A COUPLE OF MUSIC FILMS FROM SF FILM FESTIVAL

A version of these reviews were published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 4, 2006

We Like to Drink: We Like to Play Rock ’n’ Roll; music documentary; 75 minutes; Tipton Hall, College of Santa Fe; 9:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, and 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9

It’s the classic rock ’n’ roll myth. A gang of lovable losers, usually boyhood friends (yes, most of the time it is boys), start a rock band. In a brief time, they become known for crazy, spirited shows fueled by incredible amounts of booze and illegal substances. They hit the road in a van or an old school bus. And right when the gold ring of wealth and glory seems to be in reach, they fall off the merry-go-round. Usually it’s a combination of money problems, personality problems, girlfriend problems, and addiction problems.

Country singer Gillian Welch summed up the seductive power of this myth in her mournful ballad “April the 14th”:

“It was a five-band bill, a two-dollar show/I saw the van out in front from Idaho/And the girl passed out in the backseat trash./There were no way they’d make even a half a tank of gas/They looked sick and stoned, and strangely dressed/and no one showed from the local press./But I watched them walk through the Bottom Land/and I wished I played in a rock ’n’ roll band.”

Santa Fe filmmaker Lexie Shabel also explores this myth in her new film, We Like to Drink: We Like to Play Rock ’n’ Roll. Shabel tells the story of The Unband, a punk/metal group that started in Boston and moved to Los Angeles. It was signed to a little indie label called TVT and made an album called Retarder full of songs like “Pink Slip,” “Cocaine Whore,” and the tune that would provide the title for Shabel’s film.

This isn’t Shabel’s first music movie. In 2003’s VFWbya, the New Jersey native documented the short-lived but fabled music scene at Santa Fe’s VFW Club with local favorites like Hundred Year Flood, Goshen, and ThaMuseMeant.

While The Unband is about as obscure as you can get, the story is familiar. But the group comes across as so likable that it captures the viewer’s sympathy. Even though you’re pretty sure you know how the story plays out, you root for the band throughout.


In some ways, The Unband reminds me of The Replacements in its wild, drunken abandon and the way the members connect with their audience. True, The Unband didn’t have a songwriter who came anywhere near Paul Westerberg. But then again, I never heard of the ’Mats playing with a naked drummer.

Shabel follows The Unband from its early days — hanging out at a University of Massachusetts dorm, getting kicked out of crappy little clubs — through its grab at fame. There’s all sorts of hopped-up testimony from early fans and Unband hangers-on attesting to its majesty. There’s even a filmed reunion of the trio with the owner of a Northampton, Mass., pizza joint at which all three used to work. The pizza lady says she knows she’ll see The Unband someday “on the Billboard Awards.”

But not all of the talk is happy. One of the film’s saddest moments is when the band is dissed by someone it looks up to: Eddie Spaghetti of The Supersuckers. “They weren’t very good, if I recall,” Spaghetti says matter-of-factly in a filmed interview. “Weren’t they just trying to be AC/DC?”

And it all seems to fall apart on the road. Money problems. Arguments. Hurt feelings. And two of the three seem to hate Kate, the girlfriend of guitarist Matt Pierce. She’s a blonde, hard-boozing, tough-talking version of Yoko Ono. “Women and money killed The Unband,” bass player Mike Ruffino says after a diatribe about Matt and Kate.

My main problem with the film is that it never says what eventually happened to Kate. She’s apparently gone by the end of the film. Matt speaks of her in the past tense. Did she melt when someone threw water on her or what?

The film ends optimistically. The Unband is playing together again after several years apart. But they all seem so adult now. Drummer Eugene Ferrari is painting his house, and he has his pants on. Matt is working with head-injury victims. Mike is married.

They all seem happy. But is that crazy spark that propelled them — that dangerous voodoo spirit that rode them like a mad cowboy — gone forever?

I think probably so. But We Like to Drink: We Like to Play Rock ’n’ Roll leaves you wondering whether that matters at all.

Nina Baby; short; 14 minutes; Tipton Hall, College of Santa Fe; 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10

This 14-minute short is a captivating little nugget that leaves you wanting to know more about its precocious, homeless, trumpet-playing protagonist.

Laivan Greene stars as 13-year-old Nina. “You got a last name?” an unseen interviewer asks. “Just Nina,” she replies impatiently. (The director, known only as C.A.M. in the credits, might have a similar answer if you inquired about that name.)

“I know what you’re thinking,” Nina says at the beginning of the film, as she walks the streets of Los Angeles playing her horn. “She’s black. ... when she’s gonna start rapping? Well I got three words for you. ‘Go screw yourself.’”

She’ll play for anyone willing to listen — and even those not willing. And she talks. Nina is speaking throughout most of the film. But you don’t want her to stop.

“Yeah, that’s right, I read too,” she says defensively after speaking dreamily of James Baldwin. “Sorry to disappoint you, in case you were hoping I was like, some idiot-savant musician.”

We briefly get introduced to others who are important to her. There’s a flashback of her late brother, who she describes as “the last audience I had that I could count on.” Then there’s her father, a broken man who lives under an overpass and plays solitaire chess. “He’s a king to me,” Nina says.

Nina longs to make it big in the jazz world. To follow that dream, she hocks her beloved trumpet for a bus ticket to New York. Armed with a Rube Goldberg-style instrument, she sets up shop in front of the Village Vanguard.

The film ends on an optimistic note — it’s perhaps a little too feel-good considering the likely fate of homeless kids in strange cities. But then again, do we really need another After School Special-like cautionary tale? Maybe at this point we need more fables about following dreams rather than messages of fear and repression.

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: SACRED HARP

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 8, 2006

One of the strangest, most powerful forms of music to rise from the American South is Sacred Harp singing. Those familiar with Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music have heard the simple, mysterious sounds. T Bone Burnett used some Sacred Harp in his soundtrack for Cold Mountain a few years ago. Alan Lomax did field recordings at Sacred Harp gatherings.

It’s a tradition that’s populist in nature. There are no Sacred Harp “performances” because there’s no separation of performer and audience at a Sacred Harp “singing.” Everyone is supposed to sing. And thus comes a new Sacred Harp compilation: I Belong to This Band.

Released by the independent Dust-to-Digital label — the same folks who brought us the impressive six-disc box set Goodbye Babylon (featuring Southern gospel music from 1902 to 1960) a couple of years ago — this collection spans nine decades of recorded Sacred Harp music, from the first known group to record in 1922 (The Original Sacred Harp Singers were “probably from Texas,” the liner notes say) to an Alabama singing recorded in July of this year.

So what is Sacred Harp music? First of all, it’s “sacred” music, but there’s no harp. It’s usually a cappella music so named for a hymnal called The Sacred Harp, first published in 1884 but updated several times since.

The book, and others like it, used shapes — triangle, oval, rectangle, diamond — for the various notes. (It’s supposed to make it easier for average folks to read music, but it seems pretty complex to a rube like me.)

The songs feature four-part harmonies. Though it can be done by small groups, normally Sacred Harp is choral music. At a singing, the room is divided into four sides — with trebles, tenors, basses, and altos in their own sections — with rows of chairs facing the center, where a leader stands.

Typically, Sacred Harp songs start off with what sounds to a newcomer like an incomprehensible incantation, a magical invocation in a long-dead tongue to dusky, hoary spirits. I actually was disappointed to learn that what I thought was mystical speaking in tongues is nothing more than the choir singing “mi, fa, so, la ...” to get the song going.

The rhythm of the songs sometimes seems almost martial. In songs like the minor-key “Child of Grace,” the foot stomping is audible. You can almost imagine the singers marching on some of the tracks.

