Wednesday, January 31, 2018

WACKY WEDNESDAY: A Very Rotten Birthday




I've never met John Lydon, but I have a feeling that the artist formerly known as Johnny Rotten would hate this.

But today is his 62nd birthday, so I can't resist.

Here is a musical tribute with several musicians in various styles performing Sex Pistols songs.

Happy birthday, Johnny!

Let's start with a Southern California Chicano band called Manic Hispanic



I was looking for a bluegrass Pistols cover, just naturally assuming that there was a "Pickin' On the Sex Pistols" album. I mean there are Pickin' on Creed and Pickin' on Modest Mouse and Pickin' on Poison albums, so what are the Pickin' On people waiting for?

The closest I found was this one by Hayseed Dixie. (I'm not impressed.)

 

This is a French group I liked in the late '80s. They're called Les Negresses Vertes and they covered this Pistols classic.



This one's really dumb. Anyone remember Green Jello -- or didn't they have to change ther name to "Green Jelly? They got some MTV play in the early '90s with their rap-metal re-telling of the 3 Little Pigs.

"Anarchy in Bedrock" is even worse.



Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Lydon neither wrote nor sang "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle." But in the hands of Lolita 18, one of my favorite Japanese punk bands, it became one of my favorite Sex Pistols covers.



Martin Clive Atkins was a drummer for Lydon's Public Image Ltd. in the late '70s and early 80's. He also did time with Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Pigface and other "industrial" groups. Around the turn of the century Atkins, recording under the name Opium Jukebox, released an entire album of Bhangra versions of Pistols songs. This is one of them:

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Hot Damn! It's a Brand New Big Enchilada Hillbilly Episode!

THE BIG ENCHILADA



Welcome to the first Big Enchilada of 2018, a brand new hillbilly episode that travels to the heart of the mythological Old West for another rollicking hillbilly episode. I know it's January but this show is hotter than a pistol at the O.K. Corral. 

SUBSCRIBE TO ALL RADIO MUTATION PODCASTS |

Here's the playlist:

(Background Music: March With Hope by Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra)
Big Iron by Mike Ness
Dirty Boogie by Roy Hall & His Cohutta Mountain Boys
Whiskey Down by Diamonds & Whiskey
My Last Ride by The Dad Horse Experience
I Hate Men by Little Carolyn Sue
Pistol Packin' Mama by A Man Called Stu

(Background Music: The Vice of Killing by Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra)
Pinball by Hellbound Glory
Pinball Machine by The Fall
Oh My Darling Clementine by Johnny Dowd
The President is Out of His Goddamn Mind by Ramblin' Deano
Purgatory by Tyler Childers
Blood on the Saddle by T. Tex Edwards

(Background Music: For a Few Dollars More by Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra)
Guns, Guitars and Women by Kell Robertson
Another Pretty Country Song by The Blues Against Youth & The Restless Livers Collective
As It Was by Salty Pajamas
Wild Bill Jones by J.D. Wilkes
Big Rig Rollin' Man by Johnny Dollar
Seven Lonely Days by Ginny Carter
(Background Music: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra)

Play it below:




Sunday, January 28, 2018

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST





Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Girlfriend by Ty Segall
Jon Henry by Snakefarm
Jesus' Chariot by Neil Young & Crazy Hourse
St. James Infirmary Blues / Red River Valley by Johnny Dowd
Cocaine Lil by The Mekons
It Ain't Gonna Save Me by Jay Reatard
Pain by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages

Too Many People / Hey Joe by The Leaves
Mad as Hell (in the White Night) by Jean Caffeine
Haunted House by Bazooka
We're Not Alone by Mean Motor Scooter
Late Night by Dinola
Poor Beast, Marginal Man by Rattanson
Closer to Fine by Sicko
Psycho Babe by Bee Bee Sea




R.I.P. Mark E. Smith

All songs by The Fall

New Big Prinz
Mexico Wax Solvent
Cruiser's Creek
Dead Beat Descendant
Last Exit to Brooklyn (Last Chance to Turn Around)
Gibbus Gibson
The Man Whose Head Expanded
Glam Racket - Star
Cab it Up




My Baby Joined the Army by Terry Evans
Call on God by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Don't You Ever Let Nobody Drag Yo' Spirit Down by Linda Tillery with Wilson Pickett & Eric Bibb
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE

Friday, January 26, 2018

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST



Friday, Jan. , 2018
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
Sally Was a Good Old Girl by Don Rich
Skip a Rope by Kentucky Headhunters
Pipe Bomb Dream by Turnpike Troubadours
Diggy Liggy Lo by Doug & Rusty Kershaw
Bang Bang Bang by Eilen Jewell
Callin' My Name by Lara Hope
Miss Jesse Lee / When I See You by Billy Hancock
Crazy Mixed Emotions by Rosie Flores
Devil on My Shoulder by Kim Lenz
I'm Coming Home by Johnny Horton

Ghost Train Four-Oh-Ten by Marty Stuart
Fryin' Pan by Salty Pajamas
Wolves in the Street by Dinosaur Truckers
Ocean of Diamonds by Jimmy Martin
Truck Drivin' Man by Twang Bangers
I'm Tired of Pretending by Hank Thompson
Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don't by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers

Oh My Darling, Clementine by Johnny Dowd
Pinball Machine by The Fall
Ugly Woman by Hasil Adkins
War Whoop by Legendary Shack Shakers
Fire Dream b y J,D, Wilkes
Wicked Path of Sin by Dad Horse Experience
The Grand Ole Opry Ain't So Grand by Hank Williams III
Beatin' My Head by Jayke Orvis
Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand by Waylon Jennings

After the Fire Is Gone by Tracy Nelson with Willie Nelson
As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
Tryin' to Untangle My Mind by Chris Stapleton
Paradise Etc. by Peter Case
I've Got a Tender Heart by Merle Haggard
Back in My Day by The Handsome Family
Drift Away by Shake Russell & Michael Hearne
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets



Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page

Want to keep this hoedown going after I sign off at midnight?
Check out The Big Enchilada Podcast Hillbilly Episode Archive where there are hours of shows where I play music like you hear on the SF Opry.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

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

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Johnny Dowd's Twinkle Twinkle

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 26, 2018




I love great old American folk songs and other hoary tunes from past centuries. And I love radical reinterpretations of great American folk songs, ancient murder ballads, epic love ballads, supernatural weirdness, field hollers, proto-Tin Pan Alley standards, Stephen Foster classics, and spirituals.

Neil Young’s Americana, with its fearsome take on “She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round the Mountain” (retitled “Jesus’ Chariot” and recast as an appeal to our space-alien forefathers), is a prime example of this. Lesser known is Snakefarm’s Songs From My Funeral, in which singer Anna Domino puts a funky, electronic, atmospheric twist on spooky old tunes like “St. James Infirmary Blues,” “Banks of the Ohio,” and “House of the Rising Sun.”

If stodgy old purists balked at these efforts, Johnny Dowd’s new album Twinkle, Twinkle should give them all heart attacks. Dowd doesn’t bring these songs into the present. He doesn’t take them to the future. He takes them straight to hell — and listeners not only will feel the heat, they’ll smell the devil’s breath.

With Dowd on vocals, guitar (torturing the poor thing), keyboards, and other instruments, plus backing vocals by Anna Coogan and Michael Edmondson, most of the songs here will take on different shades, spotlight hidden corners, and reveal strange new meanings. It’s like a dream in which familiar things — in this case, the lyrics of the songs — melt into menacing new forms. The closest comparison I can come up with is The Residents, those mysterious masked mutants who have applied their strange craft to the works of Elvis, Hank Williams Sr., James Brown, and others. Dowd sounds downright Residential on this album.

Dowd’s prominent drawl is not affected. He was raised in Texas and Oklahoma. But for the last few decades he has resided in Ithaca, New York, where he has earned his daily bread operating a moving company. He didn’t start recording until he was nearly fifty, when he released his 1998 debut, Wrong Side of Memphis, full of off-kilter original murder ballads and other tales of the underbelly.

Starting off Twinkle, Twinkle with an original song called “Execute American Folklore, Again” (an obvious reference to the title of his previous album), Dowd lays out his purpose. And while you’re still scratching your head over that one, he goes into the title song, a version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” with industrial percussion, Coogan singing a surreal soprano, and a demonic electronic voice that seems to be mocking Dowd’s earnest recitation.

That’s followed by a Dada-like take on one of my favorite folk songs. Even before Dowd got his hands on it, “The Cuckoo” was filled with mystery, with its seemingly unconnected references to Independence Day (“She never hollers cuckoo ’til the fourth day of July”) and the Jack of Diamonds robbing you of your silver and your gold. It’s an old British ballad that I suspect has evolved into a patchwork of two or three songs. It became a folk-scene standard in the ’50s when Harry Smith put Clarence Ashley’s version of it on his Anthology of American Folk Music. There are great versions by Doc Watson, The Holy Modal Rounders, Taj Mahal, Dave Alvin, and — perhaps my favorite — by Big Brother & The Holding Company. But Dowd does the most cuckoo “Cuckoo.” He makes this bird holler louder than anyone (and several months before the fourth of July).

Dowd’s take on the New Orleans classic “St. James Infirmary Blues” sounds even more ominous than a song about viewing your sweetheart’s corpse in a hospital morgue is supposed to sound. He includes an opening-verse framing device that Cab Calloway and others omitted:

“... Old Joe’s barroom, it was on the corner of the square./The usual crowd was assembled, and Big Joe McKinney was there./He was standing by my shoulder. His eyes were bloodshot red/He turned to the crowd around him and these are the words he said.” 

When Dowd sings the part in which the narrator fantasizes about his own funeral, he changes a line, perhaps to add cosmic significance: “Put a $20 gold piece on my watch chain/So that God will know I died standing pat.”

Other highlights of Twinkle, Twinkle include what sounds like a Martian hip-hop interpretation of “Rock of Ages.” Dowd punctuates the versions saying “Rock! I said Rock!” with a crazy guitar twang coming in behind him. On “John the Revelator,” Dowd delivers each line as if he’s relaying information that could get him killed. “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” sounds like a road trip into another dimension. Yes, it’s strange, but I bet Woody Guthrie would have gotten a kick out of it.

