Original air date Nov 30, 2024 | Time 59:00
The Western Hero is an American icon, captured in the music of Neil Young and Crazy Horse in 1994 on the album "Sleeps With Angels". His debut album in 1968 was followed up with a live acoustic concert in Carnegie Hall in 1970. We hear "The Loner" which describes a western hero who lives on his own terms, is critical of society at large and is on the move for change.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released an album "Into the Great Wide Open" and we hear "Two Gunslingers" who wonder what they're fighting for and decide not shoot each other. On his final studio recording in 2014, Hypnotic Eye, we hear "Take What you Can and leave the past behind, we gotta run."
David Crosby released his debut solo album "If I Could Only Remember My Name" in 1970 and we hear "Cowboy Movie". The western hero lives on.
We end the program with new songs from Jesse Welles, from Arkansas. He's following in the footsteps of the singer-songwriters before him and has things he needs to say. Brilliant songs.
Kathy Geary, Host of Now & Then on Radio Catskill, Public Radio for the Catskills and Northeast Pennsylvania