Cohen & Coen – Show 14

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And so, kids… E I E I O!

Click here to hear Uncle Steve sing and make some farm noises: Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Leon Russell singing Bob Dylan’s song “A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall” with Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

On this week’s show, we make the connection between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Probably the most important of any and all of the roots of rock and roll is Gospel music and the church. And I suppose an argument could be made that, throughout history, confessions, donations, and re-dedications have all been boosted significantly by Saturday night honky tonk shenanigans. The show kicks off with one of my favorite records by Tulsa icon, Jimmy “Junior” Markham, called “Lipstick, Powder, and Paint.” I got so excited, I picked up and plugged up my electric guitar and hit a lick. Markham is an important part of the show, with a great interview describing the recording days at Leon Russell’s place “up on Skyhill Drive.” One of our very favorite Oklahoma Rock & Roll family members is R&B guitar player and singer Jimmy Liggins, originally from Newby, Oklahoma. Jimmy makes a health contribution this week with three songs that get to the heart of the subject at hand: “Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man,” “Drunk,” and “I Ain’t Drunk.” Admittedly, we get a little sidetracked riding some horses, checking the cattle, and listening to cowboy songs. Along with Roy Rogers, a man named Tim Spencer (from Picher, Oklahoma) was a founding member of The Sons of the Pioneers – the most famous cowboy singers in history. Warning: I sang along a little on their tune, “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” Sam Cooke gets our theme back on track with “Another Saturday Night.” Barney Kessel plays guitar on that record. Our newest member of the family, Billy Hughes, debuts with a couple of songs that seem to have been written just for this week’s show: “The Out of Town Boogie” and “Atomic Sermon.” It’s so hard to beat those old records, and it’s so hard to believe that anybody as great as Jimmy (or Joe) Liggins and Billy Hughes could have “passed out of favor” and fallen off the radar screen. Both of Billy’s records are just as could as they could be. “Atomic Sermon” says… “You better stop those scientists from researchin’ because they’ve done gone too far…” Also, this important question/point: “If God wanted us to go to Mars… Why did he put it so far away?” And then, it’s on to the Oklahoma History lesson in Gospel music with the story of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” – performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, as well as Eric Clapton and his band of Okies. Leonard Cohen, perhaps surprisingly to some, shows up with his iconic song “Hallelujah.” Bass player and yodeler, John Crowder, tells tales of both Leonard Cohen and the Coen Brothers. “Well, hell yes… I happen to be an expert yodeler.” From honky tonk Saturday nights to Sunday morning church service to yodeling across Arizona… What more could you ask for? Oh, I know…Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman! Loretta (aka Mary Kay Place) is on the show too. That is indeed something to brag about.

This week’s radio show is a bit of a free-for-all with no real specific theme – just a lot of our favorite music. All with the all-powerful Oklahoma connection, of course.

The show kicks off with a band originally from Norman called The Disciples. They went to L.A. and made a couple of albums with the Blue Thumb label. We’re playing one of my very favorite songs of all time called Boogie Woogie Country Girl (originally by Big Joe Turner). Southwind had a real west coast hit with their version, opening a sold out Forum show for Credence Clearwater, and touring with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. There’s a great tune by one of our favorite ok r&r regulars, Joe Liggins, from Guthrie. Joe’s record this week is called The Shuffle Boogie, which I love to the absolute maximum amount allowed by law. Slipping a bit sideways, we play a record by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Oklahoma’s own Kay Starr – the title song for this week’s show: Ain’t Nobody’s Business. The record also features Oklahoma steel player Speedy West. As I say on the show…. “Somebody stack up all the awards in the world and give them to Speedy West!” And then (grab your butts and hold on)… a Leon Russell record before he was Leon Russell. Don’t miss it, kids. Leon kicks off a segment of Okies & Limeys with Elvis Costello and The Rolling Stones, mixed up with the Taj Mahal Band, featuring Chuck Blackwell and Gary Gilmore (both from Tulsa) and Jesse Ed Davis from Norman and Oklahoma City. Also, the amazing Chet Baker. Roger Tillison makes his ok r&r debut with his song called Nobody’s Lover, and J.J. Cale does a Roger Tillison song: One Step Ahead of the Blues. John Lennon counts us off and sings a song with Tulsa drummer Jim Keltner and guitar player Jesse Ed Davis. Other great stuff as well, including Count Basie with Jimmy Rushing, and some Johnnie Lee Wills featuring Curly Lewis on vocals. Country super star, Ronnie Dunn, tells his tale of R&B icon Rudolph Isely from The Isley Brothers. The show closer is a never-before-heard recording by Leon from the Muscle Shoals Sessions in 1974.

Join us for the fastest hour of the week.

KOSU, Oklahoma State University, rebroadcast the series 8 p.m. Fridays, beginning April 2. KOSU broadcasts on 91.7 in Stillwater and Oklahoma City, 107.5 in Tulsa and Northeast Oklahoma, and 101.9 in Okmulgee.

KRSC, Rogers State University will air the show on 6 p.m. Fridays, beginning April 2. Each episode will re-air in an “encore” show at 6 p.m. each Monday. KRSC Claremore broadcasts on 91.3 FM.

The Oklahoma Historical Society, in partnership with the state’s public radio stations, is sponsoring the weekly show, which colorfully chronicles the history of rock ‘n’ roll in Oklahoma.

The show is produced and narrated by Grammy-nominated Oklahoma recording artist and record producer Steve Ripley of the red dirt music act the Tractors. For more than three decades, Ripley’s worked with the best of the best: Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, Roy Clark and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. He built guitars for Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Buffett, Ry Cooder, Steve Lukather and John Hiatt. To name a few.

In his radio show, Ripley examines Oklahoma artists and song writers and their influences on rock and roll.”We will look at not just Rock
and Roll in Oklahoma,” said Ripley, “but also the roots of Rock and Roll such as Woody Guthrie, Bob Wills and Charlie Christian.”

The radio show is produced in conjunction with the Oklahoma History Center and its major exhibit, “Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock and Roll Exhibit.”

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=269&articleid=20100331_371_0_hrbrFo3613

On this week’s show, we make the connection between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Probably the most important of any and all of the roots of rock and roll is Gospel music and the church. And I suppose an argument could be made that, throughout history, confessions, donations, and re-dedications have all been boosted significantly by Saturday night honky tonk shenanigans. The show kicks off with one of my favorite records by Tulsa icon, Jimmy “Junior” Markham, called “Lipstick, Powder, and Paint.” I got so excited, I picked up and plugged up my electric guitar and hit a lick. Markham is an important part of the show, with a great interview describing the recording days at Leon Russell’s place “up on Skyhill Drive.” One of our very favorite Oklahoma Rock & Roll family members is R&B guitar player and singer Jimmy Liggins, originally from Newby, Oklahoma. Jimmy makes a health contribution this week with three songs that get to the heart of the subject at hand: “Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man,” “Drunk,” and “I Aint’ Drunk.” Admittedly, we get a little sidetracked riding some horses, checking the cattle, and listening to cowboy songs. Along with Roy Rogers, a man named Tim Spencer (from Picher, Oklahoma) was a founding member of The Sons of the Pioneers – the most famous cowboy singers in history. Warning: I sang along a little on their tune, “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” Sam Cooke gets our theme back on track with “Another Saturday Night.” Barney Kessel plays guitar on that record. Our newest member of the family, Billy Hughes, debuts with a couple of songs that seem to have been written just for this week’s show: “The Out of Town Boogie” and “Atomic Sermon.” It’s so hard to beat those old records, and it’s so hard to believe that anybody as great as Jimmy (or Joe) Liggins and Billy Hughes could have “passed out of favor” and fallen off the radar screen. Both of Billy’s records are just as could as they could be. “Atomic Sermon” says… “You better stop those scientists from researchin’ because they’ve done gone too far…” Also, this important question/point: “If God wanted us to go to Mars… Why did he put it so far away?” And then, it’s on to the Oklahoma History lesson in Gospel music with the story of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” – performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, as well as Eric Clapton and his band of Okies. Leonard Cohen, perhaps surprisingly to some, shows up with his iconic song “Hallelujah.” Bass player and yodeler, John Crowder, tells tales of both Leonard Cohen and the Coen Brothers. “Well, hell yes… I happen to be an expert yodeler.” From honky tonk Saturday nights to Sunday morning church service to yodeling across Arizona… What more could you ask for? Oh, I know…Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman! Loretta (aka Mary Kay Place) is on the show too. That is indeed something to brag about.