Roger Samples' Radio Surprise

#413 / Flood Time Capsule: 2002

“Hey, are you listening to Joe’s show?” Charlie Bowen said when he phoned David Peyton that Friday night 22 years this week. “Well, hell, man, turn on your radio!”

Moments earlier, familiar voices had greeted the Bowens when they tuned in Joe Dobbs’ weekly “Music from the Mountains” show on West Virginia Public Radio, and now Charlie wanted to spread the word as quickly as possible.

Joe had kept it a surprise from his band mates, that his guest for that week’s show would be Flood co-founder Roger Samples. And what a memorable evening it was!

Missing Roger

By then, Rog and Tammy and the young Samples family had been living in Mt. Sterling, Ky., for a decade, just far enough away that their old cohorts in The Flood didn’t see them nearly often enough.

However, a month or so earlier, Roger had been on hand in Fayette County, WV, when Joe was honored by FOOTMAD with the very first of the organization’s new Footbridge Living Treasure Award.

Later the guys would come to find out that it was at that event that Joe hit on the idea of bringing Roger in to be an MftM guest.

Going Back

Joe and Rog had been dear friends ever since the fiddler joined the band a quarter of a century earlier.

The two became especially close during the fall and winter of 1975-76 when Roger was house-sitting for the Peytons while they were in Louisiana for Dave’s research on the Cajun culture.

Roger’s Radio Show

So, Roger’s visit on Joe’s “Music from the Mountains” on Nov, 1, 2002, was full of reminiscences. Want to hear Joe and Roger talk and play that night?

Settle back and click the button below for big slice of memory pie:

Highlighting the segment is Roger recalling growing up in Clendenin, playing at coffeehouses in the ‘60s and ‘70s, attending Marshall University, and more recently, talking of the joy of playing music in church with his kids.

The track includes beautiful live Samples-Dobbs duets, such as “The Water is Wide,” “Carolina Sunshine Girl,” “Ladies Sail Away” and “Yesterday.”

Want to Sample More?

If all this has you in the mood for more from The Flood’s late comrades, you can check into their channels on the band’s free Radio Floodango music streaming service. Here is one for Roger:

Click here to tune in that one. And here’s the Joe channel: