Our thoughts are with families and friends fleeing from the fires close to Los Angeles. One family we know had just finished rebuilding their 1925 Spanish-styled home just before Christmas. Now it’s gone. They’ll start again.
I’m starting this Stew with a salute to Slim Harpo, who was Born on January 11, 1924. He left many songs behind, but two were so outstanding that they get covered every year.
(One of the first songs the Rolling Stones ever recorded was I’m a King Bee.)
Anyway, those two songs were: I’m a King Bee and Baby, Scratch my Back. There were lots of cover choices, but I decided to play Slim Harpo himself and Whitehorse.
Neil Young has a place in this week’s Stew.
Winter Winds from his archives
k.d.lang sings After the Goldrush
The Byrds bring Cowgirl in the Sand
Six live tracks in Hour Two
A GREAT 10th Ave freeze out live by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band for Clarence Clemon’s birthday. “when the big man joined the band”
Dave Mathews Band – newly inducted into the Rock Hall
Kris Kristofferson at Bob Fest MS Garden NYC
Van Morrison Madame George Live at Hollywood Bowl.
And The Stew ends with Little Feat and two tracks from their brilliant live album Waiting for Columbus
Our guest is Oscar Lopez. 2 time Juno winner. 10 albums released.
Nothing usual about the words above, except that for several years Oscar had disappeared! From entertainment, media and life itself.
This interview is his way of explaining how he went from winning two Juno awards and walking onto stages with loving audiences to living in his car on the streets of Calgary.
Through tears, Oscar talks about the dark years he’s been through.
Mental and alcohol battles. Second guessing himself.
Oscar Lopez
With the help of his family members and an overflowing GoFundMe effort, he’s finally found the peace and strength to find a place to call home and return to the stage. Jan 17/18 at La Bodeguita Stereo in Calgary
The complete Oscar Lopez story can be heard on the Mulligan Stew podcast and TerryDavidMulligan YouTube channel.
PLAYLIST:
Mulligan Stew – Guest Oscar Lopez
Terry David Mulligan
mulliganstewdotca
Pity the Fool (live)
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Let me get by (deluxe)
God and Johnny Walker
Micky Jupp
Times like these
Gasoline and matches
Buddy and Julie Miller
Written in chalk
Some kinda nerve
Madeleine Roger
NERVE
Little Wing
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Archives
The Stew – The Guest: Oscar Lopez
Coming UP – Gord’s Gold and Leo Kottke
TDM
Cold on the shoulder
Gordon Lightfoot
Gord’s Gold
World Turning
Leo Kottke
World Turning
Suite Judy Blue Eyes (live)
CSN and Young
Live at Fillmore 1969
Deane House – River Cafe
Tonight’s Guest – Oscar Lopez
Next – The Killer – Fats-The Georgia Peach
Who will the next fool be (live)
Jerry Lee Lewis
The Killer Live 64-70
Rip it up
Little Richard
Best of
Ain’t that a shame
Fats Domino
Essential
Mulligan Stew Year 29
coming up – Kansas City and The Hip
CKUA
Kansas City
Wilbert Harrison
Kansas City
Boots or hearts
The Tragically Hip
Up to here (deluxe)
Mulligan Stew Year 29
Guest in Hour Two – Oscar Lopez
TDMulligan
Bring this song
Stephen Fearing
The Empathist
Sometimes I wonder
T Bone Burnett (Colin Linden)
The Other Side
This hearts my heavy load
Tom Wilson
Tehohahke
Stop and listen
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
O Glory
Bluephoria
Larkin Poe
Little Bit
Coyotes Banff
Coming Up – Oscar Lopez Interview
Next – the original Fleetwood Mac and Bob and The Band
I hope you had a Happy Holiday.
Now comes year-end and “the Eve”. I couldn’t get them all in but Saturday’s Year End Stew features 12 clips from 2024 guest interviews.
Most are a minute or so but they all have strong comments.
Kris Kristopherson – Wonderful singer/songwriter. Even better man. Drummer Russ Kunkel – a living history of popular music. Bridget Kearney – Lake Street Dive Blue Rodeo – Greg and Jim on songwriting Hall of Fame induction Adrian Sutherland. – Speaking for his James Bay Cree. Rhiannon Giddens – at Edmonton Folk Fest. Robert Finley – Blues Elder is at the same festival. Corb Lund – El Viejo Blue Moon Marquee – how they found their sound in Montreal. Colin James – taking ownership of his career. Bahamas – Afie talks Bootcut Madeline Roger – how she and The Fretless connected.
