Earth Day

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KBOO
Air date: 
Wed, 04/05/2023 - 5:30am to 7:00am
Earth Day 2023
Songs for Earth Day

The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970, a teach-in put together by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from my home state of Wisconsin and Denis Hayes, a young Wisconsin- born environmental advocate who grew up in Camas, WA and now lives in Vancouver, WA. This celebration of our home planet proved wildly successful, spreading to 140 nations by 1990. Environmental concerns in 1970 included air pollution from coal-fired power plants and gasoline powered vehicles, pollution of rivers, lakes, and oceans, harm to our fellow earthlings the plant, trees, birds, and other animals, the dangers of nuclear power, and the threat of nuclear war. Starting in the 1980s and 1990s, environmental concerns increasingly focused on the negative impacts on Earth’s climate due to human activities, mainly burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Folk musicians responded to growing environmental concerns after the initial earth Day with a growing canon of great songs, which today’s program showcases.

Featured artists include 1970s greats Jackson Browne- featuring great fiddle by the late David Lindley, Crosby & Nash, Joni Mitchell, ,John Prine, and Cat Stevens,  1960s folk-satirist Tom Lehrer- still relevant and humorous today, plus Johnny Cash, Loudon Wainwright III, his daughter Sloan Wainwright, Walkin’ Jim Stoltz, Irish singer Karan Casey, Scotsman  Dougie MacLean, Portlander Casey Neill,  Seattle’s Heidi Muller, and a great performance of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer’s “Gentle Arms of Eden” from the 2001 Sisters Folk Festival.

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Episode Playlist

  • Time
    5:30
    Artist
    Casey Neill Trio
    Song
    Hallowed Be Thy Ground
    Album
    Skree
    Label
    Appleseed
  • Time
    5:33
    Artist
    Dougie Maclean
    Song
    Solid Ground
    Album
    Real Estate
    Label
    Dunkeld Records
  • Time
    5:38
    Artist
    Heidi Muller
    Song
    Sacred Ground
    Album
    Seeing Things
    Label
    Cascadia Music
  • Time
    5:45
    Artist
    Jackson Browne
    Song
    Before the Deluge
    Album
    No Nukes: The MUSE Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future (Live)
    Label
    Rhino/Elektra
  • Time
    5:51
    Artist
    Crosby & Nash
    Song
    To the Last Whale Medley: Critical Mass / Wind On the Water
    Album
    Wind on the Water
    Label
    ABC
  • Time
    5:56
    Artist
    Joni Mitchell
    Song
    Big Yellow Taxi
    Album
    Live on the BBC in 1970
    Label
  • Time
    6:01
    Artist
    Tom Lehrer
    Song
    Pollution
    Album
    Live on Danish TV 1967
    Label
  • Time
    6:03
    Artist
    Johnny Cash
    Song
    Don't Go Near the Water
    Album
    Ragged Old Flag
    Label
    Columbia/Legacy
  • Time
    6:06
    Artist
    Loudon Wainwright III
    Song
    Hard Day on the Planet
    Album
    More Love Songs
    Label
    Demon
  • Time
    6:10
    Artist
    Sloan Wainwright
    Song
    Mercy Me (The Ecology)
    Album
    Live in 2008
    Label
  • Time
    6:15
    Artist
    John Prine
    Song
    Paradise
    Album
    John Prine
    Label
    Rhino Atlantic
  • Time
    6:18
    Artist
    Cat Stevens
    Song
    Where Do the Children Play
    Album
    Tea for the Tillerman
    Label
    A&M
  • Time
    6:22
    Artist
    Prelude
    Song
    After The Goldrush
    Album
    Live
    Label
  • Time
    6:24
    Artist
    Daily Maverick
    Song
    20twenties: Eve of Destruction (feat. Anneli Kamfer)
    Album
    20twenties: Eve of Destruction - Single (feat. Anneli Kamfer) - Single
    Label
    Daily Maverick
  • Time
    6:29
    Artist
    Joe Jencks
    Song
    Gasoline
    Album
    The Candle and the Flame
    Label
    Turtle Bear Music
  • Time
    6:34
    Artist
    Kristen Grainger & Dan Wetzel
    Song
    Oceans Rising
    Album
    Live
    Label
  • Time
    6:37
    Artist
    Karan Casey
    Song
    Mother Earth's Revenge
    Album
    Chasing the Sun
    Label
    Vertical Records
  • Time
    6:41
    Artist
    Julian Lennon
    Song
    Change
    Album
    Change - Single
    Label
    BMG Rights Management (US) LLC
  • Time
    6:45
    Artist
    Walkin' Jim Stoltz
    Song
    One Land, One Heart
    Album
    Little Piece of Time
    Label
    Wild Wind Records
  • Time
    6:49
    Artist
    Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
    Song
    Gentle Arms of Eden
    Album
    Live at Sisters Folk Festival
    Label
  • Time
    6:56
    Artist
    Doug Smith
    Song
    Shenandoah (The Wild Mizzourye)
    Album
    Guitar Americana
    Label
    Solid Air Records

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