Radio 4 on Music 2t3k46

In a rare interview, Neil Young talks to John Wilson about his album 'Americana' and his long, somewhat unpredictable career. He talks about his politics, the current state of the protest song and the joys of playing with his longterm sparring partners Crazy Horse.

Nick Barraclough pays tribute to arguably one of the least recognised jobs in pop, that of the backing vocalist. Tracing the evolution of vocal harmony from Medieval canon through to Gladys Knight and the Pips, he draws a straight line from the ‘Fa-la-las’ of Tudor song through to 50s doowop with the help of arranger and musicologist Harvey Brough. Along the way we'll hear examples of the art from The Shangri-Las to Steely Dan, and find out what happens when session singers mover their larynxes.

Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris. Poet Simon Armitage nominates Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis's fellow band member Peter Hook re his friend.

Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu tells how the Black Power movement changed American music forever in the 1960s. From free jazz to the first stirrings of hip hop, this is a story of when the new music met the new politics. Amiri Baraka, Archie Shepp and the Last Poets' Abiodun Oyewole offer reflections on a turbulent time in American history. Contains repeated use of language which may offend.

Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu tells how the Black Power movement changed American music forever in the 1960s. From free jazz to the first stirrings of hip hop, this is a story of when the new music met the new politics. Amiri Baraka, Archie Shepp and the Last Poets' Abiodun Oyewole offer reflections on a turbulent time in American history. Contains repeated use of language which may offend.

Benjamin Zephaniah reassesses dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's 1978 debut album. Dread Beat an' Blood expressed the black British experience as it had never been heard before. Using his trademark spoken word style set to an instrumental reggae beat, the record voiced the frustration of a generation. Linton discusses the issues he tackled on the record, such as police harassment, the National Front and the criminal justice system. Thirty years on, how much has changed?

In this special edition of Kaleidoscope from 1997, John Wilson explores the life, death and most importantly the music of English singer songwriter Nick Drake with the help of those who knew him, including his producer Joe Boyd, friend and arranger Robert Kirby and Nick's sister, actress Gabrielle Drake. Part of Radio 4 on Music, re-releasing the best of Radio 4's music back catalogue.

In the summer of 1987 Britain's best loved indie band abruptly came to end when guitarist Johnny Marr sensationally quit. The Morrissey/Marr partnership that had produced such a wealth of finely crafted pop tunes was over, just weeks after the group finished recording their fourth album, "Strangeways, Here We Come." Since then, all four band have separately pronounced the LP as their best work. Bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce also claim that, at the time, they were blissfully unaware of any conflict. So what happened? In this final part of the Swansong series, Stuart Maconie examines the circumstances surrounding the final recording by The Smiths, revealing the reasons behind one of the most famous breakups in British pop history. With new interviews from Mike Joyce, Andy Rourke and producer Stephen Street and contributions from music journalist Sian Pattenden and Morrissey biographer Simon Goddard.

A new series in which each week Stuart Maconie examines the final album by a major artist. This week, Synchronicity by The Police. Released in 1983, it was the band's fifth album and it hit the number one spot on both sides of the Atlantic. In America, it knocked the commercial juggernaut of Michael Jackson's Thriller from the top of the charts, selling over 8 million copies in the process. It also produced five international hit singles, including their most famous track Every Breath You Take. As Sting & co toured the world to promote their most successful release, each night playing 60,000 seater venues, at that point in their career they could genuinely lay claim to being the biggest band on planet Earth. Although the split was never officially announced, Synchronicity was to be the last studio album they would ever record. Despite all of the success, the truth was the three couldn't stand to be in the same room as each other. With archive interviews from Sting and Andy Summers and brand new contributions from Stewart Copeland, manager Miles Copeland, producer Hugh Padgham and journalist John Pidgeon, Stuart Maconie examines what went wrong.

