It’s night time in the big city
There’s a gas leak somewhere
The bartender’s hairpiece isn’t fooling anyone
“The heat and serve episode of Theme Time Radio Hour”
Season Two Episodes
Bob probably knows more songs than any living person.”
-Jim Fox, Charter Member, The Bob Dylan Fan Club
It’s Time for Annotated Theme Time Radio Hour!
In these pages you will find:
*a complete inventory of not only all the songs and artists played on Bob’s Theme Time Radio Hour shows, but every musician, poet, politician, movie, city, song, record label, recipe and more that Bob quotes or mentions
*links to further explore some of these people, places and things
*bits of Bob’s own commentary that we found to be particularly insightful or entertaining
With everything Bob mentions and with lists this exhaustive to create, we’re bound to miss or misspell things once in a while. Please send additions and corrections, as well as updates needed to any links, to us at info@thebobdylanfanclub.comIf you would like to reproduce any of this information, please get in touch with us first by emailing Caroline and Kait at info@thebobdylanfanclub.c
Hello | Young and Old | Days Of The Week | California |
Classic Rock | Cadillac | Head To Toe | Smoking |
Dreams | Party | Second Countdown | Number One |
Walking | Around The World I | Around the World II | Lock and Key |
President’s Day | Doctors | Danger | |
Birds | More Birds | Joe | Heat |
Cold |
Hello
It’s night time in the big city. Something isn’t quite right. Nobody will answer the phone.
The Singers and The Songs
Sherman Williams Orchestra – Hello “A little riff rocker”
Ricky Nelson – Hello Mary Lou “One person we got to say hello to is someone who said goodbye much too soon. He’s the man who brought rock and roll into America’s living rooms. Here’s a song that reached number 9 on the Billboard Charts…then they turned it over, and the B side went all the way to number 1.”
The Nazz – Hello, It’s Me“As Todd (Rundgren) always used to say to me ‘Dum vivimus, vivamus,’ which roughly translated means, ‘While we live, let us live.’ Todd’s a smart guy.”
Conway Twitty – Hello Darlin’“His dad was a river boat pilot who taught him guitar at age 4. And as much as he loved music, he loved baseball just as much. He actually received an offer to join the Philadelphia Phillies, but patriotic-minded Harold joined the army instead. When he got out of the army, he heard Elvis’ Mystery Train, and started writing songs.”
Long Gone Miles (Luke Miles) – Hello Josephine“This record is probably most familiar to ya from Fats Domino, but I couldn’t resist playing this hard rocking version.”
Pee Wee King – I Wanna Say Hello“The man who brought accordion into Western Swing.”
Mardi Gras Loungers – Hello Mello Baby“A song that’ll help you get down to the real nitty gritty.”
Buck Owens – Hello Trouble “Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. nicknamed himself after a mule on his family farm.”
The Radiolites – Hello! Aloha! How Are You?“Here’s an example of some great Hawaiian-influenced music that caught the ear of New Yorkers…An example of how Hawaiian music met big bands and created something new.”
Willie Nelson – Hello Walls“Another great American…”
The Carter Family – Hello Stranger (AP, Sara, and Maybelle)
Barbara Lewis – Hello Stranger
John Prine – Hello In There
(Groucho Marks – Hello I Must Be Going)
The Beatles – Hello, Goodbye“The song was originally called ‘Hello, Hello’ and if it had kept that name we couldn’t have played it here, because we need a hello song that says goodbye!” “I always love the crazy fade on that record…”
Other singers and players
Skippy Brooks Elvin Woods James Brown Gene Pitney The Crystals Carson Van Osten Lord Buckley Elvis Fats Domino Minnie Pearl Freddie Coleman The Buckaroos Don Rich Eddie McDuff Orville Crouch Don Helms Faron Young Bette Midler Joan Baez
Other Folks
Jesus Emily Post “Call me old fashioned, but I still always say ‘How do you do?’ when I see someone.” Abelard and Eloise Mark Twain The President Bugs Bunny John Wayne Ransom Stoddard Jimmy Stewart
Other People With Diminutive Nicknames
Pee Wee Russell Pee Wee Reese Pee Wee Herman Little Miss Dynamite – Brenda Lee The Little Sparrow – Edith Piaf Reverend Parker – Little Junior Parker Little Milton Little Richard “And my personal favorite, big Tiny Kennedy” Little John
Femme Fatales
Lilith Morgan le Fay Delilah Lucretia Borge Mata Hari
Femme Fatales In Movies
Theda Bera – A Fool There Was Marlena Dietrich – Blue Angel Barbara Stanwyck – Double Indemnity Rita Haworth – The Lady from Shanghai Faye Dunaway – Chinatown Kathleen Turner – Body Heat Sharon Stone – Basic Instinct “One of my personal favorites is Lila Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice. She’s beautiful, and deadly. Listen to this.” – clip
Record Labels
Places
Nashville Nazareth Friars Point, MS Arkansas Twitty City Paris Notre Dame Avalon New Orleans Bourbon Street Hawaii Mexico Niagara Falls Michigan Israel Italy Korea Liverpool
New Orleans Lounges
500 Club Sho Bar Casino Royale
New Orleans Dancing Girls
Lilly Christine the Cat Girl Evangeline the Oyster Girl Alouette LeBlanc the Tassel Twirler Rita Alexander the Champagne Girl Tee Tee Red The Cupid Doll “Nowadays it seems like every girl is named Amber”
Other songs
Travelin’ Man He’s a Rebel The Nazz – a retelling of Jesus’ story in ‘Hipster Patois’ Mystery Train It’s Only Make Believe Tennessee Waltz
Guests
Richard Lewis Deke Dickerson “our resident hillbilly expert”
Movies
Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol – clip Robinhood – clip Pete Kelly’s Blues Pretty Baby Angel Heart The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Books
Roughing It – M. Twain The Stranger
Poets / Writers
Albert Camus – “poet of existentialist nothingness”
Young and Old
It’s night time in the big city. A man bangs the 8 ball into the corner pocket. Neon sputters and goes out.
(Smells Like Teen Spirit (instrumental) – The Bad Plus)
Bob reads from William Shakespeare
The Singers And The Songs
NBC background music – Albert King,”As the Years Go Passing By.”
Mose Allison – Young Man Blues“Here’s that madman, the gentleman out of Tippo, MS, no stranger to you long-time listeners.”
Hot Lips Page – Small Fry “A trumpet player and a singer who filled that gap between rhythm and blues and jazz.”
Linda Lawson – Like Young “Got kind of a beatnik sound to it, so feel free to snap your fingers, on the two and the four, please!” “Yeah, Ridin’ that rainbow to cloudsville…crazy, man!”
The Ramones – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up “The Ramones mostly wrote their own songs, so when they decide to do someone else’s, it better be a hell of a song.”
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians – Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)“Here’s an example of how a great song is not a prisoner of time or place. Music travels through the air, so it knows no boundaries, it knows no borders.”
Prince Buster – Enjoy It (Enjoy Yourself)
Laura Lee – Separation Line
The Flying Burrito Brothers – Older Guys “Recorded for A & M. And I believe the A & M Studios were on the site of Charlie Chaplin’s old studio, right there on Labrea. I’m not sure if this song was recorded there, but it would be somehow appropriate because Charlie Chaplin was definitely an older guy who had a taste for the younger girls.”
Muddy Waters – Young Fashioned Ways “Maybe some day there will be a question on the Trivial Pursuit card ‘Who was the first artist ever played on TTRH.”
Jimmie Murphy – We Live A Long Long Time To Get Old
Charlie Poole – Old And Only In The Way“Interestingly, oftentimes when Charlie Poole performed live, he would obscure parts of the lyrics when he sang. He forced record buyers to buy his records, simply so they could figure out what he was singing…He was known as a country artist, so that’s mostly what he recorded, but if you saw him live, you would hear a mixture of minstrel songs, Victorian ballads, humorous burlesque-type numbers, as well as old-timey country music.”
(Little) Esther Phillips – Aged And Mellow
Neil Young (and the Stray Gators ) – Old Man“From his best selling album, Harvest…gee I thought it would have been ‘Trans’”
Ray Barretto – Happy Birthday Everybody
Albums
Mose Allison Sings Live At Leeds Adios Amigos Introducing Linda Lawson Burrito Deluxe Harvest Trans (album)
Places
Tippo, MS Bloomington, IN Hollywood The Sands Las Vegas Los Angeles Glendale London Jamaica way Chicago Detroit Berlin Birmingham, AL Nashville Bimini Bahamas Spain St. Augustine, FL Argentina Aruba Brazil Canada Denmark Vietnam
Record Labels
Prestige A & M Records RCA Victor Columbia Federal
Other People and Players
The Who Hoagland Howard Carmichael The Carmichael Syringe Orchestra Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke — He threw my judgment all out of kilter (H. Carmichael) Frank Sinatra Dean Martin Jerry Lewis Henry Mancini Kathleen Brennan Tom Waits Peter Pan J.M. Barrie Andre Previn John Foreman Jack Sheldon “I saw him playing the other night in Glendale; he sounded great.”
Mary Martin Frank Moody Aretha Franklin Charles Mason Jeremiah Dixon Gram Parsons Charlie Chaplin Marie Antoinette Clark Gable Winston Churchill Don Law Robert Johnson Joe Bussard, ‘78 Collector Johnny Otis Dinah Washington Ben Webster Methuselah Noah Kenny Buttrey Russ Kunkel Tim Drummond Ben Keith Jack Nitzsche Ponce De Leon –“He discovered Florida, but not the fountain of youth. Ponce De Leon is currently living in an assisted living facility in Boca Raton. He never calls, he never writes.” Christopher Columbus JFK Madonna – “In the 1980’s, Madonna began a trend of wearing underwear as outer wear. You see that happening to this day…Thanks, Madge!”
Ages
The coming of age The age of consent The Stone Age The Age of Reason The Age of Aquarius
Movies and Plays and other Entertainment
As You Like It Stan Freberg Show — Old Man River (clip) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Sometimes a Great Notion Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean The Man Who Would Be King Prizzi’s Honor The Threat Peter Pan (The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up) It Happened One Night
Other Songs
Stardust –“One of the most famous songs Hoagie ever wrote was Stardust, and like many songwriters, he wasn’t sure where it really came from. This is what he had to say, the first time he heard a recording of Stardust: ‘And then it happened, that queer sensation that this melody was bigger than me. Maybe I hadn’t written it at all. The recollection of how, when, and where it all happened became vague as the lingering strains hung in the rafters of the studio. I wanted to shout back at it, maybe I didn’t write you, but I found you’… I know just what he meant.” What a Difference A Day Makes
Syndromes
Peter Pan Syndrome“Some people think this is a bad thing, but I think if more adults kept their youthful sense of wonder, this might be a better world.”
Guests
Marianne Faithful
Other Separation Lines (in the background-Allen Toussaint, “Second Liner.”)
The Mason Dixon Line The Equator The Iron Curtain Berlin Wall The 38th Parallel The Intl Date Line The 50 Yard Line
May / December Romances in the Oval Office
James Madison (43) & Dolley Payne Todd (26) Grover Cleveland (49) & Frances Folsom (21) Benjamin Harrison (62) Mary Scott Lord Dimmick (37) (also the niece of his first wife) John Tyler (64) & Julia Gardner (24) “Your home for youthful schemes, mature themes, and timeless dreams…”
Days of the Week
It’s night time in the big city A storm is coming A woman wonders.
Monday ‘s child is fair of face. Tuesday ‘s child is full of grace. Wednesday ‘s child is full of woe. Thursday ‘s child has far to go. Friday ‘s child is loving and giving. Saturday ‘s child works hard for a living, But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day Is bonny and blithe and good and gay. — Mother Goose
The Singers and The Songs
Sterling Harrison – Seven Days “There is great music happening all over the country, and sometimes you got to seek it out and if you don’t seek it out, it’s just gonna disappear.”
U2 – Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Frankie Lee Sims – Lucy Mae Blues “That song is kind of a mash-up between a couple of blues standards“
Smiley Lewis – Blue Monday “It’s time for Monday, and if I know my radio show that sounds like a sound cue.”
Rolling Stones – Ruby Tuesday “Supposed to only be a B side, for those of you who don’t know what a b side is, that was other side of a 45 that wasn‘t a a hit. The A side, in this case, was supposed to be Let’s Spend the Night Together but most DJs thought it was too sexual”
Lonnie Johnson – Tomorrow Night
The Undertones – Wednesday Week “Kind of an English / Irish way of saying next Wednesday” “The Finnish call it something I can not pronounce, but it is transpated as ‘center of the week’. Here in the US we just call it Hump Day.”
Morphine – Thursday “they had kind of an unusual instrumentation…the got a drummer, a guy playing saxophone, and Mark Sandman who sings and wear a homemade D-tuned, 2 string bass that he built himself.”
