Thursday, September 24, 2015

THROWBACK THURSDAY: A House in New Orleans

The House of the Rising Sun
There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun.

And it's a bed and breakfast in Algiers Point.

No kidding. And according to the website of The Rising Sun, owners Kevin Herridge and Wendy Portier, who have operated the business since 1999, aren't shy about promoting their B&B with the famous song that started out as a lament about a whore house ... unless it was a lament about some correctional facility.

Herridge and Portier acknowledge that their business is not the original House of the Rising Sun. And it probably hasn't been the ruin of many a poor girl. (Or boy.)

"There is a house on St. Louis Street ... in the French Quarter, whose owners claim to be the original House of the Rising Sun brothel, purportedly ran by a Madam named Marianne LeSoleil LEVANT (French for Rising Sun) between 1862 and 1874." the site says.

Also there was a Rising Sun Hotel on Conti Street, but it burned down in 1822. But various other businesses called "Rising Sun" in the French Quarter subsequently rose and fell in the 1800s. There's a good chance that none of these were the "real" House of the Rising Sun. It easily could be a fictitious place.

"Rising Sun has been performed by a huge variety of folk, blues, hillbilly, rock 'n' roll and who knows-what-else artists for more than 80 years, and undoubtedly longer. Here are a few:

Like most people my age, I came to the song via the huge hit by The Animals in 1964. Just a couple of years before, Bob Dylan sang an acoustic version on his first album. He'd learned it from Dave Van Ronk.

Alan Lomax recorded a young girl named Georgia Turner in eastern Kentucky singing it in 1937.



Only problem is, Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster recorded a commercial version three years before.



Nina Simone did an wild gospel-fired version. (An earlier version of this post mistakenly said this version is on her 1962 Nina at the Village Gate album. It's not.)



In 1970 a Detroit band had a hit with a psychedelic version.



The most recent version to grab my attention is a jaunty little number called "In New Orleans (Rising Sun Blues)" on Dave & Phil Alvin's new album Lost Time.



So if you want to spend some time in sin and misery, check out my Spotify playlist below. It includes versions from Joan Baez to Jello Biafra, not to mention covers by Billy Lee Riley, Lead Belly, Roy Acuff, a garage-rock version by The Barbarians, a doo-wop take by Jerry Lawson, some funky Chambers Brothers, and more Enjoy.





For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Musical Chimps

Ain't got that much for you this Wacky Wednesday.

Except a bunch of musical chimps.

Let's start with a classic early TV ad for Red Rose Tea starring The Marquis Chimps

 

This Post cereal commercial isn't nearly as cool as "Red Rose Tea." But it's still chimps.



In the '70s, Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution was the hippest chimp band going.



But let's go back to an earlier era of tlevision when the Nairobi Trio played The Ernie Kovacs Show. Technically, they were gorillas, but I think they fit in here.






Sunday, September 20, 2015

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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Sunday, September 20, 2015
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

Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Little War Child by the Oblivions

Testify by The BellRays

Turned Out Light by Thee Oh Sees

The Sky is a Poisonous Garden by Concrete Blonde

Brightness by The Malarians

Sookie Sookie by Steppenwolf

Devil Dance by The A-Bones

Cool Arrow (EP version) by The Hickoids

Hell Hound on My Trail by The Slow Poisoner

 

Mr. Kicks by Oscar Brown, Jr.

Please Please Please by David & Phil Alvin

Empty Space by Holly Golightly

I Wonder Why People Don't Like Me by Thee Headcoats

Lost Avenue by Johnny Dowd

Crackpot Baby by L7

Betty vs The NYPD by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Funplex by The B-52s

Down on Me by Big Brother & The Holding Company

 

They Lie by Mind Spiders

Psycho Train by Sinister Six

15 Degrees Capricorn Asc. by Sam Samudio

Full Moon in the Daylight Sky by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages

Before the Next Teardrop Falls by Big John Hamilton

Bob George by Prince

I Got Your Number by The Sonics

Shout by Question Mark & The Mysterians


Speedway by Alan Vega

So Glad You're Mine by Junior Wells

Since I Met YouBaby by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

I Don't Think So by Dinosaur Jr

What You Gonna Do 'Bout Me by Proffessor Charles Taylor & The Taylor Singers

Love is All Around by The Troggs

What Kind of Fool Am I by Sammy Davis, Jr

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

 

