For MPR music, it's all songs considered on Bob Boylin.

Peter Stamphill is an absolute eccentric. His obsession with the American popular music in the

20th century is unlike anyone I've ever known. For the past 20 years he's been combing through

that rich history, selecting one favorite song from every year in the 20th century,

and then performing them. All of that culminates in a collection called Peter Stamphill's 20th

century. The 100-song collection was produced by Mark Bingham, and for those who don't know Peter

Stamphill, he was something of a legend in the 1960s freak folk movement as founder of the holy

modal rounders. His voice has always been somewhat of an acquired taste. Now that's true more than

ever because of a diagnosis of dysphonia, making his voice raspere, sometimes squeakier, and strained.

But that didn't stop him from finishing this project, and today a conversation along with

the music from this mammoth project of 20th century American music. And I begin by asking Peter

Stamphill what sparked this crazy idea. I was smoking weed inside a what about

and then I asked Mark whether he would be interested in involving himself in this. And Mark is...

Mark Bingham, one of my oldest friends who I met in 1975. Well, we've been friends since 1975.

Long behold, bow and lay hold 18 years later by gum, we stumble across the finish line

and fall face-first into the mud. What kind of process did you have to choose the music you chose?

Many were automatic. Mike's songs that I dearly loved, Michael Longcombs Mary had to be 1966.

Long going far would had to be 1944. Magtime cowboy Joe had to be 1912. So a lot of them were kind of

like automatic. And a lot of songs I wasn't quite sure when they were written. So a lot of research

was involved of course. When you think about the scope of songs, is there something that you can

see a commonality like you are drawn to something about a song and then and then let's play one.

Sure, the commonality is melody. I am a full-form melody and believe that done many

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