Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 4, 2025: Remembering Jane McGarrigle and Garth Hudson

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/595/68828.html

Themes: Remembering Jane McGarrigle (1941-2025) and Garth Hudson (1937-2025).

Remembering Jane McGarrigle

Jane McGarrigle, the older sister and frequent collaborator of Kate & Anna McGarrigle, died on January 24 at age 83. Jane was an old friend that I’d known since I started producing concerts with Kate & Anna in 1974.

The next four songs are among Kate & Anna’s recordings that Jane sang and/or played on.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Heart Like a Wheel

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Blanche Comme La Neige

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Perrine Etait Servante

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Move Over Moon

Love Over and Over (Polygram)

Jane McGarrigle sang the lead vocal on “Bon Voyage.”

Jane, Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Bon Voyage

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

“Love Is” was co-written by Kate, Anna & Jane McGarrigle.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Love Is

Heartbeats Accelerating (Private)

The What Four included Jack Nissenson & Peter Weldon of the original Mountain City Four with Jane McGarrigle, Kathleen Weldon, Lily Lanken, John Knowles, Marvin Segal, Andrew Cowan & Stephen Barry.

The What Four- Shenandoah

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Remembering Garth Hudson

Garth Hudson – who died on January 21 at age 87 – was the last surviving original member of The Band. Garth played organ, accordion, electric keyboards and saxophone with The Band and was their principal arranger.

After Garth died, Bob Dylan released a statement that said Garth Hudson “was a beautiful guy and the real driving force behind The Band. Just listen to the original recording of ‘The Weight’ and you’ll see.”

The Band- The Weight

Music from Big Pink (Capitol)

The Band- Stage Fright

Stage Fright (Capitol)

The Band- Acadian Driftwood

Northern Lights-Southern Cross (Capitol)

Chantel Kreviazuk with Garth Hudson- Tears of Rage

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Bruce Cockburn & Blue Rodeo with Garth Hudson- Sleeping

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Great Big Sea with Garth Hudson- Knockin’ Lost John

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle with Garth Hudson- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)

Garth Hudson also played on many albums as a session musician. The next four songs are some examples.

Leonard Cohen- Our Lady of Solitude

Recent Songs (Columbia)

Eric Andersen- Violets of Dawn

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Karla Bonoff- The Water is Wide

All My Life: The Best of Karla Bonoff (Columbia/Legacy)

Colin Linden with Rick Danko & Garth Hudson- When the Spirit Comes

When the Spirit Comes (True North)

Garth & Maud Hudson- No Depression in Heaven

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited (Shout! Factory)

Next week: Four Strong Winds.

--Mike Regenstreif 

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 August 22, 2023: Remembering Robbie Robertson

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/595/61634.html

Theme: Remembering Robbie Robertson (1943-2023).

Robbie Robertson (photo: Don Dixon/The Band website)

Robbie Robertson, the great guitarist and principal songwriter of The Band, died on Aguust 9, at age 80, following what his family said was a long illness.

The Band- Caledonia Mission

Music from Big Pink (Capitol)

The Staple Singers- The Weight

Stax Profiles (Stax)

Colin Linden (with Rick Danko)- Chest Fever

When the Spirit Comes (True North)

The Band- To Kingdom Come

Music from Big Pink (Capitol)

Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks- Come Love

Testimony (Universal)

The Band & Ronnie Hawkins- Who Do You Love

The Last Waltz (Rhino)

Happy & Artie Traum- Going Down to See Bessie (Bessie Smith)

Double-Back (Capitol)

Bob Dylan & The Band- Highway 61 Revisited

Before the Flood (Columbia/Legacy)

The Band- Up on Cripple Creek

Before the Flood (Columbia/Legacy)

Jack Williams- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Four Good Days (Wind River)

Rosanne Cash- The Unfaithful Servant

Endless Highway: The Music of The Band (429)

The Band- Rockin’ Chair

The Band (Capitol)

The Band- The Shape I’m In

Stage Fright (Capitol)

Barrence Whitfield & Tom Russell- Daniel and the Sacred Harp

Cowboy Mambo (Stony Plain)

Colleen Rennison- Stage Fright

See the Sky About to Rain (Black Hen)

Robbie Robertson- Somewhere Down the Crazy River

Testimony (Universal)

David Clayton-Thomas- Ophelia

Canadiana (Antoinette/ILS)

The Roches- Acadian Driftwood

Endless Highway: The Music of The Band (429)

The Band- The Saga of Pepote Rouge

Islands Cross (Capitol)

The Band- The Weight

Music from Big Pink (Capitol)

Next week: Songs of Bruce Springsteen.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday August 24, 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/595/53196.html

Theme: Rare Collaborations – each song features artists collaborating with an artist or artists they don’t or didn’t usually work with.

