I can best describe this week's show, TRANSMUSIC AIRWAVES (Episode #365), as a 'sound collage' dedicated to a truly great, yet under appreciated music producer, HAL WILLNER. Hal succumbed to complications from the corona virus last week in New York City, and in a display of bitter irony, his passing occurred on the same date as legendary folk songwriter, JOHN PRINE. Both men were giants in their own right, and although Hal might not have been as well known, his influence throughout the music world was just as essential.
One can better understand the magnitude of this loss by listening to his work and his efforts as a facilitator to bring artists from musically diverse backgrounds together to produce an array of unique tribute albums over the last forty years. THELONIOUS MONK, CHARLIE MINGUS, KURT WEILL, and vintage DISNEY film music have all been the subjects of his efforts.
Throughout today's program I'll touch upon those and other projects, beginning with CHRIS SPEDDING and PETER FRAMPTON'S take on the Monk melody, 'Work,' during the first set, to an entire segment that follows and features DR. JOHN and DAVID THOMAS doing pirate ballads from two separate releases, as well as ELVIS COSTELLO and HUBERT SELBY JR. (playing Mingus), SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA, NATALIE MERCHANT, THE ROCHES, and MICHAEL STIPE (interpreting Disney tunes), and Hal with RALPH CARNEY, exploring trip hoppy themes from Hal's 'Whoops, I'm An Indian' album.
There will also be music heard from albums that Hal produced by LAURIE ANDERSON and WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, and his effort to restore cartoon musical masterpieces by THE CARL STALLINGS PROJECT.
Surrounding all of this will be other sets of music featuring a gaggle of diverse musical artists ranging from SHAWN PHILLIPS, HOLGAR CZUKAY (with U-SHE), JOHN PRINE, SUFJAN STEVENS (and LOWELL BRAMS), OSIBISA, TALKING HEADS, CHEIKH LO, and THE TUBES (channeling CAPTAIN BEEFHEART).
Today's playlist:
SET #1
GARY LUCAS 'Gloworm' - Gods And Monsters 3:33
XTC 'Limelight' - Drums And Wires 2:26
CHRIS SPEDDING 'Work(w/ PETER FRAMPTON & MARCUS MILLER)' - That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute To Thelonious Monk 3:28
LOU REED 'Leave Her Johnny' - Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chantey's 5:30
DARKROOM 'Semi-Gorgeous Actress' - Burning Shed Sampler One 3:29
THE MEKONS 'Ugly Bethesda' - Ancient & Modern 1911-2011 3:56
SHAWN PHILLIPS 'Early Morning Hours' - Rumpelstiltskin's Resolve 5:23
CHEIKH LO 'Bamba Sunu Goorgui' - Ne La Thaiss 4:53
SET #2
SWOLLEN MONKEYS 'Hose-Anna' - After The Birth Of Cool 4:11
DR. JOHN 'In Lure Of The Tropics' - Son Of Rogue's Gallery: Pirate
Ballads, Sea Songs, &Chantey's 5:01
DAVID THOMAS 'What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor' - Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chantey's 3:44
ELVIS COSTELLO 'Weird Nightmare' - Weird Nightmare: Meditations On Mingus 3:02
SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA 'Technicolor Pacyderms/Pink Elephants On Parade' - Stay Awake: Various Interpretations Of Music From Vintage Disney Films 4:58
HUBERT SELBY JR. (W/BILL FRISELL) 'The Shoes of The Fisherman Are Some Jive Ass Slippers' - Weird Nightmare: Meditations On Mingus 2:37
NATALIE MERCHANT, THE ROCHES, MICHAEL STIPE & MARK BINGHAM 'Little April Showers' - Stay Awake: Various Interpretations Of Music From Vintage Disney Films 3:33
WAS (NOT WAS) 'Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are' - That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute To Thelonious Monk 1:53
HAL WILLNER (w/ Ralph Carney) 'What A Friend We Have In Jesus Revisited' - Whoops, I'm An Indian 4:33
SET #3
SUFJAN STEVENS & LOWELL BRAMS 'Agathon`' - Aporia** 3:03
THE PLASTIC CLOUD 'Bridge Under The Sky' - The Plastic Cloud 4:36
PIXIES 'Daniel Boone' - Beneath The Eyrie** 4:52
THEE OH SEES 'Holy Smoke' - Mutilator Defeated At Last 2:46
BILL FRISELL 'Fifty Years' - Harmony** 4:06
CHRISTONE KINGFISH INGRAM 'Hard Times' - Kingfish** 3:10
LARRY SPARKS 'Things Will Get Better' - New Moon Over My Shoulder** 2:49
JOHN PRINE 'Please Don't Bury Me' - Sweet Revenge 2:49
SET #4
LAURIE ANDERSON 'Statue Of Liberty' - Life On A String 4:24
VASEN 'En Timme I Ungern' - Whirled 5:11
THE RAINCOATS 'Baby Song' - Odyshape 4:57
BUZZY LINHART 'Tornado' - Buzzy (Black Album) 2:31
LOTHAR & THE HAND PEOPLE 'You Won't Be Lonely' - This Is It, Machines 2:35
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS 'The Last Words Of Dutch Schultz' - Spare Ass Annie & Other Tales 2:22
HAL WILLNER 'Hal Sings The Fatal Glass Of Beer While Ralph Honks (featuring Ralph Carney)' - Whoops, I'm An Indian 3:20
BRAVE COMBO 'Tubular Jugs' - Humansville 3:02
SET #5
BROADCAST 'Poem Of Dead Song' - The Future Crayon 2:30
THE TUBES 'My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains' - Now 5:36
BUTTHOLE SURFERS 'The Wooden Song' - Independent Worm Saloon 3:51
15-60-75 (THE NUMBERS BAND) Wolf Endure: Outliers On Water Street** 6:22
OSIBISA 'Take Your Trouble' - Happy Children 4:05
TALKING HEADS 'The Democratic Circus' - Naked 5:04
BEGUEN BAND 'Yo Me Moera' - Congo Revolution: Revolutionary And Evolutionary Sounds From Two Congos 1955- 62** 2:51
SET #6
BOBBY MCFERRIN & BOB DOROUGH 'Friday The Thirteenth' - That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute To Thelonious Monk 2:47
TOM WAITS 'What Keeps Mankind Alive' - Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill 2:00
THE CARL STALLINGS PROJECT 'Drunken La Cucaracha' - The Carl Stallings Project Vol. 2: More Music From Warner Brothers Cartoons 1929-1957 3:14
CALIFONE 'Carlton Says: Find It, It's Still There' - Echo Mine** 2:47
808 STATE '1313' - Transmission Suite** 4:01
HOLGAR CZUKAY & U-SHE 'Rosebud' - The New Millennium 6:09
HAL WILLNER 'Do You Hear Me? (No Pie) (w/Jack Webb)' - Whoops, I'm An Indian 4:02
** = New or recent acquisition
OST = Original Soundtrack
