The Ten Dollar Radio Show

Sticky Fingers, Mr. Puccini?

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 20:48:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

It's funny when you discover something that everyone already knows about. I was listening to Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" this afternoon and, in the opening strains of "Dovunque al Mondo," heard what sounded pretty much exactly like the Star Spangled Banner. I thought, for a second, I'd made a seriously clever find that would have the estates of Puccini and Francis Scott Key suing the socks off each other. A little research showed that the musical reference to our national anthem was a deliberate move that informs the story. These personal discoveries must happen a lot, right? I think the most famous example has to be ol' Christopher Columbus, though I guess it's true that not EVERYONE knew about America, just all the people who lived here when he bumped into it. Or, the islands in its general vicinity, anyway.

Interesting thing I learned about the Star Spangled Banner: If I HAD, in fact, stumbled upon a devious musical heist, it wouldn't have been Key's descendants going after Puccini's descendants. Key only wrote the words. The music comes from a song John Stafford Smith, a Brit, wrote in the 1760s for the Anacreontic Society. What's that? It was a club of amatuer musicians in London, and the ditty Smith came up with evolved into a drinking song before we Americans stole it. Ironic, given that Key wrote about the "rockets red glare" while watching the British bombard Baltimore during the War of 1812, no? They burned the town that would eventually produce Babe Ruth and Spiro Agnew, but we nicked their tune and play it every time we win a gold medal. Did everyone already know all this, too?

Been a Good Year So Far

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:40:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Not much to say this week - just the following:

-The obligatory Michael Jackson tribute kicks off the show. It's a little unorthadox, but hey, what was ever traditional about Michael anyway?

-We're about halfway through 2009, so I figured I'd play some of my favorite music released in 2009 so far - no particular order. Some of it is only semi-released, like the Fiery Furnaces single - available for a free Web download; album pending.

-Because there wasn't much rhyme or reason to the song selection, I left out some great music that really is among my favorites of the last six months. Therefore, in addition to the stuff on the list below, I strongly encourage you to go down to your local record store and pick up new albums by Son Volt, King Wilkie, Dan Auerbach (of the Black Keys) and probably the new ones by Steve Earle and Levon Helm as well. You can take my word for it; if you like this show, you'll like those discs.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like the soundtrack of summer 2009 and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Billy Jean - Shinehead

Show Respect to Michael Jackson - James Superstar Kochalka

Run Chicken Run - The Felice Brothers

It's All Good - Bob Dylan

Just Singing a Song - Neil Young

Warped Sister - Booker T

Black Hearted Love - PJ Harvey & John Parish

Liberties - Attack in Black

People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

Poppy - Zee Avi

Fear - Benjy Ferree

I Am Fine - Illinois

Sugarfoot - Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Sure Hope You Mean It - Raphael Saadiq

Black Dresses - The Builders & the Butchers

Never Going Back to Memphis - Shemekia Copeland

Please Remember Me - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

How to Rob a Bank - Willy Porter

A Thousand Men - Joe Pug

House Party Time - Dan Zanes

Viper of Melody - Wayne "The Train" Hancock

Hurtin' You - Ben Kweller

Chip Away the Stone - James Jackson Toth

The Mountain - Heartless Bastards

Less than Positive - Cotton Jones

Help Me Forget - The Jayhawks

Down Among the Wines and Spirits - Elvis Costello

I Have Laid in the Darkness of Doubt - Mazes

Anna - Charles Spearin

The End Is Near - The Fiery Furnaces

The Big Surprise - The Felice Brothers

As always:
-On the air from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 105.5 and 102.1 FM in the northern Adirondacks
-On the Web at www.tendollarradioshow.com
-On e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com

EXCLUSIVE: A Run-in with Michael Jackson

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:52:00 GMT

A Ten Dollar Radio Exclusive. Shamim Allen, member of the Dust Bunnies and regular contributor to another great blog, recalls the time she bumped into Michael Jackson. You won't read this anywhere but here. The floor is hers.

The rumors had been flying for a few weeks: Michael Jackson is going to shoot a video here. I was going to an all-girls high school in Dobbs Ferry, NY, and I was too cool to be impressed with him and or rumors. I was "above" pop.

Time passed and the rumors subsided; everyone had decided it wasn't actually going to happen. One day I was running late for English and, entering the main hall leading to the classrooms, I was met with a crowd. Boysâall dressed in their winter gear with snow dripping off of them. What the heck? Did a boys' school come for a visit? Weird, yes, but I was late. So I start wading through this blockade of guys, pushing them to the left and right of me, saying excuse me loudly, when BANG I ran into one of them. I lifted my head to apologize and tell the guy to move and ...

Yup, Michael Jackson himself. I was looking into his face, just inches from mine. He was a bit taller than me, which I found surprising. Kind, sad eyes, beautiful. He started to ask if I was OK in his soft, high voice but before I could respond I was scooped up by a security guard and placed to the side of the now-divided crowd waiting before huge double doors leading to the back of the school.

I had the best view! Holy cow, now I was interested. "I touched him" actually flitted through my mindâme, who didn't care about the famous. I felt giddy. The hall was filled with excitement and chatter and yet there he stood, alone, head tilted down in this sea of boys. Most of them looked his age and yet no one was talking to him. He looked so isolated. I wanted to talk with him, reassure him with a smile but he never looked up.

In the back of my mind I kept wrestling with the responsibility of going to class when suddenly someone stood in front of me, blocking my view. Oh boy I was irked, I mean, before I didn't care about Michael Jackson but now, how dare this person just plant himself in front of my phenomenal view? I was about to tap him on the shoulder and say something when he turned around and gave me a smile. It was Quincy Jones!!!!! I smiled back and accepted my non-VIP status.

The next thing I knew the doors opened wide. Everyone rushed out shouting and throwing snowballs. For a brief moment my school of girls was transformed to the Duxston School of Boys in the long version of the video "Bad." I carefully picked my way across a soggy floor to class. My teacher was only slightly interested in my excuse.

(Photo of Bad-era Michael Jackson by Dave Hogan/Getty Images. I pinched it from the NY Times site. Thanks, fellows.)

From Vernon, Vester, Lether and Carvel to Elvis

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:51:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

If a fellowâs wealth were measured by the number of good cousins he has, Iâd be richer than King Farouk. One of my good cousins, Will, whoâs one day older than my brother, just gave me âLast Train to Memphis,â by Peter Guralnick, which is a big olâ biography of Elvis. Because Iâm finishing a book about the Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington, Iâm only 23 pages into the Elvis book. Even so, check out the fantastic names Iâve already come across: Dewey Phillips, Silas Payne, Sims and Gains Mansell, Vernon Presley, Vester Presley, Gladys Presley, Sales Presley, Clettes Smith, Orville Bean, Vona Mae Brown, Lether Gable, Odell Clark, Carvel Lee Ausborn, Archie Mackey andâbest for last, hereâElvisâ grade-school teacher, Oleta Grimes.

All of these people had some connection to Elvis when he was growing up in and around East Tupelo, Mississippi. Do southerners still come up with names like that? If they donât, they ought to. Pete should weigh in on this. Heâs from Alabama and, while his name doesnât exactly reek of polk salad and gator, he knows from southern culture. Oleta Grimes? Really? Thatâs got to be one of the best names of all time, and it just wouldnât occur to a Yankee to come up with it.

The best name in New York right now, for those who are interested, is Razor Shines. Heâs the third-base coach for the Mets. He was born in North Carolina. See?

(Photo of book cover courtesy of a guy with a Web site who stole it from another guy with a Web site.)

Good Bands Alert: CBR and Hub Hollow

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:51:00 GMT

From the Desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Letâs say you like Lowell George-era Little Feat and Izzy Stradlinâs first solo record, Dwight Yoakam and, say, the Drive-By Truckers and Drag the River. Well, my money says youâll really like a band I had the good fortune to see Friday night in the horse country of New Jersey. Citizens Band Radio, in addition to having the coolest tour bus Iâve ever seen, put on a knockout show. Pedal steel, Telecaster, mandolin, acoustic guitar, bass, drumsâloud, fast, lots of swing. The second song they played was a Georgia Satellites tune, which they killed. And their originals were plenty strong. The lead singer looks like a Forty-Ninerânot a football player but one of the gold-panners after whom the team was named. Heâs huge, bearded, and looks like he just rolled down from the hills. That doesnât hurt in the olâ stage presence department.

But my night in Jerseyâs sweet spot began, after grilled kabobs at my cousinsâ place, with a performance by Hub Hollow, a really sharp string band from the area. These guys can flat out sing and play. The guitar player, especially, can rip. Mostly covers, but they chose some dandies, including a few from the Band, which always pushes my buttons, one from Eilen Jewell and Johnny Darrellâs âWhy You Been Gone So Long,â which was a fave of two bands I used to play in: Backseat Cougars and Thirty Thieves and the Thunder Chief. Last thing about Hub Hollow: Theyâre all friends with my cousins, so I can tell you theyâre not only top-shelf players, theyâre also nice as all get out and in, which counts for something, no?

It's a Family Affair

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:17:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

OK, so this is nowhere near a normal Ten Dollar Radio Show. It being Father's Day, I followed a friend's advice and invited my two daughters to be guest DJs. "No way," the 7-year-old said; she was happy to help pick songs but wanted nothing to do with being on the air. The 5-year-old, however, is the entertainer of the family and was thrilled with the opportunity; she even wanted to sing a couple of songs, including one she made up about a chick and its mother. Therefore, Lady Eleanor joins me this week, less gregarious than usual (since she's aware you all are listening) but still not shy.

This, therefore, is probably as mainstream a Ten Dollar Radio Show as you're likely to hear, since the girls picked the first chunk of tunes (through Eleanor's second offering). They weren't around to hear songs like "Yellow Submarine" played a million times too many; all they know is that it's a good song - and they're right. It's a good reminder for me to avoid musical snobbery.

Also, while we've played kids' music before - "All Around the Kitchen," for example, is a repeat - this is probably the only time you'll hear the likes of "Cows" and "There Ain't No Bugs on Me." Live it up.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a chickie with a million buck, buck, bucks and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Sweet Caroline - Elvis Presley

Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & the Pips

Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys

Cows - The Seldom Herd

One Little Chickie - Eleanor Crowley

One Little Song - Gillian Welch

There Ain't No Bugs on Me - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman

Walking After Midnight - Patsy Cline

All Around the Kitchen - Dan Zanes & Loudon Wainwright III

Johnny B. Goode (live) - Jimi Hendrix

Yellow Submarine - The Beatles

Eensy Weensy Spider - Eleanor Crowley

Lonely Girl - The Ventures

Night Train - The Ventures

Railroad Town - King Wilkie

Same Water - King Wilkie

The White Dove - The Stanley Brothers

White Dove - Levon Helm

Kingfish - Levon Helm

When I Go Away - Levon Helm

When the Wheels Don't Move - Son Volt

Pushed Too Far - Son Volt

Sultana - Son Volt

Shakin' Sugar - Jay Bennett & Edward Burch

One Inch Rock - T-Rex

Have I Told You - Dreamdate

Your Name No More - Piers Faccini

Dearest Darlin' - Jenni Muldaur

Savannah Woman - David Ducharme-Jones

O Susanna - WAND

That Moon Song - Gregory Alan Isakov

Laughing With - Regina Spektor

May It Always Be - Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Won't You Get Off It Please? - Fats Waller

As always:
-On the air from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 105.5 and 102.1 FM in the northern Adirondacks
-On the Web at www.tendollarradioshow.com
-On e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com

"Sometimes She Cries" by Warrant. A reading

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:30:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Is This Thing On?... welcomes its first guest reader. Geoff DeVito has circled the globe, set foot on more continents than most peopleâsave the six-fingered man from "The Princess Bride"âcan count on one hand, shot the falls at the Wilmington Flume, nearly created an empire with nothing but the best pineapple salsa you've ever tasted and a dream and regularly cracks triple digits at the bowling lanes. As a boy he ranked as one of New Hampshire's top competitive cross-country skiers. As a man he performed "Purple Lilacs," which you can watch here, at a wedding in Uzbekistan. For the Ten Dollar Radio Show, which is honored to have him, he reads "Sometimes She Cries," the third hit single from Warrant's 1989 album, "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich."

Mr. DeVito is also a prolific blogger. If you're curious about his attempts to become an infomercial star, click here. If you're wondering about his latest jaunt through my homeland, click here.

"One Inch Rock" by T-Rex. A reading

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:11:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

To continue our rock beat-poetry series, Is This Thing On? ...

Marc Bolan groks the Liquid Poetess big-time, but she shrinks him and puts him in a can. At least Germaine is in there with him ... "Do the Rock. Do the One Inch Rock."

(Photo of Marc Bolan on a skateboard swiped from www.skateandannoy.com, which doesn't attribute its origin)

That Great Venture in the Sky

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:23:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Bob Bogle, founding guitarist-turned-bass-player for the Ventures, died June 14. He was 75 and had been fighting non-Hodgkinâs lymphoma. But before that, he and his band released more albums than Bob Dylan and Neil Young combined. Their popularity in the States peaked in the 1960s and early â70s, but they remained hugely popular in Japan, where their records outsold the Beatlesâ two-to-one. And the Ventures didnât have a singer, which makes them the most popular instrumental band ever, ahead, even, of the legendary Booker T. & the MGs. (Not that those dudes werenât wicked popular, too, itâs just that they didnât make, put out and sell so many goddam records. The Ventures sold more than 110 million. For comparisonâs sake, Michael Jackson sold 108 million copies of Thriller. In total heâs sold somewhere around 300 million records. At the time Thriller was released, he was making $2 on every copy. Thatâs a lot of money to lose on chimps and nose jobs.) Back to the Ventures. They pre-dated the advent of surf music, but then kind of came to epitomize it. âWalkâDonât Runâ is probably their most famous tune. Thatâs Bob Bogle on lead guitar, recorded before he switched to bass. Look it up and give it a listen. And tip your 40 in honor of Bob.

One more thing: In the late 1950s, when Bob bought his first ârealâ guitar, a Fender Strat, it came with six half-hour lessons. Those were the only lessons Bob ever took. In 2008, he and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which also inducted Jackson âThe Guy with Three Fans: Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and Jann Wennerâ Browne, but thatâs another story).

It Might Get Loud

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:23:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

This film, friends, ought to be pretty rad. The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White talking shop and tipping their hands a bit.

(Photo taken from Sony Pictures Classics Web site. Thanks.)

She's So Cold, by the Rolling Stones. A reading

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:32:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

"I'm the burning bush, I'm the burning fire, I'm the bleeding volcano." So claims Mick Jagger in this cut from 1980's "Emotional Rescue." Herewith, in our latest installment of Is This Thing On?âa reading of "She's So Cold."

... And the Livin' Is Easy

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:55:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

It finally feels like summer up here in the Adirondacks, and even though that also means a wealth of rain and bugs, we'll take it.

Kelly, who sat in again this week, is especially jonesing for warm weather, so she tried to will it in by bringing in a bunch of summery songs - from Al Green to Leonard Nimoy. I added a few warm-weather groovers, too, plus we have new music from Elvis Costello, King Wilkie, Tim Easton, The Builders & the Butchers, Southeast Engine and a sneak preview of the latest by Son Volt.

As the Gershwins said, "the livin' is easy" in summertime, so chill out, slow down your mind and listen to this week's podcast. It's well worth the lack of effort.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a sunny summer evening and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Shake & Fingerpop - Junior Walker & the All-Stars
Summertime - Al Green
Summertime - The Zombies
Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood
Summer Samba - Bebel Gilberto
Who Loves the Sun? - The Velvet Underground
Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks
Summerteeth - Wilco
On the Sunny Side of the Street - Willie Nelson
Sunny - James Brown & the Dee Felice Trio
Sunny - Leonard Nimoy
Summer Days - Matty Charles & the Valentines
The Sun Surrounds Me - Beachwood Sparks
Summer Babe - Pavement
Summer Deep - T-Rex
Summer of Drugs (live) - Victoria Williams
The Sun's Gonna Shine Again - Ray Charles
House of the Rising Sun - Nina Simone
Warm It Up to Me - Blind Wiliie McTell
They're Red Hot - Robert Johnson
I Felt the Chill - Elvis Costello
That's Where I Am - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Dr. Art - King Wilkie
Take It Underground - King Wilkie
Severed Lips - Dinosaur Jr.
Porcupine - Tim Easton
The Coal Mine Fall - The Builders & the Butchers
First of the Gang to Die - Zee Avi
Down to the Wire - Son Volt
St. Francis - Southeast Engine
Small Town Talk - Amos Garrett & Maria Muldaur
She Doesn't Laugh at My Jokes - Jonathan Richman

As always:
-On the air from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 105.5 and 102.1 FM in the northern Adirondacks
-On the Web at www.tendollarradioshow.com
-On e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com

In Defense of Luddites

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:55:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

There are three problems with the move toward downloading music from places like iTunes:

1) Sound quality (itâs not as good as CDs, but CDs arenât that great either).

2) No more friendly exchanges with the guy at the record store. Admittedly, those kinds of exchanges are generally a thing of the past. The big record stores in New York City are hostile to all forms of friendliness. Going to one of the Virgin stores, for example, must be the least pleasant way to buy anything from anyone. On the flipside, though, there are places like Ampersound, in Saranac Lake, where the owner, Mark Coleman, became a great friendâso much so that a couple times I even let him beat me at Risk. But if I hadnât bought CDs from him, I probably wouldnât have gotten to know him, which would be my loss.

3) Liner notes. Yes, sometimes albums from iTunes include a pdf of the liner notes, but usually not. The problem with that is you donât get to see who played what on which tracks. And while you may not care about where the tracks were mastered, the guy who did the mastering does, and liner notes serve as credits. Most importantly, liner notes, the good ones, anyway, add to your understanding of the artist. The notes to Norman Blakeâs album âWhiskey Before Breakfast,â for example, were written by his wife and point out when he used a flatpick, fingerpicks or just his fingernails. They also tell you what kind of boots he was wearing during the recording. Guns nâ Roses, in the notes to their âUse Your Illusionâ records, included a âFuck you, St. Louis,â as a way of thanking the fans in that city for rioting after the band walked out on a show. See? You learn a lot about band by reading its liner notes. Download those albums from iTunes and youâll have no idea what Normanâs got on his feet or why Slash and Axl donât like the Cardinals.

On the other hand, it seems silly to have all that plastic lying around and taking up space on shelves. Speaking of shelves, what are people going to do with their shelves in a few years when everyoneâs listening to music and reading books they downloaded onto their iPods and Kindles?

(Computer-smashing duck image "borrowed" from somewhere on the Internet.)

"Big Jack" by AC/DC. A reading

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 17:31:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Today the Ten Dollar Radio Show begins a new poetry series called Is This Thing On?

Once a week or so, Pete or I (and maybe even celebrity guests) will take a song and strip it to its core, boiling off the fat of guitar effects, sanding away burrs such as snare drums and crash symbols, draining chord progressions and lancing melody and rhythm till all that's left is the essence of the song: its words. And then, to keep the words from being lonely, we'll add some sweet background noises.

We start with "Big Jack," a cut from AC/DC's latest effort, "Black Ice." We hope you enjoy the performance, and hope you check back soon for more installments of Is This Thing On?

Push that little "pod" icon to the left of the post, find a beret and dig it, man.

John Doe and the Sadies: Country Club

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 20:50:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Back in April of this year, John Doe and the Sadies put out "Country Club," a twangy, reverbed-out record that's long on shuffle and swing but happily short on kitsch. A person can overdo the whole neo-noir-country thing, but these guys don't. They get it rightâso much so that some promoter out there ought to get the bright idea to put this group on the same bill as Dwight Yoakam. That'd be a show worthy of its rhinestones.

"Country Club" has crisp boom-chukka rhythms, lightning-quick guitar and mandolin fills, and softly plangent moans from the pedal steel. Plenty of lovely harmonies from four women, including Veronica Jane Doe and Kathleen Edwards, whose album Failer wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be given her voice and the people (like John Doe) who like her. Maybe she's getting better. She sounds great here.

The record's 15 cuts include a handful of originals, but most of the songs are covers. Among them: "Help Me Make it Through the Night," by Kris Kristofferson, "I Still Miss Someone," by Johnny Cash, and "Night Life," by Willie Nelson. About that last one: While there are plenty of knockout versions of "Night Life," (BB King's got three or four to his name), this is the only one that really sounds like it's being sung by a lonely guy wandering around at night. This take is outskirts-of-a-dusty-town, walking-along-the-road, beer-cans-in-the-culvert dark. And it works.

Dear John

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 02:19:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

It started a little before noon Saturday, watching my 7-year-old daughter paddle a kayak by herself for the first time. She really got the hang of it quickly, and as she went farther out into Lake Flower, I hollered to her to come back. My friend echoed me, jokingly: "Come back to us!" I followed with "Come back to us, Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" and immediately decided I would have to play some Johnny P. this week.

I told my wife that Saturday afternoon, she suggested playing a bunch of songs by guys named John, and there you have it - the birth of a theme.

Now, back in December 2007, Ned and I played a show with "Johnny" song titles, but that was a long time ago, and there are helluva lot of Johns. It was, after all, the most popular name for U.S. baby boys for decades and didn't drop out of the top five until 1973. In 2008, however, it was No. 20, right behind Logan, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration. No. 11, by the way, was Jayden, which no one would have even thought of back in the days when John was king.

Anyway, except for a six-pack from that 2007 set, these are all different Johns: singers and songs bearing the name, closing with four on the "Dear John," woman-walking-out-on-man theme. And just think; I didn't even have to play Johnny Mathis, Johnny Winter, Johnny Lang, John Cougar Mellancamp, John Denver, John Mayer, John Legend, John Fogarty, Elton John, John Coltrane, Johnny Hates Jazz (anyone remember "Shattered Dreams?") or "Who's Johnny?" the theme song of "Short Circuit"'s Johnny 5.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like John Henry's hammer and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Black John the Conqueror - Dr. John

Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard - John Prine

Please Don't Bury Me - John Prine

Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers

Born to Lose - Johnny Cash

Jody's Got Your Girl - Johnny Taylor

Think Twice Before You Go - John Lee Hooker

Till the Money Runs Out - John Hammond

Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatam County - John Cohen

Everybody Went Low - John Hiatt

Monk's Dream - John Sinclair

John Sinclair - Blind Melon

Spike Driver Blues - Mississippi John Hurt

John Henry - Steve Langdon

Farmer John (live) - The Premiers

Johnny Johnny Johnny - Shonen Knife

Bye-Bye Johnny (live, 1978) - The Rolling Stones

Johnny Billy Goat - Boozoo Chavis

Johnny Come Lately (live, 1999) - Steve Earle with the Del McCoury Band

Happy Blues for John Glenn - Lightnin' Hopkins

Frankie and Johnnie - Gene Autry

John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man - The Carter Family

My Name is John Johanna - Kelly Harrell

John the Revelator - Blind Willie Johnson

Handsome Johnny - Richie Havens

Johnny Go Riding - Damien Jurado

Johnny - Clare Fader

Johnny Depp - Amy Anne

Johnny's Gonna Die - The Replacements

Little Johnny Jewel - Television

Oh Lonesome Me - Sammy Davis Jr.

You May Leave, But This Will Bring You Back - Memphis Jug Band

Pick Me Up on Your Way Down - James Jackson Toth

True Love Will Find You in the End - Headless Heroes

As always:

-On the air from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 105.5 and 102.1 FM in the northern Adirondacks

-On the Web at www.tendollarradioshow.com

-On e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com

Ooh La La

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:55:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

In 1973, the Faces put out âOoh La La,â their last studio record. Word is that Rod Stewart already had one foot out the door and was only marginally involved in the writing and recording of the album. Turns out thatâs fine. What he does contribute is top-shelf. âCindy Incidentallyâ borrows from Chuck Berryâs âMemphis, Tennesseeâ and provides a primer in all things Faces: chunky, distorted guitar from Ron Wood, raspily sung lyrics involving a girl, better days (either in the past or up ahead) and booze, and juke joint piano. Stewart and the band return to the lyrical theme (and musical arrangement) for the penultimate cut, âJust Another Honkey,â in which Stewart sings, âLeave my head, itâs wide open, so is the door, evermore.â The Faces saved the best for last, though: the title track. âOoh La La,â written by Wood and bassist Ronnie Lane, might be the best thing this band ever did. Itâs sung by Wood, which makes it a rarity: there arenât a whole lot of examples of hits with vocals from Wood, whoâd go on to become a Rolling Stone, and then, this year, earn a scolding from Keith âI snorted my fatherâs ashesâ Richards for drinking too much. Impressive, in a way.
But not nearly as impressive as this line from âOoh La Laâ: âWhen you want her lips, you get a cheek, makes you wonder where you are.â Who among us hasnât experienced and wondered the same thing?

