Radio 3's American Road Trip: Los Angeles

Radio 3's American Road Trip: Los Angeles

If I struggled to associate Dallas with orchestral music, Los Angeles will naturally follow suit. Or so I thought. Georgia Mann presents Day 4 of BBC Radio 3's American Roadtrip - the final leg from LA. The show opens and it immediately clicks with me: Hollywood. The movies. Film scores! Yes - the focus of this programme will, inevitably, be music that has featured in or been composed specifically for film. But this is Radio 3, so it will hold a different character to Classic FM at the Movies with Jonathan Ross (which does have its own merits, if one looks hard enough).

We're off to a good start with Gershwin's gentle piano and some sort of piece from Strauss (think it was Richard).

There is music from the film Sunset Boulevard, which I have on DVD in the loft - must dig that out again. I remember the film well, and Georgia Mann says it was a very 'meta' offering from Hollywood - and I know exactly what she means, because I am down with the kids. Who could forget Gloria Swanson's camp dame, in her semi-schizophrenic effort to stay youthful and relevant? True of so many of our internal monologues - certainly is of mine. If all goes to plan, my brother Adam and I will be cruising Sunset Boulevard proper in just over two months time, and I do hope we take the time to savour our own precious moment in the sun.

We move across to Hollywood Bowl, which is a famous venue. I've certainly heard of it, but what does it look like? I head to Google Images. It's like a modern open-air amphitheater, I realise. 

It is lovely to hear Charlie Chaplin's Smile played; this is a tune I know well due to the Eric Clapton connection (he's known to sing it once in a while).

There are themes to To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Dam Busters, both of which are great. And then it gets darker with Bernard Herrmann's prelude to Psycho. The Psycho franchise is an old favourite of mine, and *possibly* we will catch the Bates Motel set if we have time to do the Universal Studios tour on our trip. And there's another offering from Herrmann a bit later, with The Man Who Knew Too Much - I recognise those unnerving waves instantly. This one has become a new favourite since hearing it at The Last Night of the Proms, last summer.

BBC Radio 3's great American adventure ends here, in the very same place ours will in May. What will we make of LA when we get there, after driving all the way from Chicago? At the moment I haven't a clue, but I will keep in my mind the following sentiment from this programme: for those without means, paradise becomes hell.

Image by Lindsay_Jayne from Pixabay

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Dallas

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Dallas

It's Day Three of BBC Radio 3's American Roadtrip. Petroc Trelawny comes to us courtesy of WRR 101.1 - Dallas's classical music radio station. I come to you from my modest home in Runcorn, Cheshire. Let me start by addressing the immediate elephant in the room: associating a classical music radio station with Dallas - or anywhere in Texas - is a tricky concept. The words Dallas and Texas are more likely to conjure images of Stetson Hats, Steak Houses, and Strapping Horses? 

We have talk of the Dallas Bach Society, which is a brilliant thing - but it's hard to shake the image I have of Big Hoss, of Bonanza fame, atop his mule in a grainy-coloured television picture.

As I write [Sunday 8th March 2026], it is just eight weeks until I am back stateside myself, when my brother and I begin our epic Route 66 adventure. The planning stage for this is thus subjected to a gentle heat now. And I like it! I am in my backroom on the laptop: I've got a laundry spin on in the kitchen, and I'm toggling my ESTA application on my phone whilst trying to concentrate on the programme.

Much of the show is, therefore, background noise until something pricks my ears. There is a hearty squeeze box tune played, and it sounds like something more from rural France than Texas.

Something then strikes: 'Scott Joplin was born in Texas,' Petroc informs us! And this is very good news, because a stop along our planned Route 66 itinerary is going to be his house museum in St Louis, Missouri. Very much looking forward to that, and, if it comes to pass, will fit in nicely with these blogs I have been doing. So it is that Radio 3 (via WRR 101.1) treat us to The Entertainer.

There is an offering from the Dallas Opera, which was founded in 1957. Again, tricky to take it seriously with unconscious cowboy biases running riot in my head.

But we later get a song by Don Edwards called I'd Like to be in Texas when they Roundup in the Spring. And this sits more neatly in my head, though I acknowledge that it shouldn't really do.

Discussion wise, we move slightly west of Dallas to focus on Fort Worth: a town I have heard of but know nothing about. Seems to be one of those 'sibling rivalry' towns (think Liverpool-Manchester). 'A bromance with issues,' as PT puts it.

