Some Video Updates and a Few "Heads Up"

We start with a mention of the new videos on this page and also THE ALMOST DAILY ROOSTER and THE PLAYLISTS. Click on the right to visit these sites.

There are some artists who's work is timeless. Some for good reasons and others for the sad events they chronicle and just keep getting repeated---Phil Ochs is such an artist. I hasten to add that he also has "timeless" material for all the good reasons. Think of "Changes", "Flower Lady", and "The Highwayman".

On this page some footage garnered from You Tube that presents him with some very rare material the source of which I know not. Of special interest is the Swedish clip. Hopefully these rare and unheard or seen items are of interest to you.

An aside now about Phil Ochs vis a vis Bob Dylan. Without getting into their histories or their comparisons, suffice it to say that given the sad circumstances of Phil Ochs' short life we shall never know what he would have accomplished in the realm that Mr. Dylan dominates. The short years seem to show something that gives a hint.

Moving on to THE ALMOST DAILY ROOSTER you will find the entire Stephen Colbert routine at the Press Dinner of this past year. Truly a wonderful piece. If you heard any interviews with Stephen Colbert you will know that while there was not much laughter up front the audience in the rear was quite regaled with the work. Looking closely at the Pres. reaction you will find it also appreciative---until the end. The only criticism here is that the little film he put together about being press secretary was too long.

THE PLAYLISTS page. Itzhak Perlman continues with some wonderful music. Mike Burstyn will be with you for a short time more.

It is hoped that you will visit those other two sites for the videos and then, perhaps, for the content of the comments made therein---hey---big words. Impressed? Never step out of character---that is the "hint of the day".

Other blogs might be serious and a litany of serious commentary it is hoped that here there is that mix of the serious and the light hearted. If one has to describe it then it isn't working.

Program Notes: As the title implies time to mention some upcoming things on the various programs:

TRADITIONS: We have some interesting guests coming that will be mentioned at a later time --you know TBA. TBA--I guess that is like The Famous Many Others. We will, this week, continue our Steve Goodman feature and also, by request, once again hear the voice of Kate Wolf. The Country Music that was so popular in the '50s on some stations here will, again, be re-visited. It still is on WFDU. As we all know.

SUNDAY SIMCHA: Shortly we will be airing an interview that will spill over to TABLETALK with the authors of a book about Old Time Radio and the Jewish representation on it---from the Goldbergs to Father Coughlin.

As it is said---not in the good book--or any book I know of---"stay tuned"

A Suggestion

This is a really brief note to request a click on the right to The Almost Daily Rooster. Such a grand fellow---right up there with Brian of Family Guy. Today he has some insights for you idealists.

Since this page is really devoted to the programs and to artists that appear on them I refer you to that other spot. I do not think you will he disappointed. If you believe in idealism and you know a bit of Candide (Voltaire and Bernstein) you will appreciate the comments.

For program updates I can tell you that on

Sunday Simcha for 10/21 we will be having an interesting debut of a CD one of our listeners graciously sent over by Oscar Brand---that versatile fellow of many years who is so knowledgeable in so many genres.

Some Time Out From My Vast Nigerian Correspondence

Tearing myself away from the network of Nigerian business opportunities that seem to come to me so many times is hard to do. So many grand opportunities from so many important entrepreneurs from this hub of commerce but time to update some Program Notes.

First of all I was thinking about the very gracious and talented guest that was on TRADITIONS this past Sunday---Beppe Gambetta. Besides his talent and his lilting Neapolitan dialect his sense of humor blows me away---I still recall this exchange:

Q: Can you tell us what Flat Picking is?

A: (in that great dialect) Eh--could be looking for an apartment.



I would suggest you go the website for BODLES OPERA HOUSE to check the schedule and make some reservations to meet Beppe on October 14. The rest of their schedule is also of great interest:



October 12--RED MOLLY & HOPE MACHINE

October 13--SONiA and Disappear Fear

October 21--RICHIE HAVENS

and----

November 10-- MODERN MAN



A very special reminder---MODERN MAN in a FREE CONCERT at ORANGEBURG LIBRARY on Sunday December 16 at 2 PM It would be good to call the library soon since seating is limited and you surely want to make sure you have one---after all you have to have a seat to put your own seat on. The number is 845-359-2244.



The calls this past Sunday for requests for Steve Goodman encourage me to keep up this feature. Either comment here or e mail wfdutraditions@yahoo.com for any requests in that area.

As said last Sunday--in --as the expression goes--"the day" people (including this avid radio fan) would mail in postcards with requests. The postcards were 1 cent. They are more now but e mail is free----for now. Why not try that approach and let us revisit that land of yesteryear with request correspondence.

On your way to that land of yesteryear do say hello to The Lone Ranger and Tonto if you happen to bump into them. If you don't it is probably because The Shadow knows where you are---and what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Now I have to be excused to get back to some major financial dealings with Mr. Mjube and his late wife's estate that has to be disposed of by transferring her 10 cows, 5 sheep, and 10 million dollars to me.

Some Suggestions

Sort of an obscure start to get your attention. This will be brief.

A suggestion to click on the right side to the PLAYLISTS and also, while there, check out some new videos. Truly dynamic performances by some artists that have been on Sunday Simcha. On THE ALMOST DAILY ROOSTER you will find, besides a few comic videos, some comments on the perpetual election campaign.

For programming content, as always, stick with this page:

TRADITIONS: Beppe Gambetta joins me on October 7. Spook Handy later in the month.

Some old favorites that we have not heard in some time will be featured in the last hour of the program---and any requests you might have which you can post here or e mail wfdutraditions@yahoo.com If there is time we shall try to recreate a short period when there was Country music on the NJ airwaves with the likes of Don Larkin and Dave Miller. If not this week then in the near future.

A piece by Roy Zimmerman (founder of The Foremen) will be aired because it has a lot to say to us about the ""support our troops" stickers and decals we see everywhere.

SUNDAY SIMCHA: New material by The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band will be featured in the near future along with interviews with the founder of this brilliant group.

Requests and Comments

The request is to find if the videos that are added to this page and also The Almost Daily Rooster and The Playlists pages are of interest. If they are they will be continued to be added. If not, since it takes time, they can be eliminated. Right now Modern Man and Jack Elliot are on this page, Jewish material is on Playlists, and there are some real topical gems on The Almost Daily Rooster. You can leave a comment or send e mail if you have the address.

A brief update on something I do believe will be of great interest. Shortly a wonderful documentary by Jim Brown on Pete Seeger will be shown at the IFC theater in NYC. If you subscribe to IFC On Demand on your cable carrier you can view the film there. It should be there in the next few days or weeks. Keep checking. Brown is the documentary filmmaker responsible for the Weavers documentaries--among other things.

While this page is usually devoted to Folk Music and to the various programs your never humble correspondent hosts--SUNDAY SIMCHA and TABLETALKS in addition to TRADITIONS one has to ask when does something become part of the "folk canon". I had mentioned a while back a wonderful musical which had so much folk feeling at its heart---New Girl In Town (1955). This past week was the 50th anniversary of WEST SIDE STORY.

How the times have changed and how brilliantly Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins captured a dangerous era and brought it to us as a thing of beauty originally created by W. Shakespeare. While the film was wonderful it lacked the grit and the realism of the original stage version. Additionally, it was a time when language on stage and on screen was proscribed in its realism. Think of the "Officer Krupke" song. Imagine it today.

Another anniversary of a breakthrough bit of music that could enter the folk canon is HAIR which is now having its 4oth Anniversary presentation in Central Park at The Delacourte Theater (thanks always to Joe Papp).

A breakthrough musical that changed the face of musical theater for a time. It brought meaning in an abstract way to musical theater. It broke the taboo on nudity and left us, still, with songs you sang as you left the theater. Songs you sang as you did with earlier musicals but with a whole new beat.

Folk is what becomes a tradition in a culture. Both of the above pieces have done that. As have so many others--New Girl In Town (probably more than most), Fiddler on The Roof, South Pacific, and many more.Webber, presentations which are quickly followed on those heels by the Disney productions, are creating a mundane field of Amusement Park Presentations on a theater that once was blessed by the creativity of drama and music by masters with a concept of something more than the basis of a sit-c0m one can view at home.

It may well be that the best offerings are no longer on Broadway. They are in the theaters that are considered Off Bway--or Off Off Bway. Recently---the folk part---great presentations on the life of Hank Williams, A Shakespearean take on Twelfth Night by The Red Clay Ramblers, and for the Not Folk Part---A L Gurney plays, The Goldman Project (now playing), and many more.

Another thing which deserves its own paragraph is a brilliant work by Leonard Bernstein----MASS. Rarely revived, it incoroporates Jewish Liturgy, Folk Music, and Catholic Liturgy as it follows the complete order of The Mass. Any requests for that I will be happy to, somehow, incorporate into TABLETALK at some time. Any comments about it are cetainly welcome here or on e makl

I would urge you to click on the right side to The Almost Daily Rooster for some great videos of the ever topical Lewis Black and some nice videos of the guest on TRADITIONS last week---Sharon Katz and The Peace Train. In addition some thoughts on topics other than the radio programs.

Program Notes for Future Reference

TRADITIONS:

I am delighted to confirm that on September 23 Sharon Katz will be my guest prior to her appearances in the New Jersey area. We shall also be able to air some new tracks from her upcoming CD as well as pay tribute to one of her idols and mentors. Tune in for who that is.


One other thing ---an occasional new feature. The music of Steve Goodman. While I had hoped to do a whole tribute to him at the annual NERFA get to-gether (which I am not attending for various reasons) I thought it a good idea to present his music on TRADITIONS. It is hoped that his daughter will be my guest(on TRADITIONS in the near future)---as I had hoped that she, his manager, and some truly surprising guests might have been at NERFA.

If you have any Steve Goodman favorites please feel free to e mail them to wfdutraditions@yahoo.com and they shall be honored.

Now for another upcoming great talent---on October 5
BEPPE GAMBETTA. This world class guitarist and talent will be my guest on the program that day while he tours the good old USA.

Beppe is recognized as a leading talent in his field and, besides performing, teaches guitar to people who have the drive and desire to also become world class musicians

The program is honored by his presence.

SUNDAY SIMCHA: We feature Rabbi Jonathan Kligler--who, I add, had a wonderful article about himself and the congregation in the NY Times just prior to Rosh Hashonah---along with a postYom Kippur segment featuring Robin Helzner. A wonderful surprise by Joe Jencks is also presented. He is a singer/songwriter focusing on social issues and has a wonderful piece you shall hear--Tikun Olam.

TABLETALK: TBA. You know---To be announced. There are some wonderful authors that are going to be with us in October but I am not able, at this time, to divulge who they are. Suffice it to say---Mr. Greenspan is not one of them but you can still invest.