The Faces staggered on for another year or two before tumbling apart and into the Stones (Wood and piano/organ player Ian McLagan), the Who (drummer Kenney Jones replaced Keith Moon when Moon died), Slim Chance and multiple sclerosis (Ronnie Lane started his own band, moved to Texas and along the way got MS. He died in 1997.) and, in the case of Rod Stewart, super-stardom, super models, disco (barf) and jazz standards (barf, barf, barf).

But this record came before all that, and itâs a dandy. Get it.

Going Diamond

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 21:10:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Twenty-five years ago, on this day, June 4, I turned eight. On that very same day, Bruce Springsteen released "Born in the USA." It went on to sell more than 10 million copiesâconsidered diamond status by the RIAA. I went on to sell, um, well, a few years later I sold my first electric guitar to a classmate of mine named Mason for $145, I think. And the first year after college I sold my first car, a 1985 Chevy Blazer, for $200. And right now, as I turn 33, I'm taking bids on one of my kidneys. So, Bruce, on this big day of anniversaries, a toast to success!

Dan Zanes: Parades and Panoramas

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 19:50:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

In the first song off his 2004 record, "Parades and Panoramas," Dan Zanes sings, "There's snakes on the mountain, eels in the sea, 'Twas a red-headed woman made a wreck out of me." It's such an unlikely thing to hear from Zanes, the guy who, since the snuffing of his last band, the Del Feugos, has become New York's most beloved singer of children's songs. (He's so beloved in part because he and his arrangements are so good, grownups, even those of us without kids, get a kick out of him.)

This record, though it sounds like his others (mostly acoustic instruments, a bit of electric guitar here and there), is a collection of songs culled by Carl Sandburg, the late, great American poet. Back in the 1920s, Sandburg mined the hinterlands for folks tunes to include in his "Songbag." Zanes reaches into the bag and pulls out 25 beauties: "Railroad Bill", "All Night Long" and "The Shantyman's Life" among them. Songs like these, about jobs lost, spouses departed, men gone off to war, seem to fit our times pretty well.

Backing him up are his usual (and completely unusual for anyone else) support staff: A chorus of kids, Marc Ribot on guitar, a tuba player (or two), a guy named Father Goose and the songbird-voiced Barbara Brousal.

My friend Tim gave this record to me for my birthday, and we listened to it while stuck in a traffic jam on the Mass Pike over the weekend. Nothing eases an aching clutch leg like a pack of kids singing, "We'll roll, roll, the chariot along."

1988 Was Super Great, Says Slate

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:15:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

1988 the best year in music? Ever? So says this article from Slate. I'm not equipped to make claims like that. (Who is, really?) Still, the guy brings up some bands I hadn't thought of in a whileâHusker Du, for exampleâso, that's good for something. Anyhow, interesting article. Gets into "post-something-periods" (post-punk, post-grunge, etc.).

Made in the Shade

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 1 Jun 2009 02:53:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Like Peter Pan, the show sewed on its shadow this week as my friend Corey sat in. We didn't plan a theme, but one happened anyway: shadow songs, shadow band names. Just call us shade-tree DJs.

Several things snuck in under cover of the shadows, including a whole lot of twang and funk, plus new music from the reunited Jayhawks, Elvis Costello, Ha Ha Tonka, Steve Earle, Todd Snider, Cotton Jones and a Neil Young cover by She & Him that's full of lovely shades of gray. Thanks are due to a few music providers: Pete Seward, Uncle Paul, Paste Magazine, Bloodshot Records, Daytrotter.com, Ned, Kelly, Chris & Doug and Rock 105.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like the dark end of the street and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Shadows Evolve - The Morning After Girls

Complicated Shadows - Elvis Costello

Wait - Roy Orbison

Dry Grass and Shadows - Alela Diane

Shadows Fall - The Coral

Shadow People - Charlie Musselwhite

Tombstone Shadow - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Man of Mystery - The Shadows

Having an Average Weekend - Shadowy Men Shadowy Planet

My Mistakes Were Made for You - The Last Shadow Puppets

I'm Gonna Make You Mine - The Shadows of Knight

Funky DJ - DJ Shadow

Uptown Odyssey - Galactic

Bittersweet - Galactic

All Behind You Now - Galactic

Wheels, No Engines - Awesome New Republic

Frenzy - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale - Love

Stand Out - Love

Police on my Back - The Clash

Boogie on Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder

Inner City Blues - Rodriguez

Police Dog Blues - Blind Blake

Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied) - Mississippi John Hurt

Dust Pan Blues - Gene Autry

Losing Hand - Ray Charles

Pendergast Machine - Ha Ha Tonka

Loretta - Steve Earle

Colorado Girl - Steve Earle

America's Favorite Pastime - Todd Snider

Help Me Forget - The Jayhawks

Spring to My Ear - Cotton Jones

Day and Night - Nina Simone

You've Really Got a Hold on Me - Thao

Lotta Love - She & Him

As always:

-On the air from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 105.5 and 102.1 FM in the northern Adirondacks

-On the Web at www.tendollarradioshow.com

-On e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com

Let this Caged Bird Sing

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:22:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Christian Frederick Martin founded his guitar-making company in 1833. His first shop was on Hudson Street, in New York City. This guitar, on display at the Met, was made there in 1838, just before the company moved to Nazareth, Pa. There should be a raffle, held once a year, that gives one person the chance to play it for a few minutes. Wouldn't you love to hear this darling? There's something so sad about seeing beauties like this trapped behind glass. I know they have to be protected, but still. I think of zoos when I look at instruments in display cases. They appear inert, which they oughtn't. Let those caged birds sing, I say.

(Photo by NPR)

Selling Out (not a concert)

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:33:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Question: Why donât washed-up musicians ever get their own grills? George Foreman has long hawked the Foreman Grill. Now Hulkamania has entered the sizzling ring, with the Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill. Old muscle men, old baseball players, old actors (dead ones, too) head out to pasture to pitch products, but you donât often see old musicians inviting you down to the office for a free consultation or explaining that money-back guarantee. Why? I think I remember seeing an Osmond on a commercial for a Time-Life collection of songs from the Sixties, but that doesnât really count, mostly because it was an Osmond, but also because it was still music the Osmond was selling. Thatâs what a pro musician, does, right? And Slash has a signature Les Paul, but thatâs his dealâhe plays Les Pauls. But why donât guys like him sell gloves or golf clubs? Is it their integrity? Um, not likely. The only exception I can think of, and it's a big one, is Bob Dylan, who has appeared in ads for Victoria's Secret and Cadillac. That's a head-scratcher, though you could argue if you're going to sell out, you might as well do it for leggy women and long cars. But I wonder, Will there ever be a Meat Loaf dutch oven?

(Photo of the Hulkster nipped from his Ultimate Grill Web site.)

Intrinsic Loyalty

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:48:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

This is the back of my Fender Telecaster American Plus guitar (my favorite part, and no one gets to see it). Itâs the back of a Telecaster that reveals the secrets that have won this kind of guitar so many admirers since its introduction in 1951 (under a different name, I know, but with the same basic design). See, where other electric guitars likes Strats and Les Pauls have more curves, more of this and that, the Telecaster has always beenâdirect. Nowhere is that more evident than on the back of the guitar. See those six holes in a line? Thatâs where the strings go throughâthrough the body, over the bridge saddles and up the neck to the tuners. The strings, then, are anchored inside the body of the guitar, held in place by the same block of wood that a player holds against his or her body.

Other electric guitars donât work that way. A Strat comes close, but its strings are held in place by a metal, spring-loaded assembly that moves, with the help of a tremolo arm, independently of the body. On a Les Paul, the strings never touch the body of the guitar. Theyâre hooked into a tailpiece that floats over the face of the instrument. All hollow-bodies work that way. Solid-body Gretsches, too.

How does that affect the sound? I donât know. But running the strings through the body of a Telecaster sets it apart from other guitars. And thereâs something admirable about it, isnât there? It speaks to â commitment and loyalty and intimacy. I picture the strings saying to the wood, âWell, this may or may not be the most efficient way to do things, but weâre in it together.â Itâs the closest wire and ash or alder can come to being blood brothers.

(Photo by NPR)

Got You Covered

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:51:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Kelly Hofschneider sat in again, so that's always fun. We played a string of covers, which is sometimes what songwriters do when their brains need a rest. You could say we were doing that, too, just going on instinct. That's what people do on three-day weekends after they've been burning themselves out at work. I know, since it's Memorial Day, we should have brooded a bit over the continuing tragedy of war and all the people who have lost their lives to it. We were thinking about that, as anyone should, but it wasn't that spirit that called us. So we played three-day-weekend music for the happy homefront. Hope you dig.

By the way, that's Geoff Muldaur in the photo, which I took while he played an "astounding" (he used that word a lot in our interview) show Sunday night here in Saranac Lake. Unfortunately, he had to take a pass on doing a Ten Dollar studio session. He's fighting the flu, really pushing himself through these gigs, and he doesn't want to push his voice too far by doing extra sessions like this radio show. Totally understandable. It's too bad because he's not only a sublime guitarist and singer; he's an all-around brilliant guy with a stinging wit and tons to talk about - a real good conversationalist. His youngest daughter Clare is a witty one, too; we play her again this week with her band, the Reasons.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like hearing "Don't worry; got you covered," as you go to pay for your beer at your friendly neighborhood watering hole, and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Barstool Boogie - Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks

Dented Fender - Roy Clark

Who Stole My Monkey? - Boozoo Chavis

Congo Mambo - Guitar Gable

Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu - Slim Harpo

Fish to Fry - The Ditty Bops

High Shelf Booze - Eilen Jewell

Sea of Tears - Eilen Jewell

Be So Happy - Heartless Bastards

Everybody Knows - Elizabeth & Catpult

Naive Melody - Arcade Fire

Green River - M. Ward

Rave On - M. Ward

Connection - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Early Mornin' Rain - Paul Weller

Day Tripper - Sergio Medez & Brasil '66

I Should Have Known Better - She & Him

Happiness Is a Warm Gun - The Breeders

Funk 49 - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Clare & the Reasons

Handle With Care - Jenny Lewis

Hungry Heart - Minnie Driver

The Pusher - Blind Melon

The Weight - Aretha Franklin

100 Yard Dash - Raphael Saadiq

Down in the Valley - Otis Redding

Gonna Move - Paul Pena

Weekend Off - Little Charlie & the Nightcats

Party Lights - Junior Brown

Guitars & Cadillacs - Dwight Yoakam

I Confess - The Wagoneers

Bowling Green - Neko Case & Her Boyfriends

Every Kind of Music but Country - Robbie Fulks

Stay a Little Longer - Bob Wills

Hip-Hug-Her (live at Monterrey Pop Festival, 1966) - Booker T & the MGs

As always:

-On the air from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 105.5 and 102.1 FM in the northern Adirondacks

-On the Web at www.tendollarradioshow.com

-On e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com

Hucka-bird

Sat, 23 May 2009 15:56:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Is there anything more dispiriting than watching Mike Huckabee and his band, Capitol Offense, castrate a Skynyrd song? Watch this and tell me these guys donât clip the wings of the free bird flying inside all of us. Yes, âFree Birdâ is a ridiculous song, but it deserves much better than this. Everything about these eight minutes makes me want to hurl. Is it Huckâs American flag guitar strap? (Oh, on the campaign trail, are you? Subtle, jackass.) Is it the suburban jeans? Is it the sunglasses on the âleadâ guitar player? Is it the terrible-ness of the singer, or just his shorts?

Hereâs the tricky thing about rock music, and classic rock in particular. Ninety percent of people look preposterous playing it (even a lot of the pros look silly; they play under colored lights for a reason). At the musicâs core is at least a modicum of swagger, and really, most people donât have a whole lot of swagger. Right? Absent that swagger, or at least a clear expression of some kind of emotion, of feeling, the whole thing falls apart. Whatever it is that turns a handful of ancient chords and a simple melody into a song, into a statement (and here I really donât mean to blow any more hot air under âFree Birdâsâ wings; the song really is ridiculous), disappears revealing it to be much less than the sum of its parts. And it looks awkward. Or, as they say in New Hampshire, where this capital offense went down, wicked awkward.

Hereâs another thing: Rock tunes are supposed to evoke a kind of outlaw vibe. Somewhere among those notes should be at least a hint of danger or desperation or sexâsomething at stake. I know, I know, classic rock tunes, for the most part, are so widely accepted, such a part of the background din, that theyâve lost a lot of that, but still, at some point, even in âFree Bird,â it was there.

But when a preacher/governor in a button-down shirt who thinks gay people shouldnât be allowed to marry each other busts out âFree Birdâ on the stump, the song, and the act of playing rock music, loses its heart. And then, whatâs the point of playing it? I mean, is anyone out there less of a free bird than a politician campaigning for the Republican nomination? Anyone? Fly high, Huck.

(Photo pinched from MSNBC, which credits John Gress, of Reuters, with the shot. So thanks, Mr. Gress.)

Muldaur and More

Thu, 21 May 2009 23:06:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Geoff Muldaur has been a blues singer/guitarist, jug band revivalist, film score arranger, chamber music writer, birder and Prairie Home Companion. Now he's been on the Ten Dollar Radio Show, too. Quite a career.

Seriously, though, the wonderful Mr. Muldaur, who will perform at Saranac Lake's Bluseed Studios this coming Sunday at 7:30 p.m., covered some interesting ground in a 23-minute phone interview May 13. He was in California, and I was at my desk at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, our local newspaper, which on Thursday published a pared-down version of the Q&A in its Weekender section and a longer version online. But first I aired the entire interview, completely unedited, here in Ten Dollarland. He quizzed me on acid rain (on which I sputtered and probably got all my facts wrong), and I quizzed him on loving small towns more than his hometown (L.A.) and why he's playing places like Saranac Lake these days. By the way, he thinks the "golden era" of American music is long gone and that the last half-century has been a desert of musical creativity. Oh, well - I still find plenty of great stuff to play on this show ...

... like the funky (skippy, too) lead cut from George Harrison's "Thirty-Three & 1/3" album, back-to-back bass fiddles from Slim Gaillard and King Wilkie, and new songs from T-Bird & The Breaks, Scott H. Biram, Leatherbag, Bob Dylan, Conor Oberst, Neil Halstead, Jeffrey Foucault, Wayne "The Train" Hancock and my man Ramblin' Jack.

Keep your dial tuned here: Geoff Muldaur plans to do a studio session with me after his gig. If it comes together, it'll air the following Sunday, May 31.

He's a good writer, too. To know him better, click here and read a narrative he posted on his Web site in December.

You heard it all here on the Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like the golden era of American music and plays for free.

The evil robots are hungry again; they ate an entire computer here in the Rock 105 mothership, so this podcast is posted four days late. Sorry.

This week's playlist:

Never Swat a Fly - Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band

Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me - Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band

Wild About My Loving - Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band

--Interview with Geoff Muldaur--

Woman Don't You Cry for Me - George Harrison

Shackles and Chains - T-Bird & The Breaks

Ain't It a Shame - Scott H. Biram

Caroline - Leatherbag

Ohio River Boat Song - Palace Music

I Feel a Change Coming On - Bob Dylan

Hang on Little Tomato - Pink Martini

Nikorette - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band

You Are the Glue - Neil Halstead

Souvenirs - Jeffrey Foucault

Golden Rocket - Hank Snow

Freight Train Boogie - Wayne "The Train" Hancock

All Been Planned (Pat Tillman) - David Was and Wayne Kramer

White Line (live, Fort Worth, Texas, 11/10/76) - Neil Young

Richland Woman Blues - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Poor Elijah-Tribute to John (live) - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends

Struttin with Some Barbecue - Louis Armstrong

Bassology - Slim Gaillard

Tale of Woe (recorded in the Ten Dollar Radio studio) - King Wilkie

I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water - The Cats & the Fiddle

Milk Fever - Work Boots

Parkin' Lot Pickin' Party - Jody Kramer and Co. Live

As always:

-On the air: 102.1 or 105.5 FM in the Adirondacks, 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays

-On the Web: www.tendollarradioshow.com

-E-mail tendollarradio@gmail.com

Geoff Muldaur Interview, Transcribed

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:18:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

I'm sorry this past Sunday's show, containing my 23-minute interview with Geoff Muldaur, is still not up as a podcast. What happened was, the radio station's computer that records the show died (evil robots again), and it was being put back together yesterday and today. I'm hoping to get the show recorded and posted later today.

Meanwhile, you can read the Q&A in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise's Weekender section, which came out today. It's abridged, but not too much on the Web version. (The print version is abridged more.) It's the same interview as the one that aired Sunday.

Geoff has said he will try to do a studio session with me here on Monday, which would air on the show the following Sunday, May 31. I hope it comes together.

Meanwhile, I recommend his concert at 7:30 p.m. this Sunday at Bluseed Studios in Saranac Lake. Tickets are $18 each or $15 if you're a Bluseed member.

(The photo is a promotional one provided to the Enterprise.)

Bob Marley, through the Lens of David Burnett

Tue, 19 May 2009 15:57:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Weâll get back to writing about new music in a bit, but thereâs no way anyone with an ear for good music and an eye for beautiful photos should miss this: David Burnett, a guy who used to work with my dad and who stands at the very top of the photojournalism scene, just published a book of photos he took of Bob Marley in 1976 and â77. Burnettâs Web site has about a dozen of his Marley shots, as well as shots from throughout his career. I strongly recommend digging through as much of his portfolio as time allows. Amazing stuff. You know that Hank Snow tune, âIâve Been Everywhereâ? That should be Burnettâs theme. Spend a few minutes on his site and you think he must have troop of clones all snapping images at the same time in different places around the world.

In a recent interview with the NY Times, Burnett talked about pulling off the greatest trick in photography: getting close enough to be a witness without getting in the way.

âMy ultimate desire is really just to be able to get close to somebody and have them forget that Iâm there. You just either get it or you donât. You understand that youâre not really the source of the greatness of this thing, youâre just kind of transmitting it from the subject through your camera to the reader. And so what itâs really about is understanding â in that very human way â what you can do as a photographer that gets you technically what you need, at the same time not disrupting what it is youâre trying to capture.â

He got it right with Marley. And if you look through his Web site, youâll see heâs been getting it right for a long, long time. Buy his book if you can spare the scratch.

(Photo by David Burnett taken from his Web site without permission but with the utmost respect and admiration.)

The Gig Is Up

Mon, 18 May 2009 10:39:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Nothing like a gig to let a band know precisely how good it is and where it needs work. A band can rehearse all it likes, think itâs got the changes in one song down cold, think all the solos are nailed, but when it gets on stage, all that goes out the window.

The band I'm playing in, Frankenpine, played its first show with its new lineup (it doubled in size a few months ago) Sunday night, at a bar in Williamsburg. It went well. We had a really good crowd, great response, interest from the bar in our coming back to play there again. Oh, and we had fun. Lots. Still, ask any of us in the band, and we were 100 times better at our last practice. I totally fâed up a solo in the last song, which is especially frustrating because in practice we play the hell out of that song and I smoke the leads. Not so at the gig.

So why do things change so much between practice space and stage? Yeah, yeah, people are watching, but so what? I didnât really feel nervous, not in the butterflies sense, though I did notice that my fingers werenât as nimble as usual. Everything sounds different in an unfamiliar place. Lights are wicked hot. And thereâs no chance to do things again. All that adds up, I suppose. Things just change up there.

I guess thatâs why you can tell when a band has played out a lot. Theyâre seasoned in a way that a new band just canât be. Playing gigs and practicing are different deals, and you canât be really, really good at gigs if you donât play them a lot. Plenty of times I find myself in an audience, watching a bandâs guitarist and thinking, I could play thatâmaybe even play it better. But not onstage. Thatâs the trick. Makes me admire the really talented bands I've seen even more.

Fortunately, weâre lining up more gigs. Weâre gonna get really good.

(Frankepine painting by Pete Seward.)

Kitty's Back

Fri, 15 May 2009 15:02:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

A good friend just got back from a Springsteen show in Albany and reports that the band played a scorching âKittyâs Back.â This has always been one of my favorite songs. Itâs from Bruceâs second album and captures the band at its most far out and virtuosic. Lest anyone doubt that Springsteen can still rip it on the guitar, check out this clip of the band playing âKittyâs Backâ at a recent show in Philly. Springsteenâs solo starts at 4:50. Worth a peek. At 5:19 he does a descending run thatâs unlike anything Iâve seen him play before, which implies that at age 59, and having played the song off and on for 36 years, heâs still learning and still growing as a player. Thatâs rad, right? Right.
(Photo of Bo Diddley, left, and Soup by Ned P. Rauch)

Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 13 May 2009 20:26:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Thank the iPodâs shuffle setting for unearthing a long-ago guilty pleasure. I was walking through Central Park one recent evening when my headphones began to fill with a howling wind, ringing chimes, and a descending 12-string guitar line. ThenââItâs all the same. Only the names have changed.â A few more seconds and the eighth grader inside me was rocking out to âWanted Dead or Alive.â Yes, Bon Jovi sucked. Still do. But that song was, and is, fucking great. And it ranks at the top of my guilty pleasure list. Also on the list: âThe Humpty Dance,â by Digital Underground, Sheryl Crowâs version of âThe First Cut Is the Deepest,â and Elvisâ entire pills-and-sequins period, though a lot of his music of that era was really, legitimately, seriously good. Thing is, I liked the whole thing. Even the damn capes and collars.

What is it about guilty pleasures that makes them guilty? Does the fact that weâre somehow embarrassed by having them make them that much more exciting to hold on to? I listen to âDead or Aliveâ and I feel like Iâm doing something wrong. And if I get through the whole thing without anyone knowing, I feel like Iâve gotten away with something. Thereâs a scofflaw in all of us, isnât there? A miscreant trying to sneak a cold one into the movie theater, break out of a norm, do something that wouldnât appeal at all if it were sanctioned? People need room to commit little sins, and digging on a Bon Jovi tune counts as a little sin. Anyone want to weigh in on their musical guilty pleasures? Donât be scared; youâre among friends. I can say that with certainty because only our friends seem to read this blog. In fact, if youâre reading this, chances are you know everyone else whoâs read it.

(Photo pinched from somewhere on the Internet.)

Nothing Drums Like a Deere

Mon, 11 May 2009 19:51:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Pete has some friends who record under the name Work Boots. Weâve played them a few times on the show, and theyâre always a hoot to hear. I canât help but think theyâd appreciate these guys, who have replaced their drummer with a tractor. Lo and behold, the old clunker keeps pretty good time.

Can't Get No ...

Mon, 11 May 2009 01:34:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

The temperature stayed around 35 (2 degrees to the Canadians in the audience) all this Mother's Day in the Adirondacks, and snow joined the rain at one point. Old Man Luedecke refers to May snow in "Little Bird," which I played this week. He's from Nova Scotia; he knows the deal.

It's not very satisfying weather for mothers, which makes Ned's satisfaction-themed set all the more relevant. It's been about 45 years since the Stones dropped "I Can't Get No ..." on the world. Weather like today's sure can make a body dissatisfied.

There's a lot of new music in this week's show that is worth a listen and perhaps further investigation. I'm particularly excited about The Builders and the Butchers and the new Iggy Pop, and I'd love to know what you think about the likes of Illinois, Dawes, Right On Dynamite, Ryan Bingham and Glasvegas. I spread the "eclectic" thing a little bit further this week. Any bands you'd rather not hear from again? Any that were OK but didn't work for this show? Any you really liked? I'm curious.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a mother's comfort on a 35-degree day and plays for free.

Online: www.tendollarradioshow.com
On air: 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 102.1 or 105.5 FM in the northern Adirondacks

This week's playlist:

Black Dresses - The Builders and the Butchers
True Love Rules - Dave Marsh
How to Rob a Bank - Willy Porter
Sugar Man - Rodriguez
Crucify Your Mind - Rodriguez
Little Bird - Old Man Luedecke
Geraldine - Glasvegas
---(Enter Ned)---
You Won't Be Satisfied That Way - Bill Monroe & Doc Watson
I Can't Be Satisfied - Muddy Waters
Sho Nuff Satisfied - Guy Davis
Satisfied - Andrew Bird
The Satisfier - Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves
Satisfied - Prince
Satisfeito - Marisa Monte
Satisfied & Tickled, Too - Taj Mahal
Satisfied Mind - Jeff Buckley
No Satisfaction - Black Mountain
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Deborah Lippmann
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Ken Boothe
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Devo
---(Exit Ned)---
Pas de Combats - Right On Dynamite
Endless Ways - Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Later Days - The Mother Hips
Whiskey Rabbi - Geoff Berner
King of the Dogs - Iggy Pop
I Found Joy - Cyril Neville
I Am Fine - Illinois
Deep in Kentucky - The Box Tops
You Keep Me Hangin' On - The Box Tops
In the Street - Big Star
That Western Skyline - Dawes

Together Through Life with the Hell's Angels

Fri, 8 May 2009 22:36:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Many apologies to our legions of readers for the lack of posts lately. No good reasons, other than Iâve been laid low not by the Swine Flu, though I was in Queens the day of the outbreak, but by a rabid chest cold.

But now itâs Friday evening. Iâm just back from the doctor, Iâve got a belly full of antibiotics and Iâm staring down a cold can of Fosterâs. Thereâs a bowl full of roasted almonds within reach and Bob Dylanâs new album, âTogether Through Life,â is playing.

That brings me to the point of this post: thoughts on the album. The last thing this world needs is another review of a Dylan record, so Iâll be quick. This recordâs a good one. Better overall than the last one, though it lacks anything as cold, weird and mean as âAinât Talkinâ.â Thatâs OK. This record has David Hidalgo, of Los Lobos, playing accordion and Mike Campbell, of the Heartbreakers, on guitar. And itâs got a cackle from Dylan at the end of âMy Wifeâs Home Townâ that shows more moxie than Dylanâs shown in awhile. One song, âShake Shake Mama,â a take on a old blues form, swings like a monkey on elastic vinesâI mean it moves. âDown by the river Judge Simpson walking around. Nothing shocks me more than that old clown,â he sings. Thereâs more moxie. Next verse: âSome of you women, you really know your stuff. But your clothes are all torn and your language is a little too rough.â Where does Dylan get off? That taunting bastard from âPositively Fourth Streetâ is still around, and heâs good company.

A couple days after buying this record, I picked up Hunter S. Thompsonâs 1966 treatise on motorcycle outlaws, âHellâs Angels: a Strange and Terrible Saga.â I canât quite articulate why, but it has proved a good match for this Dylan record. The two are simpatico. Here, for the hell of it, are a few lines from the first page:

âThe Menace is loose again, the Hellâs Angels, the hundred-carat headline, running fast and loud on the early morning freeway, low in the saddle, nobody smiles, jamming crazy through traffic and ninety miles an hour down the center stripe, missing by inchesâlike Genghis Khan on an iron horse, a monster steed with a fiery anus, flat out through the eye of a beer can and up your daughterâs leg with no quarter asked and none given; show the squares some class, give em a whiff of those kicks theyâll never know.â

In âIf You Ever Go to Houston,â Dylan sneers, âIf you ever go to Dallas, say hello to Mary-Ann. Say Iâm still looking along the trigger, hanging on the best I can. If you see her sister Lucy, say Iâm sorry Iâm not there. Tell her other sister Nancy to pray the sinnerâs prayer.â

The point, it doesnât take much to figure out, is that the narrator has nailed the whole damn family. The Angels would be proud, Iâm sure.

(Images lifted from Wikipedia and Dylanâs Web site.)

Swine Flu Relapse

Tue, 5 May 2009 02:42:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

OK, the second half of Sunday's show is now posted, starting with Paul Simon's tale of plotting pigs, gradually sliding into illness and coming out to party for Cinco de Mayo (tomorrow). It all ends with one of my new favorite songs - El Vez tossing his hunk of burning love for Bachman Turner Overdrive like a hand grenade at Americans living so high on the hog they whine about being unemployed while Mexicans take care of business.

!!!!

For more about the show, see "Swine Flu Serenade (1st half)," posted last night. Here's the second half, as you'll hear here:

Pigs, Sheep and Wolves - Paul Simon
War Pigs - Hayseed Dixie
Pig in a Pen - The Stanley Brothers
Hogwash - Bill Emerson & His Virginia Mountaineers
I'm Sick Y'all - Otis Redding
Sick Feelin' Blues - Lightnin' Hopkins
Memphis Flu - The Felice Brothers
Sick - Boss Hog
Hospital Escape - Scott H. Biram
You Be Illin' - Run DMC
Fiesta de la Feos - The Spam All-Stars
Tacos, Enchiladas and Beans - Doris Day
La Cumbia del Mole - Lila Downs
Frontera - Calexico
Malaguena Salerosa - Chingon
Tequila - The Champs
Guantanamera (Guajira) - Los Lobos
Taking Care of Business - El Vez

(The photo of Elvin Bishop sharing his Bud with his other bud is the front cover of his 1978 album, "Hog Heaven")

Pete Seeger's 90th

Mon, 4 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

A hard-to-believe streak of good luck landed me in the attics of Madison Square Garden for Sunday nightâs tribute to Pete Seeger on his 90th birthday. Twenty-five thoughts on the night:

â Pete's not one for Easy Street. He got the sellout crowd to sing along to âAmazing Graceâ in harmony, the floor singing lead, one wall of seats singing the third and the other singing the fifth. Thirty-thousand people singing in harmony. Not bad.

â Peteâs so old, heâs lived through both the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 AND the Swine Flu Panic of 2009.

â Ani DiFranco, who sang with both Bruce Cockburn and Kris Kristofferson, may be small, but she fills a stage.

â Kris Kristofferson, a hero of mine, seems older than Pete Seeger. Bruce Cockburn turns out to be a better guitar player than Iâd have guessed.

â Taj Mahal reminds me of lion after a big meal.

â Richie Havens reminds me of a lion between meals.

â Joan Baez can still sing like nobodyâs business. And sheâs cut down on the whole vibrato thing, which is a plus. She sang âWhere Have All the Flowers Goneâ and was the first person not named Pete Seeger to get a standing ovation.

â Tom Morello, the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine and Bruce Springsteenâs new best friend, may be a good picker and a swell guy, but heâs got a ridiculous voice. He sings like a marching band.

â John Hall performed. Heâs a congressman now, but heâs been a musician (with questionable tastes in album covers) forever. Not a bad voice.

â It would be really hard, I mean youâd really have to try, to dislike Arlo Guthrie.

â Has Warren Haynes cloned himself? How can he be in three bands (the Dead, Allman Brothers, Govât Mule) and still have time for Peteâs 90th birthday bash? And still have time to eat?

â Bob Dylan wasnât there, but one of his songs showed up: âMaggieâs Farm.â When Dylan famously (or infamously, depending) went electric at the Newport Folk Festival, in 1965, that was the first song he played. Legend has it that Pete was so mad at Dylan for plugging in, he tried to cut Dylanâs power cords with an ax. Thatâs probably a stretch, but itâs likely Pete was ticked. So whose call was it to play âMaggieâs Farmâ at Peteâs bash? And was it a peace offering? A wink to acknowledge water under the bridge? Whatever it was, it sounded good.

â Emmylou Harris and the Sparrow Duo should sing together more often.

â John Mellancamp should play acoustic and alone more often. He doesnât need any help from anyone. If you run into him, ask him to play âIf I Had a Hammer.â Heâs good at it.

âThink everyone gets a birthday card from Obama? And how many people get their birthday card from Obama read onstage at Madison Square Garden? Not a lot.

â Patterson Hood seems likeable. And he wears his guitar low. Like the dead lead guitar player from Def Leppard.

â Always a hoot to see Ramblin' Jack Elliott. He's played my guitar.

â Roger McGuinn has to stop singing âTurn, Turn, Turn.â I know, I know, but still, there comes a time, right?

â Will Dave Matthews always bug me? I think yes.

â If ever Iâm in a position to require a moving introduction, and if ever Iâm in the position to choose the person to deliver that moving introduction, Iâm picking Bruce Springsteen. Before playing âThe Ghost of Tom Joad,â which is about the main character in âGrapes of Wrath,â Springsteen talked about how during the inauguration festivities, in Washington, Pete said he wanted to play ALL the verses of âThis Land Is Your Land,â especially the bits that rail against private property that usually get left out. âThatâs what Pete does,â Springsteen said. âHe sings all the verses, all the time.â Later he described, with great admiration, Peteâs âstubborn, defiant and nasty optimism.â Then he added this: âPete is a stealth dagger through the heart of our countryâs illusions of itself.â And then he played his tune. Holy smokes.

â Pete believes in people. Heâs pushed for change his whole life without ever turning bitter or cynical. Thatâs something.

â The Clearwater, the sloop Pete had built 40 years ago and in which his organization sails kids up and down the Hudson to teach them about environmental stewardship, is a damned good idea.

â The nightâs second-best line goes to an Iroquois man who said, at the start of the show, 400 years ago Henry Hudson sailed up the river and itâs been a mess ever since. He has a point.

â The nightâs best line goes to Pete: âThereâs no such thing as a wrong note as long as youâre singing.â

Happy birthday, Pete.

(photo of the view from my seat by Ned P. Rauch)

Swine Flu Serenade (1st half)

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 4 May 2009 03:47:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Please, people, understand that you cannot get swine flu from eating pork. You can, however, get high cholesterol, which may be worse, considering how lean this fear-fattened virus is shaping up to be. Nevertheless, we here at Ten Dollar Central felt the need to do our part for public health by playing pork songs until you get the message that you have no more to fear from bacon than you did a week or so ago. It's too late for those 300,000 pigs Egypt ordered slaughtered, but hopefully they'll make it to hungry people's plates, at least.

Once again, Kelly Hofschneider (nee Hogg) co-hosted with me. She not only brought home the bacon but also a side of Cinco de Mayo, a refreshing palate cleanser after all that pork. In between the two we stuffed in a set about sickness from that old swine flu (H1N1 to the porkolitically correct).

You listeners did your part, too. I e-mailed you all a public service announcement on Wednesday asking for pig song suggestions, and I got a flood of responses. Not all of them made it into the show, some because Kelly and I couldn't dig them up (next time, "Scrapple in the Apple") and some because they're too classic rock for us (so long, "Pigs on the Wing"). We did play a bunch of them, though. Thank you, Rita, Mark, Ned, Uncle Paul, Carol, Duane, Kate, Corey, Paul, Jacob (from Tblisi!), Mikey, John, Tim, Phil and Ellen. Also, thank you, fellow Rock 105 DJs Pat, Chris and Doug; you may not know it yet, but I borrowed a song from each of your collections.

E-mail me more ideas, songs and whatnot to tendollarradio@gmail.com. Locals can listen to the show every Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. on 105.5 or 102.1. The rest of you, catch it and Ned's and my musical musings here on www.tendollarradioshow.com.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a million indignant pigs, falsely accused of a flu they didn't start, and plays for free.

The evil robots of Rock 105 must dislike pork as much as the Egyptian government because they screwed up the recording again. I managed to get the first hour; I'll try to get the second later this week.

This week's playlist:

Pork Chops and Mustard Greens - Ernie Andrews
Bacon Fat - Ray Collins Hot Club
Ham an' Eggs - Leadbelly
Ham and Eggs - Tex Williams
Ham 'n' Eggs - A Tribe Called Quest
Barbeque - Devil in a Woodpile
Barbecue Any Old Time - The Alabama Gravy Soppers
Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatam County - Arthur Smith Trio
Filipino Box Spring Hog (live, March 20, 1999, Austin Texas) - Tom Waits
Pigmeat - Leadbelly
Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer) - Bessie Smith
Sic 'Em Pigs - Canned Heat
The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin - Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
I'm a Hog for You Baby - The Youngbloods
Hog of the Forsaken - Michael Hurley
---(First half cuts off here.)---

(The photo, by the way, is from the back cover of Elvin Bishop's 1978 album "Hog Heaven," which, curiously enough, has no hog songs.)

Giving Carlos the Boot

Sun, 3 May 2009 18:37:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Not to pick on the guy too much, but it was just brought to my attention that Carlos Santana, now in the process of re-inventing history (see the previous post), has developed a line of womenâ shoes. Theyâre called âCarlos, by Carlos Santana.â First of all, why does this guy name everything he does after himself (band, shoes, former Mets shortstop Rafael Santana)? Second, why the hell is Carlos involved in ladiesâ footwear? His Web site says a portion of the profits goes to the Milagro Foundation (translation: the Santana Foundation), which he founded with his wife. It gives money to organizations that help kids, which is great. But there must be a better way than hawking crap like the Metaphor (pictured), the Pounce and Exude. I mean, what Black Magic Woman would put those things on her feet? (Photo nicked from www.carlosshoes.com)

Woods-crock

Fri, 1 May 2009 21:06:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

According to an article in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, âexpanded editionsâ of the film âWoodstockâ and its accompanying soundtrack will be released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the big, muddy bash. But get this: Because some of the original performances are considered sub-par, musicians are re-recording their bits, scrubbing the record of their flubs. Carlos Santana, for one, has overdubbed his guitar parts on âEvil Waysâ because the first time around he was out of tune. Until the fix, the recording was, as the magazine quotes producer Eddie Kramer saying, âunusable.â Thereâs no shame in studio trickery when re-releasing a studio album, but tarting up a piece of history to which 500 million people were witness so you can fatten an anniversary boxed-set is horseshit. And if itâs really unusable, donât use it. The guys in Canned Heat, among others, are doing the same thing as Carlos. What the hell? Elvis looks really fat in some of those video clips from the mid-1970s. Why donât we just trim a little from his cheeks for the next big box of shit his estate decides to release? And hey, George Bush has said some pretty dumb shit in his time. Itâs embarrassing, really. Why doesnât someone just come up with a bunch of smart things for him to re-say? Forty years later, no one will recall what he said the first time, and everyone will remember him as a smart guy.

Carlos, your guitar was out of tune. Thatâs no sin, but it means you messed up so badly in front of half a million people at the most famous concert ever that what you played cannot be sold 40 years later to paying customers. Oh well. Since then, youâve learned to tune your guitar. Hats off. Are you sure you want to do this? Youâve almost been forgiven for recording that horrible song with that guy from Matchbox 20 a decade ago. Think itâs already time for you to offend again? Really?

Together Through Life (without Denny Freeman)

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:08:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Rock critics are liars! Or idiots! (Sometimes!) Denny Freemanâs MIA! Listeners rejoice! And now I explain!

All the reviews of Bob Dylanâs new record, released today, that Iâve read say the album was made with Dylanâs touring band plus Mike Campbell, from the Heartbreakers, and one of the wolves from Los Lobos. But I just looked at the liner notes of my copy and guess whatâonly three members of the touring band are listed. See? Liars and/or idiots.

Now, you ask, Why does that matter? Hereâs why that matters. Last summer, a bunch of us, including both founders of the Ten Dollar Radio Show, attended a big bash of a concert in Saratoga. Dylan and his band headlined and, to be honest, they were, at times, horrible. What made them so bad was the lead guitar playing. Most of the leads went to a guy named Denny Freeman, and while Iâm sure Denny Freeman is a swell guy and a top-shelf player in other contexts, he came off that night as totally inept. Iâve seen open mic first-timers pull off more interesting stuff than this guy. Pete can play better with his elbows. I think another guitar player, Stu Kimball, was on stage, too, though he was more of a rhythm guy. (Dylan, by the way, didnât pick up his guitar once; just played the piano.)

In interviews over the past year or so, Iâve seen/heard Dylan say his current band is the best heâs ever put together. Well, Dylanâs a bullshitter. These guys donât compare to the late-1990s and early-2000s days with Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton on guitars. Nor, obviously, can they match they Way Back When Days when Dylan toured with the Band. Anyway, I was really nervous this new record would be full of Denny Freeman licks and riffs, or his idea of licks and riffs. I mean, everything Iâd read said the whole band was on the record. Ugh, Denny F-ing Freeman, I thought.

But oh, sweet relief. The pedal steel playerâs there, the drummerâs there, and the erstwhile bassist Tony Garnier, who's played with Dylan since Californiaâs redwoods were saplings, is there, but no Stu Kimball, and no Denny Freeman. No offense, fellows, Iâm sure youâre aces in another deck, but phew.

Later, thoughts on the album itself.

Partytime Butchers

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:50:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

I'm not sure when they have prom these days, but when I was in high school, it was always in early May, so I figure high-schoolers must be getting pretty excited about it these days. My prom was nothing to rave about, but nothing to mourn, either. I went with a friend, no sparks flew, and since I didn't know where any of the parties were, afterward we had pie at Denny's with another uncool couple and went home. My dad had told me that if I came right home after, he'd have a beer with me. That wasn't much to look forward to, but since nothing else came together, that's what I did.

When the pictures of my date and me came back a week or so later, I had the gall to be surprised at how geeky I looked in that rented tux.

So this show starts with a few songs on a prom theme, loosely, anyway. and then there are some tunes from the new Booker T album, "Potato Hole," which I reviewed this week on www.tendollarradio.com, where you can also find this and many other podcasts. The posts are now sorted by categories: albums, concerts, instruments, encounters, podcasts, etc.

Also on this show, Thelonious Monk and Awesome New Republic make their Ten Dollar debut, Jeannie C. Riley is back after a long rest, and Jessica Lea Mayfield and PJ Harvey return from just a weeklong rest. Plus, pianos get their due with a six-song block near the show's end.

Locals, listen in every Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. on 102.1 or 105.5 FM. The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a $75 tux rental (which was like a million bucks back in 1993) and plays for free.

This week's playlist:
Big Easy - Raphael Saadiq
Promnight in Pigtown - Trout Fishing in America
The Out Crowd - Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs
Hey, Come On - Verbena
Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
Something Better Beginning - The Kinks
Positively Lost Me - The Rave Ups
Love City - Sly & the Family Stone
Partytime - Jazz Butcher
She's on Drugs - Jazz Butcher
My Favorite Angel - John Wesley Harding
You'll Never Be 16 Again - Roy Orbison
Combover Blues - Todd Snider
Booker-Loo - Booker T & the MGs
She Breaks - Booker T
Hey Ya - Booker T
Native New Yorker - Booker T
Watch Your Step - Sisters of Song
Bring Da Ruckus - El Michels Affair
In Walked Bud - Thelonious Monk
Post What? - Awesome New Republic
Son! Tyrant - Awesome New Republic
When Under Ether - PJ Harvey
Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley
Bible Days - Jessica Lea Mayfield
Roll On, Truckers - Juice Newton & Silver Spur
Travelling Riverside - John Hammond
The Hustle Is On - T-Bone Walker
Hard-Working Man's Blues - Jimmy Witherspoon
My Country Sugar Mama - Howlin' Wolf
I Pulled the Covers Off You Two Lovers - Dr. John
Backlash Blues - Nina Simone
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You - Ann Peebles
Goodbye Dear Old Stepstone - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Laborless Land - J. Tillson

The Sadies

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:09:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

These guys are wicked good. Reverb, swing, twang, maybe a B-string bender guitar in there, a dash of spookiness. They play with Neko Case, cover at least one song by the Byrds, play another made famous by Elvis and wrote another called âTiger Tiger.â They come from somewhere in Canada, and two of the band members are brothers whose names are Dallas and Travis Good. See? Wicked good. Give âem a spin. (Photo of sweatshirt pinched from the Sadies' Web site.)

Dylan Hunter

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:37:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

The word on Bob Dylanâs new record, due out next week, is that he wrote nearly all the songs with Robert Hunter, the Grateful Deadâs primary lyricist. (Primary because Hunter wrote mostly with Jerry Garcia. Bob Weir usually turned to his high school pal John Perry Barlow for words, but they didnât write as many songs as Garcia/Hunter. An always fun discussion for Dead geeks is which pair had a higher percentage of good tunes, which pair had more duds, which pair produced the most daring, least conventional songs.) Anyway, Robert Hunter is the guy you should thank or curse, depending on your point of view, for all those yearbook quotes about long, strange trips.

So what does this mean for the new record? Dylan and Hunter have tangoed before. They co-wrote âSilvioâ and âUgliest Girl in the Worldâ from Dylanâs 1988 record, âDown in the Groove,â which I donât think anyoneâs ever listened to more than, say, six times. (To be fair, âSilvioâ got a second life as a pretty rousing live number.) I donât often think of Dylan as the collaborating kind, but it has worked the past. Many of the songs he recorded with The Band on the âBasement Tapesâ were joint efforts (by which I donât mean they were produced by smoking lots of reefer, though whoâs to say?). Later, in1976, Dylan teamed with Jacques Levy, who died a few years ago, to write nearly all of âDesire,â his last truly great record of the decade. (Quick aside: My good friend David Coggeshall, a knockout writer in Hollywood whoâs due for a big break, studied under Levy at Colgate. Just sayinâ.)

So, good news or worrisome news? Weâll find out when âTogether Through Lifeâ arrivesâhey, thatâs funny, the albumâs title is about companionship, and hereâs Dylan, working with an old friend with the same first name to put out a new batch of songs. Clever. (Final aside: In the 1980s, when Dylan toured with the Dead, he asked if he could join the band. Not to form a new entity called Dylan and the Dead, or something like that, but just to be a member of the Grateful Dead, like, say, Mickey Hart. That would have been weird, eh? Though everyone in the band was a Dylan disciple, they all put the brakes on that idea, which was probably wise.)

"Potato Hole" - a review

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:09:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Here's a forecast: Booker T's "Potato Hole," released to stores today, will be a standard house party soundtrack for many years to come. Maybe decades. It's just that groovy.

Backed smokingly by the Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young, it's as much a rock groove -- sometimes hard rock -- as a soul groove, which may mean that it will only play at white folks' house parties. That'd be sad, especially since when Booker T & the MGs broke out in the '60s, music had just gotten much less segregated than it is today. Booker says in the album's press release that he's always liked rock and Otis Redding did, too. "We were getting into it a bit, but couldn't really do it back then. It just wasn't right for Stax," Booker said. I'm right now happily imagining Otis albums made with multi-racial rock-soul-blues-country musicians. It was that kind of stew that bred the Allman Brothers Band, Booker T & the MGs and the beautiful Muscle Shoals, Alabama sound that the Drive-By Truckers were born into. (Patterson Hood's dad, David, was a key Muscle Shoals session man.)

Anyway, back to "Potato Hole": It's all about the groove, and the four hotshot guitarists hang back and serve that end. Neil barely solos, even though Booker T describes him in the liner notes as "like a race horse, unable to wait to get out of the gate." Curiously, his thanks to the Truckers are more toned-down: "for their enthusiastic musical support, for following my lead, and for letting me drive." He's right about who's driving; on every tune, his organ playing is clearly the hand on the wheel of this rig. He doesn't spiral like a virtuoso, and he hangs back a lot, too, but as soon as he comes in, there's no question that it's his gig.

This album was mostly recorded in four days in the Truckers' adopted hometown of Athens, Georgia. The tunes are written by Booker except for OutKast's "Hey Ya," Tom Waits' "Get Behind the Mule" and the Truckers' "Space City." But they've all been Bookerized. No vocal cords are heard anywhere near this album, which is just fine. Put it on repeat when the guests show up, and let it go all evening. No one will mind.

P.S.: You can get to a fair bit of cool stuff from Anti's Booker T page. And if you're curious about the album's title, here's another promo from Anti records that I like. "The Hole" he talks about, "a joint in the basement of a house in the 'hood where we would go to drink, play records and party" -- that's exactly what this album is all about.

Booker T. Finds a Groove in the Potato Hole
Wednesday February 4, 2009

New Album on Anti- Records featuring Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young Out April 21

Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Booker T.âs new album Potato Hole will no doubt inspire hip-shaking and toe-tapping, but also some head-scratching over the discâs intriguing title.

In fact, the expression âpotato holeâ dates from the days of American slavery. Explains Booker: âpeople dug holes into the dirt floors of their slave cabins to hide, cool, and store food. These people rose above their circumstances not only to survive but to thrive.â

He continues, â"potato hole," for me, stands for a funky place or joint where people go to groove to the music, let go of their worries, and have a good time. When I was in college in Indiana, there was a joint in the basement of a house in the 'hood where we would go to drink, play records and party. We called it "The Hole." Potato Hole is dedicated to that spirit.â

Potato Hole, featuring the Drive-By Truckers as Bookerâs backing band and Neil Young on guitar on 9 of 10 tracks, will be released April 21 on Anti- Records. Booker T. is confirmed for JazzFest and Coachella performances in April with additional tour dates to follow.

Neil's and Dan's Needles and Suns

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:36:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

All this talk of Neil Young has reminded me of a connection I noticed between a line in a song from Dan Auerbachâs album, which we reviewed here a month or two ago, and Ol' Neil himself. In âTrouble Weighs a Ton,â the opening cut, Auerbach sings, âNeedles and things have done you in, like a setting sunââ Thatâs surely a reference to Neilâs âNeedle and the Damage Done,â in which a very young Young sings, âBut every junkieâs like a setting sun.â Say what you will about Auerbach, he knows to go straight to the source. (Photo from Medill Reports)

Lost and Found

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:38:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Neil Young used to be my man, and now, with his new album, he is again. Around 1995, my admiration of him shifted into full-on descipleship and stayed that way until 2002, when his embarrassing post-9/11 album, "Are You Passionate?" began a long erratic streak for which I decided not to be an apologist. I lauded high points like "Greendale," a wonderfully odd concept album, and I never gave up on him, but there were several albums I didn't buy and others I regretted wasting money on during those years

His newest, "Fork in the Road," is about putting an electric motor in his 1959 Lincoln Continental and is a truly great album for those who love his whole deal, but that's far from everyone. He's still a wedge, so I won't overwhelm anyone with it, even if he does bookend this week's show.

Meanwhile, while Nina Simone mourns MLK, Corb Lund and George Jones sing back home our favorite racehorse, Tin Cup Chalice, after a fatal training accident Friday in the Finger Lakes. Tin Cup was raised in Ray Brook by Scott Van Laer and Michale Glennon and went from an undesirable to state champion. If you haven't already, read all about it in the Enterprise: http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/506030.html?nav=5008

Also, check out 19-year-old Jessica Lea Mayfield, the new one from PJ Harvey, an ode to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and a roundup of new soul artists; it's all right here on the Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like coughing up the bucks and plays for free (on this site and from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 102.1 or 105.5 FM in the northern Adirondacks).

This week's playlist:

Cough Up the Bucks - Neil Young

Union Man - Neil Young

Government Center - The Modern Lovers

Rockefeller Drug Law Blues - The Felice Brothers

Why? (The King of Love Is Dead) - Nina Simone

My Saddle Horse Has Died - Corb Lund

The Race Is On - George Jones

Act Like a Man - Neil Diamond

Black Hearted Love - PJ Harvey & John Parish

Laywayed - Pontiak

Houston - R.E.M.

I'm Not Lonely Anymore - Jessica Lea Mayfield

When the Night Comes - Dan Auerbach

Rewind - Seth Walker

100 Yard Dash - Raphael Saadiq

Won't Give Up Without a Fight - Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves

People Gonna Talk - James Hunter

Tell Me - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Money (That's What I Want) - Junior Walker & the All-Stars

Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (live, 1970) - Sly & the Family Stone

You're Wondering Now - The Skatelites

Hey Paul Krugman (A Song. A Plea.) - Jonathan Mann

Working at Working - Wayne "The Train" Hancock

Viper of Melody - Wayne "The Train" Hancock

Last Train - Too Slim & the Taildraggers

Borrow Your Cape - Bobby Bare Jr.

Don't Be Bitter - Herald Nix

The Printer's Bride - Jean Ritchie

Among the Pines - A.A. Bondy

Vaseline Machine Gun - Leo Kottke

Teeth - Lisa Hannigan

Just Singing a Song - Neil Young

More Felice photos

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:45:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

I posted the rest of Michelle's photos from the Felice Brothers show April 11 in the front room of Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vt. They're at http://cu.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=298124

On the same Web site are photo galleries from two Ten Dollar Radio in-studio appearances: King Wilkie - http://cu.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=297313 - and Ned's cousin Marygoround - http://cu.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=297312

The Felice Brothers Hit the City: a Review

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:01:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

In their shambling kind of way, the Felice Brothers stumbled into some scorching moments at Friday nightâs show at Webster Hall, in New York City. âRun Chicken Runâ felt like riding on one of those old, wooden roller coastersâexciting because it feels like something unexpected really could happen. Likewise âRadio Songâ, âWhiskey in My Whiskeyâ and a few others. But where Pete raved in his review of the show he saw in Burlington, I gotta say, âYeah, butâ.â

The guys were just plain sloppy. If youâre really good, that can come off as loose, fun, unpredictable. If youâre not quite that good, it comes off as messy. And if youâre playing for 1,200 or 1,300 people, which is how many people the bouncer told me fit in the joint, you canât be messy. Youâve got to be good.

Pacing-wise, the band was off. Fast and slow songs were tossed together with no sense of how one might lead to the other, without any sense that the audience was looking to get on board and roll with the band. They didnât reinterpret or stretch out or reinvigorate their songs, they just kind of messed them up. âFrankieâs Gun,â for example, which everyone in the place had been pining for, was notable only for how anti-climatic it was.

When they got it right, the really got it right. They started a few minutes early (whoâd have thunk?), and when we walked in during the middle of a song I didnât recognize, my first thought was, âWow, long live the Felice Brothers!â And each of the brothers, James, Ian and Simone, is a dynamo, full of charisma. They can play, and theyâre a hoot to watch. Clearly, they like what theyâre doing. But the fiddler, Farley, comes off as an idiot. His dive into the drum set at the end of the night was moronic. The bassist was fine, and there was a sixth guy, a fellow who drummed and played guitar and shook a tambourine and sang, who was also fine.

Iâd see them again in a second, but only in a much smaller place. Webster Hall, with its balcony and open floor, is too damned big.

One last thing: The comparisons with Basement Tapes-era Band is understandable but off. The Felice Brothers, much as I like them (and seriously, I dig these guys, I love the sound theyâre putting together), donât have nearly the chops to match the Band. Every member of that group was a virtuoso. Not the case with the Felice Brothers.

(Photo by Ned P. Rauch)

Neko's Pond

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:41:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Neko Caseâs latest record, âMiddle Cyclone,â is a ringer. Sheâs knocked me out for a while now, and this stands eye-to-eye with âFox Confessorââ which came out a few years ago and blew my mind immediately. Who else has a voice so powerful yet soâun-heavy? âMiddle Cycloneâ ends with a half-hour stroke of brilliance. Case took a microphone out to the pond on her Vermont farm one night and recorded the peepers and crickets. Thereâs no music, no words, just 31 minutes and 39 seconds of chirps and croaks. I did that at Moody pond last year, but my recordings are only three minutes long or so. And you can hear my footsteps. Still, pretty cool. Anyway, now that Iâm in the city, miles away from the music of a springtime marsh, Iâve been playing Caseâs recording as I go to sleep. Itâs beautiful. Gives me glimpses of stars reflecting off still water, of lightning bugs, of cool, wet grass. Not a bad way to slip off into sleep.

Guy Davis, interview

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:36:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Guy Davis is playing every Monday night in April at the Foundry Cafe, in Cold Spring. There are two Mondays left; I highly recommend getting out there. The place is within an easy walk from the train station. My brother and I saw Davis play a knockout show last night, and afterward he gave me a 10-minute interview. Following is a transcript of our conversation. Enjoy.

How did you get into the blues? How did you know you wanted to do this as a career?

The first time I heard the blues it was being played by white college boys. I was less than 10 years old. I knew the music was special, but I didnât know I had a connection to it that was racial or cultural. I knew that I wanted to play the blues before I even dreamed I could make a career out of it.

I think I was a teenager when I first picked up an electric guitar because I heard Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and it sent me through the roof. I actually got to see them live, with my own eyeballs. And from there I went backwards to the music of, like, Taj Mahal, who played stuff by Mississippi John Hurt and Robert Johnson and Son House and Skip James. So the door kind of got opened backwards, and so far it hasnât slammed shut. I discover new stuff all the time.

Is that new stuff new old stuff, or is the blues changing, is it moving forward, too?

Itâs both. The blues is growing and changing. Thereâs hip-hop in it now, thereâs different ways of looking at it, the definitions expand, but I love looking toward the old. ... Some of that bluesâlike by Blind Lemon Jefferson, that we donât even recognize as blues today because the structure is not as clearly blues like Chicago Blues and that kind of thing. But thatâs OK, I think weâre all learning. Iâm definitely learning.

You mentioned that racial connection to the blues. Where is the blues now, in terms of the black community? Are most of your audiences mostly white, or do you have mixed audiences?

Fifteen years ago I could say I had 99.9 percent white audiences. Thatâs down closer to 95 now. People making money out of blues, what little there is to be made, donât tend to be black people. Iâm not talking about a few people who succeed, who are visible, like myself, like Kebâ Moâ, Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Eric Bibb. Thereâs some visibility. But the people making money tend to be those who control the estates of those who own the songs and they tend not to be the people who actually wrote the songs. Or even make the songs.

The blues started out, forgive me, itâs a blog, but Iâll have to say this word, but the blues started out as nigger music, talking over a hundred years ago. And there is pain in the blues. That word nigger does not translate down today to the wonderful musicians who play itâweâre talking brilliant: Paul Jeremiah and Rory Block and Bonnie Raitt, John Hammondâpeople whose love of the music is unquestionable. Itâs beautiful. But thereâs something about the pain and the blood that went into the blues that does not translate out of the black community. Weâre not going to make any money out of it, but we need take more active ownership of the blues, even if itâs just spiritual, and share it. â The music is here, itâs here to be shared, but there is something about race and culture that needs to be further brought out, further respected.

How do you do that?

I guess by bringing the stories out as much as I can. I, not only as a performer, but as a black man, have to sing the blues and claim it. Not away from any other great performers, like Kelly Joe Phelps, I just have to sing the stories the way I do. Blues is cultural DNA.

You obviously have great finesse, great touch, technique, but when you put these songs over, youâre summoning something from within you. Are you tapping into that hundred-year history of angst, of pain? What are you putting into the songs?

My legacy came from them. â There were people here on this planet ahead of me, my parents, my grandparents ... who tried to make a world in which I wouldnât know anything about racism. Hopefully my son and his kids wonât know anything about the blood and ugliness that went into making this country. But unfortunately history will be repeated if itâs not understood. So, yeah, I try to draw back on those men who lived those lives in which there was alcohol and prostitution and imprisonment. And this isnât all just purely some lifestyle choice. The people who started the blues were around in the Civil War. ... But after the Civil War there was Reconstruction, which lasted a short time. Then, economics dictated that there needed to be a labor supply, as much as there was during slave times. Whereâd we get it from? Prisons. So they established something called the Black Codes, wherein a black man and white man do the same crime, the black manâs going to do more timeâsignificantly. And they are going to use his time, and he is going to have to labor. â Those people, who experienced that segregation, that Jim Crow, which eventually became Separate But Equal, which wasnât really equal, those are the people who the blues came out of.

You mentioned [during the show] you go to schools. What do you tell the kids? First of all, what age are we talking about?

I like to get into high schools and colleges, but they have me going to kindergarteners. I start off with playing that funny song [on the harmonica, about dogs and pigs and convicts], like Sonny Terry used to do. And I tell stories. I tell the story about a young boy who leaves home and wanders into a hobo camp. â I can teach more by telling that story than I can by lecturing about this style of strum which came from the East Coast and this style of strum is from the Mississippi Delta. I do some of that.

You mentioned Pete Seeger [during the show]. Youâve known his family for a long time. What has he meant to you, to our culture, to music?

Pete, for the culture, I believe heâs an anthropologist. Heâs gone back, following the example of his parents, of people like the Lomaxes near him, and found these old songs, and in some cases the singers of those old songs, and brought them forward, and got the songs written down and maybe published. He, unlike some of his contemporaries, did try to get credit and publishing rights to those men and women who came up with those archaic folk songs.

To me, Pete has been a man of integrity. He has lived and demonstrated that word by his life. He has stood up for unpopular causes at rough times. There was a man named Paul Robeson who was accused of being a Communist. Turned out he never was, but he went in front of the American people and said, âYou donât have the right to force me to answer you. You donât have the right, according to the Constitution.â And Pete just stood for that, even when it meant he couldnât get jobs at regular venues, so he had to go out to schools and churches.

Iâll tell you a story about Pete. I was opening for him in the â70s. We drove to Poughkeepsie. It was two hours before the show, so we went to a little outdoor walkway. There was a fountain, a big round fountain, and we sat with our backs against it to snooze. Just to pass a little time. And I woke up and heard all this splashing. I turned around and thereâs Pete, in the fountain, with his pants rolled up, picking out the garbage. And there were some little kids running around him. They were picking garbage out from the sides. â Thatâs what Pete Seeger means to me.

Last thing: On your banjo, it says, âJuba is My Master.â Whoâs Juba?

Juba was a black man born in the United States of America in the 1800s. He was born free, he wasnât born a slave, and he was a dancer. And thatâs all I know about him. But I think of that as my dance banjo. Itâs got something that makes you want to move your feet and jump.

End.

(Thanks to Guy Davis. Go see him wherever and whenever you can. Photo by Ned P. Rauch.)

Spector Decked Her

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:06:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

So Phil Spector did it. What a surprise. The question is, How does the fact that he killed someone affect the way weâll listen to the songs he produced? I can appreciate the innovation that went into his âWall of Sound,â but I was never really a fan of it. I always felt the wall ended up between the musicians and the listeners. The stuff he put his hands on usually felt distant to me. âThen He Kissed Meâ is a hell of a song, though, as are a handful of others. He really messed up âLet it Be,â though Paulâs âNakedâ version, released a few years ago, doesnât get it entirely right, either. âAll Things Must Pass,â George Harrisonâs first solo album, came out well, but again, thereâs a distance-effect that I think robs the record of intimacy. Spector produced the Righteous Brothersâ âYouâve Lost that Lovinâ Feelinâ.â Great tune. The best take Iâve heard on that song, though, belongs to Elvis. Check out his performance of it on âThatâs the Way it Is,â which came out two or three years ago. Elvis knocks the pants off that song. Anyway, next time I hear "Doo Ron Ron," I'm going to think, The guy behind that sound is a murderer, which is creepy. Can anyone hear Ike Turner's songs without thinking, That guy's a wife-beater? It changes things. Great artists are often a little unhinged. They often see the world a bit differently. But when they go this far, that unique perspective becomes sinister, and it casts everything they've done in a sinister light. "Then He Kissed Me" will still be a knockout song, and I'll still enjoy listenting to it, but now it's burdened in a way it wasn't before. Well, good luck in the pen, Phil.

Reckless Felice Brothers Bait Fate

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:03:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

A review: The Felice Brothers in concert, Saturday, April 11, 2009 in the front room at Higher Ground, South Burlington, Vt.

Live, the Felice Brothers are a whole new deal than on CD, as my wife and I found out Saturday. Itâs not that they have showmanship; they donât. Instead, they have the fire in the belly (more than just the bottle of scotch they sipped onstage) and splendid musical ability to back it up.

For those who donât know, their raw songs, which range from chilling to rousing, are among the best of their generation; the band is road-tested to sloppy perfection; and the lead voices are completely distinctive: Ian Feliceâs is raspy, wry and commanding, and James Feliceâs is a bearlike howl. Comparisons to The Band are inevitable, but the Felice Brothers are darker, meaner and more scarred. Perhaps this is partly because they were raised in upstate New Yorkâs bloody old soil, which The Band only adopted.

The brothers themselves look absolutely nothing alike. Big, grinning James, with his tousled black hair and beard, can play accordion and organ/piano like you wouldnât believe. Emaciated Ian, angled sideways and pushing his mic around with his mouth, always seemed on the verge of falling over. His Guild semi-hollow-body guitar is beautiful, but the area around the lower f-hole is completely thrashed from the metal fingerpicks he uses.

The third actual brother, Simone, is on hiatus. The fill-in, built like Rocky Balboa, hit the drums harder than anyone Iâve ever heard.

Also bringing the noise was fiddle and washboard player Greg Farley, who was all over the place: poking and prodding his bandmates, gesturing to depict Ianâs lyrics and seemingly wanting to burst into rap at any time.

Silent bass player Christmas just tried to stay out of the way; too bad for him the stage was so small.

From the first notes, the crowd was caught up in the glory of the songs bursting forth with extra power: raw ravers like âFrankieâs Gunâ and âRun Chicken Run,â slow ones like âHey Hey Revolverâ and one excellent cover: Townes Van Zandtâs âTwo Hands.â

Meanwhile, Ian leaped onto the drum kit for a guitar solo, James threw the half-full bottle of Dewarâs across the stage to the drummer, who caught it, and Greg smashed two washboards, one of them on the drummerâs cymbal.

These men are young and reckless, but they seem to be possessed by an old spirit.

(Photo by Michelle Crowley â Greg Farley flails as accordion player James Felice howls Saturday night at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vt.)

More Felice, More Fish, More Funk

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:47:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

It just won't warm up here in Saranac Lake. I'm not sure it broke freezing today, but the hot spot of my week was last night in Burlington, Vt., where my wife and I went to see the Felice Brothers - astoundingly good. My review and Michelle's photos of the show should be up Monday night on www.tendollarradioshow.com, where you can also find the podcast of this week's radio show and an archive going back to October.

On this show are four songs from the Felices' new album, "Yonder Is the Clock," which came out Tuesday. Imagine them with a double dose of gas on the fire, and you're getting an idea of how this band gets live.

Also this week, some more animals followed me into the studio - mostly fish, but the Felices threw a couple more chickens into the pot we were cooking on the March 15 show. Special thanks go to Brother John and Uncle Paul for sending tunes my way.

Plus, Dan Zanes wants payback, Dinah Washington wants trombones with butter, John Sinclair and Wayne Kramer share poetic hipster ironies, and an Iranian wails the blues in the Caucasus Mountains, a recording sent to us by ex-Saranac Lake newsman Jacob Resneck.

Jacob can only listen to the podcast, but those of you lucky enough to be local can tune in every Sunday evening from 6 to 8 on 102.1 or 105.5 FM.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a fish out of water in a former Soviet republic and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Pay Me My Money Down - Dan Zanes
Plastic Jim - Sly & the Family Stone
Trombone Butter - Dinah Washington
The Old Days - Dr. Dog
Wicked Wanda - Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Funk 49 - Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Liberties - Attack in Black
The Big Surprise - The Felice Brothers
Chicken Wire - The Felice Brothers
Run Chicken Run - The Felice Brothers
The Boy from Lawrence County - The Felice Brothers
Beyond Here Lies Nothin' - Bob Dylan
Monk's Dream - John Sinclair
Revolution in Apt. 29 - Wayne Kramer & David Was
Hang You from the Heavens - The Dead Weather
Warped Sister - Booker T
Freedom Highway (live) - Mavis Staples
Talking Old Soldiers - Betty Lavette
Caucasian Blues (CUT) - Aidin Davoudi
Lime Rock - And the Moneynotes
Check Your Time - Westbound Train
Set in Stone - Catfish Haven
In this Lonely Town - Jeremy Jay
Talkin' Troutfishing in America Blues - Dooderonomy
Gone Fishin' - Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong
Fishin' Blues - William Clarke
Sierra Fresca (Song for Teresa the Fishmonger) - Rolando Sanchez
An Ocean and a Rock - Lisa Hannigan
Spike Drivers Blues - Laura Veirs
Dead Man, Acoustic Theme - Neil Young

E-mail requests, ideas and comments to tendollarradio@gmail.com.

(Photo by Michelle Crowley - An accordion, the setlist, a Fender amp and a bottle of scotch sit onstage next to Ian Felice's feet Saturday night at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vt.)

Nets Bursting with Fish

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 6 Apr 2009 03:28:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

There are too many fish songs in the sea to catch them all, and it's tricky business since you never know what kind of garbage can end up in your net. Nevertheless, Ned and I (yeah, Ned was up this weekend) got a pretty good haul here for you.

It was Ned's idea to do a fish show, inspired by the recent chicken show, the brainchild of sometime $10 guest DJ Kelly Hofschneider, who now gets greeted with new tones of respect by chickens everywhere. I hope the fish show Ned the same kind of deference, but not to the point of fear - then they'd stay too far away from his hook. Not that he's doing too much fishing down in New York City, but still ...

I put out the line to you reader/listeners for fish song suggestions two weeks ago, but only two people responded. My mom called for "Too Many Fish in the Sea," which we played, and my Uncle Paul sent a trio which somehow flopped back into the water before I could complete the catch. I'm sorry; I'll try to play 'em next week. We can justify a few extra fish; trout season just started April 1 up here in northern New York.

As always, the show airs from 6 to 8 p.m. every Sunday on 102.1 and 105.5 FM.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a catfish fillet sizzling in a pan of butter and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Laughing River - Greg Brown

Fish Ain't Bitin' - Corey Harris

Fish Tales - Aesop Rock

Give a Man a Fish - Arrested Development

Fish in the Dish - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Too Many Fish in the Sea - The Marvelettes

Pisces Fish - George Harrison

Too Late to Come Fishing - Richard Thompson

Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys

Talking Fishing Blues - Woody Guthrie

I'm Going Fishing - Doc & Merle Watson

Fishin' Clothes - Lightnin' Hopkins

Catfish Blues - Robert Petway

Catfish Blues - Buddy Guy and Junior Wells

Old Fishin' Pole - from the "Country Music Memorial" album

Fish Song - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Swordfishtrombone - Tom Waits

Fisherman's Wife - Califone

Big Fish - Giant Sand

Dragonflys - Devendra Banhart

Lazy Flies - Beck

Lies I've Told - Yarn

Backwater Blues - Lonnie Johnson

High Water (for Charley Patton) - Bob Dylan

Dry River - The Knitters

You Don't Miss Your Water - William Bell

Going to the River - Fats Domino

Red River Blues - Henry Thomas

Swanee River Rock - Ray Charles

River Blues - Lowell Fulson

Saturday Night Fish Fry - Louis Jordan & the Tympani Five

Any other theme ideas, other song requests, or just want to tell us your favorite kind of fish? We're at tendollarradio@gmail.com .

Neil's Motor is Humming Again

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sat, 4 Apr 2009 21:45:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

I'm listening to the new Neil Young album, "Fork in the Road," in 30-seconds-per-song bits, and I love what I hear. His best since ... "Broken Arrow"? Yes, I think so. That was 1996 - his prime. He's back. It's 1989 all over again for him, when he shifted from his '80s experiments into his '90s groove. All it took was a big old steel behemoth with a hummin' engine and a new source of fuel.

Allmusic's review says it all. Read it here: http://blog.allmusic.com/2009/4/3/neil-young-fork-in-the-road/

You can also listen to clips of each song on allmusic: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:39fqxz90ldde

And there's a lot of cluttered junk - some good, some crap - on the official Neil site: http://neilyoung.com/ . Watch the videos, if you can, for four songs from the new album: "Fork in the Road," "Johnny Magic" (2 of 'em), "Light a Candle" and - maybe best of all - "Cough up the Bucks," the chorus line of which is a question to the Wall Street barons: "Where did all the money go? Where did all the cash flow?" It may be populist, but it's still a good question.

It seems like a great time for new music from old geniuses who are getting their acts together again. Dylan also has a new album coming out April 28; read a very long interview with him about it on his site here: http://www.bobdylan.com/#/conversation . Marianne Faithfull has a great new one. Elvis Costello has an acoustic one coming that sounds good from the song I heard. Also, with new stuff by Felice Brothers, Neko Case and many more I can't think of at the moment (add some in comments below, if you like), you really need to take a wad of money from your account and head down to your local record store - not online or at some crappy chain - and buy some of this stuff. Me, I'll be dropping some dough at Ampersound in Saranac Lake - the only record store left in the Tri-Lakes area.

Seriously, these locally owned record stores are shrines, but they're dying. They need you, and although you may not realize it, you need them, if you're a music lover, to refresh your soul. Think about it; your soul is probably malnourished. Listen to this Neil album to find out what it feels like when a soul revives. It's like when his 1959 Lincoln Continental got a new, electric motor: It's as much of a glorious, heavyweight cruiser as ever, but it's get new, fresh juice flowing through thosewide-open veins.

Ohigher Education

tendollarradioshow@gmail.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:11:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

A friend is moving back to Ohio, which prompts both sadness and this week's theme. Ohio consultant Kelly Hofshneider joins me, bringing her formidable knowledge of the Buckeye State and its bands. Reared in Dayton, she went to school with the Ohio Players' kids. As a college student in Cincinnati, she rubbed shoulders with the Afghan Whigs and The National. About half of the 25 Ohio songs in this week's show come from her, including a hot set from the Cincinnati-based King records, which started out as a hillbilly music label before swinging fully into rhythm & blues - most famously James Brown.

Sorry this week's podcast is posted a day later than usual; I was in New York City hanging out with Ned this weekend. By the magic of radio, I also managed to be on the air up here as usual - 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday on 102.1 or 105.5 FM. But on Saturday night, Ned and I went over to Hoboken, N.J. to see a show that had us boogying the night away: Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves - a stupendously cooking soul band who's been lauded by national rock press but still plays a small club for $10, which also included a superb opening band: Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents. Check out Ned's write-up and photo at http://tendollarradio.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=449141.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a million buckeyes roasting on an open fire and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

My City Was Gone - The Pretenders

O-H-I-O - Ohio Players

Ohio Air Show Plane Crash - Joe Henry

Bookie's Blues - H-Bomb Ferguson

Down Home Girl - The Coasters

Butter Your Popcorn - Hank Ballard

Fever - Marie "Queenie" Lyons

Think - James Brown

Fake Empire - The National

My Valuable Hunting Knife - Guided By Voices

Fever - Over the Rhine

Happiness Is a Warm Gun - The Breeders

Three Faint Calls - The Greenhornes

Out at Sea - Heartless Bastards

Cincinnati, Ohio - Connie Smith

Cuyahoga - R.E.M.

Look Out Cleveland - The Band

Pancho & Lefty (live) - Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan

Burn On - Randy Newman

Dayton, Ohio 1903 - Randy Newman

Ohio River Boat Song - Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Banks of the Ohio - Johnny Cash

King of Caypso - Ed's Redeeming Qualities

Look at Miss Ohio - Gillian Welch

Ohio Heat - Super Furry Animals

Ohio (live June 6, 1970) - CSNY

Everyday - Vetiver

Furr - Blitzen Trapper

Mykonos - Fleet Foxes

Belated Promise Ring - Iron & Wine

Hello - Dan Zanes

If you have any ideas or requests for this show, e-mail them to tendollarradio@gmail.com.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:40:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

The Ten Dollar Radio Show crossed state linesâactually, a riverâto see a hell of a show over the weekend: Eli âPaperboyâ Reed and the True Loves. Neck-deep in the neo-soul scene that Iâve really been digging these last few years, these guys put on a spine-cracker of a show. Pete and Iâreunited for the weekend in New York Cityâhopped across the Hudson and landed in Hoboken, where we found beer at a decent price, fortifying late-night pizza and Maxwellâs, a club with a little box of a performance space. Good spot for a show, great show for the spot. Paperboy is a young white guy who sings like Sam Cooke with healthy doses of James Brown and Otis Redding. He pulls it off. Plays some decent guitar, too. Backing him up are the True Loves: three-piece horn section, drums, bass and wicked, reverb-soaked, telecaster-twanging lead guitar player. They put it down and pick it up all night long. Give âem a listen.

And if you dig the likes of those guys, check out Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents, who opened the show. Theyâre cooking up a similar dish, though with three women up front, complete with choreographed hand movements (I think I even saw them do the Swim), this is a bit more Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. They smoked the place. We saw both bands for $10. I know the recessionâs on and all that, but $10 still has some muscle, eh? (Photo by Ned P. Rauch, with apologies to the lead guitar player for framing him out of the image. No offense, OK? It's an accident.)

Ghost Gamblers

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:43:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Hereâs an idea: Next time you hear that Ghost Gamblers are playing somewhere, go see them. If you like the Band, if you liked that Mudcrutch album that came out a year or two ago, if you like Mendoza Line, the Dexateens, Pieta Brown, the Sadies or the Felice Brothers, youâll dig Ghost Gamblers. Not that they sound a lot like those folks, but they share a vibe. Maybe you donât like any of those bands. Doesnât matter. (Though if you like that awful new Chris Cornell album, it does matter because you're completely nuts.) If you like most of what you hear on the Ten Dollar Radio Show, youâll like Ghost Gamblers. Dig this: The six-person band has four top-notch singers (thatâs Band-ish, ainât it?). And theyâve got pedal steel. And a bass player who spends a few songs of every set smoking it on lead guitar. And they play a mean cover of âJigsaw Puzzle.â What are you going to do with that? Hereâs what: go see them. Ghost Gamblers are working on an EP. When it comes out you should get it. Meantime, you should get into the other bands these guys are in. Theyâve all got albums that you can track down via the Google machine and iTunes: Monuments, the Basement Band, Earl Greyhound. (Photo of Ghost Gamblers playing at National Underground, on the Lower East Side, by Ned P. Rauch.)

"To Be Still" - a review

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:54:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Alela Dianeâs second studio record, âTo Be Still,â released in February, isnât quite as still as her first record, âPirateâs Gospel,â which was a dandy. Here, her clarion voice and quiet arrangements move with a bitâjust a bitâmore bounce than they did on âPirateâs.â We get a few more instruments, too: electric guitar, pedal steel, piano, mandolin, fiddle, cello, drums. And it works. The chants are mostly gone, but Dianeâs music remains as hypnotic as a swinging pocket watch. The sound is full, and her voice has become more nimble. Nice writing, too. On our new Ten Dollar scale, Iâd give âTo Be Stillâ $7.85.

Why does everyone in this audience look the same?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:37:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Hereâs a question: Why are music audiences still so segregated? Rather, why do black people listen to these types of music and white people those types of music, rarely crossing paths along the way? Times have changed, right? Thereâs no longer any forced segregation, and for the first time a guy whose skin color doesnât look anything like his predecessorâs was elected president. So what gives with music? Iâve been to a lot of shows since moving to New York and pretty much everyone in every audience has been white. There were a few exceptions at the last Jalopy show I attended: I found myself standing next to a pair of black guys, but it turned out both of them were performers. I say âbutâ there because plenty of white people attend shows BY black performers, they just donât seem to attend shows WITH black people. The performer/audience relationship is plenty mixed, but the audiences themselves are typically monochromatic. Why?

The audiences in jazz and blues clubs Iâve been to have been overwhelmingly white, no matter whoâs been on stage. Rock showâwhite. Countryâblanco. Bluegrassâlike snow. Folkânothing but crackers. Iâve seen some hip-hop shows, and theyâve been a bit more mixed. The Roots, who I saw play in Central Park a few years back, attracted a fair number of non-honkeys, but still, it was mostly white.

Hereâs another thought: White people have a long history of appreciating, appropriating (some say stealing) black music: Elvis, British Invasion bands, Cream, the Beastie Boys, etc. What about the other way around? And this: What white bands out there attract large numbers of non-white listeners? One more: When Living Colour, the guys who brought us âThe Cult of Personality,â one of the great songs of my lifetime, were big, did black people listen to them? All the guys in the band are back, yet they play a brand of metal/rock that, typically, appeals to white audiences.

Thoughts, anyone? Counter examples? Am I way off base here? Let me know.

Ned and Jack Are Back

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:10:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Ned tags in from NYC to relieve me for about half of this week's show, well rested and backed by a posse of heavy-hitting ringers: Robert Jay beating back the booze, Dusty Springfield with plenty of heart to share, Little Wings with their magic wand, M. Ward raving on and Son Volt humming like a turbojet.

Meanwhile, I emerge from my record boxes with a Sham, a Snow, a Stone and a dancing bear, and Arbouretum memorializes a false spring in the Adirondacks.

Particularly nice, like a first taste of this year's maple syrup (on tap right now, with nights and days straddling 32 Fahrenheit) is more from Ramblin' Jack Elliott's new album, "A Stranger Here," due out April 7 (same day as the new Felice Brothers). I played one heart-stopping song from it, "Soul of a Man," on Jan. 18. Now I have the whole album, and you benefit. More from it next week. For you maple-savvy Adirondackers, that's 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday on 102.1 or 105.5 FM. For the story of how Ned and I met Jack, my 2004 newspaper column about it is still archived, sans byline, at http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/97452-hoping-to-amble-into-ramblin-jack.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like Scooter and Fozzie covering Randy Newman (remember that episode of "The Muppet Show" when they did "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear?") and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

I Wish It Were Me - Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

Music Makin' Mama from Memphis - Hank Snow

Chicken - Sly & the Family Stone

Jane Is a Groupee - Sly & the Family Stone

The Minor Drag - Fats Waller

Practice Makes Perfect - Billie Holiday

Mustang Sally & GTO - John Lee Hooker

I Got a Leak in This Old Building - Lightnin' Hopkins

False Spring - Arbouretum

---(enter Ned)---

Alcohol Pt. 1 - Robert Jay

King Cobra - The Budos Band

Chicago Falcon - The Budos Band

Take Another Little Piece of My Heart - Dusty Springfield

Clay Pigeons - Blaze Foley

They Killed John Henry - Justin Townes Earle

Bread & Water - Ryan Bingham

Fixed to Ruin - Sam Roberts

Magic Wand - Little Wings

Rave On - M. Ward

Open All Night - Son Volt

Go On and Pass Me By - Po' Girl

Ain't No One Like You - Greg Brown

---(exit Ned)---

Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear - Randy Newman

Rising High Water Blues - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Death Don't Have No Mercy - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Satisfied Mind - The Wilburn Brothers

Color the Shade - Oakley Hall

SCAC 101 - Slim Cessna's Auto Club

The Blinding Crash - Li'l Cap'n Travis

Lovers Waltz - Delta Spirit

After last week's chicken-themed show, it was suggested that we do a show about fish, especially with trout season starting April 1 up here. I already have a few fish songs, but I bet y'all know a bunch more. How about y'all send me some fish song requests? If I don't have yours in my tackle box, maybe you could shoot me an mp3. Catch me at tendollarradio@gmail.com.

Crooked Still

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:59:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Crooked Stillâbanjo, cello, fiddle, stand-up bass and the divine Aoife OâDonovan on vocals and guitarâplayed at the Bell House, in Gowanus, Brooklyn, Friday night. They put on a decent show. All the musicians are top-shelf, but they never really caught fire, never really cut through. I donât know how else to describe what was wrong, because really, there was nothing wrong. Iâm nitpicking. But the songs needed a little more edge, oomph, attack, sparkâsomething. That said, Aoife is tops. I saw her play with Sometimes Why a few months ago. She owned that show and she owned this one. For my ears, she should have played more guitar. Thatâs what was missing, really, a percussive, driving rhythm guitar part. When Aoife played, she mostly finger-picked. It sounded nice, but it didnât goose the tunes the way they needed goosing. Still, a good band. Look âem up. Oh, a Wailin' Jenny was there and sang a tune with the band. You can see her in the accompanying photo: front row, center.

The Bell House, by the way, is a heck of a place. Nice big barn-like space with a pair of snazzy chandeliers. They say it just opened. Great sound, great feel. Out front is a bar with well-priced cocktails with names like White Lightning/White Heat, the Tighten Up and the Pablo Honey. (Photo by Ned P. Rauch)

A Chicken in Every Pot

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:59:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Two hours of audio-poultry - 37 songs' worth - that's the kind of bounty we're blessed with when Kelly Hofschneider sits in as guest DJ. That's probably one chicken song per listener, I figure. Kelly describes it as our stimulus package. Which one do you want in your pot?

By the way, the phrase, "a chicken in every pot," is attributed to various political leaders, dating back to 17th-century King Henry IV of France, but it's most commonly blamed on Herbert Hoover's 1928 presidential campaign, when the Republican National Committee (not Hoover himself, according to the Hoover Presidential Library and answers.com) advertised in newspapers that the recent Harding and Coolidge presidencies had "put the proverbial 'chicken in every pot.' And a car in every backyard, to boot."

Like at a factory farm, Kelly's idea of playing chicken songs quickly got pumped up on steroids, but we kept it truly free range - over all kinds of musical genres: funk, swing, Latin, country, punk, blues, reggae, etc. One turkey song found its way into the henhouse ("Butterball" - I couldn't resist the Tijuana Brass), and Roy Orbison's "Running Scared" doesn't specifically mention chickens (although it's about being chicken), but otherwise, it's thematically pure. Included are four wildly different versions of "Cluck Old Hen" and the closely related "The Red Rooster" and "Little Red Rooster," which differ largely on perspective: One takes the voice of the farmer, the other the rooster.

Someone mentioned why we didn't pick a St. Patrick's Day theme, to which I can only answer, we did. The patron saint of chicken farmers is St. Brigid of Ireland, whose mother was baptized by St. Patrick. Read more here: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-brigid-of-ireland/.

If you're in crowing distance, listen every Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m., or online at your leisure at tendollarradioshow.com.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a fox in the henhouse and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Do the Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas
Do the Chicken - Ike and Tina Turner
A Chicken Ain't Nothin' but a Bird - Cab Calloway
Nobody Here but Us Chickens - Louis Jordan
Chicken Heads - Oscar Brown Jr.
The Chicken - James Brown
Chicken Half - Sugerman 3
Thunder Chicken - The Mighty Imperials
Chicken and Rice - Jack Costanzo (Mr. Bongo) And His Latin Combustion Band
Legendary Chicken Fairy - Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan
Chicken Feed - Bobbi Staff
Chicken Farm - Dead Kennedys
Running Scared - Roy Orbison
Chicken - Devendra Banhart
Rooster Blues - Lightning Slim
Little Red Rooster - The Rolling Stones
The Red Rooster - Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley
The Rooster Moans - Iron & Wine
Cluck Old Hen - Holly GoLightly & the Brokeoffs
Cluck Old Hen - Taj Mahal
Cluck Old Hen - Califone
Cluck Old Hen - The Stanley Brothers
Falsehearted Chicken - Samamidon
Butterball - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Know Your Chicken - Cibo Matto
Return to Hot Chicken - Yo La Tengo
Crow Black Chicken - Ry Cooder
Cackling Hen - New Lost City Ramblers
Poultry in Motion - Bill Kirchen
Chicken Wire - The Felice Brothers
Chicken - Mississippi John Hurt
Chicken Scratch - Lee "Scratch" Perry
Best Dressed Chicken In Town - Dr. Alimantado
Voodoo Without Killing Chicken - Knut Reiersrud Band
Chicken Reel - Les Paul
Chicken Rhythm - Slim Gailard
Cock-A-Doodle-Do - Wynonie Harris

If you have other animal-themed songs to suggest, or if you want my extra vinyl copy of Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream and Other Delights," shoot me an e-mail at tendollarradio@gmail.com.

Dom Flemons

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:21:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Just saw this guy, Dom Flemons, who typically plays with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, perform in Brooklyn. Knockout. Overflowing love for old blues, mountain tunes, early jazz, country, hillbilly stuff. And his hands look like daddy long-legs. Check him out if heâs in your town.

Hot Rabbits and Icy Sidewalks

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 02:42:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Episode 78 (more than a year-and-a-half old and still going), in which Mr. Crowley performs a song on the air, something he's never done before. More audacious still, it's a song he wrote, eight years ago this week, March 4, 2001. Like this week, the March weather had come on suddenly that year, seemingly the minute the calendar turned from February. That time, a snowstorm was on the way. This time, just more melting, with a chance of scattered refreezing.

Also in this episode:

-the Ten Dollar Radio Show presents the fabulous Dalton Brothers, who were actually U2, opening for themselves as things got squirrelly on the last leg of the 1987 "Joshua Tree" stadium tour

-new music by the Felice Brothers (album out April 7, playing at Higher Ground in South Burlington April 11) as well as Marianne Faithfull (covering Neko Case), Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Speck Mountain and Mazes

-old music by Van Morrison, Bessie Smith, Stephane Grappelli and Townes Van Zandt

-a pair of downbeat newspaper songs

-and in the middle of it all, 12 songs Ned mailed up here, including new work by Chris Isaak, J.J. Cale, Dan Auerbach (a former Black Key) and Les Chaud Lapins (the hot rabbits).

Hot rabbits this week - maybe it'll be lukewarm hens next Sunday. Who knows? To find out, tune in from 6 to 8 p.m. on 102.1 and 105.5 FM, and listen anytime, to any episode, on www.tendollarradioshow.com. This week's podcast is up; apologies that the closing song got cut off on the recording. It's a beauty ...

The Ten Dollar Radio - sounds like March weather in the Adirondacks (Don't like it? Wait five minutes) and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Penn Station - The Felice Brothers
People Talkin' Blizzard - Peter Crowley

Party 'Til the Money Runs Out - The Radiators

Why Is Everybody Getting Paid But Me - The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

Lucille - The Dalton Brothers
Yesterday's Papers - The Rolling Stones
The Morning Paper - Billy Walker
Little Maggie - The Stanley Brothers
If I Never See You Anymore - The Two Gospel Keys

Action Speaks Louder than Words - Galactic

---Begin Ned's set---

Cheater's Town - Chris Isaak

Strange Days - J.J. Cale

Smokey Joe's Cafe - Buddy Holly

J'ai Danse Avec L'Amour - Les Chaud Lapins

Si Tu M'aimes - Les Chaud Lapins

J'ai Ta Main - Les Chaud Lapins

Mississippi - The Moonlighters

Hawaiian Blues - The Moonlighters

Trouble Weighs a Ton - Dan Auerbach

Mean Monsoon - Dan Auerbach

Street Walkin' - Dan Auerbach

Brokedown Palace - Ollabelle

---End Ned's set---

I Feel Eternal - Speck Mountain

Hold On Hold On - Marianne Faithfull
I Have Laid in the Darkness of Doubt - Mazes

Beware Your Only Friend - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Robots - Dan Mangan
Thrill of Thirty Seconds - Skint and Demoralised

The Way Young Lovers Do (live 1970) - Van Morrison
Kitchen Man - Bessie Smith

Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine - Stephane Grappelli
Make Your Own - Dr. John

Racing in the Streets - Townes Van Zandt

The Word on Ludlow

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Thu, 5 Mar 2009 21:13:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Ludlow Guitars has, in addition to fine instruments and custom effects pedals, a terrific Web site and blog, http://www.ludlowguitars.com/blog. The blog is especially exciting for guitar geeks, but itâs written well enough to appeal to, well, I guess you still have to be a guitar geek. Thereâs a terrific entry on Gibson Guitars and how the companyâmakers of the uber-popular Les Paul (as seen in the picture, with other Gibsons, hanging on the wall at the Ludlow store)âis trying to muscle around independent music stores. Seems a bit Goliath-y to me. Couple that with Gibsonâs awful product development and quality control, and the company doesnât come off looking all that well. A quick aside: OLD Gibsons are to be cherished. Itâs the new ones that stink and are over-priced. (Photo courtesy of Ludlow Guitars.)

March mood

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 2 Mar 2009 04:01:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

In a week when rain and mid-40s temps prompted demolition of our fair ice palace here in Saranac Lake, why rock out? It's the first day of March. It's Lent. The world is changing - in all kinds of ways. To everything there is a season, and March is for soul-searching - always has been for me, sometimes more painfully than others.

This year it's not so bad, as I hope you can tell by this stream-of-consciousness playlist. It's slower and more mellow than most weeks' shows, especially at the beginning, but there's not much pain here, and there's a fair bit of joyful optimism, such as Eddie Vedder's trumpet of eternal hope for the Chicago Cubs (my favorite baseball team) and Glenn Osser's swingin' jingle for the New York Mets (Ned's faves). Both teams are warming up in spring training now, breathing in the thrill of the grass.

Meanwhile, up here, we're blowing out the snot of the freeze-thaw cycle.

One good side of this time of year is that it makes you a little more honest with yourself. That's reflected here in songs by Bonnie Prince Billy, Emmylou Harris (written by Gram Parsons), Patsy Cline, Graham Nash and Neil Young, from whom we hear a nerve-racked, passionate and strangely lyrical serenade to Joni Mitchell - his only known public performance of this confessional song. He otherwise kept it hid, but on the 11th of March (!), 1973 in Bakersfield, Calif., he felt the need to spill what was in his heart. I, for one, toast him for that.

I didn't keep it all down-tempo, not by a long shot. Please groove on Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, Opie Hendrix & the Texas Tallboys, J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound, Junior Walker & The All-Stars, Ernest Tubb & His Texas Troubadours, and Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele - and and and and and ...

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a whole lot of plurality and plays for free.

On the air: 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays on 102.1 and 105.5 FM

This week's playlist:

New Partner - Bonnie Prince Billy

When the Night Comes - Dan Auerbach
Hickory Wind (live, 1975) - Emmylou Harris with the Hot Band
Little Twig - Neil Halstead

Tired of Waiting for You - The Kinks

There Are Too Many Birds - Arthur & Yu

Low Yo Yo Stuff - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band

Romeo Is Bleeding (live, 1979) - Tom Waits

Red Shoes (live, 1979) - Tom Waits

Truth Hits Hardest - Conrad Ford

Girl in the Window - The Sumner Brothers
On the Other Side - Vetiver
Dead in a Ditch - Opie Hendrix & the Texas Tallboys
Beat of Our Own Drum - J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound
Do the Boomerang - Junior Walker & The All-Stars

Fortune Teller - Benny Spellman

Do You Love Me? - The Explorer's Club
Sweet Lips - Webb Pierce with Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours
Shoes - Patsy Cline with Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours

Living Well Is the Best Revenge - R.E.M.
Blue Blue Day - The Wilburn Brothers

Meet the Mets - Glenn Osser & His Orchestra
Someday We'll Go All the Way (live, 2008?) - Eddie Vedder

I Used to Be a King (live, 1972) - Graham Nash and David Crosby
Sweet Joni (live, 1973) - Neil Young
Modern World - The Modern Lovers

Smoke, Smoke, Smoke - Sammy Davis Jr.
My Baby Don't 'Low - Gene Vincent

Trash City - Joe Strummer

Meet Me in the Garden - Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele

Bottled Up - The Candymen

Voa, Voa, Perereca - Caetano Veloso & Jorge Mautner

Gypsy Rose - Ben Kweller

The Sioux - Annabelle Chvostek

(Correction: On the air, I said the Graham Nash performance here was from 1973; then I got home, looked it up and found out it was from 1972. As we say in the newspaper, the Ten Dollar Radio Show regrets the error.)

Manny's Was Already Gone

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:21:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch

Mannyâs Music, once the hub of Music Row, New Yorkâs instrument-dealer scene, is going under. The giant store with the giant vertical sign on the south side of 48th street, across from Sam Ash and down the block from Rudyâs, is expected to fold in May. According to this guy, http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com, Music Row, as a whole, is living on borrowed time. Sad, but Mannyâs ainât what it used to be. Hasnât been for a long time.

Ages ago, it was a Mecca. In 1987 or â88, for example, Guns nâ Roses made sure to include footage of their visit to Mannyâs in their video for âParadise City.â Hard to imagine a) anyone caring about a GNR video now and b) any band wearing the âWorldâs Biggest Rock Bandâ belt filming a visit to a music store. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, in SoHo, has a Guild guitar Buddy Holly bought from Mannyâs in the late 1950s. It also has a white pick from Bruce Springsteen thatâs got Mannyâs name on it.

I remember going to Manny's in grade school and later when I was home from boarding school and college. I bought an amp there in 1995. Back then it was always packed, always happening. The display windows showed the baddest guitars youâd ever seen. The walls were completely hidden by the choicest Fenders, Gibsons, Gretsches, Rickenbackersâeven Jacksons for the shredders. It felt like the official store of New Yorkâs rock scene.

I went back a few weeks ago. It was practically empty. On the back wall hung Gibsonâs latest bright idea, the Dark Fire, a half-robot guitar that tunes itself. I plugged it in and asked a saleswoman how to activate the self-tuning technology. She said she had no idea and went to get the instruction manual. Unable to find it, or anyone who knew anything about the guitar, she came back with a promotional pamphlet. It was pathetic, and it never would have flown when Mannyâs was Mannyâs.

There are more and better guitar stores all over the city: Umanovâs, Ludlow, Rivington and the Shangri-la of them all, Mandolin Brothers, on Staten Island. Mannyâs was great. Itâs lame now. Condolences to the people who work there and depend on it for income. (Photo lifted from the blog Lost City, mentioned above.)

A Pinch of Minch

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:35:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Hard to do better than a woman with a 1937 Duolian resonator guitar and a voice like an oak tree. Mamie Minch, late of the Roulette Sisters, played Jalopy, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, last Friday, swinging through old blues and jazz tunes and new, old-sounding blues and jazz tunes for an hour or so before a happy but unfairly small audience. Andy Cotton accompanied her on bass. Minch has it: a sneer (almost a snarl, really) when she sings, on-stage ease and a fingerpicking style that gives her songs bounce and life. And that voice: Itâs got the all the strength of a tree and none of its wooden-ness. On a song like âBorder Radio,â it proves surprisingly supple. So, if weâre sticking with the tree analogy, think flexible oak, a rare breed.

Sheâs about to tour Australia; theyâll like her down there. Too bad they canât see her at Jalopy, which, after two visits, has become my favorite music joint in the city. Old guitars and spare-part banjos and ukes hang from the brick walls. The soundâs good, the folks who work there are funny and generous, the beer is cheap, thereâs a popcorn machine and theyâve got local beef jerky. Heaven on earth, really.

The place was perfect for Minch, though with her voice she wouldnât have a problem filling out a place twice the size. Minch ainât meek, and she shouldnât be. Sheâs got the chops and material, and she knows how to put her songs across. Sheâs got a record out: Razorburn Blues. Check her out at http://www.myspace.com/mamieminch.

