Buzz Knight (4:28)

walk Joe McCuna welcome to Taking a Walk. An honor to have you and congratulations on the book. The title Tasty Cakes, Soul Songs and Shining Stars. Tasty Cakes I happen to know just from a little time I spent in Philadelphia. They're a Philadelphia institution. How much does growing up in Philly shape everything that follows in the book and in your stellar career?

Joe McEwen (4:55)

I mean, honestly, Philadelphia was everything and it was an an extremely exciting period. My adolescence, you know, it came of age in the 60s and Philadelphia had these incredible AM radio personalities, WIBG High lit and Joe Niagara and then W had Georgie woods and Jimmy Bishop and Butterball and wh, which is kind of the second soul station, had the Mighty Burner, Sunny Ops and Making no Mistake of Jake and but it was just I Was a kid. I love basketball. I love sports and basketball primarily. And that was really my focus. And I didn't. You know, I saw the Beatles. They made no connection to me. I didn't listen to the radio my mom would listen to sometimes in the car. Wip, which was the adult station. So I just hearing Andy Williams sing Blue Moon or, you know, Tony. Tony Bennett. I left my heart in San Francisco. And it just made no impact. And we had no music in the house, or no art, for that matter. So once I really started to pay attention, I. I forced myself to listen to the radio down to WIBG, which was then the top 40. And I had a. Had a pen and a pad the first time. And if I'd hear something I kind of liked, I just write down what the title was, you know. And quickly I got really fascinated and into this. And then I discovered das, the soul station, which was really big deal in the city. They had a great newscast, very much a community station, but huge nationally. Like, with it, Philadelphia was looked at as a breaker market, you know, even back then. So there was just so much about this city, you know, it was kind of grimy. My father worked right in West Philadelphia and then in North Philadelphia. And then I used to go to see college basketball. Always everything that I liked was in the city, which was music and basketball, sports. And, you know, I just got acclimated to the culture of that city. And then Jerry Blavitt was on TV and, you know, created this whole Yantine language lingua franca. I just dove in head first, man, and I never came out.

Buzz Knight (7:35)

The heater with the geeter the gator

Joe McEwen (7:38)

with the heater the geeter with the heater. Sorry. Now you rediscovered was a phonic buzz. My man, my man. Pots and pans.

Buzz Knight (7:49)

Now you rediscovered these pieces during the. I hate saying the word Covid, but during the COVID downtime. And boy, what a blast that was, right? And you said that the vitality of the voices reconnected you with feelings that were stored in your mental attic. I love that. What was that moment of rediscovery like? And how did it ultimately turn into this great book?

Joe McEwen (8:18)

Well, I had this idea while I was at Concord, but it was just like a bubble, a thought bubble of doing. I knew I had these profiles, and I only had a few of them at the time. My wife and I had gotten divorced, a very difficult divorce. So I had and didn't have any access to them. But, you know, the idea originally was that soul music saved my life. That was Just this thought I had as a title. But until I actually was able to get access to these, and then there were some that were missing, which I had a friend in Boston who helped me get some of these. David Bieber.

Buzz Knight (8:56)

I love David Bieber. He's a dear friend.

Joe McEwen (8:58)

Reading Michael Jackson, reading the staples, reading Alan Taint or George Clinton, Like, God, I. I'm really proud of these. These are really good. I did them for then the Boston Phoenix, which was. Or in the real paper, which were both big papers. It was a time when that Boston as an FM station, WBCN was. Was hugely influential. They broke a lot of the English groups from that period, you know, Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck. And it just was. You know, it just was a place for me. It took me back to that time, but also got me back into the. Being grounded again and the music I love that got me into the record business and got me into A and R and always was laid this foundation of stuff that I just built everything around and on it. It made me feel younger a little bit. It was a vanity project, to be sure. Originally, I thought I might just put this out myself. I had started writing again for Peter Goralnick's website and Facebook and some other outlets that. But it was just. And it just wrote about old music. I really didn't have any interest in talking about a. What I was doing or. Or now I don't. But. So to answer your question, just. It grounded me. It made me feel like I visualized exactly the moments when I was there. You know, whether it was Chicago or Los Angeles or New Orleans or wherever. I was interviewing these people and their moments that, you know, stuck in my head.

Buzz Knight (10:51)

So you got this incredible access to artist that I think, as I was reading it, I'm thinking, would that have happened today? The way handlers take care of musicians and they kind of keep them. Keep them away many times from journalists. You were. You were in the room with so many people. And I wanted to go through some of these folks and how you got access. First of all, Mavis Staples.

Joe McEwen (11:22)

Well, Mavis and Pops were on Warner Brothers at that point. My friend was the head of publicity at Warner Brothers. You know, here's the address. You know, go spend the day with them. They have a little studio on the south side. I came in and Pops was there, and they were just going to do some background vocals, I guess. So, you know, the sisters all drifted in, but Pops and I've talked for, you know, I don't know how long and out. But you Know, it's just watching him, like, you know, just sitting there, like, as you do, and a great human being. And I. He's somebody I wish I could have spent more time with, to be honest, because, you know, he started. He grew up in a plantation and took this. His family group and, you know, went through all these different incarnations and incredible story. And Mavis was there that day, so it spent time with her. So both of them were just. You know, I admired them just as people. I just liked them immediately. You know, they. And I was always struck by so many of these artists that just allowed you into their life. Like, they were just so open, which, you know, is a very. I mean, I. I don't think I would be that way, you know, or I think, you know, of others that, you know, been around, and people are. You know, they're more guarded, I think.

Buzz Knight (12:51)

I feel like it. Yeah. And I feel like they're protected as well. In anticipation of the interview, I rewatched one of my favorite concert movies of all time with the. The. The staples, Pops and Mavis and. And Co. The Last Waltz. And this incre. Coolness that prevailed over the performance, coupled with this joy that oozes out when you're listening to the music, that really certainly came through for me. And I'm sure when you were with them, the same thing came through, right?

Joe McEwen (13:28)

Well, I mean, Pops realized pretty quickly that Mavis, who was the youngest, had this voice, that no one had a deep voice. And he. She says, you know, he pushed me out to the front. I didn't want to be out in the front. I was really annoyed about this for years. You hear her as a young woman in the gospel records, and it's just astounding when she reaches in and really digs in and the emotion. It's a different version of, say, Aretha and some of the other greats, Mahalia Jackson, but, you know, just the unbelievable place that some artists can, you know, all different artists have their place to get to as vocalists that are, you know, that. That are vocalists.

Buzz Knight (14:18)

I saw her not that long ago open for her, her dear friend Bob Dylan, and she still has it. Mavis does. She just has this. This great spirit and really command and seems to be having a good time still to this day.

Joe McEwen (14:35)

She calls him Bobby.

Buzz Knight (14:38)

I love it. It's amazing. Tell me about the moment with George Clinton.

Joe McEwen (14:46)

My friend Tom Vickers worked for George as the minister of information, so to speak, but he was a publicist, and this is pretty much the heyday at that point of funkadelic and was. I don't remember when I. I did two pieces with them. One was way before the spaceship, but this one was longer. And I just got more time with him. And we just, you know, he had just woken up. It was probably noon or something. And we were at his manager's house in the Hollywood Hills. You know, he had a joint and, you know, it's just kind of waking up. But he was very forthright. I. Very smart. George was incredibly smart. Been around and been at Motown, and he saw what worked there, what didn't work. You know, from a culture, a management point of view about egos, about what it means to actually be successful and how transitory that can be. And, you know, unfortunately, it. He didn't take his own advice after a fashion, you know, because of drugs and other stuff. But just a great, very, very perceptive person. Really smart, pretty well read, actually. He grew up in New Jersey and Newark and then lived in Plainfield. And so he had, you know, and he really banged around. He knocked him around. And they had a studio in Plainfield. It was like a recording studio with no equipment. In was like just a fake place but, you know, dream. And took those guys with them and they all went out to, you know, Detroit. And then they had a hit with I Want to Testify as this kind of soul group, Temptations, you know, era, and using a lot of Motown musicians. I. I don't know. Georgia was a great guy, and I was lucky to be able to do that.

