Friday, January 31, 2014

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, Jan 31, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Verlain Shot Rimbaud by Lydia Loveless
Nitty Gritty by Southern Culture On the Skids
My Frijoles Ain't Free Anymore  by Augie Meyers
Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C. Riley 
Nashville Bum by Webb Wilder
Big Mamou by Waylon Jennings
Out Behind the Barn by Little Jimmy Dickens
Day of Liberty by Carolina Chocolate Drops
Doggone Happy to Be Blue by Fortytwenty

Hill Country Hot Rod Man by Junior Brown
Weeping Willow / I Can't Give Up on You by Country Blues Revue
Lover I'm a Taken by Boris McCutcheon & The Salt Licks
Let it Roll by The Dinosaur Truckers
No Business by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Waitin' by Dan Hicks
Ugly and Slouchy by The Maddox Brothers

Heavy by Possessed by Paul James
Nam Weed by Scott H. Biram
Pay Phone by Eric Hisaw
Western Union Wire by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys
Titantic Blues by Phil Alvin
A Fool Such as I by John Doe & The Sadies
There Ought to Be a Law Against Sunny California by Terry Allen
Dig Boy Dig by Freddie Hart

Rank Strangers by Ralph Stanley
Tragic Romance by The StanleyBrothers 
Wallflower by David Bromberg 
Maybe Mexico by Jerry Jeff Walker
Bringing Mary Home by Mac Wiseman
16th Avenue by Lacy J. Dalton
The Legend of the Rebel Soldier by Lee Ann Womack
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Possessed by Paul James & Scott H. Biram

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 31, 2014

When you think of country-folk songwriters from Texas, you probably think of pickers and singers like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, The Flatlanders and Terry Allen. Not to mention Willie and Waylon and the boys.

Here's a couple of younger singer-songwriters from the Lone Star state whose music definitely is informed by all those greats, even though they don't sound much like your stereotypical Texas troubadours. Both these guys started out as "one-man bands," both are in their late 30s and I suspect they share a lot of the same fans. But they don't sound much like your typical one-man bands either. And come to think of it, they don't sound much like each other.

* There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely by Possessed by Paul James. Though he frequently sings like a man possessed, this singer's name isn't "Paul James." It's Konrad Wert, a preacher's son born and raised in a Mennonite family in Immokalee, Fla. “Paul James” is a combination of his father’s and grandfather’s names. Wert's day job is being a special education teacher in an elementary school.

Jeopardizing forever his standing with one-man band purists (I suppose there are some of those out there) Wert on this album is joined by by an ad hoc band on some cuts, including a couple of Texas heavyweights -- steel guitarist Lloyd Maines and harmonica honker Walter Daniels. Fortunately, the extra musicians only enhance and don't clutter Wert's sound.

Possessed fans immediately will know this record, released late last year on the Hillgrass Bluebilly label,  is a Possessed by Paul James album by the opening notes of the first song, "Hurricane." It's Wert's fiddle, screeching, but not quite abrasive, soon followed by foot-stomping and a stand-up bass, drums and well as excited yelps by Wert, perhaps an invocation to the swamp demons who haunt his music.

Wert's on the fiddle on the next tune, "Songs We Used to Sing," as well. It's upbeat with just a hint of pop in the melody, though you're not likely to hear this on commercial radio. Drummer Cary Ozanian gets a good workout on this one.

On "Heavy," Wert ditches the band and switches to banjo. "Oh this life can get heavy," he sings in the refrain. The words seem to underscore the pressure that seems to propel his soaring vocals. "Dragons," also featuring Wert on banjo, is a shambling roadhouse blues. Wert roars and growls as Daniels blows sweet riffs on his harmonica. (Wert cleverly sneaks the titles of some his earlier albums in some of the lyrics on these two. His previous record Feed the Family is referenced in the first verse of "Heavy," while in the song "Dragons" Wert sings, "You've left me Cold and Blind," a sly wink to the title of his 2008 album.)

The title song, preceded by a minute-long fiddle solo, features an even more-intense-than-usual Wert stomping, fiddling and pleading for love, even though he sees some rough times "when we cry ourselves to sleep." The darkest song here undoubtedly is the slow, minor-key "Pills Beneath Her Pillow." It's about reckless and weary lovers. The woman keeps pills under her pillow, while the man keeps guns under his.. Wert in the chorus sings "Everyone is searching for love, everyone is fighting for love, everyone is killing for love and baby, oh, I'm dying tonight ..."

My favorite song on There Will Nights at the moment is a lighter piece, a sweet love/lust tune called "38 Year Old Cocktail Waitress." With some honky-tonk steel from Maines, Wert sings, "On the golf course road down in Mexico, she's my beauty queen / She wears a pink bikini, drinks an appletini, oh she's quite the scene.

* Nothin' But Blood by Scott H. Biram. Now I doubt that Biram would ever sing the praises of a woman who drinks appletinis. He seems like he'd be more attracted to straight-whiskey types. In fact, "Only Whiskey" is the name of one of the rowdiest tunes on, this new album by gruff-voiced Biram. "Only whiskey can sleep in my bed," he growls over his distorted electric guitar. (The album is scheduled for release next week by Chicago's Bloodshot Records.)

Like the best of Biram's works, there are plenty of rip-roaring, blues-soaked, booze-fired songs on Nothin' But Blood. "Alcohol Blues," (an old Mance Lipscomb tune) with a guitar hook similar to that in Cream's version of "Crossroads" and a string of obscenities I won't even try to sneak past the editors, definitely is one. And "Around the Bend" and " Church Point Girls" might just be the first recorded one-man metal band tunes in human history. Biram on "Bend" even manages a pretty good parody of the lizard-demon voice you hear in so many death-metal bands.

While Biram sings lustily of drinking, drugging, sex and sin, there are plenty of salvation songs on Nothin' But Blood as well. "Gotta Get to Heaven" is a happy song about a guy who apparently has wrestled with his sinful ways and won. Plus, tacked on at the end of the album are three "gospel bonus tracks" including oft-covered classics like "Amazing Grace" (featuring Biram's harmonica and ambient rain sounds) a rousing "John the Revelator" and one called "When I Die," which is credited to Biram, though it sounds as if it could be a hymn from deep within the foggy realm of American folk traditions.

Speaking of cover songs Biram, performs more of them than usual on this record. Besides the ones mentioned above, he does versions of folk gems like "Jack of Diamonds," I'm Troubled," (which is credited to Doc Watson, though it sounds much older), and Willie Dixon's "Backdoor Man," which is closer to Howlin' Wolf's version than the one by The Doors.

Biram at Corazon, Santa Fe 2011
While Biram is known best for his rambunctious and sometimes raunchy material, he also is quite capable of slow, pretty acoustic songs as well. He's proved that before, of course on songs like "Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue" from Something's Wrong / Lost Forever (2009) and "Broke Ass" from 2011's Bad Ingredients. On the new album "Never Comin' Home" is a sturdy country weeper, while the minor-key "Slow and Easy" is slow, though the narrator, drinking his wine to get "that same old high" sounds anything but at ease.

But the real standout is one called "Nam Weed." It's a story of a Vietnam vet pining about the good old boys back during the war. "Long time, back in Vietnam / I had some friends that could give a damn / They'd roll 'em up and smoke 'em down / Good weed back in Vietnam ..." Here in the USA, however, the nostalgic narrator is doing time for some unspecified crime. "All my friends were over there," he laments.

Both Biram and Possessed by Paul James show that, in case anyone forgot, singer-songwriters don’t have to sound self-absorbed and that folksingers don’t have to be self-righteous And both of them also prove that Texas hasn’t stopped making top-notch troubadours.

Here's a couple of videos:






Tuesday, January 28, 2014

R.I.P. Pete Seeger

Anyone who knows me knows that I wasn't a big Pete Seeger fan. In fact, the very first article I ever wrote that evoked angry letters to the editor was a rather snide review of a Seeger concert at Paolo Soleri in 1980.

(An old acquaintance, Bob Stearns, reminded me of that just a few days ago. His late wife Rose Mary wrote one of those letters. We all got to be friendly not long afterward despite that disagreement.)

When it came to folk music, I always was more in the camp of rough 'n' rowdy types like Dave Van Ronk. But that's neither here nor there. I was saddened by Pete's passing.

But one thing I admired about Pete Seeger was the way he stood up to the communist witch-hunters during the McCarthy era -- even though it seriously hurt his ability to earn a living.

This from the New York Times obit for Seeger:

In 1955 he was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. In his testimony he said, “I feel that in my whole life I have never done anything of any conspiratorial nature.” He also stated: “I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this.” 

Mr. Seeger offered to sing the songs mentioned by the congressmen who questioned him. The committee declined.

Mr. Seeger was indicted in 1957 on 10 counts of contempt of Congress. He was convicted in 1961 and sentenced to a year in prison, but the next year an appeals court dismissed the indictment as faulty.
Plus, I've always loved this song.


So rest in peace, Pete. You whipped a lot of old devils.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST


Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, Jan. 26, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. 
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee by Sticks McGee
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns by The Cramps
The Anal Swipe by New Bomb Turks
Can't Take Em Off by Andre Williams & The New Orleans Hell Hounds
Burning Spear by Thee Oh Sees
Run Run Run by The Velvet Underground
The Fella With a Happy Heart by The Dot Wiggin Band

Church Point Girls by Scott H. Biram
Don't Look At The Hanged Man by Big Foot Chester 
Geraldine by Figures of Light
The Pissed Off Punk Rock Ex-Girlfriends Club by The Barbaraellatones
Enter/Looking Down by Lovestruck 
Voodoo Blues by Lightning Slim
Spreading the Love  Vibration by 27 Devils Joking
Blackout by Hank Haint
Sheik of Araby by Spike Jones & His City Slickers

This set feature songs from albums reviewed in Friday's Terrell's Terrell's Tuneup
The Second Generation Punks by Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF 
You Disapprove by The Mobbs
Jukebox by Left Lane Cruiser
Cold Wind Blowin' by David Lynch
Take It Away by Pietra Wexstun & Hecate's Angels
Reverse Shark Attack by Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin
And the Band Played On by Richard Thompson & Christine Collister

Louie Louie by The Flamin' Groovies
Don't Slander Me by Roky Erikson
La Nen La Bambele by The Pussywarmers
Drone Operator by Jon Langford
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Friday, January 24, 2014

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, Jan. 24, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
All American Girl by Angry Johnny and the Killbillies
Pig Fork Jamboree by The Imperial Rooster
Georgia on a Fast Train by Billy Joe Shaver
Wang Dang Dula by Deke Dekerson & The Calvanes
Wreck on The Highway by The Waco Brothers
Reprimand by Joe West
Cuss in' in Tongues by Legendary Shack Shakers
You're Humbuggin' Me by Lefty Frizzell 
Sam Hall by Tex Ritter

Mother Blues by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother by Cracker
The Low Road by Shooter Jennings
Pistol Pete by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Let The Jukebox Keep on Playing by Carl Perkins
38 Year Old Cocktail Waitress by Possessed-by Paul James
Jack of Diamonds by Scott H. Biram

Haley's Comet by Dave Alvin
The Beautiful Waitress by Terry Allen
Collins Cave by Phil Alvin
The 24th Hour by Ray Price
Don't You Think This Outlaw Thing Has Done Got Out of Hand by Waylon Jennings
Rumble of The Diesel by Les Claypool's Duo de Twang
Hippieville By Alvie Self

Be a Little Quiter by Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner's Grave by Marty Stuart
She Used to Love Me a Lot by Johnny Cash
This Town is Dead by Boris McCutcheon & The Salt Licks
Roswell Town by Jack Clift & His Illuminati Assassination Orchestra
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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TERRELL'S TUNE-UP; Ones That Got Away -- Almost

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 24, 2014

Every year about this time I like to look back at some of the albums that I meant to review in this column over the past year but somehow never got around to it. There’s some good stuff here that doesn’t deserve to get left behind.
The Big Dream by David Lynch. Back when I was becoming a fanatic for David Lynch films like Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, not to mention his pioneering TV series Twin Peaks, I never imagined that one day I’d be listening to his music. But there were hints even then that he would be responsible for some intense, crazy sounds. Julee Cruise’s mysterious and hauntingly beautiful 1989 debut, Floating Into the Night, is made up of songs composed by Angelo Badalamenti, Lynch’s soundtrack meister at the time, and lyrics by Lynch. But Lynch didn’t do a solo album until Crazy Clown Time in 2011. Though not quite as striking as that album, The Big Dream is a continuation of the shadowy, surreal electro/clunky techno of Crazy Clown Time. If anything, the new work shows more of a country influence. No, you won’t mistake it for Willie or Waylon, but Lynch’s Montana drawl makes him sound like some lost cowboy in the Black Lodge. You have to give him credit. He is one of the few performers I know who can make a lyric like “I went down to the ice-cream store” (in “We Rolled Together”) sound sinister. And, hey, Dylan completists, Lynch does a cover of “The Ballad of Hollis Brown.” It’s not hard to see how this song, based on a real murder/suicide on a South Dakota farm, would appeal to Lynch.

All Our Forts Are With You by Wild Billy Chyldish & The CTMF. Billy Chyldish, formerly Billy Childish, formerly Steven John Hamper, proves that there’s a thin line between angry young man and grumpy old coot. The songs on this album, according to the Damaged Goods label’s website, have lyrics that go back to 1977, when Billy, then working as an apprentice stonemason in England’s Chatham dockyards, first decided that he wanted to be in a punk band. Many of the songs here seem to be dealing with the death of punk as opposed to its birth. “Three punk rockers, but the punks are dead,” Chyldish snarls in the opening song, “The Headless Flowerpot Girl.” There are songs blasting “The Second Generation Punks” as well as “The Musical Rogues,” which include Nick Cave and The Pogues. (Hey, lighten up, Billy, I like those guys!) And in the title song, Chyldish sings, “I knew you, baby, when you didn’t know punk. … I knew you baby, before the lies of coke.” In addition to the punk-history songs, Chyldish pays tribute to some spiritual mentors. “On Moonlit Heath”has lyrics by British poet A.E. Housman. Even better is a garage-rock attack on Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You.”

* All That Glitters by Pietra Wexstun & Hecate’s Angels. The third album by Hecate’s Angels is the most down-to-earth CD Pietra Wexstun has ever done — it’s not as otherworldly as Saints and Scoundrels (2004) and especially Hidden Persuader (2001). The emphasis here is on Wexstun’s warm vocals. (Unlike those previous albums, none of the 11 songs on Glitters are instrumentals.) When I say “down-to earth,” I’m speaking relatively. There are plenty of spooky atmospherics, mysterioso lyrics, and outright weirdness here. It’s easy to imagine strange little movies in your mind when listening to her songs. “When The Boys Come Out to Play,” with its ghostly background choruses, ominous melody, and what sounds like a sample of some radio preacher ranting in the background, could almost be the girl cousin of Brian Eno and David Byrne’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Wexstun goes from bossa nova (“Dragging Me Down”) to white funk in “She Done Him Right (Mae West Sutra).” On “Lonesome Stranger” she makes a hammer dulcimer sound like a Martian lyre. My favorite is the opening song, “Take It Away,” which might be described as “rock noir.” I bet Wexstun’s husband, Stan Ridgway (who plays guitar on the album), wishes he’d written this tune.

* Rock Them Back to Hell by Left Lane Cruiser. This is a two-man trash/blues/stompband from Indiana. Like the Black Keys before them, singer/guitarist Frederick Joe Evans IV and drummer/ harmonica honker Brenn Beck have worshipped at the altar of Mississippi hill-country bluesmen like T. Model Ford and R.L. Burnside. Unlike The Black Keys, Cruiser has retained its primitive raunch. Yet the band is not afraid to play it pretty every so often, such as on the sweet and soulful “Coley.”


* Stiff Upper Lip and Trousers to Match by The Mobbs. “Blast Off!!!” — the raucous first track on this album — immediately reminded me of The Hives at the height of their glory. That is, if The Hives had thick Northampton accents. Yes, the guitar/bass/drums garage/punk attack is nothing new. But these guys play it with enthusiasm and humor. They’ve got some fine songs, “The Devil Writhed In,” “Crule Britannia” (is this a nod to the Bonzo Dog Band?), and “A Damned Good Thrashing!” among them.



The Beautiful Old: Turn of the Century Songs by various artists. This collection, with musical production by Gabriel Rhodes, consists of covers of great old parlor songs from America and the British Isles. The best of these are “The Band Played On”sung by Richard Thompson and Christine Collister. (How could anyone not love this tale of Casey and his strawberry blonde?); “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” by Graham Parker (I still like the version in the Popeye cartoon best, but Parker does a decent job. I never knew this song had so many verses.); and “After the Ball” by Dave Davies (the ex-Kink captures the heartache at the center of this song). By the way, Garth Hudson, former keyboardist of The Band, plays on all three of these plus several more on the album.

