Tony Tost's America

Episode 9 | "I'm Not the Devil, Just a Dude"

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Tony Tost's America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America: "Who Stole the Marker From the Grave of Bonnie Parker?" Gene Summers "Seven Nation Army," The Oak Ridge Boys Lucius Tate is feeling generous "Bargain Basement Dress," Loretta Lynn "She's Got No Hair," Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup "Yodeling Robot," Ed Sanders "Lonely Coming Down," Dolly Parton Elvis has fun with his mouth "Polk Salad Annie," Elvis Presley "The Weight," Jackie DeShannon "Two Cigarettes in an Ashtray," Patsy Cline "You Belong to Me," The Duprees Judy Garland chisels out a halo "Flirted With You All My Life," Vic Chesnutt Peter Finch's purrs & prophecies (the medium is the maestro) "You Already Love Me," Toby Keith "So You Want to Be an Indian," Marty Stuart "Kaw-Liga," Rusty & Doug Kershaw "My Quadroon," Jerry Lee Lewis Johnny Cash, philosopher and seeker "Come on Joe," George Strait "I Got Loaded," Los Lobos "I'm a Man," Bo Diddley "A Knife and a Fork," Kip Anderson Queen Bee, citizen of the world "Stackolee," Samuel L. Jackson Gertrude Stein on repetition, being, variation, repetition "Hillbilly Wolf," Link Wray "Sing Me Back Home," Keith Richards "Think It Over," Jimmy Donley

Episode 8 | "Come Back Woody Guthrie, Come Back to Us Now"

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Welcome to Tony Tost's America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America: "California (I'm Comin')," Little Richard "Old Dog Blue," Jim Jackson "Gospel Snakes," Lonnie Glosson Jim Jones speaks at Jonestown "Mother's Last Word to Her Son," Washington Phillips "Who's Gonna Be Your Man," Ella Jenkins Rev. J.M. Gates discusses the reason for the season Rev. Jimmy Swaggart analyzes the issue of motherhood "Delia's Gone," Johnny Cash "St. James Infirmary," Bobby 'Blue' Bland "Blue Moon Baby," Dave 'Diddle' Day "I'm Gonna Join the Army," Silas Hogan Stokely Carmichael talks about the learning curve of the white community "Color Song (I Lost My Love)," Jean Shepard "The Mercenary Song," Steve Earle "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train," Guy Clark "Casino," Marty Stuart Alice Notley gauges and assuages "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)," Willie Nelson & Calexico "Jesus Was Our Savior and Cotton Was Our King," Billy Joe Shaver "Searching for a Soldier's Grave," Kitty Wells Eugene V. Debs dreams a little dream "Christmastime in Washington," Steve Earle "Dialogue" & "Cut the Thievin' Hands Off the IRS," Ajay Lowery "Pig at Home in a Pen," The Stanley Brothers "Harlan County," Jim Ford Johnny Cash picks up a hitchhiker "Going to Memphis," Johnny Cash "Are You Washed in the Blood?" Jim & Jesse

Episode 2 | "Stick Out Your Can, Here Comes the Garbage Man"

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:55:00 +0000

My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America: Set 1 Love’s Endless War, Don Williams Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line, Buck Owens & His Buckaroos George and the North Woods, Dave Dudley Dark Moon, Loretta Lynn In the Hills of Shiloh, Bobby Bare (Tony Tost travels all night so to measure just one of America's wounds) Set 2 Down on the Banks of the Ohio, the Blue Sky Boys She’s Making Whoopee in Hell Tonight, Lonnie Johnson The (New) Call of the Freaks, Luis Russell & His Orchestra Cocksucker Blues, the Rolling Stones Uncle Dave’s Beloved Solo, Uncle Dave Macon (Tony Tost gazes at the subliminal fireworks) Set 3 Long Black Limousine, Connie Smith Cocaine Carolina, Johnny Cash Ten Years of This, Gary Stewart Snakes Crawl at Night, Charley Pride Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone), Tanya Tucker (Tony Tost reads an excerpt from a book about Johnny Cash) Set 4 Sermon, Jerry Lee Lewis Angel of Death, Hank Williams How Far Am I From Canaan, Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers Lovesick Blues, Emmett Miller Blue Yodel #9, Jimmie Rodgers (Tony Tost wonders: O America, where is thy sting?) Set 5 Jesus Gave Me Water, Blind Boys of Mississippi Cocaine Habit Blues, Memphis Jug Band Feel Like Going Home, Charlie Rich Night Train to Memphis, Jerry Lee Lewis

Episode 3 | "I Want Your Head to Hang On My Wall Tonight"

