The Kate

From the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, it's The Kate.

What I want you've got and it might be hard to handle I don't think I became involved in music, I think I was somehow born to it.

I made a record of Here Comes Peter Cottontail when I was four years old at Coney Island in a recording booth, and that was just the beginning.

My good gal's trying I remember music before rock 'n roll, Everybody's goin' out and havin' fun which informs a lot of the stuff that I'm doing now.

I studied dropping the needle on an album and listening to the same passage over and over to try to figure it out on the guitar.

I just fell in love with everything that was on the radio and tried to absorb it all.

I would go to the Uptown Theater on Saturday night on North Broad Street, you know, in the black neighborhood, and I would see all the greats, you know, Otis Redding, James Brown, The Miracles, Temptations.

Lay me down a pallet on your floor And I would go to see these great folk performers who were being rediscovered in the early 60's like Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt.

And I started making the connections between this early folk and Delta Blues.

It was just basically moving up the Mississippi River to the urban centers of the North and then becoming rock n' roll.

Mississippi John staring at the sun And now as I'm a bit older I'm digging into that music and I'm remembering it for myself and then trying to add basically 50 years of, of recording and performing experience to that traditional music.

The Arkansas album, it's a feeling.

It's my personal thesis.

I started out by trying to do a tribute to one of my heroes, Mississippi John Hurt.

He was totally unique, especially in his guitar style.

He was a sophisticated player.

So I learned every one of his songs and I started thinking about what defines American popular music.

Oh, police officer, now, how can that be?

Ever since I'd been a little kid, the American South was my touchstone for musical inspiration.

Ready to roll Whether it was the rock n' roll and the R & B, the Sun Record stuff that Elvis was doing, the Stax/Volt stuff and then the stuff that was going on in Muscle Shoals, and then of course, you know, the Delta and New Orleans.

That music resonated with me.

It's really all that I've ever used as a real musical inspiration.

And now I've kind of returned to it to, to honor it and to, in a way, you know, shine a light on it again.

Gotta let it roll on (cheering and applause) We're gonna play some new songs for you from an album called Arkansas , which was inspired by Mississippi John Hurt.

And we're gonna start with one, and it's a gospel tune that back in the day Mississippi John Hurt used to start his shows with this song, and he used to like to say, "Let's put the Lord out front."

Kind of set the mood.

So here we go.

Here am I, Lord send me Here am I, Lord send me Here am I, Lord send me Here am I, oh Lord, send me Here am I (here am I) Lord send me (Lord send me) Here am I (here am I) Lord, send me (Lord, send me) Here am I (here am I) Lord send me (Lord send me) Here am I, oh Lo-o-ord, send me Can you hear my savior callin'?

Who will go, go and work today?

Feels alright and the harvest waitin' We will bear those shields away Here am I (here am I) Lord, send me (Lord, send me) Here am I (here am I) Lord send me (Lord send me) Here am I (here am I) Lord, send me (Lord send me) Here am I, oh Lo-o-ord, send me Whoo!

If you ever, ever speak to an angel If you ever, ever hear them call You will know that the love's forever You can tell that lo-o-ove is all Here am I (here am I) Lord, send me (Lord, send me) Here am I (here am I) Lord send me (Lord send me) Here am I (here am I) Lord, send me (Lord send me) Here am I, oh Lo-o-ord, send me Here am I, oh Lo-o-ord, send me Ooh!

Lord, send me (cheering and applause) So I guess you guys figured you were gonna come here and hear some pop songs tonight, right?

You just didn't know it was gonna be from the early 1920's.

(laughter) Getting back to Mississippi John Hurt, one of his classic songs was a song that has been recorded many, many times, and it's a story of Stagger Lee and Billy de Lyon, and it was a murder that happened in St. Louis way back in the turn of the century-that would be the other century.

That's the one that starts with the 19, that one.

It was the first track that we cut on the, on the new album, and it's one of my favorites and, ah, Stack O Lee, here it goes.

Oh police officer, now, how can that be?

You can 'rest everybody but you afraid of Stack O' Lee He's a bad man, cool old Stack O' Lee Billy de Lyon told Stack O' Lee, "Now please don't take my life "I got three children and a darlin' lovely wife" You a bad man, cruel old Stack O' Lee "I don't care 'bout your children "I don't care about your wife, oh "You done stole my Stetson hat, "now I'm gonna take your life "I'm a bad man" Ooh ooh I said oh-oh, oh-oh With the forty-four Stack O' Lee shot Billy de Lyon, down upon the bar room floor now He's a bad man Hm hm-mm Well the judge said to the jury, "Heck boys, what do you gonna think of that?

"Stack O' Lee shot Billy de Lyon "about a five-dollar Stetson hat" He's a bad man, cruel ol' Stack O' Lee Hey!

