Thursday, April 14, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Songs of the Hoboes

A week ago, putting together my Throwback Thursday tribute to the late Merle Haggard, I came across one of his finest early hit, "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am."

Things I learned in hobo jungle / Were things they never taught me in a class room

Now Hag wasn't really a hobo. But he was born in a boxcar in Oildale, Calif., which served as his family home. And, of course, some of his best songs were those from the perspective of the downtrodden. If anyone could sing about hoboes, it was Haggard.

But he definitely wasn't the first to sing about them. Songs about the rail-riders spread across this great land throughout the early part of the 20th Century. Hoboes popped up in blues songs and hillbilly records.

Some of these tunes were full of pity for the wayward and impoverished lives of these men. Some were cautionary tales, warning others to stay away from that life.

But many romanticized the hobo, expressing envy for their freedom. And today, the classic train-hopping hobo is seen as a mythological character

Perhaps the first hobo hit was "Hallelujah. I'm a Bum," in which a tramp with attitude has witty comebacks for proper people who question the way he lives.

There were several recordings of it around 1928 including versions by Hobo Jack Turner, Vernon Dalhart, John Bennett, Arthur Fields and Harry McClintock, who is best known for his song "Big Rock Candy Mountain," another important contribution to the Hobo Hit Parade. Later, Al Jolson starred in a movie called Hallelujah. I'm a Bum.

Carl Sandburg in The American Songbag, wrote "This old song heard at the water tanks of railroads in Kansas in 1897 and from harvest hands who worked in the wheat fields of Pawnee County, was picked up later by the [International Workers of the World] who made verses of their own for it, and gave it a wide fame."

McClintock, a member of the I.W.W.,  claimed he wrote "Hallelujah. I'm a Bum" years before he recorded it. I can't say if that's true, but he's the only one I know who's claimed authorship.

Here's a McClintock version:



Louis Armstrong had his own hobo song:



A classic hillbilly hobo song, "Rambling Reckless Hobo" by Dick Burnett & Leonard Rutherford

 

Here's a rockin' tune from the year I was born: "Hobo" by J.D. Edwards



And in case you haven't heard enough, here's a whole Mulligan stew pot of Hobo songs

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Happy Cambodian New Year!!!

Happy Cambodian New Year!

That's right, the traditional three-day celebration starts Wednesday, April 13.

I don't actually know much about Khmer traditions. But I'm a huge fan of Cambodian rock 'n' roll from the 1960s and '70s. I've written several times about how the evil Khmer Rouge basically wiped out that music. Follow that link if you need to catch up on that history. Or better yet, watch the documentary Don't Think I've Forgotten.

But today is Cambodian New Year -- not to mention Wacky Wednesday -- so let's not dwell on the horrors of the past.

Let's welcome the New Year angel and honor the Khmer people with some crazy rock 'n' roll.

Let;s start out with Sinn Sisamouth's version of "House of the Rising Sun." I don't know how I missed this when I featured this song on Throwback Thursday a few months ago,



Here's "Shave Your Beard" by Ros Sereysothea, a song I first heard done by Dengue Fever. (Not sure who this lovely lip syncher is.)

 

Here's a little psychedelia by Pan Ron


Some Cambodian surf music with Baksey Cham Krong (from the Don't Think I've Forgotten soundtrack.)

 

Finally, here's Dengue Fever, a contemporary California group with a Cambodia-born singer, Chhom Nimol,  Just like The Animals led me (and countless others) to John Lee Hooker in the '60s, Dengue Fever lured me to Cambodian rock. And I'll always love them for it, This song's called "Mr. Orange"



Happy New Year!





