WUMB's Top 10 Albums of 2019

Here's the list of WUMB's Top 10 Albums of 2019 as voted on by our Members and Staff!

10) Lula Wiles - What Will We Do
9) Mandolin Orange - Tides of a Teardrop
8) Anna Tivel - The Question
7) J.S. Ondara - Tales of America
6) Ian Noe - Between the Country
5) Patty Griffin - Patty Griffin
4) Molly Tuttle - When You're Ready
3) Various Artists - Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits
2) Rhiannon Giddens w/Francesco Turrisi - There is No Other
1) The Highwomen - The Highwomen



Thank you to everyone who listened and took the time to vote!

Sunday Morning Brew and Dr. John

I wonder how many people, like me, loved the song “Right Place Wrong Time” when they first heard it on the radio, but had no idea it was Dr. John who wrote and sang it. I was only about 10 when it was released in the early 1970s, and to my untrained ear, it was just another cool tune to shake my pre-teen hips to—alone in my bedroom, of course. I couldn’t let anyone see me dance at that point in my life.

What I was learning at that time was that I liked funk and soul music, though I didn’t use those terms yet. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and having first heard the song on local radio, I assumed the artist was local, too.

Philadelphia, after all, had its share of soul music, but it wasn’t until later that regional musical dialects began to come clear to me, and I realized that “Right Place Wrong Time” wasn’t from Philly at all, but from New Orleans, and from Mac Rebennack aka Dr. John.

What many of us know now is that the album on which that song was released—In the Right Place (1973)—stands out as Dr. John’s best-known and best-selling album, arriving as a commercial and artistic breakthrough after years of under-the-radar releases that ranged from the spooky psychedelic voodoo of his debut Gris Gris (1968) to the old-school New Orleans R&B sound of Dr. John’s Gumbo (1972).

With the release of In the Right Place, Dr. John was transformed from Crescent City eccentric to down-home funkster, although that label, like any other critics tried to place on him, slid off as smoothly as a gator swimming around a bayou swamp.

Rebennack (born on Nov. 20, 1941) grew up in New Orleans’s 3^rd Ward, and started his career as a guitarist when he was barely into his teens. He was producing records by the time he was 16, and after he moved to Los Angeles, he started playing sessions as a keyboardist for artists like Frank Zappa and Sonny and Cher.

After Dr. John started releasing solo records, he landed sessions with artists ranging from jazz greats like Lee Morgan and Stanley Turrentine to stars like the Rolling Stones and B.B. King.

He was in his early 30s when he recorded In the Right Place, and already a music veteran, he could have hired just about anyone to join him on the sessions. He chose wisely, bringing in first-call New Orleans composer and pianist Allen Toussaint to produce, along with legendary locals, the Neville Brothers, to be his backing band.

All 11 tracks on the album are tremendous, but there are two that stand out for me.

There is, of course, the title track, which, heard years later, sounds initially like it could double for a decades-old detective TV show theme, but grooves so hard, thanks to the Meters and Toussaint’s horn arrangement, that it generated crossover appeal placing it in the U.S. Top Ten. And the self-effacing lyrics sung by Rebennack—about a man painfully aware of his personal failings—are simultaneously straightforward and clever. Never before had atonement ever sounded like so much fun.

The other song that became an instant classic was the second single from the album, “Such a Night.” Thematically, it’s a fitting companion to “Right Place Wrong Time,” as the untrustworthy narrator describes his strategy for stealing his best friend’s lover. The image of “sweet confusion under the moonlight” in the chorus—both specific and vague—remains a favorite all-time achievement in lyric writing. 

I must admit that I’m not a fan of the song’s keyboard sound—it strikes me as a somewhat cheesy, toy organ patch—but it is somehow the right choice for what feels like an instant standard, one that any couple with a healthy sense of humor would enjoy dancing to. That said, I prefer subsequent live versions featuring Dr. John playing the part on acoustic piano.

When Dr. John was in his 60s or early 70s, I heard him play a club show in Boston, and, frankly, it wasn’t one of his best nights. There were some great moments, but it just didn’t feel like the hoodoo voodoo was fully kicking into gear.

Rebennack died in June 2019, leaving a legacy of great recordings and songs. One of Boston’s great local bands, the Giant Kings, often perform “Such a Night” in their live shows, and it is one of the best covers of the song that you’ll hear. Duke Levine replaces the Dr. John organ with his guitar, and vocalist Chris Cote not only sings it with guts and style every time, he provides a vocal trombone solo that underscores the song’s inherent sense of humor.

I’ll celebrate Dr. John’s birthday on my November 17, 2019 show with music from In the Right Place and other albums. Any day spent listening to the music of Mac Rebennack is one in which you know you’ll walk with some bounce in your step and a good feeling in your soul.

Thoughts on Episode 1 of Ken Burns’ new documentary series Country Music (aired Sunday Sept 15, 2019).

Having been a fan of Ken Burns’ PBS documentary series The Civil War in 1990 and Baseball in 1994, It does not surprise me that I really enjoyed the first episode of his new multi-episode documentary for PBS, Country Music.  I had figured that - especially in the first couple episodes at least - Burns would show many of the connections between Country Music and its cousins Folk and Blues.  Episode 1 did not disappoint in that regard, although perhaps there will be more of a Bluegrass connection illustrated in future episodes (certainly Bluegrass cross-pollinates with Folk and Country).  

The sections dominated by text and Peter Coyote’s narration were nicely balanced by interviews.  A friend and I had speculated that with Country music, Charley Pride would be the only Black artist interviewed or profiled.  That was disproved quickly, as the link with slaves both freed and captive was clearly made with the development of Country Music via the banjo, for example.  One of the bands that has helped educate us on where the banjo came from was the Carolina Chocolate Drops.  Fittingly - along with people like Merle Haggard, Kathy Mattea, and Dolly Parton - Rhiannon Giddens (formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops) was an oft used interview in this first episode.  Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show was a nice surprise as an interview subject.  He did an excellent job not only of talking about some of the important players in the music’s development, but he also illustrated some of the discussion points with fiddle playing.  Wynton Marsalis and Marty Stuart, both of them virtual music historians in their careers, were also informative interview subjects.   And on the creative production side, it was nice how sometimes a song in the background from a narrative section continued into an interview segment, with the artist being interviewed singing a line from the same song as it continued in the background.  Sometimes they synchronized perfectly (for example, Merle Haggard singing a line from Jimmie Rodgers’ “Muleskinner Blues”).



The episode also did a good job of illustrating the influence on Country music by immigrants from other nations bringing instruments and traditional ballads from their native lands.  “Barbry Allan” from the British tradition is a prime example sited in the show that still speaks to artists today.  But back to Jimmie Rodgers, it took about halfway through this first episode for the story to get to The Carter Family and then Jimmie Rodgers.  These two then dominated the rest of the episode.  If you’ve ever listened to WUMB’s Folk Tales with Scott Alarik (Saturday’s at Noon) and The Dixie B-Line with Jon Gersh (Saturdays from 9pm to Midnight), you are not surprised.  In fact, the day before this premiere of Ken Burns’ Country Music aired, Scott Alarik covered much of the AP Carter/Carter Family territory.  This episode of Country Music also included profiles of Uncle Dave Macon and DeFord Bailey (Bailey was known for the way he perfected the train sound in his harmonica playing and became the first African American star in Country music).  I would know nothing about Uncle Dave Macon and DeFord Bailey but for Jon Gersh and The Dixie B-Line. 



I look forward to more of this Ken Burns documentary series.  And I thank WUMB’s Scott Alarik and Jon Gersh for apparently prepping me for the first episode.



--Perry Persoff.   

Live in studio with Martha Scanlan

I was lucky enough to be filling in on the air for Albert O on Thursday August 15^th, 2019.  Lucky to get into the start of the 50^th anniversary of Woodstock?  Yes, a little.  And I did sign off with Arlo Guthrie’s “Walking Down The Line” from that first night of Woodstock in 1969 – which included Arlo’s famous reference to the larger-than-expected crowd in saying “the New York Throughway is closed, Man!”  Why was that surprising, considering the incredible line-up?  Let’s consider that some of those legends were not yet well known, let alone “legendary” (Santana, for example). 

In that spirit, I was certainly lucky to be at WUMB that day to interview Martha Scanlan and her guitarist Jon Neufeld. 

It’s a funny thing about music.  For most people, if it’s not well known, it’s not worth their time.  And then there are pieces of music that just slip into you, regardless.  You could be barely conscious of their presence because of how they simply become a part of what you are doing while listening to them.  Walking, driving, sitting on the porch overlooking the sunset.  Martha Scanlan’s music inhabits that space.  A good way to explain that came from Martha herself during our session.  To paraphrase her, she talked about how everything has a rhythm.  “The rhythm of places” is a phrase that comes up in her online bio at MarthaScanlan.com.  As she talked about her music, that phrase made more and more sense.

Martha’s musical collaborator for many years now, Jon Neufeld, certainly contributed to that.  During the session, I caught myself thinking how Jon’s playing slipped into the background.  And then suddenly he would have these compelling lead guitar parts.  He came off as one of those guitar players who without a doubt is all about serving the song.  There’s much talent but little ego in his demeanor.  It was nice of Martha to plug Jon’s website as well as her own (neufeldjon.com).  Jon noted just a little that he was in Black Prairie, the side project of many of The Decemberists.  I was tempted to ask Jon about his guitar style being similar to David Rawlings, but decided not to in deference to this being Jon’s showcase.  Later that night at their gig at The Burren, I did approach Jon about that.  He related it partly to the type of guitar they both play.  If you know guitars, I wish you’d been there with me for that conversation.  But Jon did seem happy that someone else could talk about that style of picking and about the Rawlings connection.

When we have guests in studio, generally they play three songs from their newest release.  Martha and Jon played songs from throughout their catalog.   They started with “Las Cruces” from the most recent album, The River and The Light, released last October.  Next was “Honey Blue” from Feb 2018’s The Shape of Things Gone Missing, The Shape of Things To Come (and one of my favorite album titles…I forgot to mention that to Martha).  And they finished with “Guardian Angel,” which comes from the Feb 2011 EP Tongue River Stories: Autumn.  I recommend all these songs for a long drive through rolling hillsides and ocean/lake views.

Remember that if you are a member of WUMB, you will have access to whatever we post from our in-studio sessions.  So if you are thinking of becoming a member, you can take care of that at wumb.org (hit the “Donate Now” button and follow the steps from there).  Then search for Martha Scanlan and Jon Neufeld, in studio 8/15/19.

Thank you, Martha and Jon, for a terrific in-studio session.  And thank you, dear reader, for your support of WUMB! 

I was lucky enough to be filling in on the air for Albert O on Thursday August 15^th, 2019.  Lucky to get into the start of the 50^th anniversary of Woodstock?  Yes, a little.  And I did sign off with Arlo Guthrie’s “Walking Down The Line” from that first night of Woodstock in 1969 – which included Arlo’s famous reference to the larger-than-expected crowd in saying “the New York Throughway is closed, Man!”  Why was that surprising, considering the incredible line-up?  Let’s consider that some of those legends were not yet well known, let alone “legendary” (Santana, for example). 

In that spirit, I was certainly lucky to be at WUMB that day to interview Martha Scanlan and her guitarist Jon Neufeld. 

It’s a funny thing about music.  For most people, if it’s not well known, it’s not worth their time.  And then there are pieces of music that just slip into you, regardless.  You could be barely conscious of their presence because of how they simply become a part of what you are doing while listening to them.  Walking, driving, sitting on the porch overlooking the sunset.  Martha Scanlan’s music inhabits that space.  A good way to explain that came from Martha herself during our session.  To paraphrase her, she talked about how everything has a rhythm.  “The rhythm of places” is a phrase that comes up in her online bio at MarthaScanlan.com.  As she talked about her music, that phrase made more and more sense.

Martha’s musical collaborator for many years now, Jon Neufeld, certainly contributed to that.  During the session, I caught myself thinking how Jon’s playing slipped into the background.  And then suddenly he would have these compelling lead guitar parts.  He came off as one of those guitar players who without a doubt is all about serving the song.  There’s much talent but little ego in his demeanor.  It was nice of Martha to plug Jon’s website as well as her own (neufeldjon.com).  Jon noted just a little that he was in Black Prairie, the side project of many of The Decemberists.  I was tempted to ask Jon about his guitar style being similar to David Rawlings, but decided not to in deference to this being Jon’s showcase.  Later that night at their gig at The Burren, I did approach Jon about that.  He related it partly to the type of guitar they both play.  If you know guitars, I wish you’d been there with me for that conversation.  But Jon did seem happy that someone else could talk about that style of picking and about the Rawlings connection.

When we have guests in studio, generally they play three songs from their newest release.  Martha and Jon played songs from throughout their catalog.   They started with “Las Cruces” from the most recent album, The River and The Light, released last October.  Next was “Honey Blue” from Feb 2018’s The Shape of Things Gone Missing, The Shape of Things To Come (and one of my favorite album titles…I forgot to mention that to Martha).  And they finished with “Guardian Angel,” which comes from the Feb 2011 EP Tongue River Stories: Autumn.  I recommend all these songs for a long drive through rolling hillsides and ocean/lake views.

Remember that if you are a member of WUMB, you will have access to whatever we post from our in-studio sessions.  So if you are thinking of becoming a member, you can take care of that at wumb.org (hit the “Donate Now” button and follow the steps from there).  Then search for Martha Scanlan and Jon Neufeld, in studio 8/15/19.

Thank you, Martha and Jon, for a terrific in-studio session.  And thank you, dear reader, for your support of WUMB! 

WUMB's "Spinning the Blues" Host Holly Harris Chats With Blues Legend Bobby Rush

Bobby Rush with WUMB Host Holly Harris.

WUMB's "Spinning the Blues" host Holly Harris recently chatted with Grammy Award-winning blues musician Bobby Rush ahead of his show at City Winery in Boston on Tuesday, August 20th. You can hear "Spinning the Blues" every Saturday night from 6-9 on WUMB. Tune in at 91.9 FM in the Boston area or stream at wumb.org.

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HH: Bobby, I'm so thrilled to be talking with you and that you're coming to Boston in a couple of weeks. I hope you're having a good summer. I'm loving the new CD, Sitting On top Of The Blues. Are you currently on tour?

BR: Yes, I am, like always.

HH: We had that nice sit down out in Shirley, MA right before you won a Grammy for Porcupine Meat. That was a memorable interview and evening. Can you tell me about this new CD and how it's different?

BR: I don’t think it’s any different, it’s as good or better. Trying to compete with your own self is one of the hardest things to do, but I did it…and I’m blessed to be able to do that. I want to thank you for being apart of that Grammy winning record's success, and I think you’re going to be apart of that again with this one.

HH: You always have such good players and dancers. You certainly have a smokin' band this round too. I see Vasti Jackson has a big part in the production and playing. Can you talk about some of the other world-calss musicians on here, and I just want to say how sorry I am about Lil Buck Sinegal's passing.

BR:Yeah Lil Buck was an inspiration to me, because I’ve been knowing him a long time. I had a chance to record with him on this record. I wanted to have him on the last album, but we had too many great guitar players on that last one. I had plans to do more with him on future recordings. The other musicians I didn’t know as well, but I know they play with other artists. I saw how they played and who they played with.

Scott Billington was with me from A to Z on the Grammy winning record and A to Z on this record. Not in production on this one aside from a couple of songs, but spiritually, with picking the songs, bouncing off his head to my head and there as a friend. I look up to him as a producer and professional.

I also had Patrick "Guitar Boy" Hayes. He played in the band with me at one time. He knows the licks with me like Vasti knows, but he knows me as a band member.

HH: All the tunes are great and there are some real varied styles and stories. I've been rockin' out to "Good Stuff' and "Bobby Rush Shuffle'; love that harmonica, Bobby! What will you be playing for us at the Boston show from the new CD?

BR: Thank you. [We'll be playing]“Good Stuff”, “Get Out Of Here” and “Recipe for Love”. I’ll be playing the show solo, so that changes the set a bit.

HH: What's on tap in the Fall for Bobby Rush?

BR: [I'll be] working harder than I’ve ever worked before in my life to make this record comparable to the Grammy winning one.

July Birthdays on WUMB's Spinnin' the Blues

James Cotton and Willie Dixon
By Holly Harris, host of Spinnin' the Blues from 6 - 9 PM every Saturday at 91.9 FM in the Boston area or streaming at wumb.org.

(James Cotton)

(Willie Dixon)

This month we’ve celebrated the birthdays of Blues greats, James Cotton and Willie Dixon, both born on the same day 20 years apart. Dixon was not only a noted bass player, but a prolific writer and penned many of the classic Blues tunes that we know today such as, “I Can’t Quit You Baby”, “Back Door Man” and “Spoonful” to name a few. I met him personally only once at a lunch in Memphis in 1989, where he was the keynote speaker. He  came around and spoke to everyone in the room. 

I am also fortunate to have spent some time with James Cotton over the years. My favorite interview was done with Cotton, as he was known, on a scorching hot day at the former Quincy Blues Festival. I was the emcee and he was headlining the event. There was no place to go that was private and cool except my car, so that’s where we went. We did the interview with the ac on. He was wonderful and gracious. I recall people peering into the car around us. It was before his throat cancer so he had his full voice. He talked about his life and played a little harp. He left a nip bottle in my car which he signed and I’ve kept to this day. I always went to see him when he came to the Northeast whether at a festival or local club. It was a sad day when he passed away in March of 2017. His music lives on. 

Later in July, Holly will feature specials to Lonnie Mack, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Guy and more.

David Allan Coe Discoveries

DAVID ALLAN COE

By Jon Gersh, host of the Dixie Bee Line on WUMB, Saturdays 9 P to Midnight

(David Allan Coe)

Friends, you know I take requests on the Dixie Bee Line. Well, I’ve got some fans up on the North Shore of Massachusetts that I know always give particularly interesting requests. So when they asked for David Allan Coe, I said "Sure! No problem."

Short story: It was a problem. I didn’t have any. Nary a lick of David Allan Coe. So, I immediately went online and ordered some CDs for immediate shipment. No, I don’t tend to download music. For one thing, we need higher quality recordings to broadcast to you! And I like to “own” the music in my collection. Plus the liner notes are sometimes helpful. They weren’t so much with these CDs, but I got them on the next week. Well, I got ONE of them on the next week! One of the turned out to be this X-rated collection of songs... I mean, these things were nasty! In the interests of science (of course) I listened through to this album. Can’t say I didn’t laugh out loud a few times, I did. But the other album was just plain good songs, and I’m glad to have this void in my collection filled. Songs like “The Ride”, that’s a great song. Kind of about the ghost of Hank Williams picking up this songwriter/hitch-hiker on his way to Nashville. I’d like to share the refrain with you, ostensibly Hank Sr. talking to this hitch-hiker:

“Mister, can you make folks cry when you play and sing? Have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings? Boy, can you make folks feel what you feel inside? Cause if you’re big star bound, let me warn you it’s a long hard ride.  “  

Anyway, his rendition of this was really excellent; he didn’t write it, but he owned it. It was a bona-fide radio hit in 1983, a little more recent than I normally spin on Saturday nights, but it has that “old” sensibility. Now Coe DID write “Take this Job and Shove It”, another big radio hit. But it was Johnny Paycheck that owned that song, really made it come alive. I play Paycheck all the time, from his early years appearing as “Donny Young” (why did they use pen names in those days?) up through his cigarette-and-whiskey sounding years which included the Coe song. 

So listen in! You might hear some David Allan Coe now. Have a great July! Please join me any Saturday night from 9-Midnight right after Holly spins the Blues.  It’s fun.  

Sincerely, Jon G.

p.s. write to me!  jon.gersh@umb.edu