Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – September 2, 2025: "Crazy Blues" and Other Crazy Songs

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/595/71788.html

Theme: “Crazy Blues” and other Crazy Songs.

Mamie Smith- Crazy Blues

The Rough Guide to Blues Women (World Music Network)

Patsy Cline- Crazy

The Unforgettable Patsy Cline (Polygram)

Steven Fromholz- I’d Have to Be Crazy

A Rumor in My Own Time (Capitol)

Rosalie Sorrels- We Were Kinda Crazy Then 

Travelin’ Lady Rides Again (Green Linnet)

Lennie Gallant- She’s Gonna Drive You Crazy

Shelter from the Storms (Lennie Gallant)

J.J. Cale- Crazy Mama

Naturally (Mercury)

Ball & Chain & The Wreckers- Crazy Arms

Live at the Bayou (Ball & Chain)

Durham County Poets- Good Kind of Crazy

Out of the Woods (Durham County Poets)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Crazy Words, Crazy Tune

Greatest Hits (Vanguard)

Leon Redbone- I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby

Whistling in the Wind (Rounder)

John Prine- Egg & Daughter Night, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967 (Crazy Bone)

The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Bebop Cowboys- Crazy Rhythm

Début (Bebop Cowboys)

Tom Paxton- Crazy John

Tom Paxton 6 (Elektra)

Michael Smith- Crazy Mary

Love Letter on a Fish (Tales from the Tavern)

Carla Gover & Brett Ratliff- Crazy

Kentucky Queen (Redbird)

Russ Kelley- Crazy Shades of Blue

Crazy Shades of Blue (Ark Road Music Productions)

Billie Holiday- Crazy He Calls Me

Lady’s Decca Days, Volume One (Decca)

Sunny and Her Joy Boys- You’re Driving Me Crazy

Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys (Stony Plain)

J. Reissner- Crazy Swing

Portrait in Blue (J. Reissner)

Ana Gasteyer- Crazy People

I’m Hip (Henry’s Girl)

Ian Robb- Champion at Driving ‘Em Crazy

Ian Robb & Hang the Piper (Folk-Legacy)

Leonard Cohen- Crazy to Love You

Old Ideas (Columbia)

Shirley Eikhard- Crazy from the Heat

Going Home (Artisan Music)

Tom Russell- The Other Side of Crazy

Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall? (HighTone)

Barbara Dane- Crazy Blues

On My Way (Dreadnaught Music)

Next week: Part 1 – Songs and Conversation with author David Eisenstadt; Part 2 – Riding in My Car.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 8, 2025: Peggy Seeger at 90

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/595/70985.html

Theme: Peggy Seeger at 90.

Peggy Seeger – who I’ve known for many years – turned 90 on June 17. Peggy was born in 1935 to a musical and activist family. Her father, Charles Seeger, was a musicologist, composer and folklorist. Her mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger, was a composer and musicologist. Her older half-brother was Pete Seeger, and her other siblings were Mike Seeger, Barbara Seeger and Penny Seeger. Peggy’s life partner from the 1950s until his death in 1989 was the preeminent British folksinger and songwriter Ewan MacColl.

The show includes some of Peggy’s original songs, as well as traditional folksongs and songs written by other songwriters that were part of her repertoire from some of Peggy’s many recordings and collaborations, and by other artists.

Peggy Seeger- Sing About These Hard Times

Teleology (Red Grape)

Peggy Seeger with Barbara Seeger & Penny Seeger - Five Nights Drunk

Folk Songs with The Seegers (Prestige)

Sheesham & Lotus & ‘Son- I Truly Understand

Clear the Table (Sepiaphone)

Kate & Edith- Pretty Saro

Live at Kelso Hall (Kate & Edith)

Ian & Sylvia- Lady of Carlisle

Four Strong Winds (Vanguard)

Peggy Seeger- When I was Single

The Folkways Years 1955-1992: Songs of Love and Politics (Smithsonian Folkways)