Robert Wyatt has been recognised as a prog-rock drummer, jazz composer, avant-garde cornet player, artist and activist in a wheelchair. But, above all else, he has been known by one of the most instantly recognisable and distinctive voices of the last fifty years. Forever associated with Shipbuilding, Elvis Costello's song written in reaction to the Falklands War, Wyatt's voice and the causes he gives voice to are intricately entwined. This intimate radio portrait, in his own words, traces Wyatt's journey from the psychedelic excesses of Soft Machine (appearing both with Jimi Hendrix and at the BBC Proms), through the life-changing accident that has confined him to a wheelchair for almost forty years, to recent celebrated musical projects that are reaching new audiences. Produced by Alan Hall. A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. Programme 3: Suede - Dog Man Star In 1991, Suede was named "the best new band in Britain", with a string of hit singles and a universally acclaimed debut album, 'Suede'. Flamboyant singer Brett Anderson and incendiary guitarist Bernard Butler became feted as song-writers. David Bowie was amongst their fans. The scrutiny that followed took its toll on their relationship. Determined to write a dissolute conceptual masterpiece, Anderson exiled himself in a gothic pile in North London while Butler questioned the paraphernalia that came with pop stardom. Bereavement and clashes over the album's producer heightened the tension and, with just one part to complete on the album, Butler walked out for good. Suddenly, having blazed the trail for Britpop, they returned with an album deemed out of step with its sunny positivism. But almost two decades on, Suede's second album Dog Man Star reappeared to a plethora of 5 star reviews. Producer: Laura Parfitt A White Pebble Media Production for BBC Radio 4.

Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. How many bands have found themselves with a massive and often unexpected hit album, only to struggle with the creation of their next opus? Sometimes the follow-up exceeds the first album, but often nerves kick in and bands are removed from the very stimulus that created their magic in the first place, finding themselves in a world of creative confusion, sycophants and ants. Pete Paphides talks to musicians, producers, and critics to explore the stories of follow-up albums with the same expert knowledge he brought to Lost Albums. Programme 2: Fleetwood Mac - Tusk How do you follow a record that sells 21 million copies worldwide and spends over 30 weeks at number one in the US album chart? The answer is Tusk - the album Fleetwood Mac recorded in the wake of 1976's Rumours. Despite ing the band just three years previously, this was the record that saw Lindsey Buckingham impose his will on Fleetwood Mac using the studio as a crucible in which he shovelled intra-band infidelities and his new-found love of punk. In 1979 it was deemed a failure, nicknamed "Lindsey's folly" from industry insiders. After 35 years, it has been reappraised as their boldest, most forward-looking release, "a peerless piece of pop art", influencing Radiohead and REM. Produced by Laura Parfitt A White Pebble Media Production for BBC Radio 4.

Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. How many bands have found themselves with a massive and often unexpected hit album, only to struggle with the creation of their next opus? Sometimes the follow-up exceeds the first album, but often nerves kick in and bands are removed from the very stimulus that created their magic in the first place, finding themselves in a world of creative confusion, sycophants and ants. Pete Paphides talks to musicians, producers, and critics to explore the stories of follow-up albums with the same expert knowledge he brought to Lost Albums. Programme 1: Dexys Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down. Kevin Rowland and Helen O'Hara give rare interviews about a pivotal time in Dexys Midnight Runners' history. Having been the best selling UK band of 1982 with their massive hit single Come On Eileen and the hugely popular album Too-Rye-ay, Dexys took some time to consider what to do next. Don't Stand Me Down was brave and different to Too-Rye-Ay. Rowland had a clear vision and went to great lengths to record and mix it to his own specifications. His interest in his Irish roots and Irish politics was one of the themes of the record. Misunderstood in its day, it received poor reviews but has since gone on to receive critical acclaim. Produced by Laura Parfitt A White Pebble Media Production for BBC Radio 4.

Cerys Matthews celebrates the life of one of her musical heroines, the great gospel singer Mahalia ("Halie") Jackson, who died in 1972. Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world at the height of her popularity, inspiring singers like Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples. But she was also one of the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement in America, described by the legendary historian and broadcaster Studs Terkel as one of the bravest people he'd ever met. As a child she suffered illness, poverty and deprivation. The Church was her shelter. During the late 1920s, at the height of the great migration, she toured Illinois performing in churches. But it was in Chicago that she made her name and carved out a place for herself as the first professional gospel singer. She refused to sing secular music, a pledge she kept throughout her professional life. Even Louis Armstrong couldn't persuade her to sing jazz with him. By the 1950s and 60s, touring across Europe, she was being described as "the greatest spiritual singer alive." Throughout, she remained a close friend and comrade of Martin Luther King, travelling with him to the deepest parts of the segregated south and often singing at gatherings where he spoke including at the famous march on Washington. In this programme Cerys shares her ion for Mahalia with another huge fan, Sir Tom Jones. She also talks to gospel singer Vermettya Royster and to the Reverend Stanley Keeble both of whom knew and played with Mahalia. We also hear archive recordings of the historian Studs Terkel talking with Mahalia in the years when they became close friends. We hear from blues and gospel writers Val Wilmer and Viv Broughton. As well as hearing her live performances. Produced by Sarah Cuddon A Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4.