Some Debussy - lovely gentle piano. 

A medley of Texan tunes by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra - there's something Chitty Chitty Bang Bang about it.

I hear the ring of the theme tune to Dallas, the classic TV caper. Obligatory. While I have never watched the programme myself, I remember The Young Ones doing a skit of it, and it again reinforces that grainy TV picture from the seventies.

A slice of Susan Graham and Renee Fleming doing a very famous piece - not sure what it's called until I look it up:

"Dôme épais le jasmin", often referred to as the "Flower Duet", is a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano in the first act of the tragic opera Lakmé, premiered in Paris in 1883 and composed by Léo Delibes.

Later there's something VERY me - a short excerpt from a blues / folk sort of tune - Deep Elm Blues (pronounced Deep Ellum Blues) By the Shelton brothers? - I could do a lot worse than add this to our playlist for Route 66.

We get a more hardcore blues by Blind Willie Johnson - Nobody's Fault But Mine. This is very much my type of music!

Naturally, there is talk of John F. Kennedy's assassination which occurred in Dallas. Something I did not know was that one of his favourite pieces of music was Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, which, at the time, was played in an empty hall in Washington D.C. It is a beautiful piece, and looking it up now I can see it has been utilised in many other occasions of public grief and memorial.

Percy Grainger's Shepherd's Hay has a distinct English-Country-Garden feel to its character. And Dvořák's New World Symphony (the bit that sounds like Star Wars) concludes the programme. 

Stock image: Hoss.

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Philadelphia

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Philadelphia

It's Day Two of BBC Radio 3's American Roadtrip, and it comes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The City of Brotherly Love. The very place where the United States of America gained its independence from the British Empire, and where Rocky Balboa ran up the steps to the '118-118' theme tune. [Remember the 118 craze?!]

While I have never ventured into Philadelphia proper, I do recall stopping by the Pocono Premium Outlets (think Cheshire Oaks), in Tannersville PA, back in 2013; en route from Manhattan to Niagara Falls [Or was it on the way back? Think it was.] I still have a couple of Fossil-branded watches that I bought from there - I think it was a BOGOF offer- and I am glad to report that both timepieces are still in fine fettle and offering me sartorial dominance to this day, some thirteen years later.

And it is interesting that we should be speaking of the declaration of American independence, because that document contains a signature of one Francis Lewis, whom I may be related to. Yes, you heard that right! A couple of years ago, a chap from the USA contacted me via Ancestry, the genealogy giant, for he had a DNA connection to me, and there has been intimation that 'Franny Lew' was one of my very distant forefathers... how about that?! [I'm not boasting here, mind - I am aware that a professional genealogist would pour contraband liquour on my bonfire as, technically, I am probably no closer related to Francis Lewis than old Maud at the bus stop down the road.]

The programme kicks off with a piece that featured on the 1940 film, A Philadelphia Story, and it's typical 1940's film music - ostentatious strings, accompanied by dainty piano frills. Have I got this on DVD, I wonder? I look at my Audrey Hepburn boxset with no luck. Further research reveals that it was infact a starring role Katharine Hepburn. Just goes to show that even a broadcasting stalwart like our Petroc can err once in a while.

Now, Philly has the Curtis Institute, which is a prestigious music school. The Johns Hopkins of music, if you will. And there is the Philadelphia Orchestra, of which - and I understate this - Rachmaninov was known to speak highly of.

There is a plaque to Billie Holliday, who was born in Phil, and the plaque says that she was 'the greatest jazz vocalist of her time' - a fair proclamation, in my view. Radio 3 kindly play us her original recording of Sunny Side of the Street, and it is a joy as ever to hear the dulcet tones of BH.

We are then taken to the Marian Anderson museum. Not being familiar with this contralto and celebrated civil rights activist, I hear the name as 'Marianne' at first - and this is a sore point, for it was a Marianne who once wronged me: cancelled our second date (the first had been really sweet) just as I was on the motorway to get there. To cut a long story short, I suspect she had another geezer on the go. Her loss, but it is very much my gain to learn about Marian Anderson, and Radio 3 plays us her divine performance of 'Deep River'.

We hear from a Philadelphia Bass Baroque orchestra, and later a short interview with Nancy Shear, who talks about her fascinating experiences with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. I note that she has a book out called I Knew A Man Who Knew Brahms, and I recognise that emotion within myself: I have personally met a man who has met Barack Obama, and another friend (I've boasted about this in the past) of mine met Bette Davis in Southport. Ain't that something! [There are several impressive Beatles connections too, being a Merseyside boy. But I think I've made my point.]