Jolie Holland-Old Fashioned Morphine *clip*
The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind
Charlie Rich “The Silver Fox” – Lonely Weekends
Tom Waits – The Heart of Saturday Night
Doug Sahm – Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Comin’ Down “After all those wasted days and wasted nights, you know there’s gonna be a Sunday morning coming down.”
Other Artists, DJs and Producers, etc.
Holland Dozier Holland Little Junior Parker Lightnin‘ Hopkins Mississippi John Hurt Fats Domino George Jones Brian Jones Eddie Lang Louis Armstrong’s Hot 5 Duke Ellington Elmer Snowden The Blues Revivalists DJ John Peel The Clash Sonny Boy Williamson Sheryl Crow “Sheryl Crow sells hair-dye, more power to her…have you ever seen a Victoria Secret’s Ad?” Jimmie Rogers
Sam Phillips Johnny Cash Warren Smith Billy Lee Riley Ray Smith Nick Drake Buddy Holly Mark Sandman – singer from morphine Harry Vanda and George Young – The Easybeats Grace Jones Freddie Fender (who was sentenced to Angola State Prison for marijuana Possession) Jimmie Davis-Governor Billy Wilder
Places
Ireland Derry New Orleans Dallas Philadelphia Toronto Rome San Benito TX
Names of the people who died that day (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Patrick Joseph Doherty Bernard McGuigan Hugh Pious Gilmour Kevin McElhinney Michael G. Kelly John Pius Young William Noel Nash Michael M. McDaid James Joseph Wray Gerald Donaghy Gerald (James) McKinney John Johnson
Holidays
Easter Sunday Ash Wednesday
Guests
Jack White
Gods
Jupiter Venus
Things days of the week are named after
Saturn Wodan Thor Freyja
Other Songs and Albums
Between the Buttons – album “He’s a jelly roll baker“ Teenage kicks Cure for Pain – Morphine “Hey, St. Peter” “Walking in the Rain” “Not Fade Away” – clip The Heart of Saturday Night “You Are My Sunshine“ – clip The Heart of Saturday Night – album
Instruments
Recorders
Flute“I think it’s one of the most beautiful sounds known to man. I brought mine with me today and if you don’t mind I’m going to play you a little something…” *Bob plays Blowin’ in the Wind Theremin
Literature, etc.
Anton Chekov Percy Bysshe Shelley – “Good Night” The Bible
Record Labels
Okeh Records King Records Bluebird label Prestige Sire Records National Label
Clairvoyants
Madame Blavatsky– founded theosophical society Edward Casey The Amazing Criswell — clip“He had a great voice and even better hair”
Movies and TV
Plan 9 from outer space The Addams Family-clip The Flintstones – clip The Lost Weekend Frankenstein
The Army Disease – Morphine addiction
Mother Goose Rhyme
Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Grew worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday. That was the end of Solomon Grundy… clip of ska song “Well I can see the sun coming up over the horizon meaning our day here is done. Night creeps in, throwing shadows across the Abernathy building.”
California
(Dragnet Theme in Background) “This is the city-Los Angeles, Ca…Sometimes you want to know about more than just the city, you want to know ahout the whole state. That’s where I step in, I host the radio show.”
The Singers and The Songs
Al Jolsen “Worlds Greatest Entertainer” (Asa Yolsen)-California Here I Come Joni Mitchell-California (clip) Woody Guthrie speaking about California, the dust bowl and fruit picking Webb Pierce-California Blues Geraint Watkins-Go West“That 2-handed piano pounder” Dionne Warwick-Do You Know the Way to San Jose Sir Douglas Quintet-Mendocino (clip) California Blues?“There’s a lot of earthquakes in California. If you feel a tremor there’s 2 things you should do: get in a doorway and makes sure that doorway’s in Cleveland.” Thee Midniters– Whittier Blvd Dave Alvin-Surfer Girl Jesse Fuller-San Francisco Bay Blues (Fuller was the creator of the Fodella)“It never caught on enough to get it in you local music store. I wish it had, it’s sure cut down costs on the road” (clip) Going to Hollywood Dorothy Shay- Been to Hollywood Bobby Womack-California Dreamin’ Jolie Holland-Goodbye California
Places
Fresno-Raisin capital of the world San Francisco (original Spanish name means good herb or good grass)“ironic isn’t it” Hollywood San Jose Lithuania Vaudeville Texas Alaska Eureka Mt. Whitney Death Valley Humboldt Redwoods State Park Laurel Canyon Paris Mexico S. Wales Colorado Nevada Silicon Valley LA Sacramento Medocino County CA Little River, CA Caspar, Ca Albion, CA Boonville, CA Elk, Ca Westport, Ca Cleone, CA Silver Lake, CA Colmont, CA-The only incorporated US city where the dead outnumber the living Boston Texas New Jersey
Other Singers and music industry folks
Bud Desilva Joseph Meyer Jimmy Rodgers Van Morrison Paul McCartney Tracy Ullman Hal David Bert Bacharach Hank Ballard Willy Garcia The Beach Boys“The Kennedy family with surf boards” John and Michelle Phillips
Guest
David Hidalgo Amy Sedaris Richard Lewis
Other Songs and Albums
Blue-album “Feudin’ and Fightin’” Escondido-album
Literature
“The Grapes of Wrath”-Steinbeck (exerpt)
Other People Richard Nixon Archimedes Fred Allen “California is a wonderful place to live if you happen to be an orange.” Walt Disney (clip) Wish Upon a Star John B. L. Soule -Newspaper Writer Horris Greeley- “Go west young man and grow up with the country.” John Sutter James Marshall President Polk Levi Strauss Gucci Queen Califia of Spain Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev-Kitchen debates (The discussion of Krushchev and Nixon appears from a quick research to be somewhat accurate and somewhat fiction, made up. The Kitchen Debates did not occur in the year identified, the conversation then did not contain what is stated, and Krushchev’s-Nixon’s confrontation later was not quiet as described. Someone (probably Bob) is playing with the history for effect. Fair enough. The Cold War produced much in the way of nonsense that was issued sincerely.) Pachuco (Background- Mambo Del Pachuco by Don Tosti Y Su Conjunto) Dwight Eisenhower
TV and Movies
It’s a Gift (clip) The Egg and I (clip) Superman (1978) (clip) Blow (clip)
Record Labels
Vocalion Anti
*Bob Reads from Woody Guthrie (This Land is Your Land in the background) ”We rounded a few hills and knolls, curving in our little jitney, and all at once, coming over a high place, the lights of Los Angeles jumped up, running from north to south as far as I could see, and hanging around on the hills and mountains just as if it was level ground. Red and green neon flickering for eats, sleeps, sprees, salvation, money made, lent, blowed, spent. There was an electric sign for dirty clothes, clean clothes, honky tonky tonks, no clothes, floor shows, gyp-joints, furniture in and out of homes. The fog was trying to get a headlock on the houses along the high places, Patches of damp clouds whiffed along the paving in crazy, disorganized little bunches, hunting some more clouds to work with. Los Angeles was lost in its own pretty lights and trying to hold out against the big fog that rolls in from that ocean, and the people that roll in just as reckless, and rambling, from the country as big as the ocean back East.” “West coast schemes, California dreams and specific pacific themes”
Classic Rock
It’s night time in the big city A woman dances beneath a strobe light A man rolls a joint on the second Johnny Winter album (Jimi Hendrix, Third Stone From The Sun in background) “It’s October, or as I like to call it, Rock-tober. Which of course means next month is Roll-vember…May you never hear surf music again. That’s actually Jimi’s thought, not mine.”
The Singers and The Songs
The Staple Singers – Be Careful of the Stones That You Throw
Ray Anthony Orchestra – Rock Around the Rock Pile“You’ll hear a siren on this record; it’s not really a siren, it’s Jane Mansfield screaming.”
Muddy Waters – Rolling Stone
The Stanley Brothers – Rock Of Ages
Ray Charles – Sticks and Stones“A lot of people think that Ray Charles stopped making tough R & B when he left Atlantic Records. They think all of his records had strings and he was going after the pop audience. While a lot of his albums were like that, he was still issuing singles that had that great combo sound. Here’s an example.”
Hardrock Gunter – Gonna Dance All Night “You know why that record sounds so good? Because it was a performance. The whole band was playing together in the studio. It wasn’t a thing assembled from parts, put together in little bits and pieces, until you had a complete take. Everyone started at the same time and finished pretty much at the same time, and all the time in between you just hung on for dear life. You can feel that energy in the record. And you can hear also in there how the line is blurry. It’s a hillbilly record, but if I told you Louis Jordan recorded that song you wouldn’t blink an eye.”
The Heartbreakers (featuring Johnny Thunders) – Chinese Rocks
The Osborne Brothers – Rocky Top
Dick Curless – A Tombstone Every Mile“If you’re listening to this show while driving, pull over and get your rest. Don’t be tempted by those little white pills: the crossroads, the greenies, the bennies, the West Coast turnarounds…no matter what they’re called, they spell trouble, and that’s with a capital T. A public service announcement from your friends here at TTRH.”
The Marigolds – Rollin’ Stone
Warren Smith – Uranium Rock“This one’s for all the metal heads.”
The Dirtbombs – Your Love Belongs Under a Rock
Swamp Dogg – Sam Stone
Other Singers, Players, and People
Jesus Fats Domino Rockpile Eddie Cochran Tom Ewell Jayne Mansfield Frank Tashlin Bugs Bunny Bob Hope Dean Martin Jerry Lewis Edmund O’Brien Mimi Vandoren“Another sex-pot” Bobby Troup Little Richard Augustus Montegue Toplady Henry Glover Titus Turner Dash Riprock The Hoot Owl Ramblers Johnny and The Jaywalkers The New York Dolls The Sex Pistols Boudeleaux and Felice Bryant Tony Bennett Jim Reeves Eddie Arnold Ruth Brown Joe Stampley Moe Bandy Leo Sayer The Everly Brothers Gary Dahl Johnny Cash Sly Stallone Mohammed Ali Chuck Webner Thomas Jefferson Aristophanes Mick Collins The White Stripes Sharon Stone John Prine Jacob Reese
Movies and Other Entertainment
The Girl Can’t Help It Pet Rocks Rocky
Record Labels
Atlantic Excello
Places
Tahiti Chile Blagdon, England Stonehenge Ft. Fairfield, ME Athens Persian Empire Greece Marathon Lagrange, TX Huntsville, AL Longview, TX Detroit
Other Songs and Albums
The Girl Can’t Help It (clip) Bye Bye Love Wake Up Little Susie All You Have To Do Is Dream Love Hurts Iron Man (Black Sabbath) (clip) Gonna Fly Now (clip) Cuffed, Collared, and Tagged (Swamp Dogg)
Guests
Cat Power Porky Pig Jack White
Bob’s geology lesson “The earth is divided into three layers: there’s the core, the mantle, and the crust. The core is very hot. The middle layer, the mantle, is made of minerals and it rides on top of the hot core. The very top, the part we’re standing on, is the crust. There are two types of crust: flaky and graham cracker…nah, just checking to see if you were listening.”
Famous people’s headstones
W.C. Fields: I’d rather be in Philadelphia Oscar Lavonte: I told them I was ill Alexander The Great: A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough. Jackie Gleeson: And Away We Go! Groucho Marx: Excuse me, I can’t stand up. Emily Dickinson: Call Back. Aeschylus: This tomb, the dust of Aeschylus doth hide Euphorion’s son and Gela’s pride How tried his valour, Marathon may tell; Long-haired Persians knew it all too well. Mel Black: That’s all folks. “For all you first time listeners, this is how we roll: with nothin’ but classic rock!”
Cadillac
It’s night time in the big city Vandals deface a wall There are no stars in the sky.
“Here at TTRH, we’ve always aspired to be the Cadillac of radio shows. So it’s only apropos that we take one of those baby’s out on the road!”
The Singers and The Songs
Buddy Johnson and Ella Johnson – A Pretty Girl (A Cadillac and Some Money)“That’s from 19 and 64, and you can tell by the way that saxophone roars in that rock and roll was just around the corner.”
Vince Taylor and The Playboys – Brand New Cadillac“Perhaps the best rockabilly record to come out of England.”
Paul and Dud Bascomb – Pink Cadillac“You can tell those guys got their start in a swing band. You hear a little bit of Count Basie’s ‘Sent For You Yesterday and Here You Come Today’ in that song.”
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys – Cadillac And Model A“One of them mid-fifties recordings. Features Bob’s brother, Billy Jack Wills. I like this song because it uses Cadillac as a verb.”
