Words and Music

The first of three programmes about songwriting. Tonight: acoustic versions of famous pop songs. Pop songwriters introduce their classic songs and perform them acoustically. This edition includes Iggy Pop and the Stooges with I Wanna Be Your Dog, Richard Berry with Louie Louie, The Bee Gees with their song To Love Somebody, Tony Joe White with Rainy Night in Georgia, Sparks with This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us, Jimmy Webb with By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Neil Finn with Don't Dream it's Over, and Deborah Harry and Chris Stein with Heart of Glass.

Second of three programmes featuring "unplugged" classic pop songs. American Stories. Pop songwriters introduce some of their best known tunes and perform them acoustically. This edition includes Suzanne Vega performing her acappella version of Tom's Diner, James Taylor singing Sweet Baby James, Shawn Colvin with Polaroids, Jimmy Webb with The Highwayman, Joe Henry with King's Highway, Janis Ian with At 17, John Gorka with Temporary Road, and Warren Zevon with Lawyers, Guns and Money.

The final programme in this series on songwriting profiles singer-songwriters including Nanci Griffith with Love at the Five and Dime, Jackson Browne with The Pretender, Aimee Mann with Jacob Marley's Chain, Rickie Lee Jones with Chuk E's in Love, Loudon Wainwright III with Thanksgiving, Nathalie Merchant with Eat for Two, John Hiatt with She Loves the Jerk, and Lyle Lovett with Creeps Like Me.