A secret songwriter – and musical variety

Prince

OK, pop quiz: What huge 1986 hit by an all-girl group was secretly written by Prince under a pseudonym?

To find out, you need to listen to this week’s edition of The Big Fat Wide Americana Hour.

Stevie Wonder

Not exactly an onerous chore. The show – with Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, Stevie Wonder, Guy Clark and so many others – might just be the most fun you have in one hour all week long.

See you there.

And remember – turn it up. I mean, crank it!

Your friend,

M.D.

What the heck kinda show is this?

Al Green

Al Green and Walter Hyatt on the same show? I mean soul and western swing co-existing? Bluegrass and jazz?

I mean, the Mavericks and Count Basie? What the heck kind of show is this?

Well, could only be The Big Fat Wide Americana Hour! One of its kind – and already recognized as one of the best radio shows on the internet.

You like variety in other areas of your life, right? A different dinner from last night’s, I’m sure. And when the lights get low … ?

Join us for the best musical entertainment on the web. New show online today!

C’mon, join the fun! We’re waiting!

And remember – turn it up. Crank it!

Your friend,

M.D.

Walter Hyatt

Wow! New Bonnie, Old Roger

This week’s edition of The Big Fat Wide Americana Hour is online, offering you new Bonnie Raitt, old Roger Miller and just about everything in between.

How should people in love prepare themselves -- “Just In Case” their marriage fails? Todd Snider has the answer.

Great bluegrass from Alison Krauss and Union Station, great guitar from Robben Ford, great songwriting from Roy Orbison – and so much more!

Come have a listen. And, remember, turn it up! I mean, crank it.

Your friend,

M.D.

High Octane Americana!

Aretha Franklin

Aretha, Keb’ Mo’, even Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, all getting down and dirty on this week’s Big Fat Wide Americana Hour
.

Plus others, too. John Hiatt! Flatt and Scruggs! We’re going to rock your socks off. Even – gadzooks! – Leo Sayer?

Mitch Ryder

Yep, and many others. We’ve got it all on this week’s show, and we’re gonna rock your socks off.

Tune in! Enjoy! And remember – turn it up. I mean, crank it!

Your friend,

M.D.

Keb' Mo'

Perfect Harmony

What makes a great duet?

On the one hand, the question is easy to answer. “It takes two,” Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston harmonize on the opening track of the new edition of The Big Fat Wide Americana Hour, to be posted Saturday.  And that’s certainly true.

But on a deeper level, there is a magic that cannot be easily defined. 

James Taylor and Linda Rondstadt

Is it that, in music as in marriage, opposites attract – as when the sweet-voiced Jennifer Warnes teams up with the gravelly growl of Joe Cocker on “Up Where We Belong?”

Or is it when two smoothed-voiced singers, like Linda Rondstadt and James Taylor, complement each other on “I Think It’s Going To Work Out Fine?”

Or is it perhaps a shared vision, as when the blues singers Bonnie Raitt and Delbert McClinton create a mood on “Good Man, Good Woman?”

It may be indefinable. But when it works, it’s magic – and more fun to listen to than to analyze.

Join me the week for an hour of the best of American duets. 

And don’t forget – turn it up. I mean, crank it!

Your friend,

M.D. Spenser

Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker