Sunday, November 29, 2009

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 29, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Anala by The King Khan & BBQ Show
Bow Down and Die by The Almighty Defenders
Diet Pill by L7
Caught With the Meat in Your Mouth by The Dead Boys
Monk Chant by The Monks
You Don't Know by The Fleshtones
Cannibal Girls by The Hydes
I Want Love and Affection, Not the House of Correction by Barrence Whitfield
She Wants to Sell My Monkey by Tav Falco

Goddamn Sounds Good by Bob Log III
Let's Have a Party by King Automatic
I Can Only Give You Everything by Them
Thrill Me by Three Bad Jacks
Devil Smile by Nekromantix
Too Much Fun by The Sons of Hercules
Slide by Tin Huey

I'm Broke by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Rapping With Lee by Lee Fields
Stupidity by The Detroit Cobras
The Joker by Bob Bunny
Jungle Talk (I Want Some of That) by Shane Kai Ray
Chicken Papa by The Preachers
Stivali E Colbacco by Gogol Bordello
Polka Dancer by Brave Combo
Son of a Gun by The Polkaholics

Queen Anne by Buick MacKane
Laredo (Small Dark Something) by Jon Dee Graham
The Trip by Donovan
Ode to Billy Joe/Hip Hug Her by Wiley & The Checkmates
Gee I Really Love You by Heavy Trash
Up Above My Head by Sharon Jones, Billy Rivers & The Angelic Voices of Faith
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Saturday, November 28, 2009

MUST BE HOLIDAY SEASON

Here's some Christmas cheer on video.

I'd been wary of the Bob Dylan Christmas album, but I've gotta admit, I get a kick out of this video. (Thanks, Stuart and Al)




And yes, Dylan admits he got the arrangement from Brave Combo, who's been doing this song for years. (from an interview with Street News Service)

BF: MUST BE SANTA is a real jumping polka. Did you hear a lot of polka bands growing up?
BD: Yeah, I heard a few.
BF: I never heard that song before. Where did you hear it?
BD: I first heard that song years ago on one of those “Sing Along with Mitch” records. But this version comes from a band called Brave Combo. Somebody sent their record to us for our radio show. They’re a regional band out of Texas that takes regular songs and changes the way you think about them. You oughta hear their version of Hey Jude.
Come to think of this, I played the Brave Combo version on last year's Big Enchilada Christmas Podcast.

Friday, November 27, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, November 27, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Go Cat Go by J.P. McDermott & Western Bop
Tonight She Hits the Honkey Tonks by Justin Trevino
Walmart Killed the Country Store by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
I Turn to the Wine by Justin Trevino
Complicated Dance by The Electric Rag Band
It's the Law by Bob Log III
Heaven's Just a Sin Away by John Fogerty
Bring it on In the House by Stan Ridgway & Pietra Wexstun
High by Zeno Tornado & The Boney Google Brothers
I'm a One-Woman Man by The Hindu Love Gods
Hush Money by The Collins Kids

Voodoo Woman by Nancy Apple
Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy by Bill Hearne
Stealth Cowboy by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Plastic Love by The Riptones
Hanging Dog by Jacques & The Shakey Boys
Chauffeur by Rosie Flores & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
I Find You're Cheatin' on Me by Hank Thompson
All Bound Down by Haywood County Ramblers

I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven by Eddie Dean
Whoa Mule by Roy Acuff
Evenin' Breeze by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Pan American by Artie Hill & The Long Gone Daddies
Don't Drop Out by Dolly Parton
Haggard Like I've Never Been Before by Merle Haggard
Get Them Pretty Girls by The Bad Livers
The Swimming Song by John Carter Cash
Honky Tonk Gal by The Starline Rhythm Boys

Sweet Rosie Jones by Buck Owens
Phases & Stages (Theme)/Walkin' by Willie Nelson
Ring O' Roses by The Mekons
One Way Ticket Down by Guy Clark
Servants' Entrance by Amanda Pearcy
Forbidden Love by Billy Kaundart
Marie by Leon Redbone
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

Thursday, November 26, 2009

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: THE RAP (SHEET) OF KHAN

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 27, 2009


It’s a good thing that the King Khan & BBQ Show isn’t as famous as the Beatles and that President Obama probably doesn’t hate and fear Arish “King” Khan as much as President Nixon hated and feared John Lennon.

Improbable as this comparison is, I couldn’t help but recall Lennon’s tribulations when the Nixon administration tried to get him deported as an “undesirable alien” because of a drug bust. What prompted this memory was Khan’s arrest with his road manager, Kristin Klein, in Kentucky earlier this month on charges of possession of psychedelic mushrooms.

The arrest of Khan, a Canadian citizen, occurred on the road between the band’s gigs promoting its new album, Invisible Girl. 

Here’s the group’s official statement on Nov. 17, via Pitchfork:

“On November 16, 2009 Kristin Klein entered a guilty plea to 2nd degree possession of a controlled substance in Christian County, Kentucky. Ms. Klein was driving a rental vehicle that was randomly stopped at a safety checkpoint. Officers located a controlled substance in the cab of the vehicle. Ms. Klein was unaware of the contraband and the validity of her license was indeterminable at time of arrest. Under KY law a driver of a vehicle is responsible for its contents. Therefore, Ms. Klein entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to appear on April 2, 2010, to provide proof of her valid license.”

The Kentucky New Era newspaper reported that Khan and two others with the KK & BBQ entourage “were allowed to enter a pretrial diversionary agreement. The drug possession charge against each of them will be dropped if they stay out of trouble for a year, said [Khan’s local lawyer Rick] Boling. They were ordered to pay court costs.”

There were fears throughout Khan fandom that this bust would be a terrible chapter in the war on drugs — being arrested in Christian County, Kentucky, for Pete’s sake! As the River Front Times’ St. Louis Music blog put it, “Keep in mind, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where cops in a tiny Kentucky town unfairly hassle a crazy looking Indian man wearing a huge shark-tooth necklace.”

But it looks like the judge was pretty lenient, almost more concerned about the driver’s license than he was the mushrooms. Of course, the catch is that Khan has to stay out of trouble for a year. That could be the real trial.

While Khan is also known for his soul revue The Shrines (and less so for The Tandoori Knights, another two-man band, and the garage/punk/lo-fi/gospel supergroup The Almighty Defenders, whose self-titled album I reviewed here a few weeks ago), some of his finest work is with Mark Sultan. Sultan, aka BBQ, is another Canadian, who was Khan’s bandmate in a Montreal band, the Spaceshits.

You might think of two-man guitar/drums groups in terms of stripped-down blues bashers like Flat Duo Jets and the early White Stripes. There’s certainly that element at work in KK & BBQ.

But what distinguishes this dynamic duo is its anchor in raw doo-wop. The basic sound, therefore, is punk-rock roar, embellished by some Ruben & The Jets/Sha Na Na/rama-lama-ding-dong silliness but based on some seriously pretty melodies and occasional sweet harmonies.

It’s all there in the opening cut, “Anala,” on which Khan handles the lead vocals. It wouldn’t be hard imagining The Penguins or The Moonglows singing this.

This is followed by the title cut, which features a folk-rock guitar that sounds inspired by The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” or The Searchers’ “When You Walk in the Room.”

But my favorites are the ones on which Sultan’s high voice soars, such as “I’ll Be Loving You” and “Tryin’.” Sometimes Sultan sounds like a more ragged Sam Cooke — or, cynics might say, a hipster version of Steve Perry of Journey. Whatever, the boy can sing.

The most interesting Sultan-led song on Invisible Girl is “Third Avenue.” It starts out and ends as a seriously greasy doo-wopper, but it’s got a strange psychedelic freak-out section featuring guitar and organ. Unfortunately the song that’s getting the most attention is “Tastebuds,” which is obscene, juvenile — and annoyingly catchy. Looks like maybe the two are trying to expand their fan base by becoming fratboy faves.

I just hope they weren’t blasting this on the car stereo when the cops stopped them in Kentucky.

Also recommended:

* My Shit is Perfect by Bob Log III. If a two-man band is just too crowded for you, check out one of the most fun one-man bands out there — and “out there” is a good description — Mr. Log’s music might be for you.

This is just good down-home stomping blues with Log’s trademark distorted vocals (he performs in a motorcycle helmet) and some scattered electronic embellishments. Log was once part of the Arizona-based blues/noise duo called Doo-Rag back in the mid-’90s.