Buzz Knight (16:50)

The other person I want to talk about is the great Alan Toussaint, who I first discovered through his work that he was doing as a big fan of the band and how he, you know, obviously brought them into this next generation that they were experimenting with the whole rock of ages time that the band had. But tell me about Alan and what a brilliant person you know, he certainly was.

Joe McEwen (17:22)

He was, you know, a mystery. He was, again, very smart, very learned, very learned in music. His interest in music just went from Stravinsky to Ornette Coleman. And I was there two days, I think, at the studio. Just incredibly precise as the producer. The only person I was around that ever was. I saw like that. In the same way was Burt Bacharach once, where he would spend hours on one. Alan spent spending hours on this. Just one vocal line that he wanted this singer to do. And the guys tell him, well, you know, it's all just a matter of interpretation, man. You know, it's a link. And then Alan decided not to use it the next day.

Buzz Knight (18:14)

It's the way it goes when you don't please the man. Right.

Joe McEwen (18:18)

But, you know, there were a lot of layers to Alan. He was very guarded as a person, but he did, he was a very, he was a good interview. He did let me have access, you know, to just watch and then talk. And, you know, he kept saying, I don't really believe in talking about music itself, you know. You know, I did get to work with Alan again during his Elvis Costello project, River in Reverse. Alan did, although I didn't remind him that once, you know, he'd been in New Orleans with him back, you know, 20 years earlier or whatever it was. But, you know, like I said, he's, you know, he was always a bit of a man of mystery. But like, also, like I said, he was a very, very learned academic person, but from New Orleans and, you know, an African American from New Orleans, which, you know, he was very much part of his identity. We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast.

Podcast Host/Announcer (19:22)

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with a AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures lost

Sponsor/Ad Voice (20:23)

support through telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice eligibility required. See Cite for details.

Podcast Host/Announcer (21:25)

Hey everyone, it's Kal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary, massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.

Joe McEwen (21:48)

I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo yo yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that deeply, emotionally affected me and I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too.

Podcast Host/Announcer (22:20)

Listen to Irsay the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (22:29)

Your pet is your bestie, your therapist, your perfect match. It's easy to love them. It's easy to protect them too, with pet insurance coverage from Pets Best because it's all fun and games until they chew on something they shouldn't and you get a vet bill to match with perfect timing, Pets Best helps protect your furry friend and your budget from this imperfect world. Get up to 90% cash back on eligible vet bills from less than a dollar a day. Pets Best has plans to cover accidents, injuries and more, from puppies and kittens to seniors. Find your Perfect Match plan and get a quote@petsbest.com Pet insurance products offered and administered by Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company or Independence American Insurance Company for terms and conditions, visit www.petsbest.com Policy products are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company, Independence American Insurance Company or Ms. Transverse Insurance Company and administered by Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC. $1.00 a day premium based on 2024 average new policyholder data for accident and illness plans. Pets age 0 to 10.

Podcast Host/Announcer (23:32)

Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.

Buzz Knight (23:35)

Now, you wrote for Rolling Stone and the Village Voice At a time when rock criticism was kind of being shaped, really finding its identity. As someone who was deep into soul and R and B, did you ever feel like an outsider in that world?

Joe McEwen (23:56)

Well, honestly, you're always an outsider. Yes. The answer to your question, yes. And the answer, I would also say is it doesn't matter if it was country music, if it was, you know, even Cameron Crowe, being on the road with, you know, the Eagles or Led Zeppelin or. You're always an outsider. As much as people allow you in. It's. It's never your world. It's like you're not actually in what they're doing. You're just an observer. And I never forgot that. I never forgot it when I was a writer or the being in music, you know, working for record companies. But, you know, people let you in if you're fortunate. And as a writer, being able to just observe people, which I really realized was what I enjoyed, I quickly didn't care about writing about records that much or even shows, but the people were what I was interested in. How do you. How do you get there? How do you. What. What makes this, you know, person, this genius, this, you know, magic come out of somebody? So the answer is yes, you're always the outsider. Buzz.

Buzz Knight (25:13)

Of all the artists you profiled in that era, is there someone who surprised you the most, either in person or when you reread these pieces 50 years later?

