In today's episode, we’re going further up the musical family tree – into the funk.  Funk grew in the shade of jazz, soul, R&B, gospel and rock.  In time it’s going to give rise to other branches – for instance, disco, and hip-hop.  It will influence branches that have been growing for a while already, like rock, jazz, even classical music believe it or not.   Funk is growing in some difficult environments, like urban ghettoes.  It’s impacted by some heavy weather, like the Civil Rights movement, and the war in Vietnam.  There’s been a ton of cross-fertilization along the way.   Funk’s going to become another important branch in our tree.   Funk has a direct lineage out the blues and plantation communities, jazz, Pentecostal gospel music, soul and R& B.   In a lot of ways, funk is a proud, positive re-telling of the African American social story.  Heavy with improvisation, and syncopation – just like its musical grandparents are.  Like the blues, jazz, R&B and soul, funks driving rhythms were the hardpan roadways that carried its soulful vocals.  Likewise, funk sprang out of rock and roll which also grew out of the blues and soul.  Funk and rock are first cousins in music’s family tree.  And like soul, funk is steeped in emotion and feeling. In This Episode:James BrownThe MetersSly and the Family StoneStevie WonderGeorge Clinton/ Parliament-Funkadelic

In this second episode of our third season, we pick up the trail and continue our exploration of jazz rock - a journey we started in episode one.  In this episode, we'll take a close look at the amazing work done by three great bands in that genre; Steely Dan, Traffic, and Supertramp.  Great songs, and interesting artist interviews abound!  Here's what you can look forward to:INTERVIEWS WITHDonald FagenDave MatthewsJim CapaldiDave MasonSteve WinwoodRoger HodgsonJohn HelliwellFEATURED SONGSSteely Dan     My Old School     Deacon Blues     Bodhisatva     Reelin' in the Years     Aja     Cousn DupreeTraffic     Mr. Fantasy     John Barleycorn (Must Die)     Medicated Goo     The Low Spark of High Heeled BoysSupertramp     All Along the Watchtower     Surely     Your Poppa Don't Mind     Dreamer     School     Hide in Your Shell     Easy Does It     The Meaning     Fool's Overture     Breakfast in America     Goodbye Stranger     Don't Leave Me NowCURIOUSITIES     Tom Lehrer - World War Three Blues     Jay and the Americans - Capture the Moment     The Joint - Freak     Argosy - Mr. Boyd     Argosy - Imagine     

The first generation of jazz rock musicians had been heavily influenced by some of the pioneering jazz musicians who forged jazz fusion, beginning with Miles Davis.  Miles was the first of the great jazz artists to venture into the new, amplified and electronic sounds of 1960’s rock music, and in doing it he recruited a number of very young, incredibly talented, and mostly unknown musicians who became giants in their own right, As a number of jazz musicians embraced elements of rock music, rock’s audience re-discovered jazz.  Music is a living, breathing part of our culture, it is changeable in the hands of both listeners and players.  We take it up and use it as it gives us pleasure.  Just as jazz musicians were blending rock music into their art, rock musicians were equally influenced by jazz players, and they also added jazz elements into their own music.  This is the first of a two-part deep dive into the world of jazz rock.  In this episode, you'll see how some of rock's greatest musicians have been influenced by jazz.  We'll also spend some time on a deeper dive into a few of the great jazz rock bands of the past, including Blood Sweat and Tears, and Chicago.  In part two, we'll come back and explore the music of Steely Dan, Traffic and Supertramp.  I think you'll enjoy it!Music In this episode:Weather Report: Boogie Woogie WaltzThe Grateful Dead: Help On the WayJohn Coltrane: A Love SupremeDuke Ellington: Take the A TrainThe Modern Jazz Quartet: BluesologyDavid Bowie: Life On MarsKeith Richards: Blues JamNat King Cole Trio: Straighten Up and Fly RightOrnette Coleman: Jimi Hendrix: South Saturn DeltaJohn McLaughlin: DevotionCharlie Watts: All or Nothing at AllTim Ries: Miss YouGinger Baker's Air Force: Da Da ManMiles Davis: GuinnevereDavid Crosby: AmeliaBob Dylan: Like a Rolling StoneBlood Sweat and Tears: I Love You More than You'll Ever KnowBlood Sweat and Tears: God Bless the ChildThe Buckinghams: Kind of a DragChicago: Questions 67 and 68Chicago: Make Me SmileChicago: If You Leave Me NowChicago: It Better End SoonChicago: Alive AgainInterviews in This EpisodeAl KooperDavid CrosbyJames PankowDanny SerafineThis episode is dedicated to the memories of: Charlie WattsWayne ShorterDavid CrosbyThank you for all the beautiful music!

As jazz musicians started realizing that rock and electric bands were stealing their audiences, Miles Davis, who’s alternately been called most important musician in the history of jazz, the man who transformed jazz, and even the man who changed music itself, took the music in a new direction when he invented jazz fusion.  In fact, during his lifetime, Miles didn’t change music just once, he did it five times.  Fusion started happening in the late 1960s and early 1970s.   Like trad jazz, it uses acoustic instruments like trumpet, trombone, saxophone, piano, guitar, bass, and drums, but to all that, fusion also adds heavy use of synthesizers, electric piano, drum machines, and effects-saturated electric guitars. IN THIS EPISODE:Santana:  WelcomeInterview:  Teo Macero; Miles Davis' legendary record producer.The Free Spirits (featuring Larry Coryell) - Girl of the MountainGary Burton              Norwegian Wood              I Want YouSteve Marcus            Tomorrow Never KnowsInterview:  Larry Coryell talks about his early days in '60s New York CityMiles Davis             So What             Stuff             Tout de Suite             Mademoiselle Mabry             In a Silent WayInterview:  John McLaughlin talks about playing with Miles DavisInterview:  Teo MaceroJimi Hendrix             Little Miss LoverMiles Davis             John McLaughlin             Miles Runs the Voodoo Down             Time After TimeInterview:  Miles Davis talks about Prince

In today's podcast episode, we pick up our exploration of jazz fusion by looking at the amazing careers and music produced by a number of genius musicians who came out of Miles Davis' bands.  We'll visit with Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin and his band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorious and the band Weather Report, Chick Corea and his bands Return to Forever and the Elektrik Band.  The forces that Miles pioneered and set in motion continued to evolve in multiple directions. You'll discover in today's episode, and you'll be able to hear from the musicians themselves about what it was like to play in these bands and create this adventurous, beautiful new music!IN TODAY'S EPISODE:Interview;  Herbie Hancock from a lecture given at Harvard UniversityHerbie Hancock       Chameleon       Watermelon ManInterview:  John McLaughlin talks about what it was like to play with Miles Davis.Graham Bond Organisation:  Train TimeThe Mahavishnu Orchestra       Inner Mounting Flame       One Word       Eternity's Breath Pt. 1Weather Report       Birdland       Nubian Sundance       Tears       HerandnuInterview:  Jaco Pastorious talks about his collaboration with Joe ZawinulJaco Pastorious/ Weather Report       Teen TownInterview:  Pat MathenyInterview:  Chick Corea talks about joining Miles Davis' band.Return to Forever       Return to ForeverInterview:  Chick Corea talks about forming his band,  Return to Forever       SpainThe Elektrik Band:  RumbleSteely Dan:  Aja

