Category: Potpourri -Music

A Sunday Night’s Music Listening Trail! A Beautiful Trail!

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Manassas Album Cover part of the music listening trail

This post was originally published in September of 2010 – Updated January 2016

A Rediscovered Listening Trail

It all started because I was search for some bluegrass from the 1970s and I went searching for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. What I found was one of those nights where one song leads to another, and suddenly the room fills with half a century of folk, bluegrass, and Americana, including a song from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Here is my listening trail on the Sunday Night! Like an evening with Gene Shay!

A Sunday Night Listening Trail

Ok so I like it when Disc Jockeys put together songs with some kind of theme or just some thought anyway. That’s what I did tonight and listened to some good songs!

Starting Point: Manassas and Laurel Canyon

This afternoon I listened to Sides 2 and 4 of Manassas, the band that features Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman and all those other guys Dallas Taylor, Paul Harris, Al Perkins, Fuzzy Samuels and Joe Lala.

Anyway, tonight I started with some tracks from an album that Chris Hillman did with Tony and Larry Rice and Herb Pedersen  Out of the Woodwork. It’s a good bluegrass album and I listened to the first two tracks “Hard Times” and “Lord Won’t You Help Me”.

That led me to another band that Herb Pedersen played in The Laurel Canyon Ramblers and I listened to “Back on the Street Again”.

Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and Folk Memory

Then when I think of Herb’s I of course thought of  Herb Bushler (didn’t you) who played bass for Tom Paxton on several albums.I listened to two tracks from the album Heroes. The first one was floating around in my head this morning “Hand Me Down My Jogging Shoes”  and second track was “Phil” written after and about Phil Ochs’ suicide. Here’s Tom doing “Phil”

Then I listened to Phil’s great song about Woody Guthrie “Bound for Glory” which led me to a bluegrass version of “Pastures of Plenty” by a group called Breakaway.

Woody, Sonny, Brownie — Following the Listening Trail

After that I listened to a more traditional version sung by Frank Hamilton, who sang and played with Woody. I also listened to Frank doing a version of “Do Re Mi”. In the intro to the song Frank talks about going to see Woody so that Woody could teach him to play harmonica like Sonny Terry.

That led me to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and I listened to “Down By The Riverside” and the lyrics “ain’t gonna study war no more… rang out, so I went back to Phil Ochs and listened to “I Ain’t a Marching Anymore”.

Here’s Pete, Sonny and Brownie with “Down by the Riverside”

Well you know that the lyric in that song mentions the Battle of New Orleans so I went to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s album Stars and Stripes to hear that song!

And what would a trip to New Orleans be without a trip to the “House of the Rising Sun”  Doc and Richard Watson provided that song from Third Generation Blues .

The Listening Trail Leads to Louisiana, Cowboys, and the End of the Listening Trail….

Staying in Louisiana I headed north and “Callin’ Baton Rouge” from New Grass Revival.

Then I listened to another track from Doc and Richard “Columbus Stockade Blues” (kinda fits at least it’s another town)

. When I saw that track I also saw that Leon Russell also did a version of it on his album Hank Wilson Vol 4 – Rhythm and Bluegrass so I put that on and gave his version a listen! I also listened to his cover of Willie and Waylon’s “Mommas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” (not bad) and then “Cowboy’s Prayer” from Brian Burns and ended the night with Max Stalling’s “Scars and Souvenirs”. I wanted to get back to Chris Hillman but couldn’t get there! But it was a good night of music!

Daily Roots – Sunday Night : A Rediscovered Listening Trail

l

The Daily Roots….. Down a Folk Music Rabbit Hole

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The Kingston Trio Nick Bob John started Me Down the Folk Music Rabbit Hole

A Random Album Pick – The Kingston Trio – Nick Bob John

This morning I randomly picked out an album from a crate of vinyl that was near me. The album was The Kingston Trio‘s album Nick-Bob- John. Released in 1964, the album was their first recording on the Decca label. The trio was extremely popular from 1958 through 1963 There first 5 albums peaked at No. 1 on the charts and were certifed Gold Records.. That explains why their albums are so numerous at Goodwills.