Enjoy my friends.
It’s a journey !! Happy New Year to y’all
-TDM
PLAYLIST:
The Year End Mulligan Stew
Revisiting 12 Interview guests from 2024
CKUA Radio
While my guitar gently weeps
The Beatles
The White Album
The Year End Stew
A Dozen Interview guests from 2024
NEXT – Corb Lund
Beast of Burden
The Rolling Stones
Some Girls
Got to be you
The Bros. Landreth
for you, live
Corb Lund clip
with TDMulligan
Coming UP -Blue Moon Marquee
El Viejo
Corb Lund
El Viejo
The Year End Stew
featuring Interview guests from 2024
Coming UP – Garth Hudson and Neil Young
This wheels on fire
Garth Hudson, Neil Young & Sadies
Garth Hudson Presents A Canadian Celebration. The Band (10th Ann)
It’s our first-ever TransCanada Christmas – starring the TransCanadaHighwaymen
Steven Page – BNLadies and Steven Page Trio
Moe Berg – Pursuit of Happiness
Craig Northey – Odds and Steven Page Trio
Chris Murphy – Sloan
Great friends, each with his own band and career.
What they have in common is an appreciation of the music they grew up with and a much welcomed sense of humour.
These Christmas sessions began in the ’70s at CBC Vancouver with Producer Susan Englebert: Shari Ulrich, Valdy, Terry Frewer, Roy Forbes, and a number of guests.
That Christmas Jam was 5-6 years of gathering around a series of microphones, playing Christmas songs and telling Christmas stories. Such fun.
Sadly, we lost our friend Susan to cancer and the Christmas show to time itself.
The concept returned at Roundhouse Radio in Vancouver in 2015 and we enjoyed three years of Christmas in the Round with Barney Bentall and his assorted friends.
We’ve played all three years on past Christmas Stews.
Now comes CKUA’s turn to host the same tradition.
Each Highwayman brings a Christmas song and stories of past Christmas tales.
5 songs in total. Craig Northey’s was co-written with Brent Butt of Corner Gas. Steven’s is about cheese logs. Chris’s is about kids coming home and Moe’s is the Christmas Classic Mistletoe and Holly. They finish with Do they know it’s Christmas.
Thank you to Arianne Smith, Duke Paetz, Jasmine Vickaryous and Brendan Cross for providing their considerable production skills to bringing this show to air. Amazing work.
Also to Corey Wood for his skills and friendship in the edit and graphic studio work here on Vancouver Island.
Hour one is jammed with The Pogues, Mumford and Sons, John Reid, a brand new Dan Mangan Christmas song, William Prince, Bros. Landreth, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Jill Barber, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays ALL – Love being part of your lives!!
TDM
PLAYLIST:
The Christmas Stew
The Trans Canada Christmas Vol 1
With Moe, Craig, Steven and Chris
Santa Clause is coming
The Tractors
Have yourself a Tractor’s Christmas
Christmas must be tonight
Amy Helm & Wood Bros
Give Love
Havana Santa
Mike Farris
single
Go tell it on the Mountain
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
20th century masters
Trans Canada Christmas
In Hour Two of the Stew
with Steven Page, Chris Murphy, Moe Berg & Craig Northey
Each brings a song and stories. Editing zoom video for TDM YouTube Channel.
This WEEK
Christmas songs from
Ben Folds, Keb Mo, Norah Jones, Etta James, Margo Price, and Michael Buble from donors.
New music from William Prince, The Bros. Landreth and a first play anywhere for Dan Mangan – A Christmas Song (live)
Colin James, Elvis, Robert Earl Keen, Tom Waits, Skydiggers, Bruce Cockburn, Hawksley Workman, Blue Rodeo, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Sample and a sack full more.
Saturday is December 7. So…first Saturday on the holiday season but too early to be playing Christmas music. Right?
Holiday music seems to have a really short shelf life. Two weeks? Ten days? At least a week?
But once you set it in motion, it all seems to work—unless it’s just not for you.