Also at Jalopy that night, Les Chauds Lapins, a band whose lineup includes another former Roulette Sister, Meg Reichardt. Jazz tunes from 1920s and 30s France, mostly. Knockout stuff. Theyâve got a record, too: Parlez-Moi dâAmour. Iâm listening to it right now, and itâs great. Cello, violin, guitar (thatâs Meg), uke-banjo (Meg also), bass clarinet, bass. Find out more about them at www.leschaudslapins.com.
(Photo of Mamie Minch and Andy Cotton by Ned P. Rauch)

Last Day to Live Large

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:55:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Although 41 days is, for Boozoo Chavis, the length of time his baby's been gone, it could be loosely - OK, very loosely - interpreted as a reference to the 40 days of Lent that begin this (Ash) Wednesday, plus Mardi Gras day before. Why else would he pick 41? I suppose there are plenty of other possible reasons out there, and Boozoo ain't telling. He doesn't say much that makes a lot of sense. Oh well, imagine for this show that that's what he means.

With lean Lent coming up, this Tuesday is the fat one in New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama and other places that celebrate Mardi Gras. In Brazil and parts of Europe, they'll be calling it Carnaval (translated loosely as farewell to meat/flesh). This week's show is heavy on New Orleans with a little side dish of Brazil. It's a big meaty party, and the hambone at the center of it all is a five-song block of Dr. John. I only wish I could have played more. I blogged about how good he is the other day; check it out (along with this show, and all our podcasts and articles) at www.tendollarradio.com.

Also on this show is new music from M. Ward, Charlie Louvin and Heartless Bastards, plus four scratchy songs from the '20s or perhaps even earlier - two of them copied from cylinders played on a 1914 Thomas Edison-brand gramophone.

If you're in range, listen next Sunday and every Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. on 102.1 or 105.5 FM.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like the cost of a night out in the French Quarter and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Forty-One Days - Boozoo Chavis
Crescent City - Lucinda Williams
Froggie Moore - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
Mardi Gras in New Orleans - Professor Longhair
Let the Four Winds Blow - Fats Domino
Look Ka Py Py - The Meters
Century City - Galactic
Zu Zu Man - Dr. John
Little Closer to My Home - Dr. John
Chippy, Chippy - Dr. John
Anutha Zone - Dr. John
Hello God - Dr. John
Time Is on My Side - Irma Thomas
The Same Love That Made Me Laugh - Irma Thomas
River Boat - Allen Toussaint
Rag Mama Rag (live) - The Band
Mornin', Noon and Night - The Trumpet Kings (Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Roy Eldridge) and Big Joe Turner
God Don't Like It - Blind Willie Johnson
Shake, Rattle and Roll - Al Bernard
Whistling Foxtrot - Green Bros. Novelty Band
Tell It Like It Is - Aaron Neville
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? - Louis Armstrong
Hino Do Carnaval Brasileiro - Caetano Veloso and Jorge Mautner
Trem Fantasma (ghost train) - Os Mutantes
Quem Tem Medo de Brincar de Amor? (Who's afraid to jump up for love?) - Os Mutantes
For Beginners - M. Ward
Darling Corey - Charlie Louvin
Walking in My Sleep - Jim & Jennie & the Pinetops
The Mountain - Heartless Bastards
Going Back Home - Howlin' Wolf
I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby - Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
A Common Disaster - Cowboy Junkies
The Most Fair Beauty Bright - Jean Ritchie
Weeping Woman Blues - Ma Rainey & her Georgia Jazz Band

Right Place, Right Time, Right Dude

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:28:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

I've been picking Mardi Gras-related songs for this Sunday's show, seeing as this Tuesday will be the Fat one. It's a joy, as you can probably imagine, and fortunately, friends and relatives have given me a lot to work with. Not only did my Uncle Paul in L.A. send me a bunch of tunes from the likes of Professor Longhair and the Hawketts (an early version of the Neville Brothers), but my friend Pete Seward loaned me a collection of CDs that includes SIX Dr. John albums.

Of course I thought, "Well, that's great, but I can't just play Dr. John all evening," and of course I won't - but listening to these discs, I'm realizing that, if for some crazy reason I DID play two hours of straight Dr. John, I would be perfectly happy for every minute of it. His music is just that good.

Really, it's hard to sit here and say that a guy as well known as him is underrated, and you could legitimately bust on his psychedeli-sell-out moniker from the '60s, "Dr. John the Night Tripper." Or you could write him off as typecast for his endless New Orleans schtick. But LISTEN to his music now. You'll hear the gravel, wit, weirdness and grimly glorious groove that now seem trademarked by Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart, but this was years before Tom made the scene, and it's less cracked than Beefheart - just crazy enough, not overboard. You'll also hear the best elements of deep blues, funk, rhythm 'n' blues and jazz - real, organic, hornful New Orleans jazz - and all of it unmistakably real.

Some people in the '60s may have taken his deal as hippy-drug bayou fantasy, but that's a mistake - just like Dennis Hopper's character in "Easy Rider" is proven wrong in his dopey view of New Orleans. That's not really Dr. John's deal; his is the real deal.

You can't overrate Dr. John; he's got it all. I may have to play more of his songs than I planned this Sunday - not two hours, but more than two songs. You'll hear.

---

There's a good article on Dr. John in London's Telegraph. (By the way, it should be noted that the photo that accompanies this entry is the Telegraph's.)

"Keep It Hid" - a review

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:15:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Thereâs Howlinâ Wolf in the title song, an organ playing a melody from Bob Dylanâs âSugar Babyâ and a whiff of John Fogerty in Track 6 and a touch of Ben E. King in the song that follows. Elsewhere, you hear a bit of Tom Waits, Califone and Man Man. Yet to dismiss Dan Auerbachâs debut solo record, âKeep it Hid,â as derivative is to do it an injustice. The influences are in plain sight; thereâs no hint of a rip-off.

Lenny Kravitz, on rare occasions, has pulled this off. More often, he sounds like ersatz Marley, cheap Hendrix, knockoff Curtis and phony Sly. Throughout this record, Auerbach uses those cornerstones to build something his own. âWhen the Night Comesâ uses a looping, 1950s chord progression and a reference to âStand By Meâ (the opening line of that song is, âWhen the night has comeââ) to create a lullaby that soothes a lover to sleep. The arrangement is spare and tender and matches perfectly the refrain: âDonât be afraid, youâre only dreaming.â

Elsewhere on the record, a more familiar Auerbach emerges. Evidence of his other band, The Black Keys, with distorted guitars, propulsive groove, heavy drums and Auerbachâs crystal-reverb voice, turn up on many of the cuts, but never so much that you think âKeep it Hidâ is just another Black Keys record. Where that band, which comprises just Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, pound and sway, Auerbach and the musicians heâs assembled here tap and stroll. Occasionally, as on âStreet Walkinâ,â they shimmy in a hard 60s garage rock kind of way.

His writing is direct. In âTrouble Weighs a Ton,â the opener, Auerbach tells his brother, âNeedles and things have done you in, like the setting sun. Oh, dear brother, trouble weighs a ton.â The lyric works because it conveys the hard truth about seeing a loved one in troubleâthe pain is shared.

Just as Auerbach lays bare his influences, so he does with the arrangements. All the instrumentsâand, compared to a Black Keys record, there are lotsâhave identifiable voices. You can distinguish between guitar tones and follow the bass doing one thing and the organ doing another. Unlike a lot of records that have come out recently, thereâs plenty of space here, yet nothing feels hollow or empty. The sound has depth.

It also has an honesty and, almost, a thrift-store/junkyard quality that make it a wholly appropriate record for our times. Unless itâs deliberately escapist, slick, over-produced pop makes no sense now, with the economy on the skids, wars going on and on, Republicans still being Republicans. âKeep it Hidâ is rough. Far from polished, itâs not even sanded. With every song, it seems to be saying, âCut the bullshit, donât sweat the small stuff, this is important.â We need it.

âKeep it Hidâ by Dan Auerbach is out on Nonesuch Records. (Photo courtesy of Auerbach.)

Lighting Up the Night

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:01:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

It's not often a DJ can end his radio show with a monumental fireworks display, but it seems that this show was just so good, the villagers of Saranac Lake felt it deserved a grand gesture of thanks. Therefore, at 8 p.m. Sunday, just after the closing strains of my last song - Clare & the Reasons warbling a single word, "Obama," to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" - the pyrotechnics were launched high into the cloud-covered sky, closing with a grand finale ranking with the best that people around here have ever seen. A throng of thousands gathered on the shore of frozen Lake Flower to ooh and aah. Minutes before, naturally, they had been in their cars, huddled over a thousand dashboards, listening to the Ten Dollar Radio Show.

OK, I'm lying; I hope I fooled some of you non-Saranac-Lake-savvy people on our e-mail list. (There are quite a lot of you, by the way.) The fireworks actually marked the closing of the village's 112th Winter Carnival, which, as always, was one of the best ever. We gawkers were huddled around the ice palace and, well, gawked. It was fun. For more on this year's Carnival, check out the Adirondack Daily Enterprise's coverage and photos.

The music flowed easily this week; I hope you can hear that. It's one of my favorite shows I've done, actually. No theme, no gimmicks, just good songs, each one wanting so badly to follow the one before it that I couldn't help but let it.

I already have some good stuff lined up for next Sunday, too, including new music from Charlie Louvin and M. Ward, and a couple of old record tubes played on a 1914 Thomas Edison-brand gramophone. As always, it'll air from 6 to 8 p.m. on 102.1 and 105.5 FM. And you can listen to whatever show, whenever (and read our many midweek postings) on this site.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a Great Society of people with souls as big as Allen Toussaint's, and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Unsophisticated Heart - Joe Pug
I'm Gonna DJ - REM
Things Get Better (live) - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
How Do You Tell a Child That Someone Has Died - The Black Lips
I Wonder Why - Dion
Great Society - The Candymen
Brother, You've Got Me Wrong - Ethel Waters
Up And Down - Gringo Star
Statesboro Blues - John Hammond
Have Mercy on Me - The Black Keys
It's a Funny Thing - Jets Overhead
Forgotten - Neil Diamond
Pantomime - Roy Orbison
Down Home Girl - The Rolling Stones
Down Home Girl - Herald Nix
Lay Low - My Morning Jacket
Turvalon - Allen Toussaint
As One - Billy Preston
Keep on Pushing - The Impressions
Keep on Pushing - Mavis Staples
The Weight - Aretha Franklin
The E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
I Walk the Line - Waylon Jennings
Chip Away the Stone - James Jackson Toth
Lay It Down - Cowboy Junkies
Loretta (live 1973) - Townes Van Zandt
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You - Ann Peebles
A Gentle Heart - Neil Halstead
On My Way - Ben Kweller
Crackerbox Palace - George Harrison
Obama Over the Rainbow - Clare & the Reasons

The Reasons Why

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:34:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Clare & The Reasons are genius masters of what gets a song to nestle down inside your head, cuddle up against your brain and charm the dickens out of you. And her voice belongs in the Smithsonian. And they do a song about Pluto's planetary demotion and another in which they sing a single, repeated word, "Obama," to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

She's Geoff Muldaur's daughter, by the way (he of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band and Maria Muldaur's onetime husband).

Check out Clare's songs, videos and everything else on her MySpace page by clicking here.

Why Older Is Better

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:45:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

On Saturday I spent some time at one of my favorite guitar stores, Matt Umanov Guitars. Itâs on Bleecker Street. The best thing about that street, really, except that it, the street, gets a mention in âKittyâs Back,â arguably Springsteenâs wildest song. So, points there.

Anyway, after messing around with a beautiful black Telecaster Custom, the kind with the humbucking pickup in the neck position, I moved over to the Ancient Gibson section and played four guitars: An L-00 from 1940, two L-Os, one from 1931 and the other from a few years later in the decade, and then another little fellow whose model I forget at the moment. All of them beautiful guitars, though the L-00, which I thought Iâd like best, I liked least. Its sound was boxed in, as if trapped in the guitar body. The L-Os, especially the earlier one, positively sang.

The salesman, Zeke, kept saying how a guitarâs sound improves the more itâs played. Thatâs why brand new guitars just canât keep up with the old boys. Many sound great, but they donât have THAT sound. I asked Zeke about that, why playing an instrument over a few decades would improve its sound. He said something about the vibrations working through the soundboard and into the glue and bracing. He cut himself off and came out with this: âItâs when you play an instrument that it stops being a table, or chair or anything else made out of wood, and starts to become an instrument.â Thatâs what does it. (Photo courtesy of www.umanovguitars.com)

A Night at Carnegie Hall

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:34:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

Dad and I visited Carnegie Hall to see Lames Levine conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra. My father has long been opposed to amplified music. Rather, he dislikes it when singers and musicians on stage play into microphones. He quite enjoys recordings, and one needs microphones to make them and amplifiers to hear them. But live, he prefers to hear the instruments as they were made, as the players hear them.

At Carnegie Hall, where there is no electronic amplification, I saw, or heard, what he means. Thereâs a purity thatâs lost to tubes and speakers. And, in fact, the sound coming out of a speaker is a reproduced version of the sound coming out of a violin. Also, a few dozen strings, brass section, woodwinds, harpsâtheyâre plenty loud enough. Thereâs no need, in a place designed as well as Carnegie is, to plug in. (An aside: You CAN hear the subway as it passes beneath the place. Thatâs the thing about New Yorkâthere is no escape from the annoyances of the subway system. Even the worldâs most famous stage has to tussle with those rattling, clattering trains. Nothingâreally, absolutely nothingâin this city is sacred.)

The performance, by the way, was a knockout. Levine conducted with more vigor than he has in recent years, according to Dad. He seemed to pull the musicâs dynamics from the orchestra with his swirling left hand as if he were pulling taffy from a bowl. The highlight, by far, was the fourth movement of Brahmsâ Second. The brass blasts into the end of the piece with something just, barely, shy of ferocity.

Lastly, former governor and current Slate columnist, Eliot Spitzer, and his wife, Silda, were sitting a few rows back. As best as I could tell, he kept his socks on for the whole performance. (Photo by Ned P. Rauch)

The Black Keys as Paul Bunyan/hip brontosaur

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 9 Feb 2009 14:52:00 GMT

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

A brontosaurus with swagger would listen to the Black Keys. So would Paul Bunyan. I saw them Sunday night at an old theater in Jersey where the bartenders are nice and the parking, unless you're a sucker, is free. It was easily the heaviest show I've ever seen. These guysâjust two of them, Patrick Carney on drums and Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocalsâcrushed the place.

There's something Bunyan-esque about them, as if they're felling redwoods with every groove they swing. The two of them built on blues lines from a hundred years ago to produce a full sound that rendered, for a night anyway, bass, keys, horns, multiple guitars completely redundant and unnecessary. And though everything about their sound conveyed mass, and lots of it, there was nothing plodding, lumbering or destructive about their playing. It was alive, kinetic, seemingly up for anything. Carney pounds his drums like a blacksmith pounds metalâequal parts power and touch. And Auerbach, with a few exceptions, plays without a pick, softening the riffs he pulls from his Gibson SG. Often his vocal lines follow his guitar, an old blues tradition that pops up in the music of Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Jimi Hendrix. Auerbach pulls it off with ease. This pair can play, and they've got a riveting vibe between them: each is clearly blown away by what the other is doing.

A somewhat peculiar stage set triggered a bit of head-scratching: an enormous dreamcatcher hangs behind center stage; an oversize head that may have been nicked from a tiki-bar looms on the side. Who cares. If the Black Keys come to your town, see them. (Photo by NPR, not the radio network)

The Icy Seas

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 9 Feb 2009 02:35:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

Pirates are unavoidable up here this weekend, as "Pirates of the Adirondacks" is the theme of the 112th Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. (OK, bear with us. We need the escapism this time of year.) It's all pretty corny, but it's also very easy to get into - too easy, as it turns out, for the Ten Dollar Radio Show to dodge.

Friend and occasional guest DJ Pete Seward came through with a collection of modern takes on old sea chanties (shanties?), and in digging through my collection, I kind of went overboard flying my Neil Young and Crazy Horse flag. Oh well. No regrets. Also, Aesop Rock added a rare rap flavor to the fishy stew, reminding listeners that Long Islanders frequently turn their faces to the ocean and their backs to New York City.

Joe Pug (remember Joe Pug?) comes back this week with perhaps his greatest song ever, a soldier's plea that deserves to echo from sea to shining sea: "Bury me far from my uniform, so God can remember my face." This show also featured two requests, for Tom Waits and Laura Tsaggaris (you, too, can send requests to tendollarradio@gmail.com), as well as a sweet Kinks cover by Feist paired with a scratchy Kinks original.

Not only is the podcast of this show up on www.tendollarradioshow.com; so are my Ned and my back-to-back reviews of the new Bruce Springsteen album. We both trashed it. It's not terrible, but it is lousy - empty and weak. Fifty-seven channels and nothing on.

The $10 airwaves have plenty on, though. If you're in listening distance, tune in to 102.1 or 105.5 FM every Sunday evening from 6 to 8.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like the sea air smells, and plays for free.

Hippie Dream (live 1997) - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Jim Jones â Bob Dylan
Hog-Eye Man - Martin Carthy & Family
Greenland Whale Fisheries - Van Dyke Parks
Fish Tales - Aesop Rock
The Grey Funnel Line - Jolie Holland
Fathom the Bowl - John C. Reilly
Shiver Me Timbers - Tom Waits
Mercenary Song - Steve Earle
Out at Sea - Heartless Bastards
Mingualy Boat Song - Richard Thompson
Bonnie Portmore - Lucinda Williams
Bury Me Far - Joe Pug
Powderfinger - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Driveby - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Poison Oak - James Jackson Toth
Sans Fear - Pete Yorn
Fear - Benjy Ferree
Shake and Fingerpop - Junior Walker & the All-Stars
Snatch It Back and Hold It - Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Funkier Than a Mosquita's Tweeter - Ike & Tina Turner
Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' Bout That Girl (live) â Feist
Set Me Free â The Kinks
Come on Children - The Small Faces
I Need Love - Courtney Jaye
So Sad - Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre (with Hari Georgeson, Ron Wood, Mick Fleetwood)
Seized - Laura Tsaggaris
Wild Billy's Circus Story - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Long Black Thunder - Otis Gibbs
Cease Fire - Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion
Woody's Last Ride - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Springsteen Dreams of Nothing in Particular

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 3 Feb 2009 21:55:00 GMT

Bruce Springsteen's "Working on a Dream": a review

By Peter Crowley

Itâs good to hear that Bruce is happy, but a contented personal life apparently is not a good source of rock ânâ roll. He used to be out on the edge, struggling and sweating and sometimes brooding. His overarching positive attitude was then seen as smiling through it all bravely, proudly, not just because his life is so comfy he has nothing to frown about. Here, heâs just sitting back and playing it safe.

âWorking on a Dreamâ is not a bad album, and at least the title song worked itself into my head enough that I found myself humming it. But mostly these songs arenât interesting or memorable, except when they wake you up to the fact that Bruce really doesnât have much to say â like on the operatic âQueen of the Supermarket,â which, if intended as irony, missed the punchline; or on âOutlaw Pete,â another elaborate and pointless joke, this time about a nonsensical bandit; or on âSurprise, Surprise,â a very unsurprising song about, of all things, a birthday party.

Once again, Bruce has 57 channels and nothing on.

Itâs an occupational hazard of being Bruce Springsteen that any new work canât help but be compared with his great albums of the â70s and â80s. This contrast is especially stark with âWorking on a Dreamââs closing song (not counting âThe Wrestler,â a bonus track from the movie of that name), âThe Last Carnival,â a boring requiem for bandmate Danny Federici thatâs supposedly a sequel to the wonderfully damaged âWild Billyâs Circus Storyâ from 1973âs âThe Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.â Whereas âPhantomâ Danâs accordion haunted âWild Billy,â âThe Last Carnivalâ is empty, showing no presence of much of anything, phantom or flesh.

"Working on a Dream" - a review

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 3 Feb 2009 19:25:00 GMT

By Ned P. Rauch

Letâs start out by judging this book by its cover. Working on a Dream is the ugliest record on the shelves. Even Dylanâs Good As I Been to You, historically ugly and dated even at the time of its release, is easier on the eyes. A chest-up shot of Springsteen in front of a night skyâheâs God-like in the sense that he outshines the moon and stars and appears to be looking down on his flock, but the coloring job gives him a wooden or ceramic quality, as if he were a bust. At some point in any Springsteen concert, heâll pump the band, fill the arena with noise from guitars, drums, keys and sax all at once and ride the crescendo to a screaming question: âIs there anybody alive out there?â He did it, kind of, at the Super Bowl. In concert, it works a lot better. Even though you know itâs coming, you canât stop yourself from answering, âHell yeah, Iâm alive!â After a half-dozen spins of Working on a Dream, and a few too many glances at its cover, I want to turn the question around. âYou alive in there, Bruce?â

The opening song, âOutlaw Pete,â sounds like the musical accompaniment to the training montage in a Rocky film. Over the course of eight minutes it spins a western yarn, something about a kid born bad (thatâs Pete) and a bounty hunter named Dan. Springsteen has a proud history of long, tall tales, some of which even go west for setting and characters. One of the best, âBishop Danced,â spent nearly 30 years in the vault before being officially released. Itâs got a lineââWith fire on their fingertips and feathers full of moonbeamsââthat knocks me down every time I hear it. âIncident on 57th Streetâ is another epic full of indelible yet playful details. Maybe the most famous is âJungleland,â the closer from Born to Run. Itâs got it all: violin, ripping guitar, a sax solo pretty much everyone knows well enough to hum, the Magic Rat and âthat giant Exxon sign that brings this fair city light.â âOutlaw Peteâ has none of that. Thereâs no specificity in the lyrics, nothing you can see as you listen to it, no light from the gas station to identify place or feel.

Thatâs the problem with Working on a Dream. It lacks anything identifiable. Itâs too general, too vague, too full of lyrics that add up to nothing. Springsteen has said he aimed for that on this record; he was shooting for a pop sound that was all encompassing and airy and full of hooks. Fine, but the best pop songs (and I donât buy he was trying to make mediocre pop songs) have something special, some weird phrase that helps you distinguish one from the other. As far as pop goes, INXS is loads better than this.

And it gets worse than âOutlaw Pete.â If you were looking to sing a parody of a Springsteen tune, you might well come up with something like âQueen of the Supermarket,â in which our hero (confession: Springsteen is my hero; this review ainât easy) wanders the aisles thinking about the secrets she (the queen) is hiding beneath her white apron. The thing is, a song like this could be funny. Springsteen could have played it bawdy, he could have laughed his way through the tune, filled it with ridiculous instrumentation and tapped into the working life vein heâs mined for 30 years. Think âSherry Darling,â from The River. But âQueen of the Supermarketâ sounds so earnest, so deliberate the listener has no choice but to take it seriously. Which is preposterous.

The nadir of this record is âSurprise, Surprise.â Itâs 3:24 long. Know how many times Springsteen sings the word âsurprise?â Forty-two. And the worst part is thereâs absolutely no surprise anywhere in the song. The narrator tells his lover itâs her birthday today. Unless sheâs turning 2 or 102, probably not a surprise. Then he tells her theyâll have a cake, blow out the candles and raise a glass. Surprised? Nope. Later on, she goes to sleep at night. Shocking.

This is lazy writing. Springsteen isnât working on creating a dream, heâs working on recalling a dream from the night before, and heâs forgotten all the good bits. It is his second album in just over a year. Not surprisingly, it sounds pretty much like the last one, Magic, also produced by Brendan OâBrien. The last time Springsteen cranked out a pair of records so quickly, he was 23. Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, his first record, and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle both came out in 1973. Neither sold very well, nothing compared to the sales of Magic and Working on a Dream, yet each had its own identity. Theyâre both wild, theyâre both innocent, but they sound nothing alike. They are the work of a guy writing and playing with fire on his fingertips and feathers full of moonbeams.

OâBrien has goosed Springsteen into being more productive, but to what end? The songs have nifty studio tricksâthe backward guitar solo on âLife Itself,â for exampleâbut thereâs not one single mind-blowing riff or lick, no piano or organ solo to break a heart, no jarring burst of drums, no soaring saxophone. A word on that: Clarence Clemons must be getting tired of this crap. Heâs barely used on records any more. Is he a great sax man? I have no idea, I donât know from sax players. But Clarence can blow the doors off a Springsteen tune. On this record of 13 songs, heâs got two solos, neither one lasting more than a few bars. There may be a song or two on which heâs blowing some low notes deep in the mix, but heâs barely a part of Working on a Dream. Violins are all over the place; the sax is nowhere. Same with the guitar work. You would think a band comprising three astoundingly good lead guitar players (Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren) would have some pretty cutting guitar breaks. Not here. All the solos are blandly keening affairs that often follow the vocal lines to nowhere. Not once does one of these musicians do anything daring, and this includes Springsteenâs wife, Patti Scialfa, whose reedy, curious voice doesnât get a chance to explore the attic of any of these tunes. Max Weinbergâs drums sound terrific, and heâs got some impressive fills. To be fair to OâBrien, most of the instruments sound great. But aside from a few moments here and there, the players donât do much with the sound theyâre given.

Itâs not all bad. A few songs will be fun live. âMy Lucky Dayâ rocks from the opening tumble of drums. It doesnât hurt that this is one of the few songs on which Springsteen really pushes his voice. On up-tempo tunes, heâs always sounded his best when he seems to be straining. It gives his songs a sense of need, of desperation. This is also one of the songs on which we hear from Clarence (his solo lasts all of 13 seconds).

âWhat Love Can Doâ cooks along nicely, with a rhythmic pattern courtesy of the drums and a half-dozen guitars that will get your foot tapping. Listen carefully and, at 1:34 into the song, coming from the right-hand speaker, youâll pick up a guitar playing a phrase from âBecause the Night,â written way back in the 70s. Lyric-wise, the song isnât much, but at least the band seems to want it on this one. And âTomorrow Never Knowsâ is a lovely, simple tune that shuffles comfortably from start to finish. On a normal Springsteen album, it wouldnât be a highlight, but on this one, it stands out. The tip of the hat to fallen E-Streeter Danny Federici, âThe Last Carnival,â is OK. Itâs a too-tame reference to âWild Billyâs Circus Story,â from Wild and Innocent, and itâs not nearly as peculiar, far out or fun, but itâs poignant-ish, so points there.

The best song, easily, is one of the simplest. âGood Eye,â a straight blues number, may actually be a great Springsteen tuneâthereâs a whole lot he can do with it live, the band seems ready to cut loose and itâs got a chilling refrain: âBut I had my good eye to the dark and my blind eye to the sun.â Heâs hollering and wheezing through a distorted microphone, puffing away at a harmonica and throwing the full weight of the band onto the two and four beats, giving a rock and sway that appear nowhere else on the record.

Springsteen is about to launch another tour. Hereâs hoping heâs gotten this sound, this approach to record-making, out of his system. In interviews he mentions how pleased he is with the trilogy of records heâs made with OâBrien, referring to The Rising, Magic and this one. (Of those, the first is, by a billion miles, the best. Though it could have used a bit of editing, itâs one of Springsteenâs great records.) If he were to work on my dream, hereâs what weâd see in a few years: a new Springsteen record on which the musiciansâincluding Clarenceâreally get to play. Ripping solos from Lofgren, Van Zandt and Springsteenâmaybe even guitar duels ala the incendiary âSaint in the Cityâ performances from the 70s. I want to hear Patti really sing, because no one sings like her. I want more fills from Max. I want lyrics that matter. I want a real surprise, not a song called âSurprise, Surpriseâ with 42 unsurprising surprises. I want, in effect, a real Springsteen record. With decent cover art.

Ritchie Will Always Be 17

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 2 Feb 2009 03:33:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

"Action News" kicks off this week's show, reporting on the plane crash heard round the world on Feb. 3, 1959. Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary, and the ghosts of Ritchie, Buddy and The Bopper are conjured for you here, plus cameos by Dion and Waylon Jennings, who survived the "Winter Dance Party" tour; the Stones, who covered a Buddy Holly tune for the first song on their first album; and Bob Dylan, who was in the audience at the tour's Jan. 31 stop in Duluth, Minnesota. Then still called Bobby Zimmerman, he was a high-school senior of 17, the same age as Ritchie Valens. (Ritchie was born May 13, Bob the 25th. Both also ditched last names that tagged them as ethnic minorities; Ritchie's original last name was Valenzuela.)

After that tribute is a run of vintage vinyl and new tunes from Ben Kweller, James Jackson Toth, Ryan Adams and Neko Case. The entire second hour is turned over to songs picked by my Uncle Paul in L.A. His list mixes lost-and-found treasures (Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons from '79, Volcano Suns from '85 and Brenda Khan from '92) with new stuff from the likes of Robyn Hitchcock, Anne McCue and Phosphorescent.

This week's show did not entirely escape the pranks of the Evil Robot Gremlin Droids. (They're so established now that I'm capitalizing them.) They nabbed my last voice track. I recorded it between the songs by Lisa Hannigan and Don Chamber & GOAT, but it never made it to the air. The droids ate it.

As always, we're podcasting and blogging on www.tendollarradioshow.com, and broadcasting from 6 to 8 every Sunday evening on 102.1 and 105.5 FM in the northern Adirondacks.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like a "Lonely Teenager" left hanging 50 years ago in Fargo and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Newscast;

It's The Truth Ruth - The Big Bopper;

Teenage Moon - The Big Bopper;

Ooh! My Head - Ritchie Valens;

Malaguena - Ritchie Valens;

Lonely Teenager - Dion;

What to Do - Buddy Holly;

Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Buddy Holly;

Medley of Buddy Holly Hits: Well All Right/It's So Easy/Maybe Baby - Waylon Jennings;

Not Fade Away - The Rolling Stones;

All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan and The Band;

Just Another Name for Rock and Roll - Roy Orbison;

Cat Man - Gene Vincent;

Hurtin' You - Ben Kweller;

Doreen - James Jackson Toth;

Going Back Song - James Jackson Toth;

I've Lost My Mind - The Candymen;

Magick - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals;

People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case;

Boogie on Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder;

Time in Mobile/Alabama Bound - Jelly Roll Morton;

Meu Refrigerador NÃo Funciona - Os Mutantes;

Shadows Fall - The Coral;

Anna - Charles Spearin;

Shape I'm In - Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons;

Jak - Volcano Suns;

Up to our Necks - Robyn Hitchcock;

I Don't Sleep, I Drink Coffee Instead - Brenda Kahn;

Keep a Light Showering Down - Lil Greenwood and David Amram;

Ever Born Again - Sarah Jaffe;

Money in the Morning - Anne McCue;

Reasons to Quit - Phosphorescent;

Love Me Blue - Ian McFeron Band;

I Don't Know - Lisa Hannigan;

Highwater - Don Chambers & GOAT;

Uncle Disney - Patterson Hood

The Moonlighters

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:20:00 GMT

Great band alert: The Moonlighters. Friend of the station Mark Hof and I caught a recent Moonlighters gig at Barbes, in Park Slope. Theyâre a four-piece: One fellow on Lap steel/ Dobro, another on upright bass, a woman singing harmony and playing a gorgeous archtop guitar and Bliss Blood, the bandâs leader, singing lead and playing the ukulele. She, friends, can sing. And her red stockings matcher her hair. The sound is early jazz sweetened with a spoonful of Hawaii. Even their originals, which I think made up most of the set, sounded 60 years old. But this ainât no rehash; thereâs nothing ersatz about these guys and the way they put across their tunes. The songs sound like theyâve been around, but theyâve got what no knock-off tune does: identity. They hold their own next to the standards. This is music youâd want to dance with your sweetheart to, but Barbes, a perfect place to catch a performance (cheap drinks, kind staff, lots of banjo players hanging out), is too small to shake a hip. Hardly a problem, though, as the Moonlighters are so good, the musicianship so sharp, you wouldnât want to miss a thing while giving your baby a twirl. Theyâre on myspace at: http://profile.myspace.com/moonlightersny

Rock and Roll Hall of Kinda Lame

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:11:00 GMT

Question: Is a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, in SoHo, worth the $26.50 admission fee? Answer: Depends on whether you think the idea of an electric guitar smashed to bits by Billy Joel is nifty or an insult to guitars, Pete Townsend and everything you like about music. The Annex, which opened at the end of last year, is less satisfying than it ought to be. Thereâs something confectionary about it. Somethingâpop-y.

Thereâs lots to gawk at. Springsteenâs first car, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Airâwith flames on the hood AND dashboardâis there, as is a letter from Brian Jones to a fan, thanking her for the bottle of aftershave. Amazing on both counts. The stripped-down upright piano with which John Lennon recorded âImagineâ (guess the white grand in the video was just for effect) could have held my attention for hours. And the letter from a group of female fans to David Byrne that ends with âpps: Weâre teenagersâ is the most endearingly frank wink to rockâs darker side Iâve ever seen. But then thereâs Billy Joelâs smashed guitar. Itâs from last fall, taken from the last show ever staged at Shea Stadium, which is being torn down. Billy Joel is not a guitar-smasher. If heâd smashed a piano (or another car), fine. But a guitar? Billy Joel? Please.

Really, though, itâs not the stuff behind glass that loses the place points. Itâs the damn Crazy Machine they give you when you get there. The Crazy Machine is a pair of headphones connected to a thing that looks like a TV clicker from the early Cosby Show years. It has a lariat so you can hang it from your neck, but I only saw one guy do that, and he was of the generation of people who will hang anything from their neck: cameras, passports, pensâcups of coffee if they could. The Crazy Machine is supposed to receive a signal from whatever exhibit is in front of you and play a related song. Stand in front of Madonnaâs bustier and you hear âGet into the Groove.â Mill around Buddy Hollyâs Guild acoustic guitar, which he bought from Mannyâs, on 48th street, and you hear âOh, Boy.â Except you also hear âHighway to Hell,â even when youâre nowhere near Angus Youngâs schoolboy outfit. And no matter how far away you get from Michael Jacksonâs jacket and âcustom glovesâ your Crazy Machine is likely to bring you a few bars of âBillie Jean.â Itâs a live version of the song, but still. My friend I were looking at Princeâs âPurple Rainâ coat (very shiny, very purple) when âBillie Jeanâ busted into our headphones. Can you imagine how pissed Prince would be if he knew hundreds of people were looking at his glittering coat while listening to Michael f-ing Jackson? The other thing about the Crazy Machine is it undercuts the whole shared-experience aspect of visiting a museum with a pal. Everyoneâs in his own world. Until, that is, someone wants to share, in which case he has to shout so whoever heâs walking around with can hear him over the Crazy Machine. âHONEY, LOOK! ELTON JOHNâS SUNGLASSES! MY SISTER LOVES HIM! DID YOU KNOW HE WEARS A WIG?â

There was, to be fair, plenty of cool stuff. Lots of letters and lyric sheets, including one from Patti Smith on which someone had written a phone number, 415 area code and all. (Marin County, California, right?) I called it, but it was disconnected. Theyâve got a medallion Hendrix wore which is badder than any medallion since. Elvisâ motorcycle jacketâsilver with blue/green flamesâwas, obviously, great. Turns out James Brown had one that matched. Who knew?

But the whole deal felt pretty un-Rock and Roll. All visitors are compelled to watch a 12-minute Rock and Roll highlight film before entering the exhibit hall. There was some terrific footageâit opened with astonishing film of a young John Lee Hookerâbut no clip lasted more than 20 seconds (or so it seemed) and all the quotes from Keith Richards about why Rock and Roll is so great were distracting and unnecessary. No offense to Keith, but everyone in that room had just paid $26.50. We all knew Rock and Roll is, or was, great.

Thereâs an inherent problem with institutionalizing Rock and Roll: All those orders and rules and Crazy Machines are Rock and Roll antonyms. You canât touch anything. (Well, youâre not supposed to. Turns out you CAN touch the bumper of Springsteenâs car. Once. If youâre quick. And play it very, very cool from there on out.) I donât blame the curators entirely. How would you make a museum that conveys the chaos of early Stooges shows? You canât let everyone touch things because pretty soon thereâd be nothing left to touch. But thereâs got to be a balance. Itâs got to feel alive and free. Here, it feels canned. And the staff ought to run the Crazy Machine system through a few more tests. Oh, and no remains of guitars smashed by the Piano Man.

Since I was alive after my plane landed ...

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:25:00 GMT

From the desk of Peter Crowley:

I wasnât going to do the show this week. I was in Boston for the weekend, returning Sunday afternoon, and I figured that was too late. Plus, I had been flat-out slammed with work the week before, and I figured I needed a break. âLet âem miss it,â I thought. I didnât even make any real effort to find a fill-in DJ.

It was Michelle, my wife, who suggested that I could still do it. So I did. Michelle and our daughters picked me up at our local airport at 3 p.m., and in about 15 minutes we were at the studio to whip up a show for 6. They sat in with me, and the girls helped me out with the between-song banter (mostly Eleanor, whoâs not shy).

The playlist was a very quick scramble, but fortunately, I still had a sizeable cache of tunes never before heard on the $10, plus a few I had been missing since the last time we played them, like Sly Stone, Wheedleâs Groove, Redbird and Bettye Lavette. Thereâs new music here from The Gourds, Jesse Malin, Anya Marina and The Great Unknown; rare bootlegs from Springsteen (the title track of his new album, recorded live around Election Day), Peter Tosh and the Wailers, Bob and George, and Neil and the Horse; and Iâm just thrilled I could slip The Cars into the lineup. Plus thereâs a tiny bit of âReminiscingâ to preview Feb. 3, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the Day the Music Died. Thereâs just one Buddy Holly song to tease you here; I already have a list of songs lined up for next week from Buddy, Ritchie Valens and J.P. âThe Big Bopperâ Richardson. Be sure to listen from 6 to 8 every Sunday on 102.1 or 105.5 and anytime online at http://www.tendollarradioshow.com.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show â sounds like the Winter Dance Party (the name of that frigid Midwest tour Buddy, Ritchie and the Bopper died on) and plays for free.

This weekâs playlist:

Sploghm â Slim Gaillard
Let the Good Times Roll â Shirley and Lee
SWIMâ Sly and the Family Stone
Reminiscing â Buddy Holly
Workinâ on a Dream (live 2008) â Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad â Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston
Deportee â The Byrds
Fossil Contender â The Gourds
Open My Eyes â Nazz
Got a Lot on My Head â The Cars
Doreen â Old 97âs
Wait for It â Annabelle Chvostek
I Still Wonder â Love
Pulse â Wheedleâs Groove
You Canât Blame the Youth (live 1973) â Bob Marley and the Wailers (Peter Tosh singing)
Moonglow â Redbird
Patience â Redbird
Treat Everybody Right â Big Bill Broonzy
Iâm Feeling Alright â Big Mama Thornton
The Last Time â Bettye Lavette
Jealous Guy â Jimmy Scott
Leaving Babylon â Jesse Malin
Good Shepherd â Jefferson Airplane
You Leave Me Cold â Jill Tracy
All the Same to Me â Anya Marina
Waiting for the End of the World â Elvis Costello
All I Have to Do Is Dream â Bob Dylan and George Harrison
Country Home (live 1976) â Neil Young and Crazy Horse
People Get Ready â The Frames
All My Tears â Emmylou Harris
Iâm Not Listening â The Great Unknown
Sixteen Down â The Jayhawks
Snakebit â Mary Gauthier.

If youâre tired of getting these e-mails, I understand, but Buddy was tired of buses breaking down on him, too, and look where it got him - he chartered a plane. It wasn't much smaller than the one I flew to and from Boston on - in snow and wind, too. On the flight back, I was reading the new Rolling Stone's story on âThe Last Days of Buddy Holly"; I realized I would just have to accept whatever happened.

By the way, the Rolling Stone story is great, but it's not on their Web site. Online, if you trust Wikipedia (always dubious), thereâs a lot to learn here,including that Buddyâs birth name was Charles Hardin Holley, ending in â-eyâ; itâs spelled that way on his headstone in Lubbock.

High-Tech Static

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:50:00 GMT

Pete Seward of Lake Placid sat in for Sundayâs show, and he really got to see how the sausage is made. It was one of those days when, every time I walked into a room, computers got passive aggressive on me. But all the headaches served a good cause because there were no glitches in the final product. As a listener, you get to hear only the benefits of my latest radiotechnological advances: a new computer and a turntable that plugs into it. That means I can now play all my records on the air, plus a treasure trove of bootleg mp3s my friend Pete McDonald (I have a few friends named Pete) gave me years ago. The latter is the source of the âHound Dogâ opener, Dylan and the Band covering Curtis Mayfield, Steve and Del before they parted ways, and Neil sabotaging a CSNY reunion.

The vinyl recordings are full of surface noise - no noise reduction. âAlbum crackle is soul, Jimmy,â Joey âThe Lipsâ Fagan would probably say if freed from âThe Commitments,â and these tunes from Elmore James, the Stones, Duane Eddy and Roberta Flack verify that. Other records are cleaner, like the one from Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band, which features Geoff Muldaurâs frayed guitar playing and a wiry singing duet with one young Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato, whom heâd later marry (if only briefly).

But Pete Seward brought the best treats to Sundayâs party, starting with divine speculation about Jesus and motor homes. We also laughed at a trio of gender-role parodies and another trio of pirate songs, including the delightful ballad, âDonât Be Afraid oâ thâ NeoCons.â

Also on this show are sneak-previews from forthcoming albums by Shamekia Copeland and your friend and mine, Ramblinâ Jack Elliott â plus back-to-back songs about swinginâ funeral preparations. Listen to it all on www.tendollarradioshow.com and, if youâre local, every Sunday evening from 6 to 8 on 102.1 or 105.5 FM â but not next week. Iâll be taking a week off. Be back with more goods in February, in plenty of time for Saranac Lakeâs Winter Carnival.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show â sounds like a jazz band on your funeral wagon and plays for free.

This weekâs playlist:

Hound Dog â Van Morrison
Please Find My Baby â Elmore James
Iâm a King Bee â The Rolling Stones
Little by Little â The Rolling Stones
Stalkinâ â Duane Eddy
Never Going Back to Memphis â Shamekia Copeland
Compared to What â Roberta Flack
People Get Ready â Bob Dylan and the Band
Roll Another Number â Neil Young with Crosby, Stills and Nash
If Jesus Drove a Motor Home â Jim White
Love Songs Suck â Bad Livers
Ey Up Me Duck â Kevin Coyne
All Woman â Cherry
Whistle Bait â The Collins Kids
Old Man of the Sea â Baby Gramps
Rolling Sea â Eliza Carthy
Donât Be Afraid oâ thâ NeoCons â Norman and Nancy Blake
World Full of Cops â Paleface
Euphoria â The Holy Modal Rounders
Chevrolet â Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band
Big Booty Woman â Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Bobbie Booshay â Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
I Wish You Would â John Hammond
Texas Eagle â Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band
Deep Well of Sadness â Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
Dying Crapshooterâs Blues â Blind Willie McTell
St. James Infirmary â Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars
Dry Grass and Shadows â Alela Diane
Ainât That Good News â Sam Cooke
Soul of a Man â Ramblinâ Jack Elliott

-Pete

Best of 2008, tease to 2009

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:30:00 GMT

So I finally got around to rehashing my favorite albums released in 2008, this showâs first full calendar year of existence. Sure, âbest ofâ lists are clichÃ, but for shows that expose you to new music, isnât that part of our job? Plus, Iâve wanted to do one for a long time; theyâre fun to make, I found, and fun for listeners like you to critique afterward. Iâve had mine done for almost a month, but one thing after another made me push back playing it.

I played multiple songs from each of my top five albums: Silver Jewsâ âLookout Mountain Lookout Sea,â The Felice Brothersâ self-titled album, Damian Juradoâs âCaught in the Trees,â Elliott Broodâs âMountain Meadowsâ and Drive-By Truckersâ âBrighter than Creationâs Dark.â After that, itâs a song an album. Listen up, and if you like âem, go buy âem at your local record store. I recommend Ampersound in Saranac Lake.

Only two songs interrupt the year-in-review experience, and each needs some explanation. â1969â blasts out in memory of Stooges guitarist, and sometime bassist and vocalist (I hate the term âvocalist,â but with The Stooges it really is more accurate than âsingerâ), Ron Asheton, who died this week. Finally, the show closes with a taste of things past and future: Johnny Rivers with all the glorious crackle of well-loved vinyl â a sound that marks a turning point in this showâs history.

You see, Rock 105 got rid of all its turntables years ago, so I havenât been able to dip into my record collection for this show. But I just bought a turntable that connects to my computer, so now I can record these songs digitally and play them for you on the air. I donât think Iâll edit out any of the Rice Krispie noise from the background; I love it too much.

As always, podcasts of the show (it worked this week) and music blogging are at www.tendollarradioshow.com, and locals can listen from 6 to 8 p.m. every Sunday on 102.1 or 105.5.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show â sounds like the snaps and pops on an old copy of âEnglandâs Newest Hit Makersâ (the Stonesâ first album) and plays for free.

This weekâs playlist:

Party Barge â Silver Jews

1969 â The Stooges

My Pillow Is the Threshold â Silver Jews

We Could Be Looking for the Same Thing â Silver Jews

Take This Bread â The Felice Brothers

Love Me Tenderly â The Felice Brothers

Dimes â Damian Jurado

Coats of Ice â Damian Jurado

The Valley Town â Elliott Brood

Garden River â Elliott Brood

2 Daughters and a Beautiful Wife â Drive-By Truckers

3 Dimes Down â Drive-By Truckers

Lover of the Bayou â Mudcrutch

Victor Jaraâs Hands â Calexico

She Left Me for Jesus â Hayes Carll

Sammy from Massena â Eddy and Kim Lawrence

I Do My Fatherâs Drugs â Joe Pug

Loralee â The Whitsundays

Top Yourself â The Raconteurs

Palmyra â Jolie Holland

Well, Well, Well â Lucinda Williams

Go Away â Elvis Costello and the Imposters

Natural Ghost â Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

Librarian â My Morning Jacket

I Could Blow Your Mind â Eve and the Exiles

Youthless â Beck

Georgie Buck â Carolina Chololate Drops

Short While â Mike and Ruthie

Without Again â Elliott Brood

Everybody Wants to Rule the World â Clare and the Reasons

The Long Black Veil â Johnny Rivers

You folks either really like getting these e-mails or else were grossed out by last weekâs âso you want off the list, do ya?â trivia challenge. No one even bothered to guess the answer, except Ned, and then only under pressure by me. The question was, âWhat's yellow, curly, sweaty and probably sometimes got caught between a piano and a shoe?â Correct answer: Jerry Lee Lewisâ hair. Wrong answer: what Ned said, which was unprintable. New question: Do yâall want more questions or not?

âPete

Ned's back, but so are gremlin droids

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:03:00 GMT

(Note: This entry was held over from last Sunday, Jan. 4 because I was hoping to post it with the podcast - which, unfortunately, is still unavailable due to, shall we say, technical difficulties.)

So Ned was back in town and back on the air. You'd probably really like to hear him again. Plus, he brought back from NYC a whole bunch of great music: the Killer knockin' 'em dead on a Stax records smash, Bobby Charles finding solidarity in the alleys, Furry Lewis sounding like his nickname, more Jeannie C. Riley and Gatemouth, a pair of bands Ned saw recently - Yarn and Sometimes Why - and a pair of salty shakers: Elton White celebrating jiggly heinies and the York Brothers quaking with nervousness.

Yep, you would like it. It's sad that you missed it. I hope you can hear it someday soon, when we recover the recording of the show. Maybe in a day or so, if all goes well. Until then, you can blame the computer gremlin droids in the Rock 105 studio yet again. They can be, to put it kindly, tiresome. Oh well ...

I'll let you know when the show is posted. Meanwhile, this is an opportunity to catch up on the shows you missed on www.tendollarradio.com. What about that one where ex-Wailin' Jenny Annabelle Chvostek plays six songs and compares minivans with me? Or Ned's last show?

Meanwhile, if you're within FM range, you owe it to yourself to listen every Sunday evening from 6 to 8 on 102.1 or 105.5.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like Jerry Lee's jelly-behind ladyfriend (only 14, too - the swine) and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Stand Out - Love

Everybody's Gotta Live - Love ... with Arthur Lee

Hold On, I'm Coming - Jerry Lee Lewis

Philly Dog - Booker T. & the MGs

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Otis Redding

Cosmic Slop - The Fetish

Off the Record - My Morning Jacket

I Guess You're Right - The Posies

If You Want Me, You Can Find Me - Lawson and Four More

Street People - Bobby Charles

A Jelly Behind Woman Blows my Mind - Elton White

Tremblin' - The York Brothers

The Back Side of Dallas - Jeannie C. Riley

Rumrunner - Tim Hus

Beer Hauler - Tim Hus

Amos Moses - Clarence Gatemouth Brown

Empty Pockets - Yarn

Ain't That a Sin - Yarn

Hellhound - Earl Greyhound

Brownsville Blues - Furry Lewis

I Call Her Baby Doll - Herald Nix

B-19 - Slim Gaillard

Hey Mr. Landlord - Jimmy Witherspoon

Didn't Take Your Man - Ann Peebles

Love Me - The Little Willies

The Devil Is Real - The Felice Brothers

Palestine Texas - T Bone Burnett

I'm Leaving You Now - Lightnin' Hopkins with ? (unidentified woman)

The Seasick Dawn - Sometimes Why

Shell Game - Sometimes Why

Swimming - Shelley Short

Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie - Elizabeth Cotton

Last week's "wanna get off this e-mail list?" trivia challenge was half-won by my brother John (who, by the way, drew me in the family Christmas gift exchange and gave me the Herald Nix, Tim Hus and My Morning Jacket CDs heard on this show). The challenge was to guess the first and last artists, alphabetically, in the Ten Dollar Radio music library. He said A.A. Bondy (right) and Z.Z. Top (wrong - just because we work out of a classic rock station ...). The real answer would have been too hard for anyone to guess - Zee Avi (we played a novelty Christmas song by her) - but the second last was Yo La Tengo, a little better known. Sorry John - you're stuck with these e-mails.

If anyone else wants off, that's fine - simply answer this riddle: What's yellow, curly, sweaty and probably sometimes got caught between a piano and a shoe?

-Pete

Trey day

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 13:02:00 GMT

At the end of yesterday morningâs jog around the Central Park reservoir, I crossed paths with Trey Anastasio, the guitar player from Phish. He was wearing a big black parka and walking his big white dog. I thought about saying hi, telling him I dug his music. Instead I kept quiet, in part because I didnât want to bother him, but also because I wasnât so sure what to say. Iâve not listened to his music since college. I went to a bunch of Phish shows back then, had a lovely time and all, but have really only listened to the band a handful of times since. Iâve never listened to Treyâs solo stuff. It made me think about how our tastes change, about how we can care about a band enough to shell out dough for tickets and then, a few years later, not be bothered to give their records a spin.

I remember eating dinner at my friend Jesseâs house during a summer break in high school and declaring two things about myself: 1) I would never be a wine drinker, and 2) I would listen to Zeppelin at least once a day for the rest of my life. Wrong on both counts.

Had I decided to interrupt Treyâs morning thoughts with an honest statement, it would have ended up something like this: âHey Trey. I really liked your music in high school and college. I donât listen to you anymore, but Iâm still generally fond of your playing. Oh, and I used to go to Burlington a lot.â That would have been weird, right? So he and his dog walked on by and I went to change for work. But I did get thinking about his old band. And I still think they made some top-shelf music. And my favorite song of theirs is still âThe Horse,â the minute-or-so-long tune near the end of Rift. Thatâs a damned good ditty.

No Shushing This Library (podcast)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:46:00 GMT

Show's posted! Sorry for the delay. See the Dec. 29 blog entry below for the description and playlist.

No Shushing This Library

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:36:00 GMT

With Pete spending Christmas weekend with family in Indiana, DJ Pat McAvoy filled in for the last Ten Dollar Radio Show of 2008 and, having lost the song list Pete left him, had a general field day with our music library. He delved through it alphabetically by artist, going where Sundayâs gusty winds took him and ending up with a killer bunch of tunes by artists from B to W, if not A to Z.

The evil robots returned to bedevil the recording of the show, but hopefully thatâll be re-recorded and podcasted in the next day or so. Keep checking for it here on www.tendollarradioshow.com, where you can also download plenty of rad past shows and read blog entries like Nedâs reports on Norah Jonesâ enthusiasm for certain NYC pizza joints and an NYC audienceâs unenthusiasm for live music.

As always, if youâre close enough, keep tuning in to 102.1 or 105.5 FM from 6 to 8 every Sunday.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show â sounds like a rock ânâ roll librarian and plays for free.

This weekâs playlist:

Brown Eyed Handsome Man â Buddy Holly

Blue â Cat Power

(Donât Worry) If Thereâs a Hell Below, Weâre All Gonna Go â Curtis Mayfield

Fathers and Sons â Del McCourey Band

Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar â Doc and Merle Watson

Frankie & Johnnie â Doc Watson and David Grisman

Travelinâ Prayer â Dolly Parton

Elvis Presley Blues â Gillian Welch

Mind Your Own Business â Hank Williams

The Rooster Moans â Iron & Wine

The Old Man and Me â J.J. Cale

Crossing Muddy Waters â John Hiatt

Think Twice Before You Go â John Lee Hooker

The Motor City Is Burning â John Lee Hooker

The Late John Garfield Blues â John Prine

Daddy Sang Bass â Johnny Cash

I Hung My Head â Johnny Cash

Devilâs Right Hand â Johnny Cash

Like the 309 â Johnny Cash

Waiting for a Train â Jorma Kaukonen

Tale of Woe â King Wilkie

Millieâs Song â King Wilkie

Room at the Top of the Stairs â Leo Kottke

8 Miles High â Leo Kottke

Go Go Liza Jane â Levon and the Hawks

Blind Man â Little Milton

Trouble on the Line â Loretta Lynn

This Old House â Loretta Lynn

Hesitating Blues â Louis Armstrong

Slidinâ Delta â Mississippi John Hurt

Too Far Gone â Neil Young

Half as Much â Patsy Cline

Strange â Patsy Cline

Farm Girl â Ry Cooder

O Pato â Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd

Watch Me Fall â Uncle Tupelo

Your Party â Ween

Peace,

Pete

Slyding on Powder

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:26:00 GMT

It looked like we were well on our way to getting our second foot of snow in three days as the Ten Dollar Radio Show aired Sunday evening. Plus, it was the longest night of the year. Hibernation time. Instead of opening at 70 mph, this week's show began at snowplow speed and settled in with the steady rhythm of the flakes until things picked up about midway through the first hour.

For the second hour, Slyde and the family Doan (John and his daughter Hannah are half of this Lake Placid band) took over the studio. They are this program's first repeat performers, and they had deserved it after their fantastic session back in June. This time, they played six hot-pickin" tunes - still mostly instrumentals but also with some really nice singing by Hannah and John. They're playing Jan. 3 at BluSeed Studios in Saranac Lake, on the bill with the fabulous Frankenpine, and again at the Ski Jam on Jan. 23 at Dewey Mountain X-C Ski Center in Saranac Lake. Slyde, by the way, is Mike Portal on guitar, Chris Grant on cello, John Doan on banjo and dobro and Hannah Doan on bouzouki and guitar.

Listen anytime at www.tendollarradioshow.com and every Sunday from 6 to 8 on 102.1 and 105.5 FM in the northern Adirondacks.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show - sounds like two feet of powder and plays for free.

This week"s playlist:

Cumberland County - Fred Eaglesmith

Barstool Blues â Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Heavy Snow â Lightninâ Hopkins

Snowinâ on Raton â Townes Van Zandt

White Snow â Ben Weaver

Doubletree â Jeffrey Foucault

Rivers and Tides â Frankenpine

Faceless Weaver â Frankenpine

Fall on My Knees â Sam Amidon

Sheâs So Blonde â Illinois

Temporary People â Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts

Ding Dong Day â Mean Mary

This Old House â Loretta Lynn

So Sublime â Beth Rowley

You May Be Right â The Grapes of Wrath

Molasses â The Hush Sound

Interview with Slyde, with six songs: Sunset Song, Use Me, "Do Tellâ Bagatelle, The Mists of Down Below, Obama Delight and Spring Peepers/Slide

The Mightiest of Guns â A.A. Bondy

Marlboro Man â The Felice Brothers

Daddy Needs a Drink â Drive-By Truckers

Iâm Moving On â Elvis Presley

Keeping up with the Joneses

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:53:00 GMT

A few years ago, Norah Jones beat out Springsteen for the album of the year Grammy. Two nights ago, she discussed favorite local pizza joints with me. Some friends and I were at the Living Room, a couple blocks south of Houston, to see the Basement Band, a really solid rock/folk/rootsy group with a bit of twang and a touch of swing. (http://www.myspace.com/basementband) The Village Voice says theyâre of the Laurel Canyon tradition. I say it wouldnât be jarring to listen to them after, say, Son Volt, the new Levon Helm album or Drag the River, though the Basement Bandâs sound is sweetened by the presence of a female singer with a heartbreaker of a voice. Anyway, Norah Jones and her fellow were there to see the Basement Band, too, and we got to chatting with them about music, where to find good late-night pizza (she favors Rosario's) and rice balls, a local delicacy. Turns out she and her fellow are as nice as can be. Sheâs tinyâbuilt like songbirdâbut dishes out a firm handshake. One of my friends and I got wondering about whether thereâd be a way to wear your Grammy trophy in public without it being obnoxious. I said Iâd turn mine into a belt buckle. Norah Jones, for the record, was not wearing any of her Grammys. âNed

Club indifference

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:51:00 GMT

Four bands on the bill, each one got about 45 minutes. We were in the basement of a club on Manhattanâs Lower East Side. The cover was advertised as $7 but the bouncer demanded $8 and asked which band we were there to see. âMonuments,â I said. âTheyâre the best.â Monuments is my friend Gabeâs band. He was on the radio show a few months ago, and Pete spun one of his songs last week. Downstairs, in the basement, 20 or so people milled around. Most of them belonged to one of the three other bands. Monuments got on stage, played its set and played it well, and got off. Some people clapped. No one danced. I think I saw a few heads bob in time to the music. I drank a beer called Tiger just because it was called Tiger. And that was it. Thatâs a typical New York City gig for your typical unsigned band. It felt hollow. There was no connection, no communication between band and audience. And not Iâm blaming the bandâthey rocked. Strange that these people came to the club to hear music, implying a fairly high level of interest in it, yet filled the place with indifference. At least thatâs what they exuded. Who knows what was going on inside. -Ned

Car Czars

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:48:00 GMT

So when my wife and I decided to upgrade from our old Corolla hatchback to a white Isuzu minivan â hey, it has enough seats for our kids and their friends â Ned teased me about it for weeks. Apparently, a white minivan, like a scarlet letter, is a benchmark on the uncoolness spectrum.

But when I met former Wailinâ Jenny Annabelle Chvostek Sunday at Saranac Lakeâs Blue Moon CafÃ and stepped outside to caravan with her over to the Rock 105 studio to record tonightâs show, what was she driving? Damn straight. A white Chrysler minivan. Boo-yaa, Ned. In your face.

Annabelle spent 45 minutes on the air, during which she sang six songs and played three instruments, all framed between two songs from her new solo album, âResilienceâ (which I kept calling âResistanceâ for some reason). She was a perfect guest, a fun conversationist and a wicked good musician, all of which youâll hear when you listen to the show.

Inspired by how well the session went, I dug out the other gems we recorded in this bomb-shelter-turned-studio in 2008, dusted them off and listened as they shone. (Thatâs /shon/ to you Canucks like Annabelle, /shÅn/ to us U-S-of-Aâers.)

Returning to the subject of automobiles, my discovery of the week, the absolutely ridiculously stunningly brilliant Clare and the Reasons, do a song on this show called âCanât Your Car Do That? I Donât Think So.â And then â well, just listen.

Hereâs some more good news: Ned and I are going to start filling in the gaps on tendollarradioshow.com, making it more of a regular music blog instead of just a weekly podcast. So start thinking you can check it every day or two instead of just once a week. And thereâs even news on the analog signal; itâs now 102.1 from WRGRâs Tupper Lake tower instead of 102.3. (Itâs still 105.5 from WLPW in Lake Placid; timeâs still 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday.)

The Ten Dollar Radio â sounds like gang of minivanners rumbling through town and plays for free.

Playlist:

Resilience â Annabelle Chvostek

Interview with Annabelle Chvostek during which she played six songs: Nashville, The Sioux, Devilâs Paintbrush Road, Runaway Lane, I Get Ideas (tango) and Wait for It

Racing with the Sun â Annabelle Chvostek

John Henry â Steve Langdon

Whirlybug â Slyde

Flying Porcupine â Slyde

Strange Candy â Marygoround

I Donât Want to Go Outside â Marygoround

Tale of Woe â King Wilkie

Millieâs Song â King Wilkie

Hey, Old Man â King Wilkie

Not My Own â Gabe Berezin

Envy â The Dust Bunnies

Canât Your Car Do That? I Donât Think So â Clare and the Reasons

Everybody Wants to Rule the World â Clare and the Reasons

Mrs. Virginia â Brazos

A Canoe â Shelley Short

Circles Not Broken â Brilliant Mistakes

Go to Proclaim â Soul Messengers

Lowdown â My Morning Jacket

Ferris Wheel â Tractor Kings

Breaking a Ten

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 8 Dec 2008 03:52:00 GMT

(Note: Look at the next entry down for the podcast; this is a show description and playlist.)

Instead of the usual four, Jonathan Richman began this week's Ten Dollar Radio Show with a count-in of "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" -- which might have thrown you off just enough to know that something wasn't as it used to be. Other things were the same as ever, since that leadoff song was, after all, about driving around with the radio on.

And so the Ten Dollar Radio Show's post-Ned period began, off by a couple of beats but right in tune.

Darker times called for some darker tunes, but they were fueled by enough irony to blast through the tunnel. If you listen, you can go to hell with Curtis Mayfield (a request from the United States Postal Service), to the grave with T Bone Burnett, to the taxidermy with Blind Melon and to the bar (again) with Hayes Carll. Some round trip.

Listen, also, for Adirondack locals Chris Kowanko and Russ Bailey, and a whole shopping cart full of new-music gift ideas from Damien Jurado, Jolie Holland, Lucinda Williams, Jason Isbell's new outfit, The Raconteurs' new bluegrass buds, the elegant Leona Naess, Aurdrye Sessions and Blitzen Trapper.

Listen every Sunday from 6 to 8 on 102.3 and 105.5 FM in the northern Adirondacks and whenever, wherever on this Web site.

The Ten Dollar Radio Show -- sounds like the next time you're in town and plays for free.

This week's playlist:

Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers

Go First - Damien Jurado

Look for Me (I'll Be Around) - Neko Case

Signed D.C. [1969 version] - Love

Ballad of Hollis Brown - The Neville Brothers

(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go - Curtis Mayfield

Skinned - Blind Melon

Next Time in Town - Chris Kowanko

I'm Going on a Long Journey Never to Return - T Bone Burnett

I Won't Be Home No More - Hank Williams

Get to the Table on Time - M. Ward

You Painted Yourself In - Jolie Holland

Circles and Xs - Lucinda Williams

Meet Me in the City - The Black Keys

Dave's Lunch Box - The Bailey Bros.

Seven Mile Island - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Old Enough [bluegrass version] - The Raconteurs with Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe

Lipstick - Leona Naess

Me & Keith - Verbena

Drum & Bone - Elvis Costello and the Imposters

Juliana - Audrye Sessions

Pheonox [sic] - The Lonely H

Gold for Bread - Blitzen Trapper

Stranger Blues - Elmore James

Oh Take Me Back - The Carter Family

Knockin' Over Whiskeys - Hayes Carll

I Take It Back - Sandy Posey

It's Cold Outside - The Choir

The Man in the Santa Suit - Neil Halstead

No Christmas for Me - Zee Avi

I Think Somebody Better Come Back Home - Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys

A winter's drive

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 02:08:00 GMT

And so the Ten Dollar Radio Show's post-Ned artistic period began Sunday evening, with The Modern Lovers driving around with the radio on. If you weren't tuned into the analog signal, here's the digital deal for you, at your convenience. Dark times call for a few dark-themed tunes this week, but these blast through the tunnel on irony. Go to hell with Curtis Mayfield (a request from the United States Postal service), to the grave with T Bone Burnett and to the taxidermy with Blind Melon. There's local music from Chris Kowanko and Russ Bailey, and lots of new music from The Raconteurs with their bluegrass buds, the elegant Leona Naess, Jason Isbell's latest outfit, Audrye Sessions, The Lonely H, Blitzen Trapper and Damien Jurado.

Ned's Last Show (the real deal this time)

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 02:31:00 GMT

OK, here's our real, entire show from Sunday - Ned's last for some time (ever?) and one of our most heartfelt and glorious. It opens as such things should, with Bruce and Neil in full flight as champions of rock 'n' roll justice. As for the rest, here's the weekly e-mail, in Ned's words (If you don't already get these, e-mail us at tendollarradio@gmail.com):

From the desks of Ned P. Rauch and Peter Crowley:

Listeners,

Pete and I had been talking about hosting a radio show on and off ever since we met, in August of 2000, but it wasn't until a year and a few months ago that we got serious about it. One sunny Sunday afternoon we pushed an aluminum canoe out into the roiling waters of Moody Pond and started brainstorming formats, setlists and names for what would become the Ten Dollar Radio Show. By the end of the paddle, I was sure my idea for a nameâthe Sharks and Tigers Radio Showâwould win out. It didn't, and I learned how important it is to have great friends with great taste who know the difference between great names (like the Ten Dollar Radio Show, which we coined later) and names like the Sharks and Tigers Radio Show.

Last Sunday's show was my last for the foreseeable future, as I'm moving to New York to swing for the fences, as it were, but I will find a way to contribute somehow or other, even if it's just to plaster our posters all over Manhattan. Manning the controls in our bomb shelter of a studio (really, it was built as a bomb shelter, or so we were told) will be Pete and Pete alone. Which is good, because he's the guy who steered us clear of Sharks and Tigers.

It has been one of the brightest joys of my life to work with Pete, dive into our collections, unearth new tunes and share the music we love with you. Thanks for listening, and keep it tuned to the Ten Dollar Radio Show.

A word or two on last week's show: It's a good one. Springsteen starts with his show-stopper from the 70s, Detroit Medley. Holy smokes. Later, a few piano blues numbers, a farewell zamba from Jorge Cafrune, two live recordings of a 21-year-old Elvis, an unreleased cut from the Felice Brothers, and a funked-up old fave from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

The show airs every Sunday night from 6 to 8 on 105.5 and 102.3 fm. You can hear it whenever you like at www.tendollarradioshow.com.

The Ten Dollar Radio ShowâSounds like a little touch of the good life and plays for free.

Sunday's setlist:
Detroit Medley (live) â Bruce Springsteen
Big Time (live) â Neil Young
Shouldn't Be Ashamed â Wilco
This Land Is Your Land â Sharon Jones
Time to Change Your Town â Wynonie Harris
Travelin' Blues â Slim Gaillard
Going Down Slow â St. Louis Jimmy
Blues Around Midnight â Blind Willie McTell
Hate to See You Go â Little Walter
Movin' on Out Boogie â Lightnin' Hopkins
Runaway â Del Shannon
Zamba Para Decir Adios â Jorge Cafrune
Endless Highway (live) â The Band
Chicken Wire â The Felice Brothers
I Hope She Won't Let Me â Baby Teeth
Lived in Bars â Cat Power
It Don't Worry Me â Keith Carradine
Heartbreak Hotel (live) â Elvis Presley
Long Tall Sally (live) â Elvis Presley
1952 Vincent Black Lightning (live) â Greg Brown
Talkin' New York â Bob Dylan
New York Town â Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston
New York City â Leadbelly
City Never Sleeps â The Mammals
Oh My Life â Beth Rowley
So Long Blues â Ray Bonneville
Life Is Strange â Running With Scissors
Goin' Back Home â Lucinda Williams
River Boat Song â J.J. Cale
Stay a Little Longer â The Sadies & Neko Case
So Long I'll See Ya â Tom Waits
Without Again â Elliott Brood

Ned's Last Show - 1st Half

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 04:06:00 GMT

Bittersweet becomes Big Time one day before Ned blows out of Saranac Lake indefinitely and heads to New York City to figure It All out. Seeking to load him up with wisdom and spirit for the unknown journey ahead, he and Pete pour their hearts into it and put together a show for the ages - at least it felt that way to them at the time. Meanwhile, the evil robots in the Rock 105 studio renewed their attacks on the recording, so this is only the first 54 minutes of the 2-hour show; the rest will be up shortly, we swear. Damn your eyes, droids.

Shaggy Dad

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 04:00:00 GMT

"I'll go crazy," says James Brown. "Caldonia, what makes your big head so hard?" ask Muddy Waters and Willie Nelson. "She's just a girl," promises Shinehead. Oh, and Redbird ditches nuance: "I gotta get drunk." Amen.

In the beginning...

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:42:00 GMT

The Ten Dollar Radio Show unearths songs from Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, the Jayhawks and others recorded before any of them were old enough to drive. Almost.

Windy City Serenade and the return of DJ K-Hof.

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:26:00 GMT

An offering of Chicago blues, Louis Armstrong playing W.C. Handy and Kelly Hofschneider, whose poster is paraphrased above, sitting in for the last half-hour.

Half asleep

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:56:00 GMT

Our technical nightmare continues. Posted here is just the first hour of last Sunday's sleep-centric show. The gods of nobs and dials have not smiled upon us lately. Nontheless, the first hour was a good one. When Hour Two finally wakes up, we'll post it, too.

Moanin' at Midnight

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:05:00 GMT

Howlin' Wolf howls, Eddie Hazel dreams, Leona Naess learns as she goes and Jason Isbell chooses the devil as his running mate.

Upstate of mind

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:29:00 GMT

Pete returns and brings with him a list of ditties from upstate cities. Also, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Tom Waits whistle past the graveyard, Axton Kincaid serves up walking papers and Silk Satinâwho knew she was a Ten Dollar fan?âshills for the show.

Pete's off, Gabe's on

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 01:54:00 GMT

With Pete away, Ned recruits an old friend to fill in, talk failed band names, play guitar and sing. Listen for Gabe's original songs around the start of the second hour.

Good Morning, Judge

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:38:00 GMT

Wynonie Harris opens the show with a salutation to authority, we travel the Green, Green Rocky Road (thrice) and Lucinda Williams' record label gives us a peek at her new record.

Women, money, lobsters and spuds

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:31:00 GMT

This week's show features the Ten Dollar debut of Lobster Duey and a five-song homage to potatoes.

Change is good

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:29:00 GMT

Welcome to the Ten Dollar Radio Show's new podcast site. A few bugs remain, but we're squashing as many as we can. Meantime, enjoy the music. Oh, and the new Calexico album is wicked good.

One-Year Anniversary Special

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:08:00 GMT

The Ten Dollar Radio Show turns 1! We celebrate with a G8 set of top-shelf tunes, new cuts from Calexico and a visit from our friend Pete Seward, who brought with him an entire hour of knock-your-socks-off music.

September 7, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 12:52:00 GMT

We go inside Bob Dylan's revision process, sway in the pew with Drew Smith's Lonely Choir and mess with Texas, handing over the second hour to the Lone Star State's pickers and crooners.

August 31, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 18:03:00 GMT

Our friend Tim Wallack fills the special guest slot with aplomb. Meantime, new music from Alela Diane and Bon Iver and a knockout sing-along from Drivin' N' Cryin'. (Did they get paid by the apostrophe?)

August 24, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:38:00 GMT

Three songs from Carla Bruni, two from John Lee Hooker, one (and a half, sort of) from Prince and a rap on the knuckles for local concert promoters. All in one show.

August 17, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:46:00 GMT

King Wilkie, monarchs of the bluegrass scene, perform in the studio. And remember the Premiers, the Remains and Chocolate Watch Band? They all resurface on this very show.

See a photo gallery of King Wilkie in our studio here.

August 10, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:54:00 GMT

Looking for Marygoround? She's here, on this show! She visits the studio for four songs and bit of yapping. Also, Elliott Brood (by request), Gob Iron, Steve Earle, the Byrds and the rockabilly of Charlie Feathers.

You check out a photo gallery of Marygoround in our studio here.

August 3, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 4 Aug 2008 01:15:00 GMT

With Ned away, Pete goes overboard on the bruising and boozing spirit of Saranac Lakes annual rugby weekend, opening with the MC5 and following that binge to its sloppy conclusion before mellowing with Chris Hillman, King Wilkie and Donna the Buffalo.

July 27, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:36:00 GMT

Pete and Ned return and bring with them fodder for one of the best shows they've ever assembled. Elliott Brood to start, Golden Smog to finish. The meat in between? Mark Sandman, Blind Willie McTell, Feist, the Mekons, Townes Van Zandt.

July 20, 2008

tendollarradio@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:54:00 GMT

With events conspiring to put both Ned and Pete out of town for the weekend, Kelly and Brandy step in to keep the Ten Dollar Radio Show on the air. All women, all night. All right. The Dixie Cups, Doris Day, Fabienne Delsol, Nico and plenty more.