88.1 KDHX Saint Louis

Music bed. Written by Isaac Hayes and recorded in 1967 for Stax. Also featuring Isaac Hayes on piano. An excellent vocal version was also recorded by Carla Thomas as a Stax single b-side.

Written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell and recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1969.

Very cool version of the Christmas standard written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore. It's a long way off but Southern Culture On the Skids will be at Blueberry Hill in 2020 (May 22).

The man is clearly not enamored with receiving socks for Christmas. From his album of all originals which happened to be my favorite Christmas album of 2018.

The guitarist and singer/songwriter out of Long Beach, CA is clearly not enamored with receiving plastic hangers for Christmas.

Five-song EP put out by the band out of Riverside, CA and featuring the powerhouse vocals of Lisa Kekaula.

Music bed. Ah, thrill to the slalom-paced instrumental stylings of the Avalanches. Penned by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish.

Title track from this new album made up of mainly original instrumentals. The Bottlesnakes are made up of the formidable talents of Ethan Leinwand on piano and Nick Pence on resonator guitar.

Written by Ahmet Ertegun. Dr. John: " I would like to dedicate this record to Paul Gayten and Ray Charles. Paul, because I learned the 'Cow Cow Blues' off his record, and Ray for 'Mess Around' and a gang of other reasons. Like Ray was a great influence on New Orleans music; he really changed our charts around. Ray's 'What'd I Say' led to "Oooh Poo Pah Doo" for instance; he put a new kind of funk in what was a basic New Orleans shuffle."

Lead-off track from his second album written by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner. Arranged and conducted by Onzy Matthews.

Music bed. Written by Richard Evans and arranged by Richard Evans and Jack McDuff.

The arrangements by Charles Stepney on this album are flat-out wonderful. And, of course, so are the vocals of Minnie Riperton.

Music bed. 1968 instrumental single b-side.

The Queen song gets a very cool soul treatment by Roland Johnson on this sophomore album by the 71-year old St. Louis soul singer. Composed by their bassist John Deacon who wrote the song for his wife.

Written by Smokey Robinson and recorded in 1965. Elvis Costello also released a single version of this song in 1982.

Instrumental mash-up of "Pipeline" by the Chantays with the traditional Christmas song. Originally released in 2002.

Beatlesque original from the Pacific Northwest band which also references a James Jamerson bass line.

A very cool melding of "Deck The Halls" with Dave Brubeck's "Take Five." The flip side is pretty good, too.

From this tribute to Big Star by various artists including Wilco, The Posies, Kelly Willis, Matthew Sweet, and Juliana Hatfield among others. Written by Alex Chilton.

Written by Beth Bombara and Kit Hamon. Tonight (Thurs 12/12) Beth Bombara w/ Essential Knots – Off Broadway. Highly recommended.

"There's little we can leave behind that will truly mark this earth / But treachery and love are ours to keep for all their worth / The flower of our eyes it is a bloom blood-dark but clear / If you hold it in your open hand to carry on from here"

Co-written by Kirsty MacColl and Johnny Marr. Produced by Steve Lillywhite.

Written by Dave Drebes and featuring the vocals of Dave Drebes and Heather Lawyer. The album release party is at the Lucas School House on Friday 12/20. Doors 7pm Show 8pm.

Written by Leonard Cohen and Anjani Thomas. Backing tracks were added to some of Leonard Cohen's last vocal performances and this was overseen by his son Adam Cohen. Jennifer Warnes and Leslie Feist add backing vocals to this.

Beautiful closing track written by Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth, and Tanya Tucker. Produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings.

I don't know why she never performs this song in concert. It's really a great song.

Music bed, Reverb-drenched instrumental version of the Irving Berlin standard.

Written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez and the only original written for this album.

This was my favorite Christmas album put out in 2017. It's made up entirely of guitar instrumentals including this standard.written by Walter Kent and James Gannon and originally recorded by Bing Crosby in 1943.

Written by Robbie Robertson and featuring Rick Danko on lead vocals.

Music bed. Instrumental from his first full-length Christmas album.

Joe Ongie is a singer-songwriter and painter who now resides in Sevilla, Spain. He writes with a sophisticated pop sensibility - think Aimee Mann, Crowded House, XTC. In fact, he played in Aimee Mann's band for a short stint in Los Angeles. This beautiful, reflective song is about his son Pascal.

I think this is one of the finest Christmas albums of the last thirty years and it has been completely overlooked. Produced and arranged by the Wondermints. As good as Christmas albums get. And this song should be a Christmas standard, dammit!

Chris Stamey put out what is essentially a jazz album made up of 26 songs and featuring a slew of different vocalists and instrumentalists. This one features the vocals of Django Haskins and the sax of Branford Marsalis. This one is Chris Stamey's love letter to New York. Ambitious, beautifully produced, and tuneful as can be. Highly recommended.

1968 recording co-written, produced, and arranged by Burt Bacharach,