Sunday, April 10, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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Sunday, April 10, 2016
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

Keep Movin' Freddy Cannon & The Gears

Elks Lodge Blues by The Gears

Boychucker by Rocket from The Crypt

Jungle Noise by The Monsters

Bandstand by Tandoori Knights

Seersucker Suit by JJ & The Real Jerks

Funeral in These Streets by Scratch Buffalo

Lemmy by The Come N' Go

 

Strange Things Are Happening Every Day by '68 Comeback

To the Floor by Lonesome Shack

Hate O Oso by Horror Deluxe

Across the River by Dead Cat Stimpy

Old Lady Sittin' in the Dining Room by The Copper Gamins

Decontrol by Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales

Dregs by Bass Drum of Death

I Feel Good by The Dirtbombs

 

Right/Wrong by The Night Beats

Black Sheep by The Woggles

War Going On by Sulphur City

Someone's Knocking on My Door by T. Model Ford & Gravelroad

Psychedelic Freakout by The Barbarellatones

Psychedelic Woman by Honny & The Bees Band

Rock 'n' Roll Deacon by Screamin' Joe Neal

 

Boundless by The Blues Against Youth

Western Plain by Van Morrison

Cross-eyed and Painless by Talking Heads

See That My Grave is Kept Clean by B.B. King

Noble Experiment by Thinking Fellers Union Local 242

One for My Baby by Iggy Pop

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Friday, April 08, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

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Friday, April 8, 2016
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

Long Time Gone by The Dixie Chicks

Win-Win Situation for Losers by Dave Insley with Kelly WIllis

My Old Man Boogie by The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

All the Way Back Home by The Dinosaur Truckers

Slipknot by Al Scorch

Sober and Stupid by Fortytwenty

Lucky Fool by The Waco Brothers

Hesitation Boogie by Hardrock Gunter

Out of Hand by Gene Watson & Rhonda Vincent

 

Honky Tonk Song by Webb Pierce

I've Come Too Far for Love to Die by The Bonnevilles

Barbed Times by The Blues Against Youth

A Girl Named Johnny Cash by Harry Hayward

Never Come Home by Robbie Fulks

Who's Gonna Miss Me by Loretta Lynn

Raise a Ruckus by Tom Jones

Corn Liquor Made a Fool of Me by Bad Livers

Art by Jon Langford from his book
Nashville Radio

MERLE HAGGARD TRIBUTE SET
.
I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle by Pure Prairie League

Branded Man / That's the Way Love Goes by Merle Haggard

Old Man From the Mountain by Bryan & The Haggards with Dr. Eugene Chadbourne

Train of Life by Hag

Sing Me Back Home by The Chesterfield Kings

Ida Red by Hag

Sweet Georgia Brown by Johnny Gimble with Merle Haggard

My Own Kind of Hat by Rosie Flores

 

It's All Going to Pot by Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Jamey Johnson

Life in Prison by The Byrds

If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time by Hag

Reasons to Quit by Cracker

Mama Tried by Hag

Today I Started Loving You Again by Rufus Thomas

Someday We'll Look Back by Hag

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets


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TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: When Young Monsters Roamed

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
April 8, 2016



Back in 1986, decades before he became an international playboy and record-industry titan (he’s supreme commander and president for life of Switzerland’s Voodoo Rhythm Records), young “Beat-Man” Zeller was just a hopped-up young punk rocker who got together with some like-minded cronies and formed a fierce little band of Swiss miscreants called The Monsters, which had a deep affinity for classic American garage rock and loud grating noise.

Hard to believe, but Beat-Man and his Monsters are still around, older (Beat-Man’s pushing fifty!) but just as dangerous. And to celebrate 30 monstrous years, Voodoo Rhythm is releasing not one but two records.

One will be a new album, coming later this year. The first is a rerelease — with added bonus tracks — of one of their long out-of-print early albums, The Jungle Noise Recordings, originally released on a German label called Jungle Noise.

Although Voodoo Rhythm’s press release proclaims, “This is where primitive rock ’n’ roll chainsaw massacre trash garage began,” Jungle Noise, recorded in 1994, was not the first Monsters album. There were at least a couple of proper (I use that word in a relative sense) studio records, including their previous album The Hunch (the title being a tribute to West Virginia wild man Hasil Adkins), which was basically a psychobilly effort full of songs about movie monsters.