Bo Diddley – Cadillac
Howie Strange – Real Gone Daddy
Mildred Jones – Mr. Thrill“A song that’s kinda like a single entendre”
Andre Williams – Cadillac Jack
Red Simpson – Jeannie With The Light Brown Cadillac
Jerry McCain – Courtin’ in a Cadillac“A record like this isn’t even about the song, it’s about the whole thing: the singer, the musicians, the lyrics and the sound – especially the sound. You couldn’t make a record that sounds like this today.”
The Blasters – Long White Cadillac
The Cadillacs – Speedo“One of the premier rhythm and blues vocal groups…In front and center was Earl Carroll, with a straw hat and a cane. He would always bring down the house when he sang the song that gave him his nickname. In 1961, Earl got an offer to join The Coasters, and for the next 20 years her toured and recorded with them. That was a time when there was more than one Coasters group out there on the road. I can’t speak about the other ones, but if you saw the Coasters with Earl Carroll you were in for one hell of a show. ”
Michael Martin Murphey – Geronimo’s Cadillac “The veracity of this song is not total; however, it is quite catchy.”
Dizzy Gillespie – Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac
William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You Got
Other People and Players
Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac Elvis Presley – reportedly gave away over 200 Cadillacs. Webster The Clash Scheherazade Joe Barbera William Hanna Robert Taylor David Bowie Natalie Minster Erskine Hawkins Count Basie Pink “I don’t know what color car she drives, but I like her. Silver is the most popular color right now. I don’t know any singers named ‘Silver;’ if you’re a young singer, it’s a good name and it’s available.” Billy Jack Wills“Billy Jack was 20 years younger than Bob, and brought in a breath of fresh air and some new inspiration to the Texas Playboys.” James Dean Donald Trump Jay Ohrberg Pluma Davis Robert Thurston Robert Miller Buck Owens Merle Haggard Stephen Foster Jane McDowell Hank Williams Charles Carr Charles “Cholly” Atkins The Coasters Geronimo The Apaches Teddy Roosevelt John Wesley Work Hannah Shepherd
Famous People Who Drove Cadillacs
Willamena of the Netherlands Gustaffe V of Sweden Pope Pius XII John The 13th Ike Teddy Roosevelt Nixon Calvin Coolidge Jimmy Carter Bill Clinton
Famous Person Who Died in the Back of a Cadillac
Hank Williams
Famous Mr.’s
Reggie Jackson – Mr. October James Brown – Mr. Dynamite Joe DiMaggio – sold Mr. Coffee Mr. T Milton Burle – Mr. Television Don Rickles – Mr. Warmth Ray Milland – Mr. X, the man with the X-ray eyes Mr. Zip
Other Songs and Albums
Mushmouth (Instrumental) London Calling Sent For You Yesterday and Here You Come Today (Count Basie) (clip) Faded Love Jail Bait Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair (played in background, Bob recites lyrics) Beautiful Dreamer Oh, Susannah Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Places
French North America Lake Erie Lake St. Clair Detroit California England Switzerland Connecticut Burbank Bakersfield Blackboard Club Higley, AZ New York Canton, OH Bristol, WV Oak Hill, WV Arizona New Mexico Mexico Washington, DC
Books, Movies, TV and Other Entertainment
1001 Nights Aladdin’s Lamp Webster’s Dictionary Huckleberry Hound Quick Draw McGraw Rebel Without A Cause Chicken
Record Labels
Gem Peacock Chess Records Excello –The distinctive orange and purple
Cadillac Commercials
1958 Cadillac Commercial Cadillac 1974
Kinds of Cadillacs:
El Dorado Coupe Deville Cimarron Allante Sedan DeVille Series 75 Series 62 CTS XLR Escalade The Catera
Head to Toe
It's nighttime in the Big City 2 high school kids steal a case of beer Sneakers hang from a phone wire.
“ ‘What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! …Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.’ William Shakespeare was asking‘What a piece of work is man’. Here on TTRH we’re more concerned with all the pieces. Tonight, or today if you’re listening during the day, I’ll be speaking off the top of my head. I excited down to the tips of my toes cause I have my fingers in a lot of pies but I’m not going to leave you without a leg to stand on. I’m gonna tell you that today we’re gonna be talking about the human body from head to toe.”
The Singers and The Song “It’s important in a show like this to define our parameters, so lets start things off with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles-From Head to Toe” “Did you know that it only takes 7 pounds of pressure to rip your ear off? Everyone’s tongue is different. They’re like fingerprints, though they wouldn‘t be as convenient for identification. Many people think that parts of your body continue to grow after your dead. This is not true. It’s an illusion. Your nails and your hair look like they keep growing because your body dries out and begins shrinking. Strange but true.”
The Delta Rhythm Boys with Lee Gains– Dry Bones “We’re discussing the human body here on TTRH, and here’s the largest organ of the body, it grows faster than any other organ; I know you’re way ahead of me. You know it’s the skin.”
Louis Prima and Keeley Smith – I’ve Got You Under My Skin “Louis was an influence on many people. As a matter a fact, back in the 50’s when they asked Elvis Pressley where he got his wiggle, he told them ‘from Louis Prima, of course.’ ” “This is TTRH with Boney Themes, Sinewy Schemes, and Muscular Dreams”
Loretta Lynn – Fist City“that combination of fingers you don’t want to be on the business end of”
Johnny Copeland – Down On Bended Knee
Heart of Glass-Blondie (in background)
Sol Hoopii – Ten Tiny Toes, One Baby Nose “Here’s another great finger song”
Hank Ballard and The Midnighters – Finger Poppin’ Time
The Monroe Brothers – Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms –“Like the speed metal of blue grass”
Gene Phillips – Big Legs “He’s in love with a woman who’s got some big legs. I understand his position completely.”
The Barbarians — Moulty
Archibald – She’s Scattered Everywhere “We’d like to remind you that what soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul and the more you use your brain, the more brain you will have to use.”
(Shorty Walters-If I Only Had A Brain) background
Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys – Brain Cloudy Blues
Pete Seeger – Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
Rilo Kiley – With Our Arms Outstretched (Feat. Blake Senate, Jenny Lewis, Pierre Dereeder, Dave Rock)
Record Labels
Motown Records RCA Victor Label King Label Modern Record Label
Places
Helsinki, Finland Caanes, France (Bob’s there for the festival)“I wish you could see it. The planes going by, the girls in bikinis. Hard to keep my mind on the show but press on we must.” Butcher Hollow, KY Honolulu, HI Los Angeles Rural China Southern Central LA Houston, TX Penn Station Blarney Stone Turkey, TX (where they have the Bob will’s Festival every April) “ I guess you know where you can find me next April.”
Other people, etc.
Hugh Bryant Billie (Betty) Friedan-feminist Aimee Semple McPherson – evangelist Ford Motors Bahari Brothers -Modern Record Label Doug Morris-Universal Music group“Hey Doug! Why don’t you write some more songs!” Dave Bartholomew Captain Hook Lyndon Johnson Lon Cheney – one of the greatest actors ever
TV, Entertainment and Movies
Disney The Jungle Book (clip) The David Frost Show Movie (or something) clip “Human heart in circulation” Jimmy Durante – clip The Twist-dance Sanford and Son – clip Movie Clip – Marx Brothers?? The Wizard of Oz Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour The Unknown (Lon Cheney as Alonzo)
Other Songs Singers and Albums
Van Lear Rose (2004 Loretta Lynn) Jack White Sonny Boy Williamson Big Mama Thornton Freddy King The Royals Bert Monroe “Big Fat Mama” “Fatso” “Pumpkin Headed Woman” Victor Moulton Yip Harburg Tommy Duncan
7 primary odors of the nose
camphor Musk Floral Peppermint ether pungent putrid
Literature
“The sense of smell is closely related to memory perhaps most famously explained by Marcel Proust. ‘When nothing else subsists from the past, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered· the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls· bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory’ -Marcel Proust-Prose Author“ (The Remembrance of Things Past)
Laxative Makers
Texas Crystals Company Crazy Water Crystals
Guest
Tom Waits (guest) x2“I don’t tell a lot of people this, but Tom Waits and I have been sending cassettes back and forth to each other for quite some time…“
History of handshake
When meeting, an open right hand shows you are not carrying a weapon. Left hand considered the bathroom hand and is never used. “I don’t know, I still don’t trust anybody who shows me only one hand.”
Rhythms Popular in the Past
Mambo Tango Cha Cha The Twist Mad Beats “Great Music is not a prisoner of time. I love listening to stuff from 100 years ago and I love listening to stuff made last Tuesday. There’s a whole world out there and I hate think you’re going through it wearing blinders…Gettin’ crunk, here on TTRH.” “Well, as the sun sets over the harbor here in Caanes, I can see that it’s time for us to go. In Closing I want to leave you with the words of Walt Whitman:
‘I sing the body electric, The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them, They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul. Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves? And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead? And if the body does not do fully as much as the soul? And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?’ Good Question Walt. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go get a full body massage. I’ll see you next week right here on TTRH with more full-bodied Themes, Dreams and Schemes.”
Smoking
It’s night time in the big city
A man’s wife confronts his mistress
There’s a low cloud cover
Two runaways sleep in a doorway.
“This week we’ve got kind of a controversial subject…Something you’re not allowed to do inside a restaurant, or even a bowling alley. It didn’t used to be that way. It was something you used to be able to do right out in public. You didn’t have to hide in your own house doing it. Today’s show is all about smoking. We’re not here to encourage it or to glorify it. You’re smart enough to look up all the facts…So sit back, smoke em if you got em, and enjoy the next 60 minutes as we blow a few musical smoke rings your way.”
The Singers and The Songs
Tex Williams and His Western Caravan – Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
The O’Jays – Lipstick Traces on a Cigarette “…can get you in trouble or can remind you of the wonders of the night before”
Joe Maphis & Rose Lee – Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music
Baron Lee – Reefer Man “You know some people don’t smoke tobacco. They’re smoking some other stuff. Perhaps you’re familiar with it. Some people call it pot, weed, grass, marijuana, loco weed, ganja, reefer, chiba, sensimilla, chronic, mary jane, or dope. Whatever you call it, you smoke it and you get high. Here’s a song all about it. It was written in 1927, though this version’s from a few years later…You gotta be smokin’ something to be calling watermelons pickles!”
Steve Purdy and the Studs – The Weed “Here’s the crazy part of this record – it’s a band of 15 year olds! Imagine a group of 15 year olds singing about smoking now days…the mind boggles!”
The Replacements – More Cigarettes (Paul Westerberg, the Stinson Brothers, and Chris Mars)
The Reverend J. M. Gates – Smoking Woman in the Street
Sam Cooke – Smoke Rings
Billy Briggs – Chew Tobacco Rag I & II
Paul Champlain and the Emeralds – Nicotine“The thing I like about bands that put out only one record is that sometimes both sides of it are amazing. I turned over Shortnin’ Bread and I found this!”
Brownsville Station – Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room
Red Ingle and the Natural Seven – Cigareets, Whuskey, and Wild, Wild Women
The Visions – Cigarette“It’s one of the great mysteries of life that I know more about Spud cigarettes than I do about our next artists, but that’s not gonna stop me from playing ‘em.”
John D. Loudermilk – Tobacco Road
Other Players and People
Oscar Wilde Merle Travis Spade Cooley “Smart man that Spade Cooley – at least until he beat his wife to death.” Christopher Columbus Jean Nicot Gamblin’ Huff Alan Toussaint Robert Golag Tex Ritter Rick Nelson Wanda Jackson Semie Moseley Native Americans Lakota and Sioux Douglas Leigh James Joyce Lucky Millender Lew Chudd Willard Scott Wayne McLaren David McLean Cub Koda The Del-Tinos Houndog Taylor Motley Crue The Hombres Gary McEwen B.B. Cunningham Huey P. Meaux Spike Jones Ernie Kovacs Edie Adams “Hats off to Edie Adams: sexy, loyal, patron of the arts.” Erskine Caldwell Jeeter Lester Cherokee Paul Revere and The Raiders Luis Bunuel– If alcohol is queen, then tobacco is her consort…
Other Songs and Albums
I’m A Fool For a Cigarette (Ry Cooder) (clip) Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash Mr. Soul Shortnin’ Bread Let it All Hang Out Indian Reservation
Places
Texas Ramsey, IL LA Europe France Walworth, England Fort Worth, TX The Plaza Hotel Palmer House Chicago Webster, MA Georgia Durham, NC “I’m pretty sure that’s tobacco country.”
