------------------------------ From: Vin Scelsa Subject: The Songs I Played -- 2/23/97 Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 05:26:35 -0500 (EST) There are three essential Commandments: Respect The Elders. Embrace The New. Encourage The Impractical and Improbable, Without Bias. __________________________________________________________________________ These are the songs I played on WNEW-FM / NY on "IDIOT'S DELIGHT"--2/23/97: This was a special edition of Idiot's Delight — a live broadcast from the Bottom Line of "To Live Is To Fly: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt". We broadcasted the early show commercial free from 7:30 PM to approximately 9:40 PM. Here's a list of the performers and the songs they played: JIMMIE DALE GILMORE No Lonesome Tune JONELL MOSSER If I Needed You (duet with JOE ELY) JONELL MOSSER Tower Song CHIP TAYLOR Pueblo Waltz GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS Snowin' On Raton PAUL K A Song For PAUL K Only Him Or Me ROSIE FLORES Pancho And Lefty ROSIE FLORES Brother Flower TWO DOLLAR GUITAR Harm's Swift Way TWO DOLLAR GUITAR Song For A Dead Friend (with LORETTE VELVETTE) LORETTE VELVETTE The Hell You Speak Of (With TWO DOLLAR GUITAR) JOE ELY Waiting Around To Die JOE ELY Indian Cowboy (Joe's song that Townes recorded; never recorded by Joe) MARY LEE KORTES (MARY LEE'S CORVETTE) No Place To Fall TOM RUSSELL w/ANDREW HARDIN Tecumseh Valley TOM RUSSELL w/ANDREW HARDIN White Freight Liner Blues DAVID OLNEY For The Sake of the Song DAVID OLNEY Dollar Bill Blues DAVID OLNEY & CHIP TAYLOR Rex's Blues JOHN TOWNES VAN ZANDT II ("JT") Highway Kind MICHAEL & MARGO TIMMONS (COWBOY JUNKIES) Lungs MICHAEL & MARGO TIMMONS (COWBOY JUNKIES) To Live Is To Fly JIMMIE DALE GILMORE Buckskin Stallion Here's who all these wonderful musicians are: JOE ELY A member of the seminal early-'70s Texas band the Flatlanders (with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock). Joe has toured with the Clash, recorded with Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones and been produced by Al Kooper; his most recent album is Letter To Laredo. ROSIE FLORES One of rockabilly's leading proponents in the 1990s, Rosie recently toured America on a co-bill with the legendary Wanda Jackson; her albums include Rockabilly Filly, Once More With Feeling, After The Farm and Honky Tonk Reprise. JIMMIE DALE GILMORE A member of the seminal early-'70s Texas band the Flatlanders (with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock); his most recent album, Braver Newer World, is a Grammy nominee this year for "Best Contemporary Folk" album. PAUL K Trouser Press called him "one of the post-punk generation's first bona fide bluesmen"; he has recorded many albums with his group The Weathermen, most recently, Love Is A Gas. He recorded Townes' "Tecumseh Valley" on his 1995 release, Achilles Heel. MARY LEE KORTES Lead vocalist and songwriter for the New York-based band Mary Lee's Corvette, produced by musician and NYC club owner Eric "Roscoe" Ambel. JONELL MOSSER A Nashville-based vocalist extraordinaire with extensive studio credits; in 1996 she released Around Townes, an album of Townes Van Zandt songs executive produced by Jeanene Van Zandt. DAVID OLNEY Townes' spiritual and songwriting soul brother, about whom Townes wrote in the liner notes for David's 1991 album Roses, "He has written some of the most powerful, most hauntingly beautiful songs I have ever heard.... He has unknowingly helped me to keep my standards high." David records for Philo Records. TOM RUSSELL Brooklyn-based cowboy/songwriter; his albums include Box Of Visions, Cowboy Real, and Rose Of San Joaquin. He has collaborated with such diverse artists as Barrence Whitfield and Ian Tyson. CHIP TAYLOR Composer of the yin and the yang of American pop songs: "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing"; his recently released album Hit Man features newly recorded versions of these and other Taylor-penned hits. MICHAEL & MARGO TIMMONS Members of the Cowboy Junkies, who toured with Townes and for whom Townes wrote "Cowboy Junkies Lament." TWO DOLLAR GUITAR Steve Shelley is the drummer with Sonic Youth and runs Smells Like Records; Tim Foljahn plays with Cat Power and was a member of Half Japanese