When I first realized that good albums could be found at Goodwills I started to search out folk music from the 1950s and 1960s. And The Kingston Trio albums were the easiest to find. I found this album interesting because by this time John Stewart had joined the trio.

The First Spin

I put the album on and started to do write a blog post. The first song was “Midnight Special” a song I have heard countless times over the years. My ears really perked up when I heard the third song “Someday Soon” an Ian Tyson song that has been covered by many of my favorite artists. My favorite cover though is by Judy Collins!

Down the Folk Music Rabbit Hole

Then came “Gotta Travel On” and this is when the ground started to split and a rabbit hole emerged! When I first went to Google to find out more about the song I saw a result that said Gotta Travel On words ad lyrics by Bob Dylan I thought that’s not right. When I looked back at the back of the album I saw that the songwriter was Paul Clayton.

Now that makes sense Clayton was very active in the early folk scene in Greenwich Village and I knew Dave Van Ronk had written about him in Van Ronk’s he Mayor of MacDougal Street

So I searched Google for info on the relationship between Van Ronk, Clayton and Dylan.. Here’s what i found out

Further Down the Folk Music Rabbit Hole…….

Traveling on with The Weavewrs sent me further down the folk music rabbit hole

Next, I discovered that the song went back a long way and that while some say The Kingston Trio introduced the song. However, The Weavers had actually recorded it several years earlier. The sent me down the rabbit-hole to find my Weaver albums to see if I had one with “Gotta Travel On”. Bingo! And it’s even in the slightly referenced in the album title Travelin’ On with the Weavers. The song ends the album! Here’s What they wrote about the song.

Here again was the fragment of a song with an appealing rhythm we wanted to preserve. We wrote new lyrics to tell a lonesome tale: who has not felt.

What the Liner Notes Taught Me

Finally, when I pulled out the Weaver album I also pulled out The Weavers Greatest Hits. When I looked at the songs I recognized the majority of them including the likes of: “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” “Wimoweh” and “Rock Island Line” Hey is that the Johnny Cash song? Yep.

Anyway I saw that many of these songs were written by Paul Campbell. and Kisses Sweeter than Wine and Rock Island Line were written by Paul Campbell and Joel Newman. Who were these songwriters??? Off again to Google, etc

Paul Campbell is a pseudonym used by The Weavers (Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert) between 1948 and 1953 to copyright their arrangements of traditional folk songs. It allowed the group to claim songwriting credit for adapted material, such as “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine”

Now the question is who is Joel Newman? The answer Huddie Ledbetter aka Lead Belly.

Another of the things I learned from the liner notes on Travelin’ On with the Weavers involved “Kumbaya.” When they first encountered it, all they had was the word “Kumbaya,” brought back from Africa, and a rhythm that sounded like a lullaby. So they wrote it as a lullaby.

All of this from pulling one random album off a shelf.

A Folk Music Rabbit Hole Playlist

Songs That Helped Shape My American Experience

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Pete Seeger - WE Shall Overcome - a Song that Helped Shape My American Experience

Yesterday an article appeared in my news feed from American /songwriter magazine 5 Folk Songs That Defined the American Experience.

The folk genre has always been a huge part of political music and patriotic songs alike. These five particular folk songs are beautifully intertwined with the American experience, and they are still so relevant decades after they were first released. Let’s take a look, shall we?….

The five songs were……l

  1. “Blowin’ in the Wind “  – Bob Dylan
  2. “This Land is Your Land”- Woody Guthrie
  3. “Early Morning Rain” – Gordon Lightfoot
  4. “The Circle Game” – Joni Mitchell
  5. “Diamonds and Rust” – Joan Baez

I love each of those songs and agree that they do speak to the American experience.. Additionally they are still relevant. However, I started thinking about some of the songs that were important in shaping my world view and came up with the following playlist.

Nine Songs That Helped Shape My American Experience

1.Where Have All The Flowers Gone?”  – Pete Seeger

The first so that popped into my head was “where Have All the Flowers Gone”. The song was written by Pete Seeger. Although, the  version I associate most with the song came from Peter,Paul and Mary.. The song express the  loss  so many felt during the Vietnam War.  And I am sure so many felt in Iraq and Afghanistan. And still feel in Ukraine today.

3. “Turn, Turn, Turn” – Pete Seeger

Another Pete Seeger song that’s been recorded by many. Most notably the Byrds. It addresses the circle of life. It speaks strong of the hope for peace. A hope we have all wished for….

A time to gain, a time to loseA time to rain, a time of sowA time for love, a time for hateA time for peace, I swear it’s not too late

4. “There But for Fortune” – Phil Ochs

While Phil Ochs wrote “There But for Fortune” it is probably best known for Joan Baez’s cover off the song. AS we go through life when we look at folks who are prisoners or homeless we must all remember the there “but for good fortune” go you or go I….
Even as a country we must remember how fortune we are that no bombs have fallen on our country!

Show me the prison, show me the jail 
Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale
And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why
But there but for fortune go you or I, hmm-mmm…

…….

Show me the country where the bombs had to fall
Show me the ruins of the buildings once so tall
And I’ll show you a young land with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune may go you or I, or I

 

5, “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportees)” – Woody Guthrie

Talk about a song that sill resonates today!

 

The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They’re flying ’em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be “deportees”

6. “My Rainbow Race – Pete Seeger”

Sometimes American folk songs can cross the ocean! “My Rainbow Race”  The paragraph below sounds like today’s Republican party!

The song was performed by Nilsen and a crowd of more than 40,000 people in Youngstorget in Oslo and at squares across the country on April 26, 2012, as a protest against statements given in court by Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the July 22 attacks in 2011.

The performance was inspired by Facebook reactions after Breivik claimed in his trial testimony that the song was an example of Marxist propaganda and that it was being used to “brainwash” Norwegian children.[

Organization was made at the level of Norwegian Minister of Culture, and other Ministers of Culture from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands were also present.[2]

The song was thus performed a few days later, in the midst of the ongoing trial. In Oslo the sing-along was followed by a march up to the site of the trial, where the crowd laid down flowers.[3] The song was performed both in Norwegian and English, and Nilsen had personally contacted Seeger, who responded with the words: “Oh me, oh my. I wish you luck  Read More

One blue sky above One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shores
One earth so green and brown
Who could ask for more

And because I love you
I’ll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It’s too soon, too soon to die
It’s too soon to die…

From Wikipedia…..

The song has been described as an “anthem … with lyrics that might have been written by the great Woody Guthrie“.[3] Said to be the American patriotic hymn best at combining the American dream with selfless Christian ideals[1] “Power and the Glory” consists of three verses, each followed by a chorus.[2] The first verse invites the listener to walk with the singer, and it describes some of the natural wonders of the United States.[4] The second verse names some of the states through which the listener and the singer would travel.[5] The third verse notes that the United States is “only as rich as the poorest of the poor” but also as “strong as our love for this land”.[4] The chorus of “Power and the Glory” describes the United States as “a land full of power and glory”: Read More

Yet our land is still troubled by men who have to hate
They twist away our freedom and they twist away our fate
Fear is their weapon and treason is their cry.
We can stop them if we try.

Let’s Hope!

8, Thirsty Boots – Eric Andersen

“Thirsty Boots” has been a favorite song of mine since I first heard it many,many years ago!

From Wikipedia …

“Thirsty Boots” is a civil-rights-era folksong by American singer-songwriter Eric Andersen that first appeared on his 1966 album ‘Bout Changes ‘n’ Things. According to the album’s liner notes, the song “was written to a civil rights worker-friend. Having never gone down to Mississippi myself, I wrote the song about coming back.” Read More

You’ve long been on the open road
You been sleepin’ in the rain
From dirty words and muddy cells
Your clothes are soiled and stained
But the dirty words and the muddy cells
Will soon be hid in shame
So only stop to rest yourself and you’ll go off again

 

9, “We Shall Overcome” – Pete Seeger

I don’t know that there is a song that moves me more than “We Shall Over Come”. When I think of the words of the song and the struggles that have been overcome and still need to be overcome, I am moved to tears. Then I think, hey the words apply to everyone we all need to overcome some day!

We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day

[Refrain]
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day

[Verse 2]
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand some day

Explore Each Artist

Each of the above eight songs shaped my American Experience. They all had a hand in my beliefs  about war, the environment, and civil rights . And yes  I am a strong liberal Democrat and. Proud of it! Any of you have your American Experience Shaped by these songs?

 

Si Khan Home & The 30 Day Vinyl Challenge

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So the other day I was  watching an Instagram post from a young woman. She was listening to songs from her father’s album collection. He had resently passed away.. Now whether or not that’s true or how long ago that was, I don’t know.

Anyway.  it started me thinking about all the new albums I’ve found at Goodwill and the Princeton Record Exchange over the last year and how I haven’t been listening to them!Then I read a post somewhere about collectors who rotate through their albums on a regular basis.

As a result, I’ve created a 30 day challenge for me to randomly listen to at least one album a day for my newest purchases. I have most of those albums in crates grouped by genre, with the albums in alphabetical order. So I picked a crate and then used a random number generator to pick the album. The number was 26 and the album was Home from Si Khan.

I must admit I don’t know mush about Si Khan. I always heard his music on The Gene Shay show in Philly. I liked what I heard but never sought out his music. The probably may be that the majority of his music was release after 1980. Which means it coincided with my parenting years!

However, from what I read about Si at AllMusic I should have….

Discovering Si Kahn

The political balladry of Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, and Phil Ochs is reflected in the songs of North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Si Kahn. Although his love songs are nearly as effective, Kahn’s greatest strides have come with his lyrical looks at the unemployed, the racially abused, the sexually harassed, and the working-class oppressed. Kahn’s songs, including “Go to Work on Monday” and “Aragon Mill,” have become labor union anthems.

Si Kahn (born April 23, 1944) and has released 21 albums over the course of his career.

Si Khan is about more than just music….

Kahn’s prolific output includes more than music and songs. He has written three plays including, Mother Jones, based on the life of the early union organizer, which featured Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers in the title role when produced in the early ’90s.  Kahn has also authored two books on political organizing: How People Get Power and Organizing.

Recorded during a 1993 concert, “In My Heart: Live in Holland” celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kahn’s first album and featured several of his best-known tunes. Profits from Kahn’s concerts continue to be donated to Grassroots Leadership, a political organization he founded in the mid-’70s.

About Grassroots Leadership

Grassroots Leadership founder Si Kahn gothis start as a young activist and organizer in the Southern Civil Rights Movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Si founded Grassroots Leadership in 1980 as a resource and training center for social justice organization building. Initially based in North Carolina, Grassroots Leadership worked throughout the South to help build progressive, multi-racial organizations to build power and create just organizations. Grassroots Leadership was one of the few organizations in the 1980s and 1990s to articulate in the board bylaws that no less than half of the board would be women and no less than half would be People of Color.  Read More

My Bottom Line

The bottom line is I need to listen to the other Si Khan albums I bought and seek out more albums! So check out his music and his grassroots activism!

 

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music and More of Si Khan

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Instagram
Amazon

 

Dion and other Oldies Still Going Strong!

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A few days before Dion was appearing at the Keswick Theater in Philadelphia, a woman commented on Facebook post about his appearance. She said that like Grace Slick said rock stars should retire. What Grace Slick told VH1 was that she retired from the music business because…..

….all rock stars over 50 should retire as they look stupid….

While that may apply to many aging stars who haven’t recorded an album in many years it doesn’t apply to Dion! And just writing this it doesn’t apply to two of her ex-band mates Jorma Kaukonan and Jack Cassidy (Hot Tuna)

Anyway, let’s get back to the eighty-two year young Dion. While I have not seen Dion live,  I have viewed many of his recent video. In them he introduces songs from his last two albums Blues with Friends and Stomping Ground and lwhat I’ve seen is an 82 year-old having the time of his life and producing some really good music!

 The Friends on Dion’s Albums

What Dion  has done on his last two albums is write some great songs and then surround himself with all-star talent to make them come alive!

On Blues with Friends, Dion’s friends included:

Joe Bonamassa, Jeff Beck, Joe Louis Walker, Sonny Landreth, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen!

While Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Boz Scaggs and others joined him on Stomping Ground.

Now I know that all these people aren’t playing with Dion on tour but I bet he’s put together a band that can come pretty close!

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is Dion keep your music coming and I’ll keep a listening’

Now in addition to Dion there are several other rockers (mostly blues rockers) who are around 80 years old whom are still producing great music!

Oldies But Still Going Great

So while there maybe be others here’s some of my favorite blues artists Recent music…

First and foremost tracks from the great 2022 album from 88 year old John Mayall The Sun is Shing Down. This is one terrific album. Like Dion Mayallbhas surrounded himself with some great young talent! You can read a great review if the album at the following site:

Blues Rock Review: John Mayall: The Sun is Shining Down Review

ONext are a few tracks from Dion’s aforementioned Stomping Ground

Then some from Charlie Musselwhite’s June 2022 release Mississippi’s Son

Followed by John Primer and Bob Corritore’s 2020 release The Gypsy Woman Told Me.

The last track is from Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite’s 2020 release One Hundred Years of sBlues

The bottom line is, while in some cases Rockers over 50 should retire, there are many that should just keep on rocking and creating great blues! And right now Dion falls into that later group!

Links to Explore the Music of Dion

Artist’s Website
Facebook
YouTube
Amazon

Do let’s check out the music of these oldies but still goodies and thank them for their great music!

I’m

Tony Rice – Day 7 of Folk Music Challenge

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On Christmas Day last month the Bluegrass world lost a true legend, when Tony Rice passed away. Rice is arguably the best bluegrass guitarist ever!

I confess that through the 70s and 80s I knew who he was , but never listened much to the groups in which he was a member. Progressive bluegrass groups like J D Crowe and the New South and the David Grisman Quintet.

Tony Rice -nCold on the Shoulder

EK Finds Cold on the Shoulder amongst his Vinyl….

I probably became aware of Tony and his fantastic guitar in the mid to late 80s. Most likely it was through Gene Shay’s folk radio show here in Philly. Anyway, I bought two of his solo albums Cold on the Shoulder and Me & My Guitar  at a used record store at the now defunct Pennsauken Mart.

 

I found those two records the other day, when I started to organize my vinyl collection by genre. I am counting listening to Cold on the Shoulder as day seven of my 30-day Folk Music Challenge.

Needless to say, it sounded great. It is also just a coincidence that it has the same title song as day ones pick.

While reading the back of the album, I discovered  this was the first album Tony recorded consisting of all vocal tracks. While there are no all instrumental tracks on the album, Rice picked songs that allowed space for individual solos.

The  space for solos is filled with a group of outstanding musicians. If I didn’t know who Tony Rice was i would  have bought this album just on the people who play on it.

An Amazing Supporting Cast 

The supporting cast includes:

Vassar Clement – fiddle
Jerry Douglas – dobro
Todd Phillips -bass
Sam Bush – mandolin
Bobby Hicks – fiddle
Larry Rice – mandolin
J D Crowe – banjo
Kate Wolf – harmony vocals
Bela Fleck – banjo

What a fantastic line-up of musicians! And several times while I was listening to this album I stopped what I was doing and said. “Wow”.

Tony Rice in Rice, Rice Hillman and Pederson

ony Rice in Rice Rice Hillman and Pederson

My next contact with Tony Rice’s music was when he became part of the group – Rice,Rice, Hillman and Pederaon. I added their album Out of the Woodwork to my music library.

The group consisted of: Tony, his brother Larry, Chris Hillman from The Byrds, Manassas, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Herb Pederson. The group only released three albums and I need to check out the other two!

The bottom line is that Tony Rice was a great talent and his passing is a great loss for the folk and bluegrass community.

If you’ve never listened to Tony’s music do it. As for me I want to check out some of his earlier solo albums, along with the J.D. Crowe and David Grisman albums!!

Links for Further Explorations

Wikipedia
NPR: Tony Rice Was My Guitar Hero
Rolling Stone: Was Bluegrass Music’s Great Experimentalist
Spotify

In addition to the above, after watching the following video I need to check out any albums from the Tony Rice Unit…. four of my favorite musicians!!

Gordon Lightfoot Kicks Off My 30-Day Folk Music Challenge

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Yesterday I said I had started a 30-day Folk Music Challenge early last week. Well, as a result yesterday  was the sixth day of the challenge. Blue River Eric Andersen’s 1972 release.was the album of the day. In this post I’d like to start to catch up and write about the albums I listened to on the first 5 days. Gordon Lightfoot kicked it off!

Cold on the Shoulder - Gordon Lightfoot

 Cold on the Shoulder – Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot’s Cold on the Shoulder was the first album I listened to as part of my 30-Day Folk Music Challenge.

While Gordon Lightfoot was never a  huge favorite of mine, his impact on the genre was immense! Some of the earliest folk music I listened to was Peter, Paul and Mary who covered  at least two Gordon Lightfoot songs “Early Morning Rain” and “For Lovin’Me”.

However, I didn’t have any Lightfoot albums in my music collection until his 1972 release Sundown. The second album I added to my collection  was Cold on the Shoulder.

Here’s some biographical information about Gordon from Wikipedia:

 

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr….(born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He is often referred to as Canada’s greatest songwriter and is known internationally as a folk-rock lege

“Rainy Day People” – Cold on the Shoulder’s Hit

The big hit on Cold on the Shoulder was “Rainy Day People” again from.Wikipedia……..

Rainy Day People” is a song written and recorded by Gordon Lightfoot, released on his 1975 album, Cold on the Shoulder, and also as a single. “Rainy Day People” went to number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Lightfoot’s last of four songs to reach number one on the Easy Listeningchart, spending one week at number one in May 1975.

Lightfoot’s  discography consists of 19 studio albums, 3 live albums and 16 computation albums Eighteen of his nineteen  studio albums were released between 1966-2004. The last Gordon Lightfoot album I added to my library was  A Pilgrim Passes By released in 1998.

Gordon Overcomes Major Health Problems

In 2004 Lightfoot almost died when he…

….underwent emergent vascular surgery for a rupturedabdominal aortic aneurysm, and he remained in serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Lightfoot endured a six-week coma and a tracheotomy, and he underwent four surgical operations.

In 2006, Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke in the middle of a performance. The stroke left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. It took him many months to recover.

In spite of his health problems, Lightfoot has not retired. Last year Lightfoot released his 19th studio album Gordon Lightfoot Solo. from Gordon’s website:

Nine of the songs come from two CDs of songs he had recorded back in 2001 – 2002 and which he had forgotten. He discovered them when cleaning his office, listened to them, and decided to make an album with just him and his guitar, removing other instruments that had been added. The 10th song, “Easy Flo,” was written and recorded more recently.

Lightfoot says this about the album….

“I thought my fans would be interested in hearing what songs sound like when first written”

So if you’ve never listened to Gordon Lightfoot You really need to do it….as for me I’m checking out Gordon Lightfoot Solo.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Gordon Lightfoot

Artist’s Website

Spotify
Amazon

Here’s “Rainy Day People” from Gord’s Gold

 

 2026 Update

Gordon Lightfoot passed away on May 21, 2023. Over the last few years I have been adding Gordon Lightfoot albums to my music library. As this blog develops you’ll b readng about those additions so stay tuned!

A 30-Day Folk Music Challenge leads to a Revitalization

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2026 Update: Looking back, this post marked a turning point. My 30-Day Folk Music Challenge reminded me where my musical journey began. Although I would continue exploring blues, jazz, progressive rock, and many other genres, this challenge eventually led me back to the folk and Americana music that first captured my imagination more than fifty years ago. That rediscovery would eventually inspire this website.

A Return to the Beginning

Well, it’s quite an understatement to say I haven’t posted much lately. It’s not that I haven’t tried. I have started at times many, many posts and somehow I can never complete them. However the other night, I had a wild thought why not go back to where it all started at least musically!

For the majority of my adult life I listen to mostly Folk and Americana music. In college I listen to a combination of rock and folk. However, as the years past and the rock groups that I loved weren’t on the radio anymore, I listen to my folk musician favorites from the 60s and 70s. In the 1980 and early 90s I added several more Folk and Americana favorites.

Then in the mid-90s I discovered Texas Country music. I also started to listen to a variety of blues musicians. (Thank- you Stevie Ray Vaughan)

In 2014 after blogging about that music, I started listening to several different music genres. I started listening to and writing about more New Age music. In conjunction with this Instarted listening to more jazz and progressive rock.

Since the number of hours in the day available to listen to music is limited the amount of time I listened to Folk and Americana music diminished.

Creates The 30-Day Folk Music Challenge

Until last Tuesday when I decided to create a 30-day Folk Music Challenge. I that challenge I am going to listen to albums from those artist who I have listened to over the last 50 some of years!

Folk Album of the Day – “Blue River” Eric Andersen

It is now the sixth day of the challenge. Today’s album was ……

a30 day folk music challenge album - blue river

Eric Andersen’s 1972 release Blue River. Eric was part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the mid-1960s. His most popular songs from that era were “Violets of Dawn” and “Thirsty Boots” which as been recorded by many, many people.

Blue River was probably his most commercially successful album. It climbed as high as 169 on Billboard’s Top 200. My favorite tracks include: Is It Really Live at All?” and “Wind and Sand”

Links

As I was reading about the album at Wikipedia I read that a number of musicians who played on the album were the reason I took a chance on several albums in the 1970s. They were a group of the best session musicians around and included….

  • David Bromberg – dobro, acoustic guitar
  • DavidBriggs – organ, keyboards, celeste
    Weldon Myrick – steel guitar
  • Norbert Putnam – bass
  • Kenneth Buttrey – drums, percussion, tambourine

In the 70s, if I picked up an album and saw these guys listed on the album, I’d pick up the album. Sometimes even though I didn’t know the artist. I knew at least I’d like the music!

The Challenge Leads to New Folk/Americana

So after listening to some of my favorite folk music over the last several days, I decided to check out the Folk Charts at Roots Music Report.

I found several artists I’ve never listened to before, give thEir stuff a quick listen and was pleased with what I heard. I also remember  the Euro-Americana Chart and checked it out finding more new folk/Americana artists! So expect to hear about those new albums mixed in with the old albums.

Finally, I also listened to some new Blues today and found two groups I really liked. The first one was Terminal Station and the second The Bluesbones. The later was my favorite so you’ll probably hear about that one first

Here’s “Is It Really Live at All” from Eric Andersen

 

 

 

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue(s)

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Do you remember that old saying… Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue? Well, over the weekend my music listening mirrored that saying.

I’ve been listening to a variety of music — something old, Phil Ochs’ Pleasures of the Harbor; something new, Notorious’ The Road to Damascus; something borrowed, Tom Russell; and something blue(s), Coco Montoya.

Something Old: Phil Ochs – Pleasures of the Harbor

I think that somewhere along the line I had a copy of Phil Ochs’ album Pleasures of the Harbor. Actually, I think it was on eight-track tape!

Anyway, it was good to hear the complete album again. I say “hear the complete album” because several of the tracks have been part of my listening rotation over the years — songs like “Flower Lady” (one of my all-time Ochs favorites), “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends,” “Pleasures of the Harbor,” and “The Crucifixion,” all of which have appeared on other compilation albums such as There But for Fortune.

But it was great to revisit songs like the opening track “Cross My Heart” and “The Party” for the first time in a long while — “and I crawled beneath the rug and re-tuned my piano.”

Something New: Notorious – The Road to Damascus

Notorious is primarily a duo — Eden MacAdam-Somer (violinist, fiddler) and Larry Unger — though they sometimes expand to a trio or quartet with Sam Bartlett on mandolin and Mark Hellenberg on percussion or banjo/uke. From their website:

“Eden MacAdam-Somer is a remarkable musician. Violinist, fiddler (there’s a difference), clogger, and vocalist, she bowed, plucked, and danced up a storm, Unger contributing harmony, rhythm, musical ambiance and style. And style there was – in abundance… MacAdam-Somer has mastered it and Unger hung on for the ride. Heartrending vocals poured through ‘All Night Long’ and a Jewish wedding song. Singing and fiddling at the same time is her specialty, but her rendition of a Vaughan-Williams piece for soprano and violin was truly extraordinary.” – Michael Huebner, Birmingham News

Notorious plays a lively mix of folk, Celtic, Gypsy, and Eastern European styles. “Hora Miresii” is a Romanian tune, and “Caje Sukaarije” was made popular by Macedonian singer Esma Redžepova. The album is full of great instrumentals like “Blues at Daybreak,” “Hangman’s Reel,” and “Planxty Eden,” along with vocal gems such as “Wild Rose of the Mountain” and a beautiful rendition of “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.” All in all, a fine album that I know I’ll be returning to often.

Something Borrowed: Tom Russell – Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia

After revisiting Ochs and discovering Notorious, it seemed only fitting to borrow from another era. Tom Russell’s Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia is just that — a heartfelt collection borrowing twelve songs from Ian and Sylvia Tyson. Russell had been thinking about making this record for twenty years before its release. It includes twelve tracks plus two previously unissued demos sung by Ian and Sylvia themselves: “The French Girl” and “Grey Morning.”

Russell’s versions, recorded with Cindy Church and Grant Siemens, feature “Wild Geese,” “Rio Grande,” “Play One More,” “Red Velvet,” “These Friends of Mine,” “The Renegade,” and several surprises — including two co-writes with Ian and Sylvia that Tom had never recorded before.

For those unfamiliar with Ian & Sylvia: they were a celebrated Canadian folk duo of the 1960s and ’70s, best remembered for Ian’s “Four Strong Winds” and “Someday Soon,” and Sylvia’s “You Were On My Mind.” They also covered Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain” and Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game.”

I confess I was never a big Ian & Sylvia fan, but Tom Russell’s interpretations may change that. This is a wonderfully consistent collection — Russell’s voice and storytelling bring fresh life to these classics. My current favorites are “Wild Geese” and “Rio Grande,” though “Play One More,” “Sam Bonnifield’s Saloon,” and “Red Velvet” aren’t far behind.

Anyway, check it out!

Something Blue(s): Coco Montoya – Hard Truth

Hard Truth - Coco Montoya

The something blue(s) that completes the weekend playlist is the album that’s spent the most time in my rotation lately — Hard Truth from Coco Montoya. This is one damn good album, and the proof is in the pudding: it hit number one on the Roots Music Blues Chart last week and is still holding strong this week.

My first encounter with Coco Montoya was in the 1980s when he played lead guitar with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Since then, a few of his solo releases have caught my attention — including his 1997 release Just Let Go, which is in my music library.

For me, though, Hard Truth may be his best album yet — or at least my favorite. There isn’t a weak track here, and throughout the album both Montoya’s guitar work and vocals shine.

My favorite tracks include “Before the Bullets Fly,” “I Want to Shout About It,” and “Old Habits Are Hard to Break.” I added these three to the playlist below — the finishing touches to this first “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” musical journey.

Both Phil Ochs’ Pleasures of the Harbor and several Ian & Sylvia albums — plus an Ian Tyson solo record — now sit proudly in my vinyl collection. Not a bad soundtrack for a weekend that covered the old, the new, the borrowed, and the blue.