Log’s basic sound on this album is a funky, clunky hoedown. But it’s obvious that Log actually knows how to pick, as he shows every so often — including with the speedy acoustic guitar workout on the instrumental “Bucktooth Potato.”

My favorite here is “Manipulate Your Figments.” It’s one of the best electronically mutated blues tunes I’ve heard in a while.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

PSYCHOBILLY TURKEY

If you're not too bloated from Thanksgiving dinner, there's a cool psychobilly band playing in Evangelos' basement -- a performing space currently known as The Underground -- that night.

Three Bad Jacks is a Los Angeles based trio. I saw them on the 4th of July at the Hootenanny Festival in Irvine and they rocked.

Thursday's show starts at 9 p.m. and the cover is a mere $5.

A promoter named Johnny Pink has started putting on shows in The Underground. Earlier this month he had The Koffin Kats, another psychobilly bunch. On Dec. 8 a band called Jon Wayne & The Pain will play there, with local blues dudes Gary Farmer & The Troublemakers opening.

Nice to see another venue opening up like this and nice to see this space in particular being used again. I think the last show I saw down in Evangelos' basement was a trick pool shot exhibition by a guy called Fast Eddie whose best trick of the nigth was making a lot of people in the audience believe his claim that he was the inspiration for the Paul Newman character in The Hustler.

And for some completely different kind of music, I just got a last-minute email about a show happening tonight (Wednesday) at High Mayhem, 2811 Siler Lane (at Siler Road).

Tristan Perich wrote, "I'm a New York-based composer, lugging a harpsichord around the country and playing a new piece for it with low-fi 1-bit electronics (an extension of 1-Bit Music, my circuit-in-a-cd-case album from a few years ago). Lesley Flanigan performs on her own hand-built speaker feedback instruments, which generate tones that she layers on top of her own voice."

A trip-hop group from Cincinnati called Evolve also is on the bill

I haven't heard them before, but it's High Mayhem, so it's bound to be interesting.

Suggested price is $10. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 22, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
November/Weapon by The Rockin' Guys
Tiki Man by Deadbolt
Low Budget Life by J.J. & The Real Jerks
I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was in by Mojo Nixon
Misunderstood by The Sons of Hercules
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Warren Zevon
Bad Boy by Larry Williams

It's a Cadillac by Three Bad Jacks
Ghost Rider by Allen Vega
Shout Bama Lama by Detoit Cobras
Little Latin Lupe Lu by The Strawberry Zots
Moodswings by King Automatic
Kukamonga Boogaloo by King Khan & The Shrines
Mojo Workout by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Let Them Knock by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

City of Refuge by Alvin Youngblood Hart
Christ is Everthing by The Soul Stirrers
The Holy Ghost is Here by Rev. Milton Brunson
I'm Waiting for Jesus by The Dixie Hummingbirds
15 Rounds for Jesus by Sister Wynona Carr
Pray On by The Staples Singers
Jordan River by Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens
Three Little Fishes, Five Loaves of Bread by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
I'm on My Way by Mahalia Jackson
Don't You Ever Let Nobody Drag Yo' Spirit Down by Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir with Wilson Pickett & Eric Bibb

Ultimate by Gogol Bordello
Tip My Canoe by Dengue Fever
Always Horses Coming by Giant Sand
The Comb by Tin Huey featuring Patty Donahue
Circus by Tom Waits
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

NEW BIG ENCHILADA PODCAST 16

THE BIG ENCHILADA

PODCAST 16 Art

Here it is, a little taste of Hillbilly Heaven right here on Earth! Spinning the righteous country sounds he loves to play on The Santa Fe Opry on KSFR, Steve Terrell presents songs by The Delmore Brothers, The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Charlie Poole, The Hoosier Hotshots plus some mutated hillbilly sounds from Bob Log III, T. Tex Edwards, The Watzloves and more!

CLICK HERE to download the podcast. (To save it, right click on the link and select "Save Target As.")

Or better yet, stop messing around and CLICK HERE to subscribe to my podcasts and HERE to directly subscribe on iTunes.

You can play it on the little feedplayer below:



Here's the playlist

(Background music: Rambler's Stomp by Doug Bine & His Dixie Ramblers)
Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down by The Maddox Brothers & Rose
Knot Hole by Robbie Fulks
The One You Slip Around With by Skeeter Davis
Down to My Last Dime by Johnny Paycheck
Dolores by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
Rock 'n' Roll Killed My Mother by The Hi-Fi Guys
Five Against One by Al Duvall

(Background Music: Steel Guitar Rag by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts)
Catch Me a Possum by The Watzloves
Piano Bill by The Jet Girls
Settin' the Woods On Fire by Bob Log III
Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue by Scott H. Biram
Moving Day in Jungle Town by The Hoosier Hotshots

(Background Music: 3rd Stone From the Sun by Psychograss)
Monkey on a String by Charlie Poole
All Go Hungry Hash House by Norman Blake
Hesitation Blues by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
I'm The Man Who Rode the Mule Around the World by Loudon Wainwright III

(Background Music: Flop-eared Mule by The Highlanders)
Arkansas Hard Luck Blues by Lonnie Glosson
A Better Range is Home by The Delmore Brothers
Goodnight Irene by Wayne & Gina Hancock


The official Big Enchilada Web Site with my podcast jukebox and all the shows is HERE.

Friday, November 20, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
Friday, November 20, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Blackland Farmer by Sleepy LaBeef
Louisiana Blues by Wayne Hancock
Stuff You Gotta Watch by Levon Helm
Moody River by John Fogerty
Custer by Johnny Cash
Mr. Custer Stomp by The Scouts
Stripper Song by Jacques & The Shakey Boys
Pirate Radio by Mojo Nixon

Going Down by The Electric Rag Band
Born Again Again by The Legendary Shack Shakers
Nine Pound Hammer by The Waco Brothers
Your Cousin's on Cops by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
Rodeo Show by Quarter Mile Combo
Bucktooth Potato by Bob Log III
Cowboy Boots by The Backsliders
Selling the jelly by The Noah Lewis Jug Band
Sidewalks of Chicago by The Sundowners

Best Liquor Store by The Hickoids
I Ain't Got You by Rosie Flores & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Honky Tonk Maniac From Mars by Jason Ringwald with Hamell on Trial
Cold Cold Ground by The Grevious Angels
Get Behind the Mule by Tom Waits
Left Hand Cigarette Blues by Trailer Bride
Chain Gang by Fred Eaglesmith

Darling My Darling by The Handsome Family
Goin' on Down to the BBQ by Drywall
He'll Have to Go by Tav Falco
Route 41 by Gary Gorrence
It Won't Be Long (And I'll Be Hating You) by Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys
National Weed Grower's Association by Michael Hurley
Desert Rose by Chris Hillman
Man About Town by Tony Gillyson

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

FREE TOM WAITS!

No, he's not in jail -- as far as I know. He's offering free downloads, eight full songs to be exact, 38 minutes worth of music from his new live album Glitter and Doom, to be released next week.

I just downloaded it and it's sounding great. Check out the groovy widget below:










Also, I might have plugged this a few months ago, but a free two hour podcast of a 2008 Waits concert in Atlanta is available from NPR. CLICK HERE

True story: A couple of days ago my son and I were in the car listening to my iPod on shuffle mode. A Waits song came on. My son's pretty hip (He has Rev. Beat-Man's "Jesus Christ Twist" on his MySpace page.) But he started grumbling about the Waits song.

"You don't like Tom Waits," I asked disapprovingly.

"No," he said. "He always sounds like a hobo yelling at me."

He has a point, but I still love Waits.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: FOGERTY & LEVON

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 20, 2009


Here are a couple of recent albums from classic rockers from influential bands — Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Band — whose music was always an extension of American roots music — blues, R & B, rockabilly, gospel, and straight-up hillbilly sounds.

Even though their latest works won’t be and shouldn’t be considered breakthroughs or high-water marks of either artists’ career, John Fogerty’s The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again and Levon Helm’s Electric Dirt are records that show each artist remaining true to his muse. And both albums are full of good-time, honky-tonkin’ fun.

First, the Fogerty album: When Creedence — for my money, the best singles-oriented band of the late ’60s — crumbled in the early-’70s, Fogerty regrouped by degrouping. That is, he went into the studio basically as a one-man band, The Blue Ridge Rangers, playing all the instruments himself on a salute to his favorite country and bluegrass music.

The result was an album called The Blue Ridge Rangers, which featured covers: Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)”; “Today I Started Loving You Again” by Merle Haggard; Jimmie Rodgers’ “California Blues (Blue Yodel #4)”; George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care”; “I Ain’t Never” by Mel Tillis; and others. That he did not release the album under his own name could be one reason why sales tanked and the record was largely forgotten. (Historical footnote: In that same golden year of 1973, rocker Leon Russell released Hank Wilson’s Back — consisting of country and bluegrass covers and released under a pseudonym. For some reason, Hank Wilson got far more attention than Fogerty’s record did.)

I’m not sure what prompted Fogerty to revive The Blue Ridge Rangers after 36 years — except, perhaps, that he still loves this music. This time, however, he hired other musicians to handle fiddle, steel, drums, bass, mandolin, background vocals, and whatever was needed. And, for better or for worse, he even brought in some superstar guest vocalists.

The new Rangers tackle some of the classics — Ray Price’s “Fallin’, Fallin’, Fallin’” and “I’ll Be There,” which, for the record, is my favorite song on this album; Buck Owens’ “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)”; the Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved,” a spirited duet with Bruce Springsteen; and “Heaven’s Just a Sin Away” by the near-forgotten ’70s country duo The Kendalls.

One of the strangest tunes here is “Moody River,” a dark tale of suicide and betrayal written and originally recorded by a rockabilly dude named Gary Bruce (released under the name Chase Webster) but best known in the early ’60s version by Pat Boone (!). And there’s a cool countrified take on Jumpin’ Gene Simmons’ R & B novelty song “Haunted House.” This is fun, though my favorite remains the one by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs.

For this album, Fogerty turned to several singer-songwriters of the ’70s. There’s a solid bluegrassy take on John Prine’s “Paradise,” and as far as “Back Home Again” goes, let’s just say this version is better than John Denver’s.

But the Denver song isn’t the worst of it. That would be Rick Nelson’s hit “Garden Party.” The song was a self-pitying account of Nelson getting booed at a 1971 rock ’n’ roll revival show at Madison Square Garden. It’s not a bad song, and I always love Tom Brumley’s steel guitar. But I’m not sure what drove me nuts more, the “oblique” but obvious lyrics (“Yoko brought her walrus” — was that secret code or something?) or the pop-psych Me Generation refrain, “You can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself.”

To add insult to injury, Fogerty brings in two members of the smarmiest band in the world, The Eagles — not only for background vocals but to sing lead on a couple of verses. I hope they’re all pleased with themselves.

But there’s another early-’70s countryish pop hit on which Fogerty shines. That’s Delaney & Bonnie’s “Never Ending Song of Love.” With Jodie Kennedy and Herb Pederson singing background, Greg Leisz on steel, and Jason Mowery on fiddle, it’s country music at its best.

As for the Helm album, when I first heard he was doing a record called Electric Dirt, I was afraid it might have versions of the songs from his previous record, Dirt Farmer, done with psychedelic wah-wah guitars and over-miked drums. Fortunately, my fear was for naught.

This album, like Fogerty’s, consists mostly of down-home cover tunes — in a sound remaining true to The Band.

There are fewer traditional folk numbers than there were on Dirt Farmer. Helm branches out with a couple of Muddy Waters songs (“Stuff You Gotta Watch” and “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had”); a cool, clunky Grateful Dead tune (“Tennessee Jed”); and a cover of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” a song best known in the Nina Simone version, here featuring some funky New Orleans horns arranged by Allen Toussaint, an old ally of The Band.

Helm does a tasty cover of Randy Newman’s “Kingfish,” again aided by Toussaint. But without the context found in Newman’s Good Old Boys album, in which the character of Louisiana Gov. Huey Long is a major theme, listeners unfamiliar with the song might wonder why Helm seems to hate the “Frenchmen” in New Orleans.

But my favorite on this album is the Pops Staples gospel song “Move Along Train.” Helms’ daughter Amy plays the role of Pops’ daughter Mavis.

American music doesn’t get much finer.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

  Sunday, March 24, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM  Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell E...