It’s Not Only Tuesday Bluesday, But It’s Fat Tuesday, and We’re Feeling New Orleans in Our Bones on February 16, 2021

Good Morning, Bluesianans (is that a word or did I make that up?)! We are not only in the midst of Mardi Gras, but it’s Tuesday Bluesday here in The Mermaid Lounge. Luckily, we don’t have to compromise!

It’s Fat Tuesday and we’re celebrating NOLA all week!

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2012)

I only got to visit the NOLA festival once, while I was on business in New Orleans in a previous life. I didn’t get to see Tom Petty, but what could be better than our House Band playing at such a legendary festival? Don’t worry. We’ll be playing a lot of traditional Louisiana music throughout the week at various times. This is a short concert set by Petty standards, but the participants are allotted a certain amount of time. There are plenty of participants over lifetime of the festival. Enjoy this one.

3:00 p.m. The Best of Louisiana Blues, Volume 1: Various Artists

Yes, there’s also a Part 2, which we will get to later in the week. You’ll be hearing artists like Muddy Waters, Slim Harpo, Little Walter, Clarence Frogman Henry, and Boozoo Davis.

7:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Take A Little Walk With Me by Tom Rush

The only entry today that has absolutely nothing to do with Louisiana, Fat Tuesday, or the blues. But nevertheless, Tom Rush owns our Album of The Week and here it is for you!

Tune us in. This is just the beginning of our ode to New Orleans. We’ll be running great music all week long in celebration of Mardi Gras. Yes, the parades have been cancelled due to COVID. But the people of New Orleans are turning their homes into floats! We hope to be showing you some photos on the blog during the week. You’ve got to love that party attitude.

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It’s a Birthday Bash with Tom Rush, Bob Marley & The Wailers, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on Sunday, February 7, 2021

Good Morning, Music Lovers! This is the first day I’ve actually felt a bit more human since this thing started, and it’s my birthday. I am in good company in between Bob Marley and Tom Rush.

Tom Rush plays Mountain Stage, Charelston WV – 2009

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Vic Theatre, Chicago, April 19, 2003

Today I give myself a birthday present by streaming one of my all-time favorite Heartbreaker shows, live from The Vic Theatre in Chicago.

3:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Tom Rush

Happy Birthday to Tom Rush, a New England music treasure born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as we celebrate his 80th birthday.

7:00 p.m. Bob Marley & The Wailers Live at The Beacon Theatre, April 30, 1976

Yesterday would have been Bob Marley’s 76th birthday had we been fortunate enough to keep him around that long. Today, we celebrate his birthday.

Fuck the Superbowl. A bunch of overpaid egomaniacs, particularly in light of the irresponsible fucking clown prince of the Kansas City Chiefs, assistant coach Britt Reid, who chose to drive drunk while on Adderall and put two children in the hospital, one with life-threatening injuries. Turn them the fuck off.

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Happy Birthday to Mike Campbell with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch, Warren Zevon, and The Shadow, Monday, February 1, 2021

Good Morning, Music Lovers! Today we celebrate Mike Campbell’s 71st birthday by highlighting his work with both Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch.

Happy 71st Birthday, Mike Campbell!

Here’s your line-up for today:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & Mike Campbell: The Dynamic Duo

There’s no doubt in any Heartbreaker fan’s mind about how important Mike Campbell was to their success. Here we offer every song written by Tom Petty & Mike Campbell together.

3:00 p.m. Warren Zevon Live at The Electric Ballroom, Atlanta, Georgia, June 9, 1993

To say that Warren Zevon was a self-destructive individual would be an understatment. He burned a lot of bridges in his lifetime. But his musical genius cannot be denied.

7:00 p.m. Mudcrutch Live at The Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, California, June 26, 2016

Mudcrutch was the band that left Gainesville with Tom Petty as he set out on his musical journey. The band would not catch on, but it did morph into Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Later, Petty would bring the band back together and this time, their fortunes were very different.

10:00 p.m. The Shadow: 10 Murders in Wax NEW!

The Shadow must use his mystical powers to find out who’s replacing wax figures with real murder victims.

Tune us in. There’s nothing to join. There’s no fee. We run 24/7 totally free. No commercials either.

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We’ve Got Some Drivin’ Songs, Badass Guitarists, and Our New Album of The Week by Jeff Lynne and ELO, Sunday, January 24, 2021

Good Morning, Musicologists! We’ve got some great ‘various artist’ streams today, and our new Album of The Week by The Electric Light Orchestra!

Speaking of badass guitarists…

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Face The Music by The Electric Light Orchestra NEW!

Face The Music was ELO’s fifth studio album, led by musical genius Jeff Lynne. While Eldorado took a more classical approach, Lynne here moved the band into a more radio-accessible style of music (although the strings remained prominent). It is the first Platinum album for ELO. Lynne would later produce Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Petty called him the best producer on the planet), and join Petty in The Traveling Wilburys. He still continues on with ELO today.

3:00 p.m. Deb’s Stream: Drivin’ Songs, Various Artists

Essentially, what we have here are songs that give me what we used to call ‘lead foot’ on the highway. Let’s see if these match up with yours. You will hear The Eagles, The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Van Morrison, The Pretenders, The Doobie Brothers, Mudcrutch, Deep Purple. Blind Faith, and more!

7:00 p.m. Badass Guitarists, Volume One: Various Artists

We have a second volume of this also and we’re working on a third, but we haven’t heard this particular playlist in a while, so here it is. We have Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, Steely Dan, ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, and Aerosmith in this multi-artist playlist.

Remember, music lovers, wrapped around all of this programming we still have the vast majority of hours dedicated to open stream. We are circulating songs 24/7, totally free, no credit card required, and no personal information requested. Just give us your ears. (Not literally.)

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It’s Tuesday Bluesday! We Have The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Live at Boston’s Unicorn Coffee House, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Sing The Blues, and Dylan’s AOW, January 19, 2021

Good Morning, Blues Lovers! It’s another Tuesday Bluesday here in The Mermaid Lounge and we’ve got a pretty damned good line-up for today.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Live at The Unicorn Coffee House, Boston, Spring 1966

We go back to 1966 here for one of the best in he business live in Boston at the old Unicorn Coffee House. No alcohol. Coffee and music provided the fuel. Tom Rush recorded his first album here. Only 600 copies were pressed. Others who sang here were Bonnie Raitt, the J. Geils Band, Bonnie Raitt, Phil Ochs, and Tim Hardin. The Unicorn was owned by George Papadopoulous, who also owned the Psychedelic Supermarket, which was across the street from what is now the Hynes Convention Center. Boston has a long history of great small music venues. You can read about Unicorn and the others a bit here.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Rough and Rowdy Ways by Bob Dylan

This is the first album of original Dylan music since 2012’s Tempest, and it is well worth a listen. The guy never ceases to amaze.

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

Tom Petty once said he envisioned the Heartbreakers as old men sitting in chairs playing and singing the blues together. I would have loved the opportunity to hear that. You’ll see why if you tune in this playlist tonight.

What in Buddha’s name are y’all waiting for? Europe and Asia are tuned in. America is, as usual, behind the curve.

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Here’s Your Lesson From The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/12/2021

Here we are again! Greetings and salutations from The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge! We have a pretty active lesson today!

British bluesman Long John Baldry and his band, Bluesology. Yes, That’s Elton John on the far right. Long John Baldry is to his left.

Here’s today’s lesson:

January 12, 1957: Elvis Presley recorded All Shook Up, Got a Whole Lot of Lovin’ To Do, I Believe, and Tell Me Why at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California.

January 12, 1959: Jackie Wilson continued at #1 on the R & B chart for a fifth week with Lonely Teardrops.

January 12, 1964: The Beatles appeared on the ATV show Sunday Night at The London Palladium, where they sang I Want To Hold Your Hand, This Boy, All My Loving, and Twist & Shout.

January 12, 1968: Manfred Mann released the single, The Mighty Quinn.

Also on this date, Pink Floyd debuted as a five-piece band at the University of Aston in Birmingham, England.