Linda Ronstadt with Dolly Parton- I Never Will Marry

Simple Dreams: 40th Anniversary Edition (Elektra/Rhino)

Mike Seeger & Peggy Seeger- Little Birdie

Fly Down Little Bird (Appleseed)

Bonnie Dobson- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Philadelphia Folk Festival – 40th Anniversary (Sliced Bread)

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger- Dirty Old Town

Black and White: The Ewan MacColl Definitive Collection (Cooking Vinyl)

Peggy Seeger- On This Very Day

An Odd Collection (Rounder)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore

Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Peggy Seeger- Tell My Sister

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Rufus Wainwright & John Legend- Heading for Home

Folkocracy (BMG)

Sue Foley- Freight Train

One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar (Stony Plain)

Rosalie Sorrels with Peggy Seeger- Schofield Mine Disaster

Strangers in Another Country: The Songs of Bruce “Utah” Phillips (Red House)

Fourtold- Ballad of Springhill

Fourtold (Appleseed)

Peggy Seeger- It’s a Free World

An Odd Collection (Rounder)

Robin Greenstein- I’m Gonna Be an Engineer

Images of Women, Vol. 2 (Windy)

Peggy Seeger with Irene Pyper-Scott- Fatal Flower Garden

Live (Appleseed)

Peggy Seeger- Bring Me Home

Bring Me Home (Appleseed)

Next week: Blues in the Night.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 17, 2025: Music for 88 Keys

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/595/70697.html

Theme: Music for 88 Keys – all of the songs and instrumentals feature the piano as a primary instrument.

Philip Dyson- The Entertainer

Scott Joplin, The King of Ragtime: Complete Piano Works (Decca)

Perla Batalla- Sisters of Mercy

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Time On My Hands

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Talk to Me of Mendocino

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Pink Martini with Rufus Wainwright & The Von Trapps- Kitty Come Home

Get Happy (Audiogram)

Last Forever- Lonesome Day

Acres of Diamonds (StorySound)

Hoyle Osborne- The Baltimore Todalo

Panazon: Pan American Café Music (Ripple)

Odetta & Dr. John- Oh Papa

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Jay McShann with Johnnie Johnson- Kansas City (Revisited)

Goin’ to Kansas City (Stony Plain)

Alberta Hunter- Always

Amtrak Blues (Columbia)

Tom Waits- Tom Traubert’s Blues

Small Change (Asylum)

Mary Chapin Carpenter with Anais Mitchell- Home is a Song

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers)

Rosalie Sorrels- Moments of Happiness

Moments of Happiness (Philo)

Suzie Brown- Songs are My Tears

Songs Worth Saving (Suzie Brown)

Jesse Winchester- The Easy Way

Third Down, 110 to Go (Stony Plain)

Lee Hunter & The Gatherers- Farewell, Farewell

Beneath My Feet (Birds Tale)

Penny Lang- Nama Says

Yes (She-Wolf)

Julian Fauth- Bad John

The Weak and the Wicked, the Hard and the Strong (Electro-Fi)

Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon- Chicago House Rent Party

Songs of Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon (Folkways)

Count Basie & Oscar Peterson- S & J Blues

Satch and Josh (Pablo)

Next week: 1965.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 15, 2025: “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir”

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/595/69786.html

Theme: “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir” – all the songs have something or other to do with animals.

Bill Staines- A Place in the Choir

The First Million Miles (Rounder)

Ian & Sylvia- Old Blue

Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)

Ron Hynes- A Good Dog is Lost

Get Back Change (Borealis)

James Talley- Somewhere in the Stars (A Song for Diego)

Ballads, Bandits and Blues (Cimarron)

Bob Dylan with Hilda Harris, Albertine Robinson & Maeretha Stewart- All the Tired Horses

Another Self Portrait 1969-1971: The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (Columbia/Legacy)

Garnet Rogers- Small Victory

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

Amy Speace- There Used to Be Horses Here

There Used to Be Horses Here (Windbone)

