Expecting Rain

This may be a bit redundant, given that I email Karl Erik with each new episode's release, but with White Man Stew closed, I thought I'd migrate the Dreamtime podcast episode list to the Expecting Rain Forums.

The Dreamtime Podcast is occasional commentary on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, usually about something Dylan has said during one of his shows that has intrigued me, or digging a little deeper into the story of the musician or song. Occasionally, I go off on a tangent that has little or nothing to do with "Theme Time."

The shows can be listened to on the site, or you can subscribe through the RSS Feed or through iTunes. If you're more visual than audio, show notes/scripts are also on the Dreamtime site, as well as links to sources or for further information.

I'm trying to do one a week, and, like Dylan, have 50 targeted. Here's links to the episodes to date...

Episode 1 - Elvis & Dino - The Presley/Martin connection (Weather)

Episode 2 - The Ol' Ball Game - The story behind "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (Baseball)

Episode 3 - A Single Olive - Victor Feguer's last meal (Jail)

Episode 4 - Tiny, I never saw a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey game. The Tiny Tim/Dylan connection. (Flowers)

Episode 5 - Two voices from Chronicles - Fred Neil and Karen Dalton (Chronicles)

Episode 6 - Juneteenth and Fatso - The song and the singer (Summer)

Episode 7 – The donkey that wouldn't die - On "Hee Haw" (Mothers)

Episode 8 - 14 Views of the Big City - A tone poem (Theme Time intros)

Episode 9 - The Outro- On Coco Shinomiya, Eddie Gorodetsky, and Top Cat (Theme Time closing credits)

Episode 10 – Too religious for the country crowd, too country for gospel fans - The Louvin Brothers (Devil)

Episode 11 - All mobbed up- Ol' Blue Eyes and the Rat Pack croon for Pete Epsteen's Pontiac (Cars)

Episode 12 - Love, Theft, and Emails - In which Your Host spins some platters and reads emails ("Love and Theft" antecedents)

Episode 13 - Stay away from planes and automobiles - A Theme Time roll call of musician wrecks and crashes (Various Theme Time episodes)

Episode 14 - Working for the Yankee dollar - The twisty history of "Rum and Coca-Cola" (Drinking)

Episode 15 – I ran at Bakersfield- The James Dean/Dylan connection (Cars)

Episode 16 – "Gene Vincent said, 'Bubba, let's go on tour'" - High School U.S.A. the "Facenda Freeze" and more than 15 minutes of fame. (School)

Episode 17 - October in the Railroad Earth - On Jack Kerouac - defest of poets (Rich Man, Poor Man).

Episode 18 - High on a Mountain - this one on Ollabelle (the band) Ola Belle Reed (the musician), and Levon Helm's Midnight Rambles. (Bible).

Episode 19 - That Ol' Black Magic - Dreamtime has its Bob Dylan mask on with a special Halloween show that includes The Little Man Who Wasn't There; Samantha Stephens; Peggy Lee; Jerry Lewis; The Five Blobs; a young Bob Dylan; a Dylan imitator; Judy Garland; The Jitterbug; and The Munsters. (Halloween)

Episode 20 - Heart of Mine - A show done on the road, so Your Host's audio quality isn't of the best, but maybe Maria Muldaur's stunning live redition of "Heart of Mine" will make up for the audio engineering problems. Also, some information on Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour and an excerpt from Kitty Wells 1952 hit, "It wasn't God who made Honky-Tonk Angels." (There ain't nuthin' about that woman I don't like)

Episode 21 - Def Poets Society - That's def, not deaf, Fred. A primer on defness for the somewhat - like me - thick, plus a poetry reading and thoughts on Richard Farina. (Def poetry)

Episode 22 - All Along the Watchtower - Some brief thoughts on All Along the Watchtower, inspired by Kimo Watanabe's stark, spooky cover version performed on ukelele. Yes, ukelele. (No Theme Time content in this one)

Episode 23- In Search of Eddie G.- Writer, musicologist, Mix Master, cartoon character, game inventor, radio producer, Eddie G. seems to have re-invented himself as many times as Bob Dylan. (On Theme Time's producer)

Episode 24 - 1953 and Changes in the Wind - Dreamtime closes out 2006 with a turn around the radio dial and a look back at a year when music was about to change forever... 1953. (Dogs)

Episode 25 - The Name Game - In the first show of 2007, Dreamtime does a semi-countdown using Women's Names, inspired by Episode 35 of Theme Time. Where else will you find the Ramones and Allan Sherman on the same playlist? (Women's Names)

There are eight million stories I've never heard before in the Big City.

Here's another one of them....

Come watch Dreamtime sing and play. I'm the young generation and I got something to say.

Well, at least 10 minutes worth. Episode 27 of the Dreamtime podcast features Mike "Wool Hat" Nesmith, Liquid Paper, Tiger Beat, Charlie Manson, Jimi Hendrix, and the Mike Nesmith/Bob Dylan non-collaboration, "Rio."