There’s enough of us on air @CKUA to embrace the time of year and willingly share with anyone listening. I’m always looking for songs that don’t really mention Christmas but reflect the feeling the season brings. For example, River-Joni Mitchell.
The Dec 21 Stew will feature The Trans Canada Highwaymen in the first-ever Trans Canada Christmas.
Moe Berg (Pursuit of Happiness)
Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies and Steven Page Trio)
Craig Northey (Odds and Steven page Trio)
Chris Murphy (Sloan)
All four bring a song and a story. How they spend Christmas. Family traditions. Where they spend Holidays and why they picked the songs they did.
Next Friday- the Bros. Landreth release their next album for you, live. And we’ll be talking to The Bros. Saturday on The Christmas Stew. Also includes prime seasonal songs, including one from Dan Mangan that’s never been broadcast.
THIS Saturday – New music from The Band, Lucinda Williams, The Sheepdogs, Lucas Roger & Madeleine Roger each with their own music, and The Harpoonist.
We salute Tom Waits (his birthday) Sam Cooke (his birthday) and Otis Redding who recorded Dock of the Bay Dec 7 1967 – three days before he died in a small plane crash.
Barney Bentall, LeeRoy Stagger, U2 and John Lennon (assassinated Dec 8, 1980 )
A great Mike Farris track, Talking heads, Tedeschi Trucks, Nathaniel Rateliff, The Meters, Toots and the Maytals and a classic from Grand Funk.
And we start with the donor suggested Stevie Ray Vaughn.
With Holiday songs & family stories sung & told by Moe Berg, Steven Page, Chris Murphy and Craig Northey from Trans Canada Highwaymen!
But First – This Saturday 2 hours of music. Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke and Lou Rawls, Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Begonia, Boz, Hawksley and Jackson Browne.
New music from CSN&Y, Lucinda Williams, Little Feat, Bros. Landreth, Willie Nelson, The Red Clay Strays and Coward Brothers.
Begonia, Hawksley Workman, Tom Petty, Jeff Healey, Norah Jones etc. Check out the playlist below.
Enjoy!!!
He’s on stage Saturday with The Jim Cuddy band at National Art Center Ottawa and Wednesday next at Massey Hall.
Then Jim and Blue Rodeo partner Greg Keelor head for The Whistler Film Fest Dec 6-8
For the premier of their documentary Lost Together.
2025 will be a celebration of Blue Rodeo’s 40th anniversary.
Lots to talk about. Complete interview on Mulligan Stew Podcast and terrydavidmulligan YouTube channel
Heads up.
Hour Two was recorded during the wind storm. Only thing working was an ancient turntable and one cd player.
So….Hour Two of The Stew is Old School Radio. OLD School.
Turns out – being on-air from 5-7pm on the CKUA Saturday schedule…meant we become the opening act for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
They went on stage in Calgary after listening to The Stew. Perfect!!
We begin with what Bruce started with the Calgary show with – She’s the One – from Born to Run and we follow it with his latest single and the song he closed the show with in Toronto 3 hours later….
I’ll see you in my dreams. 28 songs in one night.
Hour Two starts with Reason to Believe (live) and is followed by a select number of Grammy nominees that we play
Sue Foley – T-Bone Burnett, Beyoncé, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Mark Knopfler and 60 years later The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
New tracks from The Tragically Hip, Lucinda Williams Meets the Beatles, Willie Nelson.
And three classic tracks
Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland was #1 in Nov 1968
Van Morrison released Astral Weeks in Nov 1968
And we finish this Stew with Eric Clapton and Wynton Marsalis doing an epic version of Howling Wolf’s Forty Four – Live at Jazz at Lincoln Centre.
The Band made up of the best musicians in New Orleans studios and street performers.
Barney Bentall is bringing The Last Roundup through the West. Next Friday at Bella Hall in Calgary.
It’s the final tour of the Caribou Express.
Over 20 years of seasonal touring, Barney and various members of Caribou Express raised Millions for charities all across Canada.
Especially, serious money for food banks late in the year when they really need it.
Barney gives us an update on the last lineup, the lives of his Express friends over the years and final thoughts on what lies ahead for the rocker and rancher.
Complete interview on Mulligan Stew Podcast and YouTube
www.barneybentall.com
We also salute Quincy Jones and fill the two hours with MUSIC.