A bit later on we get played Concerto 4-3 by Jennifer Higdon. Interestingly, this piece has bluegrass elements and techniques blended within it... right up my alley, anything like this. Not before have I listened to classical playing with subtle 'hoe down' vibes, but I do think I like it.

Better known to you and me as the Monty Python theme tune, we have, as a natural centerpiece of the programme, Sousa’s Liberty Bell. A giant foot squelches down in my imagination as I listen. And as I listen, I start to wonder if I share with British listeners a quiet but guilty snobbery; in thinking that the North American model of classical music is somehow lesser, and could never quite compare to the longer-running European outfits?

I had better leave it there.

A Deli Snack: NYC, April 2013.

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Boston

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Boston

Off the top of my head, what can I remember about Boston? I spent one day there in April 2013, just one week before the tragic Boston marathon bombing. 

Clam chowder. That was nice, and it was a Boston Clam Chowder - I seem to remember there are other New England variants of the dish. Nearly left my backpack under the table in the restaurant (I was very prone to such lapses of concentration back then). I remember saying sorry to the waitress as I left.

There is some sort of Martime trail that can be followed there? I'll kick myself when I look it up. Just remember that I didn't have enough time to do it.

Boston is where I discovered the 'Life Is Good' clothing brand. I was taken by the quality of the t-shirt I spotted in a store and, despite not buying anything there and then, I have over the years owned a few garments of theirs, including one I bought from Memphis in 2015 (that store has since closed, I believe).

I noticed the wealth of the town. Clean-cut, red brick buildings. 

Harvard. Still have a pin badge souvenir from there. On the campus, there is a building that looks like a Polaroid camera - because that's where the Polaroid camera technology was invented?

It was either on the way there - or the way back - when a young lady and her mother offered me some Salt Water Taffy that they had bought - not sure if it was in Boston proper or at one of the rest stops in Connecticut. Think there was an element of pity about it; me being on my own. Gladly accepted the taffy and enjoyed it muchly.

*Looks back at photos from the time, and looks up a few other things*

- The restaurant where I ate Boston Clam Chowder (it came with oyster crackers) was called McCormick and Schmick's. While the chain still exists, it looks like the Boston branch does not. It's a Margaritaville now.

- The building that looks like a Polaroid camera is the Havard Science Center, and stands as a tribute (self-donatory, by the sounds of it) to Edwin Land, who invented said camera. A quick search doesn't pull up much about whether the 'Polaroid architecture' was deliberate - imagine it was.

- The 'Maritime trail' I was thinking of is the Freedom Trail: 'The Freedom Trail is a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) walking route through Boston that connects 16 significant historical sites related to the American Revolution.'

BBC Radio 3 in Boston

This is a 3.5 hour programme, and it's packed with goodies, so I'll have to keep this relatively brief.

The show opens with Gershwin, and his music is definitely at home in the American music hall, isn't it? 

Then there's Mars from Holst's Planets, played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Nice to hear those unsettling motifs once again.

The Handel and Haydn society bring us down to earth, and this is an outfit I have no familiarity with despite it's long-running prestige. Handel, as I have mentioned in my other blogs already, is one of my 'homebase' composers, with whom I can spout a little knowledge. Haydn, however, is thus far a foreigner in my country, which is to say I know not a jot about him. Just looked him up and he's the 'father of the string quartet,' so that's quite impressive.

We get Stars and Stripes forever - that oft-imitated cheer lead. Brilliant stuff!

An interview and discussion about how a love story has played out in Boston, between two musical friends. Good for them, I say; though they have obviously never dipped into Classic FM dating - a misfortunate fiscal mistake I shall not repeat.

More Gershwin (I could get used to this), in the form of Liza, which is an American style jazz piano piece.

We then have music from the Trinity church [did I visit there? No, I didn't]

Piano piece by Ravel.

Road to the Appalachains which I enjoyed, had a very Irish fiddle feel.

Yo Yo Ma shared some of his philosophies on life, which was both touching and humorous.

Dvorak's Humoresque in G flat major gets an outing, and I'm familiar with it, because Jasper Carrott did a decent cover of this ("footprints on the dashboard upside down") 

Then there is Stormy Weather, and I really like this jazzy number. The female singer is a smooth presence, not unlike a titan like Billy Holliday.

Then there is the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah which, funnily enough, I have just witnessed in-full at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Then there's a bit o' J.S. 'never-a-bad-thing' Bach , and Appalachian Spring Suite to finish, which is bright, and certainly 'springy', encompassing the American Dream. 

A conversation about music and AI ends the programme, with fascinating contributions from the M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 

Overall, a robust and fully entertaining roster. If the others are half as good as this, we'll be doing all right.

Harvard Science Center.

Boston Clam Chowder at McCormick and Schmicks

The Freedom Trail

Introduction: What is it about an American Road Trip?

American Road Trips: A Blog

Introduction: What is it about an American Road Trip?

My first time in the USA... it was a family holiday to Manhattan, in July 2005. A gimmick thrown in from the travel agent was an airport transfer in a stretch limousine. Taking us from JFK airport to the Hotel Edison, just off Times Square, the radio station playing in said limo was 'Highway 16', which was a station dedicated to playing contemporary Country music. That was the point in time when, aged sixteen, I fell in love with the idea of the American road trip.

Other stints in North America followed. Three years later, in 2008, I spent an exchange semester in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), where I studied at Dalhousie University for four months. During that time, I took the opportunity to take a bus ride to Liverpool, Nova Scotia. It was the November; my 20th birthday getaway treat, in four foot of snow.

April 2013, and I was back in New York City for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, held at Madison Square Garden. Cue three bus rides, cutting across New England states to Boston, Washington D.C., and Niagara Falls.

September 2015, and I had found the courage to drive myself. This time through the Deep South states, covering Tennessee and Mississippi, with short crossings into Alabama and Arkansas. 

One of the best parts of an American Road Trip (or any 'big' holiday) is the preamble. Ten years ago, upon booking my fly-drive exploration, I decided to pick up the harmonica and learn a few notes, taking video lessons from the master of the blues harp, Jerry Portnoy. And another exciting moment in 2015 was getting my name onto BBC Radio 2, with Steve Wright kindly playing my Non-Stop Oldies for a full thirty minutes in the afternoon. At that time, I would leave work at 3pm, and the Non-Stop Oldies would be playing during my drive home. Every so often, I would hear Steve Wright say 'Badge on its way,' and - being a Clapton fan - I thought the song Badge was about to come up. What he actually meant was the 'I chose the Non Stop Oldies' badge - I received mine in the post a couple of days before the broadcast, if my memory serves me correctly. (Still got the badge.) I can still remember the exhilaration of my return motorway commute that day, as my oldies went out live!

As I drove around in 2015 I punched some rough notes into my phone, with the intention of writing up a sort of travelogue.. Said notes are STILL on my phone, ten years later. Therefore, even though my memory has inevitably decayed in the ten years that have passed, my intention is to write up a belated dairy entry here, with the help of photographs and my newly-found interest in blogging. 

I am writing in January 2026. In the just over ten years since I undertook the drive of the Deep South, everything has changed, but nothing has changed. Covid, buying a house, and many curious wanderings have filled the gap in my life between then and now. Lost a few friends, gained a couple. This year, I embark on what will probably be my biggest USA feat to date: Route 66. The Mother Road. The most famous and iconic road trip on the planet. And this time I will have company, in the form of my brother Adam. We made a pact to do this, and now we are doing it. The plan to do it on our 30th and 21st respective birthdays fell through; but here we go, seven years later.

The Route 66 holiday is booked for May 2026 and, as I write, we are in the 'preamble' stage. What's on the agenda? Firstly there's the plethroa TV programmes: I plan to re-watch Billy Connolly's Route 66 (an old favourite), which will refresh me on all the musical points-of-interest that I want to see. Just watched The Hairy Bikers' Route 66, which has given me a culinary perspective of the route, and borrowed from Widnes library Henry Cole's book about Route 66 (he's done it three times), which has presented me with a more vehicular vantage.

It is absolutely brilliant timing that BBC Radio 3 is putting on a series of programmes actually called 'American Roadtrip'. Only a few months ago I found enjoyment in starting a classical music blog, following the 2025 BBC Proms. This is wonderful and timely opportunity to extend said blogging, with a nice 'follow up' relationship with BBC Radio, which, as mentioned above re Steve Wright, was very central in the preamble of my 2015 trip. 

2026: the Centenary of Route 66, and the 250th year of the United States of America. 

Photo of NYC by Justine Lewis, 2005.