Record Labels / Guitar Companies
Bear Family Mosrite Guitars Imperial Harper
TV, Movies, Books, and Magazines
Ranch Party Ranch Party The Tonight Show John Wayne PSA (clip) The Magnificent Seven (music played in background) The Vinyl Junkie“It was a constant booster of music you couldn’t hear anywhere else – at least until Theme Time Radio Hour came on. Cub was a good writer and had great taste. He opened a lot of people’s ears to a lot of great music.” Goldmine Magazine God’s Little Acre Tobacco Road
Guest
T Bone Burnett“Thanks for calling, Bone…enjoy the Weed!” John Cusack
Cigarette Brands and Advertisement
Lucky Strike Virginia Slims commercial – last cig commercial shown on TV Times Square Camel Billboard The Marlboro Man “From 1943 to 1944, Marlboro ads were created to attract women. The cigarettes were more feminine. But eventually they wanted to butch it up a bit.” Marlboro commercial – clip The Flintstones Winston commercial Kool Spud Muriel Milds
Slang for Cigarettes
Smokes Butts Ciggies Stogies Bogies Darts Straights Jacks Fags Cancer Sticks Coffin Nails Doogies and Rollies (Australia) “Whatever you call ‘em, light ‘em up!”
Misc
The All Music Guide Peace Pipe “Well that’s it; we’ve covered the pros and cons of smoking. I’m gonna empty out the ashtrays, air the room, and get ready for next week, cause you know there’s another theme just around the corner, and I hope you’ll be there when we hold it up to the light.”
Dreams
It’s night time in the big city Thunder echoes through the streets A man rents a hotel room under an assumed name.
The Singers and the Songs
Dinah Washington – Darn That Dream“We play a lot of jazz singers on this show…but sometimes the great soloists go unappreciated. In the background, there’s a long tenor saxophone solo from a live recording by Dinah Washington. The saxophone player’s name is Harold Land http://hardbop.tripod.com/land.html , and like many great horn players he came from Texas. He moved to Los Angeles and played with both of the Liggins brothers, starting off with Jimmy’s band and then going with the more famous Joe Liggins”
The Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream “I got to hear that intro again, can we hear that, Tex?”
Tony Bennett – Boulevard of Broken Dreams (song)
Otis Redding – I’ve Got Dreams to Remember
Roy Orbison – In Dreams
Charlie Mingus – Weird Nightmare
The Chords“I always make a point whenever possible to give the names of vocal groups, because all too often they’re just given as a collective noun. Like in this case, you talk about the Chords, you’ve heard them played on oldies shows, on roots of rock shows, but no one ever gives them a moment as individuals. So for James, Carl, Claude, the other James, and Floyd, here’s their big hit, in 1954 – and they wrote it, by the way! It wasn’t even supposed to be the hit. You know Jerry Wexler, who was their A & R guy, had them record this Patty Page song, ‘Cross Over the Bridge,’ but the buying public wasn’t having it. They turned it over, and found this on the B side. Listen carefully to the saxophone solo. A lot of the guys that play horn on these records have deep jazz roots, and if you listen to the beginning of this solo, you can hear the sax player quote the standard, ‘Mean to Me.”
The Louvin Brothers – When I Stop Dreaming
The Lovin’ Spoonful – Daydream“…who by the way got their name from the same place as the English rock band, 10cc ”
The Cherry Pies – Do You Keep On Dreaming?
Big Bill Broonzy – Just a Dream (On My Mind)
Arnett Cobb – When I Grow Too Old To Dream
Tom Waits – Innocent When You Dream“Here Tom Waits captures that drunken sea-sick lurch that dreams sometimes have, while he bemoans the real world.”
Other Songs and Albums
The Honey Dripper Pink Champagne Otis Redding Camptown Races Swanee River My Old Kentucky Home Hard Times Oh, Susannah Flying Home Frank’s Wild Years
Other People and Players
Clifford Brown Max Roach Eric Dolphy Tangerine Dream Chet Atkins“Probably the most recorded solo instrumentalist in music history. He built RCA Studio B, probably the most hit-generating studio in Nashville. He lived for the music, and at one time said, ‘Years from now, after I’m gone someone will listen to what I’ve done and know I was here. They might not know or care who I was but they’ll hear my guitar speaking for me. We hear ya, Chet.” Les Paul Dolly Parton Skeeter Davis Waylon Jennings Napoleon Bonaparte Jose Canseco Mitch Miller Langston Hughes The Bar-Kays Stephen Foster Roy Orbison David Lynch Dennis Hopper Frank Booth Duke Ellington Willie Smith Bucky Thompson Lester Young Lee Young Claude Treniers The Treniers Mary Shelley Robert Louis Stevenson Abraham Lincoln Frederick August Von Kekule “He once had a dream about a snake biting its own tail. From that dream, he figured out the structure of Benzene. I woulda just figured it was a sex dream or something.’” The Greeks Heraclides The Romans Alfred Maury Elvis Presley James Edwards James Keyes Floyd McCrae Pete Townsend Faye (Ira Louvin’s 3rd wife) Anne Young 10cc John Sebastian Lionel Hampton Illinois Jaquet (tenor sax solo on Flying Home)“It was great on the record, but especially when played live people could hear the birth of rock and roll.” Oscar Hammerstein Sigmund Romberg William Butler Yeats “Emerald Poet”
Record Labels
Cadence Records Columbia
Places
Texas Madison, WI The South Pennsylvania Cincinnati New York City Ancient Egypt Kansas City Williamsburg, MO Houston, TX
Books and Poems
The Talmud Dreams (L. Hughes) Frankenstein Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Aunt Sally’s Policy Players Dream Book Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (WB Yeats) Ode (Arthur O’Shaughnessy) (Quote from this poem also used in movie Willie Wonka, below)
Guests
Elvis Costello (sings a few lines of Beautiful Dreamer) Jenny Lewis Marianne Faithful – ran into her at Dunkin Donuts“She had an old fashioned powdered and I had a cruller”
Movies
Blue Velvet Willie Wonka (clip) The Wizard of Oz (clip)
Common Dreams (according to Bob anyway)
Being chased or attacked Being injured, ill, or dying A car or other vehicle trouble House or property loss or damage Poor tests or other poor performances Falling or flying Being naked in public or inappropriately dressed Missing the boat or other transport Machine or telephone malfunction Sex Natural or man made disasters Being lost or trapped Being menaced by the dead or a spirit “These are the most common dreams, as opposed to candy colored clowns.”
Party
It’s night time in the big city A woman cuts pictures of places she’ll never visit out of a magazine I wonder if there’s any cake left.Words for parties and partying
Banquets and bashes Benders and binges Carousels and Crushers Feasts and galas Get-togethers Hoedowns Hops Hullabaloos Jags and jigs Carousing Cavorting Celebrating Commemorating Drinking Getting down Grooving Hanging loose Having fun Letting down our hair Making merry Painting the town red Raising the roof Rejoicing Reveling And whooping it up “Let’s get this party started!”The Singers and The Songs
The Showstoppers – Ain’t Nothin’ But A House Party“I love records like this one where they use the baritone sax to drive the bass along. It’s a sound you never get sick of.”
Wanda Jackson – Let’s Have A Party“Elvis recorded this record before Wanda did, but you can give me Wanda’s version any day…You know, it’s almost criminal that she isn’t in the rock and roll hall of fame. I mean you just heard that record.”
Jesse Allen – Let’s Party“He was a guy I don’t know a lot about. I know he’s from New Orleans. I like the way he sings; love the way he plays guitar. And other than that, I don’t know anything.
Don and Dewey – Baby Gotta Party“Here’s a wild record, two twin bundles of TNT.”
Lesley Gore – It’s My Party
Buddy Knox – Party Doll
Smiley Lewis – Caledonia’s Party
The Enchanters – I Paid For The Party
Claudine Clark – Party Lights“It’s a shame this was her only hit but if you have only one it’s a good thing it sounds like Party Lights.”
Al Johnson – Carnival Time
Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5 – House Party“He had 57 R & B chart hits and many more that are less known, but they still rock with a steady roll.”
Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton – The Party “One of those melodramatic life lessons that country music is so full of”
Lord Beginner – After the Bacchanal
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Party Girl
Blossom Dearie – The Party’s Over
Other People and Players
Alec and Laddy Burke Solomon Burke Amy Winehouse Nick Thompson (discovered Wanda Jackson) Gene Shepherd Elvis Presley Link Wray Richard Barrie Don Terry Don Bowman Don Harris Don Sugarcane Harris Art Rupee Dale and Grace The Osmonds The Righteous Brothers“Pretty much based their entire act on Don and Dewey” Lee Allen (musician) Earle Palmer John Lee Hooker Johnny Otis Frank Zappa Quincy Jones Lionel Hampton Dizzy Gillespie Jimmy Bowen Roy Orbison William S. Burroughs Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldren Michael Jackson Steven Spiel berg The Rhythm Orchids Norman Petty Buddy Holly Garnet Mimms Bob Elgin Jerry Ragovoy Spanish Missionaries Aztecs Bacchus– Roman god of wine and intoxication Eduardo Sa Gomes Attila the Hun The Growling Tiger Lord Kitchener Emily Post Paris Hilton Betty Comden Adolph Green Jule Styne Woody Herman Alvino Ray The Blue Stars of France Norman GranzArtists in the TTRH Wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
Wanda Jackson Link Wray Richard Berry Jesse Allen
Other Songs and Albums
Rehab (clip) Hot Barbecue (clip) Off The Wall Thriller The Theme from the Cosby Show I’m Leaving It Up To You Cocoa Joe Justine Big Boy Pete Willie the Pimp Hot Rats Austin Powers music Fly Me To The Moon I’m Stickin’ With You Soul Bossa Nova (clip played in background)
Places
New Orleans Paris Clovis, NM Philadelphia Macon, GA Mexico Italy England Trinidad and Tobago New York The Catskills
People Who Made ‘Party Records’“…would be kind of tame by today’s standards, but they were titillating and risqué in their day.”
Belle Barth Bruce Wallace Kay Martin Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite) Redd Foxx (Clip)
Record Labels
Specialty Records Roulette Records Port-Of-Spain Label Verve Records
Books and Poems
The Wild Party – Joseph Moncure March (W.S. Burroughs once said it was this book that made him want to become a writer)
Movies, TV Shows, Etc.
The Pawn Broker In Cold Blood In The Heat of the Night The Color Purple The Fresh Prince of Belair Mad TV What Makes a Good Party The Warriors (clip) Mary Jane (clip)
Guests
Amy Sedaris Richard Lewis
Ways to light a party
Rope lights Colored bulbs Chinese paper lanterns Tea candles Black light Glow sticks “Well, that’s it for us this week. I gotta go fish the cigarette butts out of the sink, sweep up the broken glass, call the carpet cleaners, and I got to figure out who that is sleeping on my couch. While I’m gonna do all that, you do what you got to do and we’ll meet up here again next week for an all new theme on TTRH. Party on dude!”
Countdown
It’s nighttime in the big city Rain beats against the window pane A woman takes a shower before going home to her husband
“Remember, some cars can go from zero to sixty in under 10 seconds. But, here on TTRH we can go from 10 to zero in just a little under an hour.”
The Singers and The Songs
Eve’s Ten Commandments – Helen FlemingNine Have Tried (And Nine Have Died) – The Carlisles“We could use some great musicians to don’t take themselves to seriously nowadays.”
Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar – The Andrews Sisters
7 H Du Matin – Jacqueline Taieb“Wear the red one, Jackie!” (clip of English version as well)
007 (Shanty Town) – Desmond Dekker “Song about the rude boy gansta ghetto culture in Jamaica”
James Bond Theme (clip)
Six Days on the Road – Dave Dudley
Five O’Clock Whistle – Duke Ellington & Ivie Anderson
Four Five Or Six Times – Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies
Three Hearts In A Tangle – James Brown
Cocktails For Two – Spike Jones & His City Slickers “That was all done live in the studio…” “What we just heard was ridiculous-delightfully so…”
I Want Two Wings – Rev. Utah Smith“He wore giant angel wings strapped to his shoulder blades when he performed this song as a street corner evangelist…”
One Bad Stud – The Honey Bears
One Hand Loose – Charlie Feathers “The wild man himself, the tip top daddy…”
Less Than Zero (Dallas Version) – Elvis Costello & the Attractions (the rare Dallas live version)
Other Singers, Players and Songs
Rocket # 9 – song clip Sun Ra (Herman Sunny Blount) Going Home Bill Carlisle Cliff Carlisle Chet Atkins Hee Haw Gospel Quartet Michael Fugain Vivian Tibot Eve Montagne Jacqueline Tiab is Back – album Truck Driving Son of a Gun — song Trucker’s Prayer – song 5 O’Clock Shadow Dick Nixon and The Richards (faux) Roy Dusky– song clip Casey Kasem American Top 40 clip Ray Pennington (Ray Star) Sid Nathan – talking clip Sam Coslow Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller Sam Phillips Elvis “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” “Radio, Radio”
Other People
Charlton Heston Moses Cecil B. DeMille Leona King Carlisle Ian Fleming Sean Connery Jack Mcall – shot wild bill Oswald Mosley
Record Labels
Bluebird Golden Wing Label Constitution Label King Record Label Spark Record Label Sun Records Flip records King records
Places
Cahn Spencer, WI Minneapolis Hollywood NYC Slayton MS Memphis
Movies, TV and Entertainment
The Ten Commandments (1956)– movie clip Touch of evil The Big Country Planet of the Apes Soilent Green The Eight to the Bar Ranch (radio show) Sesame Street – clip Goldfinger Casino Royale License to Kill Warner Brothers (cartoons) Murder at the Vanities SNL
Awards
Gene Hershelt Humanitarian award Kennedy Center Lifetime Achivement Award
Guests
Cat power Amy Sedaris Elvis Costello
Etc.
