A Reason to Smile

Original air date Feb 3, 2018 | Time 59:00

Music is so powerful. It can lift you up if you look for a reason to smile. If you go looking for a reason to smile you're going to find one.

Paul Simon's song "Punky's Dilemma" from Bookends by Simon and Garfunkle 1989. Biff Rose's second album The Children of Light 1969 is brillant. He wanted to be a stand-up comic in Los Angeles but ends up performing as a singer songwriter, appearing on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show over 12 times.

Getting Ready for Christmas - Paul Simon, Sting, Pete Seeger, Beach Boys

Original air date December 9, 2017 | Time 59:00

Paul Simon "Getting Ready for Christmas Day", "The Afterlife", "Love and Blessings" from "So Beautiful or So What" 2011
Pete Seeger "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" composed by Richard Farina from "God Bless the Grass" 1966, "To My Old Brown Earth" 2010
The Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" composed by Pete Seeger 1965
The Steve Miller Band "Winter Time" from "Book of Dreams" 1977
Sting "Hounds of Winter" composed by Sting from "If On a Winter's Night" 2009
Mick Jagger "Dancing in the Starlight" composed by Mick Jagger from "Goddess in the Doorway" 2001
The Beach Boys "Our Prayer","God Only knows" composed by Brian Wilson from "Pet Sounds" 1966
The Beatles "Across the Universe" 1969

Paul Buckmaster, Composer, Arranger, Conductor: Bowie, Elton John, Rolling Stones, Train, Heart, Grateful Dead

Original air date November 18, 2017 | Time 59:00

Paul Buckmaster, whose orchestral arrangements brought power and poignancy to signature songs by David Bowie, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Carly Simon and countless other rock, pop, country and jazz stars, died on Nov. 7 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 71.

Mr. Buckmaster was something of a child prodigy on the cello and might have made a career solely as a musician, but a few fortuitous introductions connected him to Mr. Bowie and brought him the assignment of arranging “Space Oddity,” the eerie 1969 Bowie song that begins with the lyric “Ground control to Major Tom.”

“One general rule is to hold back as much as possible,” he said, “to give the listener the chance to let the song grow and unfold, introducing new sonic elements, such as new instruments or sectional groupings. If you use everything from the beginning, you have nowhere to go.” - Paul Buckmaster

Walter Becker Memorial, Co-Founder of Steely Dan

Original air date September 2, 2017 | Time 59:00

Walter Becker was the co-founder of Steely Dan. Today's program is a Memorial tribute to him featuring his solo recordings from 1994 and 2008. We hear his spectacular bass playing and singing. We also listen to the timeless work he did with Donald Fagen as Steely Dan. Walter died at this home in Maui on Sept 6, 2017.

Reelin' in the Years - 1972 debut album "Can't Buy a Thrill"
Time Out of Mind (Mark Knopfler on lead guitar) and Babylon Sisters from "Gaucho" 1980
Book of Liars and Little Kawai - from Becker's solo album produced by Fagen "11 Tracks of Whack" 1994
Two Against Nature - title track from Grammy Album of the year 2000
Circus Money - from Becker's solo album "Circus Money" 2008
Deacon Blue from "Aja" 1978