Priscilla Herdman- Waltzing with Bears

Stardreamer (Alacazam)

Rosalie Sorrels- Mehitabel’s Theme

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Phil Harris- Thomas O’Malley Cat

Disney’s Jazz Album: Big Band & Swing (Disneyland)

Cisco Houston- The Cat Came Back

The Folkways Years 1944-1961 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Tom Russell- Gallo del Cielo

Old Songs Yet to Sing (Frontera)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Man Gave Names to All the Animals

Get Up and Do Right (Community Music)

Odetta- The Fox

At the Gate of Horn (Tradition)

Paul Geremia- Foolish Frog

I Really Don’t Mind Livin’/My Kinda Place (Flying Fish)

Dave Van Ronk, Anne Hills & Cindy Mangsen- Froggy Went A-Courting

Never Grow Up (Flying Fish)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo- Mbube (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)

Gift of the Tortoise (Music for Little People)

Amelia Hogan- The Snow Hare

Burnished (Amelia Hogan)

The Marigolds- Inchworm

The Marigolds (The Marigolds)

Oscar Brand- The Derby Ram

The Riverside Folklore Series, Volume Three: Singing the New Traditions (Riverside)

Deborah Robins- The Three Ravens

Lone Journey (Zippety Whippet Music) 

James Keelaghan- Red-Winged Blackbird

Home (Jericho Beach Music)

Jackie Washington- The Snake

Midnight Choo Choo (Borealis)

Dave Van Ronk- I’m Proud to Be a Moose

Peter and the Wolf (Alacazam)

Next week: Songs for Earth Day.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – March 22, 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/128/69494.html

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

Gaenet Rogers- First Day of Spring

Shining Thing (Snow Goose Songs)

Ian Tyson- Springtime

Cowboyography (Stony Plain)

Frida’s Brow- Spring

Frida’s Brow (Frida’s Brow)

Wade Hemsworth with The Mountain City Four- The Blackfly Song

Wade Hemsworth with The Mountain City Four (Peter Weldon)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Foolish You

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Katie Moore- Heart Like a Wheel

Montebello (Katie Moore)

Patti LuPone- Saratoga Summer Song

A Life in Notes (Center Stage)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Loudon Wainwright III- Green Green Rocky Road

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Dave Van Ronk- Somebody Else, Not Me

Somebody Else, Not Me (Philo)

Chris Walz- Been All Around This World

All I Got and Gone (Chris Walz Music)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- Ain’t Nobody Got the Blues Like Me

Moments of Happiness (Philo)

Leonard Cohen- The Old Revolution

Songs from a Room (Columbia/Legacy)

Perla Batalla- Everybody Knows

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

NEeMA- Unspoken

Watching You Think (Neemaste/Sony)

Kim Beggs- Little Tin Cup

Beneath Your Skin (Out of a Paperbag Productions)

Boreal- Hallelujah

Winterbirds (Boreal)

Manus McGuire- Irish Jig Set

The Copperplate Sessions (Manus McGuire)

La Nef featuring Kate Bevan-Baker- Dark Eyed Sailor

Red Sky at Night (La Nef)

La Bottine Souriante featuring André Marchand- Le rossignol sauvage

Chic & Swell (Mille-Pattes)

La Bottine Souriante featuring Michel Bordeleau- Un coup madame

La Bottine Souriante en Spectacle (Mille-Pattes)

Chris Coole & John Showman- Steamboat Whistle Blues

Much Further Out Than Inevitable: A Fiddle and Banjo Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford (Chris Coole)

Rose Cousins- Denoument

Conditions of Love Vol. 1 (Nettwerk)

Rhiannon Giddens- Shake Sugaree

Tomorrow is My Turn (Nonesuch)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo- Rain Rain Beautiful Rain

Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Shanachie)

Mike Regenstreif & Tim Grimm (2025)

Tim Grimm & The Family Band- Gonna Be Great

A Stranger in This Time (Vault)

Artists for Action- Which Side Are You On? *

Which Side Are You On? – single (Bon Jensen)

*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.

