It’s another happy day during BLUES WEEK with a (mostly) Open Stream Wednesday. Later, there’s a trip down to Bluesiana and a birthday celebration for Springsteen.
Art Blakey, Dr John and David ‘Fathead’ Newman also known as ‘Bluesiana Triangle’ at AcmeStudios in Mamaroneck, New York on March 5, 1990. (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)
Here’s today’s musical line-up:
Infinity (Mostly) Open Stream
We’re circulating more than 25,000 songs daily. Today, we are mostly on open stream until late afternoon.
4:00 p.m. The Bluesiana Triangle: Dr. John, Art Blakeley, and David “Fathead” Newman
Does the blues get any better than this? I dunno. But if it’s good for Dr. John, The Nitetripper, it’s good for me.
7:00 p.m. Bruce Springsteen With the Seeger Sessions Band, Live at The Point Theatre, Dublin, November 2006 NEW!
We wish Bruce Springsteen a happy birthday today by airing this amazing broadcast. recorded in November 2006 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.
This would be an exceptional day to tune us in. For fucking real, people. We’re free. We accept NO advertising. We’re all about the music.
We have da blues all week long here from The Mermaid Lounge. We’ve got an interesting selection for you today, to say the least.
Johnny Winter was the real deal, people.
Here’s today’s high-energy line-up:
11:00 a.m. Johnny Winter Live at The Bottom Line, New York, September 5, 1978
Johnny Winter was the real deal, but perhaps not in the traditional sense. He is known for his distinctive blues-rock style, and his live performances of the late 60s and the 70s are legendary. He also produced three Grammy award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters. Today we have him live at The Bottom Line.
3:00 p.m. Album of the Week: Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King
If you missed the first airing on Sunday, here’s another opportunity to hear our Album of The Week.
7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The J. Geils Band
Some purists may turn their nose up at this selection, but that’s why I run the station. No matter what they tell you, this was Boston’s original party band, and they were once known as the J. Geils Blues Band before they made their crossover. No matter, they were the masters of blues rock, and when they were on stage, there was nobody like them.
It’s a day, isn’t it? So, why not tune us in. Doesn’t matter what time you choose…unless, of course, you want to hear our programming. Otherwise, we run 24/7, For free.
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.
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.
Happy Saturday, Ungovernables! Saturdays are usually busier than weekdays, and this is no exception. We have some great programming on tap wrapped around the 24/7 airing of the best music on the planet.
The multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist genius known as Van Morrison.
Here’s your line-up for Saturday:
11:00 a.m. Joni Mitchell Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO, July 30, 1983
Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has combined folk, jazz, pop and rock over the years to deliver an amazing library of music. She just announced the birth of the Joni Mitchell Archives, a series of boxed sets that include her earliest-recorded work will be released over the next several years. I can tell you this is much anticipated here in The Mermaid Lounge.
3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Heaven Is In Your Mind by Traffic
This will be the final airing of this week’s Album of the Week. Tomorrow morning, there’ll be a brand new one on the blog.
6:00 p.m. Van Morrison Live at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, October 6, 1979
Again, another singer-songwriter who defies the conventional, and he has also built an incredible body of work that began in the sixties with the British blues band, Them. The concert delivered on this date is classic Van Morrison.
10:00 p.m. Live Dead! The Grateful Dead Live at The McNicols Sports Arena, Denver, CO, December 14, 1990 NEW!
This Saturday’s Live Dead! is another strong outing by the world’s ultimate jam band. No two shows were ever the same, even on the same tour. Enjoy.
What you waiting for? I keep saying it: Free. 24/7. No commercials. No politicians. No chatter. Just music and a few station IDs. End of story.
Good Morning, Ungovernables! Here we are on another Tuesday Bluesday with Stevie Ray Vaughan. We also toss in some Bonnie Raitt, always good for those bluesy days.
Here’s your Tuesday Bluesday line-up:
11:00 a.m. Tuesday Bluesday! Stevie Ray Vaughan: Blues You Can Use, Recorded Live on the Live Alive Tour, Philadelphia, PA, June 30, 1987 NEW!
Stevie Ray Vaughan was known as “the second coming of the blues” before his untimely death in a helicopter crash at the age of 35 in 1990, but his legend endures as one of the most amazing blues guitarists of all time. Bonnie Raitt dedicated her album Luck of The Draw to Stevie Ray. It’s only fitting that they are scheduled here on the same day.
3:00 p.m. Album of the Week: Heaven Is In Your Mind by Traffic
Steve Winwood is another of those artists whose legend will endure long after his mortal life, and with good reason. Everything this guy has touched is worth listening to on some level, and he has been around for a very long time. One of my favorite videos of all time is Steve Winwood and Tom Petty on stage together for Can’t Find My Way Home during the Heartbreakers’ 2014 tour.
7:00 p.m. Bonnie Raitt Live at The Rainbow Room, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 1972
Bonnie Raitt is another of those female pioneers who never disappoints. It’s amazing to me that even the classic rock stations fail to give these women their due. But here in The Mermaid Lounge, their presence is scheduled to grow.
Good Morning, Ungovernables! Today we have Wide Open Stream until 11:00 a.m. EST, when we begin airing The British Are Coming, more than five uninterrupted hours of British Invasion (and beyond) music.
Here are some of the artists you’ll be hearing:
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
The Dave Clark Five
The Who
Queen
Eric Clapton
The Pretenders
Cream
Lulu
Led Zeppelin
Jeff Beck
Pink Floyd
Them (featuring Van Morrison)
Dusty Springfield
Faces
The Searchers
and many more. So, tune us in, people. You will not regret it.
Good Morning, Ungovernables! It’s a brand new season as we roll into September! Even better, we kick it off with Tuesday Bluesday!
Here is your Tuesday Bluesday line-up:
11:00 a.m. Tuesday Bluesday! Bonnie Raitt, Lowell George, John Hammond & Freebo, Live at Ultrasonic Studios, October 17, 1972 NEW!
Some of the best stuff we have is archival discoveries and, while they may not exactly be technically perfect, it doesn’t matter. A young Bonnie Raitt is hanging out with some friends here an they are conducting a textbook super session. Her youthful versions of Jackson Browne’s Under the Falling Sky and Chris Smither’s Love Me Like a Man are really great, but her version of Blind Faith’s Can’t Find My Way Home is the most amazing.
When you toss in Lowell George, the grand master of Little Feat, John Hammond and Freebo, you’ve got a super group. Who is Freebo? His real name is Daniel Friedberg, and he’s legend in my generation, a super studio musician who has spent a lot of time supporting Bonnie Raitt. Freebo has also played with Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, Aaron Neville, John Mayall and many other musicians.
3:00 p.m. Album of the Week: Revolver by The Beatles
The Revolver album signaled what was to come from the Beatles. It was a giant LEAP forward for the band in so many areas. This album is widely considered the most influential album in modern music. Find out why by tuning in.
7:00 p.m. Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan: In Session, Recorded Live at CHCH-TV on December 6, 1983
Two blues masters were recorded live at CHCH-TV studios in Hamilton, Ontario, when SRV was 29 years old and King was 60. You can read more about this legendary blues session right here.
Come on, people, it’s a great time to tune us in. We’re here. We’re free. We ask for nada, and we operate totally outside the system. Oh, yeah, we also play great music — rotating more than 25,000 songs — on a 24-hour basis. Non-stop musical nirvana.
#BecomeUngovernable Radio 