Beat-Man today contemplating the Universe
But by this point, Zeller wanted a rawer sound for his band, which was now a trio. Instead of going to a studio, the musicians rented some recording equipment and did the album at home. They replaced their stand-up bass, a staple of their early recordings, with an electric bass. And Zeller let his guitar go crazy with the fuzz and feedback. As the title of the opening track suggests, the result was a joyful invitation to “Psych Out With Me.”

The Monsters at this point were still fond of horror material, as evidenced by their uptempo cover of Kip Tyler’s 1958 spookabilly tune “She’s My Witch,” and songs like “Rock Around the Tombstone,” “Skeleton Stomp,” “Plan 9,” (an ode to Ed Wood’s outer space vampire movie), and 'Mummy Fucker Blues," in which Beat-Man’s trademark gravel voice sounds like a bizarre blend of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Tuvan throat-singing, and Popeye.

There’s a marijuana song here called “The Pot” in which the music is a mutant grandchild of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” And there are spirited covers of The Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire” and Ricky Nelson’s “Lonesome Town,” though I actually prefer The Monsters’ live version on their 20th anniversary album The Worst of Garage Punk Vol. 1, in which Beat-Man comically weeps hysterically during the instrumental.

All in all, The Jungle Noise Recordings is a pinnacle of trash rock. And it whets my appetite for the upcoming new Monsters album.

Also recommended

* Tumbling Heights by The Come N’ Go. Here’s another Swiss band that cut its proverbial teeth in
the crazed world of garage-punk. On this, The Come N’ Go’s fourth album for Voodoo Rhythm, the musicians prove they can play it fast, furious, and trashy like their labelmates The Monsters. But they also go psychedelic on us. This album shows the band still working hard to get our butts shaking. But they also seem interested in getting our minds expanding.

The album starts out with a tasty rocker called “Château Phoquoeupe” as well as an intense lo-fi cover of Bad Brains’ “Attitude.” Even more impressive is the six-minute song called “Lemmy,” a good rockin’ tribute to the late Mr. Kilmister. But “Lemmy” showcases the intriguing dichotomy of this album. The first three or four minutes are basic and catchy, then evolve seamlessly into a lengthy feedback/noise-skronk roar.

The short-but-surreal “Borderland” is even more crazy. It starts out with some discordant ambient noise joined later by a female vocalist. And on some songs, such as “Yona’s Blues,” they can actually be melodic as well as spacey.

On “I’ll Sing You a Song,” the melody sounds like some folk song right on the tip of your memory. It’s colored by feedback and what sounds like a distant harmonica. And speaking of folkish sounds, “What Is It?” (which could have been an apt title for the whole album) features acoustic guitar and what might or might not be a flute embellished by electronic feedback that almost seems to be in harmony.

While Tumbling Heights has lots of different dimensions to ponder, and while I do enjoy the psychedelic touches, the songs I like best are the ones in which The Come ‘N Go don’t forget they’re a rock ’n’ roll band.


* Who Sold My Generation by The Night Beats. Now here’s another band that’s often described as psychedelic. Indeed, this Seattle trio draws from the better bands of the Summer of Love.

The song “Shangri Lah,” for instance, owes a debt to The Electric Prunes. The Night Beats are frequently compared to psychedelic rangers like The Black Angels, though with singer Danny Lee Blackwell often singing in falsetto, a better comparison might be The Oh Sees.

But this group has a lot going on, including a subtle influence of soul and funk if you listen close enough (and you should).

With a title that’s a sweet nod to Pete Townsend’s old group, Who Sold My Generation is a solid selection of songs. Blackwell knows the power of the riff. Virtually every one of these songs has hooks that stick to your brain.

Among the highlights are “Bad Love,” which features a sax section; “Porque Mañana,” which is sung in Spanish, “Egypt Berry,” which features a faux-Middle Eastern guitar riff and a melody that reminds me of “Endless Sleep,” and “No Cops,” which ain’t country but sounds as if Blackwell’s been listening to Waylon Jennings’ cover of “Ain’t Living Long Like This.”

Video Madness

Psych Out with The Monsters



Some "Attitude" by The Come N' Go



And here's a cool video by The Night Beats

Thursday, April 07, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Goodbye, Hag


I hesitated to slap the "Throwback Thursday" label on this. Most the musicians I celebrate in this feature are those who left us years ago, Merle died yesterday.

But his music has been an important part of American culture for the past 50 years or so. It's important historical stuff deserving of respect and veneration, And yet Hag's music still is a living force, still moving people, and still serving as a soundtrack for good times and lonesome times, still a soundtrack getting drunk and getting laid, for deep thought and deep forgetting. Like Hank Williams' songs that never get old, Merle Haggard's music will outlive us all.

Hag as a youth
Singer Dave Alvin probably expressed it most eloquently on his Facebook page Wednesday:

Merle Haggard meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people but to me he was THE songwriter of California. Not the California of Malibu, Silicon Valley or Beverly Hills but the California of Highway 99, migrant workers and the struggle to survive in the promised land. All the political ambiguity and one dimensional stereotypes aside, Mr Haggard was one of the giants of modern American Music (not just Country) along with Ray Charles, Miles Davis and Bob Dylan. Merle was a brilliant balladeer, soulful bluesman, guitar wrangler, musical trailblazer and one of our greatest songwriters/poets in the Roots tradition. In his way he was also a true, fearless rock and roll rebel. Rest easy from the long highway, Mr Haggard. It's been a hell of a ride.

I got to see Merle in concert twice.

The first time was in the early '80s at the old Albuquerque Civic Auditorium. I was covering the show for The New Mexico Sun, a bi-weekly paper in Albuquerque that didn't last very long. The main thing I remember about that performance was being impressed with what a great bandleader he was. He was emphasizing his western-swing influence that night and his band, The Strangers was one tight unit under Hag's command. Bob Wills would have been proud.

The other time I saw him was in the mid '90s at Tingley Coliseum. That was the last concert I ever saw with my mom. The band was no match for the one I saw in the '80s, but they were good, Haggard started singing "Okie from Muskogee" and the crowd roared in approval. But after singong the very first line, he stopped the band and said, "Now who the Hell gives a damn whether or not they smoke marijuana in Muskogee?"

The crowd roared louder.

So today let's celebrate the songs Merle Haggard gave us. Today's that someday we look back and say it was fun.

Here are some Haggard performance that I love:

Here he is on the Porter Wagoner Show, in the late '60s, I think, singing "That Little Old Winedrinker, Me " and one of his greatest tunes, "Today I Started Loving You Again" 



Hag with The Texas Playboys in 1976



In 2011, Willie Nelson joined Merle on stage to help him preach against the evils of marijuana in Muskogee.




"Someday We'll Look Back" is one of Merle's most soulful tunes.

 

And here's a fairly recent version one of his earliest hits, "Sing Me Back Home."



Tune into The Santa Fe Opry Friday night (KSFR, 10 p.m. to midnight) for the mother of all Merle Haggard tributes.

Wednesday, April 06, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Random Acts of Wackiness



Usually I have a theme for Wacky Wednesday.

This week I don't.

All I've got are a few stray videos of musical weirdness.

First of all, this panhandler, who definitely earned his handout.



