This one hour program is based on my weekly 3-hour show, "The Roots and Rhythm Mix" on WYEP in Pittsburgh. Every year I celebrate Father's Day with a mix of tunes that reflect upon being a father and having a father, as well as featuring the less literal cool daddy-o's and rockin' papas of American roots music. There are a few poignant moments in this program, but the overall tone is FUN! Yes, this is a "record show"! It's all great music from Texas, Louisiana,Cuba and Madagascar, and it's put together with thought and heart and a good ear. I hope you enjoy the mix as much as my listeners in Pittsburgh do!

The House of Blues Radio Hour is a weekly syndicated program hosted by Elwood Blues (a.k.a. Dan Aykroyd).  In this episode, Elwood pays homage to the fathers' of the Blues.  Includes music by The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and more.

We're celebrating Dads on this edition of Harmonia.  We'll feature traditional music from Scotland, and medieval music from the region around the Rhine River. Plus a featured release of Tudor and Jacobean music by the ensembles Stile Antico and Fretwork. What does all of this have to do with fathers?  Stay tuned and find out!

"Hey Dad, can I borrow the saxophone keys?"  Night Lights crosses the generational divide with an exploration of father-and-son teams in jazz.  How did Duke Ellington come to use his son Mercer as a songwriter?  What father-and-son record date prompted a young jazz reviewer named Studs Terkel to proclaim it "an ear opener for jazz bigots and cultists?"  What famous saxophonist used his 10-year-old son as a drummer on a recording date for a renowned jazz label?  Which two regionally-known jazz veterans gained some well-deserved limelight as a result of their sons' rise to fame in the jazz world?  Find out all of this and more on "Daddy-O: Father-and-Son Teams in Jazz" on this Night Lights Father's Day special!    