The Band & The Staple Singers- The Weight
The Last Waltz (Capitol)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Loudon Wainwright III- Green Green Rocky Road
The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)
Jean Ritchie & Oscar Brand- Paper of Pins
The Riverside Folklore Series, Volume Three: Singing the New Traditions (Riverside)
Priscilla Herdman & Utah Phillips- I Remember Loving You
Darkness into Light (Flying Fish)
Eric Bibb & Odetta- ‘Tain’t Such a Much
Friends (Telarc)
Perla Batalla & David Hidalgo- Ballad of the Absent Mare
Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)

Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers- Study War No More (Down By the Riverside)
Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Stringband & Stan Rogers- Tugboats
The Indispensable 1972-2002 (Nick)
Tom Russell & Iris DeMent- Big Water
The Long Way Around (HighTone)
Kimmie Rhodes & Townes Van Zandt- I’m Gonna Fly
West Texas Heaven (Justice)
Josh White, Jr. & Guthrie Thomas- Don’t Mean a Thing
Delicate Balance (Silverwolf)
Dave Alvin & Christy McWilson- Here in California
West of the West (Yep Roc)

Odetta & Dr. John- Please Send Me Someone to Love
Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee & Chris Barber's Jazz Band- Betty and Dupree
London, 1958 (Jasmine)
Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble & Martha Wainwright- There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears
Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (Edge Music)
Members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra & B.B. King- Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
The Stereophonic Sound of Duke Ellington (Bright Orange)

Dave Van Ronk & Christine Lavin- Two Sleepy People
Hummin’ to Myself (Gazell)
Michael Jerome Browne & Roxane Potvin- Remember When
That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)
Big Daddy Wilson & Shaneeka Simon- Meatballs
Hard Time Blues (Continental Blue Heaven)

Woody Guthrie & Lead Belly (1940s)

Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Sonny Terry & Cisco Houston- We Shall Be Free
Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)
The Klezmatics & Susan McKeown- From Here On In
Wonder Wheel: Lyrics by Woody Guthrie (Jewish Music Group)
Tom Rush, Arlo Guthrie, Eric Andersen & Judy Collins- Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Judy Collins Wildflower Festival (Wildflower)

Connie Kaldor & Roy Forbes- Saskatoon Moon
Wood River (Coyote)

Next week: Remembering Nanci Griffith (1953-2021)

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday June 1, 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/595/52165.html

Theme: The Third Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert, a whole show of music recorded live in concert. We will have a “Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert” on our first show of every month until it’s safe for us to return to live music in person.

Josh White, Jr..- Say a Prayer for a Stranger
Live at the Raven Gallery (Silverwolf)

Ronny Cox- Hot Water Cornbread
Live at the Kitchen Sink (Ronny Cox)
Kate & Edith- Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor
Live at Kelso Hall (Kate & Edith)
Corin Raymond & The Sundowners- Postcard from Winnipeg
Paper Nickels (Local Rascals)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Diana Jones- Better Times Will Come
Live in Concert (Proper)
Judy Collins- Four Strong Winds
Living (Elektra)
Rosalie Sorrels- Then Came the Children
Then Came the Children (Green Linnet)

Perla Batalla- Bird On a Wire
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (Verve Forecast)
Leonard Cohen- Suzanne
Live in London (Columbia)

Noel Paul Stookey- Not That Kind of Music
Just Causes (Neworld)
Pete Seeger- L’Internationale
Singalong, Sanders Theatre, 1980 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band- When the Saints Go Marching In
Live in Dublin (Columbia)
Hans Theessink & Blue Groove- I Shall Not Be Moved
Live (Minor Music)

Guy Clark- Dublin Blues
Songs and Stories (Dualtone)
Bonnie Dobson- Bonnie’s Blues
At Folk City (Prestige)
Missy Burgess- Time
Missy Burgess with The Blue Train Live (Missy Burgess)

The Band- The Weight
Stage Fright: 50th Anniversary Edition [Live at the Royal Albert Hall, June 1971] (Capitol)
Wynton Marsalis Septut featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama- The Last Time
United We Swing: Best of the Lincoln Center Galas (Blue Engine)

Stephane Grappelli & David Grisman- Swing 42
Live (Warner Bros.)

Next week – Thinking About Elvis

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday July 21, 2018

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning can be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/38578.html

Extended feature: Songs of The Band.

Steve Howell & The Might Men featuring Katy Hobgood Ray- Easy Rider

Good as I Been to You (Out of the Past)

Brooks Williams- Gambling Man

Lucky Star (Red Guitar Blue Music)

Rory Block- Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town

A Woman’s Soul: A Tribute to Bessie Smith (Stony Plain)

David Davis & The Warrior River Boys- Ramblin’ Blues

Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole (Rounder)

Judy Collins- Dreamers

Dreamers – single (Wildflower)

Joe Jencks- I’m a Stranger in This Land

The Forgotten: Recovered Treasures from the Pen of Si Kahn (Turtle Bear Music)

Ry Cooder- Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right

The Prodigal Son (Fantasy)

Fink, Marxer, Gleaves- If the Poor Don’t Matter

Shout and Shine (Community Music)

Reggie Harris- Love Guides the Wounded Heart

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Shemekia Copeland- Smoked Ham and Peaches

America’s Child (Alligator)

Rod MacDonald- I’d Love to be Wrong

Beginning Again (Blue Flute Music)

