Sunday, October 30, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

 


Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016
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


Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Halloween Hootenanny by Zacherle

Halloween (She Got So Mean) by Rob Zombie & The Ghastly Ones

Inside Looking Out by The Animals

Hainted by Churchwood

Birthday by Mission of Burma

Kiss Her Dead by Delany Davidson

Let Me Spend the Night With Your Wife by The Monsters

Bat Snatch by The Terrorsaurs

Feast of the Mau Mau by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos

 

Busload of Faith by Lou Reed

Baby Doll by Horror Deluxe

Stone Fruit by The Grannies

I'm a Mummy by The Fall

How to Make a Day by The Fleshtones

Mental Disease by Dow Jones & The Industrials

Home is Where the Hatred Is by James Chance & The Contortions

Halloween Parade by Lou Reed

 

Shallow Grave by Tyler Keith & The Apostles

I Have Always Been Here Before by Hickoids

I Walked With a Zombie by Roky Erikson

I Was a Teenage Werewolf by The Cramps

Samson and Delilah by Edison Rocket Train

Huggin' the Line by James Leg

Let's Get Funky by Elvin Bishop

Astral Plane by Jonathan Richman

 

Flowers in My Hair, Demons in My HEad by The Mystery Lights

Halloween by Sonic Youth

Gum by The Dean Ween Group

Fool's Gold Rush by Datura

Muriel by Eleni Mandell

Hangin' Johnny by Stan Ridgeway

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Friday, October 28, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Friday, Oct. , 2016
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

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens

Daddy Was a Bad Ass by Jesse Dayton

Divorce Me C.O.D. By Wayne Hancock

Dirt Road by Southern Culture on the Skids

What Are They Doing in Heaven by Martha Fields

Birmingham Breakdown by Dale Watson

Over the Cliff by Jon Langford's Hillbilly Love Child

Honky Tonk Song by Webb Pierce

You Sure Got a Way with Women by Washboard Hank

One Has My Name by Jerry Lee Lewis


Meat Man by D.M. Bob & The Deficits

Four Leaf Clover by The Old 97s with Exene Cervanka

Two Doors Down by Dwight Yoakam

If You See Me Coming by Arty Hill

Please Me When You Can by James Hand

All Knocked Up By Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers

Liquor and Whores by The Misery Jackals

Don't Lie Buddy by Josh White

Ghost in the Graveyard by Prairie Ramblers

 

Hole in the Ground by Iggy Yoakam & The Famous Pogo Ponies

Burn the Place Down by Dinosaur Truckers

Thin Air by The Defibulators

How Far Down Can I Go by T. Tex Edwards & The Swingin' Kornflake Killers

Make It Hail by The Royal Hounds

Headhunter by Highlonesome

Everyone's in Love with You by Steve Earle

Demon in My Head by Joe Buck Yourself

 

Touch Taven by Cedar Hill Refugees

Old Rub Alcohol Blues by Dock Boggs

Dry River by Dave Alvin

I'm Going Home by Slackeye Slim

Back in the Day by The Handsome Family

The Wayward Wind by Jackie "Teak" Lazar

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets


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

R.I.P. John Conquest

 

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: The Mystery Lights! Thee Oh Sees! The Monsters!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Oct.28, 2016

Back in the mid-1960s, there was a natural connection between soul music and the style of primarily Caucasian rock ’n’ roll we now call “garage rock.”

Practically all of those bands — from the lofty masters like The Sonics down to the pimpliest no-name Midwestern no-hit wonders — unabashedly tried to imitate African American hitmakers like Wilson Pickett and the Isley Brothers, and they did their best to mimic all those blues and R&B-soaked British bands like The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Yardbirds. The garage kids rarely, if ever, sounded as authentic as the performers they idolized, but the influence was obvious.

So it shouldn’t seem all that surprising that the most prominent neo-soul label of the day, New York’s Daptone Records, would start an imprint (Wick) specializing in neo-garage rock. And knowing the integrity of Daptone, which has given the world Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley, The Budos Band, and others, it's only natural that The Mystery Lights — the first band to release an album on the Wick label — would be a rocking delight. And though nobody is going to mistake Mystery Lights singer Mike Brandon for Lee Fields, there’s some true white-boy soul on the band’s self-titled album.

Starting out in Salinas, California — where Brandon and guitarist LA Solano started the band as teenagers — this quintet has the basic loud-fast-and-snotty, fuzz ’n’ Farfisa sound down like pros. They prove this handily on rockers like “Melt” — featuring crazed yelps from Brandon that sound right out of Thee Oh Sees’ bag of tricks — the loopy blues of “What Happens When You Turn the Devil Down,” along with The Seeds-like “21 & Counting” and “Follow Me Home.”

