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AMERICAN ROUTES ON INSTAGRAM

MODERN TRADITIONS: BEN HARPER AND CARL LEBLANC

The singer-songwriter Ben Harper has been on the scene since the early ’90s, but now he’s digging deeper into the blues with the legendary harpman Charlie Musselwhite. We’ll talk with Ben about the musical journey from his family’s music store to his recent recording that he calls his “graduation” album. Then an in-studio conversation with a guitarist who has played with Sun Ra and now plays banjo with Preservation Hall, New Orleans’ own Carl LeBlanc.

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: "Homeless Childe" Ben Harper
    The Will to Live, Virgin
  • "Mean Ol Lonesome Train" Lightnin' Slim
    The Excello Story Volume 2, 1955-1957, Hip-O
  • "Fool For A Lonesome Train" Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
    Lifeline, Virgin
  • "Sitting on Top of the World" Mississippi Sheiks
    The Roots of Robert Johnson, Yazoo
  • "Sitting on Top of the World" The Grateful Dead
    The Grateful Dead, Warner Bros.
  • "Looking the World Over" Whispering Smith
    Swamp Blues, Ace/Excello
  • "Blueberry Hill" Fats Domino
    Out of New Orleans, Bear Family
  • Instrumental: "We Can't End This Way" Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite
    Get Up!, Stax
  • "Be My Guest" Ben Harper and Skatalites
    Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, Vanguard
  • "Happy Together" Dr. Michael White
    Adventures in New Orleans Jazz Part 2, Basin Street
  • "The Blues is All Wrong" Chuck Leavell featuring Candi Staton
    Back to the Woods, Evergreen Arts
  • "I Ain't Superstitious" Howlin' Wolf
    His Best, MCA
  • "Superstition" Stevie Wonder
    Talking Book, Motown
  • Instrumental: "39th and Indiana" Charlie Musselwhite
    Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite's South SIde Band , Vanguard
  • "Fishing Blues" Taj Mahal
    They All Played for Us: Arhoolie Records 50th Anniversary Celebration, Arhoolie
  • "Strange Land" Charlie Musselwhite
    Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band, Vanguard
  • SEGMENT: Ben Harper

    Listen
  • Instrumental: "Faded" Ben Harper
    Will to Live, Virgin

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: "His Last Parade (March)" Carl LeBlanc
    Those Who Have Ears, Carl LeBlanc
  • "On the Sunny Side of the Street" James Booker
    Junko Partner, Hannibal
  • "Mess Around" Dr. John
    Dr. John's Gumbo, ATCO
  • "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" Lee Dorsey
    Soul Mine, Charly
  • "Mississippi Mud" Shemekia Copeland with J.J. Gray
    33 1/3, Telarc
  • "Gonna Stick to You Baby" Lonesome Sundown
    The Excello Story Volume 3, 1957-1961, Hip-O
  • Instrumental: "Under My Thumb" Pickin' On the Rolling Stones
    Pickin' On the Rolling Stones, CMH
  • "Rolling Stone" Robert Pete Williams
    Free Again, Bluesville
  • "Prodigal Son" Rolling Stones
    Beggars' Banquet, London
  • "12 Gates to City" Marie Knight
    Let Us Get Together, MC Records
  • "Night Train to Memphis" Jerry Lee Lewis
    Sun Gospel, Bear Family
  • "Shake It" J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices
    I'll Keep Calling, Cow Island Music
  • "Shake Your Hips" Slim Harpo
    The Best of Slim Harpo, Excello
  • "Down Younder We Go Ballin'" Smiley Lewis
    Shame, Shame, Shame, Bear Family
  • Instrumental: "Plarine Days" Carl LeBlanc
    Justin Time: A Tribute to Justin Adams, Carl LeBlanc
  • SEGMENT: Carl LeBlanc

    Listen
  • "Didn't He Ramble" Kermit Ruffins
    Livin' A Treme Life, Basin Street
  • End Bed: "Basin Street Blues" Henry Butler
    American Routes original recording,

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