Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday August 31, 2021: Remembering Nanci Griffith (1953-2021)

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/595/53257.html

Theme: Remembering Nanci Griffith (1953-2021)

Nanci Griffith – a superb and influential singer, songwriter and performer – died on August 13th at age 68. The show includes some of Nanci’s recordings, some of her collaborations with other artists, and some of her songs performed by other artists.

Nanci Griffith- There’s a Light Beyond These Woods
There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Philo)

Nanci Griffith- Julie Anne
Poet In My Window (Philo)
Kathy Mattea- Love at the Five & Dime
Walk the Way the Wind Blows (Mercury)
Nanci Griffith- Daddy Said
Once In a Very Blue Moon (Philo)

It's been a long time since I’d seen her or been in touch, but Nanci and I were close in the 1980s when she came to Montreal frequently to play concerts at The Golem, the folk club I was then running. She'd always stay with me and we had some great times. One day she wrote the song, “Banks of the Pontchartrain,” in my apartment.

Nanci Griffith- Banks of the Pontchartrain
The Last of the True Believers (Philo)
Tom Russell & Nanci Griffith- St. Olav’s Gate
The Long Way Around (HighTone)
Suzy Bogguss- Outbound Plane
Aces (EMI)

Nanci Griffith- Time Alone
Once In a Very Blue Moon (Philo)

Nanci Griffith & Arlo Guthrie- Tecumseh Valley
Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)
Nanci Griffith- Up Against the Rain
The Loving Kind (Rounder)

Nanci Griffith- Ten Degrees and Colder
Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)
Nanci Griffith- You Were On My Mind
Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (Elektra)
Nanci Griffith & Tom Russell- Summer Wages
Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (Elektra)
Nanci Griffith & Ian Tyson- Canadian Whiskey
Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (Elektra)
Jimmy Buffett & Nanci Griffith- Someone I Used to Love
License to Chill (Mailboat)

Caroline Doctorow- Trouble In the Fields
Trouble In the Fields: An Artists’ Tribute to Nanci Griffith (Paradiddle)
Red Molly- Lookin’ for the Time
Trouble In the Fields: An Artists’ Tribute to Nanci Griffith (Paradiddle)
The Kennedys- I’m Not Drivin’ These Wheels
Trouble In the Fields: An Artists’ Tribute to Nanci Griffith (Paradiddle)
Nanci Griffith- Hell No (I’m Not Alright)
Intersection (Hell No)

Nanci Griffith with The London Symphony Orchestra- Late Night Grande Hotel
The Dust Bowl Symphony (Elektra)
Emmylou Harris & Willie Nelson- Gulf Coast Highway
Duets (Reprise)
Nanci Griffith with Carolyn Hester- Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound
Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)
Lucy Kaplansky- I Wish It Would Rain
Everyday Street (Lucy Kaplansky)
Nanci Griffith- The Wing and the Wheel
The Last of the True Believers (Philo)

Nanci Griffith- Spin On a Red Brick Floor
One Fair Summer Evening (MCA)

Next week: A Tribute to The Everly Brothers

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

John McCutcheon – To Everyone in all the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger

JOHN McCUTCHEON

To Everyone in all the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger

Appalseed Productions

folkmusic.com

This coming May 3 will mark the centennial of the birth of legendary folksinger Pete Seeger. Pete – who died January 27, 2014 at age 94 – was perhaps the most influential and certainly one of the most inspirational figures in the folk world.

When Pete died, I mentioned I was grateful for having had the opportunity to have known known him for most of my life and to have enjoyed some small measure of friendship with him.

John McCutcheon – who has surely been one of our finest folksingers for decades now – was also deeply inspired by Pete, whom he describes as “a beacon, a mentor, a friend, a musical partner” to him. On To Everyone in all the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger, John offers a loving and masterful tribute to Pete with 15 songs from his repertoire (12 of them written or co-written by Pete), performed in many different styles, many of them featuring stellar guest collaborators.

