I'm Only in it for the Love

Some words of wisdom I remember from Dick McCord, my old editor at The Santa Fe Reporter 20 some years ago. I'd written a feature about a local author who happened to be Jewish, which prompted some anonymous slimewad to send a letter to the editor denouncing the author in the most hateful, anti-Semetic terms possible. McCord just shook his head.

"One thing you learn in this business, Steve. They're out there," he said.

A story I wrote for today's New Mexican prompted an e-mail that, while not nearly as bad as the one I described above, still proves McCord was right. They're out there.

Here's the e-mail -- published exactly as written -- and my reply. Not surprisingly, my response bounced back as undeliverable.


its easy to know which party your overzealous and overweight,and probably
beer drinking steve terrell is affiliated with.to bad the new mexican
continues to keep this guy around.his articles are tastless and most high
school newspapers would not have them write for them.terrell should go back where he came from.where racism is still rapant and the gop are still
lynching people of color.

Dear (name withheld. It probably was phony anyway),

A few points,

1) I don’t drink beer any more. But I used to.

2) I’m not affiliated with any political party. As a political reporter I’ve
covered events put on by Democrats, Republicans and Greens. I covered a
Republican event last night. Tuesday I expect to cover John Kerry’s visit to
Albuquerque.

3) I am overweight.

4) I’ve lived in Santa Fe nearly 36 years, since I was 14. I moved here from
Oklahoma. I really don’t want to go back. When exactly am I entitled to
citizenship in New Mexico in your eyes?

5) There is racism in Oklahoma, but I don’t believe lynchings are rampant.

6) You imply that I’m a racist. Can you show me anything I’ve written that
would indicate that?

Thanks for reading The New Mexican,

Steve Terrell

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Heeeere’s Johnny!

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, April 30, 2004


Fans of Johnny Dowd immediately will know they’re on familiar ground when they hear the first verse of “Brother Jim,” the first song on his fifth album, Cemetery Shoes:

“Brother Jim is locked up In prison/His crime, I’m ashamed to say/God bless his wife/Goddamn the knife/Brother Jim is doing life,” he sings to an upbeat nightmarish near-polka musical backdrop.

Once again, Dowd singing his off key, meandering melodies in his dark Okie drawl, takes his listeners on a sometimes frightening, but often funny tour of his troubling world It’s a planet populated by determined losers struggling against cruel odds; small-town Sisyphuses pushing their boulders up hills they’ve created themselves; spurned and humiliated lovers, killers, deviants, the repentant, the unashamed. All this, plus a good, unhealthy preoccupation with death.

A little background for the uninitiated: Dowd was raised in Texas and Oklahoma, but for many years has earned his daily bread operating a moving company in Ithica, N.Y. He didn’t start recording until he was nearly 50 when he released his 1998 debut The Wrong Side of Memphis, full of off-kilter murder ballads and other tales of the underbelly.

At first he was lumped in with the alternative country set (and Dowd indeed do very twisted takes on a couple of Hank Williams tunes on his next album Pictures From Life’s Other Side.) But as his sound developed, with all the horror-movie synths, screaming guitar and crazy rhythms, it started to resemble some mutant New Wave or garage band. Trying pigeonhole Dowd’s music was fruitless.

On the new album, it’s hard not to laugh at some of Dowd’s protagonists -- the cross-dressing butcher’s boy in “Wedding Dress” for instance. But in songs like “Easter Sunday,” which has the refrain “Please don’t fill Bobby’s head with lies,” you can’t help but feel the shame, fear and anger that non-custodial parents have all experienced at one time or another.

Indeed, holidays are special times In the Dowd Universe. This CD also has Johnny’s latest Yuletide ditty, “Christmas is Just Another Day,” which starts out “There’s no joy in Christmas without her …”

My only real complaint about Cemetery Shoes is the absence of Kim Sherwood-Caso, whose sweet voice made a striking counterpoint to Dowd’s crazed Residents-like vocal attack. I hope she’s not gone for good.

This album has been out since early this year, but only on the Dutch label, Munich Records. I waited to review it, hoping an American company would soon snatch it up. But I got impatient because I haven't seen any movement on that front.

Wake up, America! Johnny Dowd is a true American artist. There's no excuse for having to give money to foreigners just to hear his stuff (though the Munich Records people are good folks and were in Santa Fe recently). Dowd is already a psychic exile. Don't force him to remain an artistic exile.

