Saturday, June 30, 2012

Purple Stickpin Gets (Un)Lucky on Friday the 13th

UPDATE 7-5-12: I just learned that this show has been cancelled. Tex says he's hoping to bring Purple Stickpin to Santa Fe sometime later this year.


A pretty nice consolation prize though: Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys are scheduled that night at Santa Fe Sol.

(Original post below)
This should be an amazing show:

Purple Stickpin, featuring T. Tex Edwards (The Nervebreakbreakers, Out on Parole, The Swingin' Cornflake Killers, etc.) and Santa Fe's own Tommy Trusnovic (Monkeyshines, The Hickoids, Blood Drained Cows, The Floors, 27 Devils Joking), will play The Underground, or as oldtimers call it "Evangelos' Basement.) on Friday the 13th.

Opening are Chango and Monkeyshines.

I don't know what the cover is, but The Underground usually is pretty reasonable.

My review of the recent T. Tex compilation, Intexicated is HERE.

And here's a couple of videos:




Friday, June 29, 2012

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, June 29, 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
American Music by The Blasters
Crazy Ex Boyfriend by The Rev. Horton Heat (Coming to Santa Fe July3!)
Manana by Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns (Coming to Santa Fe July 5)
Lotta Lotta Women by Robbie Fulks
Tall Dark Stranger by Buck Owens
Rank Strangers by The Stanley Brothers
Tallacatcha by Alvin Youngblood Hart
My Money Never Runs Out by Banjo Joe (Gus Cannon)
Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man? by Carolina Chocolate Drops

The Outcast by Dave Van Ronk with Tom Russell
Red Neck, Blue Collar by James Luther Dickinson
Euphoria by Dr. West's Medicine Show & Junk Band
Monkey Rag by Asylum Street Spankers
Hogs on the Highway by Bad Livers
Get Outta My Way by The Dirt Daubers
200 Years by David Gowans
I'm a Gonna Kill You by T. Tex Edwards (Coming to Santa Fe Friday, July 13)
The Country is Young by Jon Langford

Ball and Chain by The World Famous Headliners
Streak of Madness by Bob Helgerson
Rub a Dub Dub by Hank Thompson
If You Ain't Gonna Take It Off by Bobby Jenkins
Jack's Red Cheetah by Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band
Gone But Not Forgotten by Joey Allcorn
I Ain't Got Nobody by Merle Haggard
American History by Cary Swinney
If You Want to Be a Bird/Wild Blue Yonder by The Holy Modal Rounders

Dublin Blues by Guy Clark
Fourth of July by Dave Alvin
See the Uncle Sam by South Memphis String Band
Take Me by George Jones
Roswell Town by Jack Clift & The Illuminati Assassination Orchestra
We Live in Two Different Worlds by Hank Williams
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Hives Still Alive

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
June 29, 2012


As it turns out, despite their wacky turn-of-the-century catchphrase, The Hives weren’t your favorite band.

It seems like only yesterday that this Swedish group was the Next Big Thing. Singer “Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist” and the boys were viewed as rock ’n’ roll saviors who would wrest music from the corporate Huns. Or whatever. I don’t remember exactly how long Hivesmania lasted, but it wasn’t long. And I’ve completely forgotten what the next Next Big Thing was. There have been a few since then.

But even though the hype quickly withered, The Hives have consistently, if not prolifically, made good, fun rock ’n’ roll. The recently released Lex Hives is the band’s fifth full-length album, its first since 2007’s The Black and White album.

Before writing this I looked back at my review of The Hives’ breakthrough album, Veni Vidi Vicious (from 10 years ago). “These five nonblondes rock with unabashed intensity and a healthy humor,” I wrote. “The relentless guitar attack and back-to-Stooge-basics approach indeed sounds fresh, if not terribly original.”

I could say the same about the new album, though I probably wouldn’t include a cryptic reference to that ’90s one-hit-wonder, 4 Non Blondes.

But many critics have been less than kind about Lex Hives. One British writer sniffed, “You’ll only get a kick out of this record if you think all music made since 1976 is terrible and have absolutely no desire to hear anything new whatsoever.”

Oh good grief!

Granted, a lot of the tunes here have a certain classic-rock sheen. “Go Right Ahead” sounds like Electric Light Orchestra filtered through T Rex. “I Want More” might be an AC/DC sendup. (Or is that recurring muted familiar guitar riff a sample from Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll”?) And on the very first track, The Hives seem to put the whole album in the context of arena-rock knuckleheadedness with their minute-long tongue-in-cheek invocation “Come On!” Here, with overdubbed crowd cheers in the background, Almqvist chants, “Come on! Come on! Come on! ... Everybody, come on!”

If you like it fast and furious — and I sure do — it doesn’t get much better than “These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgics.” The melody is reminiscent of the Ramones. “Take Back the Toys” is raw anger. “Take back the toys you gave to me/I never knew what to do with them anyway,” Almqvist seethes in the chorus. The final song, “Midnight Shifter,” is aided by a horn section.

But my favorite on Lex Hives is “Patrolling Days.” The chorus goes, “My patrolling days are over/And I ain’t shot nobody since/I fought the big cheese out of office/And taught the hep kids how to dance.” It’s not exactly clear what the heck Almqvist is singing about, but maybe he’s identifying with an old gunslinger who wants to let the world know he’s still a dangerous dude. “I’m still standing in the hurricane’s eye and it’s dancing to my song,” he sings.

The Hives never were my favorite band. But they always sound mighty powerful.

Also recommended: 


Here are a couple of bands whose music I’ve come to know through the GaragePunk Hideout :

* Get on Board by The Molting Vultures. They come from a land Down Under — Adelaide, Australia to be exact. This rowdy bunch started out as a trio in 2004 playing surf, punk, and garage sounds, but their ever-evolving membership has grown (it’s “an evolving collective,” their Facebook page says) into a quintet. The guitars are fuzzy, the electric organ is prominent, and the beat is maniacal.

Though nearly all the songs on this album are in the two- to three-minute range, my favorite is a long one, the five-and-a-half-minute minor-key odyssey called “Rock ’n’ Roll Emergency.” Organist Jamie Vulture shines here with snaky, Doors-like riffs.

Also worthwhile is the song “Drop in & Go” (which also was the title of the group’s previous album, though the song didn’t appear there). Fans of classic-era garage music will recognize the lyrics of “The Crusher” by The Novas (“Do the hammerlock you turkey necks! Do the eye gouge!”), which the Vultures borrow here.

All the songs are original, except for an excellent cover of Roky Erickson’s “Fire Engine” (originally recorded by the 13th Floor Elevators).

*  Falling off the Face of the Earth by The Electric Mess. These guys are not really off the face of the Earth. They’re in Brooklyn.

Led by singer Esther Crow (real name Chip Fontaine), The Mess’ basic sound is based on the mid-’60s Nuggets-era sound of fuzz and Farfisa put through the punk-rock grinder. This album rocks even harder than the group’s self-titled 2010 debut.

Highlights here include the infectious opening track, “He Looks Like a Psycho” (“You say you’re choosing right, but he looks like a psycho/You’d better stay in the light because he looks like a psycho”), “Don’t Take Your Bad Trip Out on Me,” which sounds like The Count Five after drinking a case of Red Bull, and the low and slow “You’re Fired,” which may or may not be an ode to Donald Trump.


Blog Bonus: Some videos for your entertainment








Do the eye gouge, you turkeynecks!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST



Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, June 24, 2012 
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(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
World of Pain by Figures of Light
Dixon and Downey


Live Interview with Wheeler Winston Dixon and Michael Downey of  Figures of Light

It's Lame/ 15 Minutes of Fame by Figures of Light

Ghost Rider by The Gories
Lonesome Cowboy Bill by The Velvet Underground
It's a Hard Life by The A-Bones
Who Do You Love/Spoonful by Johnny Thunders
He Looks Like a Psycho by The Electric Mess
Blood From a Stone by The Stillettos
Human Bodies by Love Collector

I Lust U Always by Prince
Livin' In a World Gone Mad by Dumpstaphunk
Whiskey Wagon by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Ice Age by Dr. John
Everything Will Be Fine by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
No No No by Die Zorros
Treat Her Right by George Thorogood & The Destroyers

Put Me in Jail by Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns
Let Him Try by April March
I Got Love by The King Khan Experience
Witness by fIREHOSE
California Swamp Dance by Kim Fowley
Summer Breeze by Petty Booka
What Kind of Fool Am I by Grandpaboy
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Psssst .... Here's a Leaked Prince Song from 1982

Here's a recently leaked Prince song, "Lust U Always," reportedly recorded around the same time as the 1999 album.

The music site Antiquiet says, "While the track was never used for any Prince record, His Royal Badness did end up offering it to Mr. Robert Palmer in the late 80s but the singer turned it down."

Princevault notes, "The song paraphrases some lyrics from Annie Ross's song `Twisted' (notably covered by Joni Mitchell, and later played a few times on the One Nite Alone... Tour), but thematically fits in well with much of his 1981-2 material, concerning the narrator's uncontrollable lust for a woman."

There's also a Soundcloud version that has a download link.

But as WFMU warned in a tweet today, listen quick. Prince's lawyers are likely to get this removed from Youtube pretty fast.



Saturday, June 23, 2012

eMusic June

* Last Round by Holy Modal Rounders. If your image of American folk music is some wimpy, self-righteous dude with a guitar spouting tired political platitudes then you need a little Holy Modality in your life. Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber and all their friends and loved ones who drifted in and out of the Rounders, showed how truly subversive folk music can be.

 Like the title implies, this 1978 work was supposed to be the swan song for the Rounders. And in reality, it was their last album until a Stampfel/Weber reunion in 1999. (My theory on the real reason they got back together for the album Too Much Fun was to show the "alternative country" fans of that time how alternative country should really sound like.)

 Last Round includes some remakes of early Rounder "hits" like "If You Want to Be a Bird" (the original got almost famous for being on the soundtrack of Easy Rider. Here it's coupled with "Wild Blue Yonder."); "August 1967 (Hippies Call it STP)" (an ode to a motor oil treatment, I suppose); and "Euphoria," one of the Rounders' earliest songs. This tune was covered by just about every jugband revival groups of the '60s.

There's also some fresh madness, such as Stampfel's bluegrass/klezmer romp "Poison Sugar," the luaty faux Dixieland "Pink Underwear," an earnest Civil War-era "Year of Jubilo" (you should recognize the melody even if you don't recognize the title) and the fine sleaze rock of "Snappin' Pussy."

* The Capitol Years by Johnny Otis. L.A.-based Otis mostly is remembered for two things: 1) "Willie and the Hand Jive" and  2) his role as R&B bandleader, producer and talent scout who is responsible for discovering singers like "Little" Esther Phillips, Big Mama Thornton, Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard, and Etta James -- who died only days after Otis last January.

That history itself justifies Otis' place in the rock 'n' roll pantheon. But many seem to forget that at one point Otis himself was being groomed as a star. He recorded for Capitol Records in the late '50s. Even though his only major hit from this period was the Bo Diddley influenced "Willie and the Hand Jive," this collection shows that he recorded several tunes that probably should have been much bigger than they were.

"Good Golly" (with its not so subtle allusion to Little Richard) is a fine mindless R&B workout, as is the case with "Hum Ding a Ling" and "Ring-a Ling." Another favorite is "Telephone Baby." (I'm not sure of the identity of the woman singing harmonies  and making sexy noises in the background. Perhaps Marci Lee?) But the craziest is "Three Girls Named Molly Doin' the Hully Gully."

Johnny works Screamin' Jay Hawkins' side of the street with "Castin' my Spell" (helped by singer  Marci Lee) and "Voodoo Woman," a slow blues. And there's a couple of "Hand Jive" sequels. "Willie Did the Cha Cha" puts a pseudo Latin beat on Otis' big hit. Meanwhile, "Crazy Country Hop" is an irresistible swampy "Willie" clone.

