Good morning, musicologists! We have not one, but two, new bits of programming for you on this simple Sunday, our last day of 2023, including our long-awaited ‘Founders’ playlist!
Here’s your musical journey:
11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Bloodshot by The J. Geils Band NEW!
The band’s third studio album is the one that put them on the map, released on April 12, 1973. It includes their single release, Give It To Me. And no matter what anyone from Boston tells you, these are Boston’s original bad boys.
3:00 p.m. The Founders: Various Artists NEW!
We finally found time to get this one done, paying homage to all of those who contributed to the birth of rock and roll: Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner, Hank Williams, Bill Haley & The Comets, Ray Charles, The Drifters, Roy Orbison, Robert Johnson, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters.
It’s a great day to tune us in as we celebrate the end of 2023 and move into a brand new year with a tribute to those who helped get us here. Not to be missed!
Good morning, music lovers! We start the day off with one of our absolute favorite EP’s, followed by Tom Waits and a new-to-the-station live concert from Electric Light Orchestra.
Here’s your musical lineup:
9:00 a.m. Down In New Orleans: Various Artists
We not only give you authentic New Orleans music, but we feature the music of artists who were born and raised there, including Allen Toussaint, BeauSoleil, Clifton Chenier, Dr. John, Buckwheat Zydeco, Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, Professor Longhair, Aaron Neville, Allen Fontenot, Lucinda Williams, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kermit Ruffins, Louis Armstrong, The Day Walkers, The Neville Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chance Bushman, The Boogaloo Swamis, Queen Ida & The Bontemps Zydeco Band, Marcia Ball, The Magnolia Sisters and more!
4:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Tom Waits FINAL AIRING!
Tom Waits drops by The Mermaid Lounge to take his final spin as our featured singer-songwriter. Tomorrow we introduce a brand new artist.
8:00 p.m. Electric Light Orchestra Live at The Paris Theatre, London, UK, April 19, 1973 NEW!
Jeff Lynne, a Mermaid Lounge favorite, brings ELO in for a great live performance from The Paris Theatre in London. This one’s new to our station. Enjoy.
It’s Friday. The weekend is on our doorstep, patiently waiting for us to open. We’re nearly there, and we’ve got some great music to take you over the finish line.
Good morning, Music Lovers! We have a special treat for you today as we take you down to New Orleans where the music is as varied and exciting as the food, give Bob Dylan his final airing as our singer-songwriter and celebrate the musical life of David Crosby, folk-rock pioneer.
Here’s Friday’s musical fare:
10:00 a.m. Down in New Orleans: Various Artists
This is a great playlist that not only celebrates the musical styles of the great city of New Orleans, but also the artists who were born there. You will hear Lucinda Williams, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Boozoo Chavis, Tony Joe White, Kermit Ruffins, Louis Armstrong, The Daywalkers, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Neville Brothers, Chance Bushman, The Boogaloo Swamis, La Touche, Irma Thomas, Kermit Venable, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Fontenot, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, The Magnolia Sisters, and more!
4:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Bob Dylan FINAL AIRING!
Today we feature Bob Dylan as our esteemed singer-songwriter for the last time (only for this series, however). Dylan has dominated and influenced the music scene for more than six decades as a solo composer and artist, and making music will others like The Grateful Dead, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and as a member of the world’s greatest supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys.
7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of David Crosby NEW!
David Crosby passed a couple of days ago at the age of 81. Yeah, he could be caustic at times, but the same is true of Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison. What we prefer to remember is his contribution to the creation of both folk-rock and country-rock, and as a founding member of both The Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash (Neil Young would be added later and was in-and-out of the group over its musical life).Tonight we put him In the Spotlight where he belongs.
We’ve got a hell of a music lineup for you today. This one is not to be missed. We take a trip to New Orleans and give you two musical geniuses to boot. All free of charge. Your money is absolutely no good here. We’re all about the music and we are on non-stop 24/7, not just when we have programming.
Happy Thanksgiving, Musicologists! What are we thankful for today? Great music for one thing, and the fact that it’s totally free here on #BecomeUngovernable Radio. We’ve got a great line-up for you today, so don’t forget to tune us in.
Here’s today’s lineup:
11:00 a.m. Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Massacree: A Thanksgiving Tradition
This is our fifth year of this great Tradition, all 18 minutes of Arlo Guthrie’s rambling historical narrative of Alice’s Restaurant. Whether the event really happened according to the musical legend or not has been the subject of much discussion over the years. However, it seems that The Berkshire Eagle has finally put the question to bed for all of us. Come join us for this great holiday tradition!
2:00 p.m. Down In New Orleans: Various Artists
We haven’t aired this great EP since sometime in September, but it’s back today for Thanksgiving. Not only do we have all of the rock n’ roll artists who were born in New Orleans, but we’re playing traditional New Orleans blues, jazz. R & B, and Cajun/Zydeco. You’ll hear BeauSoleil, Clifton Chenier, Lucinda Williams, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, Tony Joe White, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, Allen Fontenot, Aaron Neville, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Daywalkers, the Boogaloo Swamis, Kermit Ruffins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Magnolia Sisters, The Meters, Queen Ida and The BonTemps, Boozoo Chavis and many more!
8:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Everybody Knows by Stephen Stills and Judy Collins
This is our next-to-last airing of this album, the first and only collaboration between old lovers and friends from the sixties, Stephen Stills and Judy Collins. Don’t miss it. The final airing will be sometime on Saturday.
Come celebrate Thanksgiving with us here in The Mermaid Lounge. You can’t go wrong. You can kick back after that l-tryptophan kicks in and just chill. We don’t cost you a thing except time. No surprises. I promise,
Good Morning, Music Lovers. We’ve got a veritable New Orleans extravaganza going on today with our New Orleans EP and some ‘live’ music from the Nitetripper later on.
Here’s your musical line-up:
9:00 a.m. Down in New Orleans: Various Artists
We haven’t heard this one for a bit. Not only do we have authentic New Orleans music featured here, but music featured by those born and raised in Louisiana. You’ll hear music from Beau Soleil, Clifton Chenier, Lucinda Williams, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, Tony Joe White, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, Allen Fontenot, Aaron Neville, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Chance Bushman, The Daywalkers, The Boogaloo Swamis, Kermit Ruffins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Magnolia Sisters, The Meters, Queen Ida & The BonTemps, Boozoo Chavis and more!
3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Steady On by Shawn Colvin
This will be our next-to-last airing of this fine album before we move on. Don’t miss it. Your last chance to hear it will be sometime Saturday. On Sunday, we’ll have something brand new for you!
7:00 p.m. Dr. John Live at Ultrasonic Studios, Hempstead, New York, November 6, 1973
Some great ‘live’ music here from the Nitetripper, otherwise known as Dr. John, otherwise known as Malcom John Rebbenack, Jr. No matter what you call him, Dr. John is a Mermaid Lounge favorite here as he delivers his New Orleans brand of R & B, funk, blues and jazz.
Great day to tune us in as we focus on one of our favorite musical venues today. Some of the folks you hear today, like Chance Bushman and The Daywalkers, I learned about on a trip to New Orleans where there’s practically street music on every corner. Don’t miss it!
Good Morning, Musicologists! We’re back in retail hell for the day, but we’ve got great music on tap, including music from New Orleans and a special airing of Valerie Carter’s The Lost Tapes later.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is just one of the NOLA bands you’ll hear today!
Here’s your Moan-Day lineup:
10:00 a.m. Down in New Orleans: Various Artists
Not only will you hear authentic Cajun/Zydeco as part of this great EP today, but you’ll be treated to musical artists who were born in Louisiana. This includes BeauSoleil, Clifton Chenier, Lucinda Williams, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, Tony Joe White, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, Allen Fontenot, Aaron Neville, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Chance Bushman, The Daywalkers, The Boogaloo Swamis, Kermit Ruffins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Magnolia Sisters, The Meters, Queen Ida & The BonTemps, Boozoo Chavis, and more!
7:00 p.m. Valerie Carter: The Lost Tapes, Volumes One & Two
This is a special back-to-back airing of some great “found” music from the late, great Valerie Carter. Not only was she a solo artist in her own right, but she was a highly sought-after addition to projects from artists like Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and others. I will never forget her appearance as the opening act for Ronstadt’s concert at the Orpheum in Boston, and the two of them singing on stage together. One of my fondest musical memories.