And there’s “Tom Dooley,” in which Dowd ends the song by singing a verse of “Jesus Loves Me.” And on “Oh, My Darling, Clementine,” Dowd actually sings the melody, backed up by Coogan on the choruses. This is about as straight as he plays it, at least until the last minute or so of the song — in which the music gets stranger and “Jesus Loves Me” makes a return.

He ends the album with some Bible verse — “Job 17: 11-17” — taking about as many liberties with the Good Book as he does with the folk songs. The Bible says, “If I wait, the grave is my house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, `You are my father’: to the worm, `You are my mother, and my sister.’” Dowd adds words you never heard in the Bible: “TGIF, thank God it’s Friday, gonna have a party. ... Hey everybody, come on over to my house.”

When my kids were growing up, I warned them not to accept party invitations from strangers spouting Bible verses full of worms and death. But Dowd’s crazy party is pretty hard to resist.

Video time! 

Well Hell's bells, I couldn't find any videos of Twinkle Twinkle songs to post here. But here are a few of my favorites from the past.

Here's an ode to Nancy Sinatra:



To this next song, I pledged my eternal love .



And going way way back to 1999, this one from Dowd's second album, Pictures from Life's Other Side this one still haunts my nightmares.






Thursday, January 25, 2018

For Mark E. Smith


I'm so bummed out about the death of Mark E. Smith, the leader of The Fall, I'm just not up to doing a regular Throwback Thursday today.

Instead I'm just going to post a jumble of some of my ramblings about Smith and The Fall from various reviews I wrote of their albums (from 1989 to a couple of weeks ago.)

Then I'll post some music.

xxxx

I never thought that first (and only) time I saw The Fall in concert, back in the early ’80s, that 30 years later [now closer to 40 years later] I would:
a) be reviewing a brand new Fall album and
b) find that fact reassuring.

Although Fall guy Mark E. Smith was surprisingly open and friendly when I interviewed him over a couple of beers at Evangelo’s that night — until then I thought I might be the only person outside my small circle of friends who loved both Johnny Cash and Captain Beefheart — The Fall’s concert was confusing and even a little threatening.

As I wrote at the time, I felt like Dylan’s Mr. Jones. I knew something was happening there, but I just didn’t know what it was. It took me a couple of years to appreciate and eventually love The Fall, though I’ve never really understood them.

xxx

I had never heard of The Fall but I was intrigued by their press kit. Instead of the hyperbolic raves and slick fluff that record companies crank out to hype their artists, The Fall's press kit consisted of several pages of poorly reproduced Xerox collages of weird photos, typewritten madness and and copies of their concert and record reviews -- many of them negative ... [Smith] carried a little tape recorder to preserve, he said, funny things he had heard on The Fall's American tour. Nonsequitous snippets of conversation, street noises, motel room televisions and so on. Part of the Evangelos interview became part of that tape.

xxxx

More than a decade ago, in reviewing some Fall album or another, I wrote, “I doubt if all the CIA’s computers could crack the garbled ranting of Mark E. Smith.” In recent years I’ve been leaning toward a conspiracy-theory explanation for The Fall’s appeal to its scattered cult.

The band is actually sending coded messages to some alien/Lovecraftian sleeper cell. Some isolated Smith yelp in conjunction with some post-Standells guitar hook causes some shift in brain chemistry in some isolated listener, and next thing you know some unwitting Fall fan in Dalhart, Texas, is making a 4 a.m. drive to the Tucumcari airport to pick up a crate of something unspeakable delivered on a secret flight from Bohemian Grove.

xxx

He still sounds like a crazy old wino who loves to scream at you on the bus, his voice ranging from a menacing growl to a desperate rasp. That instrument is showing signs of wear and tear, but the craziness is still there. His current band is muscular enough to drive home Smith’s message. Whatever the heck that might be.

xxx

To the truly initiated, The Fall is everywhere. Every time you hear a car crash, a distant explosion, thunder cracking, a radio blaring static, a wino screaming profanities at nobody in particular — you hear the voice of Mark E. Smith ranting, grumbling, making rude noises in your head.

Here's some songs:

Check the record check the record, check the guy's track record. HE IS NUTS!



He's totally wired!



The Fall go country!



Now I Wanna Be Your Elf



The Fall in Norway 2006



Mark E. has left the Capitol.



And if that wasn't enough for you, here's my Spotify playlist featuring more than four hours of Fall music.



R.I.P. Mark E. Smith

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

WACKY WEDNESDAY: "Hi, How Are You?" Day

DANIEL JOHNSTON
Daniel Johnston plays the Electric Lounge in Austin during the 1999 South by Southwest.
Monday was Daniel Johnston's 57th birthday.

And in Austin, Texas, where Johnston rose to become one of America's most beloved "outsider" musicians in the 1980s, the mayor declared Jan. 22 as "Hi How Are You?" Day.

In a statement given to various news outlets, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said:

"'Hi, How Are You?' is more than one of Austin's most iconic murals. It's a reminder to reach out to our friends and neighbors to see if they're OK, and for those experiencing mental health issues it's a reminder that you've got a whole community that can handle an honest answer because we want to help you get the help you need."

DANIEL JOHNSTON ART
The mural

For the uninitiated, Hi, How Are You? was the name of Johnston's 1983 album, originally self-released on cassette only.

It's also a new foundation in Austin dedicated to generating "new conversation around mental well-being."

The mural of which the mayor spoke was one that Johnston himself painted on the wall of the old Sound Exchange record store. It was based on the cover of the album, a weird frog-like creature drawn by Johnston. The record shop is gone, but the mural remains.

Johnston's struggle with his mental health problems are well documented.

On Monday in honor of Hi How Are You? Day there was a Johnston tribute concert at The Mohawk. HERE is the Austin American-Statesman's coverage, written by my pal Peter Blackstock. Daniel himself was on hand for the show and performed "Caspar the Friendly Ghost" and "a couple of other short fragments of songs."

So happy belated Hi How Are You Day! Here are some videos of some of my favorite Daniel songs.

This is one of the many Johnston wrote inspired by his unrequited love for the beautiful Laurie.



Johnston teamed up with Jad Fair in the late '80s to sing about Roky Erikson



"True Love Will Find You in the End."



Here's a live performance of a Beatles song with Jeff Tweedy in Chicago late last year.



This is a my favorite cover of one of Daniel's most moving songs. It's by the late Vic Chesnutt.



Finally, here's a video from the Hi, How Are You Foundation.



My Daniel Johnston cassette collection,
(two with original Sound Exchange price tags)

Sunday, January 21, 2018

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST





Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Evil by Grinderman
Greenies by Skip Church
Corpse on a Roof by The Blind Shake
Wanderer by De Los Muertos
Jesli Bedaiesz Tam by Kult
Abduction by The Scaners
Chunk of Steel by Hollywood Sinners
They Ring the Bells for Me by Reverend Beat-Man
Going Uptown by Rattanson

Blow Dumb by Nobunny
Can't Fool With Me by The Spaceshits
Trip to the Clinic by Demon's Claws
Shake 'em on Down by R.L. Burnside with Jon Spencer
4 Seasons Love by Juke Joint Pimps
She Lives in the Jungle by O Lendario Chuchrobillyman
Slut by New Bomb Turks
Clever Way to Crawl by Persian Claws
The Projects by Baronen & Satan

Tall Black and Bitter by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
You Can Eat My Poussiere by Rosie Ledet
Gay Jew Conquistador by Pocket FishRMen
Gibbus Gibson by The Fall
Trainwreck by The Dirtbombs
Your House or The Courthouse by The Livids
Formula X by Boss Hog
Get Wound Up by Oh! Gunquit
How Come You Do Me by The Cramps
St. James Infirmary Blues by Johnny Dowd
Laredo by Snakefarm

Love Gangsters by Gogol Bordello
Move Like Two Ghosts by Movie Star Junkies
Down for Death by Simon Stokes
There's So Many by Brian Wilson
Johnny Mathis' Feet by American Music Club
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page


Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE

Friday, January 19, 2018

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST



Friday, Jan. 19, 2018
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
25 Minutes to Go by Johnny Cash
Midnight Train to Memphis by Chris Stapleton
Walking with Frankie by Eilen Jewell
That's What She Said Last Night by Billy Joe Shaver
The President is Out of His Goddamn Mind by Ramblin' Deano
Nails in the Pines by Poor Boy's Soul
It's Been a Long Time Mama by The Blues Against Youth
Heartbreak Queen by Diamonds and Whiskey
Heavy on the Lonesome by Miss Leslie

Drift Away by Jim White
Way Out West / Jailhouse by Marty Stuart
Johnny Law / Dog House Blues by Wayne Hancock
The Housefire by Turnpike Troubadours

Cajun Joe (The Bully of the Bayou) by Doug & Rusty Kershaw
Cajun Stripper by Doug Kershaw
Alligator Man by Jimmy C. Newman
Cajun Clones by Stephen W. Terrell
Diggy Liggy Lo by Buck Owens
Bye Bye Boozoo by Beausoleil
The Swimming Song by Loudon Wainwright III
Goin' Down to Louisiana by Rusty Kershaw with Neil Young
Louisiana Man by Bobbie Gentry
Toot Toot by Doug Kershaw & Fats Domino
Stopm Kickin' My Dog Around by Rusty Kershaw
Hey Mae by Doug & Rusty Kershaw

Honey Child by Peter Case
Blood Red Velvet by Joe West
Dying Breed by Lonesome Bob
I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets



Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page

Want to keep this hoedown going after I sign off at midnight?
Check out The Big Enchilada Podcast Hillbilly Episode Archive where there are hours of shows where I play music like you hear on the SF Opry.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

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

Thursday, January 18, 2018

THROWBACK THURSDAY: A Musical Salute to Oliver Hardy

"If you must make a noise, make it quietly."

Today is the birthday of one of the world's greatest comics, Oliver Hardy. He would have been 126.

Happy birthday, Ollie!

One of my happiest memories as a child was watching Laurel & Hardy on TV with my grandfather. He always called them "Stan and Ollie." One of the local stations in Oklahoma City played their old shorts every Sunday. In fact I might have been going to watch Stan & Ollie with my grandfather that day when this happened.

Or maybe not.