and Mosquito; Dave Motamed was in Das Damen and Cell. Steve was producing Townes' last recording sessions in Memphis at the end of 1996. Two Dollar Guitar was Townes' band for those sessions. LORRETTE VELVETTE Lorrette is a vocalist with Dave Soldier's New York-based band The Kropotkins; she was also participating in Townes' final recording sessions in Memphis. GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS Songwriting partners who co-wrote most of the material featured on Gillian's critically acclaimed 1996 debut album, Revival. *** Once the concert broadcast was over I presented a special pre-recorded segment featuring Townes' own recordings, as follows (song title and album title): TOWNES VAN ZANDT To Live Is To Fly High, Low & In Between Where I Lead Me Delta Momma Blues Who Do You Love Live At The Old Quarter Houston Texas Blaze's Blues No Deeper Blue Rex's Blues Live and Obscure Quicksilver Dreams Of Maria Townes Van Zandt Don't You Take It Too Bad Rear View Mirror If I Needed You Abnormal The Catfish Song At My Window My Starter Won't Start Roadsongs Delta Mama Blues Delta Momma Blues Wabash Cannonball Roadsongs Faretheewell Miss Carousel Townes Van Zandt No Place To Fall Rear View Mirror BW Railroad Blues No Deeper Blue Tecumseh Valley / Dead Flowers Abnormal Racing In The Streets Roadsongs Tower Song Delta Momma Blues For The Sake Of The Song Townes Van Zandt Pancho & Lefty Live At The Old Quarter Houston Texas Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold Live At The Old Quarter Houston Texas Nothin' Delta Momma Blues Lungs Townes Van Zandt Snowin' On Raton At My Window A Song For No Deeper Blue Flyin' Shoes Abnormal To Live Is To Fly Rear View Mirror This lasted until approximately 11:45 PM, at which point I returned to the station and finished the show. I received a special recording from RICHARD JULIAN, a New York artist who was a friend of Townes' and couldn't be at the show because he's touring in Europe, opening for Suzanne Vega. He performed and recorded a Townes song during a show in Oslo, Norway a few days ago specifically for me to play after the concert. RICHARD JULIAN To Live Is To Fly (live recording of Townes' song) The Townes "tribute" ended at this point (I guess) and I began to work my way back into the "regular" show. RICHARD JULIAN Sick Sick Love (from his new album) BESSIE SMITH Aggravatin' Papa HANK WILLIAMS Cold Cold Heart MADELEINE PEYROUX Reckless Blues JOHN MELLENCAMP Just Another Day WILCO Red-eyed and Blue ENYA Anywhere Is JOE ELY Run Preciosa WILCO Red-eyed and Blue OTIS REDDING (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay KATE CAMPBELL When Panthers Roamed In Arkansas YO LA TENGO Moby Octapad (advance release of new album due in April) THE WHO Armenia City In The Sky DAVID BOWIE Looking For Satellites NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN w/MICHAEL BROOK Lament PETER GABRIEL Passion: The Feeling Begins (this is from Gabriel's soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's "Last Temptation Of Christ") KULA SHAKER Hey Dude IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS Reason To Be Cheerful, Part 3 ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS Tighten Up THE DEAD MILKMEN Do The Brown Nose J. GEILS BAND I'll Be Comin' Home ASTOR PIAZZOLLA Sette Sequenze: Look Out (with the String Quartet from the Graunke Orchestra of Munich) FREEDY JOHNSTON I'm Not Hypnotized BEN FOLDS FIVE Evaporated (advance release of new album due out in March) CHARLIE HADEN & PAT METHENY The Moon Song from their new duo album "Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories)" LORI CARSON Make A Little Luck MARK-ALMOND The City: Grass & Concrete; Taxi To Brooklyn; Speak Easy It's A Whiskey Scene This is the '70s English band fronted by Jon Mark and Johnny Almond — hence their name; not to be confused with Marc Almond (of Soft Cell); this was a staple record on WNEW-FM back in the '70s. JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET The Drum Thing (Featuring Elvin Jones - drums) from the 1964 album "Crescent" SANTO & JOHNNY Sleepwalk (closing theme) (No Terri Binion songs were played during the course of this show, nor were any animals harmed. This show was based on a true story.) Show ended at approximately 3:10 AM