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Bruce Springsteen and the American Reckoning: Last Man Standing
Part Five starts with a funeral and a realization: when Bruce's friend and former Castile's band mate, George Theiss, dies, Bruce becomes the last man left from his teenage band. That shock pushes him into Springsteen on Broadway, Western Stars, and Letter to You—projects that ask what kind of ancestor, and what kind of citizen, you want to be when you’re running out of time.
We follow him into those late-career marathon shows and finally to a 2025 European stage, where he calls out a "incompetent, corrupt, and treasonous administration" and then sings about hope, duty, and “we the people” anyway.
This final chapter ties Bruce back to everyone we’ve studied in 2025 on American Song—including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, Randy Newman, Warren Zevon and Jackson Browne —and makes the subtext plain: if we want a better America, we’re going to have to live up to the American values embodied in the songs of the artists we say we admire.
Music In This Episode: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
My City of Ruins
Shackled and Drawn
Rocky Ground
Sundown
Hello Sunshine
Last Man Standing
One Minute You're Here
The Power of Prayer
Long Walk Home
We Shall Overcome
Archival Interviews
Rick Rubin/ Malcolm Gladwell
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Bruce Springsteen and the American Reckoning: Breakups, Ghosts, and Trump’s America
Part Four is where the story cuts close to the bone. Bruce lets the E Street Band go, stares down his own failures on Tunnel of Love, and writes The Ghost of Tom Joad for the people that some Americans prefer not to see: migrants, the unemployed, the left-behind.
The band reunites, “American Skin (41 Shots)” forces a conversation about race and fear, and The Rising and Wrecking Ball turn grief and economic anger into something like a shared civic ritual. We carry all of that forward into Trump’s first administration and Charlottesville, and we hold Bruce’s choices up as a different model of Americanness—one where loving your country means telling it the truth and standing with the people it’s hurting, even when that costs you.
Music in This Episode: Bruce Springsteen (With and Without) the E Street Band
Tunnel of Love
Human Touch
Living Proof
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Theme from Ken Burns 'The Civil War'*
The Price You Pay**
American Skin (41 Shots)
This Land Is Your Land
Archival Interviews
Rick Rubin/ Malcolm Gladwell
Mark Maron
Howard Stern
Bank Street Podcast
*As performed by my second cousin, Molly Hines of Wilmington, NC. A massively talented violinist, during our family reunion in Yellowstone National Park; Summer, 2025. Thank you, Molly! Visit https://www.mollyjhines.com/
** E Street Band backing track; no vocals.
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There, you'll get more information, video content, and more about the music and personalities covered in all our episodes.
By the late 1960’s, folk was beginning to feel “scarred and battered”, so what came next in this tradition was less political, and much more personal. The world was changing politically, socially, and culturally. Some of the new generation of singers and songwriters felt that staying relevant meant they had to move away from folk, towards more personal themes. The ‘70s was the “Me” decade. Instead of drawing from what was happening in the outside world, one group of song-writers turned inward. Another group turned toward broader political issues, instead of the Hattie Carroll, situation-specific inspirations that had inspired writers in the early. ‘60s.
There’s no better artist to start with than Bob Dylan, the single artist without whom, this whole series may not have even been possible, his impact is so huge. And yet, even Dylan owes his position as the Mount Everest of rock music to the people who came before him. One very important inspiration was the great Woody Guthrie. And even Guthrie you have to put in context, amidst all of the other great artists we’ve been talking about since day one of the American Song podcast. It’s like Pete Seeger, the great folk musician and a closer friend and collaborator of Guthrie’s, said,
"All songwriters are links in a chain."
In This Episode
Bruce Springsteen: Atlantic City
Pete Seeger - This Land is Your Land
Bob Dylan - The Times They are a Changing
Jim Croce - Operator
Bob Dylan - Song to Woody
Bob Dylan - Big Yellow Taxi
Buddy Holly and the Crickets - Not Fade Away
Buddy Holly and the Crickets - Maybe Baby
Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan - Jokerman
Bob Dylan - Foot of Pride
Bob Dylan - House of the Rising Sun
Bob Dylan - Rollin' and Tumblin'
Bob Dylan - Arthur McBride
Bob Dylan - Hurricane
Bob Dylan/ Tom Petty - I've Forgot More than You'll Ever Know
Bob Dylan - Blind Willie McTell
Bob Dylan - Cantina Theme
Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan - Sad Eyes Lady of the Lowlands
Bob Dylan - Masters of War
Bob Dylan - Every Grain of Sand
Bob Dylan - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Bob Dylan - High Water (for Charlie Patton)
Bob Dylan - Meet Me in the Morning
Bob Dylan - Sweetheart Like You
Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet
Bob Dylan - False Prophet
Bob Dylan - Murder Most Foul
Interviews
Pete Seeger (on Woody Guthrie)
Bob Dylan (on 'the muse' and Hoagy Carmichael)
Louie Kemp (Bob Dylan's childhood friend)
Bob Dylan/ Ed Bradley (60 Minutes Interview)
Bob Dylan (on receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature)
Alan Ginsberg (on first hearing Bob Dylan)
Penn Jillette (Bob Dylan is America's Shakespeare)
It seems like every ten years or so, society experiences a great reset. The end of the ‘60s was like that. The idealism and teen-culture of the ‘60’s was ten years older and moving into adult life. Just like everything else in life that was questioned and re-invented, some musicians began pushing the boundaries of what rock music could become.
Across the Atlantic, and as Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull put it, English rockers “were trying to be originators and not simply relying on American music." Some of the most ground-breaking ‘60s albums led directly to the rise of prog, most prominently, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . This album set a whole new expectation for what bands could do, and for what rock could become.
In this third and final part of our Progressive Rock episode, we're rocking out with some of the greats - including Jethro Tull, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer! Life is a long song, friends. Come sing it with us!
Themes In this Episode:
Classical touches in progressive rock
Early Jethro Tull
Martin Barre joins the band
Tull's themes - a more relatable sort of prog
Ian Anderson - An Extraordinary Minstrel
Why the flute?
What made Tull so unique
Early Emerson, Lake and Palmer
ELP put their unique stamp on classical music
A dystopian future: Tarkus
Food For Thought or Thoughtful Food? Brain Salad Surgery
Tracks
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Genesis - Blood on the Rooftops
Jethro Tull - Bouree
The John Evan Smash - Blues for the 18th
Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath
Jethro Tull - Wind Up
Jethro Tull - Cup of Wonder
Jethro Tull - Songs from the Wood
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick Part 1
Jethro Tull - My Sunday Feeling
Jethro Tull - Excerpt; Thick as a Brick Part 2
The Nice - The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire
ELP - The Nutcracker
ELP - Still You Turn Me On
ELP - From the Beginning
ELP - The Barbarian
ELP - Tarkus
ELP - Still... You Turn Me On
ELP - Karn Evil #9 (first impression)
Genesis - Duke's Travels/ Duke's End
Join our community and continue your journey through American Song: Visit us on Facebook.
There, you'll get more information, video content, and more about the music and personalities covered in all our episodes.
Close to the Edge: How Yes and Genesis Took Progressive Rock to Its Furthest Reaches
It seems like every ten years or so, society experiences a great reset. The end of the ‘60s was like that. The idealism and teen-culture of the ‘60’s was ten years older and moving into adult life. Just like everything else in life that was questioned and re-invented. Some musicians began pushing the boundaries of what rock music could become.
Across the Atlantic, and as Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull put it, English rockers “were trying to be originators and not simply relying on American music." Some of the most ground-breaking ‘60s albums led directly to the rise of prog, most prominently, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This album set a whole new expectation for what bands could do, and for what rock could become.
In this second episode on Progressive Rock, we're going deep into 'prog rock'. So, "Welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends!" Come explore progressive rock with me!
Themes In this Episode:
Some of the concepts in the biggest prog rock "Concept Albums"
The roots of Yes
Some of Yes' greatest work: Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans
Time and a Word: The lyrics in progressive rock songs
Having dinner with the band: Genesis - Supper's Ready
The classic Genesis line-up: Steve Hackett and Phil Collins join the band
Tracks
Rush - 2112
Yes - The Revealing Science of God
The Beatles - Within You Without You
Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks - True Messenger
The Syn - Flowerman
Yes - Giants Under the Sun
David Bowie - Life on Mars
Yes - Excerpts; Roundabout, South Side of the Sky
Yes - Close to the Edge
Yes - Ritual; Nous Sommes du Soleil
The Beatles - Golden Slumbers
Jethro Tull - My God
Genesis - Excerpt; Watcher of the Skies
Genesis - Supper's Ready
Genesis - Excerpt; Firth of Fifth
Genesis - Los Endos
Genesis - Phil Collins & Chester Thompson drum duet from Mama Tour (1984)
Join our community and continue your journey through American Song: Visit us on Facebook.
There, you'll get more information, video content, and more about the music and personalities covered in all our episodes.
From Kent State to King Crimson: How the Counterculture Invented Progressive Rock
It seems like every ten years or so, society experiences a great reset. The end of the ‘60s was like that. The idealism and teen-culture of the ‘60’s was ten years older and moving into adult life. Just like everything else in life that was questioned and re-invented, some musicians began pushing the boundaries of what rock music could become.
Across the Atlantic, and as Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull put it, English rockers "were trying to be originators and not simply relying on American music." Some of the most ground-breaking ‘60s albums led directly to the rise of prog, most prominently, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This album set a whole new expectation for what bands could do, and for what rock could become.
In this first of a three-part episode on Progressive Rock, we'll take a deep dive into the fascinating world of 'prog rock'. It's time to 'set your controls for the heart of the sun', everybody! Come explore progressive rock with me!
Themes In this Episode:
Progressive rock in the context of the late 1960's and 1970's; flower power, and the counter-culture.
Musical context - Classical music and Jazz as foundations
Influenced by The Beatles and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles and The Beach Boys rivalry
Social unrest - Kent State, Bobby Kennedy, Martiin Luther King
Concept albums
Harnessing new technology
Tracks
The Who - Underture
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows
Jim Ladd/ KMET; Headsets
The Beatles - A Day in the Life
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin
Soft Machine - A Certain Kind
Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird Suite
Pink Floyd - Suite from Atom Heart Mother
Genesis - The Revenge of the Giant Hogweed
Rush - 2112
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
Switched On Bach
The Who - Baba O'Riley
Alan Holdsworth - Non-brewed Condiment
The Giles Brothers - Boyfriends & Girlfriends
King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man
King Crimson - Epitaph
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Pink Floyd - The Trial
Dig deeper by checking out these reference episodes from previous American Song seasons:
Punk may have been born in America, but it had many homes around the world. In every place it went, punk became part of the struggle for social change.
Punk's roots are in the blues, music made for expressing struggles and refusing to accept things the way they are. With heritage like this, it should be no surprise that it moved people and shook things up in the powerful ways it did!
Join us, as we see how punk expressed the real lives of the people making and listening to the music in far away places like the UK, the USSR, South Africa and East Germany. Witness the remarkable impact the music had on the social fabric of the times - showing that music really can change the world!
This is an inspiring story of people pushed into a corner, and battling their way out, armed with guitars, drums, and a pen.
Warning: This episode includes quotes of song lyrics, including some "f-bombs". If you have young children around, you may want to choose an appropriate time to listen.
America's Punk movement was started on both coasts. Early proto-punks like the MC5 and the New York Dolls were followed by a number of other early iconic acts who played at several New York clubs, including CBGB's (Country Blue Grass and Blues), such as the The Ramones, the Talking Heads, Blondie, and Patti Smith. Meanwhile, LA and San Francisco had a decidedly more political movement propelled by bands like X, The Dead Kennedy's, and Black Flag. These bands had more in common musically with UK groups like the Sex Pistols and the Clash.
In this episode, you'll see how the Punk Movement on both coasts continued to develop in the early 1980s, and you'll see what made these bands so utterly unique.
You won't want to miss a minute!
In This Episode
The Ramones – Beat on the Brat
The Ramones – Rock and Roll High School
U2 – The Miracle of Joey Ramone
The Ramones Family – Grammy Awards
The Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
The Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
The Talking Heads – Burning Down the House
David Byrne Interview – David Letterman
Blondie – Hanging on the Telephone
Blondie – One Way or Another
Patti Smith – Gloria
Patti Smith – Interview
Patti Smith – Piss Factory
The Dead Kennedy’s – Holiday in Cambodia
The Dead Kennedy’s – Kill the Poor
Jello Biafra – PMRC Interview (Parent’s Music Resources Council)
Black Flag – Rise Above
Blag Flag – Depression
X – Los Angeles
X – Johnny Hit and Run Pauline
The Violent Femmes – Gone Daddy Gone
The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace with God
Gogol Bordello – Immigradiada
Green Day – American Idiot
Flush the Orange Turd
Links to related show content from prior episodes This episode refers back to a few topics covered in prior episodes. We invite you to learn more about these ideas! Use the links, below.
When the dreams and promises you’ve placed your hopes in end up being a mirage, its only human to feel angry. In the mid 1970’s, a lot of teens and young adults found themselves in this camp. The nation’s shift toward a decidedly more cynical era could be heard in anti-war statements such as "War is not healthy for children and other living things" On the equal rights agenda, the demand for black civil rights encouraged a louder beating of the drum as seen in the rise of feminism. At the same time, both movements continued receiving backlash from the country’s conservatives, especially The "Silent Majority" campaign, responding to the ‘liberal excesses’ of the counterculture.
Running through everything, there was a feeling that the social changes that the ‘60s had promised were as far away as ever. America’s kids were caught in the cross-hairs. America was experiencing an epidemic of frustration, anxiety and anger.
With nothing to do, and a sense that the walls were closing in, teens living in places like New York, Detroit and Los Angeles, swam in an ocean of boredom and alienation that needed venting. Punk’s rawness and DIY attitude made it easy for anyone who had the need to hit back, or at least spit into the audience, to become an anti-hero.
In this first of two episodes on the origins of American Punk, we draw a through line from early New York proto-punk bands like the Velvet Underground, the MC5 and the New York Dolls through to California bands like X, Black Flag and the Dead Kennedy's. You'll come away understanding how the idealism of the 1960's gave way to the cynicism and anger of the 1970's punk movement. And yet, through it all, America's kids were still demanding change and even in the cynicism, holding out for something better.
In This Episode
John Lennon - Give Me Some Truth
Scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
the Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
TV News – End of Vietnam War
Scene from “Network”
Scene from the Godfather
The Clash – Police on My Back
Pink Floyd – Have a Cigar
The MC5 – Kick Out the Jams
The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog
Iggy Pop – Interview
The Velvet Underground – Venus in Furs
The New York Dolls – Jet Boy
David Bowie – Suffragette
David Bowie – Interview
Davie Bowie – Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie – Rock and Roll Suicide
The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
The Ramones - Interview
Links to related show content from prior episodes This episode refers back to a few topics covered in prior episodes. We invite you to learn more about these ideas! Use the links, below.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Southern rock, a rebellious fusion of blues, rock and roll, and country music, emerged as the defiant cry from the heart of the South. Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitars wailed like banshees, their lyrics echoing the region's resistance to outside finger-pointing and strengthened a determination to preserve their own cultural identity. Never mind the warts and blemishes. The Allman Brothers Band played with improvisations like soaring eagles. Their music captured the untamed spirit, passion and raw energy of the South.
The intensity of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws was a force of nature, their music was a raw and unfiltered expression of southern pride. Their guitars roared like thunder, their drums pounded like a heartbeat, and their lyrics spoke of rebellion, and the indomitable spirit of the South.
John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival's showed that Southern music extended past Southern borders. Their music, infused with idealism and earthiness, captured the hopes and dreams of ordinary people. Their melodies were catchy and memorable, their lyrics were simple yet profound, and their art spoke directly to the hearts of their listeners. CCR offered a sense of hope and possibility in a world often filled with uncertainty.
Robbie Robertson and the Band's music was a tapestry of Americana, woven from the threads of blues, country, rock and roll, and folk. With songs written by a member of America’s first people, who crafted melodies that were both familiar and fresh, The Band captured the essence of the American experience. All its triumphs and tragedies, from the pinnacle of joy to the depths of sorrow, Robertson helped reveal a nation in search of an identity.
All of this and more await you in this latest episode! Hope you enjoy it!
Featured Artists Alabama The Allman Bros. The Band Black Oak Arkansas Carl Perkins The Charlie Daniels Band Creedence Clearwater Revival Graham Parker Hank Williams John Lee Hooker Lonnie Mack Lynyrd Skynyrd Molly Hatchett Muddy Waters Neil Young The Outlaws Rossington Collins Band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Southern rock, a rebellious fusion of blues, rock and roll, and country music, emerged as the defiant cry from the heart of the South. Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitars wailed like banshees, their lyrics echoing the region's resistance to outside fingerpointing and strengthened a determination to preserve their own cultural identity. Never mind the warts and blemishes. The Allman Brothers Band played with improvisations like soaring eagles. Their music captured the untamed spirit, passion and raw energy of the South.
The intensity of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws was a force of nature, their music was a raw and unfiltered expression of southern pride. Their guitars roared like thunder, their drums pounded like a heartbeat, and their lyrics spoke of rebellion, and the indomitable spirit of the South.
John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival's showed that Southern music extended past Southern borders. Their music, infused with idealism and earthiness, captured the hopes and dreams of ordinary people. Their melodies were catchy and memorable, their lyrics were simple yet profound, and their art spoke directly to the hearts of their listeners. CCR offered a sense of hope and possibility in a world often filled with uncertainty.
Robbie Robertson and the Band's music was a tapestry of Americana, woven from the threads of blues, country, rock and roll, and folk. With songs written by a member of America’s first people, who crafted melodies that were both familiar and fresh, The Band captured the essence of the American experience. All its triumphs and tragedies, from the pinnacle of joy to the depths of sorrow, Robertson helped reveal a nation in search of an identity.
All of this and more await you in this latest episode! Hope you enjoy it!
Featured Artists Alabama The Allman Bros. The Band Black Oak Arkansas Carl Perkins The Charlie Daniels Band Creedence Clearwater Revival Graham Parker Hank Williams John Lee Hooker Lonnie Mack Lynyrd Skynyrd Molly Hatchett Muddy Waters Neil Young The Outlaws Rossington Collins Band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
This is part two of a two-part focus on Reggae music.
The heart of Reggae music has always been politics and spirituality.
In this two part episode, you'll learn about some of the musical and political forces in Jamaica's colorful past that all contributed to the music that we celebrate as reggae today. From Marcus Garvey, the modern-day prophet who had a vision for the black people living in the new world, and Ethiopia's Emperor Hailie Salassie, whose formal title included "Lord of Lord, King of Kings, and Conquering Lion of Judah", and claimed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Shebah, to great early reggae musicians like Derrick Morgan, and Desmond Dekker, to the firey Peter Tosh, and the brilliant reggae, who brought reggae to the rest of the world, Bob Marley - they're all here and you'll learn their stories, hear their music, and understand the major forces that fused to create a brand new genre.
In this latest episode, learn the inside story of how Bob Marley came from crippling poverty in one of Jamaica's poorest neighborhoods to became reggae's greatest musical luminary, and how he then faced off against the brutality of systemic Jamaican racism to permanently change his country and the rest of the world.
In This Episode
Bob Marley and the Wailers 1. Trench Town Rock 2. Simmer Down 3. 400 Years 4. I Shot the Sheriff 5. Rebel Music (3 0'Clock Road Block) 6. War 7. Exodus 8. Is This Love 9. Survival 10. Could You Be Loved
Also in this episode:
Interview with Bunny Wailer, formerly with the Wailers Interview with Marlon James, Jamaican author of A Brief History of Seven Killings
Factories closing, marriages cracking, the glitter of the ’80s hiding a lot of hurt—Part 3 lives right in that gap between the American dream and the American day-to-day. Bruce digs into Darkness, The River, and Nebraska, writing about people who rarely get a mic: laid-off workers, young couples in over their heads, neighbors hanging on by their fingernails. Then Born in the U.S.A. turns into a worldwide roar, and politicians try to strip the songs of their doubts and their compassion. We end in East Berlin, 1988, with Springsteen singing to a divided crowd about freedom and walls coming down, and we ask: what if this kind of complicated, honest patriotism was the version we measured ourselves against instead of the cheap, loud kind?