Also, a new Dreamtime regular feature. One of the things I miss from the closed White Man Stew Theme Time Forums was someone posting "Theme Time" artist videos found on YouTube. So, I'm adding a new segment to Dreamtime that I plan on offering on an "off-week" (that is, when I don't have the next podcast in the works) basis... always keeping in mind that consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds and sometimes I'll be posting a podcast that week, sometimes a YouTube video, maybe sometimes I'll post both, like this week.

The first of the two videos currently on the site feature the female Elvis, Wanda Jackson, ripping through the rockabilly number, "Rock Your Baby" from 1958. The other is one of my favorites, from 1989, with Van Morrison reading the Slim Gaillard passage from "On the Road," as Gaillard himself recreates the scene as described by Kerouac.

Both - and more as I post them - can always be found through the Dreamtime video label...

http://fhb-dreamtime.blogspot.com/search/label/Video

If you come across a Theme Time-related video that you'd like to see up on Dreamtime, feel free to email me

"Eddie Noack, a singer and a songwriter, originally from Houston, Texas, who recorded for the Starday record label. He wanted to be a journalist. But we have enough journalists, but not enough people who could sing and write like Eddie Noack.

Eddie recorded the song called "Psycho," written by Leon Payne, a song about a serial killer and, quite understandably, it never got a lot of airplay, but has become quite a bit of a cult favorite, as is Eddie Noack himself..." - Bob Dylan on Eddie Noack, Theme Time Radio Hour, "Luck." Originally broadcast January 24, 2007

With a few sentences, Dylan would send me off on a journey that would lead me to Texas snipers, blind singers, 100 proof honky-tonkers, and a country subgenre I never knew existed - Psychobilly.

And people ask why I like Theme Time.

Here's the link to Episode 28 - Psycho killer, Qu'est que C'est?

One thing I forgot to mention here, I'm looking for a copy of the very obscure CD "God Less America: Country Music for All Ye Sinners & Sufferers,"

which could be a self-contained playlist (maybe with the theme: Sin) for "Theme Time." So, if anyone either has it, or comes across it, let me know. I'm aware of the current eBay auction, but it's for a CDR copy of the original, and I'd prefer the original (and I hope, at not a break-the bank price).



God Less America

1. 8 Weeks In A Barroom -- Ramblin Red Bailey
2. Too Many Pills -- Arkey Blue & The Blue Cowboys
3. The Story Of Susie -- Billy Ray
4. Down And Out -- Chuck Wells
5. It's Nothing To Me -- Harry Johnson
6. Ed's Place -- Horace Heller
7. Pierce Brothers -- Pierce Brothers
8. Caryl Chessman -- Country Johnny Mathis
9. Please Don't Go Topless, Mother -- Troy Hess
10. Rock'N'Roll Killed My Mother -- Hi-Fi Guys
11. Enchanted Forest -- Mohawk And The Rednecks
12. Paralysed -- Cal Vale
13. My Neighbor The Firefighter -- Paul Barton
14. The Drunken Driver -- Granpa Joe
15. Dolores -- Eddie Noak
16. Behind The Fear -- Lum Hatcher

I'm off-topic with this episode, since Theme Time hasn't played anything sung by Troy or Bennie Hess. But, if Dylan hadn't mentioned Eddie Noack's "Psycho," I would have never discovered the God Less America compilation and would never have found this song. And as with most - if not all- songs, there's a great story behind it.

Episode 29 - Please Don't Go Topless, Mother

In honor of Theme Time's Host recent purchase in Scotland, Dreamtime plays at "Theme Time," with an extra-long episode featuring music, jokes, email, and commentary all related to the the theme, "Golf," for your amusement.

Episode 30 - A Good Walk Spoiled

I'm back mining the rich vein of the "Colors," episode, first broadcast back in February. This time we're looking at an Orange Colored Sky. Like most music from the Big City, it has its own, strange story... with a cast of characters including Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Frank Zappa, and Robin the Boy Wonder.

My lords and ladies of the Royal Court here assembled, let me lay on you some history.

Some thoughts, ruminations, correspondence, prose and poesy, cerebration, consideration, contemplation, deliberation, meditation, reflection, speculation, and cogitation upon one cool cat. A cat who would be at the ripe old age of 101 come this April 7th, in the Year Of our Lord 2000 and 7.

Episode 32 of the Dreamtime podcast can be read and listened to here.

Thanks to listeners Geoff and Richard!

More Louies than you can shake a stick at.

How does Dreamtime fit over 50 Louies in a 14-minute show? Listen and find out. Starring Bob Dylan, Julie London, and even Your Host singing the religious version of Louie Louie, an experience not be missed.

Thanks Mr. Glad Head! Shout at close of the show!

Episode 33 - Oh Baby, Me Gotta Go

A goodbye to Bobby "Boris" Pickett, who passed away last week at age 69.

Somewhere in a special spot of heaven reserved for beloved monsters like Frankenstein and the Wolfman, the ghoulies and ghosties are doing the Transylvania Twist.

Episode 34 - He Was a Graveyard Smash

Today on Cooking with Bob, Mint Juleps! Rum and Coca-Cola! Barbecue! Beer! Figgy Pudding! And Bob's Mom's Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf Bread!