John opens the album with great versions of the optimistic “Well May the World Go” with backing by Hot Rize, one of the finest of my generation’s bluegrass bands, and “If I Had a Hammer,” with members of the great Cajun band Beausoleil.

I could mention every other song as a highlight – and they all are – but I’ll call attention to a few.

Pete Seeger and John McCutcheon (2010)

“Die Gedanken Sind Frei,” a 19th century song that became an anti-Nazi rallying cry in Germany during the Second World War, is given a classical treatment with a brass ensemble and wonderful harmonies by Ottawa’s own Finest Kind.

“Sailing Down My Golden River,” my favorite of Pete’s many Hudson River songs, is a beautiful duet with Suzy Bogguss and features some lovely fills from John’s hammer dulcimer, while “Guantanamera,” Pete’s adaptation of a song made from the words of Cuban poet José Marti, has an infectious Latin arrangement and duet vocals by Nicaraguan singer Katia Cardenal.

“Letter to Eve,” which Pete used the biblical figures of Adam and Eve as the starting point for a critical commentary on the state of the world, is arranged brilliantly in a blues-jazz setting, while “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” – on which Pete used his army training experiences during the Second World War as a metaphor for the futility of the Vietnam War in the 1960s – has a powerful rock arrangement.

To Everyone in all the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger is the first great folk album of 2019 and a most worthy companion to John’s previous centennial tributes marking the birth of Woody Guthrie and the execution of Joe Hill.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

–Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists – Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie
Compass Records 
compassrecords.com

Jean Ritchie, now 91 years old, was born in 1922 to a rural Kentucky family with a rich legacy of singing and preserving the traditional ballads that originated centuries ago in the British Isles and were handed down from generation to generation in the Appalachian Mountains.

Jean arrived in New York City in the 1940s as a social worker but quickly became an important part of a folk scene that included such contemporaries as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Alan Lomax and Oscar Brand.

In a career that remained vital until she suffered a stroke in 2009, Jean's contributions were highly significant on a number of levels. She was, of course, a source singer for the many traditional ballads in the Ritchie Family tradition – many of which became standards of the folk revival. She was a folksong collector of note in both the southern United States, and in the British Isles. She was responsible for popularizing the Appalachian dulcimer during the folk revival. She was a compelling singer and she was one of the greatest and most authentic of traditionally-steeped songwriters.

On the two CDs of Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie, a remarkable group of artists – some very famous, some relatively unknown – pay tribute to Jean’s legacy with loving, joyous performances of 37 songs, many of them Jean’s own songs, others traditional folksongs from her repertoire.

While every one of these tracks is more than worthy of praise, I’ll call attention to just a few of my favorites. Among Jean’s own songs that list would have to include the version of the environmental song “Black Waters” that features John McCutcheon, Tim O’Brien and Suzy Bogguss trading verses; “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” by Robin & Linda Williams; an almost chamber-folk interpretation of “Morning’s Come, Maria’s  Gone” by Janis Ian; a chilling a cappella rendition of “West Virginia Mine Disaster” by Susie Glaze; a lovely, piano-based version of “One I Love” by Judy Collins; a joyous interpretation of “Roll On Clouds in the Morning” by Kim & Reggie Harris; and a sweet “My Dear Companion” by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.

Among the traditional songs, I particularly like the versions of “Pretty Betty Martin” by Kathy Reid-Naiman; “Shady Grove” by Sparky & Rhonda Rucker; “Jubilee” by Kathy Mattea; “Fair Nottamun Town,” sung in two-part a cappella harmony by Elizabeth LaPrelle with Sandy Newlin LaPrelle; the driving, old-time rendition of “Jemmy Taylor-O” by Big Medicine and "Hangman," sung conversationally by Ralston Bowles & May Erlewine-Bernard.

The album ends with Jean herself and live recording of “The Peace Round” recorded in 1992 with overdubbed harmony vocals by many of the artists who contributed to this collection.

Congratulations to Mick Lane, Charlie Pilzer and Dan Schatz who, quite obviously, co-produced Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie with much love.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif