Canadian Spaces – CKCU – Saturday July 8, 2017

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

This particular show is now available for on-demand listening.

http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/33134.html

Canadian Spaces on CKCU in Ottawa is Canada’s longest-running folk music radio program. It is heard Saturday mornings from 10:00 am until noon (Eastern time).

It was hosted for more than 33 years by the late Chopper McKinnon and is now hosted by Chris White and a rotating cast of co-hosts.

This week’s show was co-hosted by Mike Regenstreif and Chris White.

Guests: Ray Barfitt; Campbell Woods & Tim Jackson; Joel LeBlanc; Anthony Toner

Catherine MacLellan- Bidin’ My Time

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan (True North)

J. Reissner- If I Ever Get Lucky

Portrait in Blue (J. Reissner)

Katie Moore & Andrew Horton- Lover’s Return

Six More Miles (Katie Moore)

Tom Russell- Sam Bonnifield’s Saloon

PlayOne More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)

Jayme Stone, Moira Smiley, Sumaia Jackson, Joe Phillips, Felicity Williams, & Denzal Sinclaire- Wait on the Rising Sun

Jayme Stone’s Folklife (Borealis)

Rufus Wainwright- Oliver

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

Kim Doolittle- Some Loves Never Leave

Into the Blue (Doo-A-Little Music)

Old Man Luedecke- Chester Boat Song

Domestic Eccentric (True North)

The Malvinas- Meteorite

God Bless the Grass (Soona Songs)

Michael Earnie Taylor Orchestra- Man in the Moon

$3 Pants (Laughing Cactus Music)

Suzie Vinnick- Oh My

Me ‘N’ Mabel (Suzie Vinnick)

Scott Cook- Kitchen Dance Party On

Further Down the Line (Scott Cook)

The Jerry Cans- Namulimaaqsimavunga

Aakuluk (The Jerry Cans)

Jesse Winchester- How About You

Let the Rough Side Drag (Stony Plain)

Peggy Seeger- Talking Wheelchair Blues

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

Campbell Woods & Tim Jackson- Blood is Thicker than Water

Live in the studio

Campbell Woods & Tim Jackson- If She Stays

Live in the studio

Campbell Woods & Tim Jackson- Let’s Get Back Together

Live in the studio

Anthony Toner- An Alphabet

Ink (Dozens of Cousins)

Anthony Toner- Let the River

Live in the studio

Anthony Toner- The Night Prayer of Saint Augustine

Live in the studio

Anthony Toner- Sailortown

Live in the studio

Claire Lynch- Black Flowers

North By South (Compass)

I’ll be co-hosting Canadian Spaces again on November 25.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan

CATHERINE MacLELLAN

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan

True North Records

catherinemaclellan.com

truenorthrecords.com

I remember Gene MacLellan (1938-1995) as a performer I’d occasionally see on CBC-TV programs from the Maritimes like “Don Messer’s Jubilee” and “Singalong Jubilee” and as the songwriter behind several big hits for Anne Murray like “Snowbird” (which sits on my record shelves in a version by Doc Watson) and “The Call” and the gospel crossover hit “Put Your Hand in the Hand” (which I have in a version by Joan Baez), and as the father of Catherine MacLellan, an accomplished singer and songwriter in her own right whose work I have greatly appreciated over the past decade or so.

On If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan, Catherine, who was a young teenager when she lost her father, pays tribute to her father’s songwriting legacy by interpreting – and, occasionally, reimagining – 13 of his songs.

It’s the two biggest hits that are most radically reimagined – making them both standout tracks on an album with no weak links. As an Anne Murray hit, “Snowbird” was bright, bouncy and infectious. Catherine, though, slows the song down, and accompanying herself on electric piano with no other musicians, finds the poetic heartbreak at the essence of the lyrics and lovely melody – and includes a seemingly essential verse that Murray did not sing.

“Put Your Hand in the Hand” is also performed in a much less flamboyant style than Ocean’s hit version allowing the emphasis to shift away from the singalong chorus to the verses’ story. Catherine on lead vocal is beautifully supported by J.P. Cormier and Dave Gunning on guitars and harmony vocals.

My favorite track on the album is Catherine’s duet with John Connolly on “The Call,” another hit that her father wrote for Anne Murray (perhaps my favorite of all of Murray’s many hits). The song, a panhandler’s plaintive plea, has a quietly infectious melody that is beautifully stated here by the nylon-string lead guitar work of Chris Corrigan.

Among the other standouts are “Bidin’ My Time,” a gentle country song beautifully sung over an arrangement also highlighted by Corrigan’s lead guitar playing; “Faces,” which captures deep feelings of loneliness and depression; and “Shiloh Song,” which seems like a song of encouragement sung by a parent whose circumstances might dictate too much time away from his kids.

Along with the release of this album, Catherine has also created a new stage show, “If It’s Alright With You: The Life and Music of My Father, Gene MacLellan,” that she is performing through September at the PEI Brewing Company in Charlottetown. And Catherine will be bringing much of the show to her National Arts Centre concert here in Ottawa on November 9.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday June 24, 2017

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 http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/32935.html.

Extended theme – A tribute to Rosalie Sorrels.

This program was dedicated to the memory of the late Rosalie Sorrels (1933-2017). Rosalie died on June 11 and today would have been her 84th birthday. I wrote about Rosalie on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog.

Katy Moffatt- Seabiscuit

Where the Heart Is (Centerfire Music)

David Wiffen- Times are Getting Hard

At the Bunkhouse Coffeehouse, Vancouver BC (Universal International)

Deborah Robins- Shake Sugaree

Home Fires (Zippety Whippet Music)

Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches- Freight Train

Very Next Thing (On the Bol)

Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur- The Cuckoo

Penny’s Farm (Kingswood)

Jayme Stone, Moira Smiley, Sumaia Jackson, Joe Phillips & Nick Fraser- Hey, Lally Lally Lo

Jayme Stone’s Folklife (Borealis)

Bob Dylan- Who Killed Davey Moore?

The Bootleg Series, Volume 1 (Columbia)

The Brothers & Sisters- All Along the Watchtower

Dylan’s Gospel (Columbia)

Sneezy Waters- When the Ship Comes In

Sneezy Waters Live (Sneezy Waters)

Bill Camplin- Desolation Row

Bob Dylan Project One (Bill Camplin)

Eric Bogle- Roll Call

A Toss of the Coin (Greentrax)

Lisa Gutkin- Gonna Get Through This World

From Here On In (Lisa Gutkin)

NEeMA w/Emmylou Harris- For You

Painting My Wall Gold (Neemaste Productions)

Catherine MacLellan & John Connolly- The Call

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan (True North)

Katie Moore & Andrew Horton- You Can Go on Your Way Now

Six More Miles (Katie Moore)

Durham County Poets & Michael Jerome Browne- Diamonds on the Water

Grimshaw Road (Durham County Poets)

Orit Shimoni- Time’s Up

Soft Like Snow (MW Music)

Tom Russell- Thrown to the Wolves

Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)

Rosalie Sorrels- Travelin’ Lady

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Nanci Griffith- Ford Econoline

Lone Star State of Mind (MCA)

Rosalie Sorrels- Apple of My Eye

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Bonnie Koloc- Up is a Nice Place to Be

Timeless (Mr. Biscuit)

Rosalie Sorrels- Hitchhiker in the Rain

Borderline Heart (Green Linnet)

Grateful Dead- Ripple

American Beauty (Warner Bros.)

Rosalie Sorrels- Song for Daughters/Mama

Then Came the Children – Live (Green Linnet)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Postcard from India (Keep On Rockin’)

Sparkle and Shine (Front Hall)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- Apples and Pears

What Does It Mean to Love? (Green Linnet)

Penny Lang- My Last Go Round

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Rosalie Sorrels- One More Next Time

If I Could Be the Rain (Folk-Legacy)

Tom Russell w/Bill Hearne- Pork Roast and Poetry

Unreleased – used by permission

Rosalie Sorrels- Rosalie, You Can’t Go Home Again

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Sam Baker- Margaret

Land of Doubt (Sam Baker)

Annie Guthrie- Laid in Bed

Dragonfly (Rising Son)

Garnet Rogers w/Doug Long- This Shirt

Summer Lightning: Live (Snow Goose)

Jory Nash- King in Denial

The Many Hats of Jory Nash (Thin Man)

Alex Cuba- En Mi Guitarra

Lo Ūnico Constante (Caracol)

Rory Block- Panama Limited

Keepin’ Outta Trouble: a tribute to Bukka White (Stony Plain)

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- Spread the News Around

Mr. Brownie & Mr. Sonny: The Bluesville Years Volume Five (Prestige)

Michael Earnie Taylor Orchestra- Tourist Town

$3 Pants (Laughing Cactus Music)

Joe Newberry & April Verch- Waiting for Joe

Going Home (Slab Town)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on July 22.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif