Musical Map

It's night time in the Big City
a cab driver curses under his breath
roasted chickens hang in the window of a Chinese restaurant

The Singers and Songs

  • Hank Snow
    I've Been Everywhere
    "This is one o f those songs that starts off with a prelude; so don't be concerned, the body of the song will start in just a moment."
  • Professor Longhair and the Shuffling Hungarians
    Mardi Gras in New Orleans
    "Sometimes when you're in the basement, looking at a box of records to buy, you come across a name on a label and you just have to own it. That's the way I felt when I first saw this one...Here's a song that should be the state song for Louisiana."
  • Marty Robbins
    El Paso
    "A vivid western saga laden with drama, violence, and romance, a song of rare beauty and elegance. Talkin' about a woman who is as different from other women as cognac is from corn liquor. But, as Marty Robbins would know, you get the same kind of headache from either one."
  • Wilbert Harrison
    Kansas City
    "You all know this song, and it always sounds good."
  • Sol K. Bright and his Hollywaiians
    Hawaiian Cowboy
  • Jack Teagarden
    Stars Fell on Alabama
    "One of the top pre-Bop trombonists."
  • Tom Waits
    Jersey Girl
  • The Louvin Brothers
    Knoxville Girl
    "Hillbilly music had no shortage of lust, murder, and mayhem; of course it didn't have as many samples from Herbie Hancock records." (Bob's response to email questioning a comparison between 'Hillbilly music' and 'Gangsta Rap.')
  • Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
    Jackson
  • Percy Mayfield
    Louisiana
    "Had one of the most distinctive voices in R & B, and he was shockingly handsome...Percy's records have never been equaled."
  • Tin Ear Tanner
    I Used to Work in Chicago
  • Charlie Poole
    Baltimore Fire
  • ZZ Top
    My Head's in Mississippi
    "I'm all outta breath just listening to that!"
  • Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys
    Take Me Back To Tulsa
    "Here on Theme Time Radio Hour we believe you can never play too much Bob Wills. We're gonna prove it by playin' another one of his records."

The Other People and Players

  • Angel Gabriel
  • Nero
  • Bobby Robinson
  • Wilbert Harrison
  • Irene Ryan
  • Debbie Reynolds
  • Sam Donaldson
  • Sandra Day O'Conner
  • Vikki Carr
  • Grady Martin
  • Mitch Miller
  • Jelly Roll Morton
  • Toots Washington
  • Colonel Tom Parker
    "A man who would put live chickens on a hot plate and tell people there were dancing. A man as hard as his arteries or, as Cleopatra would have said, "I'd like two sons by that man." "
  • Tex Atchison
  • Carl Sandburg
  • Marlon Brando
  • Ray Charles
  • Alec Baldwin
  • Byron de la Beckwith
  • Medgar Evers
  • Stokely Carmichael
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Fritz Moot
  • Walter Payton
  • Cassandra Wilson
  • Eudora Welty
  • Leanne Rimes
  • Papa Charlie McCoy
  • Hank Aaron
  • Little Jimmie Dickens
  • Jack Nicholson
    "He does more acting with one eyebrow than anybody else does with their entire body."
  • Hank Williams
  • Johnny Cash
  • June Carter
  • Elvis Presley
    "Cleaned up that naughty 'One Night' and hit big with it" “the swivel hipped rockabilly cat”

The Other Songs and Albums

  • Herbie Hancock sample
  • Hit The Road Jack
  • At The Club
  • Two Years of Torture
  • Please Send Me Someone to Love
  • Polynesian Love Song

The Guests

  • Billy Gibbons
    (Bob ran into him at a taco wagon)

The Movies and TV Shows

The Places

  • Arkansas River
  • Baltimore
    Lotta drama happens in Baltimore, you can see it on Homicide or The Wire.
  • Louisiana (and the Napoleonic Code)
  • LaFleur's Bluff
  • Menlo Park
  • New Jersey
    Has the highest population density in the United States, and the most car thefts. But on the plus side, it has the most diners. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but it has the most shopping malls in one area.
  • Huntsville, AL
    The Rocket Capital of the World
  • Westfield, AL
  • Mobile, AL
  • Arizona
  • Ottawa
  • Tulsa
  • Bourbon Street
  • Witchita
  • Winslow
  • Buffalo
  • Fargo
  • Reno
  • Honolulu
  • Mexico
  • Oklahoma
  • Texas
  • The Grand Ole Opry
  • Chicago

Record Labels

  • Beltone Records
  • Star Talent Records

Well we got to go again, here on Theme Time Radio Hour. I'm gonna gas up the car, throw my bags in the trunk, get my Trip-Tic from AAA, and head out and visit a few more of these fine cities. We'll be back again next week with more Them Time Radio Hour. I'll see ya on the highway.