Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 26, 2021: Songs of Randy Newman

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoons 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 prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/53908.html

Theme: Songs of Randy Newman

Randy Newman (Twitter)

Randy Newman- She Chose Me
Dark Matter (Nonesuch)

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee with Arlo Guthrie- Sail Away
Sonny & Brownie (A&M)
Randy Newman- It’s Lonely at the Top
Sail Away (Reprise)
Dave Van Ronk- Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places (Gazell)
The Duhks- Political Science
Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman (Sugar Hill)

Randy Newman- Burn On
Sail Away (Reprise)
Sussex- Dayton, Ohio – 1903
Parade Day (Lucky Bear)
Tracy Nelson- God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)
Homemade Songs/Come See About Me (Flying Fish)

Chris Smither- Old Kentucky Home
I’m a Stranger Too (Tomato)

Caroline Doctorow- I Think It’s Going to Rain Today
Dreaming in Vinyl (Narrow Lane)
Odetta- Mama Told Me Not to Come
Odetta Sings (Polydor)
Randy Newman- I’ll Be Home
Randy Newman Live (Warner Bros.)

The Del McCoury Band- Birmingham
Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman (Sugar Hill)
Judy Collins- Marie
Hard Times for Lovers (Elektra)
Randy Newman- Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)
Good Old Boys (Warner Bros.)
Madeleine Peyroux- Guilty
The Blue Room (Decca)
Michael Jerome Browne- Louisiana 1927
That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)
Mollie O'Brien- Rollin’
Big Red Sun (Sugar Hill)

Jeanie Stahl- Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father
Mysteries (Daring)
Peter Mulvey- In Germany Before the War
Ten Thousand Mornings (Signature Sounds)
Nina Simone- Baltimore
Baltimore (Epic/Legacy)
Randy Newman- Old Man on the Farm
Little Criminals (Warner Bros.)

Mary McCaslin- Living Without You
Way Out West (Philo)
Peggy Lee- Love Story
Is That All There Is (Capitol)
Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris- Feels Like Home
Trio II (Asylum)
Randy Newman- Harps and Angels
Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)

Next week: CKCU Funding Drive – Show Us the Money, Please

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Caroline Doctorow – Dreaming in Vinyl

CAROLINE DOCTOROW

Dreaming in Vinyl

Narrow Lane Records

carolinedoctorow.com 

Music, for a lot of baby boomers like me, was big deal when we were young (and remains a big deal for some of us). Acquiring a new LP from a favorite band or solo artist was often a major event. The songs meant something to us and so many have stayed with us over the decades.

Caroline Doctorow’s new CD, Dreaming in Vinyl, is a reminder of those days. Eight of the 10 songs are seemingly timeless interpretations of songs that first came out between 1965 and 1970 while the other two – Caroline’s originals – evoke that period.

Almost all of the covered songs on Dreaming in Vinyl were instantly familiar to me as they were drawn from LPs I owned back in the day (and most of those I now have on CD reissues). And the only song I didn’t really know, “Hard, Hard Year,” was because it wasn’t on one of the Hollies’ LPs I did have back then.

Caroline’s versions of these songs remain quite faithful to the original versions. Her always-lovely voice is well served by her own guitar playing and overdubbed harmonies, by violinist Chris Tedesco, and by the layered accompaniment of producer Pete Kennedy on all other instruments. Among my favorites are Bob Dylan’s “Time Passes Slowly,” Paul Simon (Simon and Garfunkel)’s “Dangling Conversation,” which chronicles a couple’s growing alienation from each other, and Richard Holler’s poignant topical song “Abraham, Martin and John,” an iconic hit by Dion after the assassinations of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

The versions of the Lou Reed and John Cale (Velvet Underground & Nico)’s “Sunday Morning,” Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” Donovan’s “Turquoise,” and John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Beatles)’s “Across the Universe” are all also noteworthy.