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:08:00 +0000

My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America. Set 1 Union Avenue, “Ace of Spades” Wanda Jackson, “Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad” Hasil Adkins, “No More Hot Dogs” Bobbie Gentry, “Sermon” (Tony Tost plays Dionysus to America’s Apollo) Set 2 Elvis Presley, “An American Trilogy” U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, “Rye Whiskey” Charlie Rich, “Don’t Put No Headstone on My Grave” John Fahey, “On the Sunny Side of the Ocean” (Like a politician at a touch table, Tony Tost is delighted to feel America again) Set 3 John Anderson, “Wild and Blue” Dolly Parton, “The Mystery of the Mystery” Washington Phillips, “I Had a Good Mother and Father” Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” (Our immersive digital environment demands new responses from America; what does it mean to be Tony Tost in the Internet age?) Set 4: Pee Wee King, “Plantation Boogie” Maddox Brothers & Rose, “That’ll Learn Ya Durn Ya” Jean Shepard, “Twice the Lovin’ (In Half the Time)” George Jones, “I’m Gonna Burn Your Playhouse Down” Johnny Cash, “Folgers Commercial” Guy Clark, “Instant Coffee Blues” (Tony Tost uses his own subjectivity to make this podcast a container that America may pour itself into; he cares little for the outcome) Set 5: Anita Carter, “As the Sparrow Goes” Norman Blake, “The Minstrel Boy to the War has Gone/Ash Grove” Bonnie “Blue” Billy, “Little Boy Blue” Laura Cantrell, “The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter” (Tony Tost embraces his guilty nation) Set 6: Iris DeMent, “Sweet Is the Melody” Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean” (vocal demo) Thank you for visiting Tony Tost's America.

Episode 7 | "Today Thou Shalt Be With Me in Paradise"

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:05:00 +0000

Welcome to Tony Tost's America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America: "My Rifle, My Pony and Me," Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson "My Life," Iris DeMent "Julia Miller," Richard Buckner "The Merry Golden Tree," Jean Ritchie Johnny Cash contemplates the plow, the spirit, & like labors "The Royal Palm," Abner Jay "Black Eye Blues," Ma Rainey "Bloodshot Eyes," Wynonie Harris "Big Boss Man," Elvis Presley "Sheldon Church Yard," Larry John Wilson Charlton Heston briefly ascends so to map a battlefield "Jailbait," Andre Williams "Mrs. Leroy Brown," Loretta Lynn "Poor But Ambitious," Wilmoth Houdini Amiri Baraka speaks, verily, to the fire that surrounds him "Sobbin' Woman Blues," Elizabeth Johnson "Lonely Tombs," The Stanley Brothers "Release Me," Charlie Feathers "Song Man," Tanya Tucker "Old Kentucky Home," Johnny Cash "When Your House Is Not a Home," Patsy Cline "The Ballad of Susan Smith," Lee Ann Brown "Too Long at the Fair," Bonnie Raitt "This Little Girl of Mine," Ray Charles "Woody," The Miller Sisters Linh Dinh wipes his chin and addresses a hungry nation "Book of Daniel," David Koresh "Ride Billy Ride," Bob Dylan Thank you for visiting Tony Tost's America.

Episode 6 | "Does the Mystery Deepen?"

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Welcome to Tony Tost's America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America. Set 1 "Parchman Farm Blues," Bobbie Gentry "Another Man Done Gone," Johnny Cash with Anita Carter "No Time to Cry," Merle Haggard "Mammy's Boogie," Les Paul and Mary Ford "Highplains Jamboree," Terry Allen Tony Tost takes a ride across a mythic geography, from one ear to the other. Set 2 "El Paso City," Marty Robbins "Friday Night Blues," John Conlee "Rose Colored Glasses," JD Crowe & the New South (vocals: Keith Whitley) "Saw Mill Man," Cast King George C. Scott addresses and provokes a weary, war loving nation. Set 3 "Dark as a Dungeon," Merle Travis "Albert Erving," Porter Wagoner "Train of Love," Bob Dylan "Mr. Bojangles," George Burns Tony Tost: "Say goodnight, America." America: "Goodnight, America." Set 4 "Queen of the Coast," Laura Cantrell "The Hyphen," John Wayne "Werewolf," Cat Power "Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?," Blind Alfred Reed "Strange Things Are Happening Every Day," Sister Rosetta Tharpe Tony Tost takes a detour into brotherly love (nothing sounds better than blood on blood). Set 5 "Bury Me on the Lonesome Prairie," The Delmore Brothers "The Dying Boy's Prayer," The Blue Sky Boys "I Wish It Had Been a Dream," The Louvin Brothers "East Virginia Blues," The Stanley Brothers "I Wonder if I Care as Much," The Everly Brothers

Episode 5 | "We Won't Be Safe Till Everybody's Dead"

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Welcome to Tony Tost’s America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America. Set 1: The Delmore Brothers, “’Dis Train” Bob Dylan, “Blind Willie McTell” Wilmoth Houdini, “Uncle Jo Gimmie Mo’!” Jimmie Rodgers, “Gambling Bar Room Blues” Slim Gaillard, “Slim’s Jam” Tony Tost moves armies across a map of the imagination with a wave of his hand. Set 2: The Carter Family, “Single Girl Married Girl” Jimmy Murphy, “Mother Where Is Your Daughter Tonight” Bobbie Gentry, “Fancy” Skeets Tolbert, “Those Draftin’ Blues” JB Lenoir, “I’m in Korea” Pete Seeger & the Almanac Singers, “Ballad of October 16” Tony Tost reads from Colin Escott’s Good Rockin’ Tonight. Set 3: Charlie Feathers, “Can’t Hardly Stand It” James Luther Dickinson, “Dixie Fried” Tami Lynn, “Mojo Hannah” Jerry Lee Lewis, “The Crawdad Song” Tony Tost finds a place for the dearly departed in his America, considers statuary and song. Set 4: Billy Lee Riley, “Trouble Bound” Stoney Edwards, “Poor Folks Stick Together” Richard Pryor, “Bicentennial Nigger” Sister Albertha Lewis Harris, “Mean Old Jews Who Crucified My Lord” Tony Tost fires people he doesn’t even know. Set 5: Abner Jay, “I’m So Depressed” Son House, “Fo’ Clock Blues” George Jones, “Take Me Back to Tulsa” Hank Williams Jr, “Ballad of Hank”

Episode 4 | "The Soul Saving Station"

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:47:00 +0000

Everyone get on the bus. Bring a weapon, a barnyard animal, and a few good lines. We're gonna save our souls tonight. Welcome to Tony Tost's America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America: Set 1 Big Maybelle, “Ocean of Tears” Billie Jo Spears, “Get Behind Me Satan and Push” Leonard Cohen, “Don’t Go Home With Your Hard On” Carl Story, “You Don’t Love God (If You Don’t Love Your Neighbor)” (Tony Tost is authorized by the soul saving station to perform such duties consistent with his special advisory position) Set 2 Johnny Burnette Trio, “The Train Kept A-Rollin’” Jerry Lee Lewis, “Honey Hush” Billy Lee Riley, “Saturday Night Fish Fry” The Blenders, “Don’t Fuck Around With Love” (Tony Tost explains: America leads a life of allegory; its works are comments upon it) Set 3 Sister Wynona Carr, “Dragnet for Jesus” Skeets McDonald, “The Tattooed Lady” John Anderson, “Tokyo, Oklahoma” The Rio Rockers, “Mexicali Baby” Little Walter & Baby Face Leroy, “Rollin’ & Tumblin’ (Part 1) (Charles Manson discusses doors, perfection, and conditioning.) Set 4 John Phillips, “She’s Just 14” Tanya Tucker, “Blood Red and Going Down” David Allan Coe, “Death Row” Bob Dylan, “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” Slim Gaillard, “Fuck Off (The Dirty Rooster)” (By the touch of America's wand, divine troublemakers are transformed into porcine stone figurines) Set 5 Memphis Minnie, “Ma Rainey” Robert Gordon, “It’s In the Bottle” Sisters of Saint Francis, “In Heaven There Is No Beer” Sonic Recycling Program, “I’m Fucked Up, I’ve Got Problems, and I’m Dangerous” Charles Manson, “Arkansas” (At the nethermost core of Tony Tost, and at the underside of his America, lay novelty, terror, and the transcendence of good taste) Set 6 Robert Mitchum, “The Ballad of Thunder Road” The Blue Sky Boys, “I Wish I Had Never Seen Sunshine” Judy Lynn, “The Calm Before the Storm” Scott Walker, “The Lady Came From Baltimore”

Tony Tost's America | Episode 1 | "The Strange Was Ours Before We Were Strange"

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:44:00 +0000

A guided tour through the frightful and transcendent rhythm of a strange nation transcribing its blood onto tape. Welcome to Tony Tost’s America. My name is Tony Tost, and this is my America: Set 1: Alligator Wine, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Quiet Whiskey, Wynonie Harris Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-o-Dee, Jerry Lee Lewis Lead Me On, Paul “Wine” Jones (Tony Tost composes comments at the point of utterance, trusting) Set 2: Brown Eyed Handsome Man, Chuck Berry Merle’s Farewell to Elvis, Merle Haggard Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley, Million Dollar Quartet Will the Circle Be Unbroken, The Staple Singers Tiger Man, Rufus Thomas Run Johnny Run, Jimmie Driftwood (Tony Tost verbally encourages America, urges fellowship) Set 3: A Soldier of the Cross, Zion Travelers I’m Lonesome, Ernie Chaffin Do Lord Remember Me, Evangelist Sister Rosetta Winn Hobo Flats, Mel Brown Don’t Turn Your Heater Down, Steve Cropper, Pops Staples, & Albert King (Tony Tost admonishes America to come and take its losses like a lamb) Set 4: A Apolitical Blues, Little Feat Devil in a Sleeping Bag, Willie Nelson I’ve Lived So Fast and Hard, Porter Wagoner Ramblin’ Man, Del Shannon Mansion on the Hill, Vernon Oxford TV Mama, Frantics Four (Tony Tost wishes America luck and loyalty and long goodbyes) Set 5: Ain’t No Tellin’, Mississippi John Hurt Moonshine Blues, Bob Dylan When Will This Ever End, Don Gibson and Los Indios Tabajaras One More Time, Billy Lee Riley Man We Had a Party, Wanda Jackson Thank you for visiting Tony Tost’s America.