But even more interesting is when the Lights venture into the great cosmic beyond on psychedelic excursions like “Before My Own” and, especially, “Flowers in My Hair, Demons in My Head,” which features some tasty interplay between Solano’s guitar and the lysergic keyboards of Alex Q Amini.

This kid probably didn’t spend all his free time studying David Cohen’s organ solos with Country Joe and The Fish, playing Electric Music for the Mind and Body over and over again until they haunted his dreams. But it sure sounds like he did.

Also recommended:

* A Weird Exits by Thee Oh Sees. You didn’t think we’d make it through the year without another crazy collection of songs from the world’s most prolific band, did you?

Actually, this is their second album of 2016, but I haven’t gotten my hands or my ears on the first one, a live album. A Weird Exits shows a wider range for John Dwyer and crew than their last couple of albums did.

It starts out with a song called “Dead Man’s Gun,” a riotous pounder that, in short, sounds like everything I love the most about Thee Oh Sees — breakneck beat, falsetto vocals about who-knows-what from Dwyer, strange electric beeps and bleeps. It almost could be an outtake from any of my favorite Oh Sees albums: Floating Coffin, Carrion Crawler/The Dream, and last year’s Mutilator Defeated at Last. And that’s true for a few other tunes here, such as “Plastic Plant.”

But it’s the variety of sound that gives a punch to A Weird Exits. “Ticklish Warrior,” for instance, is lower and slower, showing echoes of the Melvins and the pre-synth The Flaming Lips. The spacey “Crawl Out from the Fallout” is downright dreamy, a seven-minute-plus ethereal soundscape with an edge of the blues.

Then there’s “The Axis,” which is slow and surprisingly soulful, that builds up to an explosive, distorted guitar solo. Is this Dwyer’s attempt to rewrite “Free Bird?” Dwyer gives his throat a rest on a couple of psychedelic instrumentals here — “Jammed Entrance” (the closest thing to The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” I’ve heard recently) and “Unwrap the Fiend, Part 2” (don’t ask me where Part 1 is), which features a classic Dwyer melody and a suitably screaming guitar.

*M by The Monsters. It wouldn’t be Halloween without some Monsters, and the pride of Voodoo Rhythm Records is back with their second release of the year.

It’s the Swiss group’s 30th anniversary and they’re just as monstrous as they’ve ever been. Unlike their previous album, a re-release of their long out-of-print early album, The Jungle Noise Recordings, this is newly recorded material — loud, crunching garage-punk trash with the immortal Reverend Beat-Man out front screaming on songs like “You Will Die,” “Nothing, You Coward,” and “Baby You’re My Drug.”

“Let Me Spend the Night With Your Wife” is Beat-Man’s take on some imaginary Weimar Republic dirge. “Bongo Fuzz” is a classy instrumental featuring wild bongos. “Voodoo Rhythm” is a loving, growling homage to the record label Beat-Man built, while “Dig My Hair” is senseless blaring noise — and I mean that in the nicest way.

I only wish that Edd “Kookie” Byrnes could have been around to sing this with The Monsters. I’m sure he would have lent Beat-Man his comb. But the best song on the record is “Happy People Make Me Sick.” I don’t know — it just makes me happy.

The third installment in The Monsters’ 30-year anniversary celebration will be a tribute album soon to be released. You’ve been warned.

It’s Halloween! It’s time once again for the annual Big Enchilada Podcast Spooktacular. Hear an hour’s worth of spooky rock ’n’ roll, including a song from The Monsters’ new album. Follow this link and hear all my rocking Halloween podcasts. It’s all free — a public-spirited service to you, my readers.

Some videos for ya:

First, The Mystery Lights, who like it nasty, messed up



A new video from Thee new Oh Sees album



And finally, something Monstrous




Thursday, October 27, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Some Vintage Halloween Tunes


Yes, even before the heyday of Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Screaming Lord Sutch songs of witches and spooks have been part of American music. Here's a cauldron full of vintage Halloween tunes.

We'll begin at a seance with The Deep River Boys:



This ghostly number is a longtime favorite of mine.



On my latest Big Enchilada podcast I included a new bluesy version of this song performed by Bibi Farber. But she got it from der Bingle.



This next one was written by one of my favorite songwriting teams of early rock 'n' roll -- Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who wrote many of the songs you love best by The Everly Brothers.



You might think this next one from Fran Allison (Folks my age will remember Kukla, Fran & Ollie) might seem pretty saccharine. So it might help your enjoyment by imaging the type of horrific, blood-spattered, flesh-eating  scene Rob Zombie might build around this happy little tune for some future movie. There, that's better, isn't it.



For a zillion more Halloween songs check out all my Big Enchilada Spooktaculars. Click HERE



Wednesday, October 26, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Equal Time for Goblins!


While recently putting together my Big Enchilada 2016 Spooktacular, I had no problem finding songs about witches, ghosts, devils, vampires and werewolves.