Tret Fure- #45

Roses in November (Tomboy Girl)

Noel Paul Stookey- Impeachable

Summerfallwinterspring (Neworld)

Tom Russell- Throwing Horseshoes at the Moon

Old Songs Yet to Sing (Frontera)

Madeleine Peyroux- Lonesome Road

Careless Love (Rounder)

Eliza Gilkyson & Jimmy LaFave- Down by the Riverside

Secularia (Red House)

Serena Ryder- This Wheel’s on Fire

If Your Memory Serves You Well (EMI)

Karen Dalton- In a Station

In My Own Time (Light in the Attic)

The Band- Caledonia Mission

Music from Big Pink (Capitol)

The Staple Singers- The Weight

Stax Profiles (Stax)

Jakob Dylan w/Lizz Wright- Whispering Pines

Endless Highway: The Music of The Band (429)

The Band- Up on Cripple Creek

The Band (Capitol)

Rosanne Cash- The Unfaithful Servant

Endless Highway: The Music of The Band (429)

Jack Williams- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Four Good Days (Wind River)

Barrence Whitfield & Tom Russell- Daniel and the Sacred Harp

Cowboy Mambo (Stony Plain)

Jim Byrnes- The Shape I’m In

Long Hot Summer Days (Black Hen)

The Band- The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

Stage Fright (Capitol)

Colleen Rennison- Stage Fright

See the Sky About to Rain (Black Hen)

Happy & Artie Traum- Bessie Smith

Live Recordings 1970s-1980s (Slice of Life)

The Band- Katie’s Been Gone

The Basement Tapes (Columbia/Legacy)

David Clayton-Thomas- Ophelia

Canadiana (Antoinette/ILS)

The Roches- Acadian Driftwood

Endless Highway: The Music of The Band (429)

Orit Shimoni- When You Are a Wanderer

Lost and Found on the Road to Nowhere (Orit Shimoni)

Jory Nash- Dark Matter

Wilderness Years (Thin Man Records)

Ben Bullington- Born in ‘55

White Sulphur Springs (Ben Bullington)

David Francey- Lonely Road

The Broken Heart of Everything (Laker)

Geoff & Maria Muldaur- Brazil

Pottery Pie (Omnivore)

Jesse Winchester- Whispering Bells

A Reasonable Amount of Trouble (Appleseed)

Cosy Sheridan & Charlie Koch- My Fence & My Neighbor

My Fence & My Neighbor (Cosy Sheridan, Charlie Koch)

Claudia Russell & Bruce Kaplan- Lovers Tree

Lover’s Tree (Radio Rhythm)

Nefesh Mountain- Halleluyah

Beneath the Open Sky (Eric Lindberg & Doni Zasloff)

Andrew Collins Trio- Famous Last Words

Groove (Andrew Collins Trio)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on August 18.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

The Facebook 10-Day Album Cover Challenge

Marc Nerenberg nominated me to participate in the 10-day album cover challenge. I was in high school from 1967 to 1971 and my choices were all LPs that I bought when they were newly released back then and that I still listen to a half-century – or almost a half-century – later. This was also the period that I began serving my time on the Montreal folk scene.

I will play a song from each of these albums when I host the Saturday Morning show on CKCU on May 26. The albums are not ranked in order, they are arranged in an order that will make for good radio sets.

Day 1: Leonard Cohen’s first LP, Songs of Leonard Cohen, was essential for almost all of us who lived in Montreal in those years.

Day 2: I saw Joni Mitchell live for the first time in July 1969. Clouds was her current LP at the time.

Day 3: The brilliant enigmatic songs of John Wesley Harding, with their rustic acoustic arrangements make this one of my all-time favorite Bob Dylan albums.

Day 4: The Band was probably my favorite rock band when I was in high school and my favorite of their albums was Stage Fright, their third.

Day 5: I had already met Jesse Winchester on the Montreal folk scene before Jesse Winchester, his first, self-titled LP came out. Produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band, the album was filled with enduring classics that established Jesse – who became a lifelong friend – as one of our greatest singer-songwriters.

Day 6: I was a little too young to have heard songster Mississippi John Hurt live before he died in 1966, but I spent many hours listening to his LPs, including The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt, with their infectious guitar lines, gentle singing, and vivid, memorable songs.

Day 7: Bluesmen Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were the first older (older than my parents) musicians I got to know personally. In London was a great album with a bad cover and no info released on a budget label in 1969. I bought it after meeting Sonny and Brownie around that time. I later found out the tracks were recorded in London in 1958.

Day 8: I met Tom Paxton for the first time when I was 14 or 15 in 1968 or ’69. It was encounter that had a lot to do with my becoming involved in the folk music scene. Morning Again was Tom’s current album at the time.

Day 9: Paul Siebel only made two albums as a singer-songwriter. The second, Jackknife Gypsy, one was quite good, but I think his first LP, Woodsmoke and Oranges, was one of the best singer-songwriter albums of all time.

Day 10: Judy Collins made several excellent LPs in the time period under consideration. Who Knows Where the Time Goes was, arguably, the finest.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif