This coming Sunday, June 19, will mark the third anniversary of the death of
Slim Whitman, a man some think of merely as a third or fourth tier country/pop
singer, best known for pioneering the "As-Seen-on-TV" record ads that
filled up the late-night television commercialscape in the '70s and '80s. Slim
and Boxcar Willie had to have been the Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf of this
bizarre little universe.
Here's a classic. As The Firesign Theatre's
Don G. Ovanni
would say, "If you asked for this in a store, they'd think you were CRAZY!"
But it's not that aspect of the man from Tampa's brilliant career for which I
want to honor him today. It's for his indispensable role in stopping the
great Martian attack of 1996.
This scene from a documentary I found on YouTube tells the story.
So thank you Slim Whitman for defeating the Martian menace. The Earth will
never forget!
We'll remember you!
(from Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses)
UPDATE 2024: I just stumbled upon a video of one of my favorite country
singers, Nick Shoulders singing a song to keep the Martians away!
Sunday, June 12, 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
Look in the Mirror by Gregg Turner
Rock a Go-Go by Alien Space Kitchen
Don't Stop to Dance by Reverend Beat-Man
Crawl Through Your Hair by New Mystery Girl
Never Enough Girls by The Sloths
Radio Danger by Skull Control
Not Going Home by He Who Cannot Be Named
Problems by Sex Pistols
Fire Spirit by The Gun Club
Shut Up by The Monks
Taxi Driver by The Rodeo Carburettor
Budokan Tape Try (Set Tapes High) by The Boredoms
Drowning Sex Hogs II TV Party Tonight by Black Flag
I Couldn't Spell !!*@! By Roy Loney & The Young Fresh Fellows Morning After Blues by Andre Williams
New York City by The Fleshtones
Dirty Traveler by Lonesome Shack
Work by Lou Reed & John Cale
Mr. Soul by The Pierced Arrows
Sold by Sulphur City
Oh Honey Baby Doll by Bloodshot Bill
No Confidence by Simon Stokes
I Got Your Number by The Sonics
Summertime Blues by Horror Deluxe
Right/Wrong by Night Beats
Strangers by San Antonio Kid
Don't Be Taken In by Miriam
Conjure Child by Tony Joe White
Hiawatha by Laurie Anderson
Love & Mercy by Brian Wilson
Evil Will Prevail / Bad Days by Flaming Lips
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, June 10, 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
Trucks, Tractors and Trains by The Dirt Daubers
Closing Time by The Pleasure Barons
Jibber Jabber by The Supersuckers
Granny's Got the Baby ('cause Mama's Doing Time) by Trailer Radio
Slipknot by Al Scorch
I Will Never Change, So Why Don't You? By Howard Kalish
Too Much Fun by Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen
Word to the Wise by Bill Kirchen with Dan Hicks
My Rifle, My Pony and Me by Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson
Begging to You by Cyndi Lauper
Funnel of Love by Wanda Jackson & The Cramps
I Never Will Marry by Loretta Lynn
Old Chunk of Coal by Billy Joe Shaver
A Dime at a Time by Dallas Wayne
Let's Invite Them Over by Southern Culture on the Skids
Plastic Love by The Riptones
All Around You by Sturgill Simpson
Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used to Do by Tom Jones
Sam's Place by Buck Owens
Cool Rockin' Loretta by Joe Ely
Get It On Down the Road by Danny Barnes
The Golden Triangle by The Austin Lounge Lizards
South of The River by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Barely Legal by Jim Stringer
I Wanna Be Momma'd by Robbie Fulks
Sinner's Blues by Alex Maryol
Raise a Ruckus by Josh White
I Wish I Was Back in Vegas by Stevie Tombstone
Painted Horse River by Kell Robertson
Hard Livin' (Comes Easy to Me) by Red Eye Gravy
World of Fools by David Bromberg
The Virginian by Neko Case
Crazy for Me by Jaime Michaels CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican June 10, 2016
I’ve always had a soft spot for Cyndi Lauper.
I was intrigued that a year after it was released, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was still a top selection for Juárez strippers (or so I’ve been told). I dug the fact that she got pro-wrestling great Captain Lou Albano to play her dad in the video for that song. I thought it was cool that she got the title for her hit album She’s So Unusual from a song by Helen Kane (who many believe inspired the voice of Betty Boop) and that she sang, uncredited, the theme song of Pee-wee’s Playhouse in Kane’s Boopish style.
And I’ve long forgiven her for the demon-haunted nightmares I endured for months after hearing her dance remix of “She Bop” on speakers bigger than my car in an Amarillo disco while in an enhanced state of consciousness.
But beyond all that wacky stuff, Lauper has one amazing voice. I probably didn’t realize that until I saw her perform an incredible version of her hit “Time After Time” on TV back in the mid-1980s on a Patti LaBelle television special.
Lauper starts off singing on top of a piano. But by the second verse LaBelle comes in to harmonize and embellish. The two play with the chorus, harmonize, shout the lyrics at each other, and end about five minutes later on a whisper. I saw this again on YouTube last week for the first time since it aired. It’s even better than I remembered.
But I have to admit, I lost track of Cyndi Lauper. Every so often I heard about her latest attempted comeback, but I didn’t hear anything all that enticing. In fact I hadn’t sat down and listened to an entire Lauper album since her heyday.
Until recently.
Just a few weeks ago she released a country album called Detour. Yes, there’s our Cyndi Lauper in a prim, black, long-sleeved dress in a motorcycle sidecar, clutching her hat in one hand and an old suitcase in another. She looks like a 1880s schoolmarm heading out west where John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart can fight over her.
And yes, this is real, steel-and-fiddle, hard-core-honky-tonk music with crackerjack Nashville cats and guest stars including Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, and Willie Nelson.
She romps through C & W chestnuts like “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”; “Heartaches by the Number”; Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” (sung here with Gill); and the Wanda Jackson hit “Funnel of Love” (though my favorite version of this song is the one Jackson recorded with The Cramps a few years ago).
And, to her credit, Lauper doesn’t adopt any fake hick drawl. You still can hear the Noo Yawk in her.
There are a couple of tunes here on which she really shines. She nails the sadness of Skeeter Davis’ early ’60s hit “The End of the World.” (Web of Synchronicity: Davis was married to Joey Spampinato, formerly of NRBQ, a band that did a song about Captain Lou Albano! Coincidence?)
And even better is a little-known Marty Robbins song called “Begging to You.” If I had a beer, there would be a tear in it after this one. No, this isn’t essential country music, and it’s probably just a crazy little detour in her career. But it’s great to listen to Lauper again.
Lauper is scheduled to perform in Albuquerque at the Sandia Resort and Casino Amphitheater on Sept. 17.
Also recommended
* Full Circle by Loretta Lynn. This album, Lynn’s first in a dozen years, is a bittersweet triumph. She’s in her early eighties now, and we’ve lost way too many country giants of her generation in recent years, most recently Merle Haggard.
The first time I played this record all the way through, a morbid thought crossed my mind. Is this Lynn’s last one? Maybe that had something to do with the final song, the slow, acoustic “Lay Me Down,” which she sings with fellow octogenarian Willie Nelson. The refrain is “I’ll be at peace when they lay me down.”
I almost wanted to scream, “Nooooooooo!!!”
The good news: Her voice sounds as strong, clear, and spunky as ever. Could it be Pro Tools or some other studio trick? Who knows? I’m going to choose to believe not. If any of you cynics out there know anything different, do us all a favor and keep your yap shut.
Speaking of modern studio tricks, unlike her previous album, the Jack White-produced Van Lear Rose, there’s little in the way of fancy recording wizardry on Full Circle. The producers — Lynn’s daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and Johnny Cash’s son John Carter Cash — wisely keep the emphasis on Lynn’s voice and the songs.
And it’s a splendid selection of tunes. There are re-recordings of Loretta Lynn songs, including the proto-feminist “Fist City,” one of her late-’60s hits, and “Whispering Sea,” a country waltz that’s not one of her best-known numbers but is the first song she ever wrote.
A couple are countrified pop tunes, like “Band of Gold” and Doris Day’s “Secret Love”; some are Carter Family classics (“I Never Will Marry” and “Black Jack David,” which traces its roots to a traditional Scottish folk song); and there’s a bluegrassy take on “In the Pines.”
My favorite on this album is “Everything It Takes,” an “other woman” song that might have been a country hit 50 years ago, except Lynn wrote it fairly recently with Todd Snider. Elvis Costello sings harmonies.
And besides that devastating closing number, there are a couple of other meditations on Smiling Sgt. Death. These are “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven” and “Who’s Gonna Miss Me?”
Stop torturing us, Loretta!
Video time!
Here's Cyndi Lauper performing a live version of an old Ray Price hit:
If only The Cramps could join her ...
Here is that duet of "Time After Time " on the 1985 Patti LaBelle TV special
Tuesday June 7 marked what would have been the 99th birthday of Dino Paul Crocetti, better known to the world as Dean Martin.
Do I really have to tell you who he was? Martin & Lewis. The Rat Pack. The weekly TV show in the '60s. The comedy roasts he hosted ...
Elvis Presley idolized him and I loved him too. When I was a kid, Dino and his devilish grin made me suspect that my parents' generation might not be as square as they'd have you believe.
Martin died in 1995
In honor of of man from Steubenville, Ohio, let's have some music, Here he is with Frank Sinatra having more fun that you or I had that night.
Here he is crooning and jiving through one of his hits, "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On." The introduction, with Dino playing up his drunk persona, is nearly as good as the song.
Oh yeah, Dino was a singing cowboy too. Here he is with Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan in the John Wayne movie Rio Bravo.
And here's a song he recorded with The Easy Riders, a folk group that included longtime Santa Fe resident Terry Gilkyson.
I don't profess to be an expert on pow wow music or actually any form of Native American music. I just know that I like a lot of pow wow songs and several of the groups that perform them.
Pow wow music typical consists of several drummers, often pounding on a single large drum. The drummers usually sing though some groups have singers standing behind the drummers. As a casual listener and a certified pale-face, a good pow wow song can seem almost hypnotic, even meditative.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica: Pow wow songs often reflect the style of music from the Plains area; the singers accompany themselves on a large bass drum, and the ensemble as a whole is known as a Drum. Each Drum includes three or more singers. Like many other aspects of 21st-century Native American life, pow wows generally promote indigenous culture, spirituality, and social unity.
But, as Eugene Chadbourne writes in the AllMusic Guide, "there are pow wow songs about getting drunk, eating pizza, how pretty a girl looks, and a myriad of other subjects."
Remember, pow wows are not religious ceremonies, they are social events. And despite that old stereotype of the somber, stoic red man, (do people still believe that weird old crap?) some of the songs are downright funny.
The Black Lodge Singers, led by Blackfeet tribe member Kenny Scabby Robe, have been the Rolling Stones of funny pow wow songs since they released their 1996 album Kid's Pow-Wow Songs. In reviewing that record 20 years ago, I described the first time I heard them play this song below
At first, you think you are listening to regular pow wow music the deep, steady beating, the jangle of bells, the unison chanting with occasional individual yelps and cries. But then you start discerning words in English: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto too! They're all movie stars at Disneyland ...
And the Black Lodge Singers sing another mouse song. One thing for sure, you don't have to be a kid to love these songs. (This one's for you, Melissa!)
Here is a more recent song from a group called Northern Cree from Alberta, Canada. The group founders are from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation but other group includes members from other Treaty 6 area nations. And despite this next song, Northern Cree does have a Facebook page.
Unfortunately many of the following songs are not on YouTube, so I created this Spotify playlist including pow wow songs about the 3 Stooges, Pink Floyd, Oscar the Grouch, re-imagined versions of American classic like "Earth Angel" and "Who Let the Dogs Out" and one bitchen tune about riding in your boogie van.
Sunday, June 5, 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
Bloody Mary by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
JuJu Hand by Handsome Dick Manitoba
Jack Pepsi by TAD
The Witch by Los Peyotes
Hall of Fame by Andre Williams
Ugly by SA90
High School Girls by The Gears
I'm a Trash Man by Deke Dickerson & The Trashmen
A House is Not a Motel by Marshmallow Overcoat
Shadows of Night by Dead Moon
Frankenstein by Pierced Arrows
Hey Mr. Rain by The Velvet Underground
The Boner by Geil & The Pimps
How to Fake as Lunar Landing by Alien Space Kitchen
Long Distance Call by The Super Super Blues Band
Back it Up by King Mud
Stop Breakin' Down by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Thank You Sir, by Reverend John Wilkins
The Snake by Reverend Tom Frost
Golden Surf II by Pere Ubu
Ironclad by Sleater-Kinney
Burning Song by Jonah Gold & His Silver Apples
Feast of the Mau Mau by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
County Fool by The Showmen
Teddy Bear by Bette Stuy
Our Sacred Hate by He Who Cannot Be Named
Which End is Up by Miriam
Bad as Me by Tom Jones
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, June 3, 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
Wanted Man by The Waco Brothers
Baker's Half Dozen by Jim Stringer
Walkin' After Midnight by Cyndi Lauper
