While you’ve been enjoying all the great blues music over the past day or so, we’ve been busy adding several hundred classic blues artists and their songs to our standard rotation. That means, going forward, you’ll hear them along with the rest of our stream as a matter of routine.
We’ve added several hundred new blues selections in the last 48 hours.
Here are the artists we’ve recently added:
Roomful of Blues
Bobby “Blue” Bland
Muddy Waters
Little Walter
The Robert Cray Band
Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac
Stevie Ray Vaughan (solo and with Double Trouble)
Marcia Ball
Howlin’ Wolf
We expect to be adding more artists again over the next day!
Good Morning, Blues Lovers! As we continue to upload more and more blues here in The Mermaid Lounge today, we continue to play it out the other end!
“I’ve said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.” -B.B. King
Here’s your Monday line-up:
11:00 a.m. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Live at The Bluebird Lounge, Ft. Worth, September 30, 1979
“I actually wanted to be a drummer, but I didn’t have any drums.” -SRV
Thankfully. Every day, I hear people who claim to be music lovers having ridiculous conversations about who’s a better blues guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Clapton. The discussion is moot. We don’t need to pit one against the other. They were compatriots in life and, by the way, they had different styles and sounds. No need for that shit.
Stevie Ray Vaughan died way too young at the age of 35. Who knows what could have been, and to think about it is pointless. What we do have is an amazing body of work to listen to. This one is with his band, Double Trouble, and is live from the Bluebird Lounge.
3:00 p.m. The Best of Louisiana Blues, Volume 2
Haven’t heard this one since Fat Tuesday, and that seems like decades ago in the land of COVID-19. Wish I could tell you who’s playing on this one, but I can’t even remember where I found this file. It was on one of my late-night music hunts over last winter. I just know I’m glad I did.
7:00 p.m. Mudcrutch Monday! The Complete Mudcrutch
Mudcrutch Monday is a longstanding tradition here in The Mermaid Lounge, and it will not be denied on this day. You know, not many musicians who have been doing it for 30+ years would go back and resurrect the band that started it all, but Mr. Petty did. And we are all musicially enriched because of it.
Mudcrutch did not “make it” in the early seventies, but it did morph into Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Then, after the Heartbreakers’ 30th Anniversary Tour, he brought the band back together, and it was amazing.
Mudcrutch is Tom Petty (on bass in this band), Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench (from The Heartbreakers), Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh. All are from the original Mudcrutch. Have fun. I know I will!
This would be an excellent day to make #BecomeUngovernable Radio your choice in music. Do it.
Here we are in The Mermaid Lounge beginning a week of the blues. Today, we begin with Albert King taking Album of The Week Honors, and a nostalgic visit to Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Eric Clapton and Keith Richards at the Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Here’s your Sunday Funday line-up:
11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King NEW!
Keeping with the Blues Week theme, this week’s Album of The Week is Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign, a compilation album released in 1967 on the Stax label. It was recorded from March 1966 to June 1967. King played with two house bands for this album, Booker T. & The MGs and the Memphis Horns.
4:00 p.m. Eric Clapton & Guests: The Crossroads Guitar Festival Revisited
We have nearly four hours of music here from Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festivals, a series of benefit concerts to raise money for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation center in Antigua.
Susan Tedeschi, Gary Clark, Jr., The Robert Cray Band, Joe Walsh, B.B. King, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Beck, and Carlos Santana are just some of the musicians taking part.
Join us for Blues Week. Then stick around after. It only gets better from there. We promise. For free.
Good Morning, Musical Minions! This is our usual active Saturday in The Mermaid Lounge. And I promise you a really good time.
Yeah, baby!
Here’s today’s very active line up!
11:00 a.m. Under The Influence: Various Artists
You know, we’ve all been under the influence at one time or another. Some of it legal. Some of it not so legal. Don’t lie now. Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Tom Petty, Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Bob Marley, and many others will be attesting to that fact.
3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Lost Tapes by Valerie Carter
The final airing of The Lost Tapes, but never fear. Valerie Carter is a favorite here and you’ll be hearing more of her. Tomorrow, when you wake up, we’ll have a brand new Album of The Week to kick off Blues Week!
7:00 p.m. The Soul Queens, Volume One: Various Artists
Yes. There is an official Queen here. Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul. But there are others helping her out: Irma Thomas, Carla Thomas, Etta James, Barbara Lewis, Ann Peebles, The Shirelles, The Ronettes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, and more.
10:00 p.m. Live Dead! The Grateful Dead Live at The San Francisco Civic Auditorium, December 30, 1983 NEW!
This is not to be confused with the December 28th show which we aired a few months ago. As we all know, no two shows are ever the same with The Dead.
So, what are you doing today? Hey, I’m slaving in retail hell. My last day before my official “weekend” begins. But you could be here enjoying all this great music. All it takes is a tab and the link below. No shit. Nothing else.
It’s finally Friday. Of course, for those of us working retail, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the week. But no matter. Today in The Mermaid Lounge, great things come in groups of three. You’ll see what I mean.
Linda. Emmylou. Dolly. A supergroup no matter what they tell you.
Here’s Friday’s planned programming:
12:00 p.m. The Complete Trio Collection: Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton
I always lead off with Linda Ronstadt when I’m talking about a group of women singers. That is totally my bias, but it is without shame. No matter how you cut it, women get the short end of the straw in music. If they were guys, the word ‘supergroup’ would be flowing off everyone’s tongue. Linda, Emmylou and Dolly were a supergroup. The Complete Trio Collection proves it.
The complete collection gives you just that along with alternative versions of some of the songs and previously-unreleased material.
7:00 p.m. Steve Earle, Townes VanZandt, and Guy Clark: Together at The Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, September 3, 1995
It was Emmylou Harris who led me to Guy Clark originally. But one winter night in Harvard Square, three friends were outside in the snow freezing and decided to go into Passim’s Coffee Shop to get out of the elements for a while. Somebody was playing that night, but when I walked in and saw it was none other than Guy Clark, I was excited. The three of us were literally blown off our fucking stools. He has been a favorite ever since. A friend of Emmylou.
Now we add Steve Earle and songwriter in the extreme Townes VanZandt to the mix and what we have here is an amazing evening at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. This event took place just fifteen months before VanZand’s death.
Yeah. It’s all-country programming today. What about it? This is one of the things that makes us different than all the rest. This will be about 6 or 7 hours of actual programming. The rest of the 24-hour cycle? All open stream with no commercials. No cost. No obligation. No credit card or personal data required. Radio like it used to be.
Good Morning, Ungovernables! We have some great stuff on tap today here in The Mermaid Lounge, and we’re wishing Heartbreakers’ bassist Ron Blair a belated birthday!
Here’s your Thursday line-up:
11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, October 16, 2002
We’re a day late, but today we are celebrating Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair’s 72nd birthday (yesterday). He was an original founding member of the group who left, then came back after the death of Howie Epsein.
Their concert in 2002 after the release of The Last DJ, and turned out to be one of their strongest concerts ever.
The set list for this show appears under the Playlist tab on the blog.
3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Lost Tapes by Valerie Carter
Another airing of this great collection of never-before-released songs by the little girl with the big voice. Valerie Carter is a joy to behold.
7:00 p.m. DJ’s Choice: My Favorite R & B Stream
We’ve got a great couple of hours of music here, including cuts from The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Martha & The Vandellas, Jackie Wilson, Bill Withers and many more!
This is about 7 hours of programming in a 24-hour day. The rest and in between is all wide-open streaming of the best music of your lives. No lie. We’re free. No commercials. And no useless chatter.
We’re at mid-week, people. And this midweek is a Wilbury Wednesday. But that won’t be until a bit later in the day. That’s why we call this (Mostly) Open-Stream Wednesday.
Just five guys who liked each other and loved making music together.
Infinity: Open Stream Music: Various Artists
We are wide open right up until 6:00 p.m. tonight, circulating more than 26,000+ songs, with still plenty more to add as we roll through the year.
6:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of The Traveling Wilburys
In my book (and in that of many others), the finest supergroup ever. Five big-time guys who were friends and liked making music together without ego. Bob Dylan (Lucky Wilbury), George Harrison (Nelson Wilbury), Tom Petty (Charlie T. Wilbury Jr.), Roy Orbison (Lefty Wilbury), and Jeff Lynne (Otis Wilbury) are the Traveling Wilburys. (By the way, after Orbison’s death, their names changed for the next release. But you can get all the fun details about names if you click the above link!)
Veteran percussionist and drummer, Jim Keltner (Buster Sidebury) was in the seat from beginning to end. Dhani Harrison contributed overdubs on Maxine and Like A Ship, and is credited as Ayerton Wilbury.
Today is Wilbury Wednesday, and you get the entire catalogue.
Let’s get our shit together, people. We’re starting to see some more U.S. listeners tuning in. Let’s keep that trend rolling! Share this with people you know!
Here we are on another Tuesday Bluesday with our friends The Allman Brothers Band. We’ve also got some badass guitarists up later on along with our Album of the Week!
Duane and Gregg Allman
Here’s your Tuesday Bluesay line-up:
11:00 a.m. Tuesday Bluesday! The Allman Brothers Band Live at Woodstock ’94, August 14, 1994 NEW!
Duane Allman was already long gone by the time Woodstock ’94 rolled around, but the Allman Brothers Band managed to carry on proudly in his name for many years. Today we have their performance from Woodstock ’94.
3:00 p.m. Album of the Week: The Lost Tapes by Valerie Carter
Valerie Carter was a successful singer-songwriter, as well as a background and harmony singer for Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and many others. She inspired Steve Winwood’s Valerie as well as Jackson Browne’s That Girl Could Sing. Find out why.
7:00 p.m. Badass Guitarists, Volume One: Various Artists
Some of the best pickers in the business, including Mike Campbell, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Lowell George, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Bonnie Raitt.
We’re sitting right here in The Mermaid Lounge waiting for you to tune us in. Let’s go. Come on. You know you want to.
Good Morning, Ungovernable Music Lovers! We’ve got three legends on tap today. Today, we pay respects to Reggae legend Toots Hibbert, who left this earth over the weekend.
Toots Hibbert, Reggae pioneer and leader of The Maytals
Here’s your line-up for Monday:
1:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Neil Young
Whether as a soloist or as part of a greater whole (CSNY, The Buffalo Springfield), Neil Young is one of the premier singer-songwriters of all time. Today he’s in the spotlight.
4:00 p.m. Bob Dylan Live at Budokan, February 28 and March 1, 1978
Although recorded during his 1978 world tour, the album was not released until 1979, after at least one counterfeit made its way to market and several imports were created.
7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: Toots & The Maytals NEW!
Toots & The Maytals are in the general rotation, but today we feature them in The Spotlight. Reggae legend Toots Hibbert passed away this past Saturday in Kingston, Jamaica at the age of 77, and we aim to give him and his band their due.
Tune us in. We have no idea what you are waiting for but, hey, we’ve got time.
Good morning, music lovers everywhere! We have listeners all over Europe and Asia, and we’re adding new locations every week. Where the hell are all you U.S. listeners? Still paying for you music to avoid advertising?
Today we give you five hours of our Sixties Rotation, Volume 1! Non-stop. No commercials!
Here’s today’s Sunday Funday line-up:
12:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Lost Tapes of Valerie Carter NEW!
Known primarily as a “session singer” and background vocalist to most (not all), Valerie Carter was so much more than that. Her debut album, Just a Stone’s Throw, was produced by Little Feat’s Lowell George in 1977. She went on to release several more widely acclaimed albums. She was not only a singer, but a songwriter. She wrote Cook With Honey, which was a hit for someone named Judy Collins.
Back in 1995, I saw Linda Ronstadt in concert at Boston’s Orpheum Theater. Valerie Carter was the opening act, and she was a perfect fit. Ronstadt was dead on that night as well. But the best part of the night was when they were on the stage together.
A recent discovery of recordings that were never released has been transformed into this week’s Album of The Week, The Lost Tapes. Musicians and vocalists like Lowell George, Fred Tackett, Bill Payne, Linda Ronstadt, Nicolette Larson appear in testament to her immense talent. Valerie Carter: The little girl with the big voice.
3:00 p.m. The Original Sixties Rotation: Various Artists
The playlist that began our monthly focus on The Sixties. We now have two such playlists and are working on a third. Starts at 3:00 p.m. today and runs for a little over five hours. No advertising. No interruptions except for a couple of station I.D.s. No shit.
Get it together, people. You can either settle for “free” radio which is nothing more than an advertising venue and a lot of boring DJ chatter, pay for access to keep these slugs off. Or get it all for free like it used to be. Your choice.
#BecomeUngovernable Radio 