Immediately after the success of the BBC Radio Ballads, Ewan MacColl set about the Herculean task of trying to drag British folk music into mainstream culture. Frustrated by the dreary amateurishness of folk song performance, he decided to establish his own centre of excellence to professionalise the art. He called it "The Critics Group". MacColl tutored select artists "to sing folk songs the way they should be sung" and to think about the origins of what they were singing. He introduced Stanislavski technique and Laban theory into folk performance and explored style, content and delivery. BBC producer Charles Parker recorded these sessions to aid group analysis. 40 years on, the tapes have come to light. For the first time, a clear sound picture can be constructed of this influential group in action. Former group Peggy Seeger, Sandra Kerr, Frankie Armstrong, Richard Snell, Brian Pearson and Phil Colclough recount six frantic years of rehearsing, performing and criticising each other. They recall the powerful hold that Ewan MacColl exerted which was eventually to lead to the collapse of the group in acrimony and blame. Presenter Martin Carthy MBE, now an elder statesman of the British folk music scene, shared many of McColl's ambitions but didn't the group himself. He listens to the recordings and assesses the legacy of MacColl's controversial experiment. Producers: Genevieve Tudor and Chris Eldon Lee A Culture Wise Production for BBC Radio 4.

Mark Lamarr looks at the little-known story of Memphis Minnie, known for her guitar skills, her rowdy ways and the song 'When the Levee Breaks' a musical celebration of a key moment in Blues history. 'Levee', later made famous by Led Zeppelin and Dylan, was released in 1929, long before guitars found amplification, in reference (like many blues songs of the time), to the great Mississippi flood of 1927. The flood was a huge factor in the Migration of African Americans into what would become the great RnB and Blues towns of Detroit, Memphis & Chicago. When the Levee Breaks is its most famous telling. Neither born in Memphis nor called Minnie, the musician who wrote and recorded it travelled that now well worn blues journey both physically and musically in the first wave of blues musicians emerging from the Delta in the late 20s. When the Levee Breaks was one of over two hundred songs written by Minnie during her lifetime, many are blues classics. Though her story has been largely ignored when compared to Robert Johnson, Leadbelly and other Blues artists of the time. In a journey that starts along the banks of the Mississippi in a post Katrina New Orleans and ends in the promised land of the Blues, Chicago, Mark Lamarr explores her story, the flood itself and the development of the Blues that emerged around the Great Migration. Producer: Rob Alexander A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.

Six years after his death (7th July 2006) Syd Barrett lives on freeze framed, still young and a striking lost soul of the sixties whose brief moment of creativity outshines those long years of solitude shut away in a terraced house in his home town of Cambridge. This revealing programme hears how his band Pink Floyd (and family) coped with Barrett's mental breakdown and explores the hurriedly arranged holiday to the Spanish island of Formentera - where the star unravelled. In the programme we also hear about Barrett's pioneering brand of English psychedelic pop typified on early Pink Floyd recordings 'Arnold Layne', 'See Emily Play' and the strange songs on Pink Floyd's impressive debut album 'The Piper At the Gates of Dawn'. Undoubtedly Barrett's experimentation with the drug LSD affected him mentally and the band reveal how concerned they were when he began to go catatonic on-stage, playing music that had little to do with their material, or not playing at all. By Spring 1968 Barrett was out of the group and after a brief period of hibernation, he re-emerged in 1970 with a pair of albums, 'The Madcap Laughs' and 'Barrett', but they failed to chart and Barrett retired to a hermit life existing under the watchful gaze of his caring sister Rosemary (featured in the programme). We hear from David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright (one of the last interviews before his sad ing) about how there was little understanding of mental illness when it came to the drug fused culture of the time. These days a strung out star is hurriedly booked into the Priory and given counselling. As this programme reveals Barrett's mental breakdown was not understood and the steps taken to help him were inappropriate and still rankle the of Pink Floyd today. Producer: John Sugar A Sugar Production for BBC Radio 4.