Busman’s Holiday – doing something on your day off that you do all week at work
People who died while playing cards
Wild Bill Hickok Al Jolson Buster Keaton Arnold Rothstein – fixed 1919 World Series
“I got to blast off!”
One
It’s night time in the big city Temptation is on every corner A man rents a hotel room under an assumed name. “For the next sixty minutes, we’re gonna be talking about one horse towns, one track minds, one armed bandits, one false move, one in a million, one too many, one way or another, one brick shy of a load, and one and only. So stay here one and all, and listen to songs on a singular subject, that subject being ‘number one.’”
The Singers and The Songs
Harry Nilsson – One
Buddy Guy — First Time I Met the Blues
Jan Howard and Wynne Stewart – The One You Slip Around With
The Five Royales – Dedicated to the One I Love“I don’t think anybody ever did it as good as the folks who did it first.”
Smiley Lewis – One Night (clip)
Elvis Presley – One Night “Even though it’s a little cleaner (than S. Lewis’s version), you can’t fault Elvis. It was the taste of times and he’d already broken enough rules.”
The Contours – First I Look At The Purse
Anita O’Day – Johnny One Note
Josh White – One Meat Ball
The Impressions – I’m The One Who Loves You“…had Curtis Mayfield at the helm. Curtis was a triple threat: he wrote the songs, he played guitar on the songs, he sang on the songs.”
Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks – Make Us One
Los Lobos – One Time, One Night“It’s like a series of snapshots of a neighborhood in the bayou.”
Billy Gayles w/ Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm– Just One More Time“He was a tortured soul capable of great darkness, but you can’t always let someone’s bad qualities be the only thing that you remember them by. Ike Turner was capable of great art and the world of music is a poorer place for his loss.”
George Jones – Just One More
Otis Spann – One More Mile To Go
Other Singers, Players, and Folks
The Monkees The Yardbirds The Beatles Godzilla Willie Dixon Herman Melville Ishmael Harry Stanley King George IV Caroline of Brunswick The Earl of Malmesbury Harlan Howard Kitty Wells Patsy Cline Bill Anderson James Browne Eric Clapton Steve Cropper The Mamas and Papas Lowman Pauling The Shirelles Agatha Christie Maurice Chevalier Albert Pierrepoint Perry Como The Eagles Bill Haley Joe Turner Thomas and Henrietta Maria Bowdler Charles Thompson Smokey Robinson Hubert Johnson Jackie Wilson Berry Gordy Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart Alexander Dumont The Hells Angels“A noted motorcycle gang” Pete Seeger Roosevelt Pete Rose Cincinnati Reds Harry Belafonte JFK Marilyn Monroe Hugh Masekela Stokely Charmichael Nelson Mandela Betsy Ross Carl Sandburg Thomas Paine Edgar Allen Poe Mozart Tina Turner Howling Wolf B. B. King Johnny Guitar Watson Beethoven Dallas Frazier Muddy Waters Dirty Rivers (pseudonym) James Cotton
Movies, TV, Broadway and Books
Midnight Cowboy The Point Moby Dick The Matrix Sunshine and Shadow The Secret Adversary Sermons on the Doctrines and Duties of Christianity The Family Shakespeare High Times, Hard Times The Garrick Gaieties Babes in Arms The Three Musketeers Spinal Tap King Kong (the musical) Common Sense
Places
Brooklyn Agora, CA Iceland Tokyo Chicago Los Angeles Las Vegas Memphis Vietnam Columbia University Johannesburg, South Africa Carnegie Hall Madison Square Garden
Record Labels
Cobra Federal Sun Records Chess Records Prestige
Other Songs and Albums
Mommy for a Day I Fall to Pieces My Son (Jan Howard) Catch a Falling Star The Eagles Greatest Hits Worlds – 1st platinum record for selling over 1 million copies“I know I musta bought it five times.” S hake, Rattle and Roll Do You Love Me Lady is a Tramp My Funny Valentine Pata Pata
Bob’s Perfect Meatball Recipe
3 minced cloves of garlic ¼ c veg oil for frying 1 lb. ground meat (Bob uses equal parts beef, pork, and veal) ¼ c grated parmesan cheese 9 saltine crackers, (crush ‘em up fine) ½ t each of salt, black pepper, oregano, and dried basil 1 T chopped fresh parsley (gotta be fresh) ¼ c water 1 egg 1 t tomato paste Heat oil over low heat in a large Dutch oven In a big bowl add meat garlic cheese crackers spices Mix with fingers, don’t be shy, get into it In a small bowl whisk water egg and tomato paste Add the two mixtures and mix lightly with fingers Form into balls Cook in batches until brown on both sides, about 5 minutes
Walking
It’s nighttime in the Big City A local band packs their gear into a van It’s easier to buy a gun than cold medicine
The Singers and Songs
Jack Scott (Jack Scarfone JR.) – The Way He Walks (Frankie Lee Sims – Walkin’ With Frankie) Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers – Walk Right In Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra – Walk ‘Em “This is TTRH. Strolling themes, parading schemes and walking dreams.” Fats Domino – I’m Walkin’ Jimmy Rogers – Walking By Myself Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side Waylon Jennings – Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line Jimmie Rushing – Walkin’ Slow Behind You Allen Brothers – Jake Walk Blues The Mills Brothers w/ Louis Armstrong – My Walking Stick“A man isn’t completely dressed without a hat and walking stick.” Jimmy McCracklin – The Walk (Johnny Smith – Walk Don’t Run! -background) Stonewall Jackson – Why I’m Walking
Other people
Frederick Nietze Aldous Huxley Thomas Jefferson Picasso Renee Fladen – girlfriend of Tom Fin Arthur Blessed – walked across the country and world w/ a 12 foot cross (1969)“I wonder if he ever ran into Art Garfunkle?” Lucky Luciano Meyer Lansky Bugsy Segal Murder Inc. Thomas Stonewall Jackson Pete Fisher – General manager of Grand Ole Opry
Other singers and songs
Robert Gordon Link Wray The Weavers Eric Darling Pete Seeger Lynn Taylor Frank Sinatra Sophie Tucker Jerry Lewis Brian Wilson Michael Brown The Beach Boys Tom Fin “Pretty Ballerina” Earl Palmer Frank Fields Walter Papoose Nelson Ricky Nelson “I’m Walking” Art Garfunkle Muddy Waters “Sloppy Drunk” “Back Door Friend” Big Walter Harden – harmonica – “playing like his life depended on it” The Velvet Underground Transformer David Bowie Mick Ronson Andy Warhol Berlin-Lou Reed Record Waylon Jennings-disc jockey on KLLL Buddy Holly Holy Blanc? – song The Big Bopper Count Basie Paul Gonzalez “Walking with Mr. Lee” Smiley Lewis Bill Richard Lloyd Price The Blasters Lee Allen Austin Allen The Chattanooga Boys “Salty Dog Blues” “Bow Wow Blues” Laughing and Crying Blues Harry Mills Irving Berlin The Ventures Johnny Smith NBC Pit Orchestra Stan Goetz “Moonlight in Vermont” Grand Ole Opry Ernest Tubbs and the Texas Troubadours
Places
Canada The Left Bank Boston New Orleans Manhattan New York Oregon Chicago Nicaragua Morocco Tanzania Lithuania Kenya Assisi, Italy Nigeria Lubbock Phoenix LA Piqua, OH
Record Labels
Vanguard Records A and M Records RCA Victor Records Columbia (Race Series and Old Time Series) Chess Records
Guest
Ricky Gervais John C. Raleigh (Chicago guy)
TV, Lit., Movies etc.
Lord Byron-She Walks in Beauty Zoolander(clip) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett A Midnight Cowboy (clip) “…any guy that we hit, he asked to be hit.” (movie clip) Robert Frost – The Fork in the Road Jake – Jamaican ginger extract The Jake walk, the Jake leg “Until next week, if I see you or you see me, just keep walking”
Around The World pt.1
It’s night time in the big city
A pawn shop owner shuts his iron gate
A man realizes he is in love.
“As we told you on our ‘Hello’ show, there’s many ways to say hello. Well I hope you’re taking notes, cause this week we’re gonna use em.”
The Singers and The Songs
Blossom Dearie – Rhode Island Is Famous For You
The Coasters – Down In Mexico
Freddy Fender – Acapulco Rock
Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London
The Pogues – Dark Streets of London
Edith Piaf – Sous le Ciel de Paris
The Four Lads – Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Shoba – A Sambe Siye E Goli (Let’s Go To Johannesburg)
Joe Ely – She Never Spoke Spanish to Me
Toots Thielemans & Elis Regina – Aquerela Do Brasil
The Byrds – Blue Canadian Rockies
Hal Swain and His Band – Hunting Tigers Out In India (Yah)
Buck Owens – Made in Japan“The last man to hit the top 10 with a crew cut.”
(Sonny Rollins – How are Things in Glocca Morra – (background)
The Beatles – Back in the USSR
Other People and Players
Howard Dietz Arthur Schwartz Jack Haley George M. Cohan Nelson Eddy Peter and Bobby Farrelly Spalding Gray H.P. Lovecraft Gilbert Stuart Scott Hamilton Aztecs El Santo Fats Domino Big Joe Turner Eddy and the Shades Scotty Wayne Eddy Medina Billie Holiday Louis Leplee Johnnie Ray Mitch Miller Constantine the Great Sultan Mehmet II George Bernard Shaw L.L. Zamenhof Bernard Stollman Pharaoh Sanders Ornette Coleman Sun Ra The Fugs The Holy Modal Rounders William Burroughs Paul Bley Butch Hancock Samuel De Champlain Queen Victoria Sean Connery Spice Girls Yip Harburg Burton Lane James Hilton Plato Donovan Superman Brainiac (comics) C.S. Lewis L. Frank Baum The Marx BrothersMovies, TV, Broadway, Books
Inside U.S.A. The Wolf Man ESPN Finian’s Rainbow Lost Horizon Duck SoupPlaces
Mexico Rio Grande Turkey Paris Africa Warsaw, Poland Lubbock, TX South America Sao Paulo Rio De Janeiro Brazil Canada Quebec France India“…has half the world’s population of tigers; I think the rest of them are in Detroit.” The Indian Empire“There were rumors at one point we were going to swap England India for Canada, but actually this is just a rumor I’m trying to start.” Suez Canal Bakersfield, CA Shangri-La Himalayas Atlantis Kandor Krypton Narnia Oz Utopia Freedonia Moscow Armenia Estonia Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine UzbekistanPlaces that have undergone a name change
Ethiopia / Abyssinia Ceylon / Sri Lanka Persia / Iran Mesopotamia / Iraq Siam / Thailand Moldavia / MoldovaRecord Labels
Atco ESPGuest
Luke WilsonOther Songs and Albums
Cry “Cry and Little White Cloud on one single…that’s value for your buck!” The Little White Cloud That Cried Sweetheart of the Rodeo (not Sweethearts of the Rodeo) Freedonia National Anthem (clip) The White AlbumRandom Etymology
POSHAround the World pt. 2
It’s night time in the big city
A woman realizes she’s no longer in love
The batteries in the remote control are dead
“Here at TTRH, we circumnavigate the globe and bring back music for your edification.”
The Singers and The Songs
Little Willie John – All Around the World
Sir Douglas Quintet – Nuevo Laredo
Gerry and the Pace Makers – Ferry Cross the Mersey
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – Night in Tunisia (clip background)
Celia Cruz – Africa
The Ink Spots – When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano“Everybody wanted to sing like Bill Kinney. You can hear him in Clyde McFadder, Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley, and a host of others who don’t even know they’re trying to sing like Bill Kinney, who try to sing like Clyde McFadder, Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley, etc. etc., and so it goes, down the lines of history.”
Chris Powell & The Blue Flames – I Come From Jamaica“This song’s from the early 50’s and it’s one of the first American records I know to be influenced by the rhythms coming out of Jamaica.”
Lloyd Clark – Japanese Girl
Cannon’s Jug Stompers – Going to Germany
Warren Smith – Ubangi Stomp
Hank Thompson – Rockin in the Congo“A lot of the rockabilly and country guys were fascinated with this part of the world.”
Maxine Sullivan – Loch Lomond “…along with her husband John Kirby, swinging the traditional song.”