Cassie & Maggie- Bow Down

Gold and Coal (Cassie and Maggie)

Rube & Rake- Stephen

Good Time After Bad (LHM)

Rum Ragged- The Road to Lushes Bight (Island Stock)

Gone Jiggin’ (LHM)

The Twangtown Paramours- Stars Without a Heaven

The Wind Will Change Again (Inside Edge)

John McCutcheon- Tikkun Olam

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

Louise Coombe & Mike Regenstreif (2024(

Louise Coombe- Brothers in Arms

Paris (Zoe Cat Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2009)

Tom Paxton- If I Pass This Way Again

It Ain’t Easy (Flying Fish)

Alice Howe & Freebo- Twilight

Live (Know Howe Music)

Tom Mitchell & Mike Regenstreif & Tom Mitchell (1999)

Tom Mitchell- Time Piece

Tom Mitchell (Philo)

Mike Regenstreif & Lucy Kaplansky (2012)

Lucy Kaplansky- No Place to Fall

The Lucy Story: unreleased and rare tracks, 1976-2023 (Lucyricky)

Stephen Fearing- The Empathist

The Empathist (Ging)

Willie P. Bennett- Music in Your Eyes

Tryin’ to Start Out Clean (Bnatural Music)

The Seldom Scene- White Line

Remains to Be Scene (Smithsonian Folkways)

Sultans of String featuring Shannon Thunderbird- Black Winged Raven

Walking Through the Fire (Sultans of String)

HuDost- Fire of Eden

The Monkey in the Crown (Open Sesame Music)

Billy Novick & Guy Van Duser- Gershwin Medley

The New Pennywhistle Album (Green Linnet)

Antonio Andrade- Loony Tunes Medley: This is It! (Intro)/The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down/Merrily We Roll Along/This is It! (Outro)

Here We Go! (Life Shakes)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on April 19. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – March 11, 2025: Remembering David Johansen; “Hello in There”

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/595/69289.html

Themes: Part 1 – Remembering David Johansen (1950-2025); Part 2 – “Hello in There” and other songs that reference the elderly.

Part 1 – Remembering David Johansen (1950-2025)

David Johansen, who died on February 28 at age 75, was a singer and actor who first gained fame in the early-1970s as lead singer of the proto-punk glam band, The New York Dolls. In the mid-1980s, he began performing jazz, jump blues and novelty songs as his lounge singer alter-ego Buster Poindexter. And, in the 1990s, he started performing traditional folk and blues and formed a band called David Johansen & The Harry Smiths.

Buster Poindexter- Hot Hot Hot

Buster Poindexter (RCA)

Buster Poindexter & Soozie Tyrell- Saturday Night Fish Fry

Buster’s Happy Hour (Rhino)

Buster Poindexter- Screwy Music

Buster Poindexter (RCA)

Bill Morrissey & David Johansen- Love Arrives

Night Train (Philo)

David Johansen & The Harry Smiths- James Alley Blues

David Johansen and the Harry Smiths (Chesky)

David Johansen & The Harry Smiths- Kassie Jones

Shaker (Chesky)

David Johansen & The Harry Smiths- I Can’t Be Satisfied

Shaker (Chesky)

Part 2 – “Hello in There” and other songs that reference the elderly.

Reggie Harris- Hello In There

On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Pete Seeger- Get Up and Go

Together In Concert (Rising Son)

Nancy White- Seamless Dance of the Old Folks

Gaelic Envy and Other Torch Songs (Borealis)

Tom Paxton, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Grandpa Danced the Charleston

All New (Community Music)

Shirley Eikhard- Emily Remembers

Going Home (Artisan Music)

Kathy Mattea- Where’ve You Been

Willow in the Wind (Mercury)

Judy Collins- In the Twilight

Bohemian (Wildflower)

Anne Hills & Michael Smith- The Dutchman

Paradise Lost and Found (Redwing Music)