Joe McEwen (25:26)

Well, honestly, one of my favorite pieces is the Michael Jackson piece. And that was a piece he was. It was 1977, I think. I think it was at the head of Epic Publicity, Susan Blonde, that actually suggested. Because I had never had anyone suggest things, I just knew what I wanted to do and wherever my attention span wandered off to. And it just struck me, wow, Michael, he's 19. It was filming the Wiz at that point, which was really. Even though that was not a success in itself, it was the beginning of his climb back. So I got to see him. This was, you know, you talk about handlers or, you know, access, the publicist for Michael, Steve Manning. And I forget his body. But, you know, I was at, you know, they were having lunch, and I sat in A corner. And they didn't know I was there with Diana Ross and Nipsey Russell and Sidney Lamette, the director. They were just gossiping away, and Michael was there. And then I was just around him for several hours. He wanted to go to a party in the village alone. So they're in the front seat of the car. This is where it starts, in the car. And they said, oh, no, Michael. You know, you can't do that. And he. He wouldn't let it go. And he was getting a little petulant. So when we got to this apartment they were staying in Sutton Place, they went into the bedroom, the three of them, to keep this, you know, Michael didn't want to let it go, you know. So finally Steve, the publicist says, okay, man, come on in. And it was just me and him alone. And Michael, you know, he talked very softly, but he was. We talked. I forget. It was a fair amount of time, you know, I asked him about, you know, he'd tell me the story about his, you know, being in the basement, rehearsing when he was 5 or 6, 7. And kids are outside, you can see them, like on this little playground next to their house. And, you know, he never was out there with them. So. And then they would perform in clubs at night in Gary or around Gary. And women would throw money at them. So he'd have a pocket. First of all, he got no sleep. You'd have. Go into school, he'd have a pocket full of money, and then he'd go in the bathroom. And the kids knew he had money and they'd take his money. And that was kind of his view of people, I think, you know, on some level. And so we talked for a long time. Finally, at the end of. And then he talked about his vision, you know, it was the time when they had left Motown. They had done two albums with Kenny Gamble and Leon Hoff for Epic. But they were really kind of. My editor said, who cares about Michael Jackson? And it was just. The Jacksons were definitely in this kind of lull and, you know, looked at as a teenage group. And Michael said, you know, my brothers and I, we had great producers, but we really want to produce ourselves. I like music that's not just, hey, baby and, you know, baby, come here and love me or I forget what else he said. But, you know, he said, I'd like, you know, write songs about a chair or I'd like the Beatles Full on a Hill. You know, that's. That's what I really want to write the songs like that. And so their next single, they. They got to produce most of their next album, Shake youe Body down, which is a really great single that kind of was taking the old early Motown singles. I Want you Back, abc, and made it really present. And then from there, off the Wall came out two years later after that. And the rest is history, as they say. Yeah, but. But the idea that you had said that if this was now, because, you know, two years later, I would never. It's never would have happened. But it was just the right place at the right time.

Buzz Knight (29:32)

You compiled this incredible Lost Soul albums for Epic. Talk about what drew you to these. These deep cuts, these songs that fell through the cracks. And why does that music still matter now?

Joe McEwen (29:49)

