Friday, December 06, 2013

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST


Santa Fe Opry Facebook BannerFriday, Dec. 6, 2013 
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
Long White Cadillac by Janis Martin
Fruit of the Vine by Nancy Apple
Wild Man Boogie by Ray Batts
TJ by The Hickoids
Wave That Flag by The Bottle Rockets
Lookout Mountain by Drive-by Truckers
Yankee Taste by Jayke Orvis
Dig Them Squeaky Shoes by Andy Starr
Whiskey and Women and Money to Burn by Joe Ely 

The Buzzard Was Their Friend by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Everyone in Town Wants You Dead by Singing Sadie
If It Ain't Love by The Delta Sisters
Dark Inside by Al Duval 
Trouble in Mind by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Pearly Lee by Billy Lee Riley
Harder Than Your Husband by Frank Zappa with Jimmy Carl Black

Please Me When You Can by James Hand
Getting By by The Riptones
Bluest Boy in Town by Yuichi & The Hilltones
Too Sweet to Die by The Waco Brothers
Pepper Hot Baby by Bloodshot Bill
Rich Man's Town by Country Dick Montana
She's a Hum Dum Dinger by Gov. Jimmie Davis
Love is Blind by Country Blues Revue
Tenting on the Old Camp Ground by John Doe
Bed Bug Blues by Dave Van Ronk

The Low Lights of Town by Butch Hancock
One Click Away from Judgement Day by The Imperial Rooster
Beauty Meets Beast by Angry Johnny
You've Never Been This Far Before by Freakwater
Lead Me On by Conway Twitter & Loretta Lynn
After the Ball by Dave Davies
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Dot Wiggin is Shaggsadelic!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Dec. 6, 2013

When listening to Ready! Get! Go! by The Dot Wiggin Band, it might be helpful to realize that it all started with a palm reading.

The Gypsy woman — actually, it was his mom — told Austin Wiggin of Fremont, New Hampshire, that one day he would have daughters who would be in a famous band. And verily, he had daughters, four of them.

In the mid-1960s, when the girls hit their teens, Austin bought them guitars and drums, told them they were going to be a band, ordered them to rehearse hours and hours in the basement, named them The Shaggs, and, in 1968, way before the girls actually thought they were ready, took them to a Massachusetts recording studio. What came out was an album called Philosophy of the World. It wasn’t a monster hit. In fact, it never had a chance.

According to Shaggslore, the president of their “record company” made off with 900 of the thousand copies they had pressed. The Wiggin family just assumed the whole endeavor was a flop. When Austin Wiggin died in the mid-’70s, The Shaggs broke up.

But somehow Philosophy of the World lived on, its strange charm spreading like a secret. Frank Zappa allegedly said Philosophy was his favorite album and, though I’ve never been able to find the original source of this assertion, claimed The Shaggs were “better than The Beatles.”

Terry Adams of NRBQ was so blown away when he heard them that in 1980 he persuaded Rounder Records to give Philosophy a proper rerelease.

Basically, the music was too crazy to die.

It was like a strange language spoken only by the Wiggin girls. Dot and Betty Wiggin sang all the songs in unison and not always on key, assuming they were using traditional Western scales. Dot’s lead guitar basically followed the melody of the song, while Helen Wiggin’s drums sounded like urgent tribal messages from a different universe. Their vocal phrasing was “unique.” And the lyrics were sweet and guileless — earnest songs about their parents, boys they were crushing on, Halloween and their cat Foot Foot.

The Shaggs’ philosophy? “Well the poor people want what the rich people’s got/And the rich people want what the poor people’s got/And the skinny people want what the fat people’s got/And the fat people want what the skinny people’s got.”

At the urging of NRBQ, The Shaggs had one brief reunion around the turn of the century. The Wiggin sisters were less than enthusiastic about trying to make music for a living, but somehow, Dot Wiggin, known in her private life by her married name, Semprini, let New York musician Jesse Krakow talk her into fronting a new band and recording a new album — her first time in the studio in decades.

And it’s a delight. A strange delight to be sure, and definitely an acquired taste. But it’s a delight nonetheless.


True, Ready! Get! Go! is far more self-aware than The Shaggs’ original recordings. And Krakow assembled a bunch of actual musicians for the group. So even though you can’t say the record is overproduced, some of the primitivism of Philosophy of The World is missing (though drummer Laura Cromwell of The Vivian Sisters often seems to be channeling the insane rhythms of Helen Wiggin, who died in 2006).

The music might remind you of late-’80s/early-’90s bands like Half Japanese or Beat Happening. But the songwriting on the new album is pure Shaggs. Some of the songs were written back in the day. One of them, “My Cutie,” appears on the 1980s compilation Shaggs’ Own Thing. The melodies meander down unexpected corridors. Dot is now in her 60s, but that doesn’t distract from the clumsy grace of her childlike lyrics.

Some of the best songs on the album deal with transportation. The first song, “Banana Bike,” concerns a girl who zips around on such a vehicle. Later, Wiggin sings about her secret outlaw life as a speed demon behind the wheel of a motor vehicle on two songs — “Speed Limit” and “Speed Limit 2.” The first is crazed, hopped-up garage rock; the second starts with sonic weirdness before slowing down into a sludge/grunge tempo. Someone hearing only the instrumental break in this song might think the Butthole Surfers are back.

The album has several splendid Shaggsy love songs. “The Fella With a Happy Heart” is equal parts heartfelt and kooky with a bouncy melody that will stick to your brain. “The fella with a happy heart is my kind of man,” Wiggin sings with longing. “Boo Hoo” features a twangy country guitar.

My favorite love song here is “Love at First Sight”: Wiggin duets with Krakow. It starts off with a greasy sax solo and is driven by a one-finger piano. The melody is similar to that of the song “Philosophy of the World.” And though the pace is somewhat plodding, the deeper you sink into it, the more addictive it becomes.

The album ends with a cover song, the late Skeeter Davis’ “The End of the World.” The selection isn’t surprising considering that The Shaggs had a fondness for pop country. (Shaggs’ Own Thing includes the Wiggin sisters’ versions of songs like “Paper Roses” and Tom T. Hall’s “I Love.”) Davis sang “End of the World” as if losing a lover left her nothing to live for; Wiggin, as a mature woman, sings it with world-weary resignation, as if this is just her latest “end of the world.”

This track is one of the only places on the album where Krakow adds a truly un-Shaggs-like touch, a brief angelic Brian Wilson-esque vocal harmony flourish behind Wiggin in the final verse. Behind Wiggin and her limited vocal range, it sounds strange. But nobody involved with this album — including the listener — is averse to strange.

Something tells me this is a one-shot deal. In recent interviews, Wiggin hasn’t seemed like she’s overwhelmed by a thirst for fame. She’s still kind of amazed that people still remember The Shaggs and that so many strangers like her old music.

“I’m not making a whole lot of money, but basically I’m doing it for the fans that have stuck with us all these years, that we didn’t even realize that we had all these fans,” she recently told the Associated Press. “So, I figure if the fans have been there all these years for us, then I’ll do as much as I can, as long as I can.”

As a fan, I just want to say thanks, Dot.

Here's some videos. And be sure to watch all the videos in the “Dot Speaks” section of Dot's website.




Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Busy Musical Sunday

UPDATE Dec. 8, 1:05 pm Gregg just told met that the venue had to cancel the gig today because of electrical issues. We may reschedule for NEXT Sunday.Watch this blog!






I'm going to be busy this Sunday, with two radio shows and a performance with my Angry Samoan pal Gregg Turner.

Once again I'll be subbing for Tom Adler on Folk Remedy on KSFR. I'll be playing the strange and wonderful sounds that made America great (mostly old hillbilly, blues and gospel sounds of the 1920s and '30s. That's from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Then I'm heading out to Eldorado where I'll be doing a short set with Turner -- the first time we've played together since our Jean Cocteau gig in September. This will be at the Cafe Dre in the Agora shopping center.