Episode 35 - Cooking (and Drinking) with Bob

Hey, if it's good enough for Mr. D. it's good enough for me.

Summer is on the land, and the Dreamtime Top Cats Curly and Bear (Bear pictured above mind-melding with the Dreamtime laptop) say that means it's time for a well-deserved break.

We'll be taking the months of June and July off from a podcasting and blogging standpoint, although we'll still be posting the occasional video as time and tide permit, and I hope to catch up with the Dreamtime Amazon store.

The Top Cats, the Jones sisters - Jailbait and Joyride - and Your Dreamtime Host, Fred, want to thank all of our listeners/readers for your support and encouragement. You make the show a joy to do, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

See you in August with Episode 36!

Thanks, much appreciated.

Dreamtime is back, a little ahead of schedule.

Missing Theme Time Radio Hour? We are too, so we put on our best Bob Dylan mask, and Episode 36 is a 36-minute special on the theme of that bad man, Stagger Lee.

The usual suspects, including Frank Hutchinson, Mississippi John Hurt, and Lloyd Price, all join in. Plus a few appearances you might not expect, such as Dick Clark, Jiminy Cricket and Samuel L. Jackson.

Episode 36 - Stagger Lee Shot Billy

Great show on Stagger Lee, Fred! I'm really missing Theme Time and was missing Dreamtime, too.

I really liked the Samuel Jackson version, a bit raw. I'm dying to rent the movie, but I'm afraid my husband will freak.

Thanks for this episode and all the others.

Thanks, Marie! Your husband's liking of Black Snake Moan would probably tie directly into his tolerance for watching Christina Ricci in her panties for what seems to be about 90 of the movie's 116 minutes. I kept on thinking, "Geesh, Lazurus, the least you could do is offer her a change of underwear."

I was kinda drifting through it, not really liking it, not really disliking it, when I heard Jackson say, "Bucket of Blood."

"What the eff," I thought, in a pure Samuel L. Jackson moment of my own. "Bucket of Blood? Is he doing 'Stagger Lee'?"

And he did, and I decided I liked the movie.

From the lips of a 16-year-old Kentucky girl to New York and Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan and then on to England and The Animals.

Dreamtime, inspired by Ted Anthony's book Chasing the Rising Sun, journeys into the heart of the song.

Episode 37 - Chasing the Rising Sun.

According to the story in Chronicles, Gorgeous George told Bob Dylan, "You're making it come alive." Here's a brief biography of the man who during his heyday was one of the most famous entertainers in the world. Running time: 10 minutes

Episode 38 - A Wink or a Nod From Some Unexpected Place

Here's the story. Sometime in 2005, somewhere in Los Angeles, Bob Dylan is in a studio. He does whatever he came there to do, and then makes like a tree... and leaves.

But he forgets his iPod. Running time: 27 minutes

Episode 39 - The Lost Theme Time iPod

This is a real ghost story, but like all real ghost stories, you don't get to see the ghost. This is a story about a ghost who made music, a ghost named Emmett Miller, a forgotten son of a embarrassing and often deliberately forgotten American art form, the blackface minstrel show.

Episode 40 - A Ghost in Blackface

Except for passing references to Ruth Brown, Rick Nelson and Bob Wills, there's nothing particularly TTRH-related in this episode of Dreamtime.

But I suspect Our Host shares my respect for these ladies of rockabilly and r&b. So, with Season 2 just underway, hang in there with me for a bit longer, if you will, and let me tell you the stories of four forgotten angels this week. I don't think I'll disappoint you.

Episode 41 - And the Angels Sing

It's a Dreamtime potpourri this time around with some thoughts, talk and music on the big little man Pee Wee King and his songwriting partner, Redd Stewart; the song they composed on a matchbook cover; how Cowboy Copas and Sid Nathan could have bought it for $25; and then a look and listen to Theme Time Radio Hour's resident hillbilly expert, Deke Dickerson.

Episode 42 - I Was Dancing with My Darlin'

"There is great music happening all over the country. Sometimes you got to seek it out. And if you don't seek it out, it's just going to disappear." Bob Dylan, on Sterling Harrison, TTRH, "Days of the Week"

Episode 43 - Sterling E. Harrison: "E" for Electrifying

No new Theme Time this week! No Season 2 Halloween show!!!!!

Dreamtime couldn't go cold turkey and had a bad jones for a new show. So we snuck into Studio B, bribed Tex Carbone with a Figgy Pudding, and put together a Bizarro World 1-hour Halloween Special show to tide us over.

It’s the 1st 2nd Annual Dreamtime Halloween 1-hour Specialstarring, in no particular order…

Leon Redbone, Oingo Boingo, Harry Belafonte, Kip Tyler & the Flips, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Joan Baez, Gene Simmons, Eddie Noack, The New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Kay Starr, and the Classics IV. Plus bad jokes, trivia, email, and def poetry!

It's not Our Host (by any stretch of the imagination), but it's the best we have until next week.

Enjoy!