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Friday, September 18, 2015

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

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Friday, September 18, 2015
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
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Crazy Arms by Van Morrison & Linda Gail Lewis
Honky Tonk Merry Go Round by The Stumbleweeds
A-Town Blues by Wayne Hancock
Henry by New Riders of the Purple Sage
Mean Mean Man by Wanda Jackson
Feudin' and Fightin' by Marti Brom with the Cornell Hurd Band
Dirty Mouth Flo by Robbie Fulks
Hello Walls by The Malpass Brothers
Whose Gonna Take Your Garbage Out by Rosie Flores & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
When the Whiskey Turns to Tears by Cornell Hurd
Southern Eyes by Joe Ely

Five Brothers by Marty Robbins
Don't Remember Me by The Misery Jackals
Out on the Highway by Mose McCormack
Meet You Down South by The Reverse Cowgirls
MisAmerica by Legendary Shack Shakers
The Wheels Fell Off the Wagon by Johnny Paycheck
John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto' by Chris Thomas King
Front Porch Trained by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

Madness, Murder, Mayhem Set
Psycho by Jack Kittell
Pardon Me I've Got Someone to Kill by Lonesome Bob
Dolores by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
The Rubber Room by Porter Wagoner
Postcard from Jack by Ronny Elliott
Knoxville Girl by The Louvin Brothers
I'm a Nut by Leroy Pullens
Crazy by Willie Nelson

Something Stupid by The Mavericks with Trish Yearwood
I Never Go Around Mirrors by Lefty Frizzell
Your Hearty Laugh by The Defibulators
Ballad of Terri McGovern by Joe West & The Sinners
Never Cold Again by The Imperial Rooster
Between a Rock and Heartache by Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

Joe Ely and The Mavericks Live on The Plaza Saturday

Joe Ely playing with The Flatlanders
Thirsty Ear Festival, Santa Fe 2007
Just in case you haven't heard (because you live in a cave and only read this blog), there's a free show on The Santa Fe Plaza Saturday night (tomorrow! Sept. 19) featuring Joe Ely and The Mavericks.

And yes, I said FREE.

The show starts with Ely's set at 6:30 p.m. The Mavericks come on at 8 p.m.

This event is part of  St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation's 150th Anniversary. Hey, it's better than a night in the hsopital (and lots cheaper).

Also Saturday night, don't forget The Sons of Royalty are playing right down the street at Skylight, 139 W. San Francisco St. starting at 7 p.m. I wrote about this in last week's Terrell's Tuneup. Tickets are $20 and it's a benefit for  La Luz de Santa Fe Family Shelter.

Here's a video of Ely doing a Robert Earl Keen song on Austin City Limits.


Thursday, September 17, 2015

THROWBACK THURSDAY: "... it was Roy Acuff, then God."

One hundred twelve years (and two days) ago in the tiny town of Maynardville, Tennessee, the Great Speckled Bird delivered a baby boy named Roy Acuff, who would grow up to become virtually synonymous with The Grand Ol' Opry ... and Hell, synonymous with country music itself for many years.

Of Acuff, Hank Williams was quoted saying,  "He's the biggest singer this music ever knew. You booked him and you didn't worry about crowds. For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God."

I bet even God didn't mind playing second fiddle to Roy Acuff.

Here is a video tribute to Roy, who, with his band, The Smokey Mountain Boys, helped make a great music even greater.

Let's start with one of his best known songs, "The Wabash Cannonball."



"Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour." (Jeremiah 12:9)



I'm more familiar with Little Jimmy Dickens' version of this next one. But Roy's version is nice too.



Here's a team-up with Red Foley on another Acuff classic.



Roy frequently turned his stage over to band members, who sometimes called themselves "Roy Acuff's Jug Band."



Finally, here's a weird musical connection: In the early days of the Acuff Jug Band, a young black kid played the jugs and spoons with the group. That might have been a goofy gig, but the kid, a Nashville native named Bobby Hebb, grew up to be a serious singer who had a huge hit in 1966 with a wonderful song called "Sunny." In the '70s Hebb cut a rocking soul version of Acuff's "Night Train to Memphis."



Hat tip to T. Tex Edwards for alerting me to Roy Acuff's birthday via a Google Plus post.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

WACKY WEDNESDAY: In Praise of The Dead Milkmen

Yesterday I saw an item on the Dangerous Minds blog about a "feud" between The Ramones and Sha Na Na. That in itself would make a good Wacky Wednesday. But they had it first.

While reading the post I couldn't help but notice an air of condensation on the part of writer Christopher Bickel toward Bowzer and the boys.

And the first thing to cross my mind was I know a band who would disagree ...

 That of course is The Dead Milkman, whose song "In Praise of Sha Na Na" has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it 25 years ago.

Sha Na Na were the kings of Woodstock
You know, it's true deep in your heart
Greasy guys in gold lame
If only Hendrix had been so smart

And remember ...

You can move to Montana

And listen to Santana

But you still won't be

As cool as Sha Na Na

So take that, Dangerous Minds

Of course this got me thinking about what an under-appreciated band The Dead Milkmen is.

The Dead Milkmen can wear my fez ...
These Philadelphia group got together in the early '80s, playing a light-hearted, if often fierce brand of punk rock. They rose, they thrived for awhile, and they even played the old TAC Club in Santa Fe sometime in the mid '80s. (Another storied local show I missed!) They broke up in 1995 but reformed, with three of the four original members, back in 2007 or '08.

 Here's a song that actually got played a lot on MTV in the late '80s. (I still think it's cool rhyming "punk rock girl" with "Minnie Pearl," but it took me a couple of years to learn to overlook the fact that "California Dreamin' " is not a Beach Boys song.)

 Here is another early Milkmen classic

Here's one from their latest album, Pretty Music for Pretty People. In case you don't know who the Black Dahlia is, get thee to an Ellroy novel!

 And , oh yeah, here's that song about Sha Na Na ...

 

Monday, September 14, 2015

OK, I'll Play: My Perfect 10 Songs for a 90's Alt Rock Cover Band

True story: This cover got TAD sued and they
had to replace it with something less interesting
One day last week while eating lunch and wasting time reading strange stuff on my iPhone, I clicked on this recent list called "What would make the perfect 10 song set list for a 90's alt rock cover band." 

The early '90s grungequake  remains one of my favorite periods of rock 'n' roll. Sure there was a ton of crap, and yes "Alternative Rock Radio" quickly became as pathetic as Top 40 pop or Hot New Country.

But still, it was a time of many great bands and exciting albums. And that was the period that inspired me to want to do my own radio shows.

To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with the list by Julie Anne Exter. Too many useless bands like Bush and Stone Temple Pilots and too many obvious choices like "Jeremy" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

You know me I usually shoot for more obscure and more obnoxious sounds.

But Exter's piece got me thinking ... So here, in no particular order, are the top 10 songs I would choose for this theoretical '90s Alt Rock cover band. I'd definitely pay the cover charge to see any band that did decent versions of the following;

1 "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains. This is the only song that Exter and I have in common. It's the first Alice in Chains song I ever heard and for my money, the best thing they ever did.



2 "Jack Pepsi" by TAD. As stated above, the original cover of 8-Way Santa got TAD sued. And this song, the best track from that fine album (and, in fact, the greatest of TAD's career) got the group a nice cease and desist from Pepsi Cola because they decided to use a version of the soft drink's logo when they released the song as a single.



3 "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden. I know "Black Hole Sun" was their big hit. But that dreary dirge sounded better by Steve & Eydie.  This was Soundgarden at their fiercest.




4 "Jesus Built My Hotrod" by Ministry (with Gibby Haynes) Another song for the Lord ...



5 "Andres" by L7. This was Suzi Gardner's greatest moment with this band. I always wanted to know what exactly the "problem" was with long-haired Andres.



6 "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" by Nick Cave. This is like a grim update of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall." But it makes Dylan's tune seem like a quaint little political morality play by comparison. There is no "Ban the Bomb" message here. It's a young man cast into a world of "lynch mobs, death squads, babies being born without brains ..." The bittersweet refrain of "Papa won't leave you, Henry" seems like nothing more than a broken promise remembered in bitter nostalgia. But the damned kid keeps going on down that road.