A few of the songs in the collection have military overtones. “The Christian Warfare,” by the Original Sacred Harp Singers, was written in 1835 and seems to anticipate current foreign policy:

“I’m called to contend with the powers of darkness,/And many sore conflicts I have to pass through./Oh Jesus, be with me in every battle,/And help me my enemies all to subdue.”

But the sweetness of the melody suggests that the battle at hand is more metaphorical than literal.


Then there’s “Christian Soldier.” Recorded in 1928 by the Denson Quartet, it’s a song written by Isaac Watts in 1724. It sounds a little more militant.

“Must I be carried to the skies/On flow’ry beds of ease,/While others fought to win the prize/And sailed through bloody seas?/Are there no foes for me to face?/Must I not stem the flood?/Is this vile world a friend to grace,/To help me on to God?/Sure I must fight if I would reign;/Increase my courage, Lord,/I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,/Supported by Thy word.”

One of the most interesting tracks is “New Morning Sun,” recorded in 1960 by S. Whit Denson. Using then-novel multitracking technology, Denson — an original member of the pioneering Denson Quartet — sang all four harmony parts and played piano.

Nearly half of the tracks on this collection are from the Henagar-Union Sacred Harp Convention at the Liberty Baptist Church in Henegar, Ala. (home of the Louvin Brothers). While not as “historical,” they are some of the most powerful performances on the album. A potent, if troubling, tune they perform is “Whitestown,” written by Watts in 1719 about a settlement in New York.

“Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey,/Or men as fierce and wild as they,/He bids th’ oppressed and poor repair,/And build them towns and cities there/They sow the fields, and trees they plant/Whose yearly fruit supplies their want;/Their race grows up from fruitful stocks/Their wealth increases with their flocks.”

Racist? Yes. We Caucasians turned out to be as “fierce and wild” as anyone. But it’s a vivid glimpse into the mind-set of the early settlers of this country. The intense melody, a minor-key dirge, sounds like a good soundtrack for a witch burning.

I Belong to This Band is full of such history and mystery. The amazing thing is how Sacred Harp can sound so otherworldly, yet so American at the same time.

On the Web: There’s plenty of information at the Sacred Heart Musical Heritage Association site at . Lyrics and song titles can be found HERE . And there’s a documentary about Sacred Harp (which I’ve yet to see) called Awake, My Soul. You can find information and some film clips HERE.

Hear the Harp: I’ll play a set of Sacred Harp music from this album and others on The Santa Fe Opry, Friday, Dec. 8, on KSFR-FM 90.7, The Opry starts at 10 p.m., and the set will start about 11 p.m.

RICHARDSON TELLS FOX "I'M RUNNING"

Here's the Fox News report that shows Richardson saying, "I'm not running as an Hispanic, I am running as an American who is proud to be Hispanic." CLICK HERE

Here's Richardson's office's office denial:

SANTA FE – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s Office released the following statement in response to an erroneous report by FOX News:

“FOX News incorrectly reported that Governor Richardson has announced he will run for president,” said Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the Governor. “When asked directly whether he will run for president, Governor Richardson said he will make a final decision in January.

“Other comments from the interview were taken out of context based on a hypothetical question that FOX News posed about the Governor’s strengths should he run for president.”

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: NO INVITE, NO BALL, CINDERELLA

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 7, 2006

If you’ve been saving up money to go to one of Gov. Bill Richardson’s second-term inaugural balls, I have good news and bad news.

First the good news: Your money’s no good here. Even though four years ago tickets to the three inaugural balls ranged from $50 to $100, this time around, it’s going to be free.

Now the bad news: Unless you receive an invitation from the governor’s campaign, you won’t be going to the ball, Cinderella.

The reason for this is simple: The Sweeney Convention Center, which was the site of one of the balls in 2003, is unavailable, Richardson’s campaign manager Amanda Cooper said Thursday.

For those who haven’t driven in downtown Santa Fe lately, Sweeney currently is a huge hole in the ground. The old building was demolished so a new convention center can be built.

“The governor and lieutenant governor wanted to have a historic ball,” Cooper said. “They wanted to have a people’s ball. But with Sweeney torn down, there’s no place. It’s a huge problem.”

Cooper said invitations are being sent to 7,000 people.

“Basically, anyone who bought a ticket to the last inauguration will get an invitation,” she said.


Boots ‘n’ bolos: The Jan. 1 ball will be at two locations in downtown Santa Fe: The Hilton and Eldorado hotels. Attire will be casual. “It’s all boots and bolos,” Cooper said.

No glass slippers.

Entertainment will be by New Mexico musicians, Cooper said, though she wasn’t ready to announce the lineup. I personally was pulling for New Mexico Music Commissioner Tony Orlando. He’s never made it to a Music Commission meeting, so I figure the least he could do would be to sing “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” at the inauguration.

Richardson’s campaign treasury is footing the bill for the balls, Cooper said.

The actual inauguration will be at the Roundhouse, followed by a reception in the Rotunda. This will be free and open to the public, Cooper said.

Speaking of campaign contributions: The final campaign finance reports for all state candidates is due today. But, as I’ve been pointing out for nearly a month now, the secretary of state’s Web site still only has a pitiful handful of reports from the last filing day, Nov. 2.

As of Wednesday evening, the only reports available online for statewide candidates from that date were those of Richardson and his Republican opponent, John Dendahl. This has been the case since early November.

Two weeks ago in this column, state Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, said she found it “very disturbing” that the reports were not online. “The secretary of state’s timely operation of this system is the lynch pin,” Feldman said.


Seven deadly seconds: Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff says the bitterly fought and extremely close Congressional District 1 race between incumbent Republican Heather Wilson and Democrat Patricia Madrid probably was determined by seven seconds in late October.

Sanderoff, who did polling for the Albuquerque Journal, this week e-mailed his 2006 general election analysis to New Mexico reporters.

The document had no major revelations. But it’s a sobering reminder of how a small misstep can sink a campaign.

Referring to the Oct. 24 televised debate between Wilson and Madrid, Sanderoff wrote, “In what turned out to be the most important moment of the evening, Wilson pointedly asked Madrid how she could assure voters that she will not raise their taxes. Madrid stumbled on this question, waiting nearly seven seconds before she began to speak and then was unable to articulate a clear position.”

“Patricia Madrid’s seven-second ‘hesitation’ probably cost her the election,” Sanderoff wrote. “Most of the political fallout was not caused by the debate itself. The damage was incurred by the 30-second television ad that the Wilson campaign produced in order to capitalize on Madrid’s gaffe. This ad saturated the airwaves right through Election Day. Repeated viewing of the ad seemed to have a cumulative negative effect on the electorate. Madrid’s communication skills and articulateness were now being called into question by some voters.”

Madrid had been leading in all the polls, including Sanderoff’s, until that debate. Wilson squeaked out an 861-vote victory.

This makes you wonder about the future of televised debates in New Mexico. Madrid probably wishes she would have followed the lead of Richardson and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who both won comfortable victories last month despite ducking debates with their opponents on TV.

PIZZ ON PAZZ

A few months ago, I announced that for the first time in 15 (or 16 years) I wouldn't be participating in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop music poll, a survey of several hundred music writers on the best albums and singles of the year. This is because the new corporate owners of the voice had unceremoniously canned veteran rock journalist Robert Christgau -- the dean of American rock critics! -- as well as Chuck Eddy.

I'm happy to say that I will be participating in a new music poll being organized by Idolator, a music blog (owned by Gawker Media, which I guess makes them a sister of Wonkette.)

Read about the new poll in this New York Times story.

