Category: House Bands

It’s Friday in The Mermaid Lounge With the ‘Everybody But Bob’ Playlist, Aretha’s Final Turn as Our Singer-Songwriter, and The Beatles Live at The BBC, Vintage 1963, May 19, 2023

Good morning, musicologists! We’ve once again made it to Friday and we’ve got some great music on tap for today as you can see.

Here’s your Friday lineup:

11:00 a.m. Everybody But Bob: Various Artists

There’s no denying Mr. Dylan’s songwriting chops. The man has won a Pulitzer Prize for that talent, and he is one of the most recorded artists of all time. That’s the point of today’s playlist: To showcase Dylan’s talents through the interpretations of others, including Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Maria Muldaur, The Byrds, Them, Hot Tuna, Linda Ronstadt, Leon Russell, The Turtles, Emmylou Harris,The Neville Brothers, Joan Baez and more!

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

Today is the final airing of Aretha Franklin as this week’s singer-songwriter. Tomorrow we’ll introduce our next artist.

8:00 p.m. The Beatles Live at The BBC, London, UK, June 1963

The freewheeling fab four in their infancy is truly a treat for all Beatlemaniacs, of which I am but one. They are our House Band for a reason.

We’re one step away from the weekend. We’ll help you get there in style today. If you’re lucky enough to have an office, shut your door, pull up a tab and push the button below. You’ll see we’re all we say we are. Totally free, totally commercial free, and with no chatty DJ’s to interrupt the flow.

Friday in The Lounge!

Songs About Trains, Dolly Parton Takes Her Final Turn, and Petty & Campbell Close Out the Programming on Cinco de Mayo!

Good morning, music lovers! Today we debut a new playlist about trains, another popular topic of musicians of all genres, Dolly Parton takes her final turn as our featured singer-songwriter, and we feature The Heartbreakers at the end.

Sunrise over a rail line in rural Alberta, Canada

Here’s your musical landscape:

11:00 a.m. Train Tracks: Various Artists NEW!

Today we debut a great playlist about trains and, believe me, they come from all genres. Trains are a popular topic for musical artists like Joni Mitchell, Guy Clark. Linda Ronstadt, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Seve Winwood, Rod Stewart, Pete Seeger, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Laura Nyro, Professor Longhair, J.J. Cale, Chicken Shack, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Boogaloo Swamis, Wendy Waldman, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Lucinda Williams, The Guess Who, Paul Simon, Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder and more!

4:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Dolly Parton FINAL AIRING!

We hate to see her go, but Dolly Parton’s taking her final stage call as this week’s featured singer-songwriter. But don’t despair! Tomorrow we debut a great new artist as you will see.

8:00 p.m. Tom Petty & Mike Campbell: The Dynamic Duo

Speaking of songwriters, Tom Petty is right at the top of the list (his day will be coming), and he has had help from Mike Camp, his sidekick for many years, on many Heartbreaker songs. We debuted this playlist over three years ago and it never gets old. Tonight we air it to close out our programming.

We’ve made it to the end of the week and it’s Cinco de Mayo. For many it’ll be party time after hours. But for those who choose to party at home, we’re on 24/7 at no charge to you at any time. And better still, we do not accept commercial advertising, so there’s nothing to clog up the airwaves.

Cinco de Mayo!

It’s Friday and We’ve Got Bob Dylan with TPATH on The True Confessions Tour, Bruce Springsteen, and Some ‘Live’ Bonnie Raitt Later, April 28, 2023

We’ve made it to Friday, weekenders! We’ve got two great live shows sandwiched around Springsteen’s final airing as our featured singer-songwriter.

Here’s Friday’s musical lineup:

10:00 a.m. Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York, July 4, 1986

New York celebrated the 4th of July with a bang back in 1986 with Dylan’s True Confessions Tour backed by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Tom Petty credited Dylan with teaching his band how to be spontaneous on stage and, as a result, The Heartbreakers became one of music’s best road bands.

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

We bid farewell to Bruce Springsteen as our featured singer-songwriter today with this final airing. Don’t miss it.

8:00 p.m. Bonnie Raitt Live at The Rainbow Room, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 1972

This is vintage early Bonnie Raitt as we close out our day’s programming in style with this great blues-rock singer and master of the slide guitar who is still making history today.

Before, in between, and after our programming we have that great wide Open Stream courtesy of The Music Mermaid. Who knows what she’s going to come up with. You’ll just have to tune in to find out.

Turn It On!

Friday Brings Three Great Playlists and a Lot of Wide Open Stream, March 31, 2023

Good morning, weekenders! We are one day away and we’ve got some great music on the docket today, including our ’27 & Gone’ playlist, JT’s final turn as our singer-songwriter, and a closing set from The Beatles later.

Here’s Friday’s lineup:

11:00 a.m. 27 & Gone: Various Artists

The 27 Club has some incredible members, to start Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison. However, those aren’t the only musicians to leave the planet at the ripe old age of 27. There’s Ron “Pigpen” McKernan of The Grateful Dead, blues legend Robert Johnson, Brian Jones a founding member of The Rolling Stones, and more. Today we play musical homage to those who left us far too soon.

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

JT takes his final turn as this week’s singer-songwriter. Tomorrow, we’ll have a brand new selection for you.

7:00 p.m. The Beatles: The Transformation Years

Music critics say The Beatles took a giant leap with Revolver, and we agree. But we also think all the signs of their explosion of creativity started just a tad earlier with Rubber Soul, one of the finest albums ever recorded by anyone. This playlist covers those albums plus Hey Jude, Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.

One more day to go before the weekend begins. What a great way to transition into nirvana. Great music at no cost, with no commercial advertising, and no overly-chatty disc jockeys. Just click the button below!

Just Push Play!

Heading for the Weekend With ‘The British Are Coming’ EP, Hot Tuna and Our AOW, and ‘Live’ Heartbreakers Later, Thursday, March 30, 2023

Good morning, musicologists! We kick off the day with our ‘British Are Coming’ EP with music from the British Invasion years and beyond! We move on from there!

Here’s today’s musical landscape:

9:00 a.m. The British Are Coming: Various Artists

We kick off the day with music from ‘across the pond’ as they say, from The Beatles The Who, Dave Mason, Electric Light Orchestra, Petula Clark, The Zombies, The Hollies, Dusty Springfield, Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, Queen, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, The Bee Gees, The Moody Blues, Rod Stewart, George Harrison, Them, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Badfinger, The Yardbirds, Traffic, Elton John, Lulu, Pink Floyd, Yes, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, The Spencer Davis Group, Cream, Donovan and more!

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Steady As She Goes by Hot Tuna

Love this band, but we’re winding down on this selection, so get it while it’s hot! The final airing of this great blues-rock release will be sometime on Saturday.

7:00 p.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL, April 19, 2003

This was a great performance from what is considered one of the best road bands on the planet (actually, one of the very best bands on the planet). There’s nothing like seeing TPATH live (which I had the good fortune to do four times). TPATH is one of our official House Bands (along with The Beatles). Tonight we’ve got them live from the Vic Theatre in Chicago.

Tune in, folks. Join your worldwide friends. We have France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Israel, Australia, Russian Federation, Portugal and Spain on all night and into the morning. Where are you?

The Weekend’s Coming!

Thursday Brings Our ‘Between Heaven & Hell’ Playlist, Our AOW, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at Winterland Later, March 9, 2023

Good morning, musicologists! We’ve got a great programming lineup for you as we move toward the weekend. Read on for the details!

Here’s Thursday’s musical landscape:

11:00 a.m. Between Heaven & Hell: Various Artists

This is not an EP, but is sweet nonetheless, a collection of songs with references to heaven and hell in the title, lyrics or both from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Eagles, Steve Winwood, Pink Floyd, The Grass Roots, The Byrds, ZZ Top, Eddie Cochran, The Rolling Stones, Townes Van Zandt, Roberta Flack, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Presley, Maria Muldaur, Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings, the Grateful Dead, Fats Domino, Mudcrutch and more.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Bluesiana Triangle by Bluesiana Triangle

A short-lived but amazing band consisting of Art Blakey, Dr. John and David “Fathead” Newman released this great album that’s a little jazz, a little blues and a lot of funk. We’re winding down on this one. The last airing will be on Saturday. As they say in the restaurant business, get it while it’s hot.

7:00 p.m. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Live at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA, December 30, 1978

You heard from one of our House Bands earlier in the week, now you hear from the other in a great live performance from an iconic venue, Winterland in San Francisco. Early Heartbreakers on display here, a preview of how great this band was to become over a 40-year span.

Just do it, people. Tune us in. Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Australia, the UK, Russian Federation, Norway, Denmark, Texas, Cali, Rhode Island are all on so far. Join our international community of music appreciators! We’re on 24/7 and we’re also free of charge with no commercial advertising.

Just Push Play!

At Midweek We’ve Got ‘The Female Species’ EP, Nina Simone, and The Beatles In The Spotlight, Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Good morning, music lovers! We continue to celebrate Women’s (Musical) History Month with our ode to the superior sex. We also feature Nina Simone as our singer-songwriter, and put The Beatles In the Spotlight later.

Here’s your midweek musical programming:

9:00 a.m. The Female Species: Various Artists

We feature our ode to women this morning and it’ll be running into the afternoon. Call it Open Stream With a Stream. You’ll hear from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Jackson Browne, The Boogaloo Swamis, John Mayall, Hot Tuna, The Eagles, Elvis Presley, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Percy Sledge, The Beatles, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, America, Roy Orbison, Billy Joel, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Beach Boys, The Temptations, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Rolling Stones, The Rascals, Peter & Gordon and more!

4:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Nina Simone

We have our second airing of Nina Simone as our featured singer-songwriter for this week coming up later in the afternoon.

8:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of The Beatles

One of our House Bands (along with TPATH) and the band that changed just about everything in a very short period of time. They set the music world on its ear in 1964 and never stopped until their final note was played. Along the way they also changed the cultural landscape. We put them In the Spotlight where they belong.

What better day to tune us in than this one? Join your friends from France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Faroe Islands, Australia, Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts, Germany, France, Canada and beyond. They are all on this morning!

Midweek Music!

Happy Monday From The Mermaid Lounge With Some Valentines Day Playlists and The Fab Four Sandwiched in Between, February 13, 2023

Good morning and welcome to another Monday. Here we are in The Mermaid Lounge and we’ll give you some Valentines Day TLA and heartbreak today (tomorrow is Tuesday Bluesday, so we must adjust) and The Beatles in between.

Here’s what Monday, Monday brings:

11:00 a.m. True Love Always: Various Artists

We start off the programming with the happy side of love, when everything is rosy. That’s usually when it’s “new” as it turns out. It’ll deteriorate later. You’ll hear loving entreaties from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Mamas & The Papas, Carly Simon, The Yardbirds, Van Morrison, Delaney & Bonnie, Buffalo Springfield, The Band, Linda Ronstadt, Maria Muldaur, Valerie Carter, Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt, The Hollies, The Lovin’ Spoonful and more!

3:00 p.m. The Beatles: The Early Years

We’re a bit late out of the gate here, but we always manage to catch up. On February 9, The Beatles performed for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show. So, today, we give you a playlist of their early songs in celebration of that musical event that changed it all.

7:00 p.m. Nothing But Heartbreak: Various Artists

Here’s the flip side of the coin. Otherwise known as when things go sour. I’m the master of this playlist. You’ll hear Carole King, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Tom Rush, Jackson Browne, Aretha Franklin, the J. Geils Band, Mudcrutch, Guy Clark, Lucinda Williams, Dan Fogelberg, Warren Zevon, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Cat Stevens, The Searchers, Ray Charles and more.