7 "The Wagon" by Dinosaur Jr. When this band was rocking, they sounded like an explosion that never stopped.




8 "My Name is Mud" by Primus. Les Claypool's bass-centric band created rock 'n' roll's answer to Deliverance.



9 "Buckskin Stallion Blues" by Mudhoney & Jimmie Dale Gilmore. A couple of years before anyone was talking about "alternative country," Mudhoney teamed up with Texas singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore for a split EP with Mudhoney doing a Gilmore song, Gilmore doing a Mudhoney song and the two acts teaming up on this old Townes Van Zandt tune. Made me proud to be an American.



10 "Serve the Servants" by Nirvana 'Teenage angst has paid off well. Now I'm bored and old ..." When I first heard these lyrics, the first line of the first song from In Utero -- Nirvana's much anticipated follow to Nevermind -- I though Kurt Cobain had weathered whatever psychic typhoons he'd had to endure with grace and humor .

A few months later he killed himself.





Sunday, September 13, 2015

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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Sunday, September 13, 2015
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

Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

We Live Dangerous The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

Heavy Honey by Left Lane Cruiser

Heebie Jeebies by The Gun Club

Flesh Eating Cocaine Blues by Daddy Long Legs

Rattle Snakin' Daddy Dave & Phil Alvin

Mississippi Drinkin' by John The Conqueror

I'm Cryin' by The Animals

I'm Insane by T-Model Ford

Don't Save it Too Long by Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends

 

Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White by The Standells

Chillidos de la Noche by Los Eskeletos

A Question of Temperature by Balloon Farm

Lesson of Crime by YVY

Johnny Gillette by Simon Stokes

Strychnine by The Fall

Livin' in Chaos by The Sonics

Used to Be Cool by Sons of Hercules

I Couldn't Spell !!*@! by Roy Loney & The Young Fresh Fellows

 

I'll Be Alright by Terrence Trent D'Arby

Psychologically Overcast by Fishbone

2 Nigs United 4 West Compton by Prince

Three Hairs and You're Mine by King Khan & The Shrines

Incarceration Casserole by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages

Man With Soul by Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales

Everybody Wanna Get Rich Rite Away by Dr. John

 

Meth of a Rockette's Kick by Mercury Rev

Me and Max by Harry "The Hipster" Gibson

Widow's Grove by Tom Waits

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Friday, September 11, 2015

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: British Blues Royalty plus Tonight's Rev. Peyton/Imperial Rooster Show

UPDATED: I corrected the date of the Sons of Royalty show!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
September 11, 2015


Bobby Tench, Papa George, Pete Rees of Sons of Royalty
A ragtag band of British bikers on holiday are tearing through the West — from San Francisco to Santa Fe — while trying to live some crazy rock ’n’ roll dream. The tour features The Sons of Royalty, a grizzled group of rockers whose members have backed an amazing array of famous acts.

How can we stop this hog-riding menace?

Don’t stop ’em. Join ’em.

For one thing, even though they’re bound to raise some hell, they’re also raising money for charity. The Sons of Royalty will be hitting Skylight in Santa Fe next Saturday, (Sept. 19), for a night of blues-rock and good times.

The British bikers (and participants who choose to travel by car) who are taking part in the tour have agreed to pledge at least 1,000 pounds to the ChildLine Rocks program, which is a free, confidential helpline  for children and teenagers in the United Kingdom, part of Great Britain’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. In Santa Fe,  proceeds from ticket sales will go to La Luz de Santa Fe Family Shelter.

According to the Sons’ website:

“This year is the fifth Great British Invasion and sees the event head to the west of America for more Harley-based japes involving incredible rides and, quite possibly, the firing of guns (legally, of course). You’ll fly into San Francisco in mid-September and from there it’s an 11-day exploration on two wheels, taking in Yosemite, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Route 66, the Sandia Mountains, and New Mexico (Breaking Bad country).”

The trip has been dubbed “Standing on the Corner: In the Footsteps of Bobby Troup.” If you don’t get the reference, he’s the guy who wrote the song “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66.”

Last year, the invasion was a trip through the South, including stops at Sun Studios in Memphis and actor Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Freeman himself appeared at that event, and the Sons of Royalty website implies that he might show up this year, telling potential travelers to bring extra cash for “all the drinks you’ll want to buy Morgan Freeman.”

I dunno.

You might not be familiar with the names of the individual Sons of Royalty, who have also played together under the name the Barnes Blues Band. But they have backed several big-time stars.

Mama Royalty's baby boys
Guitarist and singer Bobby Tench, for example, has been a member of the Jeff Beck Group and he has recorded with the late Texas blues great Freddie King, Van Morrison (he played lead guitar on the Wavelength album), Eric Burdon, Humble Pie, reggae singer Junior Marvin (best known for his Clash-covered song “Police and Thieves”), and too many others to count. But having just recently seen the documentary Beware of Mr. Baker, I’m most impressed with the fact that Tench played, under the name Bobby Gass, on a 1972 Ginger Baker album (Stratavarious) with Nigerian wizard Fela Ransome-Kuti.

Keyboardist Tim Hinkley has earned a reputation as an ace studio musician, appearing on the Rolling Stones’ Some Girls album, the Who’s Quadrophenia film soundtrack, and records by R & B great Esther Phillips, Thin Lizzy, Humble Pie, Bad Company, and Alvin Lee. Hinkley also once backed Tom Waits on a British television special.

The other Sons aren’t slouches either.

The second guitarist/singer in the group, Papa George, has built a cult following as a blues artist. He started playing as a teenager at a Knightsbridge restaurant called the Borshtch ’n’ Tears. (Now that’s the blues!) And here is a local connection: In 2004 the guitarist played on the soundtrack of a movie called World Without Waves, which won the Best Southwest Film award at the Santa Fe  Film Festival that year.

Sons bassist Pete Rees was a member of British bluesman (and former Thin Lizzy guitarist) Gary Moore’s band for 13 years, while drummer Darby Todd has backed the likes of Robert Plant, Ronnie Wood, and founding Animal Alan Price on stage.

The Sons of Royalty will be hitting Skylight (139 W. San Francisco St.) 7 pm  Sept. 19,  Tickets are $20.

Another cool show: Sorry I didn’t give you more warning on this one, but down in Albuquerque on Friday, Sept. 11, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is playing, and the pride of Española, The Imperial Rooster, is opening. The show is at  9 p.m. at Low Spirits (2823 Second St. NW), and tickets are $10.

Early this year, guitarist Josh Peyton and his band (wife Breezy Peyton on washboard and vocals and Ben Bussell on drums) unleashed their latest album, So Delicious, on the reconstituted Yazoo label. (The original Yazoo, which started in the 1960s, specialized in compiling old blues, hillbilly, and early jazz 78s.)

That seems appropriate for the Peyton crew. While the musicians are from Indiana, their heart is in the Mississippi Delta, and their sound harks back to those earthy sounds that came out of that region 80 years ago.

Rev. Peyton in Santa Fe a few years ago
So Delicious continues the basic sound the Big Damn Band is known for, kicking off with the chunka-chunka rhythm of “Let’s Jump a Train,” which has a guitar hook similar to that of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Green River.” There is some (so) delicious slide guitar on “Raise a Little Hell,” while “Pot Roast and Kisses” continues Peyton’s tradition of linking romance and food. (See “Mama’s Fried Potatoes” from their 2008 album Whole Fam Damnily.)

Strangely, the most mellow song on the new album is called “Scream at the Night.” It’s downright pretty.

So Delicious is a fine album, and I’m hoping that at the Albuquerque show, the Reverend reaches back and does what I still consider the group’s greatest song: “Your Cousin’s on Cops,” which, yes, is about realizing the bad boy being busted on the TV show is a relative.

xxxx

As for The Imperial Rooster, word is the Rev. Peyton gig will be their last one for some time. They've been playing only occasionally for the last year or so.

Another thing: I just found out last night -- way after I filed the print version of this column -- that none other than Slackeye Slim will be sitting in with the Rooster -- on music saw!

Video time!

Here is The Sons of Royalty's Tench and Papa George in action a couple of years ago.



Here's some Pot Roast and Kisses by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Bad



And here's our beloved Rooster playing at last year's Muddy Roots Festival

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...