Bill and Bob marked 8 years on the air (Jan. 22, 2014) by saluting the Bengals (and superfan friend-of-the-show Kathy Greiner) with “Eye of the Tiger” after their playoff win, and celebrating the birthdays of Janinne Thompson, Robert Palmer and Janis Joplin. For all you Blue Snakes & Banjos superfans, check out our very first show.
After wishing daughter Kate, a New Year’s Day baby, happy birthday, Bill finishes the list of best music he heard and saw in 2021, including a number of artists who were unknown to him at this time last year.
Kate Thompson joined her dad in the studio while Bob was relaxing on the beach between holidays. Kate, who grew up listening to WEBN in the car with her mom, showed her love of hard rock with a group of artists never heard before on the show.
Bob and Bill paid tribute to Michael Nesmith, the former member of the Monkees, who made important music after leaving the made-for-television band in the 1960s, notably with his First National Band. In addition, the guys played their favorite songs of the year.
Great friend of the show Jack Greiner dropped in to advocate for the induction of Loggins and Messina into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bob mocked the notion. John Densmore’s birthday also was observed, and recently passed Dave Frishberg was honored. Sadly, our intrepid heroes had to play an unscheduled round of studio roulette because of a special board meeting, so the second half of the show was lost to the ether for all but devoted bootleggers out there. And Bob’s incisive explication of the lyrics to “Box of Rain” is available only in his notes. Nevertheless, about one hour of truly erudite persuasion was captured on the website for all time — or for however long the internet lasts, whichever is longer.
Bob braved a ghost in the machine which apparently choked on all of the love, gratitude and great music that poured forth. Before he noticed the Overflow Error, some tracks and Bob’s insightful commentary were lost to the ether — what radio was meant to be. Nevertheless, he and the listeners were grateful for Sam & Dave, Slim Harpo, the Band of Heathens, Neil Young, Blind Boy Fuller, the Tillers, Leroy Washington, and more who musically stuffed and carved the succulent butterball that is BS&B.
Bob called Bob Dylan’s show at the Aronoff Center last week the third-best he has seen, while Bill plugged the posting of BS&B’s earliest shows on BlueSnakesandBanjos.com. But the highlight was music from Riddy Arman, a Montana ranchhand/singer-songwriter who is coming to the Southgate House Revival Dec. 5.
Bill returned after recovering from routine surgery last month. After recounting the ordeal in excruciating detail, he explained that the best medicine was Rodney Crowell at Memorial Hall. Meanwhile, Bob celebrated the 91st birthday of Mabel John, a former Raelette and the sister of Little Willie John, the King Records artist.
Bob was lonely while Bill was housebound, flat on his back, so Bob crammed the studio with music from the Velvet Underground, Chuck Prophet, Whitney Rose. Lots of tangentially Halloween tunes, too.
Bob paid tribute the late, great Tom Petty, who would have been 71 today if not for his shocking death in 2017. Meanwhile, Bill became intrigued with Alan Parsons while watching a PBS documentary on Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
