The Midnight Special, January 17, 2026

By Marilyn Rea Beyer |

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Playlist

  1. Lead Belly: The Midnight Special THEME (excerpt 1); Lead Belly; Midnight Special; RCA Victor LPV-505
  2. Bett Padgett: Don’t Take My Child; Bett Padgett; If I Catch My Dream; self 2019
  3. Soweto Gospel Choir, feat. Robert Plant: Valley of Tears (Domino/Bartholomew); Soweto Gospel Choir, feat. Robert Plant; Divine Decade; Decca B0019931-02
  4. Kate MacLeod: Gospel Songs; Kate MacLeod; Trying to Get it Right; Waterbug WBG0017 CD
  5. Henhouse Prowlers: Gospel In Review (Wright); Henhouse Prowlers; The Departure; henhouseprowlers.com 195269083953
  6. Sweet Honey in the Rock: I Got to Know (Guthrie); Sweet Honey in the Rock; Woody at 100 Live at the Kennedy Center; Columbia/Legacy 88883728122
  7. Mandolin Orange: Gospel Shoes; Mandolin Orange; Blindfaller; Yep Roc YEP-2487
  8. Nora Guthrie, Ensemble: This Train; Nora Guthrie, Ensemble; Woody at 100 Live at the Kennedy Center; Columbia/Legacy 88883728122
  9. Blind Willie Johnson: Soul of a Man; Blind Willie Johnson; Martin Scorcese Presents The Blues: Soul of a Man; Columbia/Legacy CK 90491
  10. Marian Anderson w/Franz Rupp: “Hard Trials”; Marian Anderson, c; Franz Rupp, p; He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands; RCA 61960-2
  11. Mavis Staples: Hard Times Come Again No More (Foster); Mavis Staples; Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster; American Roots Publishing 591594-2
  12. Walter Parks & the Unlawful Assembly feat. Ada Dyer: “Amazing Grace” (trad./Newton); Walter Parks & the Unlawful Assembly feat. Ada Dyer; Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly; Atomic Sound 91021
  13. Sara Thomsen: Tough Like that; Sara Thomsen; Here and Gone; sarathomsen.com 1.1.2026
  14. Crowes Pasture: Raise Your Hand; Crowes Pasture; Raise Your Hand (single); crowespastureduo.com 7.2024
  15. Steve Eriksson: Hands Off; Steve Eriksson; Hands Off (single); Steve Eriksson 2025
  16. Mahalia Jackson: A Rusty Old Halo; Mahalia Jackson and the Falls-Jones Ensemble; Gospels, Spirituals and Hymns; Columbia/Legacy C2K 47083
  17. Wes Weddell: Stems; Wes Weddell; The Work, The Hope, The Promise; Dusty Shadows Music DSM 2001
  18. Owen Walsh: The Midnight Special (Trad.); Owen Walsh; The Midnight Special “exclusive”; single 1.31.2024
  19. Sonia Sanchez, arr. Sweet Honey in the Rock: Letter to Martin Luther King, Jr. (Sanchez); Sweet Honey in the Rock; Live at Carnegie Hall; Flying Fish FF 106
  20. Grace Griffith: Beautiful Fool (Don Henry); Grace Griffith; Grace; Grace | Blix Street G2-10028
  21. Sam Robbins: Just One Cronkite; Sam Robbins; Bigger Than In Between; samrobbinsmusic.com 8052022
  22. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream 1963 – excerpt; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Great Speeches of the 20th Century, Disc 3; Rhino World RWB 70567 3
  23. Company: If We Only Have Love (Brel); Original Broadway Cast; Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris; Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy SK 89998
  24. Crys Matthews: Call Them In; Crys Matthews; Single Honoring John Lewis; Single Honoring John Lewis | self released [2021]
  25. Mouths of Babes: Gospel Truth; Mouths of Babes; Faith & Fumes; Mouths of Babes MOB 001
  26. Kray Van Kirk: Turtle Joe; Kray Van Kirk; Empire; Kray Van Kirk 1 95269 39920 7
  27. Bill Camplin: January Guitar; Bill Camplin; January Guitar (single); Bill Camplin none
  28. Claudia Schmidt: Come to Me; Claudia Schmidt; Come to Me (single); claudiaschmidt.com 1.7.2026
  29. Dar Williams: Sacred Mountain; Dar Williams; Hummingbird Highway; Righteous Babe Records RBR 125-D
  30. Joel Mabus: “Illinois/Indiana”; Joel Mabus; Parlor Guitar; Parlor Guitar/Fossil Records 1605
  31. Stephen Schuch: Midnight Special (Piano Only); Stephen Schuch; single; Stephen Schuch [2022]
  32. Mavis Staples: Sow Good Seeds (Trad./Tweedy); Mavis Staples; One True Vine; ANTI Records ANTI-87206-2
  33. Brooks Williams & Aaron Catlow: If You Want the Rainbow (Levant/Rose/Dixon); Brooks Williams & Aaron Catlow; Ready for the Times; Red Guitar, Blue Music RGBM2201C
  34. Tim O’Brien: When This World Comes to an End (trad., arr. O’Brien); Tim O’Brien; Cornbread Nation; Sugar Hill SUG-CD-4005
  35. Phil Ochs: Knock on the Door; Phil Ochs; All The News That Fit to Sing; All The News That Fit to Sing | Hannibal HNCD 4427
  36. Billy Bragg: “I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night”; Billy Bragg; The Internationale; Label MM 001
  37. John Gorka: Good Noise; John Gorka; Out of the Valley; High Street 72902 10325-2
  38. Patty Larkin: Good Thing; Patty Larkin; Angels Running; High Street Records HS 72902 10318-2
  39. Cliff Eberhardt: Good Example; Cliff Eberhardt; 12 Songs of Good and Evil; Red House Records RHRCD 105
  40. Jan Krist and her “Hope Choir”: Hope; Jan Krist and her “Hope Choir”; Since You Asked Me; Yellow Room Records #27
  41. Diane Coll: Dream Away; Diane Coll; Strangely in Tune; dianecoll.net 1.6.2026
  42. Anne Harris: Time Has Made a Change (Frye); Anne Harris; I Feel It Once Again; Rugged Road Records RRR AH2024Pre
  43. Odetta: Deep River; Odetta; Best of Odetta: Ballads and Blues; Legacy International Ballads and Blues / CD 354
  44. Sam Cooke: A Change is Gonna Come; Sam Cooke; A Change is Gonna Come (single); RCA Victor SP-45-73
  45. The Gospel Hummingbirds: Blowin’ in the Wind (Dylan); The Gospel Hummingbirds; Taking Flight; Blind Pig Records BPCD5023
  46. Laura Love: I Still Believe (Unplugged); Laura Love; She Loved Red; Laura Love 88295 68276
  47. Andrew Beyer: “The Midnight Special – cigar box slide”; Andrew Beyer; Midnight Special Collection; Midnight Special Collection AABeyer/MS 004