Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – September 23, 2025: "If It Were Up to Me" and Songs of Cole Porter

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/72082.html

Themes: Part 1 – “If It Were Up to Me”; Part 2 – Songs of Cole Porter (1891-1964).

Part 1 – “If It Were Up to Me”

Cheryl Wheeler wrote “If It Were Up to Me” more than 25 years ago about the epidemic of gun violence in the United States – an epidemic that was bad then and which has only grown worse since.

The Advocate Collective included Aaron Parnell Brown, Andy Rogovin, Beth Wood, Crys Matthews, Danielle Miraglia, Erik Balkey, Genevieve, Joe Crookston, Kim Moberg, Lilli Lewis, Lisa Bastoni, Monique Byrne, Mya Byrne, Neale Eckstein, Pat Wictor, Rod MacDonald, Tom Prasada-Rao, Tret Fure, and Vance Gilbert.

The Advocate Collective- If It Were Up to Me

If It Were Up to Me – single (Hudson Harding Music)

Eric Bogle- Roll Call

A Toss of the Coin (Greentrax)

Ellis Paul- When Angels Fall

55 (Rosella)

HuDost- Broken Down in America

The Monkey in the Crown (Open Sesame Music)

Kemp Harris- Don’t You Hear Them America

The America Chronicles (Righteous Mischief)

Tom Paxton- Johnny Got a Gun

Wearing the Time (Sugar Hill)

Friction Farm- Louder Than Guns

Stone By Stone (Friction Farm)

Eric Andersen- Dangerland (Love People Not Guns)

Eric Andersen in (Spoken) Pieces (EARecords)

Magpie- What If, No Matter

A Tiding (Longtail)

Part 2 – Songs of Cole Porter (1891-1964)

Cole Porter was one of the songwriters responsible for the standards referred to as the Great American Songbook.

Martha Wainwright- Allez-vous-en

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Billie Holiday- Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)

The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Volume 9 (1940-1942) (Columbia/Legacy)

Susie Arioli Swing Band featuring Jordan Officer- What is This Thing Called Love

It’s Wonderful (Susie Arioli Swing Band)

k.d. lang- Love for Sale

Recollection (Nonesuch)

Mose Scarlett- Miss Otis Regrets

The Fundamental Things (Pyramid)

Noa- Anything Goes

Afterallogy (Naïve)

Mary McCaslin- Don’t Fence Me In

Old Friends (Philo)

The Bill Hilly Band (The Bills)- Begin the Beguine

All Day Every Day (Borealis)

Nikki Yanofsky- I Get a Kick Out of You

Nikki By Starlight (MNRK Music Group)

Sophie Milman- My Heart Belongs to Daddy

Sophie Milman (Linus)

Harry Connick, Jr..- Just One of Those Things

True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter (Verve)

Lew London- Night and Day

Swingtime in Springtime (Philo/Rounder Archive)

Anita O'Day- You’re the Top

Anita (Verve)

Next week: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday July 13, 2024

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/65969.html

Geoff Bartley- July

Interstates (Magic Crow)

Lui Collins- The Wildflower Song

The Seasons Project: Summer (Christine Lavin)

Robin Batteau- How Can You Love Me

The Seasons Project: Summer (Christine Lavin)

Tina Ross- Summers Like These

The Seasons Project: Summer (Christine Lavin)

Cosy Sheridan- Here Comes the Rain

The Seasons Project: Summer (Christine Lavin)

Kami Thompson- The Solitary Traveller

Linda Thompson: Proxy Music (StorySound)

Lynne Hanson- Just a Little Bit

Just a Poet (Lynne Hanson)

Terre Roche- The Man Who Can’t

Inner Adult (Terre Roche)

Michael Jerling- I Talk to Dead People

Halfway Home (Fool’s Hill Music)

Teresina Huxtable- First and Only Tango

Wallflowers (Philo)

Sonya Cohen & Penny Seeger Cohen- Oh, Blue

You’ve Been a Friend to Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

Sonya Cohen & Peggy Seeger- A Squirrel is a Pretty Thing

You’ve Been a Friend to Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

Sonya Cohen & Pete Seeger- When I was Most Beautiful

You’ve Been a Friend to Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

Last Forever- Hide and Seek

You’ve Been a Friend to Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

Sonya Cohen  Cramer & Elizabeth Mitchell- You’ve Been a Friend to Me

You’ve Been a Friend to Me (Smithsonian Folkways)

Tim Isberg- Better Times Ahead

Prairie Fire (Tim Isberg Music)

Lynn Miles- Night Owl

tumbleWeedyWorld (True North)

David Francey- Daughter

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

Kathleen Edwards- Options Open

Dogs and Alcohol (Dualtone)

Ian Tamblyn- That Boxcar in Algoma

Scenes Through a Mirror (North Track)

Keith Glass Band- Can’t Blame Me

Different World (Stump)

Ruth Moody- Wanderer

Wanderer (Blue Muse/True North)

Adam Karch- My Birmingham

Some Awkward Country Ahead (Adam Karch)

Martha Wainwright- Or Nothing at All

Linda Thompson: Proxy Music (StorySound)

Ken Tizzard & Music for Goats- Barstools and Broken Hearts

The DAGG Sessions (Ken Tizzard)

Miranda Hardy- The Price of Happiness

The Price of Happiness (Great Divide)

Ian Robb & James Stephens- Charming Molly

Declining …with thanks (Fallen Angle Music)

Finest Kind- Blue Mountain

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Shelley Posen- The Old Songs Home

The Old Songs Home (Well Done Music)

Jubal Lee Young- Jig

Wild Birds Warble (7Bridges Entertainment)

The Roches- Hammond Song

Where Do I Come From: Selected Songs (StorySound)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Rufus & Martha Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III & Chaim Tannenbaum- Schooldays

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Waterson:Carthy- Rackabello

Common Tongue (Topic)

The Copper Family- Come Write Me Down, Ye Powers Above

The Ultimate Guide to English Folk (Arc)

Richard & Linda Thompson- For Shame of Doing Wrong

Dreams Fly Away: A History of Linda Thompson (Hannibal)

Teddy Thompson- Those Damn Roches

Linda Thompson: Proxy Music (StorySound)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- Pack Up Your Sorrows

Recordings Celebrating 50 Years of a Musical Partnership (Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl) 

Rory Block- Like a Rolling Stone

Positively 4th Street: A Tribute to Bob Dylan (Stony Plain)

Erin Ash Sullivan- Goat on a Stone Wall

Signposts and Marks (Erin Ash Sullivan)

Enzo Garcia- I Wanna Hold You

Calicoustic (Recaredo)

Deb Seymour- Sometimes You Gotta Wear Boots

Sometimes You Gotta Wear Boots (Herkimer Productions)

Ish Theilheimer & Friends- The Wilno Chicken

The Wilno Chicken and Other Songs for My Community (Ish Theilheimer)

Leonard Cohen- Story of Isaac

Songs from a Room (Columbia/Legacy)

Art of Time Ensemble featuring Sarah Harmer- Dance Me to the End of Love

Songs of Leonard Cohen Live (Art of Time Recordings)

Two of a Kind- We Give Thanks in Hard Times

Let the Light In (Magillicutty Music)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on August 10. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 2, 2024: The Musical Adventures of Jim, Geoff & Maria

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/64607.html

Theme: The Musical Adventures of Jim, Geoff & Maria.

Maria Muldaur, Geoff Muldaur & Jim Kweskin (1964) photo: Joe Alper

Geoff Muldaur and Maria Muldaur were both members of Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band in the 1960s – the pre-eminent jug band of the ‘60s folk revival – and this show will explore a few of the many directions that Jim, Geoff and Maria have taken over the past 60-plus years – including numerous collaborations with each other.

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Jug Band Music

Jug Band Music (Vanguard)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me

Jug Band Music (Vanguard)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Wild About My Lovin’

Unblushing Brassiness (Vanguard)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Richland Woman

See Reverse Side for Title (Vanguard)

The Even Dozen Jug Band- Come On In

The Even Dozen Jug Band (Elektra)

Geoff Muldaur- Jelly Roll Baker

Sleepy Man Blues (Prestige)

Jim Kweskin- Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor

Relax Your Mind (Vanguard)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Chevrolet

See Reverse Side for Title (Vanguard)

Geoff & Maria Muldaur- Brazil

Pottery Pie (Omnivore)

Geoff & Maria Muldaur- Georgia On My Mind

Pottery Pie (Omnivore)

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days- Rule the Road

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days (Rhino/Bearsville)

Jim Kweskin- Sugar Babe

Jim Kweskin’s America (Reprise)

Maria Muldaur- Midnight at the Oasis

Maria Muldaur (Reprise)

Geoff Muldaur- Livin’ in the Sunlight (Lovin’ in the Moonlight)

Geoff Muldaur is Having a Wonderful Time (Reprise)

Jim Kweskin & The Neo-Passé Jazz Band- Jazzbo Brown

Jump for Joy (Vanguard)

Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble- Futuristic Rhythm

Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (Edge Music)

Maria Muldaur- He Ain’t Got Rhythm

Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)

Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur- Sweet to Mama

Penny’s Farm (Kingswood)

Jim Kweskin & Maria Muldaur- Let’s Get Happy Together

Never Too Late: Duets with My Friends (StorySound)

Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble & Martha Wainwright- There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears

Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (Edge Music)

Jay McShann & Maria Muldaur- Confessin’ the Blues

Goin’ to Kansas City (Stony Plain)

Jim Kweskin & Samoa Wilson- Remember Me

Never Too Late: Duets with My Friends (StorySound)

John Sebastian & The J-Band & Geoff Muldaur- Minglewood Blues

Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost (Hollywood)

Jim Kweskin & Fiona Kweskin- Side by Side

Never Too Late: Duets with My Friends (StorySound)

Next week: Songs I’ve Heard Tom Rush Sing.

--Mike Regenstreif

 

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday September 27, 2022: Songs of The Mountain City Four and Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Stranger Songs was prerecorded and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/57707.html

Theme: Songs of The Mountain City Four and Kate & Anna McGarrigle.

The Mountain City Four was a folk group in Montreal in the 1960s that included Anna McGarrigle, the late Kate McGarrigle, the late Jack Nissenson, and Peter Weldon. The Mountain City Four never released an album back in the day but there is a selection of live and home recordings and Peter Weldon has assembled them on a CD – just called Mountain City Four – that will be released on September 23.

Mountain City Four- Motherless Children

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore

Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Chaim Tannenbaum- (Talk to Me of) Mendocino

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Katie Moore- Heart Like a Wheel

Montebello (Katie Moore)

Mountain City Four- Blue Moon of Kentucky

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Kiss and Say Goodbye

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Robert Resnik- Come a Long Way

Playing Favorites (Thunder Ridge)

Maria Muldaur- Cool River

Waitress in a Donut Shop (Reprise)

Mountain City Four- En Filant Ma Quenouile

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

The Mountain City Four in 1964: Kate McGarrigle, Jack Nissenson, Anna McGarrigle and Peter Weldon (Photo: Brian Merrett, Merrett Images)

Mountain City Four- You’ve Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- My Town

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Linda Thompson & Richard Thompson- Go Leave

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Kevin Roth- Complainte pour Ste-Catherine

Dulcimer Man (Folkways)

Mountain City Four- Reuben Ranzo

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Matapedia

Matapedia (Hannibal)

Martha Wainwright- Tell My Sister

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Rufus Wainwright- Walking Song

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Mountain City Four- This Train

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Mike Regenstreif, Peter Weldon (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Goin’ Back to Harlan

Matapedia (Hannibal)

Linda Ronstadt- You Tell Me That I’m Falling Down

Prisoner in Disguise (Asylum)

Judy Collins- Sun Son

Times of Our Lives (Elektra)

Mountain City Four- V’Là L’Bon Vent

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle with Joe Boyd- Dancer with Bruised Knees

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Kate McGarrigle, Martha Wainwright & Lily Lanken with Anna McGarrigle, Rufus & Loudon Wainwright, Chaim Tannenbaum, Dane & Sylvan Lanken- Johnny’s Gone to Hilo

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Jack Nissenson & Peter Weldon with Kathleen Weldon & Lily Lanken, Jane McGarrigle, John Knowles, Marvin Segal, Andrew Cowan & Stephen Barry- Shenendoah

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Next week: A Week’s Worth of Songs.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday April 27, 2021

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Stranger Songs – Episode #12 – was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/51764.html

 

Theme: April in Paris

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong- April in Paris
Ella and Louis (Verve)
Christine Albert- Mademoiselle de Paris
TexaFrance-Encore! (MoonHouse)
Don Armstrong- Going to Paris
Mother Don’t Give Up on Me Now (Ronstadt Record Co.)

Ronney Abramson- Jukebox of Paris
Jukebox of Paris (Castor Island Music)
Martha Wainwright- Le Métro de Paris
San Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright’s Piaf Record (MapleMusic)
Kat Goldman- Letter from Paris
Gypsy Girl (Kat Goldman)
Melody Gardot- From Paris with Love
Sunset in the Blue: Deluxe Edition (Decca)

Buffy Sainte-Marie- Guess Who I Saw in Paris
Illuminations (Vanguard)
Nicki Parrott- The Last Time I Saw Paris
The Last Time I Saw Paris (Venus)
Joni Mitchell- Free Man in Paris
Court and Spark (Elektra)
Gordon Fleming- Parisian Thoroughfare
According to Gordie (Just a Memory)
Andrew Calhoun- A Hoosier in Paris
Shadow of a Wing (Waterbug)

Eric Andersen- Trouble in Paris
The Essential Eric Andersen (Real Gone Music)
Nikki Matheson- It’s Still Raining in Paris
Invisible Angel (Nikki Matheson)
Claribol Stompers- Swing de Paris
Swingattic (Claribol)
Jacques Labrecque- À Paris, sur le petit pont
Folk Songs of France and French Canada (Folkways)

Mike Regenstreif & Erik Frandsen (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Lenka Lichtenberg with Fray- Pigeons in Paris
Embrace (Sunflower)
The Hot Sardines- I Love Paris
Live at Joe’s Pub (The Hot Sardines)
Erik Frandsen- Another Song About Paris
The Greenwich Village Folk Festival 1989-1990 (Gadfly)
Erroll Garner- Paris Bounce
Paris Impressions (Columbia)

Marianne Faithfull- No Moon in Paris
Negative Capability (BMG)
Jacques Brel- Les Prénoms de Paris
The Very Best of Jacques Brel (Select)
The Swing Commanders- Bye Bye Paris
Steelin’ Back (North Western)

Duke Ellington- Paris Blues
Midnight in Paris (Columbia)

Next week – The Second Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday November 9, 2019

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning can be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/45538.html

This episode of Saturday Morning was during CKCU’s annual funding drive. Thanks to all the generous listeners who supported Saturday Morning and CKCU. It’s never too late to make a donation online at CKCU’s secure website. https://www.ckcufm.com/pledge/

Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer- Ol ‘55

Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits (Dualtone)

Jesse Winchester- Snow

Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash- Girl from the North Country

Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 15, 1967-1969 (Columbia Legacy)

The Early Risers- Red Bird

Making Life Sweet (Itchy Sabot)

Rachel Harrington- Hush the Wild Horses

Hush the Wild Horses (Skinny Dennis)

Kim Wallach- Men in Felt Fedoras

Chatter of the Finches (Black Socks Press)

Debra Cowan- Bones and Feathers

Greening the Dark (Muzzy House Music)

Bob Dylan- All Along the Watchtower

Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 15, 1967-1969 (Columbia Legacy)

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman- The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest

Been All Around This World (Acoustic Disc)

Ian & Sylvia- When First Unto This Country

The Lost Tapes (Stony Plain)

Si Kahn- Here is My Home

Best of the Rest (Strictly Country)

Corin Raymond- There will Always be a Small Time

There will Always be a Small Time (Corin Raymond)

Josh White, Jr.- It’s Chilly Out Tonight

Live at the Raven Gallery (Silverwolf)

Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers- This Little Light of Mine

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Reggie Harris- Ready to Go

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Archie Fisher & Garnet Rogers- Make and Break Harbour

The Best Times After All: Live (Snow Goose Songs)

Archie Fisher & Garnet Rogers- Final Trawl

The Best Times After All: Live (Snow Goose Songs)

Sneezy Waters- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Geoff Muldaur’s Futuristic Ensemble featuring Martha Wainwright- Singin’ the Blues

Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (Edge Music)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Triskaidekaphobia

Wahoo! (Community Music)

Jackie Washington- Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go?

Midnight Choo Choo (Borealis)

Kerri Ough- How is This Going to End

One Day Soon (Kerri Ough)

Sussex- Drive

The Ocean Wide (Lucky Bear)

Gathering Sparks- Nothing but a Broken Heart

All That’s Real (Borealis)

Shelley Posen- All Right

Ontario Moon (Well Done Music)

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash- I Still Miss Someone

Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 15, 1967-1969 (Columbia Legacy)

Tom Russell- Wreck of the Old 97

October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)

Susan Werner- Talk Me into Anything

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Durham County Poets- St. James Infirmary

Hand Me Down Blues (Durham County Poets)

Pierce Pettis- Don’t Know Where I Am

Father’s Son (Compass)

Dirty Dishes- Get On the Run

In Sink (Dirty Dishes)

Grant Dermody- Great Change

My Dony (Grant Dermody)