But one group of demonic supernatural beings that are severely under-estimated in the Spookbox Jukebox is the humble goblin. There just aren't that many songs about them.

But fear not -- or since it's almost Halloween maybe I should just say "Fear!" -- I found a few for you.

We'll start with this obscurity from Rosemary Clooney, who revealed in 1950 that goblins ride flying brooms.



Thirty years later Frank Zappa was still playing with Clooney's goblin/wobblin' rhyme.



This is another song called "Goblin Girl" by a late '90s garage/punk band from Chicago called The Goblins.



It's rumored that The Fall's Mark E. Smith has a little Goblin in his ancestry. In this song, "Iceland," Smith growls, "See a green goblin redhead, redhead / Make a grab for the book of prayers. / Do anything for a bit of attention / Get humbled in Iceland."



Mystery Science Theater 3000 had their own Hobgoblin song, in honor of the 1988 movie Hobgoblins.



And here's one for my favorite Spiderman villain, The Green Goblin. I'm not sure where this weird mash-up came from. I just hope Napoleon XIV got a cut

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

9th Annual Big Enchilada Spooktacular!

THE BIG ENCHILADA



Boo! Halloween's just around the corner AND SO IS A KNIFE-WIELDING MANIAC!!!
While most people my age are busy placing razor blades in apples for trick-or-treat night, I've been brewing up this cauldron of horror for your listening pleasure. Have a ghoulishious time with some spooky tunes on this month's Big Enchilada.

SUBSCRIBE TO ALL RADIO MUTATION PODCASTS |

Here's the playlist:

(Background Music: Cemetery Stomp by The Essex)
Son of The Devil by D.D. Owen
Headless Horseman by Bibi Farber
I Saw a Ghost (Lean) by The Black Lips
Obeah Man by Meet Your Death
The Little Monster by Russ "Big Daddy" Blackwell

(Background Music: Ghoulash by Satan's Pilgrims)
Three Headed Demon by The Blues Against Youth
Hotrod Vampires by Demented Are Go
Graveyard Boogie by Cawama
Foxy Witch by Fire Bad!
Satan is Her Name by The Cavemen
Meet Me at the Graveyard by Andre Williams

(Background Music: Silent Screamer by The Dave Meyers Effect)
Macon County Morgue  by Captain Clegg & The Night Creatures
Voodoo Rhythm by The Monsters
Ghost by El Pathos
The Zombie by C.W. Stoneking
Werewolf by The Kact-Ties
(Background Music: Quentin's Theme by Charles Randolph Grean Sounde)

Play it here:

Sunday, October 23, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

 


Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016
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


Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Happy People Make Me Sick by The Monsters

You Let the Dead In by Churchwood

The Flesh is Weak by James Chance & The Contortions

Took My Lady to Dinner by King Khan & The Shrines

Exercise Man by The Dean Ween Group

Women Who Jog by MFC Chicken

Money Rock 'n' Roll by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Nightmare by The Embrooks

Mustang Ranch by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

 

Love Like a Man by The Fleshtones with Lisa Kekaula

Plastic Plant by Thee Oh Sees

Dumb All Over by Frank Zappa

Follow Me Home by The Mystery Lights

Crazy Love by Musk

Johnny by Sulfur City

Honky Tonk Biscuit Queen by The Voluptuous World of Karen Black

 

Voodoohexenshakit! by The Brimstones

Skylab by The Grannies

Wide Open Blues by Big John Bates

What's Your Name by Nathaniel Mayer

When Fate Deals Its Mortal Blow by Meet Your Death

Plastered to the Wall (Higher Than the Ceiling) by Swamp Dogg

Sunglasses After Dark by Archie & The Bunkers

Should've Been Home With You by James Leg

I Have Always Been Here Before by Hickoids

 

Brains a Flame by Johnny Dowd featuring Anna Coogan

What Is It? by The Come N' Go

Look in the Mirror by Gregg Turner

She's Wearing You Down by Stan Ridgway & Pietra Wexstun

Let's Burn Down the Cornfield by John the Conqueror

Good Old World by Tom Waits

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page

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Friday, October 21, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Friday, Oct. 21, 2016
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
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Freak Flag by Southern Culture on the Skids
Shovelin' Bob by Washboard Hank
Ghosts on the Screen by Gary Heffern
Fools Like Me by Cornell Hurd
Then I'll Be Movin' On by Mother Earth
Killed Them Both by Wayne Hancock
Get on the Floor by C.W. Stoneking
The Stars by The Great Recession Orchestra
Odor in the Court by Doodoo Wah

Mama's Picture by Mose McCormack
Wall Around Your Heart by Chris Hillman
I Lie When I Drink by Dale Watson
Fifteen Beers by Johnny Paycheck
Big Fake Boobs by The Beaumonts
City Lights by Willie Nelson
Don't Give a Damn by Hony Tonk Hustlas
Tell Me Baby by Martha Fields
Crazy People by The Boswell Sisters

Lift Him Up, That's All by Ralph Stanley
I Was Born to Preach the Gospel by Washington Phillips
Denomination Blues by Ry Cooder
Weekender by Margo Price
Seein' Double by Nikki Lane
A Devil Named Music by Chris Stapleton

It's Only Make Believe by Kelly Hogan & John Wesley Harding
Buglight by The Flat Five
Keep it Between the Lines by Sturgil Simpson
Heartsick Blues by Luke Winslow King
Hummin' to Myself by Dan Hicks with Maria Muldaur
Have Mercy by Steve Earle
Talk to Me Lonesome Heart by Miss Leslie & Her Juke Jointers
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

Thursday, October 20, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: R.I.P. Oscar Brand

America lost one of its true folk music icons last month.

Oscar Brand died of pneumonia Friday, Sept. 30 at the age of 96 at his home in Greatneck, N.Y..

He was a singer, recording artist. He composed scores for Broadway musicals and documentaries and even tried his hand at TV

But as Douglas Martin wrote in his obit in  New York Times, Brand was best known for his radio show, “Folksong Festival,” 

Every week for more than 70 years, with the easy, familiar voice of a friend, Mr. Brand invited listeners of the New York public radio station WNYC to his quirky, informal combination of American music symposium, barn dance, cracker-barrel conversation, songwriting session and verbal horseplay.

Seventy years! His last show aired less than a week before he died, the Times said.

And like the best radio DJs, he was a volunteer. He did it for his love of his music and never got paid a nickel for his WNYC shows.

Although Brand never was a member of the Communist Party, during the McCarthy era, he was labeled as a communist sympathizer whose radio program was a "pipeline of communism" because he frequently invited blacklisted performers like Pete Seeger to appear on Folksong Festival

According to Martin's obit:

He invited Burl Ives, too, even though he had alienated many of his fellow folk singers by naming names to the House committee. The singer Dave Van Ronk, in his autobiography, The Mayor of MacDougal Street (2005), recalled taking Mr. Brand to task for this, only to be told, `Dave, we on the left do not blacklist'— a response that, Mr. Van Ronk recalled, `put me right in my place.'

Here's a few videos to pay tribute to Oscar Brand.

Let's start with a dirty one



Brand, who was in the Army during World War II, was a collector of songs sung by soldiers, sailors and Marines. In the late '50s, inspired by a collection of Air Force songs collected by a pilot named William Starr, Brand recorded an album called The Wild Blue Yonder, which included this next tune, "Save a Fighter Pilot's Ass."



Brand recorded an entire album of campaign songs for every president between George Washington and Bill Clinton. This is one of my favorites.



Finally, here's a clip with Brand's 1961 "Folksong Festival" interview with a young Bob Dylan. Here, the future Nobel Prize winner speaks of his (imaginary) boyhood in Gallup. N.M. and his (imaginary) travels with carnivals.



For WNYC's tribute to Oscar Brand CLICK HERE

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Political Golden Throats


This week on Last Week Tonight  comedian John Oliver, in a segment ridiculing third parties, introduced a horrified world to the Green Party candidate Jill Stein's 1990s band, Somebody's Sister, effectively stomping down any trace of Jill-mentum there might have been.

Oliver likened the sound of the group to the Indigo Girls fronting the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A former colleague of mine had a more scathing review: "Jill Stein does not have my vote if only because her band just drove the whittled end of an old public toilet plunger up my ass, out one ear and through the very core of my creative being."

Judge for yourself ...


Of course, had things gone differently in the Democratic primary, we might have had to endure four years of a version of The Dropkick Murphys -- minus any kick. Here's former Maryland Gov. Marvin O'Malley with his band O'Malley's March.



Donald Trump couldn't make it, but he sent a friend. (You have to sit through some wretched piano noodling until you get to the dreadful vocals) Fats Domino would do a better job invading Ukraine than Putin does on this song.



Somehow this guy pulled off the musician thing with a little style back in the Nutty '90s.



And who can forget this patriotic anthem from former Attorney General John Ashcroft.



The late Sen. Robert Byrd from West Virginia was never shy about his bluegrass roots



But we haven't really had a great singing politician since Louisiana Gov. Jimmie Davis. (I played this very song on The Santa Fe Opry last week.)



(For Donald Trump reciting the lyrics of my favorite Oscar Brown, Jr. song, see last week's Wacky Wednesday.)




