AMERICAN ROUTES
Home Grown Soul: Jimmy Hughes and Booker T. Jones Home Grown Soul: Jimmy Hughes and Booker T. Jones February 1st, 2023 (Hour 1)
Home Grown Soul: Jimmy Hughes and Booker T. Jones

This week we visit with two masters of Southern soul. Multi-instrumentalist Booker T. Jones, along with his group the MGs, helped to create the legendary Stax sound. We talk with Booker T. about growing up in Memphis and his work with Southern rock band, the Drive-By Truckers. Soul singer Jimmy Hughes got his start at another landmark of Southern music, FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Hughes shares stories about his classic hits “Steal Away” and “Why Not Tonight,” as well as his move from gospel to soul and back again.

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MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, SHINE A LIGHT ON ME: PRISON MUSIC FROM ANGOLA, LOUISIANA & BEYOND

September 27th, 2017

In this special program, we visit Angola, the notorious plantation-turned-penitentiary, to hear stories and songs from within the prison’s walls. We talk with saxophonist Charles Neville about serving time at the “Farm” during the Jim Crow era, playing with fellow inmates in the Nic Nacs, and the role of music in integrating prison life. We hear previously unreleased Harry Oster field recordings of Mardi Gras Indian chants and bebop jazz from Angola in the late-50s. And we go on-site for interviews and performances with contemporary Angola musicians. Plus, we explore the popular tradition of prison music from singing inmates like Leadbelly and Merle Haggard to live performances from Johnny Cash at San Quentin and B.B. King at Cook County Jail.

Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Berta Big Louisiana (Rodney Mason), Rev. Rogers, & Roosevelt Charles
    Prison Worksongs, Arhoolie
  • Chain Gang Sam Cooke
    Greatest Hits, RCA
  • Parchman Farm Mose Allison
    The Collection, Floating World
  • Prison Blues Finally Got the Best of Me The Nic Nacs
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • SEGMENT: Charles Neville Part I

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Midnight Special Tiny Grimes
    Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974, Atlantic
  • Midnight Special Leadbelly
    Bourgeois Blues, Smithsonian Folkways
  • CLIP: Ben Harbert on Leadbelly
  • Where Did You Sleep Last Night Final Mission Band of Dixon Correctional Institute
    American Routes recording at Angola Prison,
  • Midnight Special Johnny Rivers
    Totally Live at the Whiskey a Go-Go, Capitol
  • Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash
    At Folsom Prison, Columbia
  • San Quentin Johnny Cash
    Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Columbia
  • Instrumental: unreleased song The Nic Nacs
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • CLIP: Leotha Brown from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • Unreleased song The Nic Nacs
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • CLIP: Larry Wilkerson
  • CLIP: John Henry Taylor from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • CLIP: "There's 12 Gates to Heaven" from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • Twelve Gates to the City John Cephas and Phil Wiggins
    Cool Down , Alligator
  • Long Black Veil Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
    unreleased,
  • Green Green Grass of Home Jerry Lee Lewis
    Country Songs for City Folks, Smash
  • CLIP: AJ Freeman with the Gospel Ghost Riders
  • On My Way Home The Main Prison Gospel Band on stage at Angola Prison
    American Routes recording at Angola Prison,
  • Closing Bed: Midnight Special Jimmy Smith
    Midnight Special, Capitol

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Tu-Way Pocky Way Harry Oster Recording with the Prisoners
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • Hey Pocky-Way Charles Neville with the Jazz Men
    American Routes recording at Angola Prison,
  • Introductions B.B. King
    B.B. King Live in Cook County Jail, ABC
  • How Blue Can You Get B.B. King
    B.B. King Live in Cook County Jail, ABC
  • Intro from "They're Tearin' the Labor Camp Down" Merle Haggard
    Vintage Collections, Capitol
  • Fugitive Merle Haggard
    I'm a Lonesome Fugitive, Capitol
  • Sing Me Back Home Merle Haggard
    Sing Me Back Home, Capitol
  • The Prisoner's Song Warren Storm
    Warren Storm, Excello Records
  • Instrumental: Moanin' Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
    Art Blakey is Jazz, Music Club
  • CLIP: Angola Bound Angola inmates a capella
    Unreleased recording by Harry Oster at Angola Prison,
  • CLIP: Angola Bound Aaron Neville
    The Very Best of Aaron Neville, A&M
  • CLIP: "There's no more Angola Bound" from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • SEGMENT: Charles Neville Part II

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Alligator Bogaloo Lou Donaldson
    The Blue Note Years: Vol. 3- Organ and Soul, Blue Note
  • CLIP: Christie Nelson from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • Pardon Denied Again Robert Pete Williams
    I'm Blue As A Man Can Be, Arhoolie
  • CLIP: Reverend Sydney DeLoach
  • CLIP: Charles Neville
  • CLIP: Ben Harbert
  • CLIP: "Nowhere Bound" Alford Rose from Follow Me Down Documentary
  • I'm Going Home Ervin Webb with Prisoners
    Alan Lomax, Southern Journey: 61 Highway Mississippi , Rounder
  • I Shall Be Released Nina Simone
    Here Comes the Sun & Other Great Hits, Arista
  • Closing Bed: Parchman Blues Tangle Eye
    Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed, Zoe

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • February 1st, 2023

    HOME GROWN SOUL: JIMMY HUGHES AND BOOKER T. JONES

    Listen
  • January 25th, 2023

    NEW ORLEANS TRADITIONAL JAZZ LIVE WITH DR. MICHAEL WHITE AND THE ORIGINAL LIBERTY JAZZ BAND - JAZZ MANOUCHE FROM CHRISTINE TASSAN ET LES IMPOSTEURES

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  • January 18th, 2023

    THE COLOR OF MUSIC WITH HENRY BUTLER & LONNIE HOLLEY

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