This week's broadcast of Mountain Stage is a special episode featuring songs that represent the four seasons of the year. You'll hear live performances by Doc Watson, Bruce Hornsby, Susan Werner, Molly Tuttle, Taj Mahal, Norah Jones and many more.
Mountain Stage at 30: Songs From The Doc (Part One)
Listen
Share this Article
Probably–well, not probably, most definitely–the most fun part of producing a documentary on 30 years of Mountain Stage is getting to cull through the archives of 2,000 hours of live performance radio. It’s daunting, humbling, and exciting all in one. There’s music recorded on virtually every format: reel to reel, DAT, miniDisc–you name it–they’ve got it on that medium.
Some of the archive more accessible than other parts, and sometimes it is necessary digitize the tapes in real time (meaning a 2-hour show takes 2 hours to “dub”). But, never fear, the Mountain Stage crew is planning to digitize their entire archive and will soon make every bit of it available to the public. If you’re interested and have the means, you can help them out with this endeavor.
So, without any further adieu, here’s part one in a series to be rolled out over the holidays–enjoy!
Larry Groce – “Junk Food Junkie”
Long before Mountain Stage began, Texas native Larry Groce landed in central West Virginia as a musician-in-residence with the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1976, “Junk Food Junkie” shot up on the charts, reaching #9 on the Billboard Top 100. Groce toured the country in support of the single and landed on national radio and television programs, including The Dick Clark Show, The Rich Little Show, and The Merv Griffin Show.
Bob Thompson – “Take the ‘A’ Train”
Also before Mountain Stage came into being, Andy Ridenour of West Virginia Public Radio produced live music events around Charleston. One of the first acts was local jazz pianist Bob Thompson. While this version of “Take the ‘A’ Train” was recorded live on Mountain Stage in 2004, I felt it was a safe enough bet that Thompson has been performing it for years. And plus, everyone loves some Bob Thompson.
BobThompson_TaketheATrain.mp3
Bob Thompson – "Take the 'A' Train"
Larry Groce – “West Virginia Hills”
With hopes of putting on a regularly scheduled program, Mountain Stage creators Larry Groce, Andy Ridenour, and Francis Fisher put together a one-off pilot show in March 1981. Athough they lacked a proper theme song on the pilot episode, Ridenour and Groce introduced the show with the chorus of state’s official song, “West Virginia Hills”.
Pilot_WestVirginaHills.mp3
"West Virginia Hills" – Performed as the show opener by Larry Groce on the pilot episode of Mountain Stage in March 1981.
Larry Groce & Company – “Mountain Stage Theme”
Although today’s audiences of Mountain Stage recognize the show’s current theme as “Simple Song”, the earliest days of the show featured a theme song that was much different. Here’s the first version of the Mountain Stage Theme from the December 1983 broadcast, the first one the show produced that kicked off the show’s official beginning.
ThemeSong_1983FirstShow.mp3
The Mountain Stage Theme Song from the first broadcast – December 11, 1983
Editor’s Note: Mountain Stage at 30: Songs From the Doc is a multi-part series that serves as a companion to a recent documentary that details the history of the show. Stay tuned to wvpublic.org as the series is rolled out over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
WVPB's Matt Jackfert speaks with harper, composer and producer Maeve Gilchrist. They discuss her compositions, the Silkroad Ensemble and the group's upcoming performance.
On this West Virginia Morning, Sue and Stan Jennings for 30 years have run Allegheny Treenware, a company that makes wooden kitchen utensils. But they started off as a couple of coal miners. Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has more.
On this West Virginia Morning, violets bloom across Appalachia throughout spring, but the flowers are more than just some extra color in the yard. They’ve long been a key ingredient in herbal remedies.
On this West Virginia Morning, the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, which caused the deaths of 29 miners, happened 14 years ago. Ashton Marra worked for WVPB at the time and covered the trial of Don Blankenship, CEO of the company that owned the mine. Briana Heaney sat down with Marra to talk about what it was like being a reporter covering the trial.