Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 20, 2026: Duets

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/595/73740.html

Theme: Duets.

Odetta & Dr. John- Please Send Me Someone to Love 

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Mike Regenstreif, Anne Hills & Tom Paxton (2001)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Pathfinder

Together Again (Appalsongs)

Mike Regenstreif & Arlo Guthrie (1996)

Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger- Midnight Special

More Together Again In Concert (Rising Son)

Mike Regenstreif & Priscilla Herdman (1978)

Utah Phillips & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Priscilla Herdman & Utah Phillips- I Remember Loving You

Darkness into Light (Flying Fish)

John Gorka & Mike Regenstreif (2012)

Anne Hills & John Gorka- Spoon River

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

Mike Regenstreif & Steve Gillette (1994)

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen- Jay Gould’s Daughter

Live in Concert (Compass Rose)

Over the Moon- Darcy Farrow

Chinook Waltz (Borealis)

Martin Grosswendt & Susanne Salem-Schatz- How Can You Have the Blues

New Songs, Old Hats (Martin Grosswendt & Susanne Salem-Schatz)

Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris- Sisters of Mercy

Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (Asylum)

Perla Batalla & David Hidalgo- Ballad of the Absent Mare

Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)

Jennifer Warnes & Leonard Cohen- Joan of Arc

Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen – 20th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

Willie Nelson & Kimmie Rhodes- I Just Drove By

Just One Love (Justice)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Tom Russell & Ian Tyson- Navajo Rug

Cowboy’d All to Hell (Frontera)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Morrissey (2005)

Bill Morrissey & Greg Brown- Summer Wages

Friend of Mine (Philo)

Laurie MacAllister & David Glaser- Birches

The Lies the Poets Tell (Laurie MacAllister)

Catherine MacLellan & John Connolly- The Call

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan (True North)

Reggie Harris & Colleen Kattau- Maybe It’s Love 

On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Rick Fines (2011)

Rick Fines & Suzie Vinnick- How’d You Know I Missed You

Nothing Halfway (Rick Fines & Suzie Vinnick)

John Prine & Dolores Keane- In a Town This Size

In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy)

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

Archie Fisher & Garnet Rogers- The Outside Track

The Best Times After All: Live (Snow Goose Songs)

Eliza Gilkyson & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Mike Regenstreif & JimmyLaFave (2017)

Eliza Gilkyson & Jimmy LaFave- Down by the Riverside

Secularia (Red House)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mary Flower- I’ve Got the Big River Blues

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Next week: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 9, 2025: The Dark

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/595/73159.html

Theme: The Dark.

This time of year – the weeks leading to the winter solstice – is the darkest time of the year. As well, with the erosion of democracy and human rights, the spread of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and homophobia, ongoing wars and the waning belief in proven science typified by climate change denial and vaccine conspiracy theories, we are living in dark times. So, these songs all relate in some way or another to the dark.

Guy Clark- The Dark

The Dark (Sugar Hill)

Steel Rail- Darkest Night

Coming Home (Crossties)

Kate Campbell- Dark Night of the Soul

For the Living of These Days (Large River Music)

Slaid Cleaves- Through the Dark

Together Through the Dark (Candy House Music)

Ana Egge- Ready for the Darkness

Sharing in the Spirit (StorySound)

Arlo Guthrie- Darkest Hour

Amigo (Rising Son)

Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris- In My Hour of Darkness

Grievous Angel (Reprise)

Tuba Sknny- Echo in the Dark

Some Kind-a-Shake (Tuba Sknny)

Eliza Gilkyson- Dark Ages

Dark Ages (Realiza)

Caroline Doctorow- Children of Darkness

Another Country: The Songs of Mimi and Richard Fariña (Narrow Lane)

Eric Andersen- Darkness

Eric Andersen in (Spoken) Pieces (EARecords)

Leonard Cohen with Cantor Gideon Zelermyer & The Shaar Hashomayim Choir- You Want It Darker 

You Want It Darker (Columbia)

Chris Rusin & Katie Wise- The Dark

Songs from a Secret Room (Rushing River)

Michael Jerome Browne- The Road is Dark

The Road is Dark (Borealis)

Clela Errington- Full Moon Dark Time

Walkin’ Each Other Home (Clela Errington)