Yeah!

Up on the gallows, Stack O' Lee did fuss and cuss The judge said "Boys, better hang him now "before he kills the rest of us" He's a bad man, cruel ol' Stack O' Lee He's a bad man, ooh, cruel ol' Stack O' Lee (cheering and applause) Here's another song from that new album, and this is another one of the originals, and right near the end of the project I started thinking about what we were doing and what was happening on the record, and I realized what I was doing was digging back deep-digging back deep into my past and digging back into this amazing legacy of American music that, that happened in that era.

So this song's called Dig Back Deep.

Alright?

Here we go.

Mississippi John staring at the sun Watching that big Kate Allen go slide on by slide on by Movin' into land Movin' like a man Take your woman any ol' way she can Any ol' way she can Go on and Dig Back Deep enough Back to where you started Deep enough back to where you're heart is comin' Comin' from Dig back deep enough Dig back, dig back deep Easy rider see what you have done You made me love you and now you're goin' on the run Now you're goin' on the run I said slidin' Delta, run right by my door Leavin' here baby Baby don't you want to go Ohhh dig back deep enough Back to where you started Deep enough, back to where your heart is comin Comin' from Dig back deep enough Dig back dig back deep My bags are packed I'm up and gone Honey what you waitin' on?

I wanna dig back, baby Dig back deep enough I said dig back, dig back Dig back deep Back to where you started Dig back, dig back, oh dig back deep, you Oh dig back deep enough Dig back, (dig back) Alright!

Here we go!

Dig back deep, deep enough Dig back deep back, dig back deep back deep Ooooh!

Dig back deep back, baby Ooh!

Oh dig back Oo-ooh Oh dig back deep (cheering and applause) Yeah!

Thank you!

Thank you so much!

Looking at some of these songs, these amazing songs from the earliest days of American popular music, I found out that Mississippi John Hurt was a huge fan of Jimmie Rodgers.

Now Jimmie Rodgers is pretty much acknowledged as the godfather of country music, an influencer for people like Hank Williams and so many others.

And you know, I didn't really think about that, but you know, he had a bit hit on the radio, and it makes perfect sense that someone like Mississippi John Hurt might have heard this song on the radio.

I got a chance to play it for the first time at Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival in Bristol, Tennessee, and I loved the song so much that just so, you know what, this song needs to be on the record.

So here it is - Miss the Mississippi and You .

I'm growing tired of the big city lights Tired of the glamor and tired of the sights And in my dreams I've been roaming once more Far from my home on the old river shore I'm so sad and weary, far away from home I miss the Mississippi and you Mm hm Days are dark and dreary everywhere I roam I miss the Mississippi and you Roaming the wide, wide world over, oh yeah Always alone and blue, so blue Nothing seems to cheer me under heaven's dome I miss the Mississippi and you Mm mm Roamin', roamin' the wide, wide world over Always alone and blue, so blue Mockingbirds are singin' 'round the cabin door I miss the Mississippi and you Mm mm Longing for my homeland But it won't show I miss the Mississippi and you, dear Miss the Mississippi a-a-and you Mm mm (cheering and applause) Another one of the Mississippi John Hurt classics on this project, I thought to myself will be really awesome if I could collaborate with my heroes, and I took a Mississippi John Hurt song that you probably will recognize cause it's been recorded many, many times by many different people, and I just wanted to add a little something of myself to it, which is kind of in the great tradition of the blues-that's what's been happening over the years is everybody's put a little bit of themselves into it but.

It's a, song's called Pallet Soft and Low.

Lay me down a pallet on your floor Lay me down a pallet on your floor Lay me down a pallet, down so soft and low Make me down a pallet on your floor, floor whoa, whoa Lay me down so close behind the door Oh lay it down baby, close behind the door Oh make me down a pallet so close behind the door Make me down a pallet on your floor, floor whoa, floor whoa, floor (cheers and applause) I'm gonna make it soft and low Make me a pallet on your floor I wanna make it soft and low Make me a pallet on your floor I'm gonna make it soft and low, mm, soft and low Make me a pallet on your floor I'm gonna make it soft and low Make me a pallet on your floor, baby, yeah I said, going up the country where it's cold and freeze and snow Colorado Going up the country where it's cold and freezing Well, I'm going to Colorado where it's cold, cold and freezing Ain't no telling how much further I may go - oh Oh-oh Whoa Oh-oh Ain't no tellin' how much further I may go Woo Ah yeah Oh, make me down a pallet on your floor (cheering and applause) That's a little musical time trip, you know?

We're taking you back in time.

So, feels good, right?