Good morning. It's good to be home on this Father's Day with my girls, and it's an honor to spend some time with all of you today in the house of our Lord. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus closes by saying, "Whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock: the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock." [Matthew 7: 24-25] Here at Apostolic, you are blessed to worship in a house that has been founded on the rock of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But it is also built on another rock, another foundation, and that rock is Bishop Arthur Brazier. In forty-eight years, he has built this congregation from just a few hundred to more than 20,000 strong a congregation that, because of his leadership, has braved the fierce winds and heavy rains of violence and poverty; joblessness and hopelessness. Because of his work and his ministry, there are more graduates and fewer gang members in the neighborhoods surrounding this church. There are more homes and fewer homeless. There is more community and less chaos because Bishop Brazier continued the march for justice that he began by Dr. King's side all those years ago. He is the reason this house has stood tall for half a century. And on this Father's Day, it must make him proud to know that the man now charged with keeping its foundation strong is his son and your new pastor, Reverend Byron Brazier. Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it. But if we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it. You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled, doubled since we were children. We know the statistics that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it. How many times in the last year has this city lost a child at the hands of another child, How many times have our hearts stopped in the middle of the night with the sound of a gunshot or a siren How many teenagers have we seen hanging around on street corners when they should be sitting in a classroom? How many are sitting in prison when they should be working, or at least looking for a job? How many in this generation are we willing to lose to poverty or violence or addiction? How many? Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more after school programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities. But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child it's the courage to raise one. We need to help all the mothers out there who are raising these kids by themselves; the mothers who drop them off at school, go to work, pick up them up in the afternoon, work another shift, get dinner, make lunches, pay the bills, fix the house, and all the other things it takes both parents to do. So many of these women are doing a heroic job, but they need support. They need another parent. Their children need another parent. That?s what keeps their foundation strong. It's what keeps the foundation of our country strong. I know what it means to have an absent father, although my circumstances weren't as tough as they are for many young people today. Even though my father left us when I was two years old, and I only knew him from the letters he wrote and the stories that my family told, I was luckier than most. I grew up in Hawaii, and had two wonderful grandparents from Kansas who poured everything they had into helping my mother raise my sister and me who worked with her to teach us about love and respect and the obligations we have to one another. I screwed up more often than I should?ve, but I got plenty of second chances. And even though we didn't have a lot of money, scholarships gave me the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in the country. A lot of kids don?t get these chances today. There is no margin for error in their lives. So my own story is different in that way. Still, I know the toll that being a single parent took on my mother how she struggled at times to the pay bills; to give us the things that other kids had; to play all the roles that both parents are supposed to play. And I know the toll it took on me. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls; that if I could give them anything, I would give them that rock that foundation on which to build their lives. And that would be the greatest gift I could offer. I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father knowing that I have made mistakes and will continue to make more; wishing that I could be home for my girls and my wife more than I am right now. I say this knowing all of these things because even as we are imperfect, even as we face difficult circumstances, there are still certain lessons we must strive to live and learn as fathers whether we are black or white; rich or poor; from the South Side or the wealthiest suburb. The first is setting an example of excellence for our children because if we want to set high expectations for them, we've got to set high expectations for ourselves. It's great if you have a job; it?s even better if you have a college degree. It?s a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children, but don't just sit in the house and watch SportsCenter all weekend long. That's why so many children are growing up in front of the television. As fathers and parents, we've got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework, and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in awhile. That's how we build that foundation. We know that education is everything to our children?s future. We know that they will no longer just compete for good jobs with children from Indiana, but children from India and China and all over the world. We know the work and the studying and the level of education that requires. You know, sometimes I'll go to an eighth-grade graduation and there's all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. And I think to myself, it's just eighth grade. To really compete, they need to graduate high school, and then they need to graduate college, and they probably need a graduate degree too. An eighth-grade education doesn't cut it today. Let's give them a handshake and tell them to get their butts back in the library! It's up to us as fathers and parents, to instill this ethic of excellence in our children. It's up to us to say to our daughters, don't ever let images on TV tell you what you are worth, because I expect you to dream without limit and reach for those goals. It's up to us to tell our sons, those songs on the radio may glorify violence, but in my house we live glory to achievement, self respect, and hard work. It's up to us to set these high expectations. And that means meeting those expectations ourselves. That means setting examples of excellence in our own lives. The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy the ability to stand in somebody else?s shoes; to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in us, that we forget about our obligations to one another. There's a culture in our society that says remembering these obligations is somehow soft that we can't show weakness, and so therefore we can't show kindness. But our young boys and girls see that. They see when you are ignoring or mistreating your wife. They see when you are inconsiderate at home; or when you are distant; or when you are thinking only of yourself. And so it's no surprise when we see that behavior in our schools or on our streets. That's why we pass on the values of empathy and kindness to our children by living them. We need to show our kids that you're not strong by putting other people down you're strong by lifting them up. That's our responsibility as fathers. And by the way it's a responsibility that also extends to Washington. Because if fathers are doing their part; if they're taking our responsibilities seriously to be there for their children, and set high expectations for them, and instill in them a sense of excellence and empathy, then our government should meet them halfway. We should be making it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid them. We should get rid of the financial penalties we impose on married couples right now, and start making sure that every dime of child support goes directly to helping children instead of some bureaucrat. We should reward fathers who pay that child support with job training and job opportunities and a larger Earned Income Tax Credit that can help them pay the bills. We should expand programs where registered nurses visit expectant and new mothers and help them learn how to care for themselves before the baby is born and what to do after programs that have helped increase father involvement, women's employment, and children's readiness for school. We should help these new families care for their children by expanding maternity and paternity leave, and we should guarantee every worker more paid sick leave so they can stay home to take care of their child without losing their income. We should take all of these steps to build a strong foundation for our children. But we should also know that even if we do; even if we meet our obligations as fathers and parents; even if Washington does its part too, we will still face difficult challenges in our lives. There will still be days of struggle and heartache. The rains will still come and the winds will still blow. And that is why the final lesson we must learn as fathers is also the greatest gift we can pass on to our children and that is the gift of hope. I'm not talking about an idle hope that's little more than blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face. I'm talking about hope as that spirit inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting for us if we're willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe. I was answering questions at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin the other day and a young man raised his hand, and I figured he'd ask about college tuition or energy or maybe the war in Iraq. But instead he looked at me very seriously and he asked, "What does life mean to you?" Now, I have to admit that I wasn't quite prepared for that one. I think I stammered for a little bit, but then I stopped and gave it some thought, and I said this: When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me how do I make my way in the world, and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want. But now, my life revolves around my two little girls. And what I think about is what kind of world I'm leaving them. Are they living in a county where there's a huge gap between a few who are wealthy and a whole bunch of people who are struggling every day? Are they living in a county that is still divided by race? A country where, because they're girls, they don?t have as much opportunity as boys do? Are they living in a country where we are hated around the world because we don't cooperate effectively with other nations Are they living a world that is in grave danger because of what we've done to its climate? And what I've realized is that life doesn't count for much unless you're willing to do your small part to leave our children all of our children a better world. Even if it's difficult. Even if the work seems great. Even if we don?t get very far in our lifetime. That is our ultimate responsibility as fathers and parents. We try. We hope. We do what we can to build our house upon the sturdiest rock. And when the winds come, and the rains fall, and they beat upon that house, we keep faith that our Father will be there to guide us, and watch over us, and protect us, and lead His children through the darkest of storms into light of a better day. That is my prayer for all of us on this Father's Day, and that is my hope for this country in the years ahead. May God Bless you and your children. Thank you.