Reverse Shark Attack by Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin. If last year’s Segall album, Sleeper, was a little too soft and introspective for fans of his usual hopped-up lo-fi garage squall, this might be the perfect antidote. Originally released in 2009, the album was rereleased by the In the Red label early last year. With bassist/vocalist Cronin, Segall rips through eight songs with joyful fury. About half are less than two minutes long, but the final track, the title song, is a 10-minute adventure that alternates between quiet, loud, and louder. And if you missed my recent blog post about it, here’s some good news for local Segall fans. He’s playing at High Mayhem in Santa Fe on March 18 and at Albuquerque’s Launchpad the following night.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, Jan. 19, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. 
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
New Big Prinz by The Fall
Todo Lo Voy a Romper by Wau y Los Arrrghs!!!
Sick Boys by Social Distortion 
Doctor Doctor by Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin
I Hold My Breath by The Mobbs
Little Gold by The Copper Gamins
Overtaken by Left Lane Cruiser
Alcohol Blues by Scott H. Biram
Search and Destroy by Iggy Pop

Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys
Always Flying by Thee Oh Sees
Someone I Once Knew by Paul Westerberg
Go-Go Girls by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs 
Up Side by Question Mark & The Mysterians
What It's All About by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
Riot on Sunset Strip by The Standells 
Goin' on Down to the BBQ by Drywall

Always Maybe by The Black Angels
Mean Heart by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
The Musical Rogues by Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF 
Get Happy by Simon Stokes
Hully Gully by The Beach Boys
Blow Um Mau Mau by The Monsters
Rebecca Rodifer by The Gaunga Dyns
One Red Rose by The Blasters
Teenage Maniac by The Spook Lights

The Ballad of Hollis Brown by David Lynch
Floating by Julee Cruise
Dark, Dark Dark by The Mekons
God's Magic Finger by The Residents
When the Boys Come Out to Play by Pietra Wexstun 
La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaff
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Friday, January 17, 2014

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, Jan. 17, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Only Whiskey by Scott H. Biram
Bloody Mary Morning by Willie Nelson & Wynonna Judd
Only 13 by DM Bob & The Deficits
Hold the Phone by Hank Penny
Keep the Motor Hot by Sam Nichols & The Melody Rangers
Shake a Leg by Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars
Tennessee by The Last Mile Ramblers
Tennessee By The Reigning Sound
Pink Pedal Pushers by Carl Perkins
The Better Half by Junior Brown
Don't Start Cryin' Now by Hasil Adkins

The Battle of New Orleans by Les Claypool's Duo de Twang
Easy Payment Blues by Roy Hogsed
My True Love by Mama Rosin
Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun by Dave Dudley
Perfect Mess by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Casey Caught the Cannonball by Jimbo Mathus
Let's Go to Lubbock on Vacation by Brennan Leigh & Noel McKay
Much Too Young for Love by Barney Burcham 
Champ of Champs by Jackie Fargo
Funky Tonk by Moby Grape

Might Crash by Boris McCutcheon & The Saltlicks
Shadows Where the Magic Was by James Hand
Hogtied Over You by Tennessee Ernie Ford & Ella Mae Morse
It's Music That Matters by Southern Culture on the Skids
I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am by Bryan & The Haggards with Eugene Chadbourne 
Crazy Date by T. Tex Edwards
Chris Isaak by Lydia Loveless
Burn, Burn, Burn by Ronny Elliott

Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen
Busted by Wanda Jackson
Jack's Truck Stop & Cafe by Dale Watson
Songs We Used to Sing by Possessed by Paul James
Fare Thee Well ( Dink's Song) by Oscar Isaac & Marcus Mumford
Reckless Blues by Dave Van Ronk
Wish I Could by Marlee McLeod
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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TERRELL's TUNE-UP: A Quarter Century of TUNE-UP

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 17 , 2014




People my age/They don’t do the things I do.
— Neil Young from “I’m the Ocean”

One day I took part in a focus-group exercise for Pasatiempo in a meeting room in a local hotel. People representing various communities of interest told us writers and editors what they thought about the publication, what we were doing right, what we were doing wrong, how we could improve, blah blah blah.

A young local musician was among the participants. She seemed a little nervous when she started to speak. “Uh, with all due respect to Steve, I think you should get another music writer, uh, in addition to Steve, who’s, uh, a little bit younger.”

That was in the early ’90s, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 years ago.

Actually, I agreed with her that we needed a younger perspective as well as my codgerly insights. And Pasatiempo indeed has had some younger music writers since then. But they’ve yet to put the old one out to pasture.

And this month marks the 25th anniversary of this column, first published in these pages on Jan. 6, 1989.

OK, I normally hate first-person music articles in which a writer regales readers with fabulous tales of ME. But this is my 25th anniversary, so indulge me a little, and I promise not to do this again until my 50th.

"Come, little white boy, to the world
of rock 'n' roll ..."
Although I was hired at The New Mexican in 1987 to cover City Hall, I wrote an occasional music feature for the paper before “Tune-Up.” After all, I had begun my illustrious journalism career at The Santa Fe Reporter as a music writer. In fact, I decided I wanted to do this for a living after my first interview, when I got roaring drunk with folk monster Dave Van Ronk. I even wrote a few music stories during my three years at The Journal North, the high point of that period being meeting and interviewing Bo Diddley after I arranged for Mayor Louis Montano to make him an honorary Santa Fean.

But most important, I’ve been obsessed with rock ’n’ roll ever since I first heard the call of the wild — in my case The Coasters singing “Yakety Yak” — when I was 4 or 5. Normal American guys follow sports and watch games during their leisure hours. I’d rather seek out and listen to weird music. I’ve always been this way.

Right before “Tune-Up,” I wrote regular record reviews at this paper during my brief, unhappy stint as assistant city editor in 1988. My duties included putting together a features section and filling it with stories from news wires. We ran several national-wire album reviews, but after a few weeks I decided I could do better myself. (A big part of what I didn’t like about being an editor was that I really missed writing.)

So I took it upon myself to write a review of Brian Wilson, the first solo album by the genius behind The Beach Boys, produced by his Svengali/ shaman/shrink Dr. Eugene Landy. (Say what you want about the disgraced doc’s methods and ethics, I still think that was Wilson’s greatest solo work, at least until the re-created Smile album a few years ago.)

After I wrote several album reviews for my features section, Denise Kusel, editor of Pasatiempo at the time, asked if I would like my own album-review column in the magazine. Denise convinced me that a lot more people would see my work in Pasa. She was right.

My first column was a review of Fisherman’s Blues by a band called The Waterboys. The headline was “A Band to Watch.” (I watched, but The Waterboys didn’t do much remarkable after Fisherman’s Blues.)

The next week I reviewed I Am Kurious Oranj by The Fall. Now that’s a band I’m still watching. I’ve spilled a lot of ink over Mark E. Smith and his ever-changing lineup of Fall guys, most recently last June.

Technically, “Terrell’s Tune-Up” didn’t debut until a few weeks after I started writing my column for Pasa. Originally the column was called “Pandemonium Jukebox” (also the name of a song I wrote and an album I did in the early ’80s), but for reasons I still don’t understand, the managing editor of The New Mexican hated the name and said it had to change. (Strangely enough, when I first started doing a radio show at KSFR-FM in 1993, I wanted to call it “Pandemonium Jukebox,” but the station manager at the time vetoed that idea. What’s with these guys?)

So I came up with “Tune-Up,” and that’s what it’s been ever since. The joke at the time was that if I ever got sick of writing about music, I could make it an automotive-tips column. Fortunately that hasn’t happened yet, which is definitely a good thing, because I know nothing about auto mechanics.

Back in ’89, not much of the music I liked was being played on commercial radio and not many of the musicians I liked were ever seen on prime-time television. Of course, that’s all changed after 25 years. Now virtually none of the stuff I like ever gets played there. If I were a politician, my opponent would accuse me of being “out of the mainstream,” and I wouldn’t be able to deny it.

While occasionally I’ll review some new work by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, or Brian Wilson, I’ve always felt the main purpose of this column was to expose people to music that you don’t get spoon-fed by corporate radio. I often fantasize about a world in which the best-selling, most famous, and most popular musicians are those like Tom Waits, Swamp Dogg, Reverend Beat-Man, Thee Oh Sees, and Southern Culture on the Skids.

But then I think, naw … real art, real music thrives best in the underground. I wish my musical heroes made a little more money. But hell, I wish I made a little more money. It’s good to keep things on a human scale.

Learn your children well
That’s one reason you don’t read very many negative reviews in “Tune-Up.” I’d much rather turn readers on to music I love than waste precious time and column inches on stuff I can’t stand. The ultimate bad review, I’ve always figured, is no review at all.

So for me, this month is a time for joyous celebration. But instead of sending me presents (I’ve been leery of presents from readers ever since someone upset over a bad review of a Stevie Ray Vaughan album sent me a Fleet ready-to-use enema), find a young person in your life and expose himor her to some Howlin’ Wolf or Johnny Cash or The Pixies or Black Joe Lewis or Question Mark & The Mysterians. Or The Fall. Make sure they know the call of the wild.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Alvin Bros. with Terry Allen in Corrales, Ty Segall in SF & ABQ

Phil Alvin with Rev. Horton Heat and Los Lobos
July 4, 2009 Hootenanny Festival
I don't write about every concert that comes to town, but these two upcoming shows caught my eye.

Dave and Phil Alvin -- yes the brothers behind the original blasters -- are scheduled to do an April 26 show with Santa Fe's own Terry Allen at San Ysidro Church, 966 Old Church Rd. in Corrales.

Southwest Roots Music is describing the show as "an evening of acoustic song swapping, jabs, jokes, pokes, and a deep dive into the American roots music catalog."

I've seen all these guys play separately -- Phil with The Blasters at the 2009 Hootenanny Festival in southern California -- but never together. But come to think of it, one time at a Terry Allen at La Zona Rosa in Austin, I saw Dave Alvin in the audience. He looked like he was having a good time, but we all were.

Ty Segall with beloved TV star Ratso
Tickets to the Corrales show are $22 advance, $25 door. You can order online HERE.

Another show that sounds great is garagepunk hero Ty Segall, who apparently is playing the High Mayhem in Santa Fe (2811 Siler Lane) on Tuesday March 18 and the Launchpad in Albuquerque the next night.

I just stumbled on this a couple of days ago on Ty's website and don't have ticket prices or other details. (I haven't heard anything about this from High Mayhem)




Tuesday, January 14, 2014

1st BIG ENCHILADA of 2014


THE BIG ENCHILADA



It's the first Big Enchilada Podcast episode of the year. Listen up and get those January Jitters! Shake it up!




Here's the playlist:

(Background Music: Are You Nervous by The Instrumentals )
Happy New Year by Spike Jones & His City Slickers
What You Need by Thee Oh Sees
Prostitution by Tiger Sex 
Rock 'n' Roll Victim by Death
Sand Surfin' by The Four Dimensions

(Background Music: Nervous Boogie by Paul Gayten)
I Should Have Been in Art School by Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF
Hot Rod Man by Sexton Ming
Drop Dead Baby by Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin
Too Much Love by Harlan T. Bobo
The Pissed-Off Punk Rock Ex-Girlfriend's Club by The Barbarellatones
Border Town Blues by Long John Hunter
Sputnik Hires a Band by Sputnik Monroe

(Background Music: Chi-Wa-Wa by The Fortunes)
Timothy by The Nervebreakers
Fruta Podrida by Way y Los Arrrghs!!!
Banana Bike by Dot Wiggin Band
King Rat by Night Beats
Woke Up in a Police Car by The Oblivians
Long Gone Sister by New Bomb Turks
Sun Can't Be Seen No More by David Lynch


Streamin' atcha, screamin' atcha below:



Sunday, January 12, 2014

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST


Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, Jan. 12, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. 
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Drop Dead Baby by Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin
Sweet n Sour by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
School is For Donkeys by Will Crum
Blue Cirque by The Bell Rays
Music Tribalist by Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF 
50 Foot Queenie by PJ Harvey
Bite the Bed by Glambilly
Too Hot Blues by Heart Attack Alley
Politicians in My Eyes by Death

Working Man's Friend by Hickoids
Car Crash by Churchwood
Be So Fine by Left Lane Cruiser
Thunderbird Esq by The Gories
Cranked Up Really High by The Grannies
Sittin' Shotgun by Daddy Longlegs
Into the Primitive by The Future Primitives

Man in the Box by Les Claypool's Duo de Twang
Block of Ice by Thee Oh Sees
Gris by Holy Wave
I Want You by David Lynch
Down on Me by Big Brother & The Holding Company
Border Town Blues by Long John Hunter

The Times They Are a Changin' by The Beach Boys
Obviously Five Believers by Big Foot Chester
Sho is Cold by Chuck E. Weiss
Those Four Walls by Irma Thomas
Divorce Decree by Doris Duke
The Gypsy by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Come on Up to the House by Tom Waits
True Love by Tiny Tim with Miss Sue
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Thursday, January 09, 2014

World Premier of "Satan's Bride"


This Friday night is the world premier of the thrilling music video for Gregg Turner's love song for the ages, "Satan's Bride."

Turner had too much fun at the wedding
The event, which starts 10:30 pm is at George R.R. Martin's Jean Cocteau Cinema. Admission is free (!)

It will feature a screening of the video, plus live musical performances by Turner and myself. (Because of my recent wrist ailment, my brother Jack Clift will be playing guitar for me.)

The lovely Kristina Pardue as The Bride, Turner as himself and me, making my music video debut, as The Man Downstairs himself.

Following our little show, the Cocteau's midnight movie is Ed Woods' 1953 classic Glen or Glenda.

Be there!

(Hear Turner's song below. Memorize the lyrics so you can sing along Friday night)






UPDATE: Here's the video


Satan's Bride by Gregg Turner from Jim Snowden on Vimeo.


Sunday, January 05, 2014

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST


Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, Jan. 5, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. 
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Happy New Year by Spike Jones & His City Slickers
Laugh it Off by The Fleshtones
He Looks Like a Psycho by The Electric Mess
Automatic Schmuck by The Hives
Voodoo Moonshine by Deadbolt
The Price of Love by The Plimsouls
Licking the Frog by Manby's Head
Bennie and The Jets by Hickoids
As You Want by Night Beats
23rd and Stout by Chuck E. Weiss

Satan's Bride by Gregg Turner
Young Girls by Black Joe Lewis
Zombie Blocked by Left Lane Cruiser
Jesus' Chariot by Neil Young & Crazy Horse 
Drugband Blues by Holy Wave
Laugh at Me by The Devil Dogs

The Collector by The Everly Brothers
Tell Me Again by The Flamin' Groovies
Mystery Plane by The Cramps
Star Dream Girl by David Lynch 
Don't Slander Me by Roky Erikson
Deputy Dog by The Great Gaylord & The Friggs
Okie, Arkie  and Tex by Billy Joe Winghead 
Speed Limit by Dot Wiggin Band
A Damn Good Thrashing by The Mobbs 
NoOne Cares by Gaunga Dyns

The Ballad of Dwight Fry Alice Cooper
I Kissed Your Face by Swamp Dogg
Ha Ha (Laughing Song) by Z.Z. Hill
You're the Dog by Irma Thomas
Unfriendly World by Iggy & The Stooges
There's No Other Like My Baby by The Beach Boys
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

Friday, January 03, 2014

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, Jan. 3, 2014 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Busted by Two Tons of Steel
Booze Farm by Boris McCutcheon & The Salt Licks
Idiot's Revenge by The Bottle Rockets
Shotgun Boogie by Sleepy LaBeef
Hard Lesson to Learn by Shooter Jennings
Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus by Jessi Colter
Overture: Dirtweed by T. Tex Edwards & The Swingin' Kornflake Killers
Hillbilly Hippie by Homer & Jethro

Hang Me, Oh Hang Me by Oscar Isaac
Ace in the Hole by Dave Van Ronk
Okie From Muskogee by Bryan & The Haggards with Eugene Chadbourne 
SLC by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Swampblood  by Legendary Shack Shakers
Moonshine and Dope by Wink Keziah
Lovin' Ducky Daddy by Carolina Cotten 
Miss Froggy by Warren Smith

R.I.P. Phil Everly
All songs by The Everly Brothers except where noted
Kentucky
Ebony Eyes
Take a Message to Mary by Bob Dylan
Born Yesterday
Love Hurts by. Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris
The Price of Love by Buddy Miller
I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail 
Gone Gone Gone by Robert Plant & Allison Krauss
Bowling Green

I'm Barely Hangin' On by. Johnny Paycheck
She Even Woke Me Up to Day Goodbye by Jerry Lee Lewis
Another Lonely Heart by Eleni Mandell
Cheater's World by Amy Allison & The Maudlins 
Woodpecker by The Handsome Family
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

  Sunday, March 17, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM  Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Te...