Finest Kind- The Goodnight-Loving Trail

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

Utah Phillips- All Used Up

The Long Memory (Red House)

Rosalie Sorrels- Feather Ben

Travelin’ Lady Rides Again (Green Linnet)

Eric Bogle- Now I’m Easy

Scraps of Paper (Flying Fish)

Stan Rogers- Sailor’s Rest Intro/Sailor’s Rest

Songs of a Lifetime: Home in Halifax (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Murray McLauchlan- Old Man’s Song

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

Next week: Canadian Places.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday November 30, 2024

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/128/67920.html

Willie Nelson- Last Leaf

Last Leaf on the Tree (Legacy)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (1994)

Tom Paxton- Has Annie Been in Tonight

Up & Up (Mountain Railroad)

Bob Dylan- Annie’s Going to Sing Her Song

Another Self Portrait 1969-1971: The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (Columbia/Legacy)

Tom Paxton- When Annie Took Me Home

New Songs for Old Friends (Reprise)

Laurie Lewis- Central Square

Bluegrass Sings Paxton (Mountain Home)

Chris Rawlings & Mike Regenstreif (2007)

Chris Rawlings- Smoker’s Lullaby

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Jesse Winchester & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Jesse Winchester- Defying Gravity

Learn to Love It (Stony Plain)

Ronney Abramson & Mike Regenstreif (2016)

Ronney Abramson- Purify My River

Ronney Abramson (Capitol)

Bruce Murdoch- (Can I) Come Across to You

Bruce Murdoch (Radio Canada International)

Kevin Head & Mike Regenstreif (2013) photo: Vanessa Burnett

Kevin Head- Digby Lament

Hear Them Callin’ (Kevin Head)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- The Ring

Recordings Celebrating 50 Years of a Musical Partnership (Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl) 

Neale Eckstein- The Lighthouse (NE & Eric Schwartz)

Never Too Late (Neale Eckstein)

Howard Gladstone- Sea of Sorrow

Crazy Talk (Howard Gladstone)

Carolyn Shulman- No Sad Songs

Heart on a Wire (Carolyn Shulman)

Ball & Chain & The Wreckers- Man with the Pain

Satisfied (Moo Music)

Paul Mills- Stubbs Stomp

The Other Side of the Glass (Borealis)

Rufus Wainwright & Anohni- Going to a Town

Folkocracy (BMG)

Ferron- It Won’t Take Long

Shadows on a Dime (Lucy)

Moonfruits- Brittle Earth

Salt (Co-Op)

Jay Linden- Dreamers on a Sailing Ship

Ordinary Sunrise (Americana North)

Albert & Gage- I Used to be Lonesome

Burnin’ Moonlight (MoonHouse)

Efrat- We Just Need Love

We Just Need Love (Efrat)

Tom Mitchell & Mike Regenstreif (1999)

Tom Mitchell- Soap and Powder

Old Cloth (Yabut Music)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- The Pine

Live at the Great American Music Hall (Flying Fish)

Shelley Posen & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom (2023)

Shelley Posen- Having a Drink with Jane

The Old Songs Home (Well Done Music)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places

Sparkle and Shine (Front Hall)

Michael Jerome Browne & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Michael Jerome Browne- Where is the Song?

That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)

Paul Geremia & Mike Regenstreif (2012)

Paul Geremia- Kick It in the Country

Self Portrait in Blues (Red House)

Little Birdie (Orit Shimoni)- Can’t Stop This Train

Bare Bones (Little Birdie)

Perla Batalla- Awakened

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Leonard Cohen- By the Rivers Dark

Ten New Songs (Columbia)

Perla Batalla- Take This Waltz

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Chris Rawlings- Lifting the Darkness

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Come Back Baby

Pronto Monto (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Mike Regenstreif & Chaim Tannenbam (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Chaim Tannenbaum- Belfast Louis Falls in Love

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2018)

Tom Russell- All on a Belfast Morning

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Murdoch (2014)

