American Song Joe Hines

This is the second half of a two-part episode

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Southern rock, a rebellious fusion of blues, rock and roll, and country music, emerged as the defiant cry from the heart of the South. Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitars wailed like banshees, their lyrics echoing the region's resistance to outside finger-pointing and strengthened a determination to preserve their own cultural identity.  Never mind the warts and blemishes.  The Allman Brothers Band played with improvisations like soaring eagles.  Their music captured the untamed spirit, passion and raw energy of the South.

The intensity of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws was a force of nature, their music was a raw and unfiltered expression of southern pride. Their guitars roared like thunder, their drums pounded like a heartbeat, and their lyrics spoke of rebellion, and the indomitable spirit of the South. 
John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival's showed that Southern music extended past Southern borders.  Their music, infused with idealism and earthiness, captured the hopes and dreams of ordinary people. Their melodies were catchy and memorable, their lyrics were simple yet profound, and their art spoke directly to the hearts of their listeners.  CCR offered a sense of hope and possibility in a world often filled with uncertainty.
Robbie Robertson and the Band's music was a tapestry of Americana, woven from the threads of blues, country, rock and roll, and folk. With songs written by a member of America’s first people, who crafted melodies that were both familiar and fresh, The Band captured the essence of the American experience.  All its triumphs and tragedies, from the pinnacle of joy to the depths of sorrow, Robertson helped reveal a nation in search of an identity.

All of this and more await you in this latest episode!  Hope you enjoy it!

Featured Artists
Alabama
The Allman Bros.
The Band
Black Oak Arkansas
Carl Perkins
The Charlie Daniels Band
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Graham Parker
Hank Williams
John Lee Hooker
Lonnie Mack
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Molly Hatchett
Muddy Waters
Neil Young
The Outlaws
Rossington Collins Band
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Links to Supporting Episodes

Season One Episode Four
Season One Episode Seven
Season One Episode Eight
Season Two Episode Eight

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Southern rock, a rebellious fusion of blues, rock and roll, and country music, emerged as the defiant cry from the heart of the South. Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitars wailed like banshees, their lyrics echoing the region's resistance to outside fingerpointing and strengthened a determination to preserve their own cultural identity.  Never mind the warts and blemishes.  The Allman Brothers Band played with improvisations like soaring eagles.  Their music captured the untamed spirit, passion and raw energy of the South.

The intensity of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws was a force of nature, their music was a raw and unfiltered expression of southern pride. Their guitars roared like thunder, their drums pounded like a heartbeat, and their lyrics spoke of rebellion, and the indomitable spirit of the South. 
John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival's showed that Southern music extended past Southern borders.  Their music, infused with idealism and earthiness, captured the hopes and dreams of ordinary people. Their melodies were catchy and memorable, their lyrics were simple yet profound, and their art spoke directly to the hearts of their listeners.  CCR offered a sense of hope and possibility in a world often filled with uncertainty.
Robbie Robertson and the Band's music was a tapestry of Americana, woven from the threads of blues, country, rock and roll, and folk. With songs written by a member of America’s first people, who crafted melodies that were both familiar and fresh, The Band captured the essence of the American experience.  All its triumphs and tragedies, from the pinnacle of joy to the depths of sorrow, Robertson helped reveal a nation in search of an identity.

All of this and more await you in this latest episode!  Hope you enjoy it!

Featured Artists
Alabama
The Allman Bros.
The Band
Black Oak Arkansas
Carl Perkins
The Charlie Daniels Band
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Graham Parker
Hank Williams
John Lee Hooker
Lonnie Mack
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Molly Hatchett
Muddy Waters
Neil Young
The Outlaws
Rossington Collins Band
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Links to Supporting Episodes

Season One Episode Four
Season One Episode Seven
Season One Episode Eight
Season Two Episode Eight

This is part two of a two-part focus on Reggae music.

The heart of Reggae music has always been politics and spirituality.

In this two part episode, you'll learn about some of the musical and political forces in Jamaica's colorful past that all contributed to the music that we celebrate as reggae today.   From Marcus Garvey, the modern-day prophet who  had a vision for the black people living in the new world, and Ethiopia's Emperor Hailie Salassie, whose formal title included "Lord of Lord, King of Kings, and Conquering Lion of Judah", and claimed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Shebah, to great early reggae musicians like Derrick Morgan, and Desmond Dekker, to the firey Peter Tosh, and the brilliant reggae, who brought reggae to the rest of the world, Bob Marley - they're all here and you'll learn their stories, hear their music, and understand the major forces that fused to create a brand new genre.

In this latest episode, learn the inside story of how Bob Marley came from crippling poverty in one of Jamaica's poorest neighborhoods to became reggae's greatest musical luminary, and how he then faced off against the brutality of systemic Jamaican racism to permanently change his country and the rest of the world. 