Tom Russell- Darkness Visible

Blood and Candle Smoke (Shout! Factory)

Jamie Anderson- Run to the Darkness

The Truth Appears (Tsunami)

Johnny Cash- I See a Darkness

American III: Solitary Man (American)

Rob Lutes- Walk in the Dark

Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

Carrie Newcomer- Singing in the Dark

A Great Wild Mercy (Available Light)

Chris Rawlings- Lifting the Darkness 

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Dave Clarke- In the Falling Dark

The Healing Garden (Crossties)

Next week: A Hanukkah Concert with Nefesh Mountain and More Songs for the Holiday.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 22, 2025: Flood Water

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/595/71197.html

Theme: Flood Water.

There have always been floods but, with climate change, they’re happening more often and in more places. I began to think about this theme earlier this month as I watched the news coverage about the tragic floods in Texas.

Eric Bibb- Flood Water

Booker’s Guitar (Telarc)

Roomful of Blues- Texas Flood

The First Album (Hyena)

Josh White- Backwater Blues

Empty Bed Blues (Elektra)

Guy Davis- Georgia Flood

You Don’t Know My Mind (Red House)

Big Bill Broonzy- Southern Flood Blues

Big Bill’s Blues (Portrait)

Michael Jerome Browne- Louisiana 1927

That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)

Joan Baez- Money for Floods

Gone from Danger (Guardian)

The Fairfield Four- Noah

I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray (Warner Bros.)

Joel Mabus- The Preacher & the Flood

Retold (Fossil)

Murray McLauchlan- Red River Flood

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

Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley- Manitoba Flood

Scrap Metal Blues (Electro-Fi)

Johnny Cash- Five Feet High and Rising

Change of Address: The Singles As and Bs, 1958-1962 (Jasmine)

Tom Russell & Iris DeMent- Big Water

The Long Way Around (HighTone)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott- Rising High Water Blues

A Stranger Here (Anti-)

Martin Grosswendt- Mississippi Heavy Water Blues

Call and Response (Les Moore Productions)

Bill Staines- Louisiana Storm

The Second Million Miles (Red House)

John McCutcheon- Hell and High Water

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

Muireann Bradleu- When the Levee Breaks

I Kept These Old Blues (Decca/Verve Forecast)

Happy Traum- Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)

Just for the Love of It (Lark’s Nest Music)

Joe Ely- A Flood On Our Hands

Streets of Sin (Rounder)

Michael Jerling- After the Flood

Halfway Home (Fool’s Hill Music)

Tom Rush, Jamie Hartford, Odetta, Emmylou Harris, Carolyn Hester, Nanci Griffith & Frank Christian- Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm

Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (Elektra)

Next week: Remembering Robert Resnik (1953-2025).

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 15, 2025: Blues in the Night

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/595/71087.html

Theme: Blues in the Night – all the songs have something or other to do with nighttime.

Eva Cassidy- Blues in the Night

Eva By Heart (Blix Street)

Dr. John- Such a Night

The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1972 (Omnivore)

Judy Henske- Every Night When the Sun Goes In

The Elektra Albums: Judy Henske (Ace)

Stephen Barry Band- Every Night About This Time

Bluesville (Bros)

Michael Jerome Browne- Black Nights

That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis- Night Life

Two Men with the Blues (Blue Note)

Tom Northcott- Night in the City

Sunny Goodge Street: The Warner Bros. Recordings (Wounded Bird)

Kim Wallach- Dark and Rainy Night

Chatter of the Finches (Black Socks Press)

Joni Mitchell- Rainy Night House

Ladies of the Canyon (Reprise)

Leonard Cohen- The Night of Santiago

Thanks for the Dance (Columbia/Legacy)

ES:MO (Elizabeth Shephers & Michael Occhipinti)- Night Comes On

The Weight of Hope (ES:MO)

Eliza Gilkyson- Dark Night of the Soul

Dark Ages (Realiza)

Susie Burke & David Surette- A Healing In This Night

Sometimes In the Evening (Madrina Music)

Anne Hills- Acquainted with the Night

Accidental August (Hand & Heart Music)

Ana Egge- Stay the Night

Is It the Kiss (StorySound)

Kerri Powers- Train in the Night

Kerri Powers (Kerri Powers)

David Amram- Subway Night

Subway Night (RCA)

Montreal- A Summer’s Night

A Summer’s Night (Stormy Forest)

Bill Morrissey- Summer Night

Standing Eight (Philo)

Tom Russell- The Night the Chinese Restaurant Burned Down

Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)

Mel Tormé- Blues in the Night

Tormé (Verve)

Next week: Flood Water.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 8, 2025: A Tribute to Doc Watson

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/595/69695.html

Theme: A Tribute to Doc Watson (1923-2012).

