Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – October 1, 2024: David Eisenstadt/Tim Hardin

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/595/67066.html

Themes: Part 1 – Conversation and Songs with David Eisenstadt; Part 2 – Songs of Tim Hardin (1941-1980)

Part 1 – Songs and Conversation with David Eisenstadt

David Eisenstadt, is author of the newly published book, Musicians Under the Radar, Volume 3: 42 Notable Canadian Jewish Performers.

Visit this link for more information on David’s books. https://undertheradarbook.com/

The next six songs punctuated my conversation with David Eisenstadt.

The Rankin Family- Rise Again

North Country (EMI)

Lorne Greene- The Search

Portrait of the West (RCA)

The Band- Rags and Bones

Northern Lights – Southern Cross (Capitol)

Robbie Robertson- Somewhere Down the Crazy River

Testimony (Universal)

Beyond the Pale- The Whole Thing

Ruckus (Borealis)

Tio Chirinho- Tempestuoso

Tempestuoso (Lulaworld)

Part 2 – Songs of Tim Hardin (1941-1980)

Tim Hardin- Tribute to Hank Williams

Tim Hardin 1/Tim Hardin 2 (Raven)

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- If I Were a Carpenter

South Coast (Red House)

Joan Baez- Don’t Make Promises

Ring Them Bells (Guardian)

Eric Andersen- Misty Roses

The Street was Always There (Appleseed)

Rickie Lee Jones- Reason to Believe

The Devil You Know (Concord)

Tim Hardin- The Lady Came from Baltimore

Live in Concert (Polygram)

Bill Staines- Black Sheep Boy

Going to the West (Red House)

Caroline Doctorow- How Can We Hang on to a Dream

Follow You Down (Narrow Lane)

Bobby Darin- Red Balloon

If I Were a Carpenter/Inside Out (Edsel)

Tim Hardin- Speak Like a Child

Tim Hardin 1/Tim Hardin 2 (Raven)

Next week: My Town and Other Towns.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday September 19, 2023: September Songs – That’s How the Summer Slips Away

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/595/61962.html

Theme: September Songs – That’s How the Summer Slips Away.

Steel Rail- That’s How the Summer Slips Away

River Song (Crossties)

Cheryl Wheeler- Summer’s Almost Over

Defying Gravity (Philo)

Peter, Paul & Mary- 75 Septembers

LifeLines (Warner Bros.)

Eric Bibb- Done Laid Around (Gotta Travel On)

Good Stuff (Earthbeat!)

Rosanne Cash- September When It Comes

Rules of Travel (Capitol)

Mike Regenstreif & David Francey (2019)

David Francey- Far End of Summer

Far End of Summer (Laker)

Night Sun- Summer Songs

One Moment of Grace (Borealis)

Rickie Lee Jones- September Song

Pieces of Treasure (BMG Modern)

Bill Morrissey- When Summer’s Ended

You’ll Never Get to Heaven (Philo)

Randall Kromm- Late September

Late September (Randall Kromm)

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

Garnet Rogers- Summer’s End

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

Julie Gold- It’s Hard to Love September

Try Love (Gadfly)

Bruce Murdoch- September 4 – 4 East

Unreleased 1969 tape – used with permission

Kate Wolf- September Song

Safe at Anchor (Rhino)

Jay Linden- Blue Skies of September

Satchel (Jay Linden)

Laura Smith & Mike Regenstreif (2013)

Laura Smith- My Bonny

As Long As I’m Dreaming (Borealis)

Rod Stewart- Maggie May

Every Picture Tells a Story (Mercury)

The Kennedys- Late September Breeze

Headwinds (The Kennedys)

Jesse DeNatale- Late September

The Hands of Time (Blue Arrow)

Lynn Miles- Deep September Blue

Winter (Lynn Miles)

Klezmer-ish- September Sun

Dusty Roads (Riverboat)

Next week: Remembering Gram Parsons (1946-1973).

--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.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif