Labor Day
Relax and celebrate work and the music it has inspired on this Labor Day edition of American Routes. Worldly blues man and one-time farmhand Taj Mahal joins us to talk about tilling the soil as well as plowing through musical boundaries. Oral historian and radio man Studs Terkel discusses work in America and his own labors over the decades. And hear about balancing two careers from New Orleans tinsmith and trumpeter Lionel Ferbos. You’ll also hear a work-related music mix including Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nina Simone, Roy Orbison and many more.
HOUR ONE
Open Bed: Blue Monday Fats Domino
Out of New Orleans, Bear Family
Workin' Man Blues Jerry Lee Lewis
Killer Country, Mercury
Cakewalk into Town Taj Mahal
Recycling the Blues and Other Related Stuff, CBS
Got Me A New Love Thing James Andrews
Satchmo of the Ghetto, NYNO
Labor Day Lord Invader
Calypso in New York, Folkways
Instrumental: Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine Taj Mahal
Natch'l Blues, Columbia
INTERVIEW: Taj Mahal
Je Suis en Recolteur (I'm A Farmer) Clifton Chenier
Bogalusa Boogie, Arhoolie
Sixteen Tons Johnnie Taylor
Lifetime, Stax
Instrumental: Can't Be Still Booker T & the MGs
The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968, Atlantic
Lining Track Leadbelly
Sings Folk Songs, Folkways
Temp 'Em Up Solid Ry Cooder
Paradise and Lunch, Warner
INTERVIEW: Lionel Ferbos
Nice Work If You Can Get It Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Sings Gershwin, Decca
Work Song Grant Green
2 By 5: Guitar Jazz, 32 Jazz
HOUR TWO
Five O'Clock Whistle Duke Ellington
Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1927-1973, RCA
I'm Not Going To Work Today Clyde McPhatter
A Shot of Rhythm and Blues, Sundazed
Bertha Roosevelt Charles, Rev. Rogers and Big Louisiana
Louisiana Prison Worksongs, Arhoolie
Chain Gang The Persuasions
We Came To Play, Capitol
Work Song Nina Simone
Anthology: The Colpix Years, Rhino
The Peanut Vendor Billie and De De Pierce
Gulf Coast Blues, Arhoolie
Okra Olu Dara
In The World: From Natchez To New York, Atlantic
Instrumental: The Work Song Arthur Lyman
Sonic Sixties, Ryko
Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No.8) Jimmie Rodgers
The Singing Brakeman, Bear Family
Erie Canal Dan Zanes & Friends, featuring Suzanne Vega
Freedom: Songs from the Hearts of America, Columbia
Factory Girl Rolling Stones
Beggar's Banquet, ABKCO
I've Been Working Van Morrison
His Band And The Street Choir, Warner
Workin' for the Man Roy Orbison
For the Lonely: 18 Greatest Hits, Rhino
Instrumental: Nice Work If You Can Get It Art Tatum
The Definitive Art Tatum, Blue Note
INTERVIEW: Studs Terkel
Hallelujah, I'm a Bum Fats Waller
Fine Arabian Stuff, High Note
Blues for Everybody Champion Jack Dupree
Blues for Everybody, Charly
I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (and See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue) Tom Waits
Small Change, Asylum
End Bed: Work Song Charles Mingus
The Complete Debut Recordings Vol.3, Debut