Hello again!
Welcome to Episode Five of my “How to Tour America Through Her Music” podcast. We cover a lot of distance this time, so let me jump into it.
But first, if you are just joining me and want to start at the beginning, just tap on the jolly orange button below and you’ll be whisked to Episode One, just like magic!
Bo and the BBQ
I spent a lot of time looking for “Bo’s music” and decided on “Three Cool Cats” by Ry Cooder. It just seemed to fit.
Later I learned the song is taken from Cooder’s album “Chávez Ravine,” which tells the story of a Mexican-American community demolished in the 1950s in order to build public housing. The housing was never built.
I play a short refrain of Billie Holiday’s haunting song “Strange Fruit.” I play more of the song later in the show.
I follow up with a favorite Crosby, Stills & Nash (before Neil Young joined) song “You Don’t Have to Cry.” I love this song for its fabulous harmonies (just listen!) and also for its message. Although the song was written in the late ‘60s, the advice is still good today, warning us of the hazards of getting caught in the churning wheels of busyness and the tyranny of the urgent.
“In the long run, it’ll make you cry. Make you old and crazy before your time.”
Precisely.
I’m an old Dr. John the Night Tripper fan, so I tucked in his “Right Place Wrong Time” as some cookin’ music for Bo. I’ll conjur up the Night Tripper later in the podcast. He’ll appear at just the right time.
Most of you will recognize “Hotel California” by the Eagles, followed by “Running Down a Dream” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Nashville
I love the motivational message in Willie Nelson’s song “We Don’t Run.” It’s classic Americana. Just as Red, White & Blue is Alan Jackson’s “Gone Country.”
The “chicken’ picken’” guitar you hear is Chet Atkins performing “Bug Dance.” Below is a portion of Chet by my friend Dan Campbell.
Dan’s art, including all the portraits you see in the show notes, can be purchased from his website. I do not earn a commission because Dan and I have been friends for nearly 60 years and we are just happy to support each other. There is only love between us.
Johnny Cash
I feature several songs by Cash:
That last song is one Cash recorded on an album called “Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.” Each song is a tribute to a people we now and appropriately refer to as Native Americans, because they occupied the land for eons before the white man arrived in the 17th century.
Coming Up Next!
We head west into Mississippi and meet a man Eric Clapton called “the most important blues musician who ever lived.” We stop by Graceland and give our regards to the King of Rock & Roll. We are following the ghost of Woody Guthrie, so we might be a little dusty as we keep heading west.
Please don’t forget to share these episodes with your friends and fellow music lovers. You’d be doing me a big favor, and the music, too.
That’s it for now. I’ll see you… next time!