LATEST ON SPEAKER BATTLE

House Speaker Ben Lujan defends his relationship with the controversial Smiley Gallegos in my story in today's New Mexican. Read it HERE

The letter that prompted the story by whistleblower and Las Cruces Democratic activist Frances F. Williams can be found on Heath's blog HERE

The state Republican party's New Mexico For Sale blog immediately jumped on Williams' letter. But they call her "Francis" and identify her as "the good man responsible for revealing the corruption that led to the downfall of the state’s housing authority system." The post concludes by saying "New Mexico needs more men like this." Read it HERE

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, December 3, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
I Hate Music by The Replacements
Dogfood by Iggy Pop
Hate & Whiskey by Nashville Pussy
We Like to Drink We Like to Play Rock 'n Roll by The Unband

(Lexie Shabel Interview)
(Sure Do Feel Like a) Piece of Shit/Give it Up by The Unband
(More Lexie interview)
Let It Rock by The Unband

Down to the Well by The Pixies
That's Enough For Me by Camper Van Beethoven
Journey to The Center of The Mind by The Ramones
Where's Your Boyfriend At by The Yayhoos

High Flyin' Baby by The Flamin' Groovies
Motor City is Burning by Mc5
Homicide by 999
When We Were Young by Roy & The Devil's Motorcycle
Clampdown by The Clash
Caroleen by Pere Ubu
Blue Christmas by Stan Ridgway

Little Things by Los Lobos
Sex, Fashion & Money by The Grabs
The Gypsy's Wife by Leonard Cohen
The Way the Wind Blows by A Hawk & A Hacksaw
Cast Away Dreams by Lindsey Buckingham
All These Things by Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, December 1, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Blistered by Miss Leslie & Her Juke Jointers
Atonement by Lucinda Williams
Jesus is Number One by Ramsay Midwood
Jerry Lynn by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
Jimmy Parker by Ed Pettersen
Love Out of Time by Scott Kempner
Room Full of Roses by Dean Martin

I Just Can't Be True by Webb Pierce
Gun Shy by Nancy Apple
Whoa Sailor by Maddox Brothers & Rose
No Goodwill Stores in Waikiki by Blaze Foley
Joy by Harry Nilsson
I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye by Willie Nelson
Lucille by The Beat Farmers
New Morning Sun by S. Whitt Denson
Paradise Here Abouts by Howe Gelb

Nashville Radio by Jon Langford
Sin City by The Mekons
Get Thee Gone by The Geraldine Fibbers
Ghost of Mae West by Trailer Bride
Living on the Road Again by Artie Hill & The Long Gone Daddies
If I Had My Boots by Lynn Anderson
Oklahoma Bound by Joe West
Donut & A Dream by Tony Gilkyson

Christmas in Washington by Steve Earle
The Old Account by Rob McNurlin
Does My Ring Burn Your Finger by Solomon Burke
Thursday Night Las Vegas Airport by Chip Taylor
Somebody Else by Eleni Mandell
Got to Find Blind Lemon Part 2 by Geoff Muldaur
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

CASH IN ON A WAR CRIMINAL

Here's the coolest African scam e-mail I've received all week. (The link provided by the sender, "Mr. Steve," is a legit CNN story.)

Dear Sir,
I am personal assistance of Mr charles Taylor, the former Liberian President. At the moment he is presently indicted by the Laws for various allege charges and warcrimes.

You can look up this site below for update:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/03/29/taylor.nigeria/index.htm

I have a re-profiling amount in an excess of USD500M, which I seek your partnership in accommodating for me due to the pressures from the present Government on possible steps to investigate / confisticate his assets both locally and internationally,

All details would be given to you as soon as i confirm your sincere and genuine readiness to front in this venture with me.

Awaiting your reply.

Mr. Steve

So not only am I supposed to be stupid enough to fall for this tired crap, I'm supposed to be greedy and amoral enough to cash in on the ill-gotten loot of a deposed war criminal.

TANGLED UP IN HIBBING

Note: I didn't do a Terrell's Tune-up this week because I had to do some reviews of Santa Fe Film Festival movies. This one was published this week. Others will be next week.

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 1, 2006

No Bob Dylan fan will want to miss Mary Feidt’s Tangled Up in Bob. But don’t expect to find much of Dylan in this search for the roots of his genius. There’s not much actual Dylan music here and little footage of Dylan concerts. (There is an all-too-brief audio clip of Bobby Zimmerman singing “Tutti Frutti” at a high-school talent show.)

But this is a look at the world from which he came, the world that shaped him, and the world he fled as soon as possible. And the movie ends up being as much about Taos writer Natalie Goldberg — who serves as the on-camera guide for the film — as it is about Dylan.

Goldberg is not only a fan of Dylan’s music (“It’s knockout. It’s just totally changed my life.”). She also identifies with his early life. She grew up in a small town on Long Island, New York, where she felt like “the lone Jew.” “I think I’m always looking for examples to live my life by,”
Goldberg explains to a man who knew Dylan as a youth. She says she probably wouldn’t be as interested in Dylan if he weren’t “Jewish and didn’t come from a small town where he was an oddity. ... The fact that he’s Jewish and the only Jew from up in a town, Hibbing, up in the Iron Range in Minnesota — if he can do it, I can do it.”

After going to Hibbing, Goldberg realizes her assumption about Dylan being the only Jew there wasn’t correct. She even finds his old synagogue. Goldberg visits the house in which the singer grew up, chatting with the young family who lives there now and sitting on a bed in his old room. “He grew out of a real life, not some imagined fantasy world,” she says. She talks to old friends and neighbors of the kid who started out as Bobby Zimmerman.

“I’m not a fan. But it’s nice to see the notoriety that he gets from people,” a former neighbor says in an interview at a Hibbing tavern. But Dylan’s not the only celebrity to come out of Hibbing. This man seems more impressed that it’s the hometown of basketball star Kevin McHale, who played with the Boston Celtics and is now an executive with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

One former classmate of Dylan’s told of a cynical old miner who said he did not believe Dylan wrote his songs. “He paid somebody to write them for him,” the old miner claimed. “Iron Range people, as a rule, do not want to give credit where credit is due,” the classmate explains. “They’re pessimistic largely because of the boom-and-bust cycle of the mines.”

Goldberg goes to the iron mine that was the chief livelihood of the town. She goes to a polka dance. And she goes to Dylan’s high school.

Her favorite discovery in Hibbing is Dylan’s high-school English teacher, B.J. Rolfzen, whom she describes as “someone who loved literature from the inside out with his soul and spirit, not as some intellectual understanding.” Later in the movie, Goldberg says she connected with Rolfzen because she had two great English teachers “who saved my life” in high school.

Unlike the basketball fan at the bar, Rolfzen describes Dylan as “a Shakespeare for this age.”

The most touching scene is when the elderly teacher sings along to a recording of Dylan’s ode to mortality, “Not Dark Yet.” Sitting at his kitchen table, Rolfzen reverently bows his head as he sings. “I like the line, ‘I was born here and I’ll die here against my will.’ Same here. If I had a choice, here’s where I would stay. They can have the other side, whatever it may be. ... This is the world for me.”

“I can see how this place might have been boring for Bob Dylan in the ’50s,” Goldberg says, walking down a Hibbing thoroughfare. “But, you know, maybe that boredom gave him something. He was empty when he left here, and he was free to be a conduit for all that came through him.”

It does look a little boring. And some of the people seem a little thick — like the young music-store employee who says that the only Dylan song he’s ever heard is “Forever Young,” which was sung at his graduation.

To Goldberg, Hibbing is “some old dream I’ve had of America. Small, Midwestern, brick buildings, storefronts, people knowing each other.” But spending time in Hibbing via Tangled Up in Bob leaves you feeling anything but empty.

Tangled Up in Bob; documentary; 67 minutes; Scottish Rite Temple; 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7