Well, a lot of that music, even though these songs that weren't hits, you know, they just. The vocal, the styling and the vocal, first of all, many of them. And not just not from Lost Soul necessarily, but have been sampled. They were all the early foundations and still of hip hop music, you know, for that music. I just always. Once I really got into music, the Rolling Stones or the Supremes were the first two albums I bought. I mean, where did Our Love Go? And out of Our Heads and. But once I sort of was even more drawn to the soul stuff. But, you know, I just got more into it. And I worked in a record store in Boston. Skippy White, greatest record store I'd ever been in. It was. Right. It was on the edge of Roxbury. It was totally geared to Roxbury, the black community in Boston. So I was there for six months, but it allowed me, you know, we would try. We would sell, like this friend of mine, Rod. We would be behind the counter and we pick a record he loved. Like, sweet vocal group soul, like soft soul. So there would be. There was a record from Philadelphia, Remember this? It was totally obscure. Like, it was on the Gamblinghoff record by the Ethics called Good Luck. And in terms of the promotion scale of priorities, it was pretty far down the list. But Rod and I decided, we're gonna make this a hit in Boston. So women, especially young women our age, would come in and they'd say, all right, do you have, like, the Stylistics or the Chi Lights? And so. Yep. And then they'd often go, what else do you have? You know, just to get. It was a single. It was primarily a single store. I mean, but they had plenty of albums. It was huge. They had gospel and great blue selection. And we would just put this on and we sold two boxes of singles, man. I mean, it was just kind of a thrill, man, where we just sold 50 fids. Good luck on our curse. So the idea that music, you know, that the hits obviously are the ones that we all remember. They're the community that binds us through our life. But that there are so many of any different kind of music that you can name. And I'm sure you've got favorites, like, of albums and things that, you know, very few people might be aware of just from your time at. At New. So, you know, and just I was able actually for many labels, I mean, to do, you know, catalogs. I mean, I got really into Frank Sinatra and then I was. Did a Frank Sinatra box set at Columbia. And then when I worked with Sire, with Seymour, you know, Mo Austin knew, and it's like he wanted someone like no one had never had anyone to deal with Frank's catalog. And Moe started Reprise with, you know, Sinatra. That was. Sinatra hired him to be his. You know, you run the company, so to speak. It was all a thrill. I mean, I just. The fact that I just could do this stuff, it always, even now, like it conquered it. It just amazes me because there's so much music, it's infinite, you know, like I said. And it doesn't matter, like whatever you like, you know, it's like country, rockabilly, heavy metal. I mean, you know, oh, there's this band out of, you know, North Dakota, you know, and they did these records in 1982, you know, so anybody. All of those, I mean, hip hop records, it. It just. There's a wellspring of great music that most people will never hear and haven't heard. So be being able to put it out and put it into a form that's listenable and is short enough so that you get people's attention. And it was a wonder to me that I was allowed to do this.

Buzz Knight (33:53)

The book ends with a long conversation with Peter Gorelnick, who's written these definitive books on Elvis and Sam Cooke, among others. And what does it mean to have that conversation serve as the final chapter? Almost like I perceive, like passing the baton between two people who have devoted their lives to their love of music.

Joe McEwen (34:18)

Well, Peter has really been my mentor in many ways. I've known Peter since I was in college, and I don't remember I. How I knew. He was at this Lightning Hopkins show that we went to, and he had his young son with him and his wife. And this was back. I was a senior, I think, early 70s, and he had written something, a review of Solomon Burke and Rolling Stone. And that was astounding to me at that point, that someone would write something in Rolling Stone about someone like Solomon Burke. It's like very few people writing things about things that I really loved. So I don't know how I knew it was him, but I just went up to him and I go, did you really mean what you said about Solomon Burke? And he said, yes, absolutely. So from that point on, we just became really good friends. And, you know, Peter's a bit of an elder, and, you know, he. We just. You know, I spoke to him yesterday and I just. I bounce things off of him. I've cried to him. I've. You know, he knows me pretty much as well as anybody on the planet, so, you know, just a great person, you know, extremely smart. He loves. He loves music, you know, in the same way, you know, and we have. Some of our similarities are the same, like, you know, Bobby Bland or Charlie Rich or, you know, things that connect. And so, I don't know, man, I'm just blessed to have him as a friend.

Buzz Knight (35:58)

After all these decades, when you reflect on what you've done with the book and your career, what still fills you with wonder?

Joe McEwen (36:09)

Wonder is a good word for it, I think, because hearing something that maybe you weren't either, you didn't know. And I'm talking about any kind of music, even some new music or relatively new, but just the sound of, you know, something that. Is this the person the group created out of air. It fills me with wonder, you know, it always has. And just the idea. That's why I went back to, you know, at the beginning, I said it was people that. That I wanted to know how, How. How do you do this? Where does this come from? It's just like this magic that just pops out, you know, that's really the journey of, like, how I ended up having a life. Career in music. But it all goes back to being this kid in Philadelphia just listening to this stuff and these DJs who were as big as the artists and maybe bigger in a way, you know, it was like they were the keyhole. They had their own big personalities. They presented the shows. And it's just, you know, it's. I'm sure with you, it just. It drew you in, man, and it never came out. You know, I never got out of the pool.

