Alabama Bound

American Routes takes a trip through the music of the Yellowhammer State—Alabama. Visit the Muscle Shoals Sound studio and find out what’s in the water around “the Shoals” to make it a historic hotbed for R&B hits by Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and more. Also, a trip through Hank Williams’ childhood home in Georgiana, and W.C. Handy Music Festival in Florence. And music from Shelby Lynne, the Birmingham Sunlights and the Delmore Brothers.

HOUR ONE

Open Bed: Sweet Home Alabama Mark Thornton
Bluegrass Then and Now 25th Anniversary, CMH

Old Alabama B.B. and Group
Prison Songs Vol.1: Murderous Home, Rounder

The Last Words of Copernicus Sacred Harp Singers
Southern Journey Vol.1: Voices from the South, Rounder

Alabama The Louvin Brothers
The Louvin Brothers: Tragic Songs of Life, Capitol

Alabam' Cowboy Copas
30 Country Hits: History of Country Music, Gusto

When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabama Jubilaires
Freedom's Front Door: Music of the Ellis Island Era 1900-1930, Soundies

Instrumental: Tuxedo Junction Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra
Masters of Jazz Vol.3: Big Bands of the '30s & '40s, Rhino

Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round
Freedom Songs: Selma, Alabama, Folkways

Rough and Rocky Road Heavenly Gospel Singers
Birmingham Quartet Anthology, Clanka Lanka

It's Gonna Rain Birmingham Sunlights
Folk Masters, Smithsonian Folkways

Betty's Place Willie King
I Am the Blues, Willie King

They Call Me Big Mama Big Mama Thornton
Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings, MCA

Dark End of the Street Dan Penn
Do Right Man, Proper

You Left the Water Running Otis Redding
The Muscle Shoals Sound, Rhino

Instrumental: Dark End of the Street Ry Cooder
Boomer's Story, Reprise

SEGMENT: Muscle Shoals Sound

End Bed: Funky Broadway Jimmy Smith
Walk on the Wild Side, Verve

HOUR TWO

Open Bed: Medley Excelsior Band of Mobile
Traditional Musics of Alabama, Vol.1, AFA

SEGMENT: W.C. Handy Festival

Yellow Dog Blues Louis Armstrong
Plays W.C. Handy, Columbia/Legacy

Stars Fell on Alabama Billie Holiday
The Lady in Autumn: The Best of the Verve Years, Verve

I'm Alabama Bound Jelly Roll Morton
The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, Rounder

Birmingham Randy Newman
Good Old Boys, Reprise

CLIP: Shelby Lynne

Where I'm From Shelby Lynne
I Am Shelby Lynne, Mercury

Instrumental: Fattening Frogs For Snakes Mobile Strugglers
Mobile Strugglers & Louis James' String Band, American Music

Lost Highway Hank Williams
The Original Singles Collection…Plus, PolyGram

Montgomery in the Rain Steve Young
Seven Bridges Road, A&M

72 (this highway's mean) Drive-By Truckers
Southern Rock Opera, Lost Highway

Instrumental: Cold Cold Heart Original Drifting Cowboys Band
Hank Williams Instrumentals, Landmark

SEGMENT: Hank Williams Boyhood Home & Museum

Pan American Hank Williams
The Original Singles Collection…Plus, PolyGram

I Saw the Light The Five Blind Boys of Alabama
I Saw the Light, Liquid 8

I'm Going Back To Alabama The Delmore Brothers
Delmore Brothers, Vol.2: Later Years 1933-1952, JSP

Oh, Suzanna Tony Schwartz
Camptown Races, Tony Schwartz

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Red, White and Blues: The Sounds of Patriotic Pluralism