Tune us in, people. You don’t hear this shit anywhere else, and you certainly don’t hear it for free 24/7. Before, after and in between our modest programming hours, we bring you great Open Stream around the clock.
Good Morning, Music Lovers! Well, here we are in New England. Yesterday it was 51 degrees and sunny. Today, it’s about 30 degrees colder and snowing. But it’s nice and warm here in The Mermaid Lounge and we’ve got some great programming on tap.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is just one of the bands and artists you’ll hear today!
Here’s your Sunday line-up:
11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Laid Back by Gregg Allman NEW!
This is the first solo album by Gregg Allman, the leader, songwriter and main vocalist of the venerated Allman Brothers Band. In fact, he worked on his debut album while working simultaneously on the Allman’s Brothers And Sisters album. It was released on Capricorn Records in October of 1973. The album resulted in two singles, Midnight Rider and Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing. Midnight Rider was also covered by the Allman Brothers Band, but Gregg Allman’s version remains my favorite.
3:00 p.m. Down In New Orleans: Various Artists
Saving this great playlist for Mardi Gras week is a thing of the past. It should be played more frequently than once a year. Not only will you hear music that is central to the culture of New Orleans, but you’ll hear from some mainstream artists who were born in New Orleans. You’ll hear the music of The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Clifton Chenier, Lucinda Williams, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, Tony Joe White, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Irma Thomas. Allen Fontenot, Aaron Neville, Chance Bushman, The Daywalkers, The Boogaloo Swamis, Kermit Ruffins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Magnolia Sisters, The Meters, Queen Ida and The Bon Temps, Boozoo Chavis, and more!
Get on the train, people. It’s about to pull out of the station and you don’t want to get left behind. We’ve got our usual worldwide weekend music lovers tuned in and it’s about time you joined them. It won’t costyou a penny. No lie here. We’re totally free, accept no advertising, and don’t spent a hell of a lot of time talking. We play music.
Here we are again hanging out in The Mermaid Lounge cramming in my musical duties before an opening shift. I hope you are soaking all this knowledge in like a sponge.
Tom Petty (& The Heartbreakers) with his Gibson Flying V.
Here’s your lesson for Wednesday:
January 6, 1957: Elvis Presley makes his third and final appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, where he sings seven songs, including Hound Dog, Don’t Be Cruel, and Heartbreak Hotel. Of course, they only show Elvis the Pelvis from the waist up.
January 6, 1958:Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis hits #2 where it will remain for four weeks before dropping down. What’s keeping it from #1? At The Hop by Danny & The Juniors. (Are you fucking kidding me?)
January 6, 1964: The Rolling Stones headlined their first UK tour, with The Ronettes as the opening act.
January 6, 1966: The Beatles’ We Can Work It Out is awarded a Gold record, two days before it begins a three-week stay at #1.
January 6, 1968: Gibson patents its signature Flying V Electric Guitar.
January 6, 1973: Carly Simon hits #1 with You’re So Vain, and people continue to obsess to this day trying to figure out for whom the song is written. Carly’s conflicting answers shed no light on this mystery.
January 6, 1975: Pink Floyd begins recording their album Wish You Were Here, after abandoning their original idea of recording an album making music using ordinary household items. Thankfully.
January 6, 1993: Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman leaves the group after 30 years because he didn’t see anything new coming on the horizon.
January 6, 2007: “Sneaky Pete” Kleinow, one of the finest pedal steel guitarists ever who played with The Flying Burrito Brothers, died in Petaluma, California, of complications from Alzheimers.
Born On This Day
January 6, 1937: R & B singer-songwriter Doris Troy was born Doris Elaine Higginsen in The Bronx, New York.
January 6, 1946: Syd Barrett, vocalist and guitarist for Pink Floyd, was born in Cambridge, England.
January 6, 1947: Sandy Denny was born in London. She would become the lead singer of Fairport Convention, and the only guest singer on a Led Zeppelin song, The Battle of Evermore.
January 6, 1951: Blues singer Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds was born in Detroit, Michigan.
And that, my friends, is it from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge.
Good Morning, Music Trivialists! We here at the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge draw from our own archive of totally useless information and pour over various electronic sources to bring this to you every day. As you may expect, some sites differ from others about locations of events, timing, etc. Needless to say, research, critical thinking and weed is required to complete this task.
The Million Dollar Quartet: Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Here’s today’s lesson!
December 4, 1956: Elvis Presley stopped by Sun Studios unexpectedly to find Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash watching Carl Perkins in the studio. The four would tape several songs together on that day, but it would be 25 years before that day would be immortalized on vinyl as The Million Dollar Quartet.
December 4, 1964: The Beatles release their fourth album, Beatles For Sale, which spends 11 weeks as the #1 album in the UK.
December 4, 1965:Turn, Turn, Turn would give The Byrds their second consecutive #1 hit, following up Mr. Tambourine Man.
December 4, 1969: President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and forty governors spend the day watching simulated acid trips and listening to rock music to help them understand the “generation gap.” We have been led by idiots for a very long fucking time.
December 4, 1971: Don MacLean’s eight-minute epic, American Pie, enters Billboard’s Hot 100. Before all is said and done, it will sell 3 million copies. To this day, it remains one of the most analyzed and debated songs in music history.
Also on this day, Sly & The Family Stone’s Family Affair begins a three-week run at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This will be their third and final #1 and their last song in the top 10 before the band implodes under the weight of personal issues, and falls apart. Too bad. They were a great band.
Led Zeppelin also began a two-week stint at the top of the UK Album chart with the Four Symbols album, which includes Stairway To Heaven. The album will eventually sell 11 million copies and remained on the US charts for nearly five years.
December 4, 1980: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones announce that Led Zeppelin will not continue on after the death of drummer John Bonham.
December 4, 1982: A retrospective album of John Lennon’s solo work called The John Lennon Collection, started a six-week run at #1 on he UK Album chart. The front and back covers were shot by Annie Liebovitz on December 8, 1980, just five hours before John Lennon’s murder.
December 4, 1987: Alison Krauss, just sixteen years old, releases her debut album, Too Late To Cry, with her backing band, Union Station.
December 4, 1988: Roy Orbison (aka, Lefty Wilbury) plays his final gig at The Front Row Theater in Akron, Ohio. Orbison dies of a heart attack two days later.
Born On This Day
December 4, 1942: Chris Hillman, of The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Desert Rose Band, was born in Los Angeles.
December 4, 1944: Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys was born in Inglewood, California.
And that, my friends, is as they say — all the news that’s fit to print because there are a lot of singers we simply don’t give a shit about here in The Mermaid Lounge.
Good Morning, Music Lovers Across the Globe! We’re trying to liven up your day beyond just playing great music! Today we’re starting the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge. There’s no tuition, and I am your professor, just as I am your programmer, researcher, music director, blog writer, and all-around music lover.
The Beatles perform at The Star Club, Germany, 1962.
Here’s today’s lesson in Rock Music History:
November 12, 1955: Fats Domino sits atop the R & B charts for the third week with his hit All By Myself.
November 12, 1957: Johnny Cash records Ballad of a Teenage Queen at Sun Studios in Memphis. The song will go to #1 on the Billboard Country charts in February of 1958.
November 12, 1962: The Beatles appeared at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, sharing the bill with none other than Little Richard.
November 12, 1965: The Velvet Underground makes its debut when it performs live at Summit High School in New Jersey. Fun fact: The band took its name from a paperback book about a secret sexual subculture in the early sixties.
November 12, 1966: Donovan’s Mellow Yellow is released. The song will go to #8 on the UK charts and to #2 in the U.S. It was originally believed that the song was about smoking banana leaves, which was rumored to be hallucinogenic. (Trust me. We tried it. It isn’t.) Later, Donovan would say that it was written about his bout with jaundice in 1966. I prefer the banana leaves story.
November 12, 1967: Jerry Lee Lewis records To Make Love Sweeter For You, which tops the Country charts in the U.S.
Thanks for joining in today. We hope you’ll join us every day here on the blog. You have no idea what you’re missing until you pay us a visit!
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