Father's Favorite Shortcut A Father's Day classic with Groucho Marx, Robert Young, Harry Nilsson, Cat Stevens, Warner Olan as Charlie Chan, Randy Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Elton John, the Beach Boys, Woody Guthrie, Eddie Fisher, Judy Collins, Gene Autry, Mary Martin, Richard Burton, Liz Taylor, David Carradine, Bill Cosby, Jane Wyatt, Shirley Temple, Lee J. Cobb in Death Of A Salesman, Sandy Dennis, George Segal, Glenn Ford, Christopher Reeves, The Firesign Theatre, Papa John Creach, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapin, Barbara Streisand, W.C. Fields, Kathleen Howard, Mary Brian, David Chow, Philip Ahn, Keye Luke, Zeppo Marx and The Little Rascals... This one's for you Pop! (that's his picture--from the early 1940s)

Writer Jay Kettering extracts snippets from his childhood with wit and humor as he ponders just who his dad is, and therefore just who he is. The monologue is delivered by Bernie O'Connor, a professional actor. The content is appropriate for Father's Day, or anytime as a family piece. There's also a Halloween segment. Jay Kettering lives in Missoula, Montana, with his wife and cat. He writes short stories and plays and is active in the local theater scene. Jay's writing career has been uncorrupted by money or power but he looks forward to becoming a sell-out.

In So Many Words is a 20-minute documentary that aired nationally on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition on December 15, 2002. It is a moving story about a father and daughter, stroke, aphasia, loss, and hope. It informs people about aphasia: what it is, what it can steal away, the importance of a communication partner, and how the challenges presented by aphasia can lead to surprising personal growth. It effectively portrays one family's response to aphasia. In So Many Words promotes an understanding of the many dimensions of aphasia: the language impairment, the emotional impact on the stroke survivor and on family members, the need for communication partners who understand aphasia, and the importance of community-based programs to support the needs of people living with aphasia.

Joe Bevilacqua uses audio he recorded as a child to recount how his volatile father's gift of a tape recorder led him to another father figure (Daws Butler) and an eventual career in radio. Check out my latest review: Dad & Daws (Father's Day) Joe Bevilacqua , 10:46 ***** Engaging, Intimate, Real What a wonderfully crafted piece for Father's Day. Joe brings us a captivating, intimate, sound rich story. He does it with simple writing and without being overly dramatic. The story has a steady tone that keeps listeners engaged, definitely a candidate for a driveway moment. The story also has a flowing narrative with good visual imagery. I also love hearing that the correspondence with Daws was done via letter and cassette, especially now in the era of e-mail, blogs etc. The story of Joe's father is disturbing and troubling. However, Joe's writing and use of tape makes it an element of a story and shines the light on the good that came out of his work with Daws and the career that grew from his love for cartoon characters. He leaves the listener feeling good for him and sharing the same wonder about his father's purchase of a stereo tape recorder. Kudos for saving all this tape and weaving into a sound-rich, personal essay. (Reviewer) (Editorial Board) Arvid Hokanson , KUOW May 31, 2007 First broadcast June 13, 2003 (Father's Day) on Weekend Edition Sunday. Can be rebroadcast anytime. This version includes the Weekend Edition intro, which should be cut if run on a date other than Father's Day. Please credit NPR's Weekend Edition if you use. Joe Bevilacqua is willing to remix the piece if needed. You can also run these FREE programs that are discussed in the piece with it: http://www.prx.org/pieces/18822