Fela Kuti is Africa's most famous musician. Before his death in 1997 he recorded nearly 50 albums and invented his own genre of music: Afrobeat. In the 70s and 80s his legendary club in Lagos was famed for housing the best live band on Earth. As witnessed by James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. But there was more to Fela Kuti than ground-breaking music. He was also a political revolutionary who spent his life strongly criticising successive military regimes in his native Nigeria. While his contemporaries would sing in more general of oppression, Fela singled out his targets, personally naming them in songs which became popular all over Africa. It wasn't long before he was a hero to many working class Nigerians. But his taunts didn't go down so well with the authorities. Nor did his controversial lifestyle: he openly smoked marijuana, declared his home an independent state of Nigeria and married 27 women on the same day. The story goes he was the most arrested person in Nigerian history. He appeared in court hundreds of times, had spells in prison and permanently suffered from his injuries after regular beatings at the hands of the military and police. Fela believed they were also responsible for the death of his mother, who was thrown from an upstairs window when his home was stormed by 1000 soldiers. In 2009 his incredible story was turned in to a successful Broadway musical and this April it performed in Lagos for the first time. Fela Kuti was coming home. But while the rest of the world is finally paying attention to this musical and political revolutionary why will you struggle to hear any of his music on Nigerian radio? Have they forgotten Fela? Or do the powers that be still find his music offensive? Radio 4 visited Lagos to find the answers.

To coincide with Dylan's birthday (24th May 2011) presenter Emma Freud explores the singers spiritual journey revealing a side to the performer often over looked. The programme opens with how Dylan grew up a small-town Jew in Hibbing, Minnesota. We hear from Cantor Neil Schwartz he also grew up in the same town and his mother was Bob's Sunday school teacher. Author of 'Prophet, Mystic, Poet' Seth Rogovoy reflects on Dylan's early years and his Barmitzvah. We explore early Dylan music and author Clinton Helylin believes Dylan not only drew on early negro spirituals but the Old testament for his more engaging material. Helping makes sense of some of the more complex theological messages is Nick Baines The Bishop of Bradford and a life long irer of Bob Dylan. It was in the late 1970s, Dylan became a born again Christian and 1979 album 'Slow Train Coming' championed Jesus. Author of 'Down The Highway' Howard Sounes finds Dylan's three Christian albums a "difficult listen". Whether they meant something significant to his audience is another matter, but Al Kasha who helped Dylan with his understanding of the scriptures is convinced you can't doubt the depth of Dylan's religious conversion. Dylan's embrace of Christianity was unpopular with some of his fans and his album "Shot Of Love" recorded the spring 1981, featured Dylan's first secular compositions in more than two years, mixed with explicitly Christian songs. Essentially Dylan's venture into Christianity seemed to be coming to an end. As we discover with all things Dylan, its tricky to work out what is going on inside the singer's mind but 'Blowing In The Wind - Dylan's Spiritual Journey" will go someway to exploring his thoughts and spiritual beliefs through his songs and these revealing interviews. Producer: John Sugar A Sugar Production for BBC Radio 4.

Billy Preston was a musical genius. A child prodigy, he was first seen as a small boy performing live on national TV with Nat King Cole. He was a star of the Hammond Organ, an accomplished dancer and a talented singer-songwriter. He is the only person 'officially' recognised as the fifth Beatle, although that title would turn out to be more of a millstone than a milestone. By the 1970s he'd written three number one singles, toured and recorded with the Rolling Stones and collaborated with some of the biggest names in pop: Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Eric Clapton, Sly Stone, the Jackson 5 and Aretha Franklin to name just a few. His musical career was out of this world but his personal life was a disaster. He spent much of his life battling with drugs and even ended up in jail. Fellow keyboard player and fan Rick Wakeman explores his incredible story. With contributions from the likes of Jools Holland, Bill Wyman, Pete Townshend and many more, this documentary also reveals - for the first time - the secret he spent his life suppressing. A secret his former manager Joyce Moore believes fuelled his personal problems.