November 2007 Best CDs

The best CD's to arrive at the station in November 2007:

• Kahn, Si, Thanksgiving
• McDades, The, Bloom
• Staines, Bill, Old Dog. Bill Staines is classic -- of course this CD is good.
• Williams, Robin and Linda, Radio Songs. Usually when I review CDs, I note several top pick songs to consider playing on my radio show. When listening to this CD, it seemed more a matter of finding songs not to note. They were all so good.

October 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived in October, the best were:

• Broadside Electric, Live Do Not Immerse
• Broadside Electric, With Teeth
• Limeliters, The, Right from the Start

Mostly Folk Playlist, October 14, 2007

Host: Terry Hayden

Pete Gets the Last Word | Pete Seeger | Sowing the Seeds - The 10th Anniversary
Quite Early Morning | Pete Seeger | Sowing the Seeds - The 10th Anniversary
Quite Early Morning | The Mammals | Rock That Babe
There is Hope | Aoife Clancy | Sowing the Seeds - The 10th Anniversary
One More Night | Elana James | Elana James
All Good Things | Corrinne West | Second Sight
Weather and Water | The Greencards | Weather and Water
Darling Corey | Crooked Still | Hop High
John Henry | Earl Scruggs | Classic Bluegrass Live 1959-1966
Shantytown | Jamcrackers | Jamcrackers
Folk Music in the Nude | Modern Man | Assisted Living
My Yard | Fathappy | Oasis Acoustic, Vol. VII, 7
Rubberneckin' | Elvis Presley | Elvis at the Movies
Singin' in the Kitchen | Bobby Bare | Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies
Riding in My Car | Woody Guthrie and Arlo Guthrie | This Land is Your Land
Brush Your Teeth Blues | Johnny Irion | Ex Tempore
Livin' by the Open Door | Sarah Lee Guthrie | Sarah Lee Guthrie
I'll Always Sing | Betty and the Baby Boomers | I'll Always Sing
How Can I Keep From Singing | Bok, Muir, and Trickett | The First Fifteen Years, Volume I
Simple Gifts | Atwater Donnelly | Culled From the Garden
John Barleycorn | Atwater-Donnelly | Culled From the Garden
This Fire | John McCutcheon | This Fire: Politics, Love and Other Small Miracles
Giants' Dance | Smithfield Fair | 20 for 20
Come Ye O're Frae France | The Muses | Live!
Faerie Feet | Elaine Silver | Oasis Acoustic Volume VII, X
Finnean's Dance | Coyote Run | Oasis World Volume VII, 3
Frankie and Johnny | Garnet Rogers | All That Is
Further On (Up the Road) | Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band | Live in Dublin
Good Night Irene | Arlo Guthrie with the University of Kentucky Symphony | In Times Like These

September 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived at WRPI in September, 2007, the ones I liked best were:

1. Sowing the Seeds - The 10th Anniversary. This is a compilation CD from Appleseed. It includes some tracks from prior albums, as well as some new material. I have two of the Pete Seeger tribute CD's (Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Seeds), and it overlaps with the material on those albums. There's a lot of Pete Seeger influence on the 10th anniversary CD, including both tracks recorded by him and songs associated with him being performed by others. It's a mix of old and new performers, famous and not so famous. The idea is that Appleseed is trying to support the people who will become the Pete Seegers and Woody Guthries of the future. It seems like they really put some thought into the order the songs appear on the CD. I like that, I like CD's that are put together with thought rather than just a bunch of random songs. If you're into this sort of thing (Pete Seeger, the 60's, songs of social change), this album is worth adding to your collection.
2. Oasis World Volume VII Number 3. Oasis puts together compilations, usually of lesser known artists, and sends them to DJ's. They usually do a really good job. That is, we get a lot of CD's by lesser known artists who are lesser known because they aren't very good, but Oasis seems to mostly include the good ones. Some of those people who send us CD's are navel-gazing singer/songwriter types who just strum a guitar, but the songs on the Oasis CD generally have rich instrumentation. Although this CD is classified as "world," it tends to be people in the US drawing on influences from other cultures, rather than people from other cultures. Sometimes I feel I can't play the world music I like on my regular radio show, because my regular show is mostly American, Canadian, British, and Celtic, but I think most of the songs on this album would fit on my radio show. That could be a drawback if you are looking for something different from what we usually hear in English-language folk music, but I like what's on the album.

Tao Rodriguez Seeger recordings

Tao Rodriguez Seeger performs and records with the Mammals, as well as various other people. On many of the CD's, the musicians take turns doing songs. As a result, Tao's singing is scattered throughout various albums. Here's what to listen to if you want to hear Tao (Let me know of any corrections or additions):

Born Live, The Mammals

13. Satisfied Mind

Evolver, The Mammals

1. Way Down the Old Plank Road
6. Lady Margaret

Rock that Babe, The Mammals

5. Chan Chan
8. John Henry
12. Quite Early Morning

Migration, The Mammals

2. Walking Down Death Row
5. Chan Chan

Departure, The Mammals

8. Solo le Pido a Dios
11. Satisfied Mind

Bootleg Six-Pack, The Mammals

3. Red Mountain Wine

Seeds: The Songs of Pete Seeger Volume 3

3. Trouble at the Bottom
6. A Little a' This 'n' That
7. Maple Syrup Time

Que Vaya Bien, Roy Brown, Tito Auger, and Tao Rodriguez Seeger

1. Que Vaya Bien
4. Cosecha lo que Siembres
10. Deportado
12. El Alambique

The Anarchist Orchestra, The Anarchist Orchestra

(entire album)

Sowing the Seeds: The 10th Anniversary -- Appleseed Recordings

17. The Ross Perot (George Bush) Guide to Answering Embarrassing Questions

Tao also does background vocals on some albums by Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie.

August 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived at the station in August, 2007, my favorites were:

• James, Elana, Elana James
• Jencks, Joe, The Candle and the Flame
• McCutcheon, John, This Fire: Politics, Love, and Other Small Miracles
• Muses, The, Live!
• Smithfield Fair, 20 for 20: Twentieth Anniversary Collection

The Muses and Smithfield Fair are both Celtic bands, and are probably my top two favorites of August. I like the richness of the many different instruments.

John McCutcheon is certainly a prolific and talented songwriter. I don't favor political songs as much as many people in the world of folk music, but if you like critiques of our current political situation, John McCutcheon certainly has some interesting things to say. In the CD liner notes, he writes about learning to play guitar as a kid from a Woody Guthrie songbook. He admired the way there were all sorts of songs mixed together, and that's what this album does too. As the title indicates, in addition to political songs, there are songs about love and other topics.

July 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived at the station in July 2007, the ones I liked best were:

• Arbo, Rani, and Daisy Mayhem, Big Old Life
• Atkins, Chet, The Essential Chet Atkins
• Atkins, Chet, and Paul, Les, Chester and Lester
• BlueHighways TV Radio Sampler - Volume One
• Lewis, Jerry Lee, A Half Century of Hits
• Morrison, Dave, A Little Further Down the Line
• Putumayo Presents: Americana
• Sass!, Album One
• Richey, Kim, Chinese Boxes
• Thompson, Linda, Versatile Heart
• Wounded Heart of America (Tom Russell Songs)

The two Chet Atkins CD's mostly contain instrumentals. They don't particularly fit with my show, or resonate with me personally, but I included them on the list because of the quality of the music.

Dave Morrison's strength is his songwriting more than his musicianship. Many of his songs touch on themes of aging and loss. We seem to get quite a few CD's by singer/songwriter types. In many cases, the lyrics are not particularly good. Dave Morrison joins Dennis Caraher and Kate Blain on the list of songwriters who impressed me.

Sass! is a duo I had not heard before. They're good musically, and have clever lyrics. Many of their songs are humorous.

Most of the songs on Linda Thompson's album didn't quite resonate with me as far as the lyrics go, but the musicianship was excellent, and she has such a good voice, a voice that is rich with emotion.

June 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived in the station in June, 2007, my favorites were:

• Gypsy Music of the Balkans
• Jamcrackers, Jamcrackers
• Oasis Acoustic - Volume VII, No. 7
• Oasis World Vol. VII, No. 2
• Presley, Elvis. Elvis at the Movies
• Springsteen, Bruce, with the Sessions Band, Live in Dublin

Except for the Bruce Springsteen album, I liked them all right away. The Bruce Springsteen album turned me off at first. In general, I'm rather indifferent to Bruce Springsteen, but when he does folk songs, my feeling is often that he is taking really good songs and ruining them. For many of the tracks I listened to on Live in Dublin, my feeling was, "That's terrible singing!" However, I liked two songs on the first CD of the album and quite a few on the second CD. I think you have to get into the right frame of mind, and then they grow on you.

Other than that, the other albums I like wholeheartedly. Oasis puts out compilation CD's which are mostly musicians who have more talent than fame. The Jamcrackers are Peggy Lynn, Dan Duggan, and Dan Berggren, all good local musicians who sometimes sing together and sometimes sing separately.

May 2007 best CDs

I think May has so far been the second best month of 2007 for getting good CD's. The best was January. My picks for the best CD's received in May:

• Amani Kids, Amani: Songs of Peace for the Children of Kilimanjaro
• Blain, Kate, The Good Life
• Blake, Norman and Nancy, Back Home in Sulphur Springs
• Greencards, The, Viridian
• Kaplan, Paul, Paul Kaplan
• Mustard's Retreat, A Resolution of Something
• Native Flute Ensemble, Spirit Wind
• Oasis World, Vol. VII, No. 1
  
• World Circuit Presents
  

Viridian by the Greencards was the most anticipated. I really like the Greencards, and I knew their album had come out before we got it, so I was eagerly awaiting it. I think it lived up to expectations.

