AMERICAN ROUTES
Earl Scruggs & Tom Rush Earl Scruggs & Tom Rush June 22nd, 2022 (Hour 1)
Earl Scruggs & Tom Rush

Earl Scruggs‘ legendary banjo playing, aptly named “Scruggs Style,” has left its mark on American pop culture and inspired generations of banjo players. In the late 1960s, Scruggs, along with his sons, bravely crossed musical boundaries, but his musical journey really started back at the beginnings of bluegrass, playing with Bill Monroe and later, Lester Flatt. In this American Routes encore, we talk to Earl and his sons, Randy and Gary, about performing on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium and why he doesn’t need to crack jokes about the banjo. New Hampshire-born folk singer songwriter Tom Rush may have gone to Harvard and studied with a ballad scholar, but he still knows how to sing the blues. We’ll visit with Rush to learn more about Boston’s folk scene in the 1960s, his time as a radio DJ and his inspired approach to songwriting.

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AMERICAN ROUTES ON INSTAGRAM

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, SHINE A LIGHT ON ME: PRISON MUSIC FROM ANGOLA, LOUISIANA & BEYOND

September 27th, 2017

In this special program, we visit Angola, the notorious plantation-turned-penitentiary, to hear stories and songs from within the prison’s walls. We talk with saxophonist Charles Neville about serving time at the “Farm” during the Jim Crow era, playing with fellow inmates in the Nic Nacs, and the role of music in integrating prison life. We hear previously unreleased Harry Oster field recordings of Mardi Gras Indian chants and bebop jazz from Angola in the late-50s. And we go on-site for interviews and performances with contemporary Angola musicians. Plus, we explore the popular tradition of prison music from singing inmates like Leadbelly and Merle Haggard to live performances from Johnny Cash at San Quentin and B.B. King at Cook County Jail.

Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Berta Big Louisiana (Rodney Mason), Rev. Rogers, & Roosevelt Charles
    Prison Worksongs, Arhoolie
  • Chain Gang Sam Cooke
    Greatest Hits, RCA
  • Parchman Farm Mose Allison
    The Collection, Floating World
  • Prison Blues Finally Got the Best of Me The Nic Nacs
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • SEGMENT: Charles Neville Part I

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Midnight Special Tiny Grimes
    Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974, Atlantic
  • Midnight Special Leadbelly
    Bourgeois Blues, Smithsonian Folkways
  • CLIP: Ben Harbert on Leadbelly
  • Where Did You Sleep Last Night Final Mission Band of Dixon Correctional Institute
    American Routes recording at Angola Prison,
  • Midnight Special Johnny Rivers
    Totally Live at the Whiskey a Go-Go, Capitol
  • Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash
    At Folsom Prison, Columbia
  • San Quentin Johnny Cash
    Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Columbia
  • Instrumental: unreleased song The Nic Nacs
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • CLIP: Leotha Brown from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • Unreleased song The Nic Nacs
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • CLIP: Larry Wilkerson
  • CLIP: John Henry Taylor from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • CLIP: "There's 12 Gates to Heaven" from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • Twelve Gates to the City John Cephas and Phil Wiggins
    Cool Down , Alligator
  • Long Black Veil Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
    unreleased,
  • Green Green Grass of Home Jerry Lee Lewis
    Country Songs for City Folks, Smash
  • CLIP: AJ Freeman with the Gospel Ghost Riders
  • On My Way Home The Main Prison Gospel Band on stage at Angola Prison
    American Routes recording at Angola Prison,
  • Closing Bed: Midnight Special Jimmy Smith
    Midnight Special, Capitol

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Tu-Way Pocky Way Harry Oster Recording with the Prisoners
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • Hey Pocky-Way Charles Neville with the Jazz Men
    American Routes recording at Angola Prison,
  • Introductions B.B. King
    B.B. King Live in Cook County Jail, ABC
  • How Blue Can You Get B.B. King
    B.B. King Live in Cook County Jail, ABC
  • Intro from "They're Tearin' the Labor Camp Down" Merle Haggard
    Vintage Collections, Capitol
  • Fugitive Merle Haggard
    I'm a Lonesome Fugitive, Capitol
  • Sing Me Back Home Merle Haggard
    Sing Me Back Home, Capitol
  • The Prisoner's Song Warren Storm
    Warren Storm, Excello Records
  • Instrumental: Moanin' Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
    Art Blakey is Jazz, Music Club
  • CLIP: Angola Bound Angola inmates a capella
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • CLIP: Angola Bound Aaron Neville
    The Very Best of Aaron Neville, A&M
  • CLIP: "There's no more Angola Bound" from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • SEGMENT: Charles Neville Part II

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Alligator Bogaloo Lou Donaldson
    The Blue Note Years: Vol. 3- Organ and Soul, Blue Note
  • CLIP: Christie Nelson from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • Pardon Denied Again Robert Pete Williams
    I'm Blue As A Man Can Be, Arhoolie
  • CLIP: Reverend Sydney DeLoach
  • CLIP: Charles Neville
  • CLIP: Ben Harbert
  • CLIP: "Nowhere Bound" Alford Rose from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • I'm Going Home Ervin Webb with Prisoners
    Alan Lomax, Southern Journey: 61 Highway Mississippi , Rounder
  • I Shall Be Released Nina Simone
    Here Comes the Sun & Other Great Hits, Arista
  • Closing Bed: Parchman Blues Tangle Eye
    Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed, Zoe

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 22nd, 2022

    EARL SCRUGGS & TOM RUSH

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  • June 15th, 2022

    SOUNDS OF FREEDOM: FONTELLA BASS AND FREDDIE HUBBARD

    Listen
  • June 8th, 2022

    SHADES OF THE BLUES

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