Music in this Episode: Bruce Spingsteen (With and Without) the E Street Band
I Fought the Law - Live
Badlands
The Promised Land
Prove it All Night - Live from Hammersmith Odeon. 1978
The Ties That Bind
The River album medley: Point Blank/ The River/ Hungry Heart/ Cadillac Ranch/ I'm a Rocker/ Drive All Night
Atlantic City
Johnny 99
Born in the USA
Born in the USA Nebraska era demo
Downbound Train
Dancing in the Dark
Chimes of Freedom - Live in East Berlin 1988
Archival Interviews
Letter to You era interview
NPR/ Loren Anki - Born in the USA
NPR/ Terry Gross
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There, you'll get more information, video content, and more about the music and personalities covered in all our episodes.
From Slavery to Ska: The Jamaican History That Made Reggae Inevitable
This is part one of a two-part focus on Reggae music.
The heart of Reggae music has always been politics and spirituality.
In this two part episode, you'll learn about some of the musical and political forces in Jamaica's colorful past that all contributed to the music that we celebrate as reggae today. From Marcus Garvey, the modern-day prophet who had a vision for the black people living in the new world, and Ethiopia's Emperor Hailie Salassie, whose formal title included "Lord of Lord, King of Kings, and Conquering Lion of Judah", and claimed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Shebah, to great early reggae musicians like Derrick Morgan, and Desmond Dekker, to the firey Peter Tosh, and the brilliant reggae, who brought reggae to the rest of the world, Bob Marley - they're all here and you'll learn their stories, hear their music, and understand the major forces that fused to create a brand new genre.
In this latest episode of American Song, you'll see how a tiny Spanish colony developed to become Jamaica as we know it today, and how Reggae was instrumental in helping Jamaican culture 'conquer the world'!
In This Episode
Paul Simon - Mother and Child Reunion The Flying Lizards - Money (That's What I Want) Bob Marley - Redemption Song Bob Marley and the Walers - 400 Years Burning Spear - Slavery Days Sly Mongoose - Count Lasher The Folkes Brothers - Oh Carolina Toots and the Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number Marcus Garvey (Political Speech) Derek Morgan - Forward March Ernest Ranglin - Below the Bassline Derrick Morgan - Tougher than Though (Rudie's in Court) Desmond Dekker - 007 Shantytown Desmond Dekker - Israelites Stephen Marley (with Ziggy Marley) - Selassie is the Chapel Peter Tosh - Let Jah be Praised Culture - Behold Sonjah Stanley - (Academic discussion) Third World - 96 Degrees in the Shade Peter Tosh - African The Skatalites - The Guns of Navarrone Mutabaruka - (Jamaican Poet; Dis Poem) Bob Marley and the Wailers - No Woman, No Cry Peter Tosh - Steppin' Razor Burning Spear - Lion
In today's episode, we’re going further up the musical family tree – into the funk. Funk grew in the shade of jazz, soul, R&B, gospel and rock. In time it’s going to give rise to other branches – for instance, disco, and hip-hop. It will influence branches that have been growing for a while already, like rock, jazz, even classical music believe it or not. Funk is growing in some difficult environments, like urban ghettoes. It’s impacted by some heavy weather, like the Civil Rights movement, and the war in Vietnam. There’s been a ton of cross-fertilization along the way. Funk’s going to become another important branch in our tree.
Funk has a direct lineage out the blues and plantation communities, jazz, Pentecostal gospel music, soul and R& B. In a lot of ways, funk is a proud, positive re-telling of the African American social story. Heavy with improvisation, and syncopation – just like its musical grandparents are. Like the blues, jazz, R&B and soul, funks driving rhythms were the hardpan roadways that carried its soulful vocals. Likewise, funk sprang out of rock and roll which also grew out of the blues and soul. Funk and rock are first cousins in music’s family tree. And like soul, funk is steeped in emotion and feeling.
In This Episode: James Brown The Meters Sly and the Family Stone Stevie Wonder George Clinton/ Parliament-Funkadelic
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Reelin' in the Years: Steely Dan, Traffic, and Supertramp's Blueprint for the Perfect Record
In this second episode of our third season, we pick up the trail and continue our exploration of jazz rock - a journey we started in episode one. In this episode, we'll take a close look at the amazing work done by three great bands in that genre; Steely Dan, Traffic, and Supertramp.
Great songs, and interesting artist interviews abound! Here's what you can look forward to:
INTERVIEWS WITH
Donald Fagen Dave Matthews Jim Capaldi Dave Mason Steve Winwood Roger Hodgson John Helliwell
FEATURED SONGS
Steely Dan My Old School Deacon Blues Bodhisatva Reelin' in the Years Aja Cousn Dupree
Traffic Mr. Fantasy John Barleycorn (Must Die) Medicated Goo The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Supertramp All Along the Watchtower Surely Your Poppa Don't Mind Dreamer School Hide in Your Shell Easy Does It The Meaning Fool's Overture Breakfast in America Goodbye Stranger Don't Leave Me Now
CURIOUSITIES Tom Lehrer - World War Three Blues Jay and the Americans - Capture the Moment The Joint - Freak Argosy - Mr. Boyd Argosy - Imagine
Join our community and continue your journey through American Song: Visit us on Facebook.
There, you'll get more information, video content, and more about the music and personalities covered in all our episodes.
The first generation of jazz rock musicians had been heavily influenced by some of the pioneering jazz musicians who forged jazz fusion, beginning with Miles Davis. Miles was the first of the great jazz artists to venture into the new, amplified and electronic sounds of 1960’s rock music, and in doing it he recruited a number of very young, incredibly talented, and mostly unknown musicians who became giants in their own right,
As a number of jazz musicians embraced elements of rock music, rock’s audience re-discovered jazz. Music is a living, breathing part of our culture, it is changeable in the hands of both listeners and players. We take it up and use it as it gives us pleasure. Just as jazz musicians were blending rock music into their art, rock musicians were equally influenced by jazz players, and they also added jazz elements into their own music.
This is the first of a two-part deep dive into the world of jazz rock. In this episode, you'll see how some of rock's greatest musicians have been influenced by jazz. We'll also spend some time on a deeper dive into a few of the great jazz rock bands of the past, including Blood Sweat and Tears, and Chicago. In part two, we'll come back and explore the music of Steely Dan, Traffic and Supertramp. I think you'll enjoy it!
Music In this episode:
Weather Report: Boogie Woogie Waltz The Grateful Dead: Help On the Way John Coltrane: A Love Supreme Duke Ellington: Take the A Train The Modern Jazz Quartet: Bluesology David Bowie: Life On Mars Keith Richards: Blues Jam Nat King Cole Trio: Straighten Up and Fly Right Ornette Coleman: Jimi Hendrix: South Saturn Delta John McLaughlin: Devotion Charlie Watts: All or Nothing at All Tim Ries: Miss You Ginger Baker's Air Force: Da Da Man Miles Davis: Guinnevere David Crosby: Amelia Bob Dylan: Like a Rolling Stone Blood Sweat and Tears: I Love You More than You'll Ever Know Blood Sweat and Tears: God Bless the Child The Buckinghams: Kind of a Drag Chicago: Questions 67 and 68 Chicago: Make Me Smile Chicago: If You Leave Me Now Chicago: It Better End Soon Chicago: Alive Again
Interviews in This Episode Al Kooper David Crosby James Pankow Danny Serafine
This episode is dedicated to the memories of: Charlie Watts Wayne Shorter David Crosby Thank you for all the beautiful music!
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After Miles: Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, and Jazz Fusion's Golden Generation
In today's podcast episode, we pick up our exploration of jazz fusion by looking at the amazing careers and music produced by a number of genius musicians who came out of Miles Davis' bands. We'll visit with Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin and his band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorious and the band Weather Report, Chick Corea and his bands Return to Forever and the Elektrik Band.
The forces that Miles pioneered and set in motion continued to evolve in multiple directions. You'll discover in today's episode, and you'll be able to hear from the musicians themselves about what it was like to play in these bands and create this adventurous, beautiful new music!
IN TODAY'S EPISODE:
Interview; Herbie Hancock from a lecture given at Harvard University Herbie Hancock Chameleon Watermelon Man Interview: John McLaughlin talks about what it was like to play with Miles Davis. Graham Bond Organisation: Train Time The Mahavishnu Orchestra Inner Mounting Flame One Word Eternity's Breath Pt. 1 Weather Report Birdland Nubian Sundance Tears Herandnu Interview: Jaco Pastorious talks about his collaboration with Joe Zawinul Jaco Pastorious/ Weather Report Teen Town Interview: Pat Matheny Interview: Chick Corea talks about joining Miles Davis' band. Return to Forever Return to Forever Interview: Chick Corea talks about forming his band, Return to Forever Spain The Elektrik Band: Rumble Steely Dan: Aja
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Bitches Brew: How Miles Davis Blew Up Jazz and Invented the Future
As jazz musicians started realizing that rock and electric bands were stealing their audiences, Miles Davis, who’s alternately been called most important musician in the history of jazz, the man who transformed jazz, and even the man who changed music itself, took the music in a new direction when he invented jazz fusion. In fact, during his lifetime, Miles didn’t change music just once, he did it five times.
Fusion started happening in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Like trad jazz, it uses acoustic instruments like trumpet, trombone, saxophone, piano, guitar, bass, and drums, but to all that, fusion also adds heavy use of synthesizers, electric piano, drum machines, and effects-saturated electric guitars.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Santana: Welcome Interview: Teo Macero; Miles Davis' legendary record producer. The Free Spirits (featuring Larry Coryell) - Girl of the Mountain Gary Burton Norwegian Wood I Want You Steve Marcus Tomorrow Never Knows Interview: Larry Coryell talks about his early days in '60s New York City Miles Davis So What Stuff Tout de Suite Mademoiselle Mabry In a Silent Way Interview: John McLaughlin talks about playing with Miles Davis Interview: Teo Macero Jimi Hendrix Little Miss Lover Miles Davis John McLaughlin Miles Runs the Voodoo Down Time After Time Interview: Miles Davis talks about Prince
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Action: Reaction - American Bands and American Society Respond to the English Invasion
First of all, Happy Independence Day everybody! I'm so pleased to publish another episode of American Song on America's birthday!
Back in America, ever since the plane crash in the winter of 1959 that ended the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, the Big Bopper, American rock and roll had been sort of losing steam. By 1964, it very easily could have just petered out. Certainly, the likes of Frankie Avalon, and post-army Elvis were not going anywhere exciting. It was a new day, what was needed was music for a new generation. The British Invasion shot a whole new attitude, excitement and energy right into the veins of American culture.
Just like American culture changed England, the Brits changed American music. You can see that play out in the competition between the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and the Beatles. The English band's changed American culture, too. Sex was prolific. Drugs were everywhere. On the Merv Griffin show, Timothy Leary told his audience he'd used LSD 311 times and predicted a coming age when kids would be educated through the use of psychedelic drugs, unlocking their internal Smithsonian Institutes or Libraries of Congress.
The British Invasion also caused a chain reaction all across America when local musicians formed new bands, for instance Roger McGuinn and David Crosby who formed the Byrds. It was a powerful response to the excitement, new sounds, perspectives, and inspiration that bands like the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who injected back into our rock scene.
All this, and lots more, in this month's episode of American Song!
IN THIS MONTH'S EPISODE:
The Who - My Generation Bob Dylan - 4th Time Around The Beatles - Norwegian Wood The Beatles - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away Bob Dylan - Got to Serve Someone John Lennon - Serve Yourself The Rolling Stones - Crackin' Up The Beatles - Rain The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice The Beatles - Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations Brian Wilson - Our Prayer/ Gee John Lennon - Promo for Tower Records Elton John - Texan Love Song Led Zepellin - Whole Lotta Love John Lennon - Cold Turkey Paul McCartney - Interview 1967 The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds The Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years from Home Dr. Timothy Leary - Interview 1967 Blind Faith - In the Presence of the Lord John Lennon - God John Lennon - Interview 1966 The Byrds - Eight Miles High The Standells - Dirty Water The Monkees - The Last Train to Clarksville Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man Paul Revere and the Raiders - Indian Reservation The Turtles - Happy Together The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson The Young Rascals - Good Lovin' The Mama's and the Papa's - California Dreaming Tommy James and the Shondells - Hanky Panky The Beatles - Revolution 9 The Doors - The End Vedder/ Tierney/ Krieger/ Manzarek - Doors Induction to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Velvet Underground - Heroin The Strokes - Walk on the Wild Side Sonic Youth - European Son U2 - Satellite of Love REM - Femme Fatale David Byrne - Candy Says Bowie/ Reed - Waiting for the Man Queen - God Save the Queen
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America's Music Comes Home: The Beatles, the Stones, the Yardbirds, and How England Gave Us Back Our Rock and Roll
With the big English interest in blues music, suddenly, America’s original bluesmen started hearing about the chance to reignite their careers with English, French and German audiences. Unbelievably, they found themselves welcomed, even celebrated. American Bluesmen like Big Bill Broonzy, after living years in poverty, discovered they could actually have careers in Europe. The Cunard Yanks, and the American Folk Blues Festival were the catalysts behind cultural and musical changes that revolutionized Britain in the years after World War 2.
The impact on young English musicians was epic. The bands and musical brilliance of the period has been an inspiration for several generations that followed. You know the names: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, The Kinks and many more. Now, hear the music, and learn the history!
In this episode, you'll hear the stories, the music, and the artists who lived and created this formidable library of music that millions around the world are still listening to!
Inspired by American music, sculpted, painted, and built by the English, the music is in many ways, still with us today. Enjoy this second installment in the story of the British Invasion!
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Before the Beatles: How American Blues Conquered England First
England was caught between two cultures: the old order and whatever came after it. The rigid class distinctions between upper and middle classes were disappearing, and government reforms had a lot to do with it. The Conservative Party with their slogan, “Set the People Free,” won the 1951 election, and popular culture began to replace stuffy, upper crust stuff like classical music, opera, theatre, and fine art with mass-market media like radio, movies, and television.
The BBC believed they had a responsibility to the nation to uphold the pre-war idea of ‘respectability’, or, at least, not broadcast music that could threaten the morality of England’s youth. It was a lot like the U.S. stations refused to broadcast black music in the U.S. in the ‘20s and ‘30s. More than that, they believed they claimed a responsibility to inform and educate the public in what it perceived as ‘good music’.
English kids were being seduced by the rhythm and forward thrust of American entertainment with movies like Blackboard Jungle (where Rock Around the Clock was heard for the first time), Elvis, and Bill Haley & the Comets. Both these bands were MAJOR influences on those four guys from Liverpool, England. The other musical influencers from America were the living legends of American Blues.
The timing was perfect for a musical revolution that would impact two continents!
Welcome to Episode Eight, Season Two in the American Song series: American Song Ushers in a Changing of the British Guard.
Thanks to Mark Davis, for the new bumper music included in this episode. You can learn more about Mark and his music at www.towakeyou.com!
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Before the arrival of Colombus and the Spanish, Puerto Rico was peopled by the Taino tribe. They’d called it home – and paradise – for over 1,000 years, having come either from the Amazon river basin, or maybe from the Colombian Andes before they arrived on the island. In our March episode, we talked about the Jones Act – a law made during the Wilson presidency. The chief goal of that act was to help the U.S. shipping industry recover after World War I. It also annexed Puerto Rico, and gave citizenship to everyone living there.
U.S. citizenship started major migration to the U.S. mainland. At first, Puerto Ricans settled into East Coast cities like New York and later Miami where mostly they were stuck in the bottom end of the labor market, working as domestic workers, in manufacturing jobs (back in the old days when we still had those in America, and maintenance industries.
Puerto Rican Americans, on both sides of the US coast, have contributed beautiful music to the American Song jukebox. These songs echo the rich cultures that became Puerto Rico, their love for their island home, their struggles in the United States and their determination to succeed, despite the hardships.
Today's episode builds on what I began in March, adding more current sounds to the mix. I think you'll find it equal parts fascinating, and entertaining!
In This Episode:
Bomba street musicians in Old San Juan Puerto Rico Fiel a La Vega Field Recording of La Tierruca (old Puerto Rican woman) Haciendo Punto en Otro Son Hector Carrasquillo Sr. Original Cast from West Side Story Pablo Milanés Piri Thomas Ricky Martin Roy Brown Steven Colbert Taina Asli
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Bruce Springsteen and the American Reckoning: Born to Run, Bomb Scares, and the Edge of Fame
Part two picks up in the clubs and dives where Bruce and the band are trying to outrun obscurity. We walk with them through the struggle to get the first records heard, the critics who saw the spark, and the brutal work of making Born to Run: months of second-guessing, endless mixes, and the very real possibility that it might all collapse under its own ambition. We hear about Jon Landau’s famous “I saw rock and roll future” review, the Bottom Line breakthrough, the U.K. trip that almost derailed him, and the strange, exhausting new life of a band suddenly under the lights. This chapter closes with one of the great stories in the Springsteen mythos: the bomb scare in Milwaukee, the evacuated club, and a night that turns from chaos into a legendary, delayed show—a perfect snapshot of how fragile and how powerful this whole thing really was.
Music in this Episode: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Born to Run
Thunder Road
Jungleland
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Kitty's Back
Mountain of Love
I Fought the Law
Archival Interviews
Mark Maron Interview
Rick Rubin/ Malcolm Gladwell Interview
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American Song and the Fight for Hispanic Equality.
In a country based on freedom, equal opportunity, and democracy, you’d think that lessons related to social justice would not need to be re-hashed so often. But that does seem to be our fate. And so, in every generation, we’ve witnessed one group after another struggle to claim their own share of the American dream.
Music has had a huge role in raising awareness, unifying people, inspiring empathy, and challenging the status quo in every major social wave of change. Today, we’re looking at how American music was used, like the trumpets at Jericho, to knock down the walls that separated Hispanic Americans from the promises made to all Americans, beginning in 1776. In many ways, this is a fight that continues today, and its as true about the Hispanic struggle for justice as it's been for every group in our history. Hispanics have had a wide range of musical inspirations, including familiar faces such as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie, and musical heroes from their own communities.
Music from the black civil rights struggle was also borrowed, early on. But the most important parts of the cultural foundations that the Chicano community drew from came from their own Mexican heritage – especially the corrido, which we talked about last month in the Roots of Latin American music episode. As the revolutionary tide of the 1960s began to swell in American culture, Chicanos started by resurrecting the corrido, and added to it a new, political consciousness, giving air to their grievances and struggles. Soon, out of the streets, and in the rising youth movement, Chicano rock and roll bands from both sides of the border were filling the radio waves, and encouraging their own people to advance towards a better future.
Welcome to Episode 22, American Song and the Fight for Hispanic Equality.
In This Episode: Agustin Lira Azteca Cannibal and the Head Hunters Chan Romero El Chicano Carlos Santana Chuy Negrete Clarence Sonny Henry The Village Callers El Jarocho Thee Midnighters Freddy Fender Trini Lopez Jose Suarez Los Shakers Los Lobos Los Teen Tops Ozomatli Richie Valens Robert DeNiro Son Jarocho Master Musicians
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Latin music and 'American' music were once considered to be separate and unique. They had distinctly different properties and music labels managed them differently. But not anymore.
Danny Ocean is a singer-songwriter and native of Caracas, Venezuela, and has said “Music is something that transcends beyond any language or nationality…it’s all about being a global artist.” Latin music has become mainstream - it's no longer a 'crossover' genre. Today, Latin culture is American culture. Latins are now the largest minority in the United States, and the second largest ethnic group after whites.
All across Latin America, the cultures that we talked about in episode 4 have combined to create distinct, regional music and dances that have each entertained and inspired the people in their home nations, while also making their way to our homes in the United States and entertaining people across the entire world! Salsa, mambo, rumba, calpyso, bomba, latin jazz, samba, batucada, samba de enredo, bossa nova, tango, festejo and lando. These are the names of the inspired music that came out of the New World once the Spanish, Portuguese, Native Americans, and Africans blended their music and rhythm. In this episode, we'll hear examples and learn about the artists, and cultures that devoted their lives to this fabulous art!
You're in for a treat! Enjoy!
In Today's Episode
Tango - La Cumparsita Ignacio Pineiro - Echale Salsita El Orquesta Belisario Lopez - El Cimarron Orquesta Arcano y sus Maravillas - Mambo Perez Prado - Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White Julian Whiterose - Iron Duke in the Land Hubert "Roaring Lion" Charles - Mary Anne Hary Belafonte - Jump in the Line BP Renegades Steel Orchestra - Like Ah Boss Winston "Mighty Shadow" Bailey - Bass Man Bomba Example Ismael Rivera - Volare Plena De Puerto Rico Tito Puente Machito _ Ni Chi, Ni Cha Willy Colon y Ruben Blades - Buscando Guayaba Rumba Examples: 1. Yambu 2. Guaguanco 3. Columbia Stan Getz / Luiz Bonfa - So Danco Samba Candomble Example - Orixa Ossaim Ernesto "Donga" Dos Santos - Pelo Telefone Os Oito Batutas - Meu Passarinho Noel Rossa- Com Que Roupa? Batucada Bradileira Ratos e Urubus - Larguem Minha Fantasia Frank Sinatra / Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Girl from Impanema Jorge Ben - Mais Que Nada Bola Sete - Baccara Luis Correa - Siete Mujeres Libertad Lamarque - Yo Soy La Morocha Carlos Gardel - Mi Noche Triste Anibal Troilo - Te Aconsejo Que Me Olvides Pepe Vasquez - Ritmo de Negros Oscar Aviles/ Arturo Cavero - El Alcatraz Charango example - Sebastián Pérez Cajon Example - Maestros del Cajon Peruano Charagua Example - Son de los Diablos
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In this episode, we shift focus to consider another important cultural vein, brought here by the Spanish, and rising out of the American west and Southwest as well as New York City – and obviously all of Central and South America, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
A few things have struck me as I’ve been putting my thoughts together for these next few episodes. Of course, the first thing is that – just like in earlier genres that we’ve talked about – the music we hear today has gone through a long journey of changes. Second, like jazz and the blues, the music often gives voice to the frustrations and struggles Latin Americans have experienced while hacking and carving out their own rightful place in America.
In this episodes, we’ll explore the origins of Latin music, – not just in the United States, but on a wider level, across most of the New World. When the Spanish and Portuguese came to the New World, they brought European music traditions with them, including the influences from several hundred years of Moorish occupation of Southern Spain. They were coming to a land that had already been hope to millions of Native Americans - stretching from the Bering Strait to the southern tip of Argentina - and the people that lived here had their own musical traditions that made their way into Latin music. African slaves also brought their rhythms. Like we've seen in American music, African traditions would have an enormous impact on music that would develop over centuries.
This is a fascinating musical journey - I’m so excited to share it with you!
In Today's Episode:
Gypsy Kings - Una Amor Ancient Consort Singers - Serenisima Una Noche Spanish-Arabic Music of Andalucia Flor De Un Dia Djembe tribal drumming Native American Flute with Tribal Drum Jorge Reyes - Native American (Mexico) Music Traditional Inca Music Being Played in Cuzco Los Monjes del Monasterio de Silos - Gregorian Chant Gloria Missa de Los Angeles - JUan Bautista Sancho - 18th Century California Mission Music Zephyr -El Cantico del Alba - A Choir of Angels II: Mission Music Charles Lummis Wax Cylinder - Corrido de Leandro Rivera Lydia Mendoza - Mal Hombre El Vez - Rock and Roll Suicide/ If I Can Dream
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Folk Music Played the Changes in American Society.
In our July, 2021 episode on the first generation of folk music, “Folk Music Stood for America”, we talked about how the music was swept up in the major social movements of the day, especially the socialist/ American Communist party movements which gathered speed because of events like the Great Depression and the Dustbowl.
The second revival of the 1960’s also had its own causes; the war in Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the Women’s movement primarily. The ‘60s was the era when all the WWII war babies grew up. Highly idealistic, they wanted to seize the moment in history and change the world for the better. Raised in the suburbs of the concensus-driven fifties, and living under the palatable fear of the Cold War, with Eishenhower’s warning about the military industrial complex ringing in their ears, seeing their classmates ship off to Vietnam, and shipped back home in body bags, they’d grown cynical about their parent’s generation and demanded change NOW.
Folk music was the soundtrack to their rebellion; you could hear it played on college campuses all over America. Many of the musicians matched that idealism note for note. That’s the theme of today’s episode, Folk Music Played the Changes in American Society.
Artists Featured in This Episode Tom Paxton Richie Havens Peter, Paul & Mary Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bob Dylan Phil Ochs Crosby, Stills & Nash
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The 1960’s were a period of massive social change and tension all over the country – all over North America in fact - because we have to include Canada, too. The conditions were just right for a whole group of passionate, inspired, and gifted young singers and songwriters to lift their voices. They came from many different American communities; Jewish immigrants, First Nations people, Americans, Canadians, African Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, from the cities and from the heartland. All of them had a message to share with their generation, and a desire to build a better world.
This episode is about a number of these artists, and the legacies they’ve left behind. Many of them are still with us today, and a few of them still create new music. Welcome to today’s episode, 1960’s Folk Music: How the Fire Spread.
Artists Featured in this Episode Fred Neil Dave Van Ronk Karem Dalton Buffy Sainte-Marie Leonard Cohen Ramblin' Jack Elliott Brothers & Curry Bob Dylan Simon & Garfunkel Paul Simon Joni Mitchell
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Happy New Year and welcome to season two in the American Song podcast series! It's been a bit since we last got together. I hope you all are doing well.
In both the first and second folks waves, many of the musicians were heavily influenced by the times and events that lived in. During the first folk revival, the most important social issues included the Great Depression, and the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. In different ways, both of these catastrophes laid waste to the dreams and scrapped together fortunes of the hard-working American people. Overseas, political revolutions had overthrown ancient monarchies, the latest one being Russia’s Romanov dynasty where powerful winds of change had driven the half starved and long-neglected Russian peasants to revolt, and whose actions were spurred on by ideologues like Marx and Lenin.
The second folk revival that started in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s was, again, another social movement bent on change, but this time, the causes were different. The 1960’s have been romanticized in a lot of ways. It’s difficult today to still feel the thrill, and electric charge of what Beatlemania must have been like, or to experience the ‘Us’ versus ‘Them’ pitched emotions that led to student riots and slain college students at Kent State, but they were very real. Folk music was at the heart of it all. Just like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie had demanded better treatment for workers, and economic assistance to America’s poor, the second folk revival rallied people behind Civil Rights, Equal Rights for women, and an end to the war in Vietnam war. A chorus of new musicians, were inspired by, and in turn inspired social change. Brave young kids, like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Barry McGuire, and Joan Baez – as well as a few old-timers from the first wave - gave voice to a new generation of Americans who dreamed of better things and better days.
Welcome to season two in the American Song Podcast series; today’s episode, “The Second Folk Revival – A Passing of the Torch.”
Featured Artists in this Episode Bob Dylan Woody Guthrie the Kingston Trio Bill & Belle Reed Joan Baez Steve Allen and Jack Kerouac Bonnie Dobson Simon & Garfunkel Max Yasgur
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Musique Concrete: A Radical Re-Thinking of Sound and Performance
If there’s an over-riding theme across the last several episodes, it is that music can be whatever we say it is. In this third and last episode on this theme, we’re talking about Musique Concrete. It’s the name applied to a one of the most radical descriptions of music ever imagined.
Think of this music like you do when you think of abstract, visual art. For instance, Picasso’s Guernica. There aren’t too many people that think of that painting as traditionally beautiful, but there is a shocking, provocative, stirring power to it. The same holds true with this challenging music.
With musique concrète, (French: “concrete music”), natural and mechanical sounds were captured or created using new inventions, the tape recorder, and later the computer and the synthesizer. Sounds can either be used in their natural forms, or they could be processed and changed and then combined with other sounds to create a montage. Other traits that define musique concrete include randomness, and the discard of the traditional composer-performer roles. Sounds can be looped, played backward, sped up, slowed down, cut short or extended. Their natural pitches could be varied, echoes could be added and so on.
As I did with episodes 14 and 15, I'm also going to show you how these really bizarre ideas eventually made their way into our current popular music scene. Musique Concrete has made an impact in jazz and rock, too. This is fun stuff!
In This Episode: Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henry John Cage Harry Partch Karlheinz Stockhausen The Beatles Pink Floyd Industrial bands Plunderphonics
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In the world of American art music, Minimalism is another push away from traditional music. It’s earliest beginnings are found in the 1950’s again, with two American composers; Steve Reich (b.1936) and Philip Glass (b.1937). Reich, Glass, and another minimalist, John Adams, were all heavily influenced by mid-century popular music. Together, they’re known as the ‘big three’ in minimalist music. The founders of minimalist music absorbed a wide range of sonic influences – African rhythms, Indian ragas, bebop, rock and roll to create something startlingly original. It abounds in film scores, pop albums, jazz riffs, and other forms of more experimental music.
Jazz and rock were influenced by minimalism, too. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Pat Matheny all wrote music that show minimalism's influences. So does the music of Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, and Radiohead - just to name a few!
In This Episode: Steve Reich
Phillip Glass
John Adams
Miles Davis
John Cage
Pat Matheny and Lyle Mays
Brian Eno
David Bowie
Peter Gabriel
Kraftwerk
Tangerine Dream
Radiohead
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The 20th century scientific explosion had been in the works since the Enlightenment, but the rate of change, which had been slow, and adaptable, now came in flashes – like a supernova - and repeatedly, one major wave after another and in ways that dramatically changed our society; instead of having time to gradually adapt and fold these changes into our ordered lives, our lives were forced to conform instead.
I hope you’re ready for an adventure, because this episode, and actually the next two after this, are going to challenge you. You see, the music we’ll discover together was written in complete rejection of the basic assumptions about western music. What’s equally fascinating is what the rest of the music world did with these musical ideas!
To understand what was happening in America, we have to start away from home, in Europe, in the late 1930’s. There were a number of European musicians and composers who developed completely new ways of creating, performing, and sharing music that had an equally transformative influence on the music being made in America.
In This Episode Arnold Schoenberg Milton Babbitt Charles Wuorinen Jerrald Goldsmith Gerard Schurman Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind The Beatles Primus Dave Brubeck Bill Evans John Coltrane Ornette Coleman
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Special Feature: 1950's American Culture; the Seedbed of Rock and Roll
Newton’s Third Law of Motion; For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. I mentioned that rock and music was equal parts music and social movement. This was a totally new event for music. In earlier episodes, we’ve seen how jazz was borrowed by the US Government for global PR purposes, and of course, music has always given a voice to the hopes, dreams, hurts, and fears of people everywhere. But this was something totally different. Ever since the ‘50s, we’ve never been sure whether art imitates life, or life imitates art. The most dramatic examples were still in the future, but it started in the 1950’s, and I’ve wondered why then, and not some other time. Let’s look at the 1950’s together for a few minutes and see if we can’t figure out why that might be.
IN THIS SPECIAL FEATURE
Bobby Darin Malvina Reynolds The Crew Cuts Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders Chuck Berry The Silhouettes Bobby "Boris" Pickett Sheb Wooley Danny and the Juniors Todd Rhodes and His Orchestra, Featuring Connie Allen The Del Vikings
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Bruce Springsteen and the American Reckoning: Freehold to Cherry Hill
We start the series in 2025, at Springsteen's show in Manchester, UK where he makes a landmark statement about America's "leadership" before we flash back to his formative years.
A cramped house in Freehold. A father smoking in the dark kitchen. A kid staring at the radio like it’s a way out and a way in. In Part one, we meet Bruce not as a legend, but as a working-class American kid learning early what struggle, pride, and community look like. As we follow him into those early Jersey bar gigs and up to the Cherry Hill shows, we start using his story as a counterexample to our current politics: a picture of American life rooted in responsibility, neighborliness, and the refusal to quit on your own town.
Music in This Episode: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Land of Hopes and Dreams
Growin' Up
Baby I*
It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City
Spirit in the Night
Rosalita
* Bruce's first teenage band, The Castiles.
Archival Interviews
Mark Maron
Howard Stern
Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell
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By the 1950’s, American Music had been on a fascinating journey. Rolling out of the Appalachian Mountains and into southern cities; drifting out of the cotton plantations of the south, winding its way up from New Orleans, along the Mississippi Delta, carried along many musical creeks, tributaries, and rivers, rolling its way along mysterious trails past the crossroads, and chugging its way across railroad lines. American Music had evolved, and grown, and changed, just like the culture that produced it. We’ve seen the rise of jazz in its different forms, and heard the echoes of slavery in the blues – as it evolved from the country blues of Robert Johnson and Huddie Ledbedder to the electric blues of Muddy Waters and BB King – and the evolution of Country music as it grew out of English, Scottish, and Welsh ballads into the slick, urbanized sound of Nashville or the honky tonks and juke joints - the urban sounds of Hank Williams.
In the few decades that led up to the mid-1950’s, there were just a few more cobblestones that needed to be laid into the roadbed that ended with the birth of rock music. Among these were Western Swing and Rockabilly.
The rock and roll attitude – rebellion, sexuality, and freedom – is a rockabilly hand-me-down sweatshirt from rock’s big brother. However, the true rockers that came later were true, dyed in the wool non-conformists and rebels. There’s a world of difference between someone like, say, Jim Morrison, and Kung-Fu Elvis. Morrison’s disgust for authority was the real thing. Elvis, on the other hand, had his picture taken at the White House next to Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon. Compare that to many, very public apologies that aging rockabilly artists made later for their antics in younger years.
Good Golly, Miss Molly…. Welcome to the latest edition of American Song; episode 13. Hail Hail Rock and Roll!
IN THIS EPISODE Tex Williams Moon Mullican Arthur Smith's Hot Quintet Tennessee Ernie Ford The Maddox Bros. and Rose Elvis Presley Jerry Lee Lewis Buddy Holly John Lennon Paul McCartney Ringo Starr Jackie Brentson Roy Brown Big Mama Thornton Sister Rosetta Tharpe Chuck Berry Fat's Domino Little Richard Eddie Cochran the Teen Queens Bobby Freeman Wanda Jackson Pat Boone Allen Freed The Platters The Dominoes Thomas Hardin/ Moondog The Who
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This episode is dedicated to the memory of Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts,. Charlie passed away while I was preparing this episode. In a career that spanned more than sixty years, he left us all a massive library of songs and memories that we all will treasure forever. Thanks for everything, Charlie. It was only Rock and Roll, but I liked it!
Episode Description
It was a new day in America. The middle class was big and growing. Businesses were flush with cash it had come by, which meant people were working and saving and getting ahead. Those returning war-heroes had gotten to work making money, and making babies and America was a young country, too. So this young, expressive, exuberant, happy music was ideal for a nation that was feeling the same way. The fact that this new, young music became THE music of the day represented a sea change in what America was all about.
Even more, Rhythm’n Blues set the stage for the next big arrival – rock and roll….. like the great R&B singer, Ruth Brown said, “when the white kids started dancing to it, R&B turned into Rock and Roll.” Hold that thought for a future episode!
Welcome to American Song, Episode 12: R&B Was Born on the Great American Music River.
Tracks
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High
Barrett Strong - Money, That’s What I Want
Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam
Erskine Hawkins - After Hours
Ahmet Ertegün and Charlie Rose Interview Excerpt
Bib Mama Thornton - Hound Dog
James Jamerson (isolated bass) - What’s Goin’ On
Louis Jordan - Is You Is, Or Is You Ain’t My Baby?
Louis Jordan - Saturday Night Fish Fry
Erskine Hawkins - Tuxedo Junction
Harlem Hamfats - Weed Smokers Dream
Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher
Count Basie - One O’CLock Jump
Bullmoose Jackson - Big Ten Inch
King Curtis - Instant Groove
Lionel Hampton - Flying Home
Lionel Hampton - Hey! Bop a Re Bop
T Bone Walker - Stormy Monday
BB King - Live at Sing Sing Prison
Elvis Presley - That’s Alright Mama
Hoss Allen Interview
Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions
Martha and the Vandella’s - Dancing in the Street
Stevie Wonder - Heaven Help Us All
Funk Bros. - Aint No Mountain High Enough
Funk Bros. - You Keep My Hangin’ On
Funk Bros. - I Was Made to Love Her
Marvin Gaye - What’s Goin’ On
The New Moonglows - Twelve Months of the Year
Marvin Gaye - How Sweet it Is
Berry Gordy Talks about Marvin Gaye
Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack
Ray Charles Interview on Dick Cavett
Maxin Trio - Blues Before Sunrise
Ray Charles - I Got a Woman
Ray Charles - What’d I Say
Ray Charles - Georgia on My Mind
Ruth Brown - 5-10-15 Hours
Ruth Brown - I’ll Wait For You
Ruth Brown Interview with Terri Gross (NPR)
Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Aretha Franklin Interview with Terri Gross (NPR)
Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman
Aretha Franklin - Respect
Aretha Franklin - I Say a Little Prayer For You
Aretha Franklin - Chain of Fools
Sam & Dave - Soul Man
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Today’s episode is all about the first of the two 20th century waves in the folk music movement and how that movement rallied people behind some big themes to help them fight for social justice.
As a people, Americans are inclined towards optimism and a belief that if things aren’t working, they can be fixed. How improvement is defined, which issues get the focus, and how those improvements are managed comes down to party philosophy. Practically speaking, America has been a two-party system with a number of other minor parties that represent the people that don’t line up with everyone else. On the ‘left’, we’ve had three parties, progressives, socialists and communists.
Woody Guthrie, and a number of ‘folkie’ musicians like Pete Seeger, Josh White, Burl Ives and others, did something that hadn’t been done before in American music; they used it as a weapon against the things they thought were wrong in the world. For instance, Woody Guthrie’s guitar had the words “This machine kills fascists” on it.
They taught a nation to sing powerful songs about hope – Woody Guthrie did that – and when you do, you may sow the seeds of change in future generations, like the way Guthrie stood as Bob Dylan’s musical mentor. But music is just the drum beat that the rest of us have to march to. If we don’t like how things are going, we’re still Americans. We can still change it. We need to act on it. Ghandi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
When we do, we’ll see that just like things improved in working conditions, and minimum wage laws, and many other ways, the world can become a better place. Our country belongs to the people, not the tiny fraction on top. And this is a country that promises equality, but that equality is something we have to continuously protect
Tracks
Woody Guthrie: This Land Is Your Land
Pete Seeger - Talking Union Blues
Burl Ives: Wayfaring Stranger
Josh White - Trouble
This Train is Bound for Glory
Woody Guthrie - Do Re Mi
Woody Guthrie - 1913 Massacre
The Almanac Singers - Which Side Are You On?
Woody Guthrie - All You Fascists Bound to Lose
The Almanac Singers - The Sinking of the Good Reuben James
Pete Seeger - Deliver the Goods
60 Minutes with Charles Kuralt - Interview with Alan Lomax
CBS Radio Network - Hootenany
Alan Lomax Interviews Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters - My Home is in the Delta
Máire Ní Shúilleabháin, Ballylicky, Co. Cor - An Cailín Aerach (The Airy [Light-Hearted] Girl)
Burl Ives - John Henry
HUAC Hearings - The Hollywood 10 In Court
Casablanca (Warner Bros.) - Play It Sam
Victims of Hollywood Blacklist
Earl Robinson - Keeping Score in ’44
Rudy Giuliani - Trial By Combat
Burl Ives/ Paul Newman - Mendacity Scene (From Cat On a Hot Tin Roof)
Burl Ives - Funny Way of Laughing
Josh White - House of the Rising Sun
Josh White - In My Time of Dying
Josh White - There’s a Man Going ‘Round Taking Names
Josh White - The House I Live In
Josh White - Free and Equal Blues
HUAC Hearings - Paul Robeson’s Testimony (Excerpt)
Pete Seeger - Goodnight Irene
Pete Seeger Interview - The Power of Music
Pete Seeger - Way Over There
Pete Seeger with the Almanac Singers - The Strange Death of John Doe
Henry Wallace 1948 Campaign Song
The Weavers - If I Had
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America’s music, at least through 1955, was jazz. In this episode, we’ll take a deep dive into the predominant forms jazz took on from 1930 through the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, including swing, bebop, hard bop and cool jazz. In many ways during these years, Jazz gave voice to the difficult tensions and struggles confronting Americans in those years, and which tested our belief in our own convictions. Welcome to American Song, episode ten; Jazz In Defense of Equality and Justice For All
Through its history, Jazz has played a very important social role in America and abroad. It is the voice of democracy and freedom. It represents our continuing desire for social justice and equality in America and has supported that role abroad. In this episode, we see how jazz evolved through Swing to Bebop and how members of the same group who have been most historically oppressed have risen – both in the music world and out of it – to be the ones to defend the country, and inspire the effort needed to face our own demons. Because they did, America has begun to live up to its promises of equality and justice for all. I am certain that America’s music will continue to inspire us, encourage us, and unite us. Just as it always has.
In This Episode:
In the Mood - Glenn Miller
King Porter Stomp - Fletcher Henderson
Fly Me to The Moon - Sinatra/ Basie
Straighten Up and Fly Right - Nat King Cole
Northwest Passage - Woody Herman and His Thundering Herd
Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off - Astaire/ Rogers
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrews Sisters
Stomp Your Feet - Fred Elizalde and His Cambridge Undergraduates
Minor Swing - Django Reinhart
Adolf Hitler at Essen
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition - Kay Kiser
GI Jive - Kay Kiser
Making Whoopie - Charlie and His Orchestra
The Man With the Big Cigar - Charlie and His Orchestra
I Sustain the Wings/ Jam Don’t Shake Like That - Glenn Miller and the Army Airforce Band
The Secret Broadcast - Music Fur Die Wermacht - Glenn Miller and “Ilse”
Perfidia - Benny Goodman and Helen Forrest (V-Records)
Koko - John Coltrane
Mussolini’s Letter to Hitler - Carson Robison
Der Fuehrer’s Face - Spike Jones and His City Slickers
Body and Soul - Coleman Hawkins
Straight No Chaser - Miles Davis
(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue - Louis Armstrong
WE INSIST! Freedom Now Suite! - Max Roach with Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins and Olatunji
Fables of Faubus - Charles Mingus
Alabama Governor George Wallace (1964 Campaign)
Acknowledgement (From a Love Supreme) - John Coltrane
Alabama - John Coltrane
Klactovesedstene - Charlie Parker
Just Friends - Charlie Parker
Night in Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
Round Midnight - Thelonious Monk
Fifty-Second Street Theme - Thelonious Monk
Nikita Kruschev at UN 1960
Manteca - Dizzy Gillespie
Duke Ellington on American Music
Reprise: (What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue - Louis Armstrong
President Dwight D Eisenhower Addresses Little Rock Crisis
The Real Ambassador - Dave Brubeck/ Louis Armstrong
Sing Sing Sing! - Benny Goodman in USSR
Moaning’ - Charles Mingus
U.S. Attorney General Derrick Garland on Voter Suppression Crisis
As always, thanks for listening and downloading!
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The Rising of Gospel Music and How It Inspired the World.
Imagine a people, passing through the crucible of slavery, for hundreds of years, until the first people in your new lineage are often lost in time – because slaves have no more families or histories any more than cattle or sheep do – and coming out the other side, proud, shining, and triumphant. Imagine using that experience to lay the foundations of music that became the soundtrack within the lives of billions of people around the world. In the wake of so much devastation, the sounds of faith, love, dignity and freedom were heard and shared until they echoed the world over. Many times, they were there to drown out more modern pains, and were used to inspire other people to face new adversities. It started with African Spirituals, and those Spirituals gradually became Gospel Music.
This is a music that has given people a sense of holy urgency and righteousness all over the world. The Christians that created this music believed with everything they had in them that it was ‘the holy spirit’ that gave them the authority. This was not performance. This was leadership.
PS. My sincerest thanks to all of you repeat listeners out there in the following cities. Your interests in what I'm doing makes this so rewarding!
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Included in this episode:
· Excerpt from Amistad
· Excerpt from Fountain Hughes interview; WPA and John Lomax
· Work Holler
· West Indies Slave Chant - Roger Gibbs (Earliest Recorded Slave Chant from 1775)
· Roll Jordan Roll - From 12 Years a Slave
· Title Unknown - The Singing and Praying Band
· Title Unknown - The McIntosh County Shouters
· Rock My Soul - The Spirit Chorale of Los Ang
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During the first half of the 1900’s, Country music grew from a small group of naïve country musicians who shared their love of the old songs and the old ways with a country that was coming of age. As even now, the players that created the music Americans loved came from colorful backgrounds, and gave all they had to the music. Along the way, some of them gave too much – guys like Hank Williams who died so young and lived such a hard life – come to mind. The stories they told and created and shared left deep impressions in the hearts of the country – almost like the wagon wheel ruts you can still see in some places out along the prairie. At the same time, they forged a trail for newer sounds, first Honky Tonk, then Nashville that cleared a path for what was soon coming behind them – like Rockabilly and Rock and Roll. By the early 1950’s, you began to hear the first chords ringing out.
Tracks and Interviews In This Episode
Can the Circle Be Unbroken - The Carter Family
Wildwood Flower - The Carter Family
Sitting On Top of the World - The Mississippi Sheiks
Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys
Walking the Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb
When Ernest Tubb Wrote Walking the Floor Over You - from A Celebration of Ernest Tubb
(See the American Song Facebook page for the link to the full symposium)
Hello Walls - Faron Young
Jole Blon - Harry Choates
Hank and Audrey Williams Radio Interview with Bob McKinnon; 1950
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams
Jambalaya (On the Bayou) - Hank Williams
If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time - Lefty Frizzell
Single Girl, Married Girl - The Carter Family
My Big Iron Skillet - Wanda Jackson
Stand By Your Man - Tammy Wynette
Kiss An Angel Good Morning - Charlie Pride
How Charlie Broke Country's Color Barrier; Interview with Dan Rather
God Bless the U.S.A. - Al Greenwood
A Soldier's Last Letter - Ernest Tubb
There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere - Elton Britt
Atom Bomb Baby - Five Star
Marty Robbins - El Paso
The Jordanaire's Remember Recording with Patsy Cline - Interview
She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain - The Skillet Lickers
Crazy - Patsy Cline
Root Hog or Die - June Carter Cash
Cowboy, Harry Stephens, Talks About Writing "The Night Herding Song" - Library of Congress recording
Tumbling Tumbleweeds - Sons of the Pioneers
When the Work's All Done This Fall - Roy Rogers
Blue Shadows on the Trail - Roy Rogers
I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart - Patsy Montana
Man of Constant Sorrows - Soggy Bottom Boys
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The Duality of the Blues; Episode 7 of American Song
The Blues deals with very personal types of pain. But it doesn’t wallow in self-pity. The blues is about overcoming – like Martin Luther King Jr. used in his marches – “We Shall Overcome”. Great blues is all about a catharsis – a purging – of the things that hurt us so that we can go on living better lives! Nothing captures the Christian sense of death and redemption like the blues; When you think of the blues, you think about misfortune, betrayal and regret. You lose your job, you get the blues. Your mate falls out of love with you, you get the blues. Your dog dies, you get the blues.
Appallingly, America seems to be back at 'the crossroads' again in 2021. At the time that I'm publishing this, Georgia has just instituted voter suppression laws again, and there are bills in 43 of our states to follow suit. I hope this episode of American Song serves as a reminder about the horrors we've already been through as a nation, and a strong statement that we MUST NEVER go there again. I pray that the 'better angels' (to use a phrase from Abraham Lincoln) of our natures and our nation gain control. I hope that this entire podcast series is a reminder of how great our nation is and has been, and that we realize that it is BECAUSE and not despite of our diversity that we have been so.
Track List Viola Davis - from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix) Interview: Leadbelly on the Origin of the Blues The Burden of the Angel Beast - Bruce Cockburn, from Dart to the Heart Homeless - Ladysmith Black Mambazo, from Paul Simon's Graceland Woke Up This Morning, With my Mind on Jesus - Mississippi Fred McDowell Motherless Child - O.V. Wright We Shall Overcome - Mahalia Jackson Strange Fruit - Bessie Smith Signifying Monkey - Oscar Brown Cross Roads - Robert Johnson Dust My Broom - B.B. King W.C. Handy - St. Louis Blues John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom Midnight Special - Leadbelly See That My Grave is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson Interview: Steven Johnson (grandson of Robert Johnson) Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the Devil) - Robert Johnson Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Ma Rainey This Train - Sister Rosetta Tharpe You Shook Me - Muddy Waters Interview: Buddy Guy (with Nick Harcourt and Guitar Center) Jumpin' at the Woodside - Count Basie and his Orchestra One O'Clock Jump - Lester Young Mean Old World - T Bone Walker Indian Tom Tom - Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band Sibo Bangoura - Ted Talk from TedX Sydney Hey Hey - Eric Clapton, Unplugged
For a listing of all sources, please visit our American Song Podcast page on Facebook or download this episode's script, posted on this website.
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By the 1920's, jazz had grown too large for its humble origins in New Orleans and was impacting the musical world, including the greatest classical European musicians and composers, as well as American listeners and fellow jazz musicians.
What came next was an explosion of creativity among the musical who's who of the day.
The world's stage was filled to capacity with Europe's heavy-weights, like Toscanini, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky and American classicists, like Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, not to mention the greats of the jazz world, like Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington, just to name a few. All these mind-blowingly awesome artists were active and collaborating among each other. Could this have been the history's greatest musical period?
Find out what happened and how it happened, right here on American Song.
Tracks:
The Rite of Spring - Igor Stravinsky
Charleston - Sidney Bechet
Fireworks - Louis Armstrong
Golliwogg's Cakewalk - Claude Debussy; performed by Branford Marsalis
Ragtime for 11 Instruments - Igor Stravinsky
Central Park in the Dark - Charles Ives
Tea For Two - Art Tatum
Andre Previn and Oscar Peterson talk about Art Tatum
Livery Stable Blues - Original Dixie Land Jass Band
Ferde Grofe talks about working with George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue - Paul Williams Orchestra, pianist George Gershwin
Ira Gershwin Talks About George Gershwin
La Creation du Monde - Darius Milhaud; performed by Branford Marsalis
Aaron Copland Talks About Himself
Rodeo; I: Buckaroo Holiday - Aaron Copland
Music for the Theater; Aaron Copland, performed by Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic
Four Piano Blues: 3 - Muted and Sensous - Aaron Copland; performed by Leo Smit
Jazz Suite No. 2; 3: Dance - Dmitri Shostakovich
Ebony Concerto - Igor Stravinsky; performed by Woody Herman and His Thundering Herd
Overture From Westside Story - Leonard Bernstein; Film Soundtrack, 1961
Leonard Bernstein Talks About Himself
Preludes, Fugues, and Riffs - Leonard Bernstein; performed by Leonard Bernstein, Benny Goodman and the Colombia Orchestra
Creole Rhapsody - Duke Ellington
Concerto for Cootie - Duke Ellington
Dont' Get Around Much Anymore - Duke Ellington
Black, Brown & Beige - Duke Ellington
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Welcome to episode five in the American Song podcast.
The early days of jazz were full of exploration, invention, and creativity. It was a time of fluid exchanges in the music world between blacks and whites, even if it was only seldom happening anywhere else.
Jazz rose up from Congo Square in New Orleans, which was a culturally rich gumbo of sounds, rhythms and movement produced by people whose origins were from far away places. Spanish, French, English, African and Native Americans all contributed to this musical feast to create an art that could only have happened here.
In this episode, you'll learn about some of the earliest jazz musicians who made a lasting impact, influencing and shaping the music for many decades to come. You'll also hear and experience some of those great early songs, as well as hear directly from a few of the musicians that made the music possible.
As they say in New Orleans, ""Laissez les bon temps rouler!" Let the good times roll!
Track List
Duke Ellington Remembers Jelly Roll Morton Rembers St. James Infirmary - Buddy Bolden Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers - Dr. Jazz James P. Bolden - You've Got to Be Modernistic Archie Shepp Remembers Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet - Strange Fruit Rockin' Chair - Bix Biederbecke Louis Armstrong Remembers Bix Biederbecke St. Louis Blues - the Paul Whiteman Orchestra Basin Street Blues - Louis Armstrong When You're Young the Whole World Smiles With You - Louis Armstrong
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A fusion of blues and mountain music, a reminder of better times for many people, and a host of memorable and gifted musicians. In this episode, we'll discover the following musicians and their music:
Jimmie Rogers & Louis Armstrong - Blue Yodel Number Nine DeFord Bailey - Pan American Blues Cotton Eyed Joe - Fiddlin' John Carson Show Intro for the Grand Ol' Opry - November 11, 1939 Jimmie Rogers - The Carter Family - Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow (Medley):
The Carter Family - When the World's On Fire
The Carter Family - Little Darling Pal of Mine
Woody Guthrie - This Land is Your Land
Jake Tullock & Earl Scruggs - Little Darling Pal of Mine
Lesley Riddle - Red River Blues Maybelle Carter Interview from 1975 DeFord Bailey - The Fox Chase Harry McClintock - The Big Rock Candy Mountain Eck Robertson - Sally Gooden Doc Watson - Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
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Lives in the Balance: Jackson Browne and the Fight for America’s Soul
For over five decades, Jackson Browne has stood at the intersection of melody and message—crafting songs that speak not only to the heart, but also to the conscience. In an age of division and disinformation, his music feels like a lifeline to an older, more grounded sense of American democratic values—truth, empathy, accountability, and moral courage. This episode dives into Browne’s lifelong journey as both a master songwriter and a tireless activist, examining how his music has evolved into a public reckoning with the soul of the nation.
He grew up in Southern California, crossing the "Orange Curtain" from the sleepy bedroom towns of Orange County and making his way into Laurel Canyon, and from his earliest days playing shows at the Troubadour, Browne’s lyrics were already infused with a deep introspection and a search for authenticity. But as the political landscape shifted in the 1980s and beyond, so too did his writing—growing sharper, more explicit, and unapologetically political. With albums like Lives in the Balance and The Naked Ride Home, he began naming names, challenging war, corporate greed, and environmental neglect. Browne wasn’t content to merely reflect the times—he wanted to change them.
This episode traces the arc of his transformation—from a quiet observer to a clarion voice for peace, climate justice, and human rights. We explore his deep friendships with figures like David Crosby and Bonnie Raitt, his influence on the Eagles and the Southern California sound, and his early alliances with causes like MUSE and the anti-nuclear movement. But we also go deeper: into the heartbreak of Phyllis Major’s death, the personal toll of activism, and the spiritual core that drives his pursuit of justice.
Jackson Browne’s legacy is not one of stardom chased or fame inflated. It’s a body of work that demands we pay attention—not just to the world around us, but to the values we claim to stand for. In a moment where America seems to be asking itself who it really is, Jackson Browne has never stopped answering with clarity, humility, and song.
In This Episode
Songs by Jackson Browne, except where noted otherwise
These Days
Where I’m From
These Days (Nico (From Chelsea Girl)
To Ramona - Bob Dylan
Doctor My Eyes
Take It Easy (Jackson Browne/ The Eagles mash-up)
Wooden Ships (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
For Every Man
Running on Empty
Before the Deluge
Lives in the Balance
I Am a Patriot
I’m Alive
Which Side
Downhill From Everywhere
Standing in the Breach
Dig Deeper
To learn more about several of the topics discussed in this episode, I encouirage you to check out these other American Song episode.
America's original art contribution to the world - jazz. So deep. So rich. But where did it come from?
There were at least four different sources; and yet one of these - the blues - is also much more than a contributing art form. The blues is almost mythology itself. Sprung from the earth, like the plantation soil where so many slaves lived and died, the blues at once describes and also gives life to everything in its path.
I hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, please tell me about it! Leave a comment to let me know what you think of our podcast so far - what you like, and what you'd like to know more about! I'll get back to you, and possibly even address any questions or suggestions in an upcoming episode!
Many recordings have been sourced to prepare this week's episode. Here's a list of what I've included:
Grace and Beauty composed by James Scott source: Jazz Piano History
Elite Syncopations composed and performed by Scott Joplin source: Scott Joplin Piano Rolls
The Entertainer composed and performed by Scott Joplin source: Jazz Piano History
Wynton Marsalis interview taken from Ken Burns "Jazz" documentary
Bleeding Hearted Blues composed and performed by James P. Johnson source: Library of Congress
Boogie Woogie Stomp composed and performed by Pine Top Smith source: Jazz Piano History
Son House interview source: YouTube video
Trouble of the World performed by Mahalia Jackson source: Gospels, Spirituals & Hymns
Go Down Old Hannah performed by Texas Prison Gang source: YouTube
Terraplane Blues composed and performed by: Robert Johnson source: The Ultimate Jazz Archive
Contact Joe Hines at joe.hines4@gmail.com
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The Many Musical Threads in Our National Fabric; Early American Music by Region
Episode two of “American Song” is an exploration of some of the early regional music from before the 20th century. Like some of the things we listened to in episode one, many of these forms survive and continue to be popular today!
In this half-hour episode, we’ll listen to Appalachian and Mountain music, then travel down to Louisiana for a sampling of Cajun music! No trip to Louisiana is complete without at least a short stop in New Orleans – we’ll be back to New Orleans again in episode three. This week, however, we’re digging into the march music; early jazz music was, at least in part, played of ex- marching band members. And I hope you’re leaving a little room on your plate for some Mexican food – or at least music! Our neighbors to the south have contributed to our culture like everyone else.
Here’s a list of the music used in this episode:
West Virginia Gals Recorded 11/26/66 in the family home of Glen Lyn; Giles County, Virginia. Source: Library of Congress
Barbara Allen Sung by “Granny Porter”; Wade Ward, fiddle player. Source: Ballads and Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains; Persistence & Change
Camden Clog Dancing Mike Adamson YouTube video
Darlin’ Cori Cedric Watson on Gourd Banjo Cedric Watson YouTube video
Wash Tub Bass Demonstration by Mick Ralphs YouTube video
Whiskey Before Breakfast Performed by: Stephen Seifert YouTube video
High On a Mountain Performed by: Ola Belle Reed Classic Mountain Songs; Smithsonian Folkways
Cajun Comedian Comedy by: Kent Gonsoulin YouTube video
La Danse du Mardi Gras Performed by: The Balfa Brothers
Pomona Waltz Emil Waldtleufel; composer Recorded by E. Berliner Gramophone; 1897 Source; Library of Congress
Soldier’s March Performed by Prince’s Military Band Recording Date; 3-25-1909 Source: Library of Congress
Panama Rag Performed by: Regimental Band of the Republic (instrumentalist) Recorded By: American Record Co. Date: 1905
La Cucaracha Performed by: Cuco Sanchez
Volver, Volver Performed by: Vicente Fernandez
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(If World Cultures Were Musical Notes), Early America Was a Ready-Made Symphony.
There are few things I love more than music, and America. Both of these worlds have been my home since my earliest days.
I've been thinking about producing this podcast for many years now. And now, this is episode one; With this podcast, I want to tell a story about how many cultures have contributed to the music we listen to today, and how the people of the United States have a common and proud heritage. We are a great people because of our diversity. This diversity made it possible to create totally new ways of addressing challenges and opportunities. It made it possible for our country to lead in science, the arts, business - nearly every endeavor.
I'm choosing to tell the story with something that I, and many people like me, love. Music. I'm going to tell the story about how every modern form of music we listen to today has it's roots in the cultures that brought their unique musical arts with them when they arrived on our shores.
The music I've included in this first episode mostly comes from the digital archives available through the Library of Congress.
This podcast will be updated at least once a month. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll come back to listen every month. I've got no sponsors; this is a labor of love. So, if you like what I'm doing here, please encourage me by spreading the word!
I look forward to hearing your ideas or experiences that you might like to share. If you love America and music the way I do, I hope together we can build a community that celebrates both of those blessings together.
God bless America!
Join our community and continue your journey through American Song: Visit us on Facebook.
There, you'll get more information, video content, and more about the music and personalities covered in all our episodes.
In this episode of American Song, we explore the life and legacy of Warren Zevon, one of America’s most fearless and darkly funny songwriters. Known for his biting wit and uncompromising honesty, Zevon built a career chronicling the messier sides of the human experience—addiction, regret, heartbreak, and mortality.
From his early days as a struggling songwriter in Los Angeles to the unexpected success of “Werewolves of London,” Zevon never stopped grappling with the contradictions of fame and self-destruction. We trace how his battles with alcoholism nearly cost him everything, and how sobriety led to some of his most poignant work, including “Detox Mansion” and “Reconsider Me.”
When faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Zevon responded the only way he knew how: with humor and unflinching clarity. His final message—“Enjoy every sandwich”—has become a lasting reminder to savor the ordinary moments, even when life feels overwhelming.
Drawing parallels between Zevon’s story and today’s America, we consider what his example has to offer in an era of division, anxiety, and distrust. In a time when many feel adrift, Zevon’s insistence on telling the truth—even when it was uncomfortable—feels more important than ever. His songs are proof that honesty and irony can coexist with tenderness and hope.
Through archival interviews, cultural commentary, and the music itself, this episode reflects on what it means to face your demons, make peace with impermanence, and still find something worth laughing about. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or just discovering his work, this is an invitation to see Warren Zevon not just as a songwriter, but as a guide to living—and dying—with your eyes wide open.