Gregg's wife Mindy will be there to autograph copies of her new children's book The Punkydoodle. Tom Sibley will do some spoken word.

Then I'll end my day back at KSFR, where I'll do my regular Terrell's Sound World. That starts at 10 p.m.

That's a long day of musical entertainment. Hope to see you at Cafe Dre.



Sunday, December 01, 2013

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST


Terrell's Sound World Facebook BannerSunday, Dec. 1, 2013 
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

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
The New World by The Night Beats
In This Rubber Tomb by Mudhoney 
Speed Limit 2 by The Dot Wiggin Band
Chicken Flow by O Lenario Chucrobillyman
The Beat by Elvis Costello
Rescate Griego by Wau y Los Arrrghs!!!
Jack Ruby by Camper Van Beethoven 

Nov. 22, 1963 by Destroy All Monsters
Greasy Meal by Lawn Chair Kings
Leave Her Alone by Figures of Light
Jukebox by Left Lane Cruiser
Up in the Treehouse by Pocket FishRmen
You Are Not Your Job by  Gas Huffer
Prissy Missy by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
My Baby Loves the Secret Agent by Detroit Cobras
Mark My Words by Black Rabbit

Tango til They're Sore by Aya Korem
Big Black Mariah by John Hammond
Invitation to the Blues by Giant Sand
Heart of Saturday Night by Jonathan Richman
Telephone Call from Istanbul by Kazik Staszewski
The House Where Nobody Lives by King Ernest
Heart Attack and Vine by Lydia Lunch
Dirt in the Ground by Yehu Yaron

Strawberries 1and 2 by Thee Oh Sees
Justine Alright by Heavy Trash
The Headless Flowerpot Girl by Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF
I Don't Care Anymore by Doris Duke
A Psychopath by Lisa Germano
Poor Kennedy by Avery Brady
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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FOLK REMEDY PLAYLIST


Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
8 a.m. to 10 a.m Sundays Mountain Time 
Substitute Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Jesus' Blood by Golden Stars of Greenwood, S.C.
He Will Welcome Me There by The Sensational Nightingales
Jericho by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
I Cried Holy by Swan Silvertines
Wonder Where Is the Gambling Man by Norfolk Jubilee Quartet
I'm Working on a Building by Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys
Pray On by The Staples Singers
I'll Lead a Christian Life by Elder Golden Harris
Two Wings by Rev. Utah Smith
Be With Me Jesus by The Soul Stirrers

Didn't it Rain by Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet
I Know I Got Religion by Andy Mosely & Hogman Maxey
Angels by Professor Johnson & His Gospel Singers 
I Know I've Been Changed by Rev. Johnny L. Jones
He's Got His Eyes On You by Rev. James Cleveland
The Old Gospel Ship by Ruby Vass
Life is a Mountain Railroad by Dorothy Norwood
Run Children, Run by Rev. A. Johnson
Gideon and the Sword by The Trumpeteers

Beautiful Blue Eyes by Red Allen & The Kentuckians
Take Your Foot Out of the Mud and Put It In the Sand by Dr. Humphrey Bates' Possum Hunters
Did Die Wah Diddie by Blind Blake
Bath House Blues by Ashley's Melody Men
The Coo Coo Bird by Clarence "Tom" Ashley
When My Man Shimmies by Butterbeans & Susie
Jelly Roll Blues by Gov. Jimmie Davis
Selling the Jelly by Noah Lewis' Jug Band
Yes, Pappy, Yes by Martin, Bogan & The Armstrongs
That Yodelin' Gal Miss Julie by The Delmore Brothers

Jimbo Jambo Land by Shorty Godwin 
Sail Away Ladies by Uncle Dave Macon
It's Movin' Day by Charlie Poole
The Last Shot Him by The Mississippi Possum Hunters
Onion Eatin' Mama by Cliff Carlisle 
Frankie by Dykes Magic City Trio
Last Kind Word Blues by Geeshie Wylie
Lindberg Hop by Memphis Jug Band

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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...