A little Greek yodeling Hawaiian style by Kostas Bezos



A sweet song about a kitty cat



And, in conclusion, a little Mongolian Nazi pop

Sunday, April 03, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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Sunday,

April 3, 2016 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

Mojo Workout by King Salami & The Cumberland 3

Jungle Noise by The Monsters

Down in the Basement by The Gears

Burn to Breathe by The Night Beats

I Know Your Name by Scratch Buffalo

Goin' on Down to the BBQ by Drywall

Again and Again by Black Lips

I Don't Like You No More by Andre Williams

 

Video Violence by Lou Reed

Gudbuy t' Jane by Hickoids

She's a Hunchback by The Dickies

The Lonely Streets by Pirate Love

Big Mouth Mickey by The Guilty Hearts

Whispers by Sulphur City

The Hunch by Hasil Adkins

War Dancers by King Mud

Rapping with Lee by Lee Fields

 

David Briggs' Talk by The Come N' Go

Voodoo Moonshine by Deadbolt

Mesopotamia by B-52s

Heart Attack and Vine by Lydia Lunch

Cock in Pocket by Iggy & The Stooges

Lost and Found by The Hunchmen

La Coulleuvre by Thee Verduns

Let's Dress Up the Naked Truth by New Bomb Turks

Dotted White Line by Blues Against Youth

Man on the Flying Trapeze by Spike Jones & His City Slickers

 

I'm Not Gonna Cry by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

Wilderness by Sleater-Kinney

Turn Back the Hands of Time by Timmy Thomas

Let Me Down Easy by Bettey LaVette

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis Youth

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Friday, April 01, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

 

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Friday, April 1, 2016

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

Polk Salad Annie by Tony Joe White

Nitty Gritty by Southern Culture on the Skids

A Fool Such as I by Marti Brom

Johnny Come Lately by Steve Earle & The Pogues

Don't Fall in Love With a Girl Like That by The Boxcars

Blue Eyed Elaine by John Prine & Mac Wiseman

The Women Make a Fool Out of Me by Ernest Tubb

Drinkin' Wine and Staring at the Phone by Dave Insley

Little Birdy by Steve Young

 

Big Fool of the Year by George Jones

My Name is Jorge by The Gourds

UFO on Farm Road by Sidney Ester

Walk Right In by Dave Alvin

Too Much Sex (Not Enough Jesus) by Drive-By Truckers

Twang Town Blues by Jason & The Scorchers

Driftwood 40-23 by Hickoids

Hey Good Lookin' by Tom Hiddleston

 

Seven Nights to Rock by Moon Mullican

Lonesome Hearted Blues by The Maddox Brothers & Rose

Cherokee Boogie by Hank Williams

River of Fools by Los Lobos

Favorite Fool by James Hand

One Sweet Hello by Merle Haggard

Cadillacin' by Paul Burch

Out of Jail by Waylon Jennings

Fire and Flame by Del McCoury

You're Gonna Miss Me by Hasil Adkins


I'm Just a Fool to Care by C.C. Adcock

In the Pines by Loretta Lynn

The Longest Train I Ever Saw by The Tenneva Ramblers

Hidden Love by Peter Case

World of Fools by David Bromberg 

South Bend Soldiers On by Robbie Fulks

The Scarlet Tide by Elvis Costello with Emmylou Harris

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets


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Listen to Steve Young Live on the Santa Fe Opry in 2005

I was out of town last month when singer-songwriter Steve Young died, so I didn't get to pay him proper tribute on the radio until last week's Santa Fe Opry.

There I played a couple of songs from Steve's appearance on the show back in October 2005. They sounded so good to me I thought maybe I should put last week's show up on Mixcloud.

Then I thought, Hell! I should post his whole live appearance.

And so I did and here it is.

Unfortunately, the first moments of the conversation didn't make it onto the recording . But all the songs he played are there, Steve sang a few originals, a couple of covers of songs best known by Hank and Elvis and talked with me about his life and career.

Thanks again to Jim Terr, a longtime friend of Steve Young's, for arranging him to come on the show.

Play it below and find all sorts of my radio shows and podcasts on my Mixcloud page,

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...