Daws Butler the voice behind some of our most beloved cartoon characters. He was the voice of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss and many more. He worked at Hanna Barbera studios from 1957 till 1988 as well as working for Warner Bros., MGM, Jay Ward and Walter Lantz. He also wrote and performed on the Stan Freberg show and the original live version of Time for Beanie (Einstein and Harpo Marx's favorite show) as well as acting in radio and voicing TV commercials. 

The Ground We Lived On documents the loving relationship between journalist Adrian Nicole LeBlanc and her father, Adrian Leon LeBlanc, in the last months of his life. Using recordings she made of her father, namesake and inspiration from his hospital bed in the family living room, The Ground We Lived On is an ode to the ordinary ways we continue loving even as we are letting go. In January 2003, Adrian Leon LeBlanc was 85 years old and the father of four. He was in the final stages of lung cancer and had just entered hospice care. He spent his days in his house in Leominster, Massachusetts, a working-class town near Boston, in the company of his family. During this time, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc regularly drove in from her home in New York City to visit her father. Each time she visited, Adrian Nicole taped her conversations with her father. She wanted to preserve a record of their relationship and capture her father's voice. Adrian Leon LeBlanc had been a labor activist and World War II veteran; as such, he had always been outspoken on behalf of others' interests but was reluctant to talk about himself and his personal feelings. Still, he welcomed his daughter's recorder, believing that documenting the last months of his life might help other families who were going through similar experiences. The Ground We Lived On is a story of loving and losing a parent and the record of a father's final gift to his daughter: helping her to conceive of a world without him.

Clearing out stuff of my parent's 10yrs after their death, I found a box of cassettes of my Father interviewing me when I was a kid. Aired "Public Radio Weekend America Whathaeyou" Winner "Silver Reel" NFCB

This interview is with Bono of U2. It’s Bono talking about what it was like to be by his father’s side in the months and final weeks before he died. Pretty remarkable interview. It comes to us from Anthony Bozza. Anthony is an author and writer and back in 2001 he was working at Rolling Stone. And the magazine, they were doing one of those “look backs at the year that was.” So Anthony jumped on the phone. He plugged in his recorder and he called Bono. They talked about a number of things including what it was like to perform right after 9-11. Anthony also posed a question: he asked Bono what was his most memorable personal encounter of the year. And that’s when Bono opened up about this dad.

INTERVIEW NOTES
- The Date: October 2001
- The Scene: By phone
- The Source: Minidisc recorder
- Anthony recorded this interview while writing for Rolling Stone

Watch the animated version of this interview @ Blankonblank.org.

Nigel Chase spent much of his youth learning the art of making and playing steel drums with his father Carl Chase.  The Chase family often went to Trinidad and Tobago when Nigel was in high school and college.  They immersed themselves in Carnival, the immensely popular steel drum festival.  They came away having made friends with one of Trinidad's best known steel drum tuners, Roland Harrington.  A lasting friendship developed between Roland and the Chase family.  This changed the future direction of Nigel's life and instilled in him an appreciation for Calypso music that has stayed with Nigel to the present day.  Nigel now makes a living making pans, playing pan music professionally and teaching steel drum music at George Stevens Academy.  Nigel lives this unusual life in the small coastal community of Brooksville, ME.

Before the 1960s it was uncommon for mothers to work and practically unheard of for them to make more money than their husbands. Today, 80 percent of mothers have jobs and one third of wives make more money than their husbands.  Some men are not cheered by this turn of events.But former Monitor Radio producer Jill Strauss found a papa at peace with his decision to mind the kids while his wife toils at the office. This upbeat story includes scenes with Michael's young children and an interview conducted on a bicycle built for two.

Consider airing this soft feature as more data unfolds about men's changing roles in American society, as an example of a contented stay-at-home parent or as an uplifting story for Father's Day. 

As a father with Alzheimer's forgets his youngest daughter, there is still intimacy and remembering together over his favorite song... Danny Boy.  An intimate portrait of a visit by a daughter to her father in an Alzheimer's nursing home.  While he can't remember her name, he remembers his favorite song from years gone by.

This piece has had several versions. One won a Golden Reel as part of "The Presence of the Past," a pre-produced local public affairs program and co-production of KQED-FM Hot Soup and the Kitchen Sisters. A second version was part of a Public Radio News Directors (PRINDI) Award winning show "How We Connect," an AK production for APRN-FM in Alaska. I attached its first version here, one of my favorites. It was written for B-Side radio in 2002, right after my mother found my grandfather's tapes. My grandfather was born a farmer, suffered from polio, became a teacher, a husband, a principal, a father, a superintendent and a grandfather. And this radio piece shares some of his advice on money, love and life. It is as dear to me as he is charming.

A Father-Daughter coming of age story -

Father and son spend a week together traveling and hiking America's Grand Canyon.

This piece comes from the Life Stories Collection ("Fathers and Sons" hour). I have broken it out because it would work well by itself around either Christmas or Father's Day. The setting is a Christmas table. The story is about my father and his love for his brother Sam, in the face of Sam's mental disability. The love and connection continues past death. Sam was a singer and we hear him sing Oh Holy Night and Silent Night in this piece. The piece was produced in th 1980s sometime, but I think it holds up okay.

George Lengel was born in Roebling, NJ, where his entire family made steel wire at the John A. Roebling's Sons Company.

Here, Lengel remembers growing up in Roebling and the influence his father had on his future.

When James Lacy was growing up, his father prospered by running a general store in rural Texas. But the merchant lost everything in the economic collapse of 1929. Though his dad spent decades paying off debts, Lacy says, he was rich in other ways.

When Blunt member Iris SanGiovanni was eight years old, her dad became homeless for six months after her parents divorced. A few years later, she had the chance to talk with him about his experience. 

Decades ago, John Wiebenson decided to take over Friday night dinner for his family. But cooking wasn’t his strong suit. In fact, he was really just a steak and potatoes kind of guy. So, every Friday, he made just that. And as a special treat, he let his children act like little cavemen. Thus began Wild Man Night. And though Wiebenson died a few years ago, it’s a tradition that continues today. Jessica Gould joins Wiebenson’s family on a recent Wild Man Night and finds out what the tradition means to them.

Dad was the fun one, jumping off the raft and acting crazy. Now Father's Day is coming again and we miss him like crazy.

"My father was arrested for drug dealing. He wanted to act like a little kid, well...too bad. He's paying for it. But I still love him. Oh well." This teenager's matter-of-fact narrative is full of conflicting assertions about life without her dad. This piece is an illustration of the real-life, everyday struggle to accept that a parent just didn't love you enough to do the right thing. This story would compliment any piece on prison or separated families.

Colbert Williams was 16 years old when he became a father. Here, he talks with his son, Nathan—who is now 15 years old—about raising a child as a young single parent.

Along with being a father to Nathan, Colbert has taken in three foster children, two of which he is in the process of adopting.

Through this vox-pop, the entire world gets to hear the secrets that teenagers will never reveal to their parents. Some samples: "I sell porn to students" "Mom, I love Dad more" "I want to be a writer" "I joined the Marines" "Sorry, Mom, but my sister smokes pot on a daily basis" "Every time I said I was at the library, I was actually..."

Tony Gargagliano's father Paul came to New York from Italy as a teenager in 1908. But he held on to many of his Old World ways. When Paul Gargagliano was 84, he visited his son one day, and the two talked about Paul's third wife. She had left her husband to go to Italy, and her return looked doubtful. "You know, you could get an annulment, dad," Tony said. So, father and son went to see the monsignor, the head of the church, to discuss the matter. But the elder Gargagliano and the monsignor had trouble understanding each other -- after all, it began with Paul Gargagliano stating, "You know, father, it's not natural for a man to be without a woman." In the end, much of the conversation found its way through Tony. "Before I knew it, I was translating English into English," he recalled.