Also recommended

Aw Cmon and No, You Cmon by Lambchop I’m basically a newcomer to this critic-hailed outfit and it took me awhile to warm up with these two simultaneously released CDs by Nashville iconoclast Kurt Wagner and his band.

Both albums are full of lushly orchestrated (courtesy of a studio ensemble called The Nashville String Machine) tunes, including several instrumentals Wagner wrote for the new score for a 1927 silent film called Sunrise. Both are full of slow, soul-drenched ballads and melodies that fall somewhere between American Music Club and Mercury Rev.

Wagner has an interesting voice. It’s deep and some actually have compared it to that of Leonard Cohen. I don’t hear that though. Cohen’s voice sounds like a geological movement, while Wagner’s is more choppy and, well, mumbly. It’s definitely more human scale. Plus he often sounds as if he’s suppressing laughter, holding back some funny secret to which his lyrics only hint.

The second album, No, You Cmon, is the more diverse of the two. It’s actually got a couple of rockers on it -- “Nothing Adventurous Please” and “Shang a Dang Dang” -- and “About My Lighter” sounds almost country. (Like Johnny Dowd, Lambchop initially was marketed as “alt country.”)

And one song, “The Gusher” starts out with a strange metal flourish, settles into a bosa nova groove and by the end somehow transforms into the Mary Tyler Moore theme song.

But I’ve come around to prefering the more somber Aw Cmon. The cocktail piano blues of “Women Help Create The Kind of Men They Despise” is irresistible. Zappa fans would recognize Daddy Frank’s influence on the weird vocal bridge in the middle of this song.

Even the last two tracks account for some of the sexiest music I’ve heard in years

The slow moving “I Haven’t Heard a Word I’ve Said” features Wagner singing over a gurgling wah-wah guitar, a piano and acoustic guitar. (The most disturbing lyric here: “Somehow with the help of pills, I remain a pillar of calm.”)

The final song on the album, “Action Figure” is even slower and dreamier There’s 3 a.m. Johnny Ace vibes and the drummer’s using brushes and a fuming guitar that sounds like it’s about to explode. Wagner croons like a cabaret singer on the verge of a prison stint.

Where can I hear Johnny Dowd and Lambchop?: On Terrell’s Sound World, the home of freeform weirdo radio, of course. I’ll play selections from all three of these CDs Sunday night, 10 p.m. to midnight on KSFR, Santa Fe Public Radio, 90.7 FM.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: Matchmaker, Matchmaker

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican

Nothing is going to stop speculation about our governor as a possible vice-presidential candidate until John Kerry finally makes the long-anticipated announcement.

The latest to weigh in on the veep selection, Barbie Adler, isn't your normal political commentator. In fact, she deals more with the politics of the heart than the regular kind. Adler runs Selective Search, an upscale matchmaking service in Chicago.

OK, quoting dating-service owners about these important political matters might seem silly. But at this point, matchmakers, psychics and card readers probably know as much about who Kerry will or should pick as your serious political pundits.

Adler was quoted this week in two major papers about finding a (running) mate for Kerry.

And guess who she likes?

According to The Wall Street Journal, Adler says, "because Sen. Kerry appears a bit stiff, his running mate ought to soften the team by being 'more human.' Her choice? New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson."

And according to the Dallas Morning News, Adler said, "Gov. Richardson is a little bit down to earth. ... He's someone to watch football with -- more of a meat-and-potatoes type of guy."

Keeping with the food metaphor, Adler told the WSJ that while Kerry ordered lobster bisque, Richardson could eat cheeseburgers with us regular folk.

Meat, potatoes and Cohibas: However, Richardson's taste in cigars is hardly on the cheeseburger level.

Reporter Brent Israelsen of The Salt Lake Tribune was in Albuquerque for the recent Western Governors Association Energy Summit. In an interview with Richardson, he noted the governor's choice of expensive cigars from the embargoed island.

"Q: Since you're smoking a Cohiba, what would you do with Cuba?

"A: I would continue pressing Castro on human rights. I think his record is abominable. But I believe the best way to change Cuba is to consider some openings, perhaps some economic openings, rather than isolating it.

"Q: Would you lift the travel ban?

"A: Yes."

And for the love of Pete, don't do anything to hurt the cigar industry.

For the record, it is illegal to import Cuban cigars into the United States, but not illegal to possess or smoke them.

He's back before he's even gone: No disrespect meant to David Harris, the budget whiz who ably has served two governors from two parties and worked in two branches of state government.

But he's starting to remind me of the old song by Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks: "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?"

Last month, the governor's office announced that Harris would be leaving his post as executive director of the New Mexico Finance Authority to become an executive vice president of administration at The University of New Mexico. At the time Richardson said he'd be calling Harris back for "special assignments."

On Wednesday he did.

Richardson by executive order enlarged the Governor's Finance Council from 12 members to 16. The new posts will go to two cabinet secretaries -- Human Services and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources -- the state engineer and "a senior financial officer of a state institution of higher education, as selected by the governor."

For that slot, the governor selected Harris.

Harris, because of his former position, was already on the Finance Council, serving as co-chairman. That position will be filled by James Jimenez, secretary of Finance and Administration.

FREE STEVE TERRELL MP3s

I just signed up with a new service called SoundClick, which seems to be a lot like the old MP3.com. CLICK HERE to visit my new page. Download all you want (there are currently tunes not on the Potatoheads CD. More will surely follow), leave me cryptic messages on my groovy message board, amaze your friends.

I added my SoundClick page to the list of links in the upper right corner of this blog, so you can always find it there.

Speaking of music downloads, I just discovered the Internet Live Music Archives where you can legally download live shows for free. The selection of artists isn't great, but there are lots of shows by The Mekons and The Grateful Dead.

Terrell's Sound World Play List

Terrell's Sound World
Sunday, April 25, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Spreading the Love Vibration by 27 Devils Joking
Necrophiliac in Love by The Blood-Drained Cows
Andres by L7
Poison Ivy by The Von Bondies
Sputnik City Buvi Buvi by Kishidan
God is a Bullet by Concrete Blonde
Tight Pants by Iggy Pop
Monkey Man by Jim Dickinson
Teenage Head by The Flamin' Groovies

One Beat by Slaeter-Kinney
Career Opportunities
Rattler by Bob Log
Hey Mom by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Restin' Bones by Primus
Life is An Adventure by The Violent Femmes
Hangin' Round by Lou Reed
Ready Steady Go by The International Noise Conspiracy
Please Warm My Weiner by Bo Carter

Afghan/Forklift by Stan Ridgway
King For a Day by Stan Ridgway
Folly of Youth by Pere Ubu
Millionaire by The Mekons
Rest in Peace by Johnny Dowd
Sweet and Dandy by Toots & The Maytals with Trey Anastasio


I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts by X
Let Me In by R.E.M
Please Come Home Before It Rains by Otis Taylor
Women Help Create the Kind of Men They Despise by Lambchop
Way With Words by Hecate's Angels
You're Breaking My Heart by Nilson
Across the Bright Water by Bone Pilgrim
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

The Santa Fe Opry Play List

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, April 23, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell


OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Portland, Oregon by Loretta Lynn with Jack White
Eggs of Your Chickens by The Flatlanders
Old Man from the Mountain by The Gourds
Reprimand by Joe West
Lightning by Trailer Bride
Starry Eyes by Roky Erickson with Luanne Barton
I'll Probably Live by Kell Robertson

Muley Brown by Bill & Bonnie Hearne with Jerry Jeff Walker
Wake Up Sally (The Cops Are Here) by Stan Ridgway
Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing by Chris Isaak
American Trash by Betty Dylan
I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew by Johnny Cash
Pay No Attention to Alice by Patterson Hood
Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill by Lonesome Bob
How Long Will It Take by Lefty Frizzell
In Dreams by Roy Orbison

Jon Langford Set (see review of All the Fame of Lofty Deeds below)
Last Fair Deal by Jon Langford
Constanz by Jon Langford
See Willie Fly By by The Waco Brothers
Sweet Kind of Love by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Deliah by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts with Sally Timms
The Country is Young by Jon Langford
The Return of the Golden Guitarist by The Mekons
Revolution Blues by The Waco Brothers
Watching the Horizon by Jon Langford with Sally Timms

Sputnik 57 by Jon Langford
Are You An Entertainer by Jon Langford & His Sadies
Tom Jones Levitation by Jon Langford with Sally Timms
The Fame of Lofty Deeds by Jon Langford
Nashville Radio/The Death of Country Music by Jon Langford's Hillbilly Lovechild
Trouble in Mind by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

Terrell's Tune-up: All the Fame of Jonboy Langford

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, April 23, 2004


On his new solo album, All the Fame of Lofty Deeds, Jon Langford tackles one of his favorite themes, both in his music and his paintings — the travails and temptations of country singers in post-war America.

The Welshman Langford has played “Lost Highway” with The Mekons and sung of “The Death of Country Music” with The Waco Brothers. As a visual artist, he’s known for his disturbing depiction of Hank Williams as a Saint Sebastian-like martyr — arrows sticking into his body, ribs sticking out of his skin — and Bob Wills signing a recording contract. A few years ago he did a series of granite tombstones with his favorite deceased country stars surrounded by skulls and rattlesnakes and booze bottles.

So once again Langford tells the story, which seems to be a distillation of everything that makes America attractive and everything that makes it repulsive.

It’s a story we’ve all heard, a tale of the farm boy Faust. It’s the story of Hank Williams, the story of Elvis Presley. The story of George Jones channeling his demon duck. It’s the myth of Johnny B. Goode, who’s grown old and jaded after seeing the inside of too many jail cells and divorce courts, seeing too many close views of too many barroom floors.

It might be the story of Faron Young, who took his own life decades after he broke the promise he made when he sang, “I’m gonna live fast, love hard, die young and leave a beautiful memory.” But Faron’s final chapter doesn’t seem to match the character of Langford’s hero, Lofty Deeds. After all, the last song on the album is a rousing cover of the blues/country classic “Trouble in Mind,” where, in spite of the singer’s threat to lay his head on the railroad tracks, the singer holds out the faith that “the sun’s gonna shine on my backdoor someday.”

But Langford’s album isn’t just an account of bad luck and human weaknesses. It’s a subtle indictment of a society that would drive its greatest voices to drink, drugs and despair.

Lofty Deeds is a man of his time, and his time was the Cold War era.
The song “Sputnik 57,” with its chunka chunka Johnny Cash rhythm, tells of the paranoia of those times, linking the Russians’ launching of the sputnik satellite to the Vietnam war to Neil Armstrong. “That’s one small step for man/One giant leap from Vietnam,” Langford growls.

And yet Langford, who has lived in the U.S. for a decade or so and is raising his children here, doesn’t get overly strident. In “The Country is Young,” a slow gospelish country tune, he is forgiving, and more than a little paternalistic about his adopted homeland: “So big and so clumsy .. You gotta wipe its fat ass and buy it some toys …”

Although the story he’s telling is tragic, this is hardly a dour album. Langford captures the joy of Lofty’s career as well as the tragedy. There’s a crazy Cold War cowboy bravado in the face of certain disaster in happy sounding songs like “Hard Times” and “Over the Cliff.” The ride in that song, with its driving honky tonk piano, sounds like so much fun, you’ll want to go over the cliff with him.

But in the dirge-like title song the consequences start to manifest:
“When the candles snuff and things get rough your enemies will seek your company/ When you’re all alone, pick up the phone/ I’m skull and bones/ remember me.”

This song is followed by one of Langford’s greatest tunes, “Nashville Radio,” done here in an up-tempo style. With a melody similar to “Rocky Top,” the narrator here is the ghost of Hank Williams, who sings of getting kicked off the Grand Old Opry and getting arrested only to have a jailer ask for his autograph.

“Doctor, doctor, please sign my prescription/ I’m in trouble again/Ever since I was a little tiny baby/ I just couldn’t get rid of the pain.”

This version has a power of its own. But the definitive “Nashville Radio” is found on an obscure limited edition EP called Gravestone. (Now out of print. I own copy number 368.) In its previous incarnation it was slow and dreamy with an electric sitar and a reggae-like bass, done as the first part of a medley with “The Death of Country Music.”

You’ll sympathize with Lofty’s plight and wonder why our favorite doomed entertainers keep making the same bad choices and stupid mistakes. You question why the entertainment industry seems to always create stars only to chew them up and spit them out. You wonder about a public that is thrilled to see some star go over the cliff. You wonder about yourself.

But in the end, Lofty’s story only begs the question. Would the music of Hank Williams — or Robert Johnson or Kurt Cobain — be as haunting or powerful if not for their pain? To steal a line from Tom Waits, if we could exorcize their demons, would their angels leave too?


Drink and Pills and Langford Radio: Tune into The Santa Fe Opry for a lengthy set of Lofty Deeds and other Jon Langford music, 10 p.m. tonight (Friday) on KSFR, 90.7 FM.