Month: December 2023

Today We’re Riding On ‘The Psychedelic Express’, Listening to Our AOW and Some Driving Songs, December 21, 2023

Good morning, musicologists! We’re closing in on Christmas 2023 here and making plans for our 2024 roll-out. We hope you’ll continue listening over the holidays!

Here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m.  The Psychedelic Express: Various Artists

Truly one of our favorite genres here in The Mermaid Lounge. It was a wondrous time in music that even those who came after continued to emulate, as you will see by songs from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, among others. In addition, you’ll hear The Beatles (who, as always, led the way here) Vanilla Fudge, The Chambers Brothers, Electric Prunes, The Animals, Jefferson Airplane, Blues Image, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Byrds, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Donovan, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Traffic, Cream, Dr. John, Procol Harum, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, Canned Heat, Yes, Electric Light Orchestra, Tommy James & The Shondells, Mudcrutch, Blind Faith, Grateful Dead, Velvet Underground, Big Brother & The Holding Company and more!

4:00 p.m.  Album of The Week: Two Sides To Every Woman by Carlene Carter

We’re winding down on this great selection, so get on it! Our final airing will be sometime on Saturday.

7:00 p.m.  Drivin’ Songs: Various Artists

Another multi-artist playlist (a short one, this time) featuring songs not only about driving, but also songs that give you lead-foot while driving. This time, you’ll hear Golden Earring, The Eagles, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Beatles, Little Feat, Rare Earth, Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers Band, Bob Dylan, The Pretenders and more!

We know this is not a time when most people relax. Everyone’s out playing Capitalism. But when you get the chance to kick your shoes off and sit back, we’re the place to be.

The Psychedelic Express!

On Wednesday It’s Our ‘Ladies Day Out’ EP, Don Henley & Glen Frey, and ‘Live’ Bonnie Raitt Later, December 20, 2023

We are here at midweek and The Music Mermaid is getting things ready here in The Lounge to help get you through the midweek doldrums.

Here’s your midweek lineup:

9:00 a.m.  Ladies Day Out: Various Artists

Know any other radio station that plays five uninterrupted hours of women’s music? I didn’t think so. Today you’ll hear Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, Petula Clark, Laura Nyro, Cilla Black, Irma Thomas, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Etta James, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Maria Muldaur, Lucinda Williams, Rosanne Cash, Eva Cassidy, Wendy Waldman, Shawn Colvin, The Ronettes, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norah Jones, Phoebe Snow, Nicolette Larson, Sheryl Crowe, Susan Tedeschi, Valerie Carter, Dusty Springfield, Dolly Parton and more!

4:00 p.m.  Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Don Henley & Glen Frey

The songwriting duo that made magic for The Eagles is back for a second spin this afternoon.

8:00 p.m.  Bonnie Raitt, The Wonderland Tape, Recorded Live at Vara Studios, Hilversun, The Netherlands, August 5, 1977

Some great, early ‘live’ Bonnie Raitt here from The Netherlands.

We’re at midweek. From here on out, we’re on the downslide to the Christmas holiday weekend! We’ll help you get there with some great music as we gear up for a brand new year!

Ladies Day Out!

It’s ‘The Best of Louisiana Blues’, Carlene Carter and ‘Live’ Johnny Winter on Tuesday Bluesday, December 19, 2023

Good morning, bluesologists! Here we are on another fine Tuesday Bluesday with our big Louisiana bayou blues show and Johnny Winter closing out the night. In between, it’s our Album of The Week with Carlene Carter.

Here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m.  The Best of Louisiana Blues: Various Artists

Some names you may know; others you should. Ray Charles, Lillian Glinn, Slim Harpo, Ray Brown, Fats Domino, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Rodney Harris, Roosevelt Sykes, Shirley & Lee, Papa Lightfoot, Guitar Slim, Annie Laurie, Fats Matthews, Big Joe Turner, Big Boy Myles, Little Walter, Mary Butler, Erline Harris, Dave Bartholomew, Marcia Ball, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Professor Longhair, The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas and more!

4:00 p.m.  Album of The Week: Two Sides To Every Woman by Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter drops by the lounge for the second airing of her album.

7:00 p.m.  Johnny Winter Live at Parker’s Place, Seattle, WA, March 9, 1985

There’s nothing like some live ‘high-energy blues’ from one of the greatest bluesmen around. This time we have Johnny playing at Parker’s Place in Seattle.

Tuesday Bluesday is the day to hang in The Lounge. Great music all day because we have our great Wide Open stream in between this great programming. We’re on 24/7 and we’re totally free of charge.

It’s Tuesday Bluesday!

Monday Brings Us Janis Joplin, Our ’27 And Gone’ Playlist and The Byrds Live at Royal Albert Hall, December 18, 2023

Good morning, and welcome back to the work week. But hey, for those traveling to Christmas celebrations, it’ll be a short one. As we head toward another year, we’re busy little elves planning some changes here.

Here’s your Monday, Monday lineup:

11:00 a.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Janis Joplin

We start off the day with Janis In the Spotlight giving us her special brand of blues-rock.

3:00 p.m.  27 And Gone: Various Artists

The members of the ’27 Club’ pay us a visit mid-afternoon. Hey, this is the stuff of conspiracy theories, almost like the ‘Paul is Dead’ stuff. Is it coincidence that all of these people died at the age of 27? Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. Jim Morrison. Pete Ham (Badfinger). Blind Al Wilson (Canned Heat). Amy Winehouse. Brian Jones. Robert Johnson. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (The Dead). They’re all here singing to you from the grave this afternoon.

8:00 p.m.  The Byrds Live at Royal Albert Hall, London, UK, May 13, 1971

We’ve got some ‘live’ Byrds closing out the programming tonight. This one’s from Royal Albert Hall in London.

Drop by when you get a chance. We’re on 24/7 (not just during programmed hours), uninterrupted by commercial advertising. And we don’t ask you for a thing. Your money’s truly no good here.

Monday, Monday. Again.

It’s Simply Sunday With Carlene Carter’s AOW and Our ‘A Little Bit O’Soul’ Multi-Artist EP, December 17, 2023

Good morning, music lovers! We’re here on another lighter-than-usual programming day with plenty of our great wide Open Stream. We kick things off with June Carter’s daughter and Johnny Cash’s stepdaughter, Carlene Carter.

Here’s your musical lineup:

11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Two Sides To Every Woman by Carlene Carter NEW!

Carlene Carter boasts the lineage of The Carter Family. She’s the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, the stepdaughter of Johnny Cash, and the stepsister of country great Rosanne Cash. She’s had a rough-and-tumble life with multiple failed relationships (including a marriage to Nick Lowe, and a long-standing relationship with late, great Heartbreaker Howie Epstein), and plenty of drug offenses, but she has made some supremely good music over the years. Much of her early stuff, like this album, has been overlooked and we hope to change that here.

3:00 p.m.  A Little Bit O’ Soul: Various Artists

We’re back with our big, bad soul and rhythm & blues EP with music from Motown to Muscle Shoals to Atlantic and beyond. You’ll hear Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Ronettes, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Jimmy Ruffin, The Drifters, Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Carla Thomas, James Brown, The Shirelles, Etta James, Curtis Mayfield, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Nina Simone, LaVern Baker, The Supremes, Sam Cooke, Edwin Starr, Fontella Bass, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Irma Thomas, The Box Tops, Jr. Walker & The All Stars, Percy Sledge and more!

We’re preparing to go out with a bang here in 2023 and open up a brand new year with some new music and some new ideas. Stick around. We’ll remain free of charge and free of advertising. We’re all about the music.

It’s Simply Sunday.

The Boogaloo Swamis, Our ‘Ode to Morning EP’ and Henley/Frey Are Our Singer-Songwriters, Saturday, December 16, 2023

Good morning, weekenders! We are here in The Lounge preparing for a great day of music courtesy of The Music Mermaid, including the debut of Don Henley and Glen Frey as our featured singer-songwriters.

Here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m.  Album of The Week: Down At The Roadhouse by The Boogaloo Swamis FINAL AIRING!

Today is the final airing of this fine Cajun-Zydeco album by a little band out of Boston that certainly added to my musical appreciation of the genre.

12:00 p.m. Ode to Morning: Various Artists

We pay homage to the sunrise and the start to the day with Cat Stevens, Hoyt Axton, The Beatles, Neil Young, The Rascals, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Gram Parsons, Simon & Garfunkel, Taj Mahal, Dan Fogelberg, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Chapin, Three Dog Night, Ry Cooder, Tim Buckley, Muddy Waters, Jonathan Edwards, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Pure Prairie League, Badfinger, Chris Hillman and more!

8:00 p.m.  Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Don Henley & Glen Frey NEW!

This week’s singer-songwriters were part of the Laurel Canyon crew that helped fuse country and rock into a genre that spread like wildfire and was heard around the world. 

Remember, before, in between and after our programming it’s our big, wide Open Stream 24/7, 365 days a year with no commercial interruption. Give us a listen.

Welcome, Weekenders!

Friday Brings The Magnolia Sisters, Jesse Winchester and a Christine McVie Spotlight, December 15, 2023

We’ve got some great music for you today, including The Magnolia Sisters whom you probably won’t hear anywhere else unless you’re in New Orleans. But we have all their music here in The Mermaid Lounge. Today’s other two artists you, of course, should know.

Here’s today’s musical mayhem:

11:00 a.m. The Magnolia Sisters Live at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, The Fair Grounds Race Course, New Orleans, LA, July 27, 2021 NEW!

I love New Orleans; it’s a hotbed of musical styles and innovation and you can hear all of it right on the streets every day. What we have here is an all-woman Cajun/Zydeco band from Lafayette, Louisiana, populated by Ann Savoy, Jane Vidrine, Anya Burgess, and Lisa Trahan. They play the full gamut of the musical style from dancehall Cajun to primitive Creole to a cappella. The first time I ever heard them, they knocked me out and I was hooked. Maybe you will be too.

