Words & Music
Do the words make the song or the notes? What does it take to tell a good tale in music or about music? We asked these questions to a few writers of both songs and stories. Singer-songwriter and memoirist Rosanne Cash sits down before a live audience to tell us about her authorial journey, then we chat with novelist Cyril Vetter on translating a musician’s life into fiction. And New Orleans bluesman Little Freddie King spins a few tall tales from the juke joint.
HOUR ONE
Open Bed: That's Alright Mama Bill Frisell
Disfarmer, Nonesuch
You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover Bo Diddley
Willie Dixon: The Chess Box, Chess
Paper Back Writer The Beatles
The Beatles 1962-1966, Apple
Write Me a Few of Your Lines Mississippi Fred McDowell
The Best of Fred McDowell, Arhoolie
Write Me a Few of Your Lines Bonnie Raitt
Takin' My Time, Warner Brothers
Almost Persuaded Etta James
The Essential Etta James, MCA/ Chess
The Way We Make A Broken Heart John Hiatt w/ Rosanne Cash
The Best of John Hiatt, Capitol
Instrumental: Death Letter Cassandra Wilson
New Moon Daughter, Blue Note
I Walk the Line Johnny Cash
The Legend, Columbia/ Legacy
SEGMENT: Rosanne Cash
Tennessee Flat Top Box Rosanne Cash
Kings Record Shop, Columbia
I Still Miss Some One Johnny Cash
Cash: The Legend, Columbia/ Legacy
Instrumental: Real Life Stories Donald Harrison
Real Life Stories, Nagel Heyer 2022
Dark End of the Street James Carr
The Essential James Carr, Razor & Tie
The Same Old Story Billie Holiday
Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia, Columbia
Summertime Herbie Hancock with Joni Mitchell & Stevie Wonder
Gershwin's World, Verve
Dixie Flyer Randy Newman
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol.2, Nonesuch
End Bed: One Sweet Letter From You Coleman Hawkins & Lionel Hampton Orchestra
Jazz Tribune No. 52 The Indispensible Coleman Hawkins, RCA
HOUR TWO
Open Bed: Driftin' Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield
Fingerpainting: The Music of Herbie Hancock, Verve
Nirvana Tom Waits
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, Anti-
Bus to Baton Rouge Lucinda Williams
Essence, Lost Highway
SEGMENT: Cyril Vetter
Instrumental: Chicken Reel Bill Monroe & Doc Watson
Live Duet Recordings 1963-1980, Smithsonian Folkways
Barnyard Dance Martin, Bogan and Armstrong
Barnyard Dance, Rounder
Uncle Bud Boozoo Chavis
Who Stole My Monkey?, Rounder
CLIP: Little Freddie King
Chicken Dance Little Freddie King
You Don't Know What I Know, Fat Possum
Whole Lotta Shakin' Carl Perkins
The Classics, Bear Family
Instrumental: This is a Pig Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, Nonesuch
May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister Charlie Poole
You Ain’t Talkin’ to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music, Columbia/ Legacy
Motorpsycho Nitemare Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan, Columbia
The Weight The Band
Music From the Big Pink, Capital
I Can't Help From Cryin' Sometime The Staples Singers
The Staples Singers/ Great Day, Milestone
Wrote a Song For Everyone Mavis Staples
You Are Not Alone, Anti-
End Bed: Pop's Instrumental The Staples Singers
The Staples Singers/ Great Day, Milestone