Doc Watson was one of the most influential guitarists and singers of folk and related musical styles of all time. Blind since infancy, Doc was from Deep Gap, North Carolina and began his professional career playing electric guitar in a country and western band in the early 1950s. Doc had a deep repertoire of traditional folk songs and by the 1960s was performing folk music on acoustic guitar and banjo. Doc died in 2012 at age 89.

Doc & Merle Watson- Brown’s Ferry Blues

Doc Watson On Stage (Vanguard)

Doc & Merle Watson- Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down

Doc Watson On Stage (Vanguard)

Bill Garrett- Winters Night

Seems to Me (Borealis)

Jody Stecher- Way Downtown

Going Up On the Mountain (Acoustic Disc)

Michael Jerome Browne- The Coo Coo

Michael Jerome Browne & The Twin Rivers String Band (Borealis)

Si Kahn- To Hear Doc Watson Play

Thanksgiving (Strictly Country)

Doc Watson- Deep River Blues

Doc Watson (Vanguard)

Jean Ritchie & Doc Watson- Go Dig My Grave

Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson At Folk City (Smithsonian Folkways)

Doc & Merle Watson- Freight Train Boogie

Elementary Doctor Watson (Tomato)

Mitch Greenhill & Mayne Smith- Freight Train Blues

Storm Coming (Folklore Productions)

Maria Muldaur with Doc & Merle Watson- Honey Babe Blues

Waitress in a Donut Shop (Reprise)

Ian & Sylvia- Handsome Molly

Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)

Tom Paxton- Leaving London

The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) (Rhino Handmade)

Doc & Richard Watson- St. James Infirmary

Third Generation Blues (Sugar Hill)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- St. James Hospital

Heartbeats Accelerating (Private)

Paul Mills- Doc’s Guitar

The Other Side of the Glass (Borealis) 

Peter Rowan- Doc Watson Morning

The Old School (Compass)

Rory Block & Lee Berg- Your Long Journey

Woodstock Mountains: More Music from Mud Acres (Rounder)

Doc & Merle Watson- I’m a Stranger Here

Sittin’ Here Pickin’ the Blues (Rounder)

Happy Traum- Willie Moore

Relax Your Mind (Kicking Mule)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Shady Grove

Voice on the Wind (Rounder)

Jim Ringer- Sittin’ On Top of the World

Any Old Wind That Blows (Philo)

Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick- Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar

Together (Rounder)

Doc & Merle Watson- Along the Road

Watson Country (Flying Fish)

Doc & Merle Watson- Snowbird

Two Days in November (Poppy)

Doc & Merle Watson- Down Yonder

Songs Doc Didn’t Sing (FLI)

Next week: “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir.”

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 27, 2024: Walking Blues

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/595/66546.html

Theme: “Walking Blues”

Robert Johnson- Walking Blues

The Complete Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)

Kate McGarrigle- Walking Song

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Mike Regenstreif, Bruce Murdoch & Sneezy Waters (2014)

Bruce Murdoch- I’d Walk a Thousand Miles

Sometimes I Wonder Why the World (Bruce Murdoch)

Ynana Rose- Midlife Walkin’ Blues

Under a Carhedral Sky (Ynana Rose Music)

Sneezy Waters & His Very Fine Band- Walkin’ Round Town

Live (Sneezy Waters)

Ronney Abramson & Mike Regenstreif (2016)

Ronney Abramson- Walking Me Home

Jukebox of Paris (Castor Island Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Arlo Guthrie (1996)

Arlo Guthrie- Walkin’ Down the Line

Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie Together In Concert (Rising Son)

Eddie Pennington- Walking the Strings

Walks the Strings…and Even Sings (Smithsonian Folkways)

Fats Domino- Walking to New Orleans

Fats Rocks (Bear Family)

Mike Regenstreif & Lucy Kaplansky (2012)

Lucy Kaplansky- These Boots are Made for Walking

Last Days of Summer (Lucyricky)

Beth DeSombre- Just Keep Walking

Holding the Threads (Beth DeSombre)

HotCha!- Walkin’ After Midnight

Dust Bowl Roots: Songs for the New Depression (HotCha!)

