Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 26, 2025: Songs of August & Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited

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/595/71687.html

Themes: Part 1 – Songs of August; Part 2 – Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited.

Part 1 – Songs of August

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tran- August Flower

From China to Appalachia (Community Music)

Emily Triggs- Beautiful August

The Great Escape (Emily Triggs)

Jay Linden- August Night

Satchel (Jay Linden)

The Lucky Sisters- On an August Night

So Lucky (Patio)

Preservation Hall Jazz Band- August Nights

That’s It (Legacy)

Joan Baez- The 33rd of August

Blessed Are (Vanguard)

Jeanie Stahl- The August of Our Years

Mysteries (Daring)

Benny Carter- August Moon

Aspects (United Artists)

Part 2 – Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited.

It was 60 years ago, on August 30, 1965, that Bob Dylan released his monumental folk-rock album, Highway 61 Revisited.

Rory Block- Like a Rolling Stone

Positively 4th Street: A Tribute to Bob Dylan (Stony Plain)

Tim O’Brien- Tombstone Blues

Red On Blonde (Sugar Hill)

Ian Hanchet- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Dealin’ from the Bottom (of My Heart) (Ian Hanchet)

Bob Dylan- From a Buick 6

Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia)

Ben Sidran- Ballad of a Thin Man

Dylan Different (Bonsai)

Emma Swift- Queen Jane Approximately

Blonde on the Tracks (Tiny Ghost/CRS)

Ray Benson- Highway 61 Revisited

Swingin’ and Skankin’ (Primary Wave Music)

Tom Russell & Joe Ely- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Bill Camplin- Desolation Row

Bob Dylan Project One (Bill Camplin)

Bob Dylan recorded versions of the next three songs during the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited but did not include them on the album.

Lucinda Williams- Positively 4th Street

The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village (429)

Bob Dylan & The Hawks- Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (single version)

Side Tracks (Columbia/Legacy)

Bob Dylan- Sitting On a Barbed Wire Fence

The Best of the Cutting Edge 1965-1966 (Columbia/Legacy)

Next week: Crazy Blues and Other Crazy Songs.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 18, 2025: Songs from Gullah Traditions

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/595/68957.html

Theme: Songs from Gullah Traditions.

The Gullah people are an African American group – descended from enslaved people from West Africa – who live in the coastal plains and sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida and have a rich tradition of folksongs.

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- O Day

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Buzzard Lope

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

Reggie Harris- Sheep, Sheep/Little David

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Ken Whiteley and the Beulah Band- Beulah Land

Ken Whiteley and the Beulah Band (Borealis)

Ranky Tanky- That’s Alright

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

David Rea- Kindlin’ Wood/Things are Coming My Way

X 7 (Gitsu)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Sink ‘Em Low

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

Ranky Tanky- Join the Band

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

Ken Whiteley- Michael Row

Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)

Kim & Reggie Harris with Baby Jay- Row de Boat

Get On Board: Underground Railroad & Civil Rights Freedom Songs, Volume 2 (Appleseed)

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project with Tim O'Brien- Before This Time Another Year

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project (Borealis)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Sign of the Judgement

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

The Duhks- Moses Don’t Get Lost

Migrations (Sugar Hill)

The Duhks- Turtle Dove

Migrations (Sugar Hill)

Penny Lang- Let Me Fly

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Ranky Tanky- Watch That Star

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Once There was No Sun

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Adam in the Garden

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Who Built the Ark

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Let My Children Go

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

Peter Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- My God is a Rock

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band- Pay Me My Money Down

Live in Dublin (Columbia)

Ranky Tanky- Ranky Tanky

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- You Better Mind

Put Your Hand On Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip: Songs and Games from the Georgia Sea Islands (Rounder)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- May Be the Last Time, I Don’t Know

Put Your Hand On Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip: Songs and Games from the Georgia Sea Islands (Rounder)

Next week: A Tribute to Nina Simone.

--Mike Regenstreif 

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday March 30, 2019

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/128/42229.html

Fraser & Girard- My Name is Carol

Fraser & Girard (Fraser & Girard)

Ken Tizzard- House

A Good Dog is Lost: A Collection of Ron Hynes Songs (Ken Tizzard)

Jessica Pearson & The East Wind- Heave Away

Grave and Garden Songs (Jessica Pearson & The East Wind)

Alana & Leigh Cline- Slip Jigs: Whinny Hills of Leitrim/Ryan’s/Humours of Whiskey

Alana & Leigh Cline (Scimitar)

The Village Dudes- Another Time and Place

Another Time and Place (Blue Flute Music)

Dave Van Ronk- Gaslight Rag

Going Back to Brooklyn (HighTone)

Tom Russell- T-Bone Steak and Spanish Wine

October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)

Ian Hanchet- I’ll Fly Away

New Life (Ian Hanchet)

Our Native Daughters (Allison Russell w/Rhiannon Giddens & Leyla McCalla)- Quasheba, Quasheba

Songs of Our Native Daughters (Smithsonian Folkways)

Kaia Kater- Heavenly Track

Grenades (Smithsonian Folkways)

Mother Banjo- Trust Your Boots

Eyes on the Sky (So Low Recordings)

Danny Schmidt- Last Man Standing

Standard Deviation (Live Once)

Kate Weekes- Poet Friend

Taken By Surprise (Artiste Extrordinaire Originals)

The Confabulation- Precious Little Solves the Riddle

Tunnels and Visions (Woodhead Music)

Ben Caplan- Birds with Broken Wings

Birds with Broken Wings (Coalition)

SONiA dissapear fear- Eleh Chamda Libi

By My Silence (Disappear Records)

Lisa Gutkin, Aaron Halva & Company- Suitcase Song: Ich hab’ noch einen koffer in Berlin

Indecent: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Yellow Sound Label)

Extended Feature: Songs of Guy Clark – The next 16 songs were written or co-written by Guy Clark.

Doug Cox & Sam Hurrie- Old Friends

Old Friends (Black Hen)

Jay Ungar & Molly Mason- Homegrown Tomatoes

Relax Your Mind (Angel)

Johnny Cash- Let Him Roll

Johnny Cash is Coming to Town (Mercury)

Guy Clark- That Old Time Feeling

Keepers: A Live Recording (Sugar Hill)

Steve Earle & The Dukes- Sis Draper

Guy (New West)

Asleep at the Wheel- Blowin’ Like a Bandit

10 (Epic)

Emmylou Harris- New Cut Road

Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Guy Clark- The Guitar

The Best of the Dualtone Years (Dualtone)

Eric Bibb w/Martin Simpson- The Cape

Friends (Telarc)

Gove Scrivenor- Boats to Build

Shine On (Compass)

Bill & Bonnie Hearne- L.A. Freeway

Watching Life Through a Windshield (Back Porch)

Guy Clark- The Randall Knife

The Best of the Dualtone Years (Dualtone)

Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Earle & Eric Taylor- Desperadoes Waiting for a Train

Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (Elektra)

Bill Staines- Lone Star Hotel Café

Old Dogs (Red House) 
Bettysoo & Doug Cox- Dublin Blues

Across the Borderline: Lie to Me (Borderline Talent)

Guy Clark- My Favorite Picture of You

The Best of the Dualtone Years (Dualtone)

Suzie Vinnick- Find Some Freedom

Shake the Love Around (Suzie Vinnick)

Harrison Kennedy- Who U Tellin’?

Who U Tellin’? (Electro-Fi)

Michael Jerome Browne- Somebody Have Mercy

That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)

Tim O’Brien Band- Diggin’ My Potatoes

Tim O’Brien Band (Howdy Skies)

Andy Statman- Statman Romp

Monroe Bus (Shefa)

Maria Dunn- Whiskey Evening

For a Song (Distant Whisper Music)

Ian & Sylvia- Nancy Whiskey

Early Morning Rain (Vanguard)

Vivian Nesbitt & John Dillon- The Whiskey Ring and the Railroad Trust

The Songs of Mother Jones: A Musical by Si Kahn (MotherJonesInHeaven.com)

Doug McArthur- Whiskey in the Jar

The Horses of the Sea: A Personal Exploration of Ireland (dougimac.com)

Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves- Farewell Whiskey

Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (Free Dirt)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on April 27.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn – Ace Pickin’ and Sweet Harmony; North by Southwest; River of Swing

DAKOTA DAVE HULL & SEAN BLACKBURN

Ace Pickin’ and Sweet Harmony

North by Southwest

River of Swing

Arabica Records

dakotadavehull.com

Between 1977 and 1982, I operated a small independent agency booking concert tours for a select clientele of highly regarded artists. One day, circa 1979 or ’80, my friend Bruce Kaplan (who, sadly, died in 1992), the head honcho at Flying Fish Records in Chicago, called and asked me to work with the Minneapolis-based duo of Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn. Flying Fish had just released (or was soon to release) River of Swing, Dave and Sean’s third LP.

Bruce sent me the LP, I loved it, and I ended up doing some booking for Dave and Sean. Dave – a very good singer and great guitar player – and Sean (who also, sadly, died in 2005) – a very good guitar player and great singer – complemented each other almost perfectly in their adoption and adaptation of western swing, country, and folk classics and originals. As a duo on stage – and with expanded accompaniment in the studio – they made wonderful music together over a 10-year period, and recorded three great albums.

Long out of print, Dakota Dave Hull has just reissued the three LPs on CD for the first time and it’s been such a treat to hear and enjoy these albums again.

The title of the first LP, Ace Pickin’ and Sweet Harmony, recorded in 1977, actually sums up what Dave and Sean’s music was all about. Recorded with a half-dozen of Minneapolis’ finest musicians and – including such enduring notables as Peter Ostroushko on fiddle and mandolin and Butch Thompson on clarinet – the album includes some great western swing classics like “Hillbilly Swing” and “Old Fashioned Love” but I’m particularly fond of the original material.

Dave enjoyed a long songwriting collaboration with Jerry Clark and their three fine co-writes on the album are highly influenced by Woody Guthrie. These include “Drought Year,” a lament for the Midwestern drought of 1976, “The Old Campaigns,” a remembrance of political struggles from the 1930s, and, best of all, “Give the Fiddler a Dram,” sung from the perspective of a fiddler who’s seen too much and has drunk too much and who knows that times will be tough through the long winter approaching. “Give the Fiddler a Dram” is done in a medley with “Midnight on the Water,” one of my favorite fiddle tunes that features some great guitar playing from both Dave and Sean and, of course, fiddling by Peter.

Sean’s songs include the swinging “Jingle in My Jeans” and “When You Go,” a break-up song that seems wiser than most.

The second LP, North by Southwest, recorded in 1978, featured a smaller group of all-acoustic back-up musicians: Tim O’Brien on bass, Peter Ostroushko on mandolin and fiddle and Butch Thompson on clarinet and piano. While the first album had a jam session feel on many of the songs, this one seems tighter and more rehearsed. Some of my favorites of the classic material include “Dixie Cannonball,” on which Dave and Sean trade lead vocals on the verses and harmonize on the chorus, “Take Me to the Land of Jazz,” which is a lot of fun, and “Miss the Mississippi and You,” which convinced me that Sean – had he wanted to – could have been one of the greatest singers in country music.

The original material included a couple more fine songs from Dave and Jerry Clark and a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the art of growing a moustache by Sean.

Dave and Sean’s third and final LP, River of Swing, recorded in 1979, combined the bigger band fun of the first album with the tightness of the second. An expanded group of virtuoso musicians carries up-tempo swing tunes like “Deep Water” and “Mississippi Shore” to new heights while numbers like “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” showcase Sean’s voice to great effect.

The original numbers include Dave and Jerry Clark’s “Money,” while Eric Peltoniemi has two fine collaborations. “The Wicked Wind of Fargo,” co-written with Dave decades before the Coen Brothers movie, is a toe-tapper that doesn’t make me want to ever visit Dave’s hometown within months of winter, while “River of Swing,” co-written with Sean, is an infectious tribute to the joy of music that explodes into a Dixieland jam worthy of Preservation Hall.

There was a lot of magic in the musical chemistry of Dakota Dave Hull and Sean Blackburn. I’m so happy their three albums are back in print.

After the duo wound down, Dave gave up singing and devoted himself to the guitar. He is now widely recognized as one of the greatest instrumentalists and composers in acoustic folk-rooted and folk-branched music. Dave has a bunch of excellent CDs to his credit. Sean went on to form a superb duo with cowgirl singer Liz Masterson with whom he recorded several fine albums before suffering a heart attack and passing away tragically at the much-too-young age of 56 in 2005.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif