Top 25 Albums Of 2017 - 88.1 WVPE Public Radio

Top 25 Albums of 2017 - Selected by the hosts of The Back Porch at 88.1 

WVPE Public Radio, South Bend, IN - Al Kniola & Norm Mast

ARTIST                                            ALBUM

Alice Howe                                    You've Been Away So Long
Alison Krauss                                Windy City
Amilia K. Spicer                            Wow And Flutter
Anna Tivel                                    Small Believer
April Verch                                    April Verch Anthology
Audie Blaylock and Redline         Road That Winds
David Holt & Josh Goforth           Good Medicine
Fiddle Whamdiddle                      Not My Monkey
Gibson Brothers                           In The Ground
Hardened and Tempered            Trailer Sessions
Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio     Singin'
Jeni Hankins                                The Oxygen Girl
KC Groves                                   Happy Little Trees
Mark Dvorak                                Back Home
Mark O'Connor Band                   O'Connor Band LIVE!
Old Salt Union                              From Where I Stand
Ordinary Elephant                        Before I Go
Rayna Gellert                                Workin's Too Hard
Steel Wheels                                Wild As We Came Here
Tim Grimm And Family Band        A Stranger In This Time
Tim O'Brien                                   Where The River Meets The Road
Trout Fishing in America               The Strangest Times
Will Dudley                                    Heartsong
Wyatt Easterling                            Divining Rod
Zoe & Cloyd                                  Eyes Brand New

Virus

Shane MacGowan makes 60

"Shane MacGowan celebrates 60th birthday at Dublin bash" -- BBC

"Shane MacGowan: The tail-end of a great Irish tradition?"-- Joe Cleary

Scott Cook's song "Further Down The Line"

Once again,


Scott Cook's song "Further Down The Line" with a very provocative question:

Aren't some people just famous for being famous? 
Isn't that about all that they do? 
And couldn't the radio leave you feeling aimless? 
Just a nameless person like you 
But I sure heard the words Woody Guthrie sang 
Even when they didn't quite rhyme 
He knew the heart was the stuff, they'd ring close enough 
Further down the line 

I've painted houses, mopped floors, and washed dishes 
Taught kids, cut grass and moved gear 
Swung hammer, cleaned toilets and dug ditches 
And I even sang songs to sell beer 
But it was all for someone else's dream, 
'Til I set out after mine 
Said, "take this hammer, take it to the captain 
Tell him I'm further down the line" 

I crossed the Fraser, the Columbia, the Mississippi, 
The Allegheny and the Ohio 
Saint Lawrence, Susquehanna, Chattahoochee, 
The Hudson and the Colorado 
I saw the big rigs sleeping in the starry desert 
Saw the snow piled 'round the Yukon pines 
But I couldn't hang around too long in New York Town 
Without lookin' further down the line 

Some of the joints in New Orleans ain't pretty 
But the waitresses'll call you "hon" 
And a cop'll stay on the white side of the city 
'Cause they paid for his hat and his gun 
And there's a Gulf War vet by the overpass 
Who says "Bro, can you spare a dime?" 
Who's he kidding? These days a dollar won't be getting 
You any further down the line, boys 

I saw the stars and bars flying in Dixie 
And doomsday prophets on capitol hill 
I saw a fast food mall named after Walt Whitman 
And Gettysburg ghosts wandering still 
If our families are so broken, 
How do we make a family out of humankind? 
We still got promises to break 
And miles to go before we wake further down the line 

I saw the homeless and the houses sitting empty 
I heard the explanations of learned men 
Nowadays they'll rob you with a computer 
'Cause it's faster than a fountain pen 
And if smarter people haven't found a gap in the armour 
Why do I keep trying? 
I still believe there's a world dying to be born 
Further down the line, friends 
Further down the line 

Aw Woody, I been through all kinds of weather 
Been searching all the faces for a sign 
As you know, love's hard to keep together 
As the miles and the years unwind 
And you never run out of blacktop 
Nah, you just run out of time 
That ribbon of songs keeps on winding along 
Ever further, down the line