First of all, Happy Independence Day everybody!  I'm so pleased to publish another episode of American Song on America's birthday!Back in America, ever since the plane crash in the winter of 1959 that ended the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, the Big Bopper, American rock and roll had been sort of losing steam.  By 1964, it very easily could have just petered out.   Certainly, the likes of Frankie Avalon, and post-army Elvis were not going anywhere exciting.  It was a new day, what was needed was music for a new generation.  The British Invasion shot a whole new attitude, excitement and energy right into the veins of American culture. Just like American culture changed England, the Brits changed American music.   You can see that play out in the competition between the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and the Beatles.  The English band's changed American culture, too.  Sex was prolific.   Drugs were everywhere.   On the Merv Griffin show,  Timothy Leary told his audience he'd used LSD 311 times and predicted a coming age when kids would be educated through the use of psychedelic drugs, unlocking their internal Smithsonian Institutes or Libraries of Congress. The British Invasion also caused a chain reaction all across America when local musicians formed new bands, for instance Roger McGuinn and David Crosby who formed the Byrds.  It was a powerful response to the excitement, new sounds, perspectives, and inspiration that bands like the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who injected back into our rock scene.All this, and lots more, in this month's episode of American Song!IN THIS MONTH'S EPISODE:The Who - My GenerationBob Dylan - 4th Time AroundThe Beatles - Norwegian WoodThe Beatles - You've Got to Hide Your Love AwayBob Dylan - Got to Serve SomeoneJohn Lennon - Serve YourselfThe Rolling Stones - Crackin' UpThe Beatles - RainThe Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be NiceThe Beatles - Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club BandThe Beach Boys - Good VibrationsBrian Wilson - Our Prayer/ GeeJohn Lennon - Promo for Tower RecordsElton John - Texan Love SongLed Zepellin - Whole Lotta LoveJohn Lennon - Cold TurkeyPaul McCartney - Interview 1967The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky With DiamondsThe Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years from HomeDr. Timothy Leary - Interview 1967Blind Faith - In the Presence of the LordJohn Lennon - GodJohn Lennon - Interview 1966The Byrds - Eight Miles HighThe Standells - Dirty WaterThe Monkees - The Last Train to ClarksvilleJimi Hendrix - Purple HazeBob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine ManPaul Revere and the Raiders - Indian ReservationThe Turtles - Happy TogetherThe Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in MagicSimon & Garfunkel - Mrs. RobinsonThe Young Rascals - Good Lovin'The Mama's and the Papa's - California DreamingTommy James and the Shondells - Hanky PankyThe Beatles - Revolution 9The Doors - The EndVedder/ Tierney/ Krieger/ Manzarek - Doors Induction to Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Velvet Underground - HeroinThe Strokes - Walk on the Wild SideSonic Youth - European SonU2 - Satellite of LoveREM - Femme FataleDavid Byrne - Candy SaysBowie/ Reed - Waiting for the ManQueen - God Save the Queen

With the big English interest in blues music, suddenly, America’s original bluesmen started hearing about the chance to reignite their careers with English, French and German audiences.  Unbelievably, they found themselves welcomed, even celebrated. American Bluesmen like Big Bill Broonzy, after living years in poverty, discovered they could actually have careers in Europe.   The Cunard Yanks, and the American Folk Blues Festival were the catalysts behind cultural and musical changes that revolutionized Britain in the years after World War 2.The impact on young English musicians was epic.  The bands and musical brilliance of the period has been an inspiration for several generations that followed.   You know the names: The Beatles,  the Rolling Stones, the Who, The Kinks and many more.  Now, hear the music, and learn the history!In this episode, you'll hear the stories, the music, and the artists who lived and created this formidable library of music that millions around the world are still listening to!Inspired by American music, sculpted, painted, and built by the English, the music is in many ways, still with us today.  Enjoy this second installment in the story of the British Invasion!