The least anticipated was Paul Kaplan's self-titled CD. I had never heard of him before, and it was just a little demo CD, but wow, it was really something. It's discovering things like that that make it worth my while to preview all the CD's we get, rather than just go for the ones I already expect to like.

Kate Blain's CD was also under-anticipated. I had heard her a little bit before, and had concluded that I wasn't particularly a fan, but then I liked song after song. What I like her for is her songwriting (I'm still not so sure about her singing). I was especially struck by her song "Outside." Every now and then when I'm previewing CD's, a song causes tears to come to my eyes, and I take that as a sign that this song really does something, so it's worth playing on my show. (Sort of like how a factor that convinced Tao Rodriguez Seeger that he wanted to be a musician was having someone punch him because of a song he played. He realized he could really affect people through music.) Anyhow, this time "Outside" was the song that brought tears to my eyes. It's from the point of view of someone in a nursing home, saying "I miss the outside." Last year, when I was sick for a while, I remember listening to music and thinking, "People in songs are always doing things -- sailing on ships, falling in love, getting their heart broken, marching for peace. Some of us don't have the energy to do stuff like that." I think people who don't have the energy to do stuff are often the forgotten ones, and I appreciate it when songwriters remember them.

Then of course there is the ever-present category of albums I might have liked had they not disappeared. There are a lot of DJ's, some of whom misfile or illegally borrow CD's. There were six CD's from May that I couldn't find, of which two I think I would have liked. Both were from artists whose CD's have disappeared in the past, so I guess they are popular with someone besides me. Anyhow, the CD's that I would have liked:

• Cash, Johnny, Amazing Grace: One Hour Radio Special
• Krauss, Alison, One Hour Radio Special

April 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived at the station in April 2007, my favorites were:

• Cohen, Leonard, Songs of Leonard Cohen
• Cohen, Leonard, Songs of Love and Hate
• Metropolitan Klezmer, Traveling Show - Live
• Smith, Patti, twelve
  
• Staples, Mavis, We'll Never Turn Back

Of the six CD's that disappeared before I could listen to them, the ones I might have liked were:

• Krauss, Alison, A Hundred Miles or More
• Pahl, Frank, Songs of War and Peace
• Presley, Elvis, He Touched Me

February 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived at the station in February 2007, my favorites were Mommy Says No by the Asylum Street Spankers and Walking Through This World by Smithfield Fair. Of the four that disappeared before I could listen to them, the only one I think I might have liked was The Essential John Denver. I bet you can guess who that one is by.

May there always be sunshine

This week, in the brilliant sunshine and green of spring, and the brilliant rebirth of good health, I can hear Joe Crookston singing in my head, "May there always be sunshine, may there always be blue skies."

March 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD's that came into the station in March 2007, my favorite was Waterloo, Tennessee by Uncle Earl.

Runners up were Songs We Stole from Our Friends by Tim Tedrow and Terry Vreeland and Putumayo Presents Women of the World Acoustic.

I probably would have liked Ultimate Gospel by Johnny Cash, but it disappeared from the station before I could listen to it.

Joe Crookston

I have Joe Crookston's album Fall Down as The Rain. It's so good. When I listen to it, I think, "This song is really good." Then another song comes on and I think, "This song is really good too!" Sometimes I can name my favorite song on an album, but in this case, I think all but about two are tied for my favorite.

He wrote the songs while he was dealing with the illness and death of his mother. Knowing that gives depth even to songs that aren't explicitly about that. For example, in one song he says, "I can feel my heart beat....If I say yes to the beat in me, I will set my spirit free." His joy in being alive becomes more meaningful with the knowledge that he has experienced the death of a loved one.

I usually like songs about longlasting loves, and "Dance and Sway" is one such song. It is about a couple who are old and have been through hard times, but they still love each other, and he stills enjoy playing the fiddle and watching her dance to the music he makes.

Based on this album, Joe Crookston seems exceptional. I hope to see him live some day.

Dennis Caraher

The album Radio Boy by Dennis Caraher arrived in the station in January. I had never heard of him, but I gave it a listen. It was really interesting. The lyrics of the songs really captured my attention. Every now and then when I'm previewing CD's to pick songs to play on my show, a song will bring tears to my eyes. I take that as a sign that the song is compelling and therefore worth playing on my show. Such was the case with the album's title song, "Radio Boy." I played that on my January show. For my next show, in April, I went back to the album. This time the song I chose to play on my show was "Gonna Be a Cowboy," which is a more light-hearted song than "Radio Boy." It's a fun song which touches on the the lack of excitement us grown-ups sometimes end up feeling about our office jobs. So, in conclusion, Dennis Caraher has some compelling lyrics and I encourage you all to give him a listen.

January 2007 Best CDs

Of the CD'sthat arrived at WRPI in January, 2007, my favorites are:

• Caraher, Dennis. Radio Boy.
• Chumbawamba. A Singsong and a Scrap.
• Jerimoth Hill. The Halfway Ground.
• La Musagna. Temas Profanos.
• Soweto Gospel Choir. African Spirit
• Wiyos, The. Hat Trick