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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CREOLE EYES AND CLASSICAL EARS: VAN DYKE PARKS & TOM MCDERMOTT

January 7th, 2015

Conversation with and music from Van Dyke Parks, an eclectic, popular classicist known as a composer and keyboardist, arranger and producer, with a great love of calypso and Hawaiian cowboy music. The man behind the curtain for so many artists, the Hollywood-based Parks is well-regarded for writing and studio work with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, Ry Cooder, Lowell George and Randy Newman, among many. He recently became a fan of pianist Tom McDermott, a St. Louis-born, New Orleans-dwelling and Brazilian-influenced vernacular virtuoso. Parks thought enough of McDermott’s recorded repertoire to collect and reissue some of it as Bamboula—so named for the composition by the mutually-admired New Orleans 19th century pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Tom McDermott, also a fan of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, Professor Longhair and James Booker, plays in his parlor for us.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • America Van Dyke Parks
    Tokyo Rose, Warner Bros.
  • Sailin' Shoes Little Feat
    Sailin' Shoes, Warner Bros.
  • Sail On Sailor The Beach Boys
    Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys, Capitol
  • Jack Palance Mighty Sparrow
    The Early Years, BLS
  • FDR in Trinidad Ry Cooder
    Into the Purple Valley, Warner Bros.
  • Wah She Go Do Bonnie Raitt
    Takin' My Time, Rhino
  • Instrumental: Simple Calypso Esso Trinidad Steel band
    Esso, Minky
  • SEGMENT: Van Dyke Parks

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Available Space Ry Cooder
    Ry Cooder, Warner Bros.
  • CLIP: Van Dyke Parks on Randy Newman
  • excerpt: Vine Street Van Dyke Parks
    Song Cycle, Warner Bros.
  • Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad Randy Newman
    Creates Something New Under the Sun, Reprise
  • Cheek to Cheek Lowell George
    Thanks, I'll Eat It Here, Warner Bros.
  • De Camino a la Verada Buena Vista Social Club feat. Ibrahim Ferrer
    Buena Vista Social Club, Nonesuch
  • Hawaiian Roughrider Leabert Lindsay
    Na Mele O Paniolo, Warner Bros.
  • Cowboy Van Dyke Parks
    Moonlighting: Live at the Ash Grove, Warner Bros.
  • Heroes and Villains The Beach Boys
    Smiley Smile, Capitol
  • End Bed: The Stars and Stripes Forever Tom McDermott and Matt Perrine
    New Orleans Duets, Rabadash

HOUR two

  • The Chrysanthemum Tom McDermott
    Danza, STR Digital
  • The Banjo, Opus 15 (Fantasie Grotesque) Louis Moreau Gottschalk
    American Piano Music played by Amiram Rigai, Smithsonian Folkways
  • East St. Louis Blues Professor Longhair
    Professor Longhair's Boogie, Catfish
  • Java Allen Toussaint
    The Complete 'Tousan' Sessions, Bear Family
  • On the Sunny Side of the Street James Booker
    Junco Partner, Hannibal
  • Instrumental: So Swell When Your Well James Booker
    Spiders on the Keys: Live at the Maple Leaf, Rounder
  • SEGMENT: Tom McDermott

    Listen
  • The Peanut Vendor Billie and De De Pierce
    Gulf Coast Blues, Arhoolie
  • Bamboula Tom McDermott
    Bamboula, Minky
  • Instrumental: Boll Weevil Blues Eubie Blake
    Memories of You, Shout! Factory
  • Have You Seen My Baby Ringo Starr
    Ringo, EMI
  • Hey Good Lookin' Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott
    Live at Chickie Wah Wah, Chickie Wah Wah
  • Lewis Boogie Jerry Lee Lewis
    Complete Sun Singles, Bear Family
  • Eh, Petite Fille Clifton Chenier
    Louisiana Blues and Zydeco, Arhoolie
  • Early in the Morning Irma Thomas and Tom McDermott
    Simply Grand, Rounder
  • End Bed: The Crave Tom McDermott
    The Crave, STR Digital

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 22nd, 2022

    EARL SCRUGGS & TOM RUSH

    Listen
  • June 15th, 2022

    SOUNDS OF FREEDOM: FONTELLA BASS AND FREDDIE HUBBARD

    Listen
  • June 8th, 2022

    SHADES OF THE BLUES

    Listen
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