Yeah. It’s Monday, and the first day of the week pretty much sucks. But hey, you can improve the day by tuning us in. So, if you’ve got an office, close the door and pull up a tab. If you work at home, even better. You can even turn us on after work and improve your day because we run 24/7 with no commercial interruption. We’re all about the music.

Monday, Monday

It’s Tuesday Bluesday With Our ‘Best of Chicago Blues’ EP, Our AOW in Between, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Sing the Blues Later, February 7, 2023

Yes, it’s another Tuesday Bluesday here in The Mermaid Lounge, and it’s also my birthday. I couldn’t think of a better present to give myself later on today than TPATH singing the blues.

Here’s today’s lineup:

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

There’s nothing like the blues from the Windy City, and we’ve got them uninterrupted for you to kick off the day. You’ll be hearing Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Koko Taylor, Lowell Fulson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Son Seals, James Cotton, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Otis Spann and more!

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Poet, A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt, Various Artists

Townes Van Zandt is probably best known for his great tune Pancho & Lefty, which was covered by so many people it’s hard to list them. But our favorite version here in the lounge belongs to Emmylou Harris. But he was more than that. He wrote many tunes that are considered masterpieces of American songwriting, including For the Sake of The Song, If I Needed You, To Live Is to Fly, and Rex’s Blues. On this special tribute album, you’ll hear Emmylou, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, John Prine and others sing their versions of Van Zandt’s songs.

7:00 p.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Sing The Blues

Tom Petty envisioned The Heartbreakers sitting around in their old age in chairs wailing the blues. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to bring that to fruition, but the band made many blues songs. We’ve got them for you tonight.

Tune us in, folks. We’re on 24/7 and we’re totally free. No strings. No bullshit. No lie. Best of all, no commercial advertising or mouthy disc jockeys here. The Music Mermaid is in control.

It’s Tuesday Bluesday!

We’re Exiting the Work Week in Style With an Impressive Lineup at Red Rocks, Stevie Wonder’s Final Stand, and The Final Volume of The Heartbreakers at The Fillmore ’97, on Friday, February 3, 2023

Good morning, musicologists! We’ve got Stevie Wonder’s final turn as this week’s singer-songwriter sandwiched between two great live performances to close out the work week. Read on!

Here’s the end-of-the-week lineup:

11:00 a.m. Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin, Bruce Hornsby, David Lindley and Wally Ingram Live at Red Rocks, Morrison, CO, September 12, 1999

I must say I had the pleasure of seeing this tour at what was then called The Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, back in 1999. I even bought myself a tee that I wore so much that I wore it out. This was an amazing performance by an incredibly gifted group of musicians that I will never forget. We bring it to you today for your listening pleasure!

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

This is the final airing of Stevie Wonder as this week’s featured singer-songwriter, so get on it while you can. The man had his first No. 1 hit at the age of thirteen, after signing his first contract with Tamla at the age of eleven. Tomorrow, we’ll be selecting a brand new artist, but today we’ve got “Little” Stevie Wonder.

7:00 p.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, Volume Three, 1997

We close out the programming today with the final volume of The Heartbreakers’s unprecedented 20-show residency at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Many in attendance purchased tickets for multiple nights and were treated to a different show each time as the band scrapped their canned show and took their lead from audience suggestions. This is one event I wish I had the opportunity to see, but the release by curated by the Petty family and his bandmates is pretty incredible.

I don’t know what’s going on with the weather where you are, but here in Boston we’ve got high winds with wind chill factors down to -36 degrees forecasted for today through tomorrow. If I didn’t have to go out to work, I’d be here in The Mermaid Lounge listening to all this great music. And hey, we’re not just broadcasting when we have programming. We’re on 24/7 all year long rotating 27,000+ great tunes.

Just Push Play.