Bruce Murdoch- Rompin’ Rovin’ Days

Singer-Songwriter Project (Elektra)

Kat Goldman- Take It Down the Line

The Workingman’s Blues (Kat Goldman)

Kurt Anderson- 900 Miles

Life on Interstate 40 (Riverlark Music)

Sonya Cohen Cramer- No Place to Fall

You’ve Been a Friend to Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

Grayson Capps- Columbus Stockade Blues

Heartbreak, Misery & Death (Royal Potato Family)

The Wailin' Jennys- The Parting Glass

40 Days (Jericho Beach Music)

I’m taking some time off in December so I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on January 25. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – November 5, 2024: Addendums to Past Themes

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/595/67577.html

Theme: Addendums to Past Themes.

This is the second of two editions of Stranger Songs airing during CKCU’s 2024 Funding Drive. Your support is meaningful and essential to keeping CKCU’s diverse programming on the air for another year. You can make a donation in support of Stranger Songs and CKCU at this link. Charitable income tax receipts are issued for donations of $20 or more. Thanks for your support. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/CKCU/p2p/fundingdrive2024/page/stranger-songs

A theme I do every year on the second Stranger Songs funding drive show is Addendums to Past Themes. More often than not, when I choose a theme for Stranger Songs, there are more possible songs to choose from than I can include – and sometimes new music that fits the theme arrives after the show has been produced. So, I’ve chosen a few of the themes from the past year for addendums.

Perla Batalla- A Thousand Kisses Deep

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Leonard Cohen- Going Home

Old Ideas (Columbia)

Perla Batalla- Everybody Knows

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Scottie Miller- Ah, New York

Carnival Cocoon (Scottie Miller)

Lucy Kaplansky- Love Song/New York

The Red Thread (Red House)

Amy Speace- In New York City

The American Dream (Windbone)

Shelley Posen- The Old Songs Home

The Old Songs Home (Well Done Music)

Madeleine Peyroux- I Hear Music

Careless Love: Deluxe Edition (Rounder)

The Central Park Sheiks- The People’s Key

Honeysuckle Rose (Flying Fish)

Misty Blues- Keep On Movin’ It On

I’m Too Old for Games: A Live Tribute to Odetta (Guitar One)

Eric Bibb & Odetta- ‘Tain’t Such a Much

Friends (Telarc)

Odetta- Look the World Over

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.) 

Bob Dylan- My Back Pages

Another Side of Bob Dylan (Columbia)

Ian & Sylvia- You Were On My Mind

Northern Journey (Vanguard)

Sam Cooke- A Change is Gonna Come

Ain’t That Good News (RCA)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Remember the Sun

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- After the Flood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Sid Selvidge- Pearlee

Twice Told Tales (Elektra Nonesuch)

Rosalie Sorrels- One More Next Time

If I Could Be the Rain (Folk-Legacy)

Gordon Lightfoot- Steel Rail Blues

The Original Lightfoot (EMI)

Duke Ellington- Sugar Hill Shim Sham

Ellington in Order, Volume 8 (1937) (Legacy)

Next week: Remembering Barbara Dane (1927-2024).

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – October 8, 2024: My Town and Other Towns

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/595/67165.html

Theme: My Town and Other Towns

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- My Town 

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

John Prine & Dolores Keane- In a Town This Size

In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Morrissey (2005)

Bill Morrissey- Small Town on the River

Bill Morrissey (Philo)

Rosalie Sorrels- Girls In Our Town

Then Came the Children (Green Linnet)

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- Our Town

Our Town (Rounder)

David Mallett- This Little Town

Open Doors and Windows (Flying Fish)

Bill Hearne- Small Town Saturday Night

Always Trust Your Cape (Howlin’ Dog) 

Paul Siebel- My Town

Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

Nanci Griffith- This Old Town

Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)

Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer- Ordinary Town

Drum Hat Buddha (Signature Sounds)

David Essig & Mike Regenstreif (2014)

David Essig- Walk Back Into Town

A Stone in My Pocket (Peregrin)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- I am a Town

One Night Lonely (Lambent Light)

Mike Regenstreif & David Clayton-Thomas (2006)

David Clayton-Thomas- This Town

Say Somethin’ (Linus)

Bobby Charles- Small Town Talk

Bobby Charles (Stony Plain)

Cliff Eberhardt- Little Town

500 Miles: The Blue Rock Sessions (Red House)

Blackie & The Rodeo Kings & Pam Tillis- My Town Has Moved Away

Kings and Queens (FU:M)

C. Daniel Boling & Tom Paxton- This Town has No Café

New Old Friends (Berkalin)

Shawna Caspi- My Town

Skyline (Shawna Caspi)

Nick Justice- Stranger in My Town

Stranger in My Town (Nick Justice)

Amelia Curran- In a Town (200 Days)

Spectators (Six Shooter)

Dave Clarke- In My Home Town

Reunion (Crossties)

Judy Mayhan- I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew (Strange Towns)

Moments (Atlantic)

Amy Speace- Something ‘Bout a Town

The American Dream (Windbone)

Next week: Finest Kind’s Kind of Songs.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 28, 2024: 50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 1

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/595/65341.html

Theme: 50 years ago, I took over The Golem, Part 1.

Mike Regenstreif at The Golem (1975)

It was 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 show were played back in the day by artists who performed during my two tenures running the Golem. As I was preparing this show, I found there was no way I could play all of the artists I’d like to include, so I’ll be doing a part 2 to this theme on the June 18 edition of Stranger Songs.

Bruce Murdoch- Fool Like Me

Bruce Murdoch (Radio Canada International)

Mike Regenstreif, Bruce Murdoch & Sneezy Waters (2014)

Sneezy Waters- (You’ve Got) Sawdust on the Floor of Your Heart

Live in the CKCU studio during Stranger Songs – July 4, 2023

Jim Ringer- Going Away

Waitin’ for the Hard Times to Go (Folk-Legacy)

Tom Mitchell, Mike Regenstreif & Mary McCaslin (199)

Mary McCaslin- Down the Road

Way Out West (Philo)

Chris Rawlings & Mike Regenstreif (2007)

Chris Rawlings- Pearl River Turnaround

Pearl Soupe (Cooking Fat Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt

Learn to Love It (Stony Plain)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore

Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Ronney Abramson & Mike Regenstreif (2016)

Ronney Abramson- Three O’Clock Ride

Three O’Clock Ride – single (Ronney Abramson)

Artie Traum & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Artie Traum- Montreal

The Test of Time (Roaring Stream)

Ferron- Ain’t Life a Brook

Not a Still Life (Cherrywood Station)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Staines (1993)

Bill Staines- Tulsa

Miles (Mineral River)

Mike Regenstreif & Priscilla Herdman (1978) photo: Ron Petronko

Priscilla Herdman- Andy’s Gone with Cattle

The Water Lily (Philo)

Eric Bogle- Now I’m Easy

Scraps of Paper (Flying Fish)

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

Utah Phillips- Larimer Street

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- Postcard from India

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Tom Mitchell- Eastern Beer

1976 live recording – used with permission

Mimi Fariña- Defying Gravity
Live in Germany: To Benefit Bread & Roses (Dogfish Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2001) photo: Janice Hanson

Tom Paxton- Outward Bound

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

Odetta- Hold On

Odetta at Carnegie Hall (Vanguard)

Dave Van Ronk- Green, Green Rocky Road

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Hartford- Steamboat Whistle Blues

Aereo-Plain (Rounder)

Skyline with Tony Trischka- Ticket Back

Ticket Back: A Retrospective (Flying Fish)

Nanci Griffith- There’s a Light Beyond These Woods

There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Philo)

Stan Rogers- The Mary Ellen Carter

Between the Breaks…Live! (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Next week: Part 1: Remembering Spider John Koerner / Part 2: The Legacy of Reverend Gary Davis

--Mike Regenstreif