Bett Padgett- In My Life

If I Catch My Dream: songs of hope for a better world (Ceildhe’s Music)

Shari Ulrich- The Sweater

Back to Shore (Borealis)

Stephen Neale will be subbing for me on December 7 so I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on January 4, 2020.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Loudon Wainwright III – Years in the Making

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III

Years in the Making

StorySound Records

lw3.com

storysoundrecords.com

As I’ve noted before, I’ve known Loudon Wainwright III for a long time. I first met – and heard – him when he was married to my friend, the late Kate McGarrigle, in the early-to-mid-1970s. After the marriage broke up, I’d occasionally see him at folk festivals, at Kate’s when he’d come up to Montreal to see their children – Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright – and booked him for a couple of concerts at the Golem when he’d come to town for those visits. In 2000, we sat down and did an extensive and very candid interview on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio show. Most recently, in 2015, we had a nice visit in Clearwater, Florida after a concert he did while Sylvie and I were on vacation there.

Years in the Making is “a comprehensive 2-CD audiobiography” of 45 years’ worth of outtakes, live recordings, radio performances and demos that comes beautifully packaged in a 64-page hardcover book featuring a lifetime’s memorabilia – from Loudon’s birth certificate to the cover page of his will. Among those making cameo appearances on some of the tracks are Kate, ex-partner Suzzy Roche, sister Sloan Wainwright, long-time collaborator Chaim Tannenbaum, Steve Goodman, and all four of his kids – Rufus, Martha, Lucy Wainwright Roche and Lexie Kelly Wainwright.

The songs are sequenced in seven thematic groupings beginning with “Folk.” This set includes some traditional songs, Woody Guthrie’s “Philadelphia Lawyer,” and “Love Gifts,” a Loudenesque parody of “I Gave My Love a Cherry.” My favorite tracks in this section are a sweet version of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” recorded at home in 1974 with Kate on harmony vocals, and a duet with Chaim on “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” from 2008 that I presume is an outtake from High Wide & Handsome, Loudon’s terrific Charlie Poole tribute.

The second section is “Rocking Out,” with most of the tracks dating from the 1970s after Loudon had a commercial hit with “Dead Skunk” (which is not on this album) and he went on the road with rock bands. But the best track in this section is “Cardboard Boxes,” a 1993 live cut about moving with just Loudon on guitar and lead vocals, Chaim on banjo and harmony vocals and David Mansfield on mandolin.

“Kids,” the final section on the first CD begins with a 1986 home recording of “Birthday Poem/Happy Birthday/Animal Song” on which children Rufus, 13, Martha, 10, and Lucy, 4, wish their father a happy 40th birthday. Lexie, Loudon’s youngest child, appears later in this section in a 1999 home recording singing his “Ballad of Famous & Harper,” a precious song about a pair of pet cats. More serious fare includes a 2003 live version of “Your Mother & I,” a song from the ‘80s in which Loudon tries to explain her parents’ breakup to his young daughter (Lucy).

The second CD begins with “Love Hurts,” six songs about love and/or lost love. The finest entry in this section is “Rowena,” which he based on courting letters written by his grandfather to his grandmother in 1918.

A section called “Miscellany” is grab-bag of tracks highlighted by a beautiful version of “Down Where the Drunkards Roll,” one of Richard Thompson’s most stunning songs. Greg Leisz’s pedal steel work on this track is lonesome and lovely; and by “Meet the Wainwrights,” that features Loudon with Lucy, Suzzy, Martha, Rufus and Sloan singing about their relationships with him.

Mike Regenstreif & Loudon Wainwright III (2015)

A short section called “Hollywood,” includes a snippet of an interview with Liza Minelli, in which she remembers “little Loudon, the kid next door,” her childhood neighbor, as well as “Hollywood Hopeful,” a 1975 song describing Loudon’s attempt to break in as an actor, and “Valley Morning,” a song he wrote from Judd Apatow’s film “Knocked Up.”

The final section, “The Big Picture,” kicks off with the hilarious “God’s Got a Shit List,” which you probably won’t be hearing in the radio anytime soon, and finishes with the equally hilarious and equally radio-inappropriate “Birthday Boy,” an a cappella song on which Loudon celebrates his birthday and himself.

Years in the Making might not be the best introduction for someone hearing Loudon for the first time. But it’s a terrific addition to his discography for those of us who have listened to and enjoyed his work over the past (almost) five decades (or parts thereof).

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif