TERRELL'S TUNEUP: IMMORTAL SOUL

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 9, 2006

Soul belter Bettye LaVette made a more-than-respectable “comeback” album a couple of years ago. Her new effort, Scene of the Crime, shows that I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise was no fluke. This woman, with her slightly raspy voice and impeccable taste in material, is on fire.

LaVette’s late-blooming career is a weird story even by show-biz standards. She’s toiled away on the fringes of success for more than 40 years, and she’s just starting to reach her prime. She’s a true example of someone who has only gotten better with age.

LaVette started out in the 1960s, the golden age of soul, though she never quite became a household name. In 2000, the European label Munich released a live LaVette album called Let Me Down Easy: In Concert. Her performance of its title song still twists my head off. The record wasn’t a runaway hit, but apparently some people who counted heard it. LaVette started recording in this country again.

Two years ago, LaVette got the full Joe Henry treatment — covering songs by contemporary songwriters like Dolly Parton, Sinead O’Connor, Fiona Apple, and Lucinda Williams with a rocking band. I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise is a good album, a really good album. But — I’ll go ahead and say it — Scene of the Crime is a great one.

First of all, there’s the matter of the band. The Drive-By Truckers, yes, the alt country/neo-Southern rock wild boys (and girl) who made it OK for punk rockers to admit they like Lynyrd Skynyrd, play behind LaVette. But that’s not as weird as it sounds. As Truckers fans know, DBT founder Patterson Hood is the son of Muscle Shoals session bassist David Hood. Plus, the band toured this year with Stax/Volt soul keyboard/songwriter great Spooner Oldham (including a stop in Santa Fe in May.)

On LaVette’s record, DBT sounds like Muscle Shoals: the Next Generation. (Oldham and David Hood are along for this ride too.)

LaVette is no stranger to Muscle Shoals. She recorded an album there called Child of the Seventies about 35 years ago — which, in keeping with LaVette’s hard-luck biography, was not released until a few years ago.

It’s true, DBT provides a harder-edged sound than the musicians on I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise. But the band never overwhelms LaVette; it seems to inspire her.

The album grabs a listener immediately with a slinky swamp rocker called “I Still Want to Be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am),” written by Alabama native Eddie Hinton. There are several cool rockers here that seem natural for LaVette. John Hiatt’s “The Last Time” sounds like it was written for her. “You Don’t Know Me at All” is nice and bluesy.

And LaVette also shows she can nail the slow ones. “Choices” is a song George Jones did just a few years ago, after a well-publicized alcoholic relapse. I don’t know how much of this tune applies to LaVette’s own life, but when she sings, “I found I liked drinkin’” a listener finds her completely believable.

But the showstopper is a weird old Elton John song I’d completely forgotten called “Talking Old Soldiers.” I had to check the credits to make sure it wasn’t a Tom Waits “grand weeper.” The song is the lament of a sad old veteran at a bar. One of the most frightening musical moments I’ve heard in years is when LaVette shouts “How the hell do they know what it’s like to have a graveyard for a friend.”

Among the most satisfying cuts is “Before the Money Came (The Battle Of Bettye LaVette).” Not only is it a rocking little number, but LaVette looks back on her career: “Some folks didn’t know my worth/Didn’t know where I fit in/40 years I kept on singin’ before the money started rollin’ in.” It’s a fitting triumph.

Also recommended

* 100 Days, 100 Nights by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. Ms. Jones is the undisputed queen of the current soul revival. She’s been making music since girlhood — singing in church and getting gigs as a background singer for R & B and even disco artists. But she had to keep a day job for too many years. She worked as a corrections officer on Rikers Island in New York — if that ain’l credentials, I don’t know what is.

Jones made several singles for the Desco label in the late ’90s but didn’t make her own album until 2002, when she was in her 40s.

Some accuse the singer of being retro. True, this music fits right in with good old Stax/Volt records. The Dap-Kings are nice and horny, with funky, Steve Cropper-ish guitar by Binky Griptite. True, it’s not hard to imagine Otis Redding singing “When the Other Foot Drops,” and “Let Them Knock” could have been a hit for Carla Thomas. But I don’t find the songs old-fashioned in the least. It’s just strong, honest music — about love, lust, and tears — that I like for the same reason I like those older records.

Jones saved the best for first on this album — the title song is a minor-key steamer. But there’s not a weak tune here. There’s a little Motown gloss on “Tell Me” and a little bit of the swamp in “Nobody’s Baby.” And I bet the trumpet solo at the end of “Keep on Looking” goes on a lot longer when the Dap-Kings perform it live.

* Wattstax: Music from the Wattstax Festival and Film. Speaking of old Stax music, this recently released three-disc collection is a treasure-trove. Most of the material has been released before, but this is definitive.

Wattstax, for the uninitiated, was a 1972 music festival in Los Angeles, organized by the Memphis-based label and emceed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

There are classic performances by stalwart Stax stars like the Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, and Carla Thomas. Unfortunately there’s only one Isaac Hayes song here — “Theme From Shaft.” (Hayes’ full-length At Wattstax is worth seeking out.)

But even more fun is the abundance of worthy, if not as famous, Stax acts such as The Emotions, the Soul Children, Rance Allen, Lee Sain (who does a tune called “Them Hot Pants”), and Hayes’ songwriting partner David Porter. Perhaps my favorite cut is the nine-minute “Son of Shaft” by the wonderful, funky Bar-Kays.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE POLITICAL UNIVERSE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 8, 2007

Welcome to the center of the universe. The political universe, at least.

That designation was bestowed upon this state last week by Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza.

“With an open Senate seat for the first time in 25 years and THREE open House seats, New Mexico is shaping up as the center of the political universe in 2008,” Cillizza wrote. “Who says big states have all the fun?”

To pick a nit here, in reality, this is the first open Senate seat here in 35 years. Twenty five years ago, Democrat Jeff Bingaman defeated incumbent Republican Harrison Schmitt. Republican Pete Domenici won an open seat in 1972.

In citing three open House seats, Cillizza is assuming Rep. Tom Udall will join the rest of the state’s current Congressional delegation — Republican Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce — in running for Domenici’s seat.

“While Udall is still being somewhat coy about his intentions, there is little doubt in the Washington political world that he will be a candidate and that he’ll enjoy establishment support both inside and outside the Beltway,” Cillizza wrote.

But, to paraphrase Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chávez, who also is running for U.S. Senate, we should let New Mexicans decide whether we’re the center of the political universe, not people in Washington, D.C.

While talking politics this week, University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson made the comment: “This is really the place to be in ’08 for politics. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sounds like the center of the political universe to me.

The candidate glut: If Udall runs for Senate, I’m not going to run for his seat in Congress. Neither is state Rep. Peter Wirth, and I’ve got the press release to prove it.

But I assume everybody else is.

In reality, Democrats who have said they are considering the Congressional District 3 race — if Udall runs for Senate — are Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján, state auditor Hector Balderas, former County Commissioner Javier Gonzales, current County Commissioner Harry Montoya, former state Rep. Patsy Trujillo, Española Mayor Joe Maestas, Sheriff Greg Solano and lawyer Geno Zamora.

So far.

Your petitions are no good here: The sheer number of possible District 3 contenders has some state Democrats worried about a strange little law that slipped through the state Legislature last year.

House Bill 1156, which won unanimous approval of both legislative chambers and was signed into law by Gov. Bill Richardson, makes it tougher for candidates to get on the primary ballot.

Before the new law, candidates won a place on the ballot if they received at least 20 percent of the delegate votes at their party’s preprimary convention. Those who got less than that magic figure still could get on the ballot by submitting additional petitions with signatures of registered voters to the secretary of state.

The new law got rid of the petition option. Those who get less than 20 percent are out of luck.

Only trouble is, the large number of Democratic candidates in District 3 could increase the chances no candidate reaches the 20 percent mark at the preprimary convention. And, under the law that passed, there is no provision to get anyone on the ballot with less than 20 percent.

Here’s a little nightmare for Democrats: No candidate gets enough delegates to secure a place on the ballot. The GOP runs one candidate who automatically wins a Congressional seat in a heavily Democratic district.

“We’ve got a very unusual situation,” said Laura Sanchez, executive director of the state Democratic Party on Wednesday. “The party rules didn’t anticipate that scenario.”

Sanchez’s Republican counterpart, Adam Feldman, through a spokesman, agreed.

“There need to be provisions in the law for situations like this, which offer another path onto the ballot; candidates should be required to go through the party convention phase first, and the alternative path should make the prospective candidate show that he/she is a Republican capable of competing in a state primary and general election. Requirements should be difficult and truly test a potential candidate’s fortitude.”

A spokesman for the secretary of state said Wednesday that the office is working on a proposed fix. The Legislature would have to amend the law in its next session and tack on an emergency clause. Both parties hold their preprimary conventions March 15.

DENISH'S FINANCE REPORT

You can my story about Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's campaign finance report for her 2010 (!) gubernatorial race HERE.

You can see her entire report HERE.

I think it's great that Denish is voluntarily releasing these reports long before the deadline. Our state law requiring reports only once a year during non-election years is pathetic.

Then again, we've got all these legions of candidates emerging for Congress and U.S. Senate races next year, 2010 does seem like a long time away.

NEW SURVEYUSA POLL: CHAVEZ PULLS AHEAD OF GOP CONTENDERS -- SLIGHTLY

There's a new poll for the New Mexico Senate race, performed by SurveyUSA in partnership with Roll Call that shows Bill Richardson, Marty Chavez and Diane Denish beating both Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.

This is good news for Chavez, who last month was trailing both GOP candidates.

Tom Udall was not included in the poll. As Josh Kurtz, political editor of Roll Call explains, "He was not tested in Roll Call's poll - and his plans were disclosed too late to be included in the Election Preview, which went to press on Thursday." In last month's poll Udall also was ahead of both Republicans by good margins.

Denish was included because at the time the poll was taken she had not taken herself out of the race.

Richardson -- who insists he is not running for Senate -- would defeat Pearce and Wilson by more than 20 points.

Chavez would run a closer race. He'd beat Pearce by five points and Wilson by four. But the margin of error is 4 percent, so both should be considered dead heats.

Wilson and Pearce continue to beat Santa Fe developer and political newcomer Don Wiviott.

More on this in The New Mexican on Tuesday.

KSFR DARK TONIGHT

I was just informed that due to a power outage at Santa Fe Community College, KSFR is off the air and won't be back on in time for my show.

So there's no Sound World tonight.

I'll be back at the station for The Santa Fe Opry next week.

Meanwhile, you can listen to this instead: CLICK HERE

MISC. SUNDAY

Indulge me for being the proud dad here, but Capitol High School Performing Arts just won the state drama championship for their one-act play at the state tournament in Farmington. My son Anton is part of that, so I've got to tell the world.

I have a couple of political stories in today's New Mexican. There's one about possible contenders running for Congress if Tom Udall -- as everyone seems to expect -- runs for U.S. Senate. CLICK HERE

Then there's THIS ONE about Steve Pearce's statement yesterday that he expects Bill Richardson to get in the Democratic Senate primary. (Once again, please disregard the headline! Pearce is not gearing up for a "crowded race." Chances are he's only got Heather Wilson to worry about in the GOP primary, and, if he wins, only the Democratic candidate in the general election. Remember, REPORTERS DO NOT WRITE HEADINES!)

Here's a music treat by Santa Fe's own Billy Kaundart.

RICHARDSON'S PLAYBOY INTERVIEW

Yes, it's true, Gov. Bill Richardson is this month's Playboy interview. You can read my story about that HERE.

My favorite part of this month's cover is that the blurb about Richardson says, "A BOLD PLAYBOY INTERVIEW."

Bold? Sounds familiar ... Apparently the governor's press team is writing copy for Playboy.

OK, I'm lying. That's not my favorite part of the cover.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, November 2, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Lonely Nights by James Luther Dickinson
Pointless Drinking by Amy LaVere
Love Train by The Yayhoos
The Big Lie by Cornell Hurd
Big River by Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
Wrong Side of the World by Johnny Bush & Justin Trevino
Five Brothers by Marty Robbins
Rainbow Stew by Merle Haggard
I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle by Pure Prairie League

The Unfortunate Rake by A.L. Lloyd & Alf Edwards
Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues by Michael Hurley
St. James Infirmary by Cab Calloway
Gambler's Blues by Dave Van Ronk
Streets of Laredo by Webb Wilder
St. James by Snakefarm
Dying Crapshooter's Blues by David Bromberg
Streets of Laredo by Michael Hurley

PORTER WAGONER TRIBUTE
All songs by Porter Wagoner except where noted

Wagon Master #1 by Marty Stuart
Company Comin'
House of Shame
Divers Are Out Tonight
Committed to Parkview
The Rubber Room by Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
All I Can Do by Dolly Parton
Satan Gets the Gold
Please Don't Stop Loving Me by Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
The Night Porter Wagoner Came to Town by Tabby Crabb
Satisfied Mind by Jonathan Richman
Eat Drink Be Merry (Tomorrow You Cry)

Ghost Surfer by The Surf Lords
Ranch of Ghosts by Bone Orchard
As Far As I Could Throw Her by John Egenes
Choices by Bettye LaVette
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends by Joan Osborne
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: INTO HURLEY'S SWAMP

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 2, 2007

When listening to a Michael Hurley album, it’s easy to imagine that you’re sitting around a secret campfire in some hobo jungle near the railroad tracks. Hurley, who has been recording on the fringes for more than 40 years, is the hobo in chief, leading the singalong with sad and sometimes silly tunes about lost loves, old friends, funny uncles, drunken misadventures, and hard-won wisdom. But the quiet bum sitting beside you might just be a werewolf.

You hear a mythical America in Hurley’s songs. When you submerge yourself in his music it’s like hopping a freight train that takes you through archetypal back-road America, through marshlands and past graveyards, then detours through Big Rock Candy Mountain and Dogpatch U.S.A. And before you know it, the train is chugging through a cartoon universe populated by comical mutants, cosmic grifters, and psychedelic drifters.

Hurley’s new album, Ancestral Swamp, is a laid-back affair, even by Michael Hurley standards. Most of the songs feature just Hurley and his guitar on his own weary tales. Personally, I prefer my Hurley not quite so unadorned. I could use a little more musical variety and definitely more of the screechy fiddle he uses here on “Gambling Charlie.”

Ancestral Swamp has versions of two related songs: “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues,” written by Blind Willie McTell, and the classic cowboy song “Streets of Laredo.” Both deal with the last wishes of unfortunate men who are found dying on the street. The white-linen-wrapped cowboy and McTell’s irreverent gambler, Little Jessie, fantasize about grandiose funerals.

The crapshooter’s vision of his funeral parade is my favorite. “

Eight crapshooters to be my pallbearers/Let ’em be veiled down in black/I want nine men going to the graveyard/And eight men comin’ back/I want a gang of gamblers gathered ’round my coffin side/Crooked card printed on my hearse/Don’t say the crapshooters’ll never grieve over me/My life’s been a doggone curse.”

Both of these songs — like their close cousin“St. James Infirmary” — can be traced back to “The Unfortunate Rake,” a British ballad of debauchery, death, regret, and pride. Unlike the crapshooter and the Laredo cowboy, the original rake was killed by venereal disease, not a gun. Ian McShane sang a version of this as Al Swearingen in an episode of Deadwood. (Another Hurley/Deadwood connection: Hurley’s “Hog of the Forsaken” was used for the closing credits in Deadwood’s first episode.)

I actually prefer David Bromberg’s faux-Dixieland version of “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues,” and my favorite take on “Streets of Laredo” is Webb Wilder’s version recorded in the ’90s. But Hurley gives both of these hoary tunes his own peculiar stamp. And both are appropriate additions to the Hurley mythos.

(An excellent story by Rob Walker of the history of “Streets of Laredo” and “St. James Infirmary” can be found HERE. )

Also recommended

* A Romance of Ghosts by Bone Orchard. This is an aptly titled album if there ever was ones crawling with ghosts. There’s the ghost of Jessie James shooting up on Hollywood Boulevard. The ghost of Billy the Kid kicks up the dust of the Lincoln County War as he dances in dimly lit bars. There’s a whole “Ranch of Ghosts” where the spirits of a wild, untamed era stand “waiting on a savior.”

This second effort by the Taos band can almost be heard as a concept album, not about “the vanishing West” but about the way in which traces of that violent but romantic era lurk just beneath the surface of modern times.

Bone Orchard is fronted by a married couple, Daniel Pretends Eagle (guitar, banjo, vocals) and Carol Morgan-Eagle (vocals). Daniel writes most of the songs. Taos music mainstay Chipper Thompson plays guitar and mandolin. The basic Bone Orchard sound is grounded in bluegrass, though the rhythm section (bass man Paul Reid and drummer Mark Bennett), as well as electric guitars, give the group a rock edge.

I’m a confessed sucker for Billy the Kid songs, so I immediately was attracted to “Dancing With the Ghost of William Bonney.” But after a few listens I’m starting to prefer “Ole Virginny.” The melody is a lot like that of “The Cuckoo,” one of my favorite folk tunes. But what I really like hearing is the growling, feedbacking guitar playing off Thompson’s chiming mandolin.

Also worth checking out is Orchard’s cover of Michael Franti’s hip-hop/bluegrass rewrite of “Wayfarin’ Stranger.” I hear a little bit of The Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider” in there.


* Fretbuzz by John Egenes. For 30 years or so, John Egenes was a stalwart of local music. He played guitar, dobro, mandolin, steel guitar, and just about anything he could get his hands on for who knows how many Santa Fe acts, includingBill and Bonnie Hearne and Eliza Gilkyson.

He moved to New Zealand a few years ago — he just earned a master’s degree in composition at the University of Otago in Dunedin — but he never stopped playing music.

Fretbuzz is Egenes’ second album since moving to New Zealand. It’s the sind of good country music he was known for here. Though he used Dunedin musicians on the album, it’s good American music.

My favorite tune here is “As Far as I Can Throw Her.” (I once used that title in a song, but John’s is better.) Also noteworthy is a little local flavor, a song called “Kiwi Moon.” I love the vocal harmonies on the refrain. Here Egenes informs us “A Kiwi girl loves to dance.” With music like this, it’s easy to see why.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: MACACA MEMORIES

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 1, 2007

Will New Mexico be the scene of the next “Macaca moment”?

You never know. But Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez’s Senate campaign has hired a Berkeley-based online media consultant most famous for helping make “Macaca” a household word.

Surely you remember Macaca. Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia was considered a shoo-in for re-election in 2006 as well as a strong Republican presidential hopeful. That’s before he was captured on video mocking a staffer for his Democratic opponent Jim Webb. His target was a law student of East Indian descent. “Let’s give a welcome to Macaca here! Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!” Although the term was perceived to be a racist slur, Allen denied it.

Webb’s Internet strategist Brent Blackaby of Blackrock Associates made sure the video of the incident was posted on YouTube and soon it was burned into the consciousness of anyone in the world halfway interested in politics. Allen ended up losing his Senate seat and discarding his presidential plans. (You can see that magic moment at the bottom of this post.)

“That’s the beauty of the Internet,” Blackaby said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “It makes campaigns more authentic.”

Blackrock also has worked for the campaigns of 2004 presidential candidate Wesley Clark, U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Mary Landrieu, Amy Klobuchar and Blanche Lincoln.

In the case the Webb campaign, Blackaby said, the Macaca incident played into a story line that already was developing about Allen — suspicions of racism due to old friends alleging the senator had used the “N” word, his reported obsession with the Confederacy and the fact he kept a noose in his office.

Blackaby said Chavez didn’t hire him to follow opponents around with Camcorders. “In time, that could happen,” he said. “But right now we’re focused on how best to tell Marty’s story.”

He’s also responsible for Chavez’s Web site, currently under construction.

Reach out and blog someone: One of Blackaby’s first activities with the Chavez campaign was organizing a conference call with progressive bloggers in New Mexico. Blackaby said about a dozen bloggers participated Tuesday. “This was the first in a series,” he said. “Marty just wanted to introduce himself, take a few questions and start building relationships.”

Relationship building couldn’t hurt. Chavez isn’t exactly a hero with some of the progressive blogs in this state. Just last week Democracy for New Mexico posted, “Marty doesn’t seem to get that there’s a big difference between being supportive of local business interests and giving away the store to sprawl developers and other big donors while claiming to be ‘progressive’ and ‘green.’ ”

Blogger Heath Haussamen, who participated in Tuesday’s conference call, reported some of the bloggers brought up Chavez’s recent statement that U.S. Rep. Tom Udall — who many progressive Democrats would like to see run for the Senate seat, despite Udall’s declaration he’s not running — is too far to the left to be elected. (Chavez reportedly assured the bloggers that he and Udall are great friends and he’d probably vote the same way as the congressman most of the time.)

“There was clearly some awkwardness about the conversation, but the bloggers also sounded genuinely happy to have such access to Chavez,” Haussamen wrote.

Score one for Blackaby.

Richardson in Philly: I didn’t actually see this while viewing Tuesday’s televised debate from Philadelphia on MSNBC, but the Associated Press reported that after not being called on for the first 20 minutes of the debate “... Gov. Bill Richardson threw up his hands in protest that he hadn’t been called on either and exchanged a frustrated glance with (Dennis) Kucinich.”

Indeed, that’s increasingly becoming a problem for Richardson in recent debates as his poll numbers stagnate and, in some cases, sink.

But there was one question that I’m betting Richardson was happy to be ignored on. The question of granting driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. Front-runner Hillary Clinton was blasted by several of her opponents Tuesday and all across punditdom on Wednesday for giving two answers to that question: She thinks such a law is “a good idea” in New York, but she’s not supporting the law.

Richardson did not barge into the fray to point out that he backed and signed such a law several years ago in New Mexico.

Reasons not to run: State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones of Albuquerque still is considering a Republican primary-election race for Congress. But when I saw her at the Roundhouse on Wednesday she said the list of reasons not to run is starting to get a lot longer than the list of reasons to run. She said she’s waiting on the results of a poll she commissioned before making a final decision.

So far, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White is the only Republican in that race.

UPDATE: I changed a bonehead error in the original post. ALLEN, not Webb lost his Senate seat. I knew that ...

Below is the infamous Macaca video.