The Clancy Brothers — The Irish Rover “This song…is an old songs. There’s lots of variant versions of it, but these are the guys I first heard singing it. I heard it live; you’re gonna have to hear it on a record.”
Ricky Nelson – Travelin’ Man
Josh White – I Don’t Intend to Die in Egyptland
Dean Martin – Arrivederci Roma“Italy is shaped like a boot, and one guy I get a boot out of is Dean Martin. He was the smoothest singer of the 50’s and 60’s; Elvis Presley wanted to be him, as did Frank Sinatra, for two very different reasons. Here’s Deano…and I call him Deano.”
Wreckless Eric – Whole Wide World
Other People and Players
Sid Nathan (clip about a trip he took to Europe) Alfred Wegener Brian Epstein George Martin Bob Wooler ‘DJ of The Cavern Club’“I can only hope I can be as influential as a disc jockey as Bob Wooler was.” The Beatles Chano Pozo Clyde McFadder Jackie Wilson Elvis Presley Max Roach Clifford Brown Derek Morgan Derek and Lloyd Yoko Ono (song clip in background) Toshi Ichiyanagi Walter Scott Robert Louis Stevenson Arthur Conan Doyle Sean Connery Annie Lennox John Hannah Robert Burns Loch Ness Monster Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson John Huston John Ford Leif Erickson Marco Polo Christopher Columbus Amerigo Vespucci Vasco De Gama Vasco Balboa Cortez Fernando DesotoPlaces
Italy The Congo Pangaea“a super-continent…and I’m not makin that word up.” Texas The River Mersey Liverpool United Kingdom Cavern Club The North End Music Store Capistrano Albania Philadelphia Jamaica Tokyo London Carnegie Hall India Italy Spain Memphis Ubangi River The Republic of Congo The Central African Republic The Sudan Uganda Rwanda Burundi Tanzania Zambia Angola The Atlantic Ocean Memphis, TN Scotland Loch Ness “no relation to Elliot” Ireland Dublin New Bedford, MA County Cork County Galway North America China W. Indies Caribbean Isles Panama Mississippi River Frank Sinatra Elvis PresleyRecord Labels
King Sun CapitalGuests
Steve Earle TomOther Songs and Albums
Satellite Radio (clip)Movies
Braveheart Moby Dick “Some people are just travelers. Other people want to get there first; they’re called explorers.”Lock and Key
It’s night time in the big city
A school teacher drinks alone
They’re finally tearing down the old shoe factory
“We’re gonna be locked up, locked out, keyed up, wound up, we’re gonna be talking about church keys and skate keys, we’ll listen to the key of C and learn about the key to good living. There’ll be lip locks, Loch Ness, time locks, and vapor locks. Before the end of it we might even get the key to the city. So I hope you’re all locked and loaded and sitting by your radio.”
The Singers and The Songs
Bessie Smith – Lock and Key“We’re gonna start it all off old school.”
Sonny Boy Williamson – The Key (To Your Door)“Kind of a crazy march…sounds like they were all playing in different keys there for a minute. Personally, I don’t think it was actually the key to her door that he was looking for; maybe he was looking for the key to her chastity belt.”
Adam Hebert & The Country Playboys – Ouvre Cette Porte
Jimmy Nelson – Unlock the Lock
Lucinda Williams – Changed the Lock“Time Magazine called her America’s best songwriter in 2002…I guess I was out of town.”
Wynonie Harris – Somebody’s Changed the Lock on My Door
Dusty Fletcher – Open the Door, Richard (partial clip)
Jack McVea and His All Stars – Open the Door, Richard“See, that song can be done any kinda way…’bout time for it to come back again. Maybe I’ll even do it.”
Little Walter – Key to the Highway
Groovey Joe Poovey – Ten Long Fingers“Kind of a rockabilly, piano based version of Johnny B. Goode.”
Henry ‘Red’ Allen – Who Stole the Lock on the Henhouse Door“One of the last great New Orleans trumpet players. He was overshadowed by Louis but he actually had a fresh approach. In the 60’s he was still playing, and Don Ellis called him the most creative and avant garde trumpet player in New York.”
Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies – You’re Bound to Look Like a Monkey“You don’t get any more western swing than this.”
The Detroit Cobras – You Don’t Knock
Other People and Players
Ma Rainey Robert Johnson Robert Nighthawk Robert Lockwood Jr. Howlin’ Wolf Mary Burnett Gus Cannon Clay Richard Belton Richard Big Joe Turner (clip played) Harry Houdini Kinky Freidman Bihari Brothers Jimmy Nelson Bing Crosby Gus Edwards Jimmy Valentine William Sydney Porter O. Henry Wynona Judd Louis Jordan Dick Haymes The Pied Pipers The Yokels Fred Allen Clive and Naomi (clip of Open the Door, Richard) Count Basie Eric Clapton Buddy Guy John Hammond Jr. Derek Trucks Band Junior Wells The Band Big Bill Broonzy Egyptians Sampson John the Baptist King Tut Francis Scott Key Kathleen Key Buster Keaton Tirzah Ellen Key (And of course I would be remiss if I did not mention) Alisha Keyes Carlos Santana Sri Chinmoy “difficult to pronounce poet” Don Ellis Sy Oliver Clarence Williams Gordo Pop Staples Porter Wagoner St. Peter Jesus Walt Whitman“safecracker of the soul”
Places
The Delta Louisiana Mississippi Georgia Arkansas Mexico City Santiago, Chile Jamaica Dallas, TX Louisiana Detroit
Record Labels
Trumpet Chess Swallow Records King Records Apollo Records Victor OK Records Vee-Jay Records
Books, Stories, Movies, and Other Entertainment
Webster’s Dictionary King Biscuit Radio show The Skeleton Key The Secret Life of Houdini A Retrieved Reformation Vaudeville The Chitlin’ Circuit Borat The Bible Ghostbusters (clip) Ben Hur Foghorn Leghorn (clip)
Poems
The Lock and The Key (Sri Chinmoy) The Imprisoned Soul (W.Whitman)
Other Songs
Johnny B. Goode Star Spangled Banner
Guests
Larry Ratso Sloman Amy Sedaris Luke Wilson
Types of locks
Cylinder locks Pin tumbler locks Combination locks Permutation locks Electronic locks Ignition locks Mortise locks Padlocks Bicycle locks Child safety locks Magnetic locks Warden locks Key card locks Bagels and Lox (in the northeastern states) Dreadlocks “Sometimes we tell you who wrote the song, what kind of music it is, who else recorded it, but you know sometimes we don’t get it right. I mean it’s important to remember this isn’t a classroom here; it’s music of the field, the pool hall, the back alley crap game, the barroom and the bedroom. We don’t want to make it dusty and academic. It’s full of sweat and blood, it’s like life itself. If every once in a while we get a name wrong, or we tell you it’s on the wrong label, it’s not gonna kill anybody…just listen to the music.”
It’s night time in the big city
A hotdog vendor drains water from his cart
There’s a low cloud cover.
“We’ll be talking about love letters, pen pals, going postal, ransom notes, letters to dear John, and Dear Abbey, Miss Lonelyhearts…we’ll be returning things to sender, and we’ll be telling you that your check’s in the mail.”
The Singers and The Songs
John Worthan – I Wrote You A Letter (background)
The Marvellettes – Please Mr. Postman“You know, when we come up with these themes, we try to stay away from the obvious choices. But occasionally there are some that you just have to play, like this one.”
Jimmy Ricks & The Ravens– Write Me a Letter“You got to wonder, why don’t piano players play like that any more?!”
Alex Chilton & The Box Tops – The Letter“the 2nd shortest single to reach #1”
Tiny Bradshaw & His Orchestra – Mailman’s Sack
R. B. Greaves – Take a Letter, Maria
Earl Robinson – Mail Myself to You
Vernon Green & The Medallions – The Letter
Memphis Slim – A Letter Home“Our next artist joined the high tone label, where he first recorded this song; but we’re gonna play the version of 1949 that he recorded for king. I’ve always been partial to the band he had around that time…I’m sure all you jazz fans recognized that after Slim sings ‘Things ain’t like they used to be’ the saxophone players play the riff from the Duke Ellington song of the same name.”
Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky – A Dear John Letter
Eddy Arnold – That’s All She Wrote (clip)
Fats Waller – I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter“He took up the piano at age six and also played the Hammond organ and the pipe organ, which he called the God Box. He was a great singer as well as a piano player.”
Gene Terry & The Downbeats – No Mail Today“He grew up listening to his father and grandfather performing Cajun songs, but when he formed his first band, the Cool Cats, in the mid 50’s he was doing straight ahead country and western songs. But the rock and roll bug bit him and he started playing louder and faster.”
Jo-El Sonnier – Tear Stained Letter
Jim & Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys – Air Mail Special On The Fly“The longest active professional brother duet in country music history…55 years.”
The Velvetones – The Glory of Love
Sister Wynonna Carr – A Letter to Heaven
Other People and Players
Samuel Johnson Benjamin Franklin William H. Russell Wild Bill Hickock Buffalo Bill Cody Chips Moman Dan Penn Big Star REM The Replacements Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs Montgomery Ward (the guy) Tony Cohen Henry Box Brown Sam Cooke The Mynah Birds Rick James Neil Young Woody Guthrie Joe Hill John Cryer Duke Ellington Willie Dixon The Melody Ranch Girls Janis Joplin Gene Terry & His Kool Kats Doug Sahm Richard Thompson Cajun French Music Association Dr. Seuss Rudyard Kipling John Kennedy Toole Tootsie Williams
Places
St. Joe to Sacramento (1st pony express route) Chicago Hollywood Japan Paris Pauls Valley, OK Harlem Lafayette, LA Port Arthur, TX San Francisco New York Carfax, VA Cleveland, OH
Record Labels
National Motown Duotone Records Hightone Label King Goldband Records Capital Records Specialty Record Label
Other Songs
Stay Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
Movies and TV
The Andy Griffith Show (clip) The Great Man’s Whiskers The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Pompatus of Love
Books
The Diary of Anne Frank A Confederacy of Dunces
Guests
Marianne Faithful Deke Dickerson Billy Vera
Other Songs and Albums
A Tribute To Woody Guthrie The Joker (clip) Postage Due (clip)
Presidents
It’s night time in the Big City
The serve is down
The parakeet is restless
“You know what happens every president’s day, stores have big sales. They gotta clear their shelves and we’re gonna do the same thing. We’re gonna go through the TTRH supply closet and pull up some of the old stock and songs we didn’t have time for in our other shows while we celebrate all of the years presidents.”
The Singers and The Songs
Charlie Poole – White House Blues“You know a lot of early blues and folk songs have lyrics that are passed around from performer to performer. Each one putting their own spin on it, with the lyrics kinda floating from person to person.Johnny Taylor – Hello Sundown
Ruth Brown – Hello Little Boy “singing with a whole lot of enthusiasm. Nowadays you hear all these singers that are too cool for school. No such problem with Miss Rhythm. She was a fellow disc jockey hosting Public Radio’s “Harlem Hit Parade”. I always enjoy playing a fellow Disc Jockey. ”
They Might Be Giants – James K Polk“They Might be Giants might sound like a odd name for a band, but it was actually taken from a film starring George C Scott called The Hustler.”
Tony Joe White – Polk Salad Annie “Doesn’t have anything to do really with James K Polk, but it was a good excuse to play it.”
Kelly Harrell – Charles Giteau
Percy Mayfield – I Don’t Want to Be President
Wynonie Harris – I Feel That Old Age Coming On“We’ve played a Wynonie Harris a few time in the past, but sometimes I think we should be playing him every show.”
Pete Seeger – Lincoln and Liberty “A song about our tallest president”
JB Lenoir – Livin’ In The White House
Nina Simone – Don’t Smoke In Bed
Attila – Roosevelt In Trinidad “He wasn’t just a calypsonian, he was a politician!”
The Soul Stirrers – Why I Like Roosevelt
Tommy Edwards – It’s All In The Game “The only hit I know written by a vice president, though I hear Dick Cheney is working on a Folk Rock record.” “It’s president’s day here at TTRH as you know, that’s when we pass the savings along to you, the listener.”
Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers – Walkin’
Jackie DeShannon – When You Walk In The Room
Frank Sinatra – High Hopes “Frank always liked powerful men…He performed at fundraisers. Is that the kind you shave with? That’s a fun razor. This was a fundraiser, you have to pronounce the “d“. Anyway Sinatra went back and forth between day-time democrat supporting Kennedy and a nighttime full of rat pack, booze, broads and crime.”
Clover – Mr Moon “We’re emptying out our closets in honor of President’s day.”
Country Joe & The Fish – Super bird“Here’s a group that took their name from Mao Tse Tung and Stalin. No wonder they never had a hit.”