In This Episode

Bob Marley and the Wailers
1.  Trench Town Rock
2.  Simmer Down
3.  400 Years
4.  I Shot the Sheriff
5.  Rebel Music (3 0'Clock Road Block)
6.  War
7.  Exodus
8.  Is This Love
9.  Survival
10.  Could You Be Loved

Also in this episode:

Interview with Bunny Wailer, formerly with the Wailers
Interview with Marlon James, Jamaican author of A Brief History of Seven Killings

Continue the experience on line.
Visit American Song Podcast Facebook page.

This is part one of a two-part focus on Reggae music.

The heart of Reggae music has always been politics and spirituality. 

In this two part episode, you'll learn about some of the musical and political forces in Jamaica's colorful past that all contributed to the music that we celebrate as reggae today.   From Marcus Garvey, the modern-day prophet who  had a vision for the black people living in the new world, and Ethiopia's Emperor Hailie Salassie, whose formal title included "Lord of Lord, King of Kings, and Conquering Lion of Judah", and claimed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Shebah, to great early reggae musicians like Derrick Morgan, and Desmond Dekker, to the firey Peter Tosh, and the brilliant reggae, who brought reggae to the rest of the world, Bob Marley - they're all here and you'll learn their stories, hear their music, and understand the major forces that fused to create a brand new genre.

In this latest episode of American Song, you'll see how a tiny Spanish colony developed to become Jamaica as we know it today, and how Reggae was instrumental in helping Jamaican culture 'conquer the world'!

In This Episode

Paul Simon - Mother and Child Reunion
The Flying Lizards - Money (That's What I Want)
Bob Marley  - Redemption Song
Bob Marley and the Walers - 400 Years
Burning Spear - Slavery Days
Sly Mongoose - Count Lasher
The Folkes Brothers - Oh Carolina
Toots and the Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number
Marcus Garvey (Political Speech)
Derek Morgan -  Forward March
Ernest Ranglin - Below the Bassline
Derrick Morgan - Tougher than Though (Rudie's in Court)
Desmond Dekker - 007 Shantytown
Desmond Dekker - Israelites
Stephen Marley (with Ziggy Marley) - Selassie is the Chapel
Peter Tosh - Let Jah be Praised
Culture - Behold
Sonjah Stanley - (Academic discussion)
Third World - 96 Degrees in the Shade
Peter Tosh - African
The Skatalites - The Guns of Navarrone
Mutabaruka - (Jamaican Poet; Dis Poem)
Bob Marley and the Wailers - No Woman, No Cry
Peter Tosh - Steppin' Razor
Burning Spear - Lion

Continue the experience online:
Visit the American Song Podcast facebook page. 

In today's episode, we’re going further up the musical family tree – into the funk.  Funk grew in the shade of jazz, soul, R&B, gospel and rock.  In time it’s going to give rise to other branches – for instance, disco, and hip-hop.  It will influence branches that have been growing for a while already, like rock, jazz, even classical music believe it or not.   Funk is growing in some difficult environments, like urban ghettoes.  It’s impacted by some heavy weather, like the Civil Rights movement, and the war in Vietnam.  There’s been a ton of cross-fertilization along the way.   Funk’s going to become another important branch in our tree.   
Funk has a direct lineage out the blues and plantation communities, jazz, Pentecostal gospel music, soul and R& B.   In a lot of ways, funk is a proud, positive re-telling of the African American social story.  Heavy with improvisation, and syncopation – just like its musical grandparents are.  Like the blues, jazz, R&B and soul, funks driving rhythms were the hardpan roadways that carried its soulful vocals.  Likewise, funk sprang out of rock and roll which also grew out of the blues and soul.  Funk and rock are first cousins in music’s family tree.  And like soul, funk is steeped in emotion and feeling.

In This Episode:
James Brown
The Meters
Sly and the Family Stone
Stevie Wonder
George Clinton/ Parliament-Funkadelic

In this second episode of our third season, we pick up the trail and continue our exploration of jazz rock - a journey we started in episode one.  In this episode, we'll take a close look at the amazing work done by three great bands in that genre; Steely Dan, Traffic, and Supertramp. 

Great songs, and interesting artist interviews abound!  Here's what you can look forward to:

INTERVIEWS WITH

Donald Fagen
Dave Matthews
Jim Capaldi
Dave Mason
Steve Winwood
Roger Hodgson
John Helliwell

FEATURED SONGS

Steely Dan
     My Old School
     Deacon Blues
     Bodhisatva
     Reelin' in the Years
     Aja
     Cousn Dupree

Traffic
     Mr. Fantasy
     John Barleycorn (Must Die)
     Medicated Goo
     The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

Supertramp
     All Along the Watchtower
     Surely
     Your Poppa Don't Mind
     Dreamer
     School
     Hide in Your Shell
     Easy Does It
     The Meaning
     Fool's Overture
     Breakfast in America
     Goodbye Stranger
     Don't Leave Me Now

CURIOUSITIES
     Tom Lehrer - World War Three Blues
     Jay and the Americans - Capture the Moment
     The Joint - Freak
     Argosy - Mr. Boyd
     Argosy - Imagine