Friday Night/ Another Country

I’d like to pretend it was an interview, but really was just a conversation. It was a couple of weeks ago now when Willy Vlautin came in for that ‘chat.’ I think originally we thought it would be a 15 minute segment in the show. It turned into the second half of the programme and even Richard had to edit it down. I asked Willy about records he made, artists he loves and we talked about his new book “Lean On Pete.”

It won’t surprise you to find out that Bruce Springsteen and Merle Haggard came up in the chat but it might intrigue you to know that he talked about much more than these people. A man of great taste and total honesty – a lovely combination.  It was a real pleasure to be in the company of such a good man and great songwriter. All that from 9 . But before that….

We go on a real road trip. The Low Anthem, Woody Guthrie, John Prine and The Felice Brothers just some of the highlights.

Sundays with Ricky Ross

On Sunday we discuss the current Citizens Production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie. We look at International Woman’s Day 100 years on.

Also…What happens in Disaster Zones when the cameras move on? In the last week the tragedy that is unfolding in Chile will inevitably draw the focus away from the people of Haiti. So what’s going on there now? I’ll also be talking to Alistair Urquart , The Forgotten Highlander whose memoirs of  being a Japanese prisoner and witnessing Nagasaki at close quarters have recently caused such a stir.

Oh…and as always there will be music. Danny Wilson, Aztec Camera from Scotland and more. All from Sunday BBC Scotland at 8 a.m.

I’m not going to have time to do n extensive blog, but this is a short note to announce that I’m back on Sunday mornings.
We’ll have the usual variety of topics and discussions that centre around religion, ethics and morality.

Tomorrow (Sunday 28th Feb) we will discuss the modern way of death, on a similar theme Jolyon Mitchell discusses the film, “The Lovely Bones,” Rosa Murray and Maureen Sier talk about religious fasting seasons and Dominic Smart tells us about the Test Of Faith tour which tries to show that religion and science are not at logger-heads.
Music from Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Rodney Crowell and Teenage Fanclub. BBC Radio Scotland 8 – 9 a.m.

My little boy came into the room while I was writing this. Is that Johnny Cash dad? I asked him what he knew and he told me that a friend in his class and he had been discussing music they loved. They both loved \’Ain\’t No Grave.\’ Believe me when I tell you that this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the man we are about to salute.

It seems that we’re finally getting round to something that’s been looming for a long while. On Friday we are going to spend the two hours that Radio Scotland has given us on Johnny Cash. I naively wondered what we’d do with the time a while back there. Then my producer, Richard  asked me for a list of favourite JC tracks and I realised if we were both going to be happy we’d need to take over the airwaves for the whole evening…there’s a thought!

So for good or bad we have two hours in and around the music of Johnny Cash with tributes from friends of the programme as well as an exclusive long chat with Johnny’s only son, John Carter. The excuse (as if we needed one) is the release of American VI – Aint No Grave for which John Carter has acted as associate producer, but the reason is more fundamental. Johnny Cash was part of a huge dynasty of music which goes back to the very first recordings of what we now call country. That music was gospel and rythm and folk and blues and eventually rock ‘n’ roll. Johnny himself was one quarter of the most potent rock ‘n’ roll roster of all time and even now there will be arguments about which one of the Presley, Perkins, Lewis, Cash quartet was the greatest. I wouldn’t begin to try. Competition has no place in the arts for me. Let’s just be glad we have the recordings. And if you’re still not sure….try this

What is particular interesting in the case of Johnny is the fact that his career re ignited in the last years of his life. This wasn’t because he was suddenly on a cool label with a cool producer. It was because that producer decided to do what great producers do; allow the artist to shine through on his own merits. This might explain further.

The singer became the star and anything that got in the way of that voice and the story of these songs was quietly rubbed out. Johnn Cash himself had the idea of singing these songs in that stripped down fashion long before he’d ever met Rick Rubin.

Unfortunately he was then on a record label who’d long forgotten about why they’d signed him in the first place.

On Friday we will play music written and performed by Johnny Cash, music that inspired and influenced Johnny Cash and hear the voices of artists who continue to be influenced by the Man In Black. In my opinion that two hours is going to be worth our license fee alone.

Lest we forget too, Johnny’s life was never straight forward….

One last story. A couple of years ago I visited a boy in hospital. He was the same age as my 2nd eldest daughter. He’d been in hospital for months as he’d suffered a spinal injury paralysing his lower body and limiting the use of his hands. We chatted for a while then I explained I had to go. I was doing a radio programme that night. Was there any country music he might like? Yes, he said, Johnny Cash.