Company's Comin' by Porter Wagoner
Right Time by Nikki Lane
Country Girls Ain't Cheap by Trailer Radio
Winning the War on Drugs by Asylum Street Spankers
The Marriage Song by The Stumbleweeds
A Married Man's a Fool by Butterbeans & Susie
Travelin' Shoes by Tom Jones
Devil's in the Bottle by Dallas Wayne
Truck Drivin' Man by The Twang Bangers
Brace for Impact by Sturgil Simpson
I'm the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised by Johnny Paycheck
Aunt Peg's New Old Man by Robbie Fulks
Mommy for a Day by Rhonda Vincent
I Got Mine by Frank Stokes
Brand New Cadillac by Wayne Hancock
Wreck of the Old 97 by Hank Williams III
Drive Drive Drive by Dale Watson
All the Way Back Home by The Dinosaur Truckers
Run Rosie, Run by Trailer Bride
Better Call Saul by Junior Brown
Mental Cruelty by Buck Owens & Rose Maddox
Open Pit Mine by George Jones
Just Like a Monkey by South Memphis String Band
My 45 by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Beautiful Losers by Beth Lee & The Breakups
Mama was a Trainwreck by Karen Hudson
Secret Love by Loretta Lynn
Naked Light of Day by Butch Hancock
The Angels Rejoiced Last Night by The Louvin Brothers
Yesterday, June 1, marked the 89th anniversary of the death of Lizzie Borden, who died at the age of 66 in her hometown of Fall River, Mass. -- 34 years after a jury acquitted her in the ax murders of her father and stepmother.
I won't go into all the (literally) gory details of the double homicide that took place Thursday, August 4, 1892 at the Borden household. You can get the basic details HERE. I just want to honor Lizzy's musical legacy. It's richer than you might think.
The most familiar Lizzie Borden song is that famous children's rope-skipping song that goes
Lizzie Borden took an axe Gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father 41.
What children actually sang this song, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams?
But that's not the only music to come out of the murders.
Premiering in 1948 was a Lizzie ballet, The Fall River Legend by American choreographer Agnes de Mille. The score was composed by Morton Gould. It opened at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. Who knew Lizzie was so graceful? Here's a video clip of a later production.
And speaking of high culture, there also was a Lizzie Borden opera. This was composed by Jack Beeson in 1965 and was performed that by the New York City Opera, conducted by Anton Coppola. This clip features several scenes from the opera.
The 1960s folk group called The Chad Mitchell Trio took the black humor route.
Fast forward to the 80s where an Arizona thrash band called Flotsam and Jetsam embraced the darkness of the Lizzie legend.
And in 2003 The Dresden Dolls used the Borden murders as a launch pad for this depressing ditty. They got the number of whacks wrong, but so did the famous kiddie song. Abby Borden only suffered 19 blows while Andrew Borden got 11.
There are other songs about young women committing unspeakable murders that had to have been influenced by Lizzie Borden. Tom Lehrer's "The Irish Ballad" is one. And so is Nick Cave's "The Curse of Milhaven," whose murderous narrator Loretta might be a younger version of our Lizzie.
It's June, which means summer is virtually here, which means millions of Americans will be on the road again!
A couple of days ago on Facebook my friend Tommy C dropped some obscure lyrics from an under-appreciated Bob Dylan song, something about "brown rice, seaweed and a dirty hot dog." This sounded distantly familiar, but I couldn't remember the title of the song. So with the help of Mr. Google, I learned it was "On the Road Again," which originally appeared on the first Dylan album I ever owned, Bringing it All Back Home.
I got yer dirty hot dog RIGHT HERE:
Very few entertainers have used images of seaweed, dirty hot dogs etc and started off songs with "Well, I wake up in the morning / There's frogs inside my socks ..." But lots of songwriters have used the title "On the Road Again." Though it's not very original, most of the ones I've heard I like.
Below is a collection of those. This would make a fine play list for any road trip in the summer of 2016.
I first heard the folloong song done by The Lovin' Spoonful and later by The Grateful Dead, But The Memphis Jug Band did it first back in the late 1920s.
I wasn't familiar until recently with this electric, Howlin' Wolf influenced blues by Floyd Jones
Likewise, I'm a newcomer to this rocking little tune by Tom Rush, from his 1966 Take a Little Walk With Me.
But I've been a fan of this Canned Heat tune for 45 years or more. They had a hit single with this song, but I'm posting their Woodstock performance of the song.
I bet the best-known "On the Road Again" is Willie Nelson's
And I just discovered a rap tune called "On the Road Again," released in 2005 by Sheek Louch.
May you have a safe but eventful road trip or two this summer.