James Brown – Funky President
Billie Holiday – Gloomy Sunday “the Suicide song”
Phil Ochs – That Was The President
Buddy & Ella Johnson – Go Upside Your Head “I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of that fist.” “While we’re talking about presidents, let talk presidents everybody loves. Those’d be dead presidents. The ones that jingle in your pocket or you carry folded up in your wallet.”
Little Walter – Dead Presidents
Roy C & The Honeydrippers – Impeach The President
Hank Penny – Politics
Rod & The MSR Singers – Richard Nixon
Gene Marshall – Jimmy Carter Says Yes
Randy Newman – Have Pity On The Working Man
Other People
William Jennings Brand Leon Czolgosz Charles Giteau Alexander Graham Bell Robert Todd Lincoln John Wilkes Boothe Jackie Kennedy Elizabeth Shoumatoff Arthur Pretty Man Peter Wolfe“he’s surprisingly well-read” Alvin Barkley “He was the oldest person ever to serve…but that’s not what I like most about him. What I like most about Alvin Barkley is that he was 71 years old when he married his 36 year old girlfriend. I understand they gave birth to a son named Charles. I don’t know if it’s the basketball player, but it’s not that common a name.”Sam Giancana Bobby Kennedy Albert B Fall (Fall guy)
Other singers, albums, music folks and songs
Blind Willie McTell “Delia” The Melody Kings Sam Cooke The Soul Stirrers William Bell Booker T Jones Little Johnny Taylor “Disco Lady” (First single to ever go Platinum) Ruth Brown Frank Sinatra Charles Gates Dawes “Melody in A Minor” Carl Sigmund Van Morrison Jimmie Page Randy Newman Jack Nietzsche The Searchers Huey Lewis Nick Lowe Elvis “Milk Cow Blues” Seress Rezo and Lazlo Szabo I Ain’t Marching Anymore Muddy Waters The Genies “Who’s that Knocking?” “Shotgun Wedding” Ice Cube NWA Big Daddy Cane De La Sol EPMD Sid Nathan Ahmet ErtegünPresidents
Chester A Arthur (made Washington’s birthday a holiday in 1885) Washington Lincoln Harrison Polk Fillmore Nixon FDR McKinley (known as “The idol of Ohio” who put this country on the road to world power.) Rutherford B Hayes Teddy Roosevelt (whose induction led the way to “xenophobia and paranoia” due to McKinley‘s assassination being thought to be a conspiracy.) James Garfield (who succumb to Death By Doctors) Taylor Harding Kennedy Carter Franklin Roosevelt Coolidge Grant Tyler Johnson ClintonPlaces
Monticello Trinidad China Buffalo Washington New Jersey Ford Theatre Monticello, MS Urbana, IL Chicago Lincoln, NB Germany England Hungary OhioGuests
Jack White Richard Lewis John C Reilly Penn GilletteRecord Labels
Sar Stax Columbia Atlantic Job AladdinRequirements to be President
Native Born US Citizen 35 Years of Age Must Live in US for at least 14 YearsEntertainment
Give a Buck: 1956 Non-Partisan “Register, Inform Yourself, and Vote”Program American Idol“Imagine if American Idol was on the radio instead of on TV, we’d have a very different set of winners.” Nixon Speech denying nomination “I wanna remind you, while we’re talking about all things presidential, that this is election year. Get out and vote. Go make a difference before they change the rules and just appoint the president for us. It’s getting pretty close”.Doctors
It’s night in the big city A lawyer has troubled sleep The dogs can smell rain. “We’re gonna play doctor, we’re gonna doctor the books. We’re gonna talk about Dr. Strangelove, Dr. Who, Dr. Doom, Dr. Phil, Dr. Zhivago , Dr. Death, and Dr. Nick .”
The Singers and The Songs
The Rolling Stones – Dear Doctor“I love Mick’s hillbilly accent.”
Snooks Eaglin – Saint James Infirmary
Horner Clemons and His Texas Swingbillies – Operation Blues
Doc Pomus – Send For The Doctor “Just like Jimmy Nelson, he had his mind blown by hearing Big Joe Turner when he was 15…Nobody loved music like Doc; you could always see him at clubs in New York, right up front.”
Jackson Browne – Doctor My Eyes
Dinah Washington – Long John Blues
Lord Lebby – Dr. Kinsey Report“..recorded in the style that was known as rural mento. It was kinda the pre ska which was kinda the pre reggae. The mento band would usually feature banjo, acoustic guitar, percussion and something called the rumba box. Like calypso, this music was often taken from the newspaper and usually quite risqué. Here’s a song that meets both those criteria.”
Bill Nettles & His Dixie Blue Boys – Hadacol Boogie
B.B. King – Walking Dr. Bill“Ya know sometimes you see a record and the title just doesn’t make sense to ya. The first time I saw this 45 I thought the name was Walking Dr. Bill; I didn’t know who Dr. Bill was. But I listened to it and I realized that B.B. King is saying that he’s a walking Dr. bill, cause he’s messed up ever since his lady left him. Well now it makes perfect sense.”
Harmonica Frank Floyd – The Great Medical Menagerist
Huey Piano Smith & The Clowns – Would You Believe It, I Have a Cold
The White Stripes – Girl You Have No Faith In Medicine“That’s for all the folks who wonder what it might have sounded like if Robert Plant sang The Monster Mash – and I mean that in the best possible way, Jack!”
The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi – You Done What the Doctor Couldn’t Do
Other People and Players
Hippocrates Cicero The Pharos Louis Armstrong Sid Nathan Dr. Jonah Salk Jerome Felder Raoul Felder Jimmy Nelson Big Joe Turner Doc Holliday Wyatt Earp Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Linda Ronstadt The Birds Ben Franklin Dr. Alfred Kinsey“According to his (Dr. Kinsey’s) research, there were 6 different outlets to sexual orgasm. They were: masturbation, petting, nocturnal dreams, heterosexual coitus, homosexual behaviors, and bestiality. I’m batting about 40 percent.” Connie Boswell Carmen Miranda Roy Acuff Chico Marx Minnie Pearl Hank Williams Charles Alderton Dudley J. LeBlanc Dr. Charles Pepper Jerry Lee Lewis James Bryce Bobby Marchan Hermes Mercury Alchemy Christian Scientists The Velvet Underground Voltaire Joe Bussard Jules and Saul Bahari Roy Hall and his Blue Ridge Entertainers
Types of doctors
Podiatrist Urologist Dermatologist Cardiologist Hematologist Gastroenterologist Psychiatrist Pediatrician Obstetrician
Famous Doctors That Aren’t Doctors
Julius Erving / Dr. J Theodor Geisel / Dr. Seuss Doc Watson Dr. Dre Dr. John Doc Severinsen
Other Songs and Albums
Beggar’s Banquet The Unfortunate Rake The Cowboy’s Lament Streets of Laredo Save the Last Dance for Me
Places
Ancient Mesopotamia Ancient Egypt County Cork Ireland West Indies Sugar Land, Texas Los Angeles New York Tombstone, AZ OK Corral Heidelberg, Germany Los Angeles St. Mary, Jamaica Waco, TX Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store St. Louis Toccopola, MS Sun Recording Studios
Record Labels
Modern Records Colonial Records Flare Records Asylum Records Kalypso Mercury Label
Books
The Cat in the Hat Green Eggs and Ham The Kinsey Report Sexual Behavior in the Human Male Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
TV and Movies
The Tonight Show Star Trek Camel ad
Songs and Albums
Good For What Ails You “I got nothing against downloads and mp3s, but getting’ this cd without the pictures and liner notes – well, it’s not as good as having it on the big twelve inch record, but at least there’s a booklet there. And believe it or not folks, you can even read it in a power failure – as long as it’s daytime.” Heroin Sympathy for the Devil “You know we’ve gotten a bunch of emails, people saying they don’t like gospel music. Mostly they say they don’t like don’t like it cause of the subject matter; they don’t want to hear religious music. Let me just point out, you can just listen to it as music. The beautiful part of it is that the people singing believe it so much. Any time people sing about what they believe, it elevates it. You don’t have to be a junkie to enjoy the Velvet Underground song, ‘Heroin.’ You don’t have to have horns and a pitchfork to enjoy ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ but it does help. The thing is it’s all music, and when the people believe what they’re singing, it’s just better.”
Guests
John Cusack Tom Waits
Famous patented medicines
Stillman’s Freckle Cream Excelsior Skin Food Dr. Bunker’s Egyptian Oil Dr. Lindley’s Epilepsy Remedy Tuberculozene: the new remedy for consumption Todd’s Teething cordial The Rattlesnake Oil King’s Liniment for Rheumatism “Theme Time Radio Hour, where music meets medicine.”
Danger
It’s night time in the big city
That car’s still outside
The first ray of sunlight peeks over the Jaquet mountains
Jack head mountains
“I don’t mean to be an alarmist but today’s show is dedicated to telling you to be careful. We’re gonna sound the klaxon, put up the yellow perimeter tape, don our hazmat suites, and ride like Paul Revere as we shout ‘Danger’s afoot!’ So grab your gas masks, keep your eye on the speedometer, take your Cipro, and stay at a heightened state of awareness.”
The Singers and the Songs
The Sunshine Boys – Danger Zone
Esther Phillips – Better Beware“Here’s a track which is a great snapshot. It’s from 1951. R & B was just beginning to turn into rock and roll, the bee bop players were still playing in the clubs, and this record has all of it.”
Michigan & Smiley – Eyes of Danger
Bob Dorough – You’re the Dangerous Type
John Brim – Be Careful What You Say and Do
Doye O’Dell – Diesel Smoke (Dangerous Curves)
Dave Edmunds – Crawling From the Wreckage
Eddie Constantine – Hey Mr. Caution
Irving Caesar – Ice Skating is Nice Skating (partial)
Arctic Monkeys – D is for Dangerous
First Choice – Armed and Extremely Dangerous
Cousin Keith Loyd – Dangerous Crossing
Mercy Dee Walton – Danger Zone
Charles Oldfather – Shake Hands With Danger
Other People and Players
Eddie Wallace John Tennessee Smith A.L. ‘Smitty’ Smith Ace Richmond The Red River Rangers Neil Simon The Light Crust Dough Boys The Sons of the Pioneers Pete Lewis Little Esther Johnny Otis Kenny Rogers Dinah Washington Coxsone Dodd Groucho Marx (clip) Charlie Parker Sugar Ray Robinson Victor Lustig Al Capone Thomas Jefferson Grace Brim Van Halen Speedy West Doc Snyder’s Texas Cowboys Tex Ritter Ronald Reagan James Garner Roy Rogers Love Sculpture Smiley Lewis Graham Parker Edward J. Claghorn Humphrey Bogart Lemmy Caution Jean Luc Godard Fiorello LaGuardia“who was named after the airport” Renee Dubois Daniel Defoe Robinson Caruso Charlie Sheen The Ebonettes Harold Lloyd Chris Strachwitz Herk Harvey William Shakespeare “The path is smooth that leadeth on to danger.”Places
Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Cherry Hill, AZ Vienna Cardiff, Wales France England Philadelphia University of Kansas Copenhagen, DenmarkOther Songs and Albums
Lead Me to that Rock He’ll Understand and Say Well Done Please Release Me What A Difference a Day Makes Yardbird Suite Ice Cream Man I Hear You Knockin’ Repeat When Necessary Swanee Tea for Two Is It True What They Say About Dixie? Just a Gigolo Animal Crackers In My SoupMovies, Plays, other Entertainment
The Sunshine Boys French Vicks Vaporub Commercial Nick Danger from Firesign Theater – clip Excellent Chances: 1953 PSA with Groucho Marx (clip) Schoolhouse Rock Alphaville Platoon Grandma’s Boy Safety Last! Why Worry? The Kid Brother Welcome Danger Carnival of Souls Venus and AdonisRecord Labels
Bethlehem Records Aladdin Arhoolie Records Imperial RecordsGuest
John C. ReillyBob’s A – Z List of Dangers “They (Arctic Monkeys) took care of D; I wanna help them out with the other 25 letters of the alphabet. Personally I think any one of these would be a good song title.”
A is for Acid B is for Bomb C is for Cyanide E is for Electrocution F is for Fence – Electrified G is for Guillotine H is for Heroin I is for Invasion Forces J is for Jagged Edges K is for Kicking Mules L is for Lightening M is for Murder N is for Napalm O is for Organized Crime P is for Pythons Q is for Quicksand R is for Rustlers S is for Strychnine T is for TNT U is for Unabomber V is for Vixens W is for War X is for X-Rays Y is for Yellow Fever Z is for Zeppelins – like the HindenburgBirds “Look up in the sky, it’s a bird. Most likely it’s a bird…you might want to gather up some twigs, some little bits of yarn, almost any kind of material that you might find, build yourself a little nest, settle in for the next hour…We’ll talk about bird brains, eagle eyes, the bluebird of happiness, we’ll play a little chicken, we’ll find something to crow about, and maybe even flip you the bird.”
The Singers and the Songs
Fats Domino – The Rooster Song
Merrill Moore – Cooing To The Wrong Pigeon “It’s good to hear him step up to the microphone and poundin’ those 88’s”
Buffalo Springfield – Bluebird
Mississippi John Hurt – Chicken
Clarence Ashley – The Coo Coo Bird
Leonard Cohen – Bird On A Wire
Al Jolson – When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob Bobbin’ Along
Rudy Green And His Orchestra – Buzzard Pie
Mel Blanc – Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band – Ice Cream for Crow “Here’s a song that goes as straight as the crow flies”
Roy Acuff & His Crazy Tennesseans – Great Speckled Bird“…Four songs, one melody. What’s all the noise about – I’ll let you listen. Maybe you’ll write some new words to it and it’ll climb to the top of the charts. It worked before, maybe it’ll work again.”
Tony Allen & The Champs – Night Owl
The Blues Busters – Wings of a Dove
The Five Du-Tones – Shake A Tail Feather
Other people and players
Alfred Hitchcock (clip) Frank Perdue Calvin Coolidge Mrs. Coolidge Slim Gaillard (clip) Johnny Cash Farron Young Wanda Jackson Caesar Napoleon The Rothschild Banking Dynasty Paul Julius Reuter “It pays to keep pigeons” The Beatles Maurice Maeterlinck Jacques Duval Red Foxx (clip) Air Supply Percy Diaconus William Faulkner Warner Bros Estelle Rosenbaum Porky Pig Bugs Bunny Barney Rubble Yosemite Sam Sylvester the Cat Billy Mays Frank Sinatra Warren Foster Mike Maltese Franz Liszt Don Van Vliet Heckyl and Jeckyl (clip) The Carter Family Roy Acuff William Warren Hank Thompson Kitty Wells Edward Hopper Lloyd Campbell Phillip James
Places
Egypt Rome Gaul England The Battle of Waterloo The Black Forest Montreal Korea Glendale, CA Texas Jamaica
Other Songs and Albums
Blackbird Serenade to a Cuckoo Songs from a Room Hungarian Rhapsody #2 I’m Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes The Wild Side of Life Honky Tonk Angels
Books, Art, Movies, TV, and Other Entertainment
The Blue Bird Cobwebs & Nuts The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 12, Verse 9 Nighthawks at the Diner The Birds The Producers (clip)
Record Labels
Capital Specialty Records
Guests
Billy Vera “How bout next week, we postpone the show we were going to do and we just play more bird songs? ‘Cause I ain’t even touched the dance crazes yet. You got The Funky Chicken, The Drunken Pelican, The Spastic Penguin, The Tufted Puffin… those are just the ones I can do. In the meantime, you go ahead and dance around your house, or as the Five Du-Tones put it, shake a tail feather. We’ll see you next week. Don’t stray to far from the nest.”
More Birds
It’s nighttime in the Big City
Freshly fallen snow turns gray in the gutter
The engineer won’t stop coughing
“It’s time once again for more bird songs here on TTRH. We’ve gotten a lot of response to last weeks show. A lot of people have written in with their favorite bird songs. People are asking me questions about birds. I’m no exactly an expert, but I’ll try and help as much as I can.”
The Singers and The Songs
Howlin’ Wolf – The Red Rooster“ A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I rooster in the hand…well, never mind.”
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Little Wing “We’re flying high and we know no borders. We travel the world, slave to no boundaries.”
Miles Davis – Bye Bye Blackbird
Charlie & His Orchestra – Bye Bye Blackbird
Anita O’Day – Skylark
Johnny Taylor – Little Bluebird
The Light Crust Doughboys – Listen To The Mockingbird
Inez & Charlie Foxx – Mockingbird
Ersel Hickey – Bluebirds Over The Mountain
Bobby Pauneto – Why Is Woody Sad?
Big Joe Turner – The Chicken And The Hawk
The Rivingtons – The Bird’s The Word
The Trashmen – Surfin’ Bird
Eddie Floyd – Big Bird
Charlie Parker – Bird Gets The Worm
(Johnny Cash Reading Clip)-2217 end of tack
The Stanley Brothers – White Dove
Prince – When Doves Cry
Other Singers, musicians and Songs
Johnny Jones Hubert Sumlin Willie Dixon Sam Lay The Rolling Stones“I got a special spot for the Stone for standing up for the music that inspired them.” Axis: Bold As Love Band of Gypsys Nina Simone Judy Garland Liza Minnelli The Ink Spots Everly Bros. Hoagie Carmichael Johnny Mercer Bix Beiderbecke “One for My Baby, One for the Road” “Mr. Bluebird” Bob Wills Vincent Brown The Aladdin Lanties Pappy O’Daniel Phil Everly Rodger McQuinn The Emanons The Lamplighters The Tenderfoots The Rebels The 4 after 5 Booker T Otis Redding Louie Armstrong Duke Ellington
Other people
Hitler Joseph Goebbels Roosevelt Churchill Judy Garland Lyndon Johnson Chickie Evans Gene LaVerne Charles Darwin Chip Hanson Caroll Spinney Nietzsche Robert William Service William Blake
Places
Germany Texas Brighton, NY Rochester, NY Buffalo, NY The Studio of The Stars KingFisher, OK Cincinnati Minnesota London Salt Lake City
Entertainment/Lit
Ghost Dog The Birds Atticus Finch Boo Radley
Record Labels
Atlantic Stax
Birds
B&W Warbler Bee Hummingbird (smallest wing span) Duck Goose Scissortail FlyCatcher Mockingbird Baltimore Oriel Bluebird Woodpeckers Passenger Pigeon Black Neck Stilt Big Bird
Guests
Richard Lewis Tom Waits “I’m tempted to do a third show about birds”
Why Do Birds Sing? by Robert William Service Let poets piece prismatic words, Give me the jewelled joy of birds! What ecstasy moves them to sing?
Is it the lyric glee of Spring, The dewy rapture of the rose? Is it the worship born in those Who are of Nature’s self a part, The adoration of the heart?
Is it the mating mood in them That makes each crystal note a gem? Oh mocking bird and nightingale, Oh mavis, lark and robin – hail! Tell me what perfect passion glows In your inspired arpeggios?
A thrush is thrilling as I write Its obligato of delight; And in its fervour, as in mine, I fathom tenderness divine, And pity those of earthy ear Who cannot hear . . . who cannot hear.
Let poets pattern pretty words: For lovely largesse – bless you, Birds!
Joe
It’s night time in the big city A man’s wife confronts his mistress A firefly hovers near the window
Some Joes
Joe Average Joe Namath Little Joe From Kokomo Bazooka Joe Joe the Bartender Cotton Eyed Joe Mean Joe Green Joe Strummer Cup a Joe
The Singers and The Songs
Foy Welling & The Riders of The Purple Sage – Ragtime Cowboy Joe
Andre Toussaint – Hold ‘Em Joe
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys – Cotton-Eyed Joe“It started out as a folk blues song, but it became a country bluegrass standard, and there was even a techno dance version recorded in the ‘90’s…the 1990’s.”
Hank Williams Sr. – No, No Joe
The Dixieaires – Joe Louis is a Fightin’ Man“One of those groups that went back and forth between gospel and rhythm and blues.”
Joan Baez – Joe Hill “The very talented and ever generous”
The Georgia Crackers – Diamond Joe “No matter how you slice it, that’s rock and roll.”
Bo Diddley – Ride On Josephine
Joe Bataan – Subway Joe
Jerry Lee Lewis – Old Black Joe“Jerry Lee had such a strong left hand that he didn’t need a base player. He could make anything swing.”
Blu Lu Parker – Where’s Joe
Cisco Houston – Diamond Joe
Van Morrison – I’m Tired Joey Boy
Other Songs and Albums
Take the “A” Train Happiness is a Thing Called Joe (clip) Oh, Susanna Get that communist, Joe Avalon Sunset
Other People and Players
Trinidadian Sam Manning Macbeth the Great Mary Jesus Jacob Tommy Duncan Joseph Cotton Orson Wells Vincent Minnelli Liza Minnelli Judy Garland Ethel Waters Rochester Anderson Lena Horne Duke Ellington Harold Arlen Yip Harburg Joseph Stalin Truman Churchill Memphis Minnie Joe Louis The Du Droppers The Cats and The Fiddle Max Schmeling Nazis IWW – Industrial Workers of the World Blind Willie McTell Joe Morgan Joe DiMaggio Shoeless Joe Jackson Swede Risberg Buck Weaver Happy Felsch Chick Gandil Eddie Cicotte Charles Comiskey The Yanks Marilyn Monroe Josephine, Empress of France Napoleon Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium Josephine Baker Josephine March Jo Stafford Joey Heatherton Joseph Heller Joe E. Lewis “I always wake up at the crack of ice.” Sophie Tucker Eddie Cantor Al Capone Machine Gun Jack McGurn Milton Burl Red Skelton Frank Sinatra Sam Phillips Jack Clement Roland James J.M. Van Eaton Stephen Foster Henry Kleber Morrison Foster Charles Shiras Billie Holliday Woody Guthrie Joseph McCarthy – clip Sisyphus
Places
New York’s Town Hall University of Wyoming Petersburg, VA Broadway Hollywood USSR Germany Las Vegas Arlington National Cemetery Sweden Stockholm Salt Lake City Georgia Academy for the Blind California Savanna, GA France Coxsackie State Prison The Green Mill Gardens Chicago Rendezvous Café Texas Nashville Sun Studios Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame Grand Chute, WI Wisconsin Wheeling, WV Asbury Park, NJ
Movies, Books and Other Entertainment
Calypso At Midnight The Bible Citizen Kane The Magnificent Ambersons Journey Into Fear Shadow of a Doubt Gaslight Duel in the Sun The Third Man Niagara Under Capricorn Touch of Evil Vanity Will Get You Somewhere Cabin in the Sky Louis-Schmeling Fight radio clip Meet King Joe (1949) G.I. Joe commercial Little Women The Joker Is Wild Louisiana Hayride The Cradle Will Rock The Gil Houston Show
Guests
Mick Jones Record Labels Apollo
Heat
Singers and Songs
Other People and Players
The Places
Record Labels Columbia Sun Records Atlantic Records Chess Records
Other Songs and Albums
The Guests
Kinds of Heat and Sayings Involving Heat and Fire
Beer
Types of Peppers
Cold
James Brown – Cold Sweat (in background over intro)
It’s night in the big city
A man falls asleep far from home
The last piece of pie is gone.
“This is Theme Time Radio Hour, and there’s a chill in the air. We’re cold as ice. We’re looking at cold cuts, cold feet, we’re giving you the cold shoulder but we’re not a cold fish. We’re out cold. We’re talking about cold snaps and we’re coming in from the cold.”
The Singers and The Songs
T-Bone Walker – Cold, Cold Feeling“Here’s the king of Texas blues guitar…got his nickname from his middle name which is Thibeaux. You won’t find that name on those little license plates that you can buy for your bicycle but I hear it was a pretty common name down in the Bayou.”
Porter Wagoner – The Cold Hard Facts of Life“A great example of how you can tell a complete short story in a little over two minutes.”
Ray Charles & Betty Carter – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
John Lennon – Cold Turkey
Lightnin’ Slim – Winter Time Blues“Where do you even begin with a record like that, there’s so much right with it! First of all, nobody’s in any hurry, you could just about drive a truck between the beats. You got a girl named Priscilla, barely 16 years old. Lightnin’ Slim employs the Socratic Method, starts asking himself questions half way through the song. Just the perfect record. Nobody makes records like that any more.”
Loretta Lynn – When the Tingle Becomes a Chill
Big Joe Turner – The Chill Is On
Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley – Chilly Winds (Lonesome Road Blues)“It was originally recorded back in the 20’s and many people recorded variations of it. Riley Puckett did it in 1924, Bill Monroe did a version of it. Woody Guthrie turned it around a little bit and got ‘Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.’”
Willie Walker – Warm to Cool to Cold
Charlie Feathers – Defrost Your Heart
The Charmer – Stone Cold Man“In the interests of equal time we’ll let other people discuss politics and we’ll just stick with the music.”
Roy Hogsed – So Cold, So Dead, So Soon“He’s one of those guys that you don’t know where to put his records. Are they country boogie? Are they early rockabilly? Are they country and western? That’s why I file everything alphabetically. I don’t separate it by style. That’s why you find Thelonius Monk right next to the Monkees.”
The Parliaments – I Can Feel the Ice Melting“George Clinton back when he still wanted to be Curtis Mayfield, before he went off in outer space. I like the outer space stuff too, but Curtis Mayfield, come on!”
Tom Waits – Cold Cold Ground