Thursday, May 29, 2014

Superhero Sandbox Playlist 5/29/14

The Superhero Sandbox is a weekly radio 

Bermuda is Another World (Hubert Smith and Coral Islanders Featuring George Smith-- It Doesn't Hurt To Be Friendly)
The Ear Is On Strike (Dr. John-- Cut Me While I'm Hot)
Crimson and Clover (Tommy James and the Shondells-- Crimson and Clover)
Paradise (John Prine-- The John Prine Anthology: Great Days)
Living in the Country (Levitt and McClure-- Silver Meteor)

Readin' Writin' Rt. 23 (Dwight Yokum-- dwightyokumacoustic.net)
Cuckoo Bird (Everly Brothers-- Silver Meteor)
I Am A Lonesome Fugitive (Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke-- Clone)
Last Thing on My Mind (Clarence White-- Silver Meteor)
Here Comes the Sun (Richie Havens-- Live at the Cellar Door)
White Lightning (Johnny Keese Jr. and Tony Lee-- Green Mountain Jamboree)

Don't Stop Believin' (Journey-- Live in Houston 1981)
Ya Am What Ya Am (Canned Heat-- One More River to Cross)
Ya Got It (Cab Calloway-- Big Bands and Classic Jazz Vol. 3)

Artistry in Rhythm (Stan Kenton-- At the Las Vegas Tropicana)
Bernie's Tune (Stan Kenton-- At the Las Vegas Tropicana)
Small Portion (Mulgrew Miller-- With Our Own Eyes)

You've Made Me So Very Happy (Ramsey Lewis-- Ramsey Lewis, The Piano Player)
Teddy Bear- Don't Be Cruel (Elvis Presley-- Elvis In Concert)
My Love (Dionne Warwick-Isaac Hayes-- A Man and A Woman)

O Sole Mio/It's Now It Never (Elvis Presley-- Elvis In Concert)

Music In The Air (Sister Rosetta Tharpe-- Best Of)


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Superhero Sandbox Playlist 5/22/14

Graduation Day (Beach Boys-- Spirit of Summer)
The Bare Necessities (Stonewall Jackson-- O Mickey Where Art Thou)
New Tennessee Waltz (Bottle Hill-- Fox Hollow Lodge String Band Festival Vol. 1)
Old Dan Tucker (Bruce Springsteen-- The Seeger Sessions)
Fisher's Hornpipe/Devil's Dream (Doc and Merle Watson-- Red Rocking Chair)
Nightflower (Ottmar Liebert-- The Best Of)

Peanut Vendor (Billie and De De and Their Preservation Hall Jazz Band)

Samba Pa Ti (Ottmar Liebert/Carlos Santana)
Blowin' in the Wind (Stan Getz-- Reflections)

Guitarra Espanola (Ottmar Liebert-- The Best Of)
I'm A Believer (The Ventures-- Guitar Freakout)
Nobody Left to Crown (Richie Havens-- Nobody Left to Crown)
Hard Times (Roy Brown-- The Classic Blues of Roy Brown)

Just One More Day (Otis Redding-- Live at the Whisky A Go Go 1966)
Reach Out I'll Be There (David Johansen-- Live It Up 1982)
Soul Man (Blues Brothers-- Best Of 1981)
Up Above My Head (Johnnie Ray-- In Las Vegas)
Unchained Melody (Elvis Presley-- The Essential 70's Masters)

Twist and Shout (Tom Jones-- Live in Las Vegas)
Hawaiian Wedding Song (Elvis Presley-- Blue Hawaii)
No Disappointments in Heaven (Bob Wills-- 21 Golden Greats)
Music in the Air (Sister Rosetta Tharpe-- Best of)





Thursday, May 15, 2014

Superhero Sandbox Playlist May 15 2014

The Superhero Sandbox is a weekly radio program on Royalton Community Radio (royaltonradio.org) and WFVR-LP. 

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Turn On Your Radio (Marc Cohn-- For the Love of Harry)
Goin' Down to Laurel (Steve Forbert-- The Best of Steve Forbert, What Kinda Guy?)
Forty Cups of Coffee (Bill Haley and the Comets-- Golden Hits)
The Right String But the Wrong Yo-Yo (Speckled Red-- The Best of Boogie Woogie)

All the Gold in California (Gatlin Brothers-- Straight Ahead)
Who'll Buy My Memories (Willie Nelson-- Who'll Buy My Memories The IRS Tapes)
Every Minute I Want Jesus By My Side (Johnny Paycheck-- Gospeltime in My Fashion)
Don't Let Your Deal Go Down (Shot Jackson-- Mountain Guitar Pickin')
Kentucky Derby (Chet Atkins-- Finger-Style Guitar)
I Saw Your Face In the Moon (Don Reno and Red Smiley-- Mountain Guitar Pickin')

Stars and Stripes Forever (Jerry Reed-- Half Pickin' Half Playin')
The American In Me (Steve Forbert-- The American In Me)
My Country Tis' Of Thee (Billy Preston-- I Wrote A Simple Song)
Jesus Children of America (Stevie Wonder-- Innervisions)

When I Grow Up To Be A Man (Beach Boys-- Best of Vol. 2)
I Am Going Home (Bob Marley and the Wailers-- The Birth of a Legend)
Sea Cruise (Jose Feliciano-- Compartments)

Spirit In the Night (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band-- Hammersmith Odeon '75)
Walkin' the Dog (Johnny Rivers-- Live at the Whisky A Go Go )
Salt Peanuts (Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie-- Diz N' Bird At Carnegie Hall 1947)
Everybody's Talkin' (Liza Minelli-- Live at the Olympia in Paris)
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (Dirty Dozen Brass Band-- Beatles Live at Knitting Factory)
When the Sun Comes Out (Judy Garland-- Judy Garland at the Grove)
Space Oddity (Natalie Merchant-- Natalie Merchant Live in Concert)
Boot Dance (Harry Belafonte-- Belafonte at the Greek Theater)
Reconsider Baby (Elvis Presley-- Essential 70s' Masters)

Across the Blue Ridge Mountains (Flatt and Scruggs-- Live at Vanderbilt University)
Are You Washed In The Blood? (Statler Brothers-- How Great Thou Art)
I Shall Be Released (Earl Scruggs Revue-- Earl Scruggs Revue at Austin City Limits)
The Boxer (Emmylou Harris-- Roses in the Snow)
I Hear Music (Sister Rosetta Tharpe-- Best of)







Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The 21st Century Folksinger: Ani DiFranco at the Paramount Theater

At present, there is no better definition of American folk music than the work of Ani DiFranco. Her celebrated success in the 1990s led to her founding her own independent label (Righteous Babe Records), which today includes not only Ani's releases, but spoken-word artists, innovative instrumentalists, and select singer-songwriters. While her lyrics, and her recent release Fear of Water deserve separate critique, this description of her May 6, 2014 at the Paramount Theater in Rutland, Vermont tries to lend some cultural and sociological context to her work.

In January of 2014, David Graham tried to make sense of the legacy of Pete Seeger, writing in The Atlantic magazine: "In Seeger’s eyes, the ideas the Communist Party stood for were quintessentially American: It sought to protect the little guy and to defend him against avaricious attacks from the powerful. He and his comrades believed they were defending the ideals the country was founded on, and if they were wrong—the country was, after all, founded by wealthy landowners—that was because they were foolish enough to naively believe the national myth. It’s harder than ever to imagine a truly leftist America today. Labor unions are on the wane, faith in government programs is at a low, and even an elaborate, market-based plan to expand healthcare is decried as socialism."

Into Graham's quandray enters Ani and her flock: accessing experiences with her music  and its subversive lyrical themes through more-or-less capitalist conventions. But how does one attack, or even lampoon, the literal and metaphorical vehicles that got each of us to the show, or to having the means to acquire her album? Taking the stage at the Paramount Theater (a non-profit), Ani brought with her no less than eight guitars, including one unique four-string instrument; all of these were tuned by her tech, who stood ever at the ready on the side of the stage. The Paramount not only sells beer, but allows it to be carried into the theater, and enjoyed during the performance. For many, and not just for the naive among us, it helped wash down the national myth, for long enough to enjoy her performance. 


The sociological and cultural impacts of concerts and live events are often more broad than they appear; Ani's ability to sing the line "fuck you/and your untouchable face" and not alienate any specific individual or group represented in the audience is a testament to her relevance. It'd be oversimplifying to call her show all good vibes and positivity, but it was close: in a languid, less-than-patient backwash of rhetoric, the crowd swelled with delight as she strummed furiously (hence the need for a freshly-tuned instrument between every song). 


Ani had played a few dates in upstate New York previously that week, and was headed for Maine on the next night, so the crowd seemed remarkably full of Vermonters, those that hail from the state that was first in the country to acknowledge civil unions, the first to capitalize on its destinationism and to have its own magazine funded by state tax revenue, created specifically with the intention of promoting travel and tourism to Vermont. While the effects of such governmental efforts may be the lifeblood in many Vermont communities, a sense of marketing-- 'imaging,' they call it, in the cities-- seems to be pulsing even more forcefully through our collective veins. Ani introduced a song about solar power, and quickly realized her praise for solar production facilities wasn't going to get a resounding "yes-we-can" response from the crowd, as many in the Green Mountains have already sought, or at least thought about, alternative and renewable forms of energy. While in other venues, Ani may have used the song as an opportunity for activism from the stage, she made a hasty dedication: "this song is for you, Vermont, about how the other half lives."
Later, she asked, "how do you feel about nuclear power?," perhaps not realizing that Vermont's only nuclear facility had announced its closure one week prior to the performance, after a long and public battle.

Ani DiFranco is an American original and consummate performer, one who trusts and relies on her audience to enjoy themselves. Her storytelling was self-effacing; the political and social challenges inside her lyrics were tempered by her heartfelt storytelling (including a time when she prepared red beans and rice and brought it to a concert for Willie Nelson, only to find his bus gone). She may be called a great American folk singer, not for her ability to write about "truly leftist America," but for her simultaneous humility and boldness, qualities that seldom exist inside of the same person on stage.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Superhero Sandbox Playlist May 1 2014

The Superhero Sandbox is a free-form radio program, heard on Royalton Community Radio-- royaltonradio.org

Groovin' High (Dizzy Gillespie-- Big Bands and Classic Jazz Vol. 3)
Everything Happens to Me (Take 3) (Thelonious Monk-- Solo Monk)
Are You Having Any Fun (Tony Bennett-- Guest Star Records Presents)
They Can't Take That Away From Me (Ella Fitzgerald-- The Best of the Song Books)

Georgia on My Mind (Dr. John-- The Brightest Smile in Town)
Sunflower Cat/China Cat Sunflower (Bruce Hornsby-- Here Come the Noise Makers)
Rhapsody in Blue (Les Brown and His Band of Renown-- Concert Modern)
Old Regime (Becker and Fagen-- Catalyst The Demos)

Blue Moon (Elvis Presley-- The Sun Sessions)
China Cat Sunflower (The Grateful Dead-- Without a Net)

Such a Woman (Neil Young-- Dreamin' Man 92)