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- That’s Why I’m Walking

Back to New Orleans (Fantasy)

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

Michael Jerome Browne- Walk On

Double (Borealis)

Maria Muldaur- Walkin’ One and Only

Maria Muldaur (Reprise)

Gus Cannon- Walk Right In

Walk Right In (Stax)

Eric Bibb- Out Walkin’

Blues People (Stony Plain)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2018)

Tom Russell- Walking On the Moon

Old Songs Yet to Sing (Frontera)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Staines (1993)

Bill Staines- Walk Down By the Water

The First Million Miles (Rounder)

Mike Regenstreif & Jimmy LaFave (2017)

Jimmy LaFave & Ruthie Foster- Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Cimarron Manifesto (Red House)

Eliza Gilkyson & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom (2022)

Eliza Gilkyson- When You Walk On

Paradise Hotel (Red House)

James Keelaghan- Walk On

Second-Hand (Borealis)

The Marigolds- When I’m Walking with You

That’s the State I’m In (The Marigolds)

Mike Regenstreif & Quartette: Caitlin Hanford, Sylvia Tyson, Cindy Church & Gwen Swick (1997)

Quartette- I Walk These Rails

In the Beauty of the Day (Outside Music)

John McCutcheon- The Man Walking His Dog

22 Days (Appalsongs)

Arnie Naiman & Chris Coole- Walking the Dog

5 Strings Attached with No Backing (Merriweather)

Next week: Songs of Work and Jobs, Labour and Labour History, Volume 2.

--Mike Regenstreif

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

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 & Glover – Spider 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

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 5, 2023: Songs from my top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2023

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/595/62989.html

Theme: Songs from my top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2023.

The annotated and illustrated list is posted on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at this link.

Number 10 – Gettin’ Together by Michael Jerome Browne

Michael Jerome Browne with Mary Flower & John Sebastian- Coffee Blues

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Michael Jerome Browne with John Sebastian, Happy Traum & John McColgan- Living with the Blues.

Number 9 – The Breath Between by David Francey

David Francey- The Breath Between 

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

David Francey- Two Shadows 

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

Number 8 – Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert by Cat Power

Cat Power- Desolation Row

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

Number 7 – Savoy by Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal- Stompin’ at the Savoy

Savoy (Stony Plain)

Taj Mahal- Sweet Georgia Brown

Savoy (Stony Plain)

Number 6 – Vol. 2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette by Too Sad for the Public

Too Sad for the Public featuring Ana Egge- Shake Sugaree 

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound) 

Too Sad for the Public featuring Rayna Gellert- Train Your Child

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound) 

Number 5 – Home by Eliza Gilkyson

Eliza Gilkyson- Sunflowers

Home (Realiza)

Eliza Gilkyson & Robert Earl Keen- How Deep 

Home (Realiza) 

Number 4 – At the End of the Day by Sylvia Tyson

Sylvia Tyson- Long Chain of Love

At the End of the Day (Stony Plain)

Sylvia Tyson- At the End of the Day

At the End of the Day (Stony Plain)

Number 3 – Together by Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- This Campfire 

Together (Appalseed Productions) 

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Christmas in the Desert

Together (Appalseed Productions) 

Number 2 – The Building and Other Songs by Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Yeder Eyner Veys (Everybody Knows) 

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Tom Trauberts Kloglid (Tom Traubert’s Blues) 

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

Number 1 – Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango by Payadora Tango Ensemble

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Aviva Chernick- Silent Tears

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Lenka Lichtenberg & Marta Kosiorek- Bitter Winter

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Note: I’m taking the next four weeks off and Stranger Songs will feature some repeat shows from 2021. You can see the playlists and stream the shows by clicking on the links.

December 12: Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah and Other Hanukkah Songs.

December 19: Winter Solstice & Christmas.

December 26: Songs and Poems of Leonard Cohen – The Early Years.

January 2: The First Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert.

New programs will resume on January 9.

--Mike Regenstreif