England was caught between two cultures: the old order and whatever came after it.  The rigid class distinctions between upper and middle classes were disappearing, and government reforms had a lot to do with it.  The Conservative Party with their slogan, “Set the People Free,” won the 1951 election, and popular culture began to replace stuffy, upper crust stuff like classical music, opera, theatre, and fine art with mass-market media like radio, movies, and television. The BBC believed they had a responsibility to the nation to uphold the pre-war idea of ‘respectability’, or, at least, not broadcast music that could threaten the morality of England’s youth.  It was a lot like the U.S. stations refused to broadcast black music in the U.S. in the ‘20s and ‘30s.  More than that, they believed they claimed a responsibility to inform and educate the public in what it perceived as ‘good music’.  English kids were being seduced by the rhythm and forward thrust of American entertainment with movies like Blackboard Jungle (where Rock Around the Clock was heard for the first time), Elvis, and Bill Haley & the Comets.  Both these bands were MAJOR influences on those four guys from Liverpool, England.  The other musical influencers from America were the living legends of American Blues.The timing was perfect for a musical revolution that would impact two continents!Welcome to Episode Eight, Season Two in the American Song series:  American Song Ushers in a Changing of the British Guard.Thanks to Mark Davis, for the new bumper music included in this episode.You can learn more about Mark and his music at www.towakeyou.com! 

In a country based on freedom, equal opportunity, and democracy, you’d think that lessons related to social justice would not need to be re-hashed so often.  But that does seem to be our fate.  And so, in every generation, we’ve witnessed one group after another struggle to claim their own share of the American dream.Music has had a huge role in raising awareness, unifying people, inspiring empathy, and challenging the status quo in every major social wave of change.  Today, we’re looking at how American music was used, like the trumpets at Jericho, to knock down the walls that separated Hispanic Americans from the promises made to all Americans, beginning in 1776.  In many ways, this is a fight that continues today, and its as true about the Hispanic struggle for justice as it's been for every group in our history.  Hispanics have had a wide range of musical inspirations, including familiar faces such as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie, and musical heroes from their own communities.  Music from the black civil rights struggle was also borrowed, early on.  But the most important parts of the cultural foundations that the Chicano community drew from came from their own Mexican heritage – especially the corrido, which we talked about last month in the Roots of Latin American music episode.  As the revolutionary tide of the 1960s began to swell in American culture, Chicanos started by resurrecting the corrido, and added to it a new, political consciousness, giving air to their grievances and struggles.   Soon, out of the streets, and in the rising youth movement, Chicano rock and roll bands from both sides of the border were filling the radio waves, and encouraging their own people to advance towards a better future.Welcome to Episode 22, American Song and the Fight for Hispanic Equality.In This Episode:Agustin LiraAztecaCannibal and the Head HuntersChan RomeroEl ChicanoCarlos SantanaChuy NegreteClarence Sonny HenryThe Village CallersEl JarochoThee MidnightersFreddy FenderTrini LopezJose SuarezLos ShakersLos LobosLos Teen TopsOzomatliRichie ValensRobert DeNiroSon Jarocho Master Musicians

Before the arrival of Colombus and the Spanish, Puerto Rico was peopled by the Taino tribe.  They’d called it home – and paradise – for over 1,000 years, having come either from the Amazon river basin, or maybe from the Colombian Andes before they arrived on the island.  In our March episode, we talked about the Jones Act – a law made during the Wilson presidency.  The chief goal of that act was to help the U.S. shipping industry recover after World War I.  It also annexed Puerto Rico, and gave citizenship to everyone living there.  U.S. citizenship started major migration to the U.S. mainland.  At first, Puerto Ricans settled into East Coast cities like New York and later Miami where mostly they were stuck in the bottom end of the labor market, working as domestic workers, in manufacturing jobs (back in the old days when we still had those in America, and maintenance industries.  Puerto Rican Americans, on both sides of the US coast, have contributed beautiful music to the American Song jukebox.  These songs echo the rich cultures that became Puerto Rico, their love for their island home, their struggles in the United States and their determination to succeed, despite the hardships.  Today's episode builds on what I began in March, adding more current sounds to the mix.  I think you'll find it equal parts fascinating, and entertaining!In This Episode:Bomba street musicians in Old San Juan Puerto RicoFiel a La VegaField Recording of La Tierruca (old Puerto Rican woman)Haciendo Punto en Otro SonHector Carrasquillo Sr.Original Cast from West Side StoryPablo Milanés Piri ThomasRicky MartinRoy BrownSteven ColbertTaina Asli