January 12, 1969: Led Zeppelin released their debut album in the U.S.

Also on this day, Wonderwall, the psychedelic movie with the George Harrison soundtrack, opened in theaters across the U.S.

January 12, 1970: Badfinger (a great power pop band) released the single, Come And Get It.

January 12, 1974: The late Jim Croce’s You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, finally hit #1 after 47 weeks on the charts.

Also on this day, The Steve Miller Band’s The Joker goes to #1 in the US, and everyone wants to know what the fuck the “pompatus of love” is to this day.

And if that isn’t enough, Aretha Franklin’s Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna’ Do) knocked Stevie Wonder’s Livin’ For The City out of the #1 spot.

January 12, 1980: Damn The Torpedos, Tom Petty & The Heartbreaker’s breakout album, was at #6 on the Album chart on this day.

Also on this day in 1980, An American Dream by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Linda Ronstadt was making its run up the charts, from #59 to #33.

Born On This Day

January 12, 1928: R & B singer Ruth Brown was born in Portsmouth, Virginia.

January 12, 1941: Long John Baldry, who recruited the likes of Elton John and Rod Steward for his band Bluesology, was born in East Haddon, Derbyshire, England.

January 12, 1944: Cynthia Robinson, singer and trumpet player for Sly & The Family Stone, was born in Sacramento, California.

January 12, 1955: NRBQ drummer Tommy Ardolino was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.

And that’s it from the college, people! Be back soon with the line-up!

We Kick Off the New Year With Tom Rush, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Beatles, and Later, The Shadow, on Friday, January 1, 2021

Good Morning, Music Lovers! We are kicking off 2021 with some great programming wrapped around a whole lot of Open Stream today. Today we feature our two house bands.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: One of our House Bands.

Here’s your New Year’s Day line-up:

12:00 p.m. Tom Rush Live at Symphony Hall, Boston, MA NEW!

Tom Rush is a favorite here in The Mermaid Lounge and across New England. This is a compilation of two shows recorded at Boston’s Symphony Hall early in his career.

4:00 p.m. Petty Theft: The Covers

Nope. This isn’t other people covering Tom Petty. This is Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers covering their influencers. The same qualities that make them the best American rock n’ roll band make them arguably, the greatest cover band of all time.

8:00 p.m. The Beatles Complete Apple Rooftop Concert

One day, the Fab Four decided to go out and give a concert at lunch on the top of Apple Records headquarters on Saville Row. Needless to say, all hell broke loose, and it took the British Bobbies a bit of time to figure out just exactly what the hell was going on. This is that impromptu concert in its entirety.

10:00 p.m. The Shadow: 05 Hounds in The Hills

This is the final airing of this week’s episode. We’ll have a brand new one on Monday.

This is the start of a New Year. Maybe you want to join the rest of the world and tune us in.

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Our Antidote To Christmas Music: Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Band and MOONDOG MATINEE, and Later It’s That Sweet Soul Sound, Thursday, December 24, 2020

Good Morning, Musicologists! Here we are on holiday, and we’ve got the perfect antidote to that bad Christmas music that I know is playing in ACE Hardware today. Luckily, I’m here in The Mermaid Lounge.

Dylan and Petty. Does it get any better? Not from where I’m sitting.

Here’s your Christmas Eve day programming!

11:00 a.m. Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live in Sacramento, June 12, 1986

One day, Bob Dylan asked Tom Petty to go on tour with him. There’s a reason why all these guys wanted The Heartbreakers around. You’re about to find out just exactly why. In return, all of the members of The Heartbreakers credit Dylan with teaching them the importance of adjusting plans, songs, and being more spontaneous on stage. It was a marriage made in music heaven.

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Moondog Matinee by The Band

I could go on and on about The Band, undoubtedly one of the great treasures in American popular music. They may have started as Dylan’s back-up band, but they carved their own very real place in music history.

7:00 p.m. That Sweet Soul Sound: Various Artists EXPANDED AND UPDATED!

This is a great playlist to close out today’s programming. We’ve added some new music, so we’ve added some new songs to the playlist. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Mary Wells, James Brown, Rare Earth, The Box Tops, The Marvelettes, Jackie Wilson, The Temptations, Ann Peebles, Bill Withers and many more!

It’s Christmas. Time to pack it in. Be done with the pursuit of capitalism, and tune in to a radio station with no ulterior money-making motives. We don’t ask you to subscribe. We don’t ask for your credit card. We don’t ask for personal information because we don’t intend to sell you anything. We’re here for the music, believe it or not. If you choose not to believe, then all I can say is that you have no idea what you are missing.

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My Favorite Heartbreaker Live Performances, The Final Airing of our AOW, The Flying Burrito Brothers Live at The Avalon, and Live Dead Later, Saturday, December 12, 2020

Good Morning, Music Lovers! Here we are on our usual chock full Saturday, and it’s all good, as they say these days. Personally, I prefer, “It’s fucking mint.”

Yeah, baby. There is nobody like The Heartbreakers live and in person.

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Deb’s Stream: The Best of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live UPDATED!

This isn’t a new playlist, but it has been updated over the past week, and we haven’t heard live Heartbreakers in a while, mostly because I try not to show favoritism when it comes to them, The Beatles, and Linda Ronstadt. It’s a struggle. Here we have my absolute favorite Heartbreaker live performances, and we’re simply not done yet. There will be other iterations of this playlist down the road.

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Eli and The Thirteenth Confession by Laura Nyro

This is your last chance to hear this great album this week. Tomorrow, we move on to a new selection. Don’t mess this up, people.

7:00 p.m. The Flying Burrito Brothers Live at The Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, April 6, 1969 NEW!

This is the perfect early evening performance by the Gram Parsons version of the Flying Burrito Brothers. This was actually the opening act for The Grateful Dead that evening. We have this weeks’ Live Dead coming up a bit later!

10:00 p.m. Live Dead! The Grateful Dead Live at Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, California, April 22, 1986 NEW!

It’s our Saturday night constitution here in The Mermaid Lounge. This week’s Live Dead is from the Berkeley Community Center.

Tune in. Turn on. Drop out. That’s what I’d be doing if I had my choice. But alas, I don’t. I owe my soul to the company store. So, you enjoy yourselves on my behalf.

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Here’s Today’s Lesson From the College of Rock N’ Roll Knowledge: 11/19/2020

Good Morning from The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge. It’s another busy day in musical history, as you will see.

Tom Petty & Dave Grohl on stage during the Heartbreaker’s 30th Anniversary Tour.

Here’s today’s lesson plan:

November 19, 1955: Carl Perkins records Blue Suede Shoes at Sun Studios in Memphis. It will be Perkins’ biggest hit, reaching #2 on Billboard.

November 19, 1966: The Supremes enjoy their eighth US #1 hit with You Keep Me Hangin’ On.

November 19, 1971: B.B. King celebrates his 25th year in music by kicking off a European tour in London.

November 19, 1973: Led Zeppelin begins recording demos for their album, Physical Graffiti.

Meanwhile, Bob Dylan releases his 13th studio album, simply called Dylan.

November 19, 1975: The J. Geils Band records Blow Your Face Out (a fucking great album) at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

November 19, 1976: Van Morrison’s Moondance album receives a Gold Record. The album spawns two hits. In addition to the title track, Into The Mystic is released.

November 19, 1982: Led Zeppelin releases its final studio album, Coda, which is a collection of unused tracks written before drummer John Bonham’s death in 1980.

November 19, 1983: Tom Evans of Badfinger died at the age of 36. Like his and mate, Pete Ham, Evans also hanged himself. The story of what record company and manager greed and avarice did to Badfinger’s career is one that should be told. We will touch on that in the blog sometime.

November 19, 1994: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers perform You Don’t Know How It Feels and Honeybee on Saturday Night Live, with Dave Grohl of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters on drums.

November 19, 1995: Bruce Springsteen’s thirteenth album, The Ghost of Tom Joad, is released.

A 60-track album called Beatles Anthology I is released and sets a single-day sales record of 450,000 units.

That’s it, children. Take notes. There’ll be a quiz later (just kidding).