Musical Memories with Joe Ely & Roscoe Robinson
We reach for “mystic chords of memory” with singer-songwriter Joe Ely and gospel/soul man Roscoe Robinson to hear about the ground they’ve covered as veteran touring musicians. Joe starts us off in Lubbock, Texas, where he grew up, and tells of railroading across America, running off with the circus, musical explorations with the Flatlanders, and his role in Austin’s Cosmic Cowboy scene. Now in his 91st orbit around the sun, Roscoe remembers his childhood in Dermott, Arkansas, the family’s north migration, traveling the gospel circuit through the Jim Crow South, taking the stage at the Apollo Theater, and his life-long spiritual journey. We spin travel tunes from artists’ influences like Buddy Holly, Flaco Jimenez, and the Staple Singers; plus, some pre-election reflection songs from Johnny Cash, Lauryn Hill, and Keb Mo.
HOUR ONE
Open Bed: Treat Me Like a Saturday Night Joe Ely
Joe Ely, MCA
Down the Line Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery
Down the Line/I Wanna Play House With You, Coral
Road Hawg Joe Ely
Full Circle: The Lubbock Tapes, Rack'Em Records
Waiting for a Train Jimmie Rodgers
Blue Yodel No. 4/Waiting for a Train, Victor
Windmills and Water Tanks Joe Ely
Full Circle: the Lubbock Tapes , Rack'Em Records
Waymore's Blues Waylon Jennings
Dreaming My Dreams, RCA Victor
Instrumental: Red River Valley Quebe Sisters
Texas Fiddlers, self-released
Streets of Laredo Marty Robbins
More Greatest Hits, Columbia
Across the Border Line Flaco Jimenez
Partners, Reprise
SEGMENT: Joe Ely
Instrumental: Lupus #1 Tom Morell and the Time Warp Top Hands
Wolf Tracks, Shanachie
Deep Eddy Blues Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Don't Look for a Heartache, Hightone
Borderless Love The Flatlanders
Hills and Valleys, New West
Standin' at a Big Hotel Joe Ely
Full Circle: the Lubbock Tapes , Rack'Em Records
Dallas Joe Ely
Musta Notta Gotta Lotta, MCA
White Freightliner Blues Joe Ely and Joel Guzman
Live Cactus!, Rack'Em Records
End Bed: San José Snooks Eaglin
Snooks Eaglin with his New Orleans Friends, Sonet
HOUR TWO
Open Bed: The Preacher Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith Retrospective, Blue Note
Freedom Highway The Staple Singers
Freedom Highway, Legacy
I Shall Be Released Blind Boys of Alabama
Almost Home, BBOA
SEGMENT: Roscoe Robinson
Instrumental: The National Anthem: OG Can UC Carla Bley Big Band
Looking for America, Watt
Forgive Them Father Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Ruffhouse
Be Careful How You Vote Sunnyland Slim
Be Careful How You Vote, Earwig
Hard Times Johnny Cash
Unearthed, American Recordings
Once They Banned Imagine Drive-By Truckers
American Band, ATO Records
Instrumental: The House I Live In Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins 1956, Giants of Jazz
I Pity the Poor Immigrant Marion Williams
The New Message, Atlantic
Soy Mexico Americano Los Cenzontles
Raza de Oro, Cenzontles
America the Beautiful Keb Mo
Freedom: Songs From the Heart of America, Columbia/Legacy
A Change Is Gonna Come Terence Trent D'Arby and Booker T. & the MGs
Freedom: Songs From the Heart of America, Sony
Closing Bed: America the Beautiful The Happyland Band
Saints' Paradise: Trombone Shout Bands from the United House of Prayer, Smithsonian Folkways