As mentioned, Caroline’s two original songs evoke that period when we were buying vinyl LPs. “To Be Here” is a beautiful love song and travelogue. “That’s How I’ll Remember You,” is a lovely farewell written for Caroline’s father, the acclaimed novelist E.L. Doctorow, who died last year.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Judy Collins – Strangers Again

JUDY COLLINS

Strangers Again

Wildflower/Cleopatra

judycollins.com

Fifty-five years after the release of her first LP, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, Judy Collins remains a remarkable singer with one of the most elegantly beautiful of voices – a voice that moves seemingly effortlessly from folk music to art songs and pop music.

Strangers Again, Judy’s latest album, much of which leans toward pop music, is a collection of duets with 12 male singers – some of whom I’ve been listening to for decades and some of whom I’d not heard of until now. As well, some of the songs were familiar to me while others I’d never heard before.

Among the standout tracks is Judy and Willie Nelson’s haunting version of Dave Carter’s “When I Go,” a song that turned out to be prophetic as Dave, a brilliant songwriter who only emerged in his mid-40s, died suddenly from a heart attack just weeks before his 50th birthday in 2002. With the most folk-oriented arrangement on the album, Judy and Willie capture the deep Native American spiritualism at the essence of the song.

Another standout is a version of Leonard Cohen’s sublime composition “Hallelujah” with Bhi Bhiman. Although the song has been covered to death by other artists, I’ve always thought it was almost written with Judy’s voice in mind and – especially given how many of Leonard’s songs Judy has recorded over the years – I’m surprised she hasn’t done before now.

Also among the highlights are the new versions of Ian Tyson’s “Someday Soon” with Jimmy Buffett and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” with Don McLean, two of Judy’s greatest hits from decades ago, and Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home” with Jackson Browne.

Judy Collins and Mike Regenstreif (2014).

Judy will be here in Ontario next month for three concerts on Friday, March 11, at Southminster United Church here in Ottawa (which I’m highly looking forward to); Saturday, March 12, at Hugh’s Room in Toronto; and Sunday, March 13, at Aeolian Hall in London. All three concerts will be opened by my old friend Garnet Rogers.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Sussex – Parade Day

SUSSEX

Parade Day

Lucky Bear Records

sussexmusic.ca

I’ve known Montreal-based singer-songwriter Rob Lutes a long time and have enjoyed watching (and listening) to him develop as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and performer. He knows well how to combine his gritty voice and fluid, blues-based guitar playing into something very compelling. With Sussex, Rob has taken his music to a new level.

Sussex is a collaboration of Rob, who is rooted in folk and blues, and vibraphonist Michael Emenau, whose roots are in classical music and jazz. Rob and Michael played together 25 or so years ago as high school students in New Brunswick and began collaborating again after Michael moved to Montreal in 2011.

Parade Day, the first Sussex album, includes five songs written or co-written by Rob, one by Michael, and five of their songwriting collaborations. They also include a charming cover of Randy Newman’s “Dayton, Ohio – 1903.”

Rob plays acoustic guitar and fronts the band as lead singer while Michael is heard throughout on vibes and occasionally on percussion and piano. And they get some great backup from the likes of guitarist Ben Charest (best known for his infectious film score for Les Triplettes de Bellville); trumpet and flugelhorn player Ivanhoe Jolicoeur; upright bassist Sage Reynolds; and violinist Josh Zubot.

The album opens strongly with “Hollow Log,” a song about maintaining a sense of balance in the face of life’s problems. The vibes weaving in and around the vocal lines give the song an irresistible jazzy-rootsy flavor.

The jazz-meets-roots fusion really comes alive on such numbers as “Truth and Lies,” with some nimble, Reinhardt-like guitar lines by Ben; “Superman’s Escape,” a bouncy song with the vibes, guitars, violin, bass and horn all contributing to the toe-tapping groove; and “Sparkle Blues,” a slow, jazz ballad.

I also really enjoyed Sussex’s take on “Dayton, Ohio – 1903,” a gentle period piece from Randy Newman’s classic 1972 album Sail Away (which was also memorably covered on Priscilla Herdman’s Forgotten Dreams – a 1980 album I had a little something to do with).

Sussex has already launched Parade Day in Quebec City and Montreal. Several more launch concerts are coming up including a show on March 25 here in Ottawa at Irene’s.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif