Explore every episode of the podcast Records & Rockstars

The 2nd in a four-parter featuring songs that ask questions and this time it's when/where/why and how, with Motown, 60's Brit-rock, an Emmylou Harris/Daniel Lanois collaboration, the Nirvana cover Neil Young called “unearthly, like a werewolf", Beatles, Lennon solo, Zeppelin and more.

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A listener submitted theme this time (thank you!) that's grown into a four-parter, featuring nothing but songs that pose questions asking Who, What, When, Where, Why and How? And there’s lots beyond those. Let’s get started with the ones that aske WHO and WHAT, with everyone from Bo Diddley to the Who, Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, Elvis Costello and more.  

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Another episode in the recurring theme, going quarter by quarter through 1976 with part 3 this time featuring classic albums out in July, August, and September, and one from that October that found a rockstar named Bob, workin' and practisin' on his night moves, along with the band some people thought were the resurrection of The Beatles, plus a song in the key of life, dirty deeds, the hardest working man in show biz, and more.

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When in Rome, meaning back to the routine of late summer and back to school, an episode featuring songs about the month of September, with everyone from Peter Gabriel to the Temptations, Beatles, Big Star, REM, Green Day and more.

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Another episode in the recurring theme, going quarter by quarter through 1976 with part 2 this time featuring classic albums out in April, May and June ‘76, plus one delicious leftover from that March. Everyone from The Stones and their funkiest album, to the career accelerating double album from Bob Seger, RAMONES, Kim Mitchell's legendary band with a comment from Max Webster High Class Author Bob Wegner, Aerosmith, B.O.C., Jeff Beck and his old singer, Rod Stewart, and more.

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The conclusion of the 4-parter featuring Debut Album Openers, that is first cuts from first sides from first albums, and we’re into bands beginning with the letters S-Z, with trips to Detroit's Cobo Hall, Pistols and Stooges, Patti Smith does Van Morrison, The Hip, Wilburys, U2, Van Halen and the song that set the stage for ZZ Top.

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The 3rd in Jeff's 4-parter featuring Debut Album Openers, that is first cuts from first sides from first albums, and we’re into the Ps and Qs as we throwback with Tom Petty, Police, Pretenders, Queen, Ramones, REM, Rolling Stones and more.

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The 2nd in Jeff's 4-parter featuring Debut Album Openers, that is first cuts from first sides from first albums, and we’re into bands beginning with the letters K through O this time, as we trip back to the best court in the land with Robert Fripp's enigmatic British band, and rip Zeppelin, Max Webster, Massive Attack, and separate the art from the artist who comes with rock's ultimate stranglehold, and more.

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The beginning of Jeff's four-part series featuring Side One Cuts One, that is nothing but select first songs from first albums, alphabetically by artist, and this time from the letters A - H, with everyone from AC/DC to The Band, Beatles to Jeff Beck, CS&N, Doors, Steve Earle, Peter Gabriel, and Jimi Hendrix.

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The conclusion of Jeff's look at select songs that get right to the point, in revealing their titles in the opening vocal, from select artists and bands from the letters R to Zed, starting in the nineties, with Radiohead, and reflecting back to Part 1 in which it was revealed probably for the first time ever (we've not seen it anywhere before) how many Beatles songs start with the title and this time by comparison we’ll investigate how many times the Rolling Stones did it. The difference is BIG. Plus hear the last song Joey Ramone listened to in his lifetime, and two Neil Young songs he'd soften on over time, but we won't, and we'll head to Texas to learn the whereabouts of Jesus ;)

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Here's the 2nd of 3 parts of an alphabetical by artists investigation into select songs that in the first bit of vocal reveal their title. This time we're going from G to Q, with everyone from Genesis to Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Marley, McCartney, Tom Petty and Queen. The music and the stories behind it, with Jeff Woods.

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This is a triumph of rock music writing/performance/recording along with my conversation celebrating a favourite collection of music that’s available everywhere as of Friday May 1st 2026 as the Arlene and the People Onward Believer Deluxe Edition,

Vocalist/keyboards/songwriter Arlene Paculan and guitarist/songwriter Kevin Dvorak join Jeff Woods for a 5 song preview including their cover that inspired Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace to respond with two words: “It’s beautiful”. It truly is. Hear the cover of NAVEED, and four more contemporary prog rock wet dreams, that also feature drummer Jan Bilek, and bassist Len Dvorak.

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Here's a fun investigation of songs that in the first bit of vocal reveal their title. We're going alphabetically by artist and featuring select songs, this time between the letters A and F, including a deep dive into what is unquestionably one of the secrets to the Beatles songwriting success. Everyone from them to Bowie, JJ Cale, The Clash, The Coop, and more.

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More hand-plucked gems from Jeff's collection, featuring everyone from Chris Cornell to Johnny Cash, Lee Harvey Osmond (Tom Wilson's alter ego) Black Dub (Daniel Lanois' project with Trixie Whitley), Zeppelin, Allman Brothers Band, Beatles, and Joe Jackson.

It's all about the songs!

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"I am a DJ, I am what I play", said David Bowie. And so this is that, untethered by era, with songs from the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and 2000s, in this recurring theme that gets started with everyone from Big Star to Beatles.

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The you got your peanut butter in my chocolate scenario has similarly worked wonders, on occasion, with songs. And so this time, the best of rock’s mashups, with a couple of rock's best remixes too. Everyone from Beatles to Black Sabbath, James Brown, Green Day, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, and Beautiful People. The podcast version of the radio episode. Enjoy!

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This time it's rockstars other names. Not real names, but aliases. Starting with the one that begat The Ramones, and you won't believe your ears with some of these songs and the moonlighting that was going on in the 60s and 70s.  

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Jeff takes you back to the break of 1976, and shines a light on the albums out in Jan/Feb/March, when Bowie was under the influence of Philly soul and German theatre, Genesis were on member lighter, The Doobies welcomed a new brother, and it was do or die for Thin Lizzy and RUSH, and more.

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Rock fans especially in Canada, and wherever the Max magic found its way into the ears and hearts of adults and universal juveniles alike, are in for a treat this time, as musician and author Bob Wegner joins Jeff Woods, and they are here for "a celebration!" That of the Kim Mitchell endorsed (he’s a contributor too) triumphantly cool Max Webster High Class, 448 page glossy coffee table book. In this 35 minute episode, the Max Webster expert and forever fan joins the Max super fan/follower supporter, sharing insights and highlights from the Max Webster music catalogue, and more.

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Come on a tour of American born music mostly, with an injection of the like-sounding swampy grooves of a rogue Canuck from Hamiton Ontario, in a hearty gumbo of music history that's been simmering inside of musicologist Jeff Woods' brain salad for months on end, and featuring some of his personal favourite artists from JJ Cale, to Little Feat, Doobies, CCR, and the Tony Joe White inspired Tom Wilson who prompted Bruce Springsteen to reflect on his song about the kind of music Jesus surely would have sang, if Jesus were that kind of rockstar.

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Jeff's back from a break and armed with stories about songs about big ones, brass ones, empty ones, burning ones, in an episode that flashes back to the roaring twenties, the summer of ‘69, the seventies, eighties, nineties and 2000s, with nothing but songs this time about bed.

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Jeff pays tribute to musical artists we lost in 2025, with the conclusion of this 2 parter.

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Jeff pays tribute to the legends we lost in 2025, with the first of 2 parts.

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Jolie is here to share her story and her songs, on record and live at Wild Woods Blue, in conversation with Jeff Woods. "Jolie Anastasia is a folk and Americana/Canadiana singer-songwriter whose music feels like a conversation around a fire—intimate, timeless, and rooted in the human spirit. With a voice that carries both tenderness and grit, she weaves stories of love, resilience, and belonging. From Ontario to open skies far beyond, Jolie’s melodies echo the traditions of the folk greats while carving her own path, balancing vulnerability with quiet strength. Her music invites you to slow down, listen deeply, and find yourself reflected in the poetry of her songs—like letters written from the soul to anyone willing to hear". Guitar in hand, Jolie is accompanied by guitarist/singer Braden Mahon.

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Rather self evident from the title, in this episode featuring stutter rock classics from British Invasion bands like Beatles, Kinks, and the Who, to Bowie, plus Zeppelin, 3 American bands, and a Canadian Prairie band who stuttered their way up the North American charts to #1.

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Another in the recurring theme takes you back to the spring of '75, when out came albums including the one that found a pre-Steve Perry Journey fronted by a former Santana singer, plus a fourth from ZZ Top, a fifth from The Doobies, a sixth from Nazareth, the BIG one from Aerosmith, #9 from Elton, and appearances from McCartney, WAR, Neil, and the rockstar who take away your worries of today and leaves tomorrow behind. All aboard for this 22 minute flashback with Jeff Woods.

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A favourite album of other artists, and Jeff's too, we go back to 1994 with the landmark Columbia label release that put the name Jeff Buckley into the world and his music into the hearts and minds of fans who this time get to hear the reflections shared after his passing, by Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, and by Jeff Buckley's mom, Mary Guibert, plus Jeff Woods' own reflections of a special time in music history, when Buckley and his friend Chris Cornell roamed the earth and sang like nobody does anymore.

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Special Zeppelin episode featuring a set up from Jimmy Page and then Robert Plant, in conversation with Jeff, about the magic of the mighty Zep, and what it was that first attracted them to the blues in the sixties, and then in the spotlight: every one of the fifteen songs over the four sides of the classic double album of 1975 -- Physical Graffiti. Jeff gets into how it got made, where each song was recorded and when, and more.

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Here comes the second of two parts featuring some of rock's most celebrated artists who had a penchant for the rich traditions of the corner stone of rock and roll music that leans to the country, including Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale, U2, more Neil Young, more Rolling Stones, Allman Bros, CCR, John Hiatt, Brinsley Schwarz, Nick Lowe, The Who, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Pink Floyd plus a Canadian tribute to them, PLUS a ton of bonus content (making this the most in depth radio show podcast episode yet, with yet another dozen plus rock bands, some of whom are sure to surprise, who found themselves in the country too. I'll give you a hint: Metallica country?!

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I was born ready and invite you to delve into the first of two parts featuring some of rock's most celebrated artists who had a penchant for the rich traditions of the corner stone of rock and roll music that leans to the country, including Tom Petty (who inspired this mini-series), Neil Young, Beatles and Stones, Dylan, The Band, The Byrds, and Led Zeppelin. It's as much as lesson as it is a celebration.

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I smile every time I hear these early essential songs from one of the finest soul singers of our time. This is a MUST for fans of the brilliantly soulful voice of Van Morrison, investigating and celebrating the first Van music post-THEM (his seminal rhythm and blues band that gave us “Here Comes the Night”, etc.), in songs that takes us well beyond Van’s Brown Eyed Girl, which by the way started out with a different title about something else brown she had. Put a pin that and come dive inside the Legendary Bang Sessions of Van Morrison – his earliest American recording sessions captured by Bert Berns in New York City in March 1967. If you love soul singers, we’re pretty sure this one’s sure to be Blowin' Your Mind!  

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We're headed back to the early months of '75, and key albums out in Jan/Feb/March, including he who was tangled up in blue, plus the Beatle who'd been caught standing in a Hamburg Germany doorway pondering his band reaching the toppermost of the poppermost, as he put it, plus the earliest ACDC, Led Zeppelin get physical, The Coop, Bowie, the Acid Queen, the first so-called solo Jeff Beck, and the British band who swore they were not in love.

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The conclusion of Jeff's celebration of Swan Songs, this time featuring three final cuts in the career of Pink Floyd (with and without former frontmen Roger Waters and Syd Barrett), Roxy Music, Queen, Nirvana, Chris Cornell (with a Johnny Cash angle), The Band, Tom Petty, Warren Zevon, John Lennon, and David Bowie.

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The 2nd of three parts this time – a celebration of the artistry in studio mostly, and the most iconic of final public performances, we’re calling Swan Songs, with stories and music to go with from a Jacksonville kid, two of rock’s most incendiary drummers, plus a bit about the logo that inspired this min-series, and the rockstar frontman whose swan song would finish, with a nod to Robin Williams.  

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Whether it’s a death of an artist, or the end of a band, there has to be one last recording and one final public performance, in every artist’s career. And so this time, a good look at some of Rock’s Swan Songs, from the summer of love through the early seventies.

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Because there's so much more to Steve Earle than Copperhead Road, Jeff brings you select cuts from his stellar career of songwriting and performing, including from his acclaimed 2015 album Terraplane, plus a perfect in-concert Steve Earle story, and more.

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It finally happened. The last Last Waltz, as it were. The last Canadian among four Canadian musical legends who with their American drummer, became known the world over, with Bob Dylan. And even before that, with another American who'd make Canada his home – Ronnie Hawkins. January 21st 2025, Garth Hudson passed, and so this episode pays tribute to he and the whole band, with select songs pre and post Last Waltz, and a moment from Jeff's final conversation with Robbie, about the early days.

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Jeff takes you back through the years with select songs you'll know best in the hands of artists who typically didn't do them first and didn't write them, in an episode that takes you under the covers, with earlier versions of songs made famous by CCR, Nazareth, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, Grand Funk, Soft Cell, Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Joan Jett, Johnny Cash, REM, Blondie, and more.

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To close 2024, one more tribute and the conclusion to Jeff's look at music legends we lost this year, and one very influential radio broadcaster too. Comes with thanks to you for listening to Records & Rockstars. Spread the word about this music history and story-telling podcast, and all the best to you.

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It's a bittersweet time, paying tribute to rockstars we've lost in the last 12 months and this is the first of two parts celebrating their artistry and contributions to music.

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Here's the final of the recurring four-parter looking back in celebration of the Classic Albums of 1974 with swan song records from King Crimson and Genesis, Mick Taylor's final with The Stones, the album that saved Supertramp, The Who, Tull, YES, Kraftwerk, and more.  

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While last time the effect in the spotlight was the talk box, this time it's an equally cool effect and rather strange sound from the studio that makes the music and/or the vocal, sound like jets overhead! Call it phase-shifting or stereo flanging, nothing but that this time in a trippy episode titled after the classic song "Phasors on Stun" by the classic Canadian band known as FM.

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The 2nd of a 3-parter, this time an episode featuring the finest examples of the magical effect in which mouth and guitar meet to produce an unmistakable sound on some big ones from the 70s, 80s, and nineties.

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The first of a 3-parter that begins with a wizard, a true star, and HIS first big song, plus a game called sounds of the studio, in an episode that also features bagpipes, slide whistle, home-made kazoo, and a dog fronting a band that plays to no one. The strange continues with didgeridoo, sugar packets, and more.

Plus a call to you for theme ideas.   

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This time to follow our choice night songs, an episode featuring select songs about the day in your life, and the day trips, the beautiful days, and perfect days, starring everyone from Beatles to Beatle influencer Buddy Holly, and Beatle soundalikes Badfinger, and a surprise even to JW, one day in the middle of the 1990s, Sheryl Crow did a duet with Johnny Cash about the kind of day Bob Marley had long ago sung about.

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After 800 weekly radio show episodes it seems like high time we do a 2 parter on day and night songs. Here comes part 1 and it features Bob Seger recounting how in Toronto, he laid down a song he believed in despite his management wanting him to do three other songs, and it became a career maker!

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Can you think of any bands that share their names with songs? Here comes nineteen now.

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Not only the Billys of ROCK, because we've adopted the adage, "untethered by genre or era", happily colouring outside the lines this time again, with Williams turned Billys and with Billies too, from rock and jazz and blues and more, and a few Billy Joes to boot.

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There's something about the sound of the instrument, smallish in size, that adds something special to select rock songs. It's Italian. It has strings. It's part of the lute family of stringed instruments with long necks and and rounded bodies. Most often played with a pick, it typically has four courses or sets of 2 strings, tuned in unison and making it an 8 string instrument, and when you put two strings close together like this, you get more volume, just like with a 12 string guitar has that shimmer of strings vibrating against one another. Mandolin after the Italian mandolino, and it's in the spotlight this time in nothing but the songs of Led Zeppelin.

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Songs that start not with the verse but with the chorus, with lots of Beatle angles, plus Bowie, Blur, and a funky interlude or two.

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