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Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2022-10-12T14:00:08.000Z
Views:
16,323
Video Title:
Sam Bush - "Radio John" (Official Audio)
Description:
Listen to the official audio of "Radio John" from Sam Bush's upcoming Smithsonian Folkways album, 'Radio John: Songs of John Hartford'. 'Radio John: Songs of John Hartford' is available November 11, 2022, on CD and digital. The LP version will be available in Spring 2023. Pre-order/stream: Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/sam-bush/radio-john-songs-of-john-hartford Bandcamp: https://sambush.bandcamp.com/album/radio-john-songs-of-john-hartford All other platforms: https://orcd.co/sam-bush-john-hartford 'Radio John: Songs of John Hartford' is Sam Bush’s heartfelt tribute to his hero and mentor, John Hartford. With dedication, admiration, and love, Bush takes on personal favorites from Hartford’s vast catalog, including songs he played with Hartford on stage and in the studio in the 1970s. Bush plays every instrument on nearly every cut, pouring himself into the performances. 'Radio John' is a testament to the impact Hartford had on American traditional music as a songwriter, an instrumentalist, and, most importantly, someone who fostered the careers of musicians like Bush and countless others reinventing roots music in the last half of the 20th century. Lyrics: Stated out workin’ in the summertime On the docks of the Mississippi Valley Barge Line Stokin’ towboats on those long hot days Getting’ half days off, sometimes with pay Became a steamboat captain, wrote the songs to Mark Twang Rollin’ down the river to New Orleans Oh I can hear somethin’ comin’ up around the bend It’s the Julia Belle Swain boys gleamin’ and steamin’on in And it’s Radio John standing at the helm With a wave and a smile and some yarns to tell He loved life on the river and the fiddle tunes Of blind Ed Haley and Benny Martin too He always played them songs with a Vamp in the Middle With a hustle and a shuffle and a skittle wah diddle He wrote songs every day, lord he’d scratch and scribble So the tunes that he wrote, he could play on his fiddle Well I went up the river come away last Sunday night With my fiddle and my banjer and my baby there to hold me tight A banjo man, he rolled while he sang With rhythm like a piston on a railroad train Gotta see Radio John, with his two-toned shoes A slippin’ and a sliding while he danced for you He knew every crooked turn up n-down the Mississippi He was a Huckleberry Finn, an airwaves hippie Radio John, a steamboat troubador A Mississippi Sawyer, like we’d never seen before He spun those tunes in St. Louie and Illinois they say He played Bill, Earl and Lester and some boys named Bray You could hear his voice every night til’ dawn So cut yer television off and turn yer radio on It’s Radio John… He danced and he played in the bars and the halls While he was tappin’ his shous, we was havin’ a ball! Yeah Radio John had us all sing along Justa clappin’ anda stompin’ to every one of his songs He could make us happy and sometimes make us cry And lookin’ back now I wish we never had to say goodbye It was 6-9-0 KSTL Where he played those songs we all knew so well RADIO JOHN Sam Bush: https://www.sambush.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sambushband Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sambushband Twitter: https://twitter.com/sam_bush Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings Twitter: https://twitter.com/Folkways Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways/ Support our work! Become a Friend of Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/friends-of-folkways The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
Video Duration:
5 min 2 sec
YouTube Keywords:
music folk "Woody Guthrie" "Pete Seeger" Smithsonian Folkways old-time non-profit
