Tag: The Byrds

Thursday Brings ‘Travelin’ Fever,’ Live Lucinda Williams, and a Staple Singers Spotlight Feature, June 5, 2024

Good morning, music lovers! We’re on the downslide to the weekend and we’ve got some great stuff today, including a brand new Staple Singers Spotlight feature.

Here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m. Travelin’ Fever: Various Artists

Life on the road is always a great musical subject, and that’s what we open with this morning. You’ll hear music from Canned Heat, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Box Tops, Arlo Guthrie, The Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, The Doors, Tom Rush, The Byrds, Little Feat, The Band, Willie Nelson, Edwin Starr, The Traveling Wilburys, Del Shannon, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, The Doobie Brothers, The Guess Who, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Carole King, Cream and more!

4:00 p.m. Lucinda Williams Live at The Moody Theater, Austin, TX, December 5, 1998

The great singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams recorded live for Austin City Limits.

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Staple Singers NEW!

The Staple Singers are an American classic, a gospel, soul and R&B group started by Roebuck “Pops” Staples and his children that signed their first professional contract in 1952. They are best known for a string of hits in the seventies that included Respect Yourself, I’ll Take You There, If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me) and Let’s Do It Again. The Staple Singers have also been a steady voice in the civil rights movement. The Staple Singers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999) and The Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2018). They were also honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Drew, Mississippi and were given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

It’s always a good time to give us a listen. We’re totally free (no “free trial” bullshit), we don’t ask for a credit card, and we don’t ask for your personal information. We’re all about the music. No lie. Hit the button below and see for yourself.

Go ahead. Hit the button.

We Start With ‘The Psychedelic Express,’ Then Move to Tom Petty’s Top 100 Songs On Sunday, May 26, 2024

Good morning, musicologists! We move into our Memorial Day weekend programming today with Tom Petty’s Top 100. Tomorrow, we close out the weekend with The Beatles Top 100. But before all this, we kick off with ‘The Psychedelic Express.’

Here’s your holiday Sunday playlist:

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

One of our favorite EPs because psychedelic music is one of our favorite genres to explore. You’ll hear Vanilla Fudge, The Chambers Brothers, The Beatles, Electric Prunes, The Animals, Jefferson Airplane, Blues Image, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Donovan, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Byrds, 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, The Grateful Dead, Velvet Underground, Big Brother & The Holding Company and more!

4:00 p.m. Tom Petty’s Top 100 Songs

It’s time to pull out our House Bands for the holiday, and we start with Tom Petty’s Top 100 Songs as we listen to his music with The Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch, The Traveling Wilburys and as a solo artist. And these are in no particular order. We don’t have the infrastructure to handle votes from listeners, so we took a very scientific method and pulled song names out of a bucket. (No laughing.) From our perspective, all of his songs are great, so it doesn’t really matter what song is arbitrarily number one and which is number one hundred. Just enjoy the experience!

Kick back and relax with us this weekend. It was a beautiful day yesterday here in the Boston area, but it’s pouring rain today and it’s the perfect day to wrap your head around some great music.

Tom Petty’s Top 100!

It’s Sunday In The Lounge With ‘The Original Sixties’ Rotation, The Byrds, and Van Morrison, May 19, 2024

Good morning, music lovers! This is a sixties trifecta today and that’s always a good thing. While Van the Man’s live performance wasn’t until the 70’s, let’s remember he started out with a British blues band called Them and hasn’t stopped since.

Here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m. The Original Sixties Rotation: Various Artists

This would primarily be the early-to-mid phase of the decade, although we all know some later acts have slipped in here (and vice versa when we get to volume two). You will hear The Beatles, The Monkees, Sonny & Cher, Simon & Garfunkel, Little Eva, The Everly Brothers, The Searchers, Dusty Springfield, The Drifters, The Dave Clark Five, Johnny Rivers, Bob Dylan, The Animals, Petula Clark, The Rolling Stones, Procol Harum, The Turtles, James Brown, The Temptations, Del Shannon, Fontella Bass, The Box Tops, Blues Image, Booker T. & The MG’s, The Four Tops and more!

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of The Byrds

Formed in L.A. in 1964, The Byrds remain a musical stalwart today. Their lineup has changed over the years, with Roger McGuinn being the only consistent member, In spite of that, they made their mark with McGuinn’s jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and their signature harmony vocals, influencing many subsequent acts including Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Today they are In The Spotlight.

8:00 p.m. Van Morrison Live at The Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ, October 6, 1979

Van Morrison joins us this evening in The Lounge for a very pleasant interlude of live music.

I am on the run once again this morning, but The Music Mermaid is always here and on duty. She’ll take care of you until I return. As always, we remain free of charge and free of commercial interruptions. Enjoy your day of rest!

The Sixties are Back!

It’s Saturday and We’re in Laurel Canyon, Elvis is In The Spotlight, and Emmylou Harris is Live Later, May 18, 2024

Good morning, music lovers! We have hit the weekend and we’ve got a great Saturday lineup for you today.

Here’s your musical lineup:

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

We’re back in Laurel Canyon today where two generations of music helped create the country-rock sound, among other things. You’ll hear The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, The Doors, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, The Monkees, CSNY, Stephen Stills & Manassas, John Mayall, The Eagles, J.D. Souther, Harry Nilsson, Canned Heat, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, James Taylor, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and more!

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Elvis Presley

The King is in The Mermaid Lounge this afternoon.

8:00 p.m. Emmylou Harris & Spyboy Live at Kongresshaus, Zurich, Switzerland, January 20, 1997

A great performance by a woman who is not shy about shifting gears and making change. This was the band she put together to take her career-redefining album Wrecking Ball on the road. If you haven’t heard the album, you must.

I’m on the road early this morning on a mission of mercy, but The Music Mermaid has this under control. Talk to you all tomorrow!

It’s The Weekend!

‘Are You Ready for The Country’, a Guy Clark Spotlight and ‘Live’ Lukas Nelson & POTR on Saturday, May 11, 2024

Good morning, musicologists! We keep it on the country side today with our programming, both old school and country-rock, that great sound out of Laurel Canyon.

Here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m. Are You Ready for The Country: Various Artists

Another EP out of mothballs this morning as we pay homage to the old standards and the country rockers with The Eagles, Asleep at The Wheel, The Byrds, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Dolly Parton, Poco, Linda Ronstadt, Alison Krauss & Union Station, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Jerry Jeff Walker, New Riders of The Purple Sage, Carlene Carter, Rosanne Cash, The Desert Rose Band, Kris Kristofferson, Gram Parsons, John Prine, Tom Rush, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt and more!

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Guy Clark

Surely one of the absolute best country singer-songwriters ever. I know I’ve told this story before, but one dreadfully snowy night my friend George and I were walking around Harvard Square freezing when we decided to go into a place called Passim’s Coffee House to warm up. We had no idea who Guy Clark was, but we paid the cover charge and went inside. It was undoubtedly one of the best things I ever did in my life. I was totally hooked. And he played a mean fiddle to boot.

8:00 p.m. Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real Live at The Boathouse, Newport News, VA, June 14, 2018

We close out the country programming with Lukas Nelson and his great little band. Lukas comes from great country outlaw pedigree, so it’s no wonder we love him here in The Mermaid Lounge.

We’re here 24/7 for your listening pleasure, at absolutely no charge to you and with absolutely no commercial interruption. Ever. Just an occasional station I.D. bit courtesy of yours truly. That’s it. The button’s below.

Are You Ready?

The Byrds at The Fillmore, Volume Two of ‘Repeat After Me’ and Toots & The Maytals Are All On Tap, Friday, May 3, 2024

Good morning, musicologists! We continue on with Fillmore Week, give you volume two of ‘Repeat After Me’ and a Toots & The Maytals Spotlight feature.

Here’s your Friday lineup:

10:00 a.m. Repeat After Me, Volume Two: Various Artists

We’ve got volume two on tap with Joe Cocker covering The Box Tops, Kate Taylor covering The Four Tops, The Traveling Wilburys covering Del Shannon, Johnny Winter covering Bob Dylan, The Who covering Eddie Cochran, and more. You get the drill.

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Toots & The Maytals

I sometimes feel that Toots Hibbert gets short shrift in the world or Reggae, but the Maytals were around from the early sixties and were instrumental in helping to push Reggae into the consciousness of the mainstream music lover.

8:00 p.m. FILLMORE WEEK! The Byrds Live at The Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, February 7-8, 1969

One of the most iconic bands in all of music (imo) is on tap for this evening in a Fillmore performance as we continue on Fillmore Week.

In fact, we’re making Fillmore Week eight days a week so that we can get our final entry in on Monday. But that’s for us to know and for you to find out. That means you’ll just have to listen and stay engaged. The button’s below.

Fillmore Week Continues!

We Motor Along With ‘The Psychedelic Express,’ Marvin Gaye and The Beatles on Thursday, April 25, 2024

We are careening toward the weekend again, and we’re taking ‘The Psychedelic Express’ today. Then it’s a Marvin Gaye ‘Spotlight’ feature and psychedelia from The Fab Four.

Here’s your psychedelic lineup:

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

You don’t need no stinkin’ tickets to ride on the psychedelic express with Vanilla Fudge, The Chambers Brothers, The Beatles, Electric Prunes, The Animals, The Jefferson Airplane, Blues Image, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Donovan, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, Cream, Dr. John, Procol Harum, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, Canned Heat, Yes, Electric Light Orchestra, Tommy James & The Shondells, Mudcrutch, Blind Faith, The Grateful Dead, Velvet Underground, Big Brother & The Holding Company and more! It’s five hours of mind-bending music!

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye isn’t called The Prince of Soul for nothing. This brilliant singer-songwriter helped shape the Motown sound in the sixties, first as an in-house session player and later as a successful solo artist. He’s In The Spotlight this afternoon.

8:00 p.m. The Beatles: Tripping The Light Fantastic

We close this psychedelic adventure with The Fab Four. It should be no surprise to anyone that The Beatles pioneered the psychedelic sound and embraced it before anyone else. We close the day with their contributions to the genre.

I’ll be laboring in hardware hell while The Music Mermaid joins you on your psychedelic journey this fine day. If you are a fan of the genre like me, you will not be disappointed. Best of all, we’re totally free and devoid of commercial interruption all day long.

The Psychedelic Express!

It’s a Laurel Canyon Day with Our EP, The Lovin’ Spoonful and Stephen Stills & Manassas, Thursday, April 18, 2024

Today is a totally Laurel Canyon kind of day, as we feature the music from the artists who lived and made music there.

Here’s your musical lineup:

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

We start it off with five hours of music from the bands that lived and made music in Laurel Canyon over two generations, including The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, The Doors, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, The Monkees, CSNY, Manassas, John Mayall, The Eagles, J.D. Souther, Harry Nilsson, Canned Heat, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, James Taylor, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and more! UPDATE COMING SOON!

4:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of The Lovin’ Spoonful

We continue our tour of Laurel Canyon with a great sixties-seventies band formed in New York City in 1965 by John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky.

8:00 p.m. Stephen Stills & Manassas Live at The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 22, 1972

This often-forgotten supergroup was formed by Stephen Stills in 1971, mostly as a vehicle for Stills’ music. They released two albums before disbanding for good. Other members included Chris Hillman, founding member of The Byrds, Al Perkins, Dallas Taylor and Joe Lala.

We’re headed to the weekend once again and we’ll be here to help get you there with some great, commercial-free music. Did I mention we’re totally free and ask for neither a credit card nor your personal information.

Music From Laurel Canyon!

Friday Brings Vintage Joni Mitchell, a Musical Trip to New Orleans, and a Surprise Byrds Reunion, April 12, 2024

Good morning, musicologists! We have made it to the end of the week once again and we’ve got a great lineup for y’all today starting with the one and only Joni.

Here’s your musical lineup:

10:00 a.m. Joni Mitchell Live at Club 47, Cambridge, MA, January 10, 1968

Time to jump into the Wayback Machine again for this one at the famous Club 47 in my hometown. It would morph into Passim’s Coffee House, where I would spend a good deal of time hearing great music in Harvard Square. Many have passed through here on their way to their heralded musical careers, like Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and Guy Clark. Then, there’s Joni Mitchell. And we’ve got that one today.

12:30 p.m. Down In New Orleans: Various Artists

Haven’t broken this one out in a while and it’s about damned time. We have authentic NOLA music mixed in with rock n’ roll artists who were born and raised there. You’ll hear BeauSoleil, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John. Buckwheat Zydeco, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Irma Thomas, Allen Fontenot, The Neville Brothers, Lucinda Williams, Boozoo Chavis, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong, Queen Ida & The Bon Temps Zydeco Band, The Daywalkers, Jerry Lee Lewis and more!

8:00 p.m. The Byrds Live at The Boarding House, San Francisco, CA, February 9, 1978

Here’s the story on this great performance. Three of the Byrds’ founding members, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark and Chris Hillman were touring the west coast, each playing a short solo set and then convening on stage for some vintage Byrds tunes. On this particular night, David Crosby joined them on stage for several tunes (I think it was 9 songs), making it the closest thing to a Byrds reunion as you can get. The only missing piece was drummer Michael Clarke. It’s here tonight.

We’ve got some great stuff on tap for today. Don’t know about the weather where you are but we’re at monsoon level today I hear. Lots of wind and rain. Great day to hunker down with some great tunes.

Down In New Orleans!

It’s Saturday With Joan Baez, Steely Dan & Our ‘Travelin’ Fever’ EP, April 6, 2024

Good morning, music lovers! We’ve got a Joan Baez Spotlight, some ‘live’ Steely Dan this afternoon and our ‘Travelin’ Fever’ EP playing a night shift for the first time for any EP!

Here’s your musical lineup:

10:00 a.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Joan Baez

We kick things off with a Joan Baez Spotlight feature. In her vast 60-year career, Baez never failed to sing the music of justice. It’s in her DNA. In 2019, Joan Baez finally retired from touring, 59 years after she made her debut at the Newport Folk Festive at the age of 18.

3:00 p.m. Steely Dan Live at The National City Pavilion, Cincinnati, OH, July 13, 2008

We’ve got some great live jazz-rock from undoubtedly a Mermaid Lounge favorite, and one of the best things to come out of music in the seventies.

8:00 p.m. Travelin’ Fever: Various Artists FIRST TIME ON THE NIGHT SHIFT!

This marks the first time we’ve aired an EP in the evening, for the benefit of our global audience. You’ll hear Canned Heat, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Box Tops, Arlo Guthrie, The Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, The Doors, Tom Rush, The Byrds, Little Feat, The Band, Willie Nelson, Edwin Starr, The Traveling Wilburys, Del Shannon, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, The Doobie Brothers, Bob Dylan and more!

Stop on by The Lounge today. You won’t regret it. You can come and go as you please; there are no bouncers at the door. There’s no cover charge and we don’t run commercial advertising either. We’re all about the music.

We’re All About The Music.