Who would have thought that a random selection of musical choices (and believe me, the themes were randomly chosen), would lead us to learning about America’s Oldest Saloon. Yep, the “Horse you Came In On Saloon” in Baltimore Maryland has been operating since 1775. Smiley’s in Bolinas was established in 1851, 76 years later!
We had a plan (at least a half baked one) prior to starting the show on Thursday, October 20, 2016. Mike had done some research and dug up the following information – relevant to the Bakersfield Sound.
10/19/63 Buck Owens attains the #1 spot on the Billboard country singles chart with “Love’s Gonna Live Here”
10/17/15 Merle Haggard makes a surprise appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, where he performs “Big City,” “Silver Wings,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink” and “Okie From Muskogee.” It’s his last time on the Opry stage
10/23/56 Dwight Yoakam is born in Pikeville, Kentucky. With an edgy vocal style and a proclivity for roots music, he becomes one of country’s most creative forces, augmenting such iconic hits as “Honky Tonk Man,” “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” and “Fast As You” with a side career as an actor
10/15/88 Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens team up at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with “Streets Of Bakersfield”
We kicked things off with the Buck and Merle tracks, leaving Dwight for later. We started the show off in fine “Bakersfield” form. But then things went “Beyond.”
For some reason the “Streets of Baltimore” was stuck in my head before we went on the air, I then noticed a track on a Waylon Jennings and Jesse Coulter album that was about Baltimore.
Well, you can see by the playlist below that we found a slew of great Baltimore tunes. Jonny Moore, an avid listener, called in and snagged the theme! Then off we launched onto horse themed songs, I think that I had been humming “Wild Horses” before the show as well.
In the end we wrapped things up with a birthday tribute to Dwight! Here’s the link to the archive in case you want to listen (for up to 14 days after the show airs on KWMR).
| Artist | Cut | Album | Label |
| Tim Hus | Bakersfield Music | Bushpilot Buckaroo | Stony Plain Records |
| Buck Owens | Love’s Gonna Live Here | 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection | Rhino |
| Merle Haggard | Big City | Playlist: The Very Best of Merle Haggard | Sony Legacy |
| Merle Haggard | I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink | Hag – The Best of Merle Haggard | Capitol Nashville |
| Merle Haggard | Silver Wings | Hag – The Best of Merle Haggard | Capitol Nashville |
| Merle Haggard | Okie from Muskagee | Okie from Muskagee | Starline |
| Patsy Cline | Crazy | Best of Patsy Cline | Curb Records |
| Gram Parsons | Streets of Baltimore | GP / Grievous Angel | Warner |
| Waylon Jennings | Tomorrow Night In Baltimore | Cedardtown Georgia | RCA |
| Counting Crows | Raining in Baltimore | August and Everything After | DGC |
| The Jayhawks | The Baltimore Sun | Blue Earth | Ryko/Rhino |
| Lyle Lovett | Baltimore | Joshua Judges Ruth | Curb Records |
| Tim Hardin | The Lady Came From Baltimore | Hang On to a Dream – The Verve Recordings | Universal Records |
| The Flying Burrito Brothers | Wild horses | The Definitive Collection | A & M Records |
| The Sadies | The Horseshoe | Tales of the Rat Fink | Outside Music |
| John Stewart | Let the Big Horse Run | John Stewart, The Complete Phoenix Concerts | Bear Family Records |
| Lucinda Williams | If Wishes Were Horses | Little Honey | Relix |
| Tom Russell | Throwin’ Horseshoes At the Moon | The Tom Russell Anthology | Hightone Records |
| Willie Nelson | A Horse Called Music | Heroes | Legacy Records |
| Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash | 440 Horses | Walk Alone | Texacali Records |
| Neil Young | Horseshoe Man | Silver and gold | Reprise |
| R.E.M. | Horse to Water | Accelerate | Rhino/Warner Bros. |
| Sparklehorse | Dark as a Dungeon | Cash Covered | MOJO |
| Dwight Yoakam | Intentional Heartache | Blame the Vain | New West Records Inc. |
| Dwight Yoakam | Dim Lights Thick Smoke Loud Music | 3 Pears | Warner Bros. |
| Dwight Yoakam | The Late Great Golden State | Population Me | Koch |
| Dwight Yoakam | Streets of Bakersfield (Live) | Live from Austin, TX: Dwight Yoakam | New West Records |
| Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers | Make it Last | North of Bakersfield | Dionysus |
Bakersfield and Beyond 