Thursday, May 31, 2012

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Joey is Back!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
June 1, 2012


Joey Ramone is back! There’s no stoppin’ this cretin from hoppin’! Ten years after his previous solo album, 11 years after his death, and 16 years after the breakup of the Ramones, Joey’s still beating on the brat with his new smash record, ... Ya Know?

OK, so much for my audition as a late-night TV record hawker. But this isn’t just a K-tel parody. There really is a new posthumous Joey Ramone record, a follow-up of sorts to 2001’s Don’t Worry About Me. 

Like that album, ... Ya Know? has high spots, several throwaways, some songs that’ll make you laugh, some that’ll make you sad — though nothing on the new album will strike your emotional chords nearly as hard as Joey’s goofy but sincere cover of “What a Wonderful World,” which appeared on the previous record.

And no, nothing here matches the power and the glory that was the Ramones, who weaved together sonic threads from sources like The Trashmen, The Ronnettes, and The New York Dolls, spinning a fast, furious, and funny sound that changed the face of rock ’n’ roll — even though they never came close to the commercial success they deserved and desired.

Ramones flashback: I only got to see them once.

It was at the 1996 Lollapalooza in Phoenix. The show was held at a dusty, sun-parched snake pit called Compton Terrace. The Ramones took the stage and played a few of their tunes (for some reason, the one I most remember was the “Spiderman” theme).

In introducing the song “Pet Sematary,” Joey joked that Compton Terrace was built on an ancient pet cemetery. Shortly thereafter, dark clouds gathered and brutal winds began to blow. Stage lights and speakers suspended above the stage began to sway violently. I had frightening visions of Joey, Johnny, and the rest being crushed by giant speakers. But the band left the stage before that could happen. And they never came back, and after the Lollapalooza tour, the Ramones broke up for good.)

Back to the present: The driving force behind ... Ya Know? was Joey’s brother Mickey Leigh. He assembled a bunch of Joey’s demos and home recordings — some going back decades — in various states of evolution — some reportedly consisting of only vocals and drums. Leigh took the tapes to several producers and twisted the arms of some of Joey’s musician friends to overdub.

Among the musical contributors on the album are Joan Jett, Handsome Dick Manitoba and Andy Shernoff of The Dictators, Lenny Kaye, Steve Van Zandt, Genya Ravan, Plasmatics guitarist Richie Stotts, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, and Holly Vincent of Holly and the Italians, who does a soulful duet with Joey on the Phil Spector-soaked “Party Line.”

Considering the patchwork of material here, the sound on ... Ya Know? is remarkably consistent.

There are a few songs that I have no trouble imagining the Ramones performing. “21st Century” is just a dumb rocker — the Ramones were masters of dumb rockers — in which Joey repeatedly sings about how much he wants some young woman. “I want you in the evening when the moon is full/ I want you in the morning, baby, when you’re off at school.” Similarly, “Eyes of Green” is a song of unrequited lust. The best lines are, “She’s dark and twisted like me/A creature of intrigue/She’s  something that you don’t forget/An ax murderess I bet/And I want her, I want her.”

Talk about dumb Ramones fun, “I Couldn’t Sleep” is irresistible. It owes obvious debts to early-rock classics like Bobby Lewis’ “Tossin’ and Turnin’” and Little Richard’s “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” but somehow Joey makes it all his own.

Then there’s “Seven Days of Gloom,” featuring a Stooge-like guitar riff and a chorus in which Joey repeats, “I’ll never be happy.” But, like so many blues songs, the melody and the energy of the tune belie the lyrics. Joey’s professional frustrations surface in “There’s Got to Be More to Life,” another crunching rocker, in which he sings, “There’s got to be more than MTV and fighting with the record company.”

Another song you can imagine the Ramones doing is “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight).” Come to think of it, the Ramones did do that song, on their Brain Drain album in 1989. This version is radically different, however. It’s slowed down and has a 1950s feel. You can almost envision Joey dueting with Johnny Ace at the annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven Christmas party, perhaps done as a medley with The Casinos’ “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye.”

As I said earlier, there are some duds on ... Ya Know?. “Rock ’n’ Roll Is the Answer,” which, unfortunately, opens the album, sounds like warmed-over Bachman-Turner Overdrive. “New York City” could easily be turned into a jingle for a tourism commercial. On “What Did I Do to Deserve You” Joey sounds like a Tom Petty impersonator.

“Make Me Tremble” makes me cringe. With its acoustic guitar and its opening lines, “Sitting on a mushroom out in the woods/I say now baby, baby, you make me feel good,” this could be Joey’s ode to the back-to-nature singer-songwriter movement of the early ’70s.

Another acoustic number here is the closing song, “Life’s a Gas.” This pales in comparison to “What a Wonderful World” as a Joey Ramone life affirmation. Still, I’m not so hard-hearted that I’m untouched by it.

Some critics have complained that ... Ya Know? is nothing but misplaced nostalgia and is an affront to the punk-rock spirit that Joey Ramone helped create.

I’ve got mixed feelings about that. (Don’t forget that punk rock itself had a nostalgic aspect — wanting to wrest control of rock ’n’ roll from the “art” rockers and singer-songwriters and aging ’60s rock royalty to return the music to its crazy dangerous spirit.) While some of these songs could have remained in the shoe box, there’s enough good material on the album to make me happy it was released.

Long live Joey Ramone.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

R.I.P. Doc Watson

We've lost another great one. Just a couple of months after the passing of Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson died on Tuesday at the age of 89. Here's an obituary by David Menconi in the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.

I was fortunate enough to see Doc play in person twice -- once in the early '70s at Popejoy Hall at the University of New Mexico, then again about 10 years later at the Line Camp in Pojoaque. I was freelancing for The Santa Fe Reporter and got to interview him that time.

The two main things I remember about that interview were:

 1) Doc was pissed off because his opening act was a country rock band. Playing just with hisi son Merle, Doc didn't like having to follow a dance band -- though nobody in the audience that night seemed to mind; and 2) He didn't want to do the interview in his dressing room, which was kind of noisy, so we went outside to his car. He gave me lots of time, telling his life story and his opinions on music and whatnot. Trouble is, it was completely dark out there -- Doc was blind, remember -- so my notes were worse gibberish than usual. I was lucky to salvage a few quotes.

I'll play a set of Doc songs on The Santa Fe Opry Friday night (10 p.m. to midnight Mountain Time) on KSFR. In the meantime here's some videos of the man doing what he did best.





Sunday, May 27, 2012

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST



Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, May 27, 2012 
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. 
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell guest co-host Scott Gullett
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

UPDATE: You can hear the first hour of this show HERE

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Hulkster in the House by Hulk Hogan
Time Has Come Today by The Angry Samoans
Apartment Wrestling Rock 'n' Roll Girl by Lightning Beat-Man
Untamed Love by Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers
Not a Crime by Gogol Bordello
Another Brick in the Wall by Richard Cheese
Sex Type Thing (Swing-type version) by Stone Temple Pilots
The Ugly Side of the Face by Hang on the Box
Jim's Robot by The Plain

Rocket by Pinata Protest
Small Against Giants by French Inhales
Naked Cousins by P.J. Harvey
Timothy by The Buoys
My Body is a Battlefield by Bonapart
PsychoRelic Rap by Timothy Leary & Simon Stokes
Candy Man Blues by The Copper Gamins
The First Cuss by fIREHOSE

A Really Long Wait by The Melvins
Crack in Your Eye by The Oh Sees
Sasquatch Love by Horror Deluxe
Greyhound by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Make Me Smile by The Red Dogs
Diet Pill by L7
Battlecry by Monkeyshines

Kurwy Wędrowniczki by Kult
Feelings by Die Zorros
Rock Minuet by Lou Reed
Wicked Messenger by Patti Smith
Kindness of Strangers by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

Friday, May 25, 2012

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, May 25, 2012 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Pappy by Ugly Valley Boys
Beans and Make Believe by Mose McCormack
Skunk Ape by The Misery Jackals
Wrong Side of Love by Paul Burch & The Waco Brothers
Tennessee Rooster Fight by The Howington Brothers
Please Don't Water it Down by The Two-Man Gentleman Band
Because of LSD by Bud Freeman
It's All Downhill From Here by The Imperial Rooster
Gravity by T. Tex Edwards

Thunder Road/Sugarfoot Rag by Doc Watson
More Pretty Girls Than One by Doc Watson, Mac Wiseman & Del McCroury
Walking After Midnight by Doc Watson
Beedle Um Bum by Jim Kweskin Jug Band
How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Tall Tall Trees by O'Brien Party of Seven
Jack's Red Cheetah by Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band
Law and Order on the Border by Gary Pinon (at least Erik Ness told me that was his name)
Bath House Blues by Ashley's Melody Men

The Stars/Sadie Green by Great Recession Orchestra
He Calls That Religion by Maria Muldaur
I've Got Blood in My Eyes For You by The Mississippi Sheiks
Oh You Pretty Woman by Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies
Sheik That Thing  by Great Recession Orchestra
I'm an Old Cowhand by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Cow Cow Boogie by The Great Recession Orchestra
Sitting on Top of the World by Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys
Bootleggers Blues by The South Memphis String Band

Fading Moon by Hank 3 with Tom Waits
Wings of a Dove by Dolly, Loretta & Tammy
Summer Ranges by Michael Martin Murphey
The Pilgrim by Steve Earle
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Something Good About the Recession

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
May 25, 2012



I first became aware of the Texas band called The Great Recession Orchestra about a year ago, when a CD called Have You Ever Even Heard of Milton Brown? arrived in my mailbox.

To answer the question, yes, I’ve heard of Milton Brown. He was a Texas bandleader in the 1930s who developed — first with W. Lee O’Daniel’s Light Crust Doughboys and then with his own Musical Brownies — a fusion of honky-tonk, pop, and jazz that would come to be known as Western swing.

Brown never achieved the acclaim that one of his former bandmates — a fiddler named Bob Wills — did. That might be because Brown died in 1936 from pneumonia after a being injured in a car wreck. But Brown created a sound that is immortal. In fact, The Great Recession Orchestra’s excellent album made me want to say, “Heck of a job, Brownie.”

Now, on its sophomore effort, Double Shot, the GRO is back with another impressive neo-Western swing album.

The group has members scattered all over the county, so, unfortunately, they don’t tour. But there are some fine musicians among them — a couple you should have heard of. Floyd Domino is a great Texas piano plinker and an original member of Asleep at the Wheel. Singer Maryann Price, who sings lead on four songs here, also was in the Wheel for a while, though she’s most famous for being a Lickette for Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks on Hicks’ greatest albums in the early 1970s. (She also sang with The Kinks on Preservation Act II.)

There’s a strong New Mexico connection in the GRO. It’s fronted by a singer named Damon Gray, who’s from Socorro, while the fiddler is Jimmy “J.D.” Smith, who grew up in Alamogordo. And producer Steve Satterwhite told me in an email earlier this year, “I spent many years in Farmington when I was a kid. I ate several bags of pinion nuts.”

Actually, Double Shot is two mini-albums on one disc. The first  is known collectively as "The Forties in Fort Worth" — a bunch of standards you would have heard on Texas radio back in that era. And this is mixed in with "Shaking the Sheiks," a road trip out of Texas honoring an influential Southern string band, The Mississippi Sheiks. I was serious when I said “mixed in.” Sheiks tunes are found between Forties in Fort Worth songs and vice versa.

:The Forties in Fort Worth" features some classics. There are at least a couple of Floyd Tillman songs — “They Took the Stars out of Heaven” and “Divorce Me C.O.D.” There’s “Cow Cow Boogie,” a Western pop tune originally sung by Ella Mae Morse and later by Ella Fitzgerald. The GRO version, sung by Price, sounds like it could be an outtake from one of those classic Hicks albums. Price also does a sultry take on “(I’d Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China,” a 1948 Kay Kaiser hit.

But my favorite songs on this album tend to be the Mississippi Sheiks songs. The Sheiks, who were popular in the late 1920s and much of the ’30s, included guitarist Walter Vinson, fiddler Lonnie Chatmon, and sometimes singers Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon. Their most famous song was “Sitting on Top of the World,” which has been covered by a zillion people — one of whom was Milton Brown. The GRO included its own version on its tribute album.

The Sheiks songs are bluesier and earthier than the other songs here. But the GRO transports them from the metaphorical Mississippi juke joint to the archetypal Texas honky-tonk by giving them the Western swing treatment. And it works. The material lends itself nicely to that. In fact, “Sweet Maggie” sounds like an earlier version of the blues song “Corrine Corinna,” which Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys made into a hit.

“Cat Fight” and “She Ain’t No Good” are among the highlights of the Shaking the Sheiks songs. And one surprise — I never realized before that the Sheiks were tax protesters, but they are just that in their song “Sales Tax,” which the GRO performs here.

Once again, Price provides one of the most satisfying songs on this record. “Sheik That Thing” (no, the Mississippi Sheiks didn’t spell it that way on the original song) is good, suggestive fun. I think my favorite is “Bootlegger Blues,” sung by Gray, though I prefer the version by Alvin Youngblood Hart with The South Memphis String Band from a few years ago.

Let’s hope the GRO continues its musical explorations into the roots of Western swing even after this recession is over.

Also recommended:


*  Lights of Santa Fe by Cathy Faber’s Swingin’ Country Band. Faber, a singer and upright bass player, is a veteran of Santa Fe music, having served time in Bill Hearne’s band and more recently with her own group, which includes some of New Mexico’s finest — steel guitarist Augé Hayes, guitarist George Langston, and drummer Britt Alexander. Jono Manson adds some harmony vocals, and he co-produced it with Faber.

Some of the finest cuts here, like “San Antonio Romeo” (written by former Taos resident Tish Hinojosa) and “Blues Keep Callin’ ” (composed by rockabilly goddess Janis Martin), are in the Western swing mode, while “Jack’s Red Cheetah,” my personal favorite, sounds like a close cousin.

But despite that and the band’s swingin’ name, most of the songs here aren’t swing. They’re just good country tunes — like Tammy Wynette’s “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad” and Jim Reeves’ “He’ll Have to Go” (with Hayes on lead vocals) — from the day when country sounded country.

Faber also dips into singer-songwriter territory with songs by Eliza Gilkyson (the title song), Lucinda Williams (“Big Red Sun Blues”), and Karla Bonoff’s “Home,” which I remember from some old Linda Ronstadt record.

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...