Sunday, October 16, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

 


Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016
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


Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Look at That Moon by Carl Mann

Garbage Head by Eric Amble

Melt by The Mystery Lights

Rick Wakeman's Cape by The Fleshtones

The Same by Grey City Passengers

Baby Runaround by The Gears

Violets are Blue by The Mobbs

Dead in a Hotel Room by The Hickoids

Spook Factor by The Memphis Morticians

My Baby Left Me by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Tiger in My Tank by King Salami & The Cumberland 3

 

The Dozens by Eddie "One-String" Jones

Elephant Man by Meet Your Death

Human Lawn Dart by James Leg

Bloodhound by Left-Lane Cruiser

The Wolf by The Bloodhounds

Sexual Release by Lonesome Shack

Tie My Hands to the Floor by Sulphur City

 

Savage by The Cavemen

Milchblut by The Grannies

Tura Santana Tribute Song by The Dustaphonics

Trouble of the World by Dex Romweber

Heaven is Ugly by The Gospel Truth

Mad Mod Goth by The Fall

Evil Eye by Dead Moon

Dirty Deeds by Grandpa Death Experience

 

Slippin' Sideways by Drywall

Here Come the Martian Martians by Jonathan Richman

Vibrator by The Painted Dogs

Motorcycle Irene by Moby Grape

Teenage Maniac by The Spooklights

Are You Man Enough by The Four Tops

This Time Darlin' by Social Distortion

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

 

Friday, October 14, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST



Friday, Oct. 14, 2016
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

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens

Guitar Man by Junior Brown
Endangered Species by Waylon Jennings
Kung Fu Fighting by Girls on Top
I Just Left Myself Today by The Hickoids 
Rocket in Your Pocket by Jenny & The Steady Gos
King's Highway by Sulphur City
Downward Mobility by Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern White Lies by Martha Fields

Freddy Lopez by Joe West
Dirty House Blues by Wayne Hancock
My Boyfriend by Nancy Apple
If You're Looking for a Loser by Arty Hill
You're Humbuggin' Me by Dale Watson
I'm Not Drunk Enough by Rex Hobart
She's a Humdinger by Gov. Jimmie Davis
Your Past's Gonna Come Back to Haunt You by Emily Kaitz

My Gal by Jim Kweskin Jug Band
Easy Ridin' Mama by Devil in a Woodpile
Coney Island Washboard by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Euphoria by Holy Modal Rounders
Banjorena by Dixieland Jug Blowers
Lampshade On by The Dustbowl Revival
Darktown Strutters Ball by Howard Armstrong 
Down on Penny's Farm by Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur
Under the Chicken Tree by The Texas Sheiks

American Boy by Eleni Mandell
Tiny Tina by The Handsome Family
Falls of Sleep by Freakwater
Mexican Divorce by Ry Cooder
Needed by Robbie Fulks
Drinkin' Thing by Gary Stewart
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets


Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
R.I.P John Conquest

Thursday, October 13, 2016

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Meet Your Death and James Leg


A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Oct. 14, 2016

Back in 1960, a folklorist/ethnomusicologist named Frederick Usher discovered a street singer named Eddie Jones (if, indeed, that was his real name) playing a one-stringed contraption and singing the blues on Skid Row in Los Angeles.

Usher described Jones’ instrument as a “home-made African derived Zither-Monochord.” (I doubt Jones called it that.) It’s basically a close cousin of the diddley bow, another instrument with African roots.

There, in some Skid Row alley, Usher recorded at least 15 songs by Jones, some with his crony, harmonica player Edward Hazelton. Four years later, the venerated folk label Takoma Records released an album of those recordings under the title One-String Blues.

I first heard this remarkable, if under-appreciated, blues gem back when I was in college. My favorite track was a wild, filthy, hilarious little romp Jones called “The Dozens.”

The song begins:

“God made elephant big and stout / He wasn’t satisfied until He made him a great long snout. … He made him some eyes that was to look at that grass / He wasn't satisfied until He gave him a big fat ass ...” 

So imagine my delight when I recently came across a new self-titled album by an Austin band called Meet Your Death. They’ve got a track they call “Elephant Man,” which is a louder, more raucous version of Jones’ one-string “Dozens.” Frontman Walter Daniels growls the lyrics over John Schooley’s apocalyptic slide guitar and then blows his harmonica as if challenging the elephant to a loser-leave-town battle.

This version is based on Bo Diddley’s 1970 take on it, also titled “Elephant Man.” And even though I’m pretty sure Meet Your Death wasn’t overly concerned about getting a G rating here, they leave out the “dirty” verses. Even so, the song is crazy joy from start to finish.

Walter Daniels
But even without “Elephant Man,” I was bound to love this band. I’ve been a long-time fan of both Daniels and Schooley — I even got to see them together in an acoustic setting along with fiddler Ralph White at a Beerland gig in Austin a few years ago.

Harp-man Daniels is a longtime Austin stalwart, having played in such bands as Big Foot Chester and Jack O’Fire, which covered a Blind Willie McTell song called “Meet Your Death” back in 1994.

I mostly know Schooley from his three albums on the Swiss label Voodoo Rhythm Records, under the name “John Schooley and his one-man band.”

In Meet Your Death, this dynamic duo is backed by a couple of younger guys — Harpal Assi on bass and Matt Hammer on drums.
John Schooley

Meet Your Death plays hard-rocking punk blues covers by some great American writers like Hank Williams (“I Don’t Care If Tomorrow Never Comes”) and Mose Allison (“If You Live”).

But next to “Elephant Man,” my favorite song here is the opening track, which comes from a more obscure source. “Obeah Man” is based on a song called “Exuma, The Obeah Man,” recorded in 1970 by Bahamian singer Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey, who recorded under the name Exuma.

Starting off with jungle drums, the song quickly turns into a hoodoo-drenched, Dr.-John-by-way-of-Bo-Diddley invocation to the ruling demons of rock ’n’ roll, with Daniels as the ragged-voiced high priest.

By the end of the song you’ll believe that the singer “came down on a lightning bolt” and “has fire and brimstone coming out of [his] mouth,” as he sings.

Also recommended:

Blood on the Keys by James Leg. If you need more of that blues-driven, rump-bumpin’, holy-roller-shoutin’, swampy rock ’n’ roll, a keyboard player called James Leg just might be your man.

Leg was born John Wesley Myers. He’s the son of a preacher man, born in Port Arthur, Texas ( Janis Joplin country), and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee (home of the choo-choo).

Before launching his solo career, Leg played with a couple of notable hard-chugging bands. He fronted The Black Diamond Heavies and played in the final incarnation of The Immortal Lee County Killers, a pioneering band of the punk blues sound. Leg also recorded an album (Painkillers, 2012) with current blues minimalist titans Left Lane Cruiser.

Blood on the Keys, recorded in a converted Masonic lodge in Kentucky, is a splendid showcase of what Leg does best: roaring and thundering (with a voice that falls somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Jim “Dandy” Mangrum of the band Black Oak Arkansas) over stripped-down atomic-powered boogie.

A big percentage of these songs feature Leg backed by his own keyboards and drummer Mathieu Gazeau — sometimes joined by guest guitarists and, on a couple of tracks, backup female vocalists (a group called Foxxfire).

And indeed, these songs — including the opener, “Human Lawn Dart”; “Mighty Man” (written by the early ’70s British band Mungo Jerry, best known for their hit “In the Summertime”); “Huggin the Line”; and “DogJaw (Do Some Things You Say)” — are guaranteed to get the crowds moving.

But there are a handful of outliers here too. One of the most memorable songs on the album is “Should’ve Been Home With You,” penned by the late Austin songwriter Blaze Foley. This minor-key tune rocks with just about as much intensity as any other on Blood on the Keys, but the demonic fiddling of Sylvia Mitchell gives it a sweet touch.

Mitchell also plays on “St Michel Shuffle,” which sounds like a tribute to Tom Waits. There are also a couple of soulful, gospel-influenced ballads, including the title song and, even better, “I’ll Take It.”

I’m glad that Leg’s blues bruisers outnumber his ballads. But there’s nothing wrong with a little variety.

Video time!

Here's Meet Your Death live at Beerland



Here's some live Leg (from a Paris show in July)



And finally, I couldn't find "The Dozens" by Eddie "One-String" Jones on YouTube, Spotify or anywhere else. But here's a video of Jones doing "Baby Please Don't Go."

Jimmy Russell at El Farol Friday

Check out my friend Jimmy Russell Friday night at El Farol on Canyon Road in Santa Fe.


And ask him nice and maybe he'll sing this for you:

THROWBACK THURSDAY: A Musical Birthday Salute to Lenny Bruce




Today would have been the 91st birthday of comedian, First Amendment fighter and major jazz nut Leonard Alfred Schneider, better known as Lenny Bruce.

Lenny was a comic, not a musician. But his love for jazz led to some interesting musical collaborations.

He even produced a television pilot (The World of Lenny Bruce) that featured performances by jazz stars of the day including Cannonball Adderly, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and Buddy Rich (see clip below.) But, of course, none of the gutless prigs running the networks would touch any show hosted by a foul-mouthed lunatic like Lenny.

And here's a final musical connection: Lenny's last gigs were with Frank Zappa & The Mothers of  Invention at the original Filmore Auditorium on June 24 and 25,1966. Those who saw the show reported that Lenny was not in good shape. He died of a drug overdose about six weeks later,




Let's start with a strange beatnik poetry interlude called "Psychopathica Sexualis from Lenny's 1959 album The Sick Humour of Lenny Bruce



Here is Lenny singing -- and doing some shtick with -- a bittersweet little song about loneliness.



As promised, here's a clip from Lenny's TV pilot. "I feel from jazz," he declares as he introduces Buddy Rich.



And  to conclude, here's Stan Ridgway covering Bob Dylan's tribute to Lenny


Happy birthday, Lenny!



Wednesday, October 12, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Take me in, tender woman



This weekend, on the heels of the release of the infamous Donald Trump "hot mic" tape in which he brags about being able to kiss and grope women without their consent because he was “a star," another Trump video begin popping up on Twitter. These were videos from earlier this year in which the Republican nominee reads a poem about a "tender woman" who shows mercy to reptile who seems to be in pretty bad shape.

Here is one of those speeches. (Note: The original Yotube I posted was taken down. I'm replacing it with one that CBS News posted in April 2017.)



As interpreted by Trump, the snake is a metaphor for Syrian terrorists and the "tender woman" are the foolish liberals who "would take them in."

But the people posting the video over the weekend were doing so to taunt Republicans who were practically tripping all over themselves trying to flee from Trump. Their message: They knew damn well what this guy was before they took him in.

Though Trump has repeatedly -- and incorrectly -- identified the writer as Al Wilson (a soul singer who covered it in 1968), the lyrics he's reading are a variation of a song written in the early '60s by jazz singer Oscar Brown, Jr. that was based on one of Aesop's fables.



The arrangement for Al Wilson's version of Brown's song sounds a whole lot like the one Johnny Rivers recorded a couple of years before that on his 1966 album, And I Know You Wanna Dance.

Johnny's was the first version I ever heard, so I've got a soft spot for it. Here's a live version



And here is a fairly recent one by French rocker, Rev. Tom  Frost from his 2013 album, Bloody Works. I'm pretty sure that Debra Paget, the dancer in this video never went furniture shopping with Trump.




For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

Sunday, October 09, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

 

 


Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016
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


Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

Purple Merkin Power by Purple Merkin

Mojo Workout by King Salami & The Cumberland 3

Hey You by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels

Stella by The Havishams

Bleed Me by The Upper Crust

White Glove Service by The Grannies

Voodoo Moonshine by Deadbolt

Bald Head by Bobby King & Terry Evans

 

Blood on the Keys by James Leg

I Wanna Be Your Busyman by The Fadeaways

Stormy Weather by The Reigning Sound

Obeah Man by Meet Your Death

Burn She Devil, Burn by The Cramps

Degenerate by DD Owen

Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor

Cannibal Island by The Young Rochelles

Midnight Queen by Iron Lizards

 

Mutants of the Monster by Christopher "CT" Terry & Micheal Denner

Come Down by James Arthur's Manhunt

Cloak of Many Colors by Wolf Moon

High on Drugs by The Fleshtones

Unease and Deviance by Johnny Dowd

Swollen Colon Lament by Figures of Light

I Shot the Devil by Gravelroad

 

Waitin' on My Sweetie Pie by NRBQ

Crawl Throuh Your Hair by New Mystery Girl

Pig Pig by The King Khan & BBQ Show

Diamond Man by Lonesome Shack

Rebecca Rodifer by Gaunga Dyns

Summer's Almost Gone by The Doors

Last Kind Words by Geeshie Wiley

I Had a Dream by Dex Romweber

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by The Moroccos

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FOLK REMEDY PLAYLIST

Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
8 am to 10 am Sundays Mountain Time
Substitute Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's the playlist :
Welcome Table and Prayer by Alice Wine
Howard Hugh's Blues by John Hartford
Blow the Man Down by Woody Guthrie
Ramblin' Man by Steve Young
Summer Wages by David Bromberg

The Boll Weevil by Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur
Love Song of the Dump by Washboard Hank
Don't Lie Buddy by Josh White
That'll Never Happen No More by Howard Armstrong
Do You Call That a Buddy by Martin, Bogan & Armstrong

Wine Spo-Dee-Odee by Kell Robertson
Wild Bill Jones by Eva Davis
Just Like a Monkey by South Memphis String Band
Luther Played Guitar by Stan Ridgway
I Want My Mama by Salty Holmes
Your Past is Going to Come Back and Haunt You by Emily Kaitz
Good Morning Judge by Louis Innis & His String Dusters

How Lee Sin Ate by Dr. West's Medicine & Junk Band
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate by The Hoosier Hotshots
She Lived Down by The Firehouse by R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
Stealin' by Dave Van Ronk's Ragtime Jug Stompers
Collegiana by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
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Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

Friday, October 07, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Friday, Oct. 7, 2016
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

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens

Too Much by Rosie Flores

Two String Boogie by Wayne Hancock

Swamp Pigs by Dash Rip Rock

Hard Times by Martha Fields

These Arms by Dwight Yoakam

Church on a Saturday Night by Arty Hill

Baby I Like You by Southern Culture on the Skids

Zoysia by The Bottle Rockets

 

I'll Be There (If Ever Your Want Me) / Make the World Go Away by Willie Nelson

Sweet Georgia Brown by Johnny Gimble with Merle Haggard

Take Me to the Fires by The Waco Brothers

On the Verge by The Royal Hounds

The Ballad of Charles Whitman by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys

 

Ladies Love Outlaws by Waylon Jennings

Second Fiddle to an Old Guitar by Jean Shephard

Another Clown by Mose McCormack

Please Tell That Clown to Stop Crying by Neil Hamburger

I Just Can't Be True by Webb Pierce

You're Not Here by Washboard Hank

Drunken Lady of the Morning by Michael Hearne

Long Black Veil by Dale Watson

Roly Poly by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts with Brett Sparks

Jimmy Joe, the Hippie Billy Boy by Ed Sanders

 

Flatland Farmer by Terry Allen

Almond Grove by The Flat Five

Long Limbed Girl by Nick Lowe

Diamond Joe by Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur

Wild Heart by Modern Mal

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets


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R.I.P. John Conquest
Steve Terrell is proud to have reported to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

 

Thursday, October 06, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: A Great Song About a Great American Road


Venerable old Route 66 undoubtedly inspired more music than any other ribbon of asphalt built in the last century.

Although there have been several songs written about that highway, most of these have been overshadowed by the mother song of the Mother Road, Bobby Troups' ``Get Your Kicks On Route 66.''

Troup, a jazz musician married to the late singer Julie London, wrote the song in 1946, traveling down the road on a trip west. Much of the lyrics are a simple recital of towns along the highway.

`It winds from Chicago to L.A., 
More than 2,000 miles all the way, 
Get your kicks on Route 66. 

Now you go through St. Louie, Joplin, Missouri 
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty. 
You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico, 
Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona, 
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino.'' 

Here's a version by the songwriter



Nat ``King'' Cole had a hit with it in 1946 ...

  

But he was hardly the last to record it.

Route 66 historian David Kammer, who lives in Albuquerque said in 2001 that he was aware of more than 120 different versions of the song.

There are jazz, country, punk-rock, goth-rock, zydeco and raw schmaltz versions.

Here are some of those, starting with The Stones



Wayne Hancock takes it to the country



The late Buckwheat Zydeco did it



British synth-rock group Depeche Mode recorded a version.



The Cramps kindly kept it sleazy.



Here's a take by a Japanese blues band



And then there's this by Tom Trusnovic & Monkeyshines




For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Great Moments in Rock 'n' Roll Oratory




Allow me to get a little self-indulgent on this Wacky Wednesday.

I have to give a speech in Albuquerque today. I won an award from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. It's the first time in awhile that I've had to give an actual speech, so I thought I'd study some classic oratory from the world of rock 'n' roll.

The first example that came to mind was the short but strange speech by Bob Dylan when he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1991 Grammy Awards. Jack Nicholson introduced him.



Then there was Mike Love's inspirational words when The Beach Boys were inducted into The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. After talking about the beauty of harmony, he rips into Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen. Love later explained that he hadn't meditated that morning (His section starts at the 3:50 mark.)



I actually do admire the following speech by Frank Zappa. It wasn't an awards show -- it was a Congressional hearing on the dangers of dirty lyrics in rock songs. Frank stood up for liberty and against the "sinister kind of toilet training program" being advocated by Tipper Gore and her minions.



(If you want to see the rest of Zappa's testimony -- with questions from hostile senators -- Part 2 can be found HERE , Part 3 HERE and Part 4 HERE)


Zappa greets John Denver at U.S. Senate Porn Rock hearings 1985 

Sunday, October 02, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

 


Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016
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


Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Matchbox by Jerry Lee Lewis

Like a Bad Girl Should by The Cramps

Tracking the Dog by Meet Your Death

St. Michael Shuffle by James Leg

Hank Turns Blue by Folk Devils

Geraldine by The A-Bones

Full Grown Boogie by Frigg a Go-Go

Please Judge by Roky Erikson with Okerville River


Pablo Picasso by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers 

Never Enough Girls by The Sloths 

The Other Side by Motobunny

Real Wild Child by Deke Dickerson & The Trashmen

Go Away by The Plague

Magical Colors by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

The Thin Man by Archie & The Bunkers

Where Do You Roam by Dex Romweber


Bessie's Blues by John Coltrane (for John Greenspan)

Hardcore Jollies by Funkadelic

Gelatinous Cube by Thee Oh Sees

High and Dry by Whiskeydick

What Happens When You Turn the Devil Down by The Mystery Lights

I Fuck Alone by The Grannies

New Structures by Nots

Last Laugh by Johnny Dowd


Everybody Knows by Concrete Blonde

Got a Little Secret by Leonard Cohen 

They Took You Away by Gregg Turner

Free Money by Patti Smith

I Don't Want the Night to End by Phoebe Snow

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

 

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...