3:00 p.m.  Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Jesse Winchester FINAL AIRING!

We bid farewell to Jesse Winchester’s singer-songwriter focus today, although I promise that all of his music is in our general rotation every day.

8:00 p.m.  In The Spotlight: The Music of Christine McVie

We close our programming tonight with the heart and soul of Fleetwood Mac (sorry, Stevie), the late, great Christine McVie. We include not only her Fleetwood Mac songs, but her early blues work with Chicken Shack and her solo work.

It’s officially Friday, the end of the work week (for some lucky people who don’t work retail). Tomorrow, you’re officially ‘weekenders’ here in The Mermaid Lounge! We’re on 24/7, we’re totally free, and we do not air commercial advertising. What could be better?

Just Push Play.

Thursday It’s Our ‘Here Comes The Night’ EP, Then Our AOW and ‘Live’ Dylan & The Heartbreakers, December 14, 2023

Today brings the downslide to the weekend and we start the morning with songs about the night time, then it’s on to The Boogaloo Swamis and Dylan’s True Confessions tour with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers!

Here’s your Thursday lineup:

9:00 a.m.  Here Comes The Night: Various Artists

We start the morning with songs about the night from Warren Zevon, J. Geils Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Them, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, Electric Prunes, The Ronettes, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Doors, Emmylou Harris, Poco, Neil Diamond, The Animals, The Band, The Rolling Stones, Steve Winwood, Don McLean, Cat Stevens, The Traveling Wilburys, Sam Cooke, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt and more!

4:00 p.m.  Album of The Week: Down At The Roadhouse by The Boogaloo Swamis

The Swamis are back with their great brand of Cajun-Zydeco music. This band is a serendipitous find from the days of my youth.

7:00 p.m.  Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Cal Expo Amphitheater, Sacramento, CA, June 12, 1986

Perhaps this was a little bit of a foreshadowing of things to come with The Traveling Wilburys here. Two brilliant musical entities on the road together on Dylan’s True Confessions Tour. Tonight we’re airing the Sacramento show.

Here we are again in The Mermaid Lounge as I prepare to turn the reigns over to The Music Mermaid. She will keep the boat afloat!

Here Comes The Night

At Midweek It’s the ‘Music From Laurel Canyon’ EP, Jesse Winchester and Tim Hardin, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Good morning, music lovers! Today we give you five uninterrupted hours of music from Laurel Canyon, Jesse Winchester is our singer-songwriter, and we spotlight folk legend Tim Hardin later.

Here’s your midweek music:

9:00 a.m.  Music From Laurel Canyon: Various Artists

Back in the day, the British musicians were taken by our Laurel Canyon artists, and vice versa. It’s called cross-fertilization. And Laurel Canyon was the home for two generations of American musicians like The Mamas & The Papas, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, The Doors, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, The Monkees, CSNY, Manassas, John Mayall, J.D. Souther, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Nilsson, The Eagles, Canned Heat, Carole King, James Taylor, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Jimi Hendrix and more!

4:00 p.m.  Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Jesse Winchester

Jesse Winchester returns for his second turn as our featured singer-songwriter.

8:00 p.m.  In The Spotlight: The Music of Tim Hardin NEW!

Tim Hardin’s heroin addiction kept him from superstar status, but his songs found their way into the hands of many musicians during the sixties and seventies. Sadly, Hardin died in 1980 of a heron overdose at the young age of 39. Tonight, we put Tim Hardin in the spotlight where he belongs.

It’s midweek; also known as Hump Day. This is the perfect midweek break. Tune us in. All you need is a computer and a free tab. No credit card required.

Music From Laurel Canyon!

It’s Tuesday Bluesday With Our Chicago Blues EP, The Boogaloo Swamis, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, December 12, 2023

Good morning, bluesologists, and welcome to Tuesday Bluesday. Today we enjoy the blues from the Windy City to start off, then it’s our AOW and a Stevie Ray Vaughan spotlight.

Here’s your Tuesday Bluesday lineup:

9:00 a.m. The Best of Chicago Blues: Various Artists

We’ve got the bluesy sounds of Chicago with Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Koko Taylor, Lowell Fulson, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Magic Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson, Son Seals, James Cotton, Paul Butterfield, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Otis Spann and more!

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Down At The Roadhouse by The Boogaloo Swamis

Some of the best Cajun-Zydeco music on the planet was delivered by this unknown, Boston-based band back in the days of the great music clubs that were all around the city and its suburbs. Today we share it with you.

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan, with and without Double Trouble, is in our Spotlight to close out the Tuesday Bluesday programming.

Here we are again on one of the busiest days her in The Mermaid Lounge. Plenty of room for everyone here. No need to worry about the charges. We’re on 24/7 and we’re free 24/7.

Tuesday Bluesday!