Buzz Knight (37:27)

It's still there, and it's never gonna. Gonna leave. I mean, I'm speaking to someone that you wrote about in the coming weeks, and I'd love to get your reflections on them. And maybe even a question that you have for Swampdog.

Joe McEwen (37:44)

He's a true original. That's I can say. I. I don't think I have. I mean, I spent a lot of time around him back then. I. It was at his house then when I wrote the piece. I had him on my radio show on WBCM when they had hired me to do like, my show on the MIT station, you know, and we had like a hour and a half interview with swamp, talking of 50,000 watts rock station, which they let me do, you know, and I got to do what I wanted for a while. But, you know, he's. He's a true eccentric, you know, I mean, it's just an oddball, which, you know, he loves to reinforce, you know, and he's happy to talk. He's a great interview, he's very smart and, you know, you'll have a good time, man. He's entertaining, you know.

Buzz Knight (38:36)

Oh, I guarantee I will.

Joe McEwen (38:38)

Oh, man.

Buzz Knight (38:39)

Oh, well, in closing. So we call this taking a walk, Joe. And the question we like to ask is, who would you like to take a walk with, living or dead? Where maybe. And what would you talk about?

Joe McEwen (38:52)

The first person that came to mind was Sam Cooke. And it would be in Chicago, the neighborhood that he grew up in. And I just would love to ask him about what it was like for him. What, you know, when did you have this vision of that, you know, was preceded so many others. He really saw what an artist, how they were getting, take advantage of and. And what, you know, where the next step would be, which was, you know, a Owning your own songs, which was not done at all in pop music. But to just go back to him as a younger person in his head, because Sam was just someone who was very perceptive, incredibly smart, gifted on so many levels, you know, tragic what happened. So he would be the one. The other that I thought of, honestly, was Marvin Gaye when he was in Belgium, in Austin, this kind of small city on the North Sea, you know, freezing in the winter, and he went there to escape, you know, he had a bad cocaine addiction at that point. He was in the middle of this horrible divorce, is in the middle of getting out of Motown. His life was kind of in shambles, and I think it was. I can't remember if it was a filmmaker or it was somebody that he knew invited him from over there to just come over and, you know, just get away. And he lived there for months. So I would just like, walk on the promenade by the ocean, by the sea, and. And just talk about your life, you know, just because, you know, he lived through so much and again had an awful ending. But those are the two that came to mind. I mean as as music. I could name others. My father would be one also.

Buzz Knight (40:58)

The book is amazing. We love celebrating the fine art of storytelling and the stories are great in Tasty Cake, Soul Songs, and shining stars. Joe McEwen, thanks for being on Taking a Walk and thanks for sharing these tremendous stories.

Joe McEwen (41:14)

Well, I'm grateful to you Buzz for having me. Really, it's been fun and you're a great interviewer. Thank you.

Buzz Knight (41:23)

I'm Buzz Knight. And thanks for listening to the Taking a Walk podcast. Now please check out our companion podcasts produced by Buzz Night Media Productions with your host Lynn Hoffman. Music Save Me Showcasing the healing power of music and comedy, Save Me Shining a light on how laughter is the best medicine. All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and are part of the iHeart Podcast Network.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (41:54)

CVS it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night. And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your perspective descriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit us@cvs.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.

Podcast Host/Announcer (42:30)

Hey everyone, it's Kel Penn. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Joe McEwen (42:59)

I'm U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. We all seem to be in a rush these days, from work to driving our kids around. But when you're behind the wheel, please do not speed. A few minutes saved by going faster is never worth the risk. So follow the speed limit, enjoy the drive, maybe bring some snacks for the kids. And know that along the way you're getting quality time with your family. Paid for by nhtsa.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (43:29)

Lost support through telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility, and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care, and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging, so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds. Com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice. Eligibility required. See Cite for details.