are Not Alone, she breathes new life into some of the traditional and Pops Staples-composed spirituals that she was singing with the Staples Singers, mixing them with some equally formidable contemporary songs suggested by producer Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco).

Among the gospel highlights are an infectious revival tent version of Reverend Gary Davis’ “I Belong to the Band,” that could get anyone up out of their seats, an a cappella rendition of “Wonderful Saviour,” that has Mavis leading the harmony singers in call-and-response, and an arrangement of “In Christ There Is No East or West” built around Mavis’ lead vocals and Tweedy’s acoustic guitar playing. Speaking as a non-Christian, I can say one needn’t be a believer to believe in the power of Mavis’ singing or to appreciate the honest conviction that seems to be evident in every word she sings.

Highlights among the more contemporary songs include a powerful version of John Fogerty’s “Wrote a Song for Everyone,” a compassionate take on Tweedy’s “You Are Not Alone,” and slow, blues ballad rendition of Randy Newman’s “Losing You.”

There’s a whole of soul on this CD.

--Mike Regenstreif