Some of these songs feature other vocalists. There's Mel Williams, who takes the lead on "Well, Well, Well," (with a beat that sounds like it's got some New Orleans in it) and a slow, greasy ballad "Little Angel." And then there's  Marie Adams & Three Tons of Joy doing a live R&B take of the old Tin Pan Alley chestnut "Ma He's Making Eyes at Me." I'm not sure if it's live or "fake live" but the screaming teenagers are an essential part of this recording.

*Maverick by George Thorogood & The Destroyers. I believe that Thorogood is one of the most underrated rockers of the '70s and '80s.

This album, which I used to have on cassette tape, is one of his best. Maybe his very best, since, after all, this is where his classic "I Drink Alone" came from. (True confession, I can't hear this song without my mind drifting back to this San Diego strip joint my cousin took me to and to the blonde miracle-in-silicone who danced to it. She truly made the song her very own.)

Thorogood always was a good John Lee Hooker interpreter. Earlier in his career he did a fine "Boogie Chillun" and a respectable "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer." Here he tackles "Crawlin' King Snake." While it's nowhere near Hooker's original, Thorogood does a snarling, stripped down take on it.

And Thorogood is responsible for the second "Willie and the Hand Jive" I downloaded this month.

Other Thorogood  diamonds on this include "Gear Jammer" with its crazed slide guitar lead that now seems like a precursor to a thousand blues-band bashers; "Go Go Go," a lesser-known Chuck Berry song; and the title song, which yes, is the theme song for the old t.v.western starring James Gardner. Hank  Carter's rooty-toot sax makes this song.

* Cockadoodledon't by Legendary Shack Shakers. I downloaded this one not long before I saw the Shakers with their auxiliary group, the Dirt Daubers at Santa Fe Sol earlier this month.

This is one of their earliest albums, released back in 2002 when Joe Buck was still with them (before he devolved into Joe Buck Yourself)

Besides some crazed, hopped up J.D. Wilkes originals like "Pinetree Boogie," "Blood on the Bluegrass," "Help Me From My Brain" and "Shakerag Holler," there's some crazed, hopped-up covers like Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips," the classic "Bullfrog Blues" (the best version of this I've heard since Canned Heat's first album) and Benny Joy's "Wild Wild Lover."

This one's almost as fun as one of their concerts. But not quite.

Enjoy this video I shot at their Santa Fe show:


Friday, June 22, 2012

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, June 22, 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
Bad News by Johnny Cash
Rosa del Rio by Erik Ness
Pink Elephants by Wally Willette
The King of Fools by Bill & Bonnie Hearne with Buck Owens
Ubangi Stomp by Carl Mann
I've Got a Lot of Hiding Left to Do by James Hand
Stealin' Sugar by Ray Batts
That There Boogie by Karen Collins & The Backroads Band
Jug Town by Neil Hamburger
Little Floater by Elizabeth McQueen

Chug a Lug by Mojo Nixon & The World Famous Blue Jays
San Antonio Romero by Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band
Yearnin' Burnin' Heart by D.M. Bob & The Deficits
Alligators by Salty Pajamas
Swingin' from Your Crystal Chandeliers by The Austin Lounge Lizards
Tractors, Trucks and Trains by The Dirt Daubers
Burn Your Bra, Baby by Benny Johnson
Gee Baby by Great Recession Orchestra with Maryann Price
Ice Water by Glenn Barber

Turnip Greens by South Memphis String Band
Can You Blame the Colored Man by Banjo Joe (Gus Cannon)
Po' Black Sheep by Carolina Chocolate Drops
Year of Jubilo by Holy Modal Rounders
John Law Burned Downed the Liquor Store by Chris Thomas King & Colin Linden
She's In The Graveyard Now by Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band
You're Bound to Look Like a Monkey by Hank Penny
B.L.A.C.K. by South Memphis String Band

Follow the Drinking Gourd by Taj Mahal
Never Make Your Move Too Soon by James Luther Dickinson
Same God by The Calamity Cubes
Thy Burdens are Greater Than Mine by Hank Williams
Blue Ridge Mountain Blues by Martin, Bogan & Armstrong
Burnin' Flame by Stevie Tombstone
White Line Fever by Dale Watson
Some Girls by Martin Zellar  & The Hardways
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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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 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...