He's leaving day job, but won't lose his roots

Blues lovers seeking their Saturday dose of Jessie Mae Hemphill, Leadbelly, country gospel, or field hollers will soon have to look beyond WMBR-FM (88.1), or at least tune in earlier. After today, host Jason Beek will have finished his five-year run as the host of "American Primitive," which broadcasts, from noon to 2 p.m., some of the oldest styles of American popular music.

Beek's program, which focused on the raw roots of blues and rock, bookended a solid six hours of Americana programming on the MIT-based community station. Doug Gesler's "Lost Highway" starts Saturdays off with two hours of country from 8 to 10 a.m., and John Funke continues the exploration with "Backwoods," from 10 a.m. to noon.

But after one last live show today, Beek is giving up his radio gig to focus on drumming for the rootsy Eilen Jewell Band, which he also manages. With the band touring to support its new album, "Letters From Sinners & Strangers," Beek has already missed several shows.

"Everybody at the station has been really supportive and had gone out of the way to press play [on pre-recorded shows] or sub for my show," he says. "But the final straw was when I realized I wouldn't be around in November for the annual station fund-raiser."

The show's two-hour slot officially continues through the month, according to WMBR program director Dugan Hayes. Beek is trying to line up guest hosts for the rest of September. But the new fall schedule begins Oct. 1, says Hayes, adding, "I don't yet know what will take the spot."

The raw, wild sound of "American Primitive" was originally conceived for its first broadcast time, Wednesday mornings from 6 to 8 a.m. "You can get away with more at 6 in the morning," says Beek. "A scratchy recording is somehow comforting when the sun is coming up." When the show was moved to Saturdays in 2005, Beek revved up the sound. "Following John Funke," he says, "I've got to come flying out of the gate . . . with more up-tempo electric blues music."

As time has passed, he's developed a style: playing "moaning heavy guitars" to transition from Funke's more rock-oriented show, until reverting to the older, often acoustic sounds in the second hour. "Once I've hooked you in with a more modern sound," says Beek, "I take you to the roots of the recordings."

To avoid withdrawal, we asked Beek for a typical "American Primitive" set list. In his own words, here's what he recommended:

1. "I'll Be Around," Howlin' Wolf. "He has songs where he sounds like he's a soul singer. This isn't one of them. It's one of the best examples of Howlin' Wolf all-out screaming at you. You imagine his throat is bleeding."

2. "God's Got It," Reverend Charlie Jackson. "He would get up to the pulpit and strap an electric guitar on and sing and preach with the electric guitar. If you weren't listening to the lyrics, it could be a blues tune. Members of his congregation can be heard on the recording."

3. "The Streamline Train," Jessie Mae Hemphill. "We've got to have a Jessie Mae song in there. She's the queen of the hill country sound. It's that repetitive, very simple sound. The song may have two chords, and it just goes on and it's hypnotic."

4. "Shake 'Em on Down," Mississippi Fred McDowell. "His signature tune, it's another two-chord wonder. Really hypnotic, heavy on the slide guitar. It's an open tuning, so it creates that droning. It's almost evil - and you like it."

5. "Burning Hell," John Lee Hooker. "The lyrics are, 'There ain't no heaven/ There ain't no burning hell,' and I like that he's openly questioning it. It's also interesting because he recorded a lot of gospel tunes. The guitar builds to a frenzy, and he's screaming."

6. "Alabama Bound," Leadbelly with the Golden Gate Quartet. "[It] has the Golden Gate Quartet's gorgeous harmonies. It has that back-porch, informal jam feeling to it. It isn't slick, and it's got Leadbelly. His guitar playing is very heavy."

7. "High Water Everywhere," Charlie Patton. "This was recorded on a 78, and the cleanest versions of it are in pretty rough shape. So in terms of the actual song, you've got to be really a fan to suffer through the cracks and pops. But in this case, it just sort of adds to the raw creepiness of it. I just love the way he sings it."

8. "Skipper & His Wife," Spider John Koerner. "[The '60s folk revivalist] played a 12-string, and this song has this really great guitar lick. I sat in with him one time; he's a hard guy to follow."

9. "Insane Crazy Blues," The Memphis Jug Band. "Sung by Charlie Burse, almost a Cab Calloway type, jazzy singer. It's just a wild tune. It has a rhythm that's unusual, a mandolin, all these string-band instruments. It also features a jug, and how many songs have that?"

10. "River of Jordan," The Carter Family. "Just a great example of their beautiful country harmonies, the epitome of Southern Appalachian mountain music, which I love to play on this show."