Even before he became a comic actor, Hardy was a singer. When he was a kid in Georgia his mother sent him to Atlanta for voice lessons. He sang in local vaudeville theaters. And in later years, he'd sometimes sing in the Laurel & Hardy films.

Here are a few of those clips.

This song, called "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" from their movie Way Out West. The baritone part that Laurel lip syncs is actually sung by cowboy actor Chill Wills.



Swing your Honolulu baby!



"I'm singing this song!"



What can you say about a couple of sad sack street buskers singing "In the Good Old Summer Time" in the snow?



Finally, "Shine on Harvest Moon" may be Hardy's greatest musical moment captured on film.


Wednesday, January 17, 2018

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Further Adventures in White Rap


Yo, homebodies!

A couple of years ago on a quiet Wacky Wednesday I posted an introduction into the world of White Rap. You can find that masterpiece HERE.

There I quoted Irwin Chusid from his liner notes for the classic 1994 Spy Magazine compilation White Men Can't Wrap.

White rap is a centuries-old tradition; the original white rappers were square-dance callers improvising rhymes for Saturday-night barn parties in America's rural backwaters. Like today's rappers, they were seen as debauchers, imperiling the morals of the young. The fiddle was "the instrument of the devil"; church leaders banned it. The callers' freestyle rhymes teased with erotic innuendos ("Duck for the oyster/Dig for the clam/Knock a hole in the old tin can").  ... it was all about sex and forbidden behavior! It was the roots of today's white rap culture."


Let's start off with the works of three classic rockers who, in the 1980s, proved they were down with the hippity hop.

First there's Rappin' Randy.



Lou Reed declared himself "The Original Wrapper."



And there's no denying that when Brian Wilson raps, he's still a genius. A very stable genius. Paging Dr. Landy!



Just for the heck of it, here's one of the classic old hillbilly "white rap" tunes like Chusid talked about. This song by Seven Foot Dilly & His Dill Pickles is from a cool compilation called The Roots of Rap.



But there is not, nor will there ever be a white rapper greater than the one and only Devastatin' Dave (the Turntable Slave). Here he is with a positive message for the youth.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST





Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Ain't No Pussy by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
Interlude: E'Lectric Spider Webz by The Black
Call the Police by The Oblivians
The Cat's Meow by The Darts
Don't Mess with Me by Rattanson
Lies by Dilly the Kid
Elevator by Boss Hog
Voodoo Got Me by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
The Cuckoo by Johnny Dowd

Victoria Train Station Massare by The Fall
The Projects by Baronen & Satan
Queen of the Gorillas by Pocket FishRMen
Born to Lose by Social Distortion
We Want the Lot by The Movements
Swamp Thing by The Cavemen
Sea Serpent by Mean Motor Scooter
Ultimo Cartucho by Hollywood Sinners
Shotgun by Junior Walker & The All Stars
Comin to Take Me Away by Tiny Tim

POLKA SET!
Hosa Dyna by Brave Combo
Who'd Ya Like to Love Ya by Li'l Wally
Division Street by The Polkaholics
Desert Polka by The American Indians
Minnesota Polka by Karl & The Country Dutchmen
Tra Ra Ra Boom De by Walt Spolek & The Orchestra
The Polka Polka by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
Mountaineer Polka by Norm Dombrowski's Happy Notes
Weiner Dog Polka by Polkacide

Edge of Reality by Elvis Presley
Mr. Moonlight by The Beatles
Love Letters by Dex Romweber Duo with Cat Power
Wang Dang Doodle by P.J. Harvey
One for My Baby by Iggy Pop
He Gives Us All His Love by Randy Newman
Lonely Town by Stan Ridgway
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page


Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE

Friday, January 12, 2018

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST



Friday, Jan. 12, 2018
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
You Can Have the Crown by Sturgill Simpson
Me and Whiskey by Whitey Morgan
Jackpot by Nikki Lane
(Pardon Me) I've Got Someone to Kill by T.Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
I Get Smarter Every Drink by Lonesome Bob
Get Out of My Brain by Legendary Shack Shakers
Wild Bill Jones by J.D. Wilkes
Steamboat Whistle Blues by John Hartford
Columbus Stockade Blues by Pine Hill Haints

Nothing Feels Right But Doin' Wrong by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Train Yard by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Slowly But Surely by Rhonda Vincent & Daryle Singletery
God's Problem Child by Willie Nelson (with Tony Joe White, Leon Russell & Jamie Johnson)
Keeper of the Light by Joe West
Building our Own Prison by The Waco Brothers
Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight by Whiskeytown with Alejandro Escovedo

Holy Ghost Rock 'n' Roller by Jesse Dayton
Whole Lotta Highway by Marty Stuart
Rockin' With the Rhythm of the Rain by The Judds
Fire of Love by The Blasters
Miller, Jack and Mad Dog by Wayne Hancock
It's Too Late by The Imperial Rooster
Lucille by The Beat Farmers
Nothing in Rambling by Eilen Jewell
Detour by Peter Stampfel
A Thousand Years by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies

Whitehouse Road by Tyler Childers
Let Me Fall by Peter Case
Cowboy Coffee by Shake Russell & Michael Hearne
Walk Right Back by Chris Hillman
Last Thing I Needed First Thing This This Morning by Chris Stapleton
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets



Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page

Want to keep this hoedown going after I sign off at midnight?
Check out The Big Enchilada Podcast Hillbilly Episode Archive where there are hours of shows where I play music like you hear on the SF Opry.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

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TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: 2017 Clearance Special

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 12, 2018




Here’s a bunch of albums from 2017 that somehow I never got around to reviewing. These are the ones that got away — almost.

* From a Room (Volumes 1 and 2) by Chris Stapleton. Through the years, I’ve done more than my share of raging against the evil corporate overlords of country music and their evil corporate award shows that seem to honor lamer and lamer music every year. But in 2017 there was a surprise. A soulful-voiced weirded beardo from Kentucky named Chris Stapleton managed to win the Country Music Association’s awards for male vocalist of the year and album of the year. Indeed, Stapleton is a rare bird who has won praise from — and has sold records to — fans of mainstream country, traditionalist country, and alternative country alike. The first volume of From a Room, released last May, snagged him that CMA album of the year prize. Don’t be surprised if Volume 2, released in November, does the same thing this year. Both volumes are full of good, basic songs, mostly originals, seeped in ’70s outlaw country and just enough Southern rock to keep it lively. Stapleton deserves some kind of award for “Up to No Good Livin’,” in which he declares himself “the Picasso of paintin’ the town.”



* Brood X by Boss Hog. There was no new record by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion last year, but this is the next best thing. Spencer plays guitar and contributes some scattered vocals with Boss Hog, but his wife (and former Pussy Galore bandmate), Cristina Martinez, is the driving force, and she’s on fire here. It’s been 17 years since Boss Hog’s previous album, due to Martinez taking a long break to raise some kids. But she and Spencer make their punk/blues/funk/no-wave noise sound more urgent than ever. Throughout most of the record Martinez sounds appalled and alarmed by the state of the world. For instance, “Elevator” (on which she repeatedly sings, “This is an emergency”) sounds like a six-alarm crisis in progress. But the funky keyboards by Mickey Finn make the emergency sound kind of fun. And on “Rodeo Chica,” Spencer and Martinez duet like a punk-rock Sonny & Cher. “What’s wrong, baby?” Spencer sings. Martinez answers bluntly: “Everything!”



* New Facts Emerge by The Fall. I was sad last year when I learned that Mark E. Smith — frontman for The Fall and the king of rant ’n’ roll — was suffering from severe health problems. He was doing some shows in a wheelchair, and by December he had to cancel a bunch of dates. But somehow in 2017, Smith and company managed to release this spirited record. He still sounds like a crazy old wino who loves to scream at you on the bus, his voice ranging from a menacing growl to a desperate rasp. That instrument is showing signs of wear and tear, but the craziness is still there. His current band is muscular enough to drive home Smith’s message. Whatever the heck that might be.



* The Greatest Story Ever Told by Pocket FishRMen. This classic punk band from Austin has flown under the radar for three decades. With singer Brant Bingamon, the FishRMen rerecorded 30 of their best-loved songs. They’re filthy, irreverent, and hilarious, with titles like “Go Go Saddam Hussein,” “Oft Times When We Pork,” “Amy Carter,” “Flesh Eating Parasite,” “Queen of the Gorillas,” and “Colonoscopy.” I realize most of these songs are pretty old, but when I heard “The Leader Is Burning,” I had to check to make sure it wasn’t a new one. Indeed, it’s from the late ’80s, but it sounds pretty relevant to current events.



* The Revealer by Jesse Dayton. Here’s another Austin act. Dayton is a fine country singer, but his head sometimes drifts into the punk-rock clouds. His latest album is a showcase of his country-rock bona fides. “Daddy Was a Badass” is a sincere tribute to his dad (who rode a Harley and financed his own college education by gambling), while the high-energy “Holy Ghost Rock ’n’ Roller” is about “the devil’s music” saving his life from fuddy-duddy fundamentalism. And there’s a new version of “I’m at Home Getting Hammered (While She’s Out Getting Nailed),” a song Dayton originally recorded with Banjo & Sullivan, a long out-of-print musical project that sprouted from Rob Zombie’s 2005 movie The Devil’s Rejects.



* Ain’t No Pussy by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons and Me.Ow by The Darts. Girl punk lives, and it has a nice home on Dirty Water Records. The first of these is a worthy follow-up to Pussycat’s Dirty Rock ’n’ Roll, the 2013 album that first brought the English trio to my attention. If anything, Ain’t No Pussy is harder-edged than the previous record. In the very first verse of the very first track, the title song, singer Puss Johnson, in so many words, threatens to use her boot to turn some poor guy into a permanent soprano. Puss isn’t always so harsh, though. “Surrender My Heart,” with its jungle beat and crazy guitar solo, is probably the closest thing here to a love song. And “Suneal,” which borrows the melody of Little Richard’s “Lucille,” is downright joyful.



The Darts is an all-female quartet from Phoenix. If there was an award for best use of a Farfisa organ, Darts singer and keyboardist Nicole Laurenne would be a shoo-in. Her Farfisa provides a nice garagey, psychedelic backdrop for the songs. Highlights include the sexy mysterioso opener, “The Cat’s Meow”; the spooky, bluesy “You’ll Bring Me Flowers”; and “Get Messy,” a giddy outburst which is as bright as “Flowers” is dark.





Thursday, January 11, 2018

THROWBACK THURSDAY: What Do you Know, There's Slim Harpo!




James Isaac Moore was born Jan. 11, 1924 in Lobdell, Louisiana.

Never heard of him? Me either. But I'm well aware of Moore's secret identity, bluesman Slim Harpo.

He started performing publicly in Baton Rouge under the name of "Harmonica Slim." In 1957 he recorded his first single, "I'm a King Bee" for Excello Records.

A true working class hero, Harpo kept his day jobs while struggling with the music business. In the 1960s he started his own trucking company.

Slim would have been 94 years old today. But he only made it to the age of 46.

There is a lot more on the life of the man at The HoundBlog. And there are a lot of cool songs below.

Here is the song that introduced me to Slim Harpo back when I was in junior high, his first big crossover hit.. The song of course, stands on its own, but I also like this crazy fan--made video.




The Rolling Stones covered Slim's "Shake Your Hips" on their album Exile on Main St. But Slim did it best.



Though it wasn't the hit that "Scratch My Back" was, Harpo's first song, "I'm a King Bee" probably is his most covered. Among those buzzing around this hive were The Stones, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Pink Floyd (!), Lou Rawls, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and some guy named Muddy Waters.

Here's Slim Harpo:



This is a lesser-known Harpo tune, but it's pretty cool.



I didn't realize until last night that Slim Harpo recorded this Johnny Cash classic



Finally, here's a worthy tribute to Slim by Florida rocker Ronny Elliott

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

WACKY WEDNESDAY: The Worst of Elvis


Most people who know me realize that I love Elvis Presley. His impact on music is undeniable. The power of his voice is almost supernatural. Elvis was King. I believe it. That settles it.

But even so, even a fan such as I (a fool, such as I) has to admit that Elvis dedicated way too much of his short time on Earth to producing crappy music. The vast majority of his crappy music was for his even crappier movies of the mid 1960s. His output during this era ranged from the sadly mediocre to the irritatingly corny to the horrifyingly awful (with a handful of rocking gems and beautiful ballads here and there.)

So I present these songs not to besmirch the memory of Elvis, who whose 83rd birthday was just a couple of days ago, but to have a couple of laughs in his honor. I think somewhere Elvis is laughing too.

Here's what many Elvis consider to be the low point of his catalog, "Queenie Wahine's Papaya" from Paradise Hawaiian Style (1966). He performs on the world's smallest ukulele,  telling a pointless story to a gaggle of island tykes.



In Fun in Acapulco (1963) Elvis shared this bit of widom: "There's no room to rumba in a sports car."



I bet Captain Beefheart was jealous that he didn't come up with the title "Song of the Shrimp" before Elvis did this song in the movie Girls! Girls! Girls! in 1962



In Roustabout (1964) Elvis sang about hula girls shaking their grass. It's strictly high class.

And for those who can't get enough of bad Elvis, here is a Spotify list I put together a few years ago featuring those songs and many more.

Sunday, January 07, 2018

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST





Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Double Shot of My Baby's Love by The Swinging Medallions
My Confusion by The Elites
You Treat Me Bad by The JuJus
Strychnine by The Sonics
The Crusher by The Novas
Shattered by Good Feelings
Beautiful Gardens by The Cramps
They Can't Hurt Me by Lyrics
A Fix on You by Dead Moon
Come and Go by Travel in Space
Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown by Count Vaseline
Formula X by Boss Hog
Take Off Your Clothes by Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo

Trash Talkin' Paint Huffin' Girl by The Cavemen
The Devil's Trick is Not a Treat by The Devils
Dumb Feelings by Escobar
Turmoil in My Head by Arvidson & Butterflies
Honey Baby Blues by Lightning Beat Man
Bomb Carpets of Love by Rattanson
Hold It Down by Striplight
Get Messy by The Darts

Old Zztrrk Man by The Fall
Then Comes Dudley by The Jesus Lizard
Colonoscopy by Pocket FishRMen
Take a Stroll Through Your Mind by The Temptations
I May Be Gone by The Oblivians & Mr. Quintron
Chem Farmers by Thee Oh Sees
7 and 7 Is by Love

Lightning's Girl by Nancy Sinatra
Red Harvest by Movie Star Junkies
Bitch I Love You by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Jemima Surrender by Howard Tate
Indestructible by Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls
Don't Play That Song (You Lied) by Jackie Shane
Black Night by Frank Sinatra Jr.
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.

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Friday, January 05, 2018

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST



Friday, Jan. , 2018
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
Air Mail Special by Marty Stuart
A Tornado Warning by Turnpike Troubadours
Rolling River by Joe West
Girlfriend Stole My Alien by DM Bob & Country Jem
The Moon is High by Neko Case
Can't Live Life by Rhonda Vincent & Daryl Singletary
Sorry You're Sick by Mary Gauthier
Whole Lotta Things by Southern Culture on the Skids
Who's Gonna Take Your Garbage Out by Rosie Flores with Jon Langford
Is it True What They Say About Dixie? by Jim Kweskin

I've Waited a Lifetime by Wynn Stewart
Eatin' Crow and Drinkin' Sand by Jesse Dayton
I Want It So Bad by The Gourds
I Got Your Medicine by Shinyribs
Garden of Delights by Legendary Shack Shakers
Rain and Snow by J.D. Wilkes
If I'm to Blame by Chipper Thompson

Fools for Each Other by Bill & Bonnie Hearne
Ice Water by Peter Case
Don't Leave Poor Me by Eilen Jewell
There Oughta Be a Law Against Southern California by Terry Allen
Voodoo Walking by Hipbone Slim & Mama Rosin
What is Life Without Love by Cheetah Chrome
Down the Mississippi by The Dad Horse Experience
No Woman's Flesh But Hers by Johnny Dowd

Drunkard's Prayer by Chris Stapleton
Pinball by Hellbound Glory
One Endless Night by Jimmie Dale Gilmore
How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Where Did It Go by Bobby Bare
Going Where the Lonely Go by Merle Haggard
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets



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Want to keep this hoedown going after I sign off at midnight?
Check out The Big Enchilada Podcast Hillbilly Episode Archive where there are hours of shows where I play music like you hear on the SF Opry.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

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

Thursday, January 04, 2018

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Remembering Ruby

Jack Ruby with unidentified employee circa 1962
Jack Ruby died 51 years and one day ago today.

No, I didn't have to Google this morbid little piece of historical trivia. I've known this date for 51 years.

Ruby, the Dallas strip joint owner who killed JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died the same day as my grandfather. I remember reading it in the paper the day after and thinking my grandfather would have been interested in the article.

It had been my grandfather who had introduced me to Jack Ruby. I was walking downstairs in our house on Nov. 4, 1963 when I hear Pappa start bellowing from the den. "They shot the son of a bitch! They shot the son of a bitch!"

Sure enough, he'd just witnessed the first live televised murder on national TV. I only got to see the first replay of the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Even before Ruby died he already was firmly planted in the center of a thousand conspiracy theories. His passing just ensured his status as a permanent resident of those shadow lands. And even for those of us who are skeptical of the world of magic bullets and grassy knolls, Ruby, with his strippers, his Mafia ties and his questionable links to law enforcement still lurks as an immortal symbol of America's dark underbelly.

Naturally he's been immortalized in song. Here are some of those.

As I mentioned above, I don't buy into all the conspiracy stuff that Minnesota songwriter Paul Metsa sings about here. But there's no denying that this is one powerful tune.



Similarly, I also like this one by British singer Glyn Shipman. I always dug Ruby's hat too.



I'm not sure whether Roland Alphonso's 1964 ska song was really about the Jack Ruby. But it would have sounded great on the Carousel Club's jukebox.



Here's a rockin' little 1990 tune called "Meet Jack Ruby" by a band called Shiva Burlesque (which included Grant Lee Buffalo's Grant Lee Phillips on guitar.)



But my favorite Jack Ruby song though has always been Camper Van Beethoven's song from Key Lime Pie. Let's do business, boys!






Wednesday, January 03, 2018

WACKY WEDNESDAY: The Wing Beneath My Wings


(My Facebook Friend Truly Judy inspired this one)

Back in 2005, there was an episode of South Park featuring a middle-aged Chinese woman trying to make it as a singer. Her name was Wing and she became a client of a "talent agency" run by Cartman and the boys.

She had a voice that would curdle your soup. Hilarity ensued.

Many South Park fans just assumed Wing was a cartoon character from the warped imaginations of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But no. Wing was a flesh-and-blood human named Wing Han Tsang or Zēng Yǒnghán or 曾咏韓. From the scant biographical information I can find, it appears she originally was from Hong Kong and migrated to New Zealand, where she began her musical career by singing in nursing homes.

She released a CD of cover songs called Phantom of the Opera, (featuring the theme from the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical) and appeared on some TV shows in New Zealand and Australia.

The South Park guys discovered her via Internet buzz.  Her appearance there basically made her the Tiny Tim of 2005 -- even though her voice was closer to Mrs. Miller. Though she seemed to take her music seriously, she was considered a novelty act -- or by some, an "outsider artist."

Yes, we laughed at her, not with her. But she seemed like such a sweet, modest lady you felt like a jerk after the yuks.

Her career kept going for several years. She cranked out several albums between 2006 and 2008. and even making an appearance at the 2008 South By Southwest in Austin.

According to her Wikipedia page, she announced on her website that she was retiring from showbiz in 2015. That website is no longer online. And though the Allmusic Guide says she made a couple of records for CD Baby, I can't find them there. She's got a Facebook page, but she hasn't posted anything there in three years.

But there is a lot of material still available on YouTube, so Wing, this is for you, wherever you are.

She did this one on South Park.



Wing did a whole album of AC/DC covers. And hey, even Tiny Tim did "Highway to Hell."



This is one of the later Wing songs I could find. Produced by Rappy Mcrapperson, Wing truly lives up to her weirdness potential here.



Finally, here's some live footage of Wing. I guess we'd be going over that old rainbow ...

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...