(cheers and applause) One of the first things we did together as a band, we took a trip to a little place called Wilson, Arkansas, one of the biggest cotton plantations in America, about 30 miles Northwest of Memphis on the other side of the river, the Mississippi River.

And we went there and played a show and we were all kind of inspired just by being there, and we walked out into the cotton fields in the evening after the show in the moonlight, and Highway 61, the Blues Highway, runs right through the town.

And I thought to myself, this is where this great American music tradition has come up from the Deep South, you know, up to the Northern cities and eventually rock n' roll and all the amazing things that evolved from it.

So I wanted to write a song about that, and went back to Nashville and came up with an idea for a song.

There's a faded glory long the Great River Road In a worn down farm house hangin' on a broke down porch Looking over miles and miles and miles Walk along the Levee silhouetted by a crescent moon When the sun starts rising hit 90 before the clock strikes noon Don't you know the days and nights and dreams drift slowly by Another Delta Dawn brings hope worth waiting on Where that Old Man River flow Past the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas, yeah There's a Long Black Train runnin' on a southbound track Hear that distant whistle blowing when it calls you back To that hard hit Heartland along the muddy shores Where that Old Man River flow There's the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas,yeah Oooh Another Delta Dawn that folks round here been hoping for, oh-oh Where that Old Man River flow Past the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas, yeah Watchin' Old Man River flow-oh oh Watchin' Old Man River flow Past the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas, yeah Watchin' Old man river flow, oh-oh Past the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas, yeah Watchin' Old Man River flow, oh-oh Past the snow white cotton field Ooh yeah Watchin' Old Man River flow oh-oh.

Past the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas, yeah, yeah Watchin' Old Man River flow oh-oh Past the snow white cotton fields of Arkansas, oh (cheering and applause) When I graduated from college in May of 1970, I just thought to myself, I don't know what I'm going to do.

I knew Daryl Hall but we weren't working together.

I kind of busked and hitchhiked around Europe for about four months.

When I came back from Europe in the Fall of 1970, Daryl and I got together and began to work together.

It was about, how do we write a great song?

How do we play these songs for this little group of hippies in downtown Philadelphia?

How do we get a record contract?

And once we got the record contract, how do we go on tour?

How do we get better at playing live?

We'd never had this grand vision of, you know, we're gonna sell a million records, we're gonna play Madison Square Garden, and you know, and, and set the world on fire.

We never wanted to be famous, we just wanted to be good musicians.

And I think to this day, really, I think that's been, that's why we're still around.

It was almost like we grew up in the same family because we met as teenagers.

We experienced so much together through these teenage into our early 20's and 30's that we really, we have this incredible common language and this common memories and common experiences to draw from, which is the thing that binds it together.

And we're also both very committed to music.

Daryl and I are like two leaders of a band rather than a duo.

We really aren't a duo.

What keeps it independent and freer is the fact that we don't get in each other's way.

There's lots of bands who, they feel they should represent their records live-you know, they, they should sound live like their records.

We don't feel that way.

We come from more of an R & B tradition where it's, now it's time to step on the gas.

Around 1982-ish-I was living in Greenwich Village at the time-and went to a hangout where a lot of groovy 80's types would kind of hang out, and into the restaurant comes this gal, and she's absolutely incredibly gorgeous, and she had the foulest mouth on any human being I'd ever heard in my life.

That excited me, in a creative way.

When I was walking home that night I started thinking about, "Man, she would chew you up and spit you out."

Got home, and about 3 o'clock in the morning I start playing this reggae thing, you know, and came up with a little chorus and I thought, "Hey, that's pretty cool."

About that time Daryl and I were getting ready to record, and I played it for him, and he went, "Man," he goes, "That's happening but," he goes, "I think we, this groove would be cooler."

And he started playing bo-gon-gon gonk-gon-gon-gon-gon-da-go n-gon and I'm really glad I listened to him cause it was a big hit.

(laughter) However, tonight we're gonna play the song as if I didn't listen to Daryl Hall.

(laughter and applause) Ah, she'll only come out at night The lean and hungry type Got nothing to do, I've seen her here before Watching and waiting She's in it for you but her eyes are on the door Many have paid to see I said what you think you're getting for free You know the woman is wild A she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar Money's the matter She's in it for love Ain't gonna get too far Oh-oh here she come Watch out boy, gonna chew you up Oh-oh here she come She's a maneater yeh Oh-oh here she come Watch out boy, gonna chew you up Oh-oh here she come She's a maneater oh yeah Wouldn't if I were you Well I know what she can do She's deadly man but she can really rip your world apart Mind over matter The beauty's there but a beast is in her heart Oh-oh here she come Watch out boy, gonna chew you up Oh-oh here she come She's a maneater, yeh Oh-oh here she come Watch out boy, gonna chew you up Oh-oh here she come She's a maneater, maneater Said oh-oh here she come She only come out at night, that's right Oh-oh here she come She's a maneater, yeh Oh-oh here she come The woman is wild I said the woman is wild You better watch out boy Gonna chew you up, gonna spit you out You better leave, you know what I'm talkin' about She's a maneater She's a maneater She gonna chew you up, gonna spit you out You better leave, you know what I'm talkin' about (cheers and applause) Alright!

(applause) What I want you got and it might be hard to handle Like a flame that burns a candle Candle gonna feed the flame What I want full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter Well you pull them all together How, I can't explain Well you, you make my dreams come true Well, well, well, you, yeah you, you make my dreams come true On a night when bad dreams become a screamer When they're messin' with a dreamer I gonna laugh right in your face I'll twist and shout my way out and wrap yourself around me I ain't the way you found me I know I'm never gonna be the same Well you, you make my dreams come true I wake up in the morning with you, every day You make my dreams come true Well listen to this Oh!

I'm down on the daydream Oh that sleepwalk should be over by now, I know You, yeah you, you make my dreams come true Oh every day I've been waiting I've been waiting for you You make my dreams come true I wake up in the morning with you Oh, you make my dream come true Ooh ow, every day I make your dreams come in every way Ooh, I'm in the moment with you You make my dream come true You make my dream come true Woo!

(cheers and applause) Thank you!

This song is called Lose It in Louisiana .

I woke up this morning breakin' in all hot and gray Trying to piece together how I got in these tangled sheets I lay Poundin' head, eyes red, stumble out of bed on the clothes up and down the hall Pretty sure I had a blast last night but the last thing I recall Dancin' down Bourbon Street with a half drunk marching band Fallin' for a dark-eyed girl from Thibodaux, sippin on a one-to-go in my hand Thought I got a little crazy, baby Man I fit right in If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana-oh-ana Nothing left of this broken heart I brought down to New Orleans I found a river boat poker chip and some Mardi Gras beads And a lipstick number on the mirror written under said, "Call me if you stay in town" I got a back home ticket but I think I'm gonna miss it Do a little hangin' around downtown Dancin' down Bourbon Street with a half drunk marching band Fallin' for a dark-eyed girl from Thibodaux, sippin on a one-to-go in my hand Thought I had a little can't-shake heartache Still hangin' in If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana Dancin' down Bourbon with a half drunk marching band Fallin' for a dark-eyed girl from Thibodaux, sippin on a one-to-go in my hand, alright Thought I got a little crazy, baby Man, I fit right in If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Ah, lose it where the saints go marchin' in Mighta got a little crazy, baby Man, I fit right in If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana Mighta had a little can't-shake heartache Still hangin' in If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Lose it in Louisiana If you're gonna lose it (lose it) Go on and lose it, go on and lose it Lose it in Louisiana If you're gonna lose it Mm, if you're gonna lose it, yeah Ooh Gonna lose it If you're gonna lose it If you're gonna lose it, yeah Ah, if you're gonna lose it, yeah If you're gonna lose it, alright Mm mm Lose it in Louisiana (cheers and applause) We've got one more for you.

We've got to end the show with a Chuck Berry song.

Come on.

(cheers) Mm hm.

Now in the heat of the day down in Mobile, Alabama Working on the railroad with a steel drivin' hammer Got to get some money, buy some brand new shoes Got to find somebody take away these blues "She Don't Love You" hear 'em singin' in the sun Pay day comin' and the work is all done Alright!

Woo!

Later in the evening when the sun is sinking low Waiting all day for the whistle to blow Sittin' in a teepee built right on the tracks Rollin' them bones til the foreman come back Pick up your belonging, boys and scatter about Woo!

We got an off-scheduled train comin' two miles out Two miles out, baby Everybody scrambling and running all around Picking up their money, tear the teepee down Foreman 'bout to panic, bout to go insane Trying to get the workers out the way of the train Engineer blowing whistle loud and long, oh yeah Can't stop the train, you gotta let it roll on Let it roll!

(audience rhythmic clapping) Can't stop the train, you gotta let it roll, yeah Woo!

Can't stop the train, you gotta let it roll Can't stop the train, you gotta let it roll Woo hoo hoo, mm mm mm mm Can't stop the train, you gotta let it roll Gotta let it roll on Let it roll Gotta let it roll on Let it roll Gotta let it roll on Let it roll Let it roll on Gotta let it roll Alright!

Let it roll o-on Gotta let it roll on Thank you, good night!

(cheers and applause) Good Road Band.

(cheers and applause) Funding for this program was provided by Whelen Engineering Company.

Whelen is a proud sponsor of The Kate and wishes to voice its ongoing support for Connecticut Public Television, the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, and the Michael J.

Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.