Sunday, July 31, 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
Rats in My Kitchen by The Fleshtones
Fall on You by The Plimsouls
Knee High by Dino's Boys
Better to Be Lucky Than Good by The Electric Mess
Night of the Sadist by Larry & The Blue Notes
Animal by Knoll Allen & The Noble Savages The Striker by The Giant Robots Bless You by The Devil Dogs
We'll Be Together by The Pretty Things
Manic Romantics by Soulphonics Cha Cha Cha Chewy by Jonny Manak & The Depressives Skinny Jimmy by The Del Moroccos
If a Man Answers by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
The Sky is a Poisonous Garden by Concrete Blonde
Shotgun Shooter by GØGGS
Bloody Hammer by Roky Erickson & The Aliens
Spooks by Ghost Bikini
El Sadistico by Deadbolt
No Novelty by Nots
Andres by L7
Moonlight Motel by The Gun Club
Crawl Through Your Hair by New Mystery Girl
Alien Agenda by Alien Space Kitchen
Big Black Hole by The Oblivians Celebration Number One by The Night Beats
Yona's Blues by The Come n' Go Louie Louie by The Flamin' Groovies
Shattered by The Good Feelings
You Got the Love by The Cynics Wild Little Rider by The Bloodhounds
High John the Conquerer by Gogol Bordella
Russian Lullaby by Pierre Omer's Swing Revue
Zycie Jest Piekne by Kult
Reckless Heart by Johnny Rawls
Muriel by Eleni Mandell
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 29, 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
Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum
The One That Got Away by Legendary Shack Shakers
Hard Travelin' by Tim Timebomb
It's All Over But the Crying by Jan Howard
Sloppy Drunk Blues by Devil in a Woodpile
Cornbread and 'Lasses and Sassafrass Tea by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
I Got Nothing by Don Whitaker & The Shinebenders
Skip a Rope by Dallas Wayne
Don't Fall in Love WIth a Girl Like That by The Boxcars
Buffalo Gals by J. Michael Combs
Anything Goes at a Rooster Show by The Imperial Rooster
Don't Shoot by Kyle Martin
I Don't Claim to Be an Angel by Laura Cantrell
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter by The Western Flyers
Rubber Room by Frontier Circus
Dolores by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
Railroad Lady by Jerry Jeff Walker
Jimmy Jack's Diner by Trailer Radio
The Marching Hippies by Guy Drake
Never Come Home / Cocktails by Robbie Fulks
Do You Know How It Feels to Be Lonely by Carla Olson
Begging for a Bullet by Dean Miller
Win-Win Situation for Losers by Dave Insley
Roarin' by Gary Stewart
One Meat Ball by Josh White
Number One With a Bullet by Freakwater
The Pilgrim Chapter 38 by Kris Kristofferson
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends by Joan Osborne
Watching the River Go By by John Hartford
Thy Burdens are Greater Than Mine by Hank Williams
For years I've been fascinated by a song that I just always assumed was an Old
West cowboy song, the song that might be sung out on the range, or by Miss
Kitty's prettiest showgirls at the Long Branch Saloon.
"Buffalo Gals."
I always assumed there was something going on beneath the lyrics about dancing
with the girl with the hole in her stocking. Something spooky and mystical and
sexy.
Recently while reading about "Buffalo Gals" on the Library of Congress
Folklife Todayblog, a commenter named Joe Ward described exactly what I thought the song was
about:
It may have been a cleaned up account, but when I was a child in Texas I
was told that it was based on an old cowboy legend that on moonlit nights on
the prairie, sometimes the spirits of sleeping buffalo would emerge in the
form of beautiful young girls and dance in the moonlight.
I imagined it as an invocation, with the horny old cowpoke singing it trying to
conjure up his own buffalo gal, who I'm sure would snort, kick up a lot of dust
and, uh, dance by the light of the moon. But there's good evidence that "Buffalo Gals" didn't start out as a cowboy
song. And that article in Folklife Today, written by
Stephanie Hall suggests that originally the Buffalo gals might have just been girls from
Buffalo, N.Y.
Hall writes:
"Buffalo Girls" became the title of a 1990 Larry McMurtry novel about
Calamity Jane
... the origin of this song is often given as having been composed by the
minstrel show performer John Hodges under his stage name “Cool White” in
1844. The lyrics are somewhat different, as shown by the title: “Lubly Fan
Will You Cum Out To Night?” [sic] (Lubly Fan is Lovely Fanny). It is an
early example of a song sung by a white man who performed in black face
using a mock African American dialect. Just one year later another white
group who performed in black face, The Ethiopian Serenaders, published sheet
music for “Philadelphia Gals,” (1845) with similar lyrics and no attribution
for a composer or lyricist. ... The Ethiopian Serenaders published another version, “Buffalo Gals”
(presumably for Buffalo, New York), also unattributed. This is the first
sheet music version of the song as it is most familiar to us today.
Hall, however, raises the possibility that the song could have existed long
before it was published.
"Folk songs and minstrel show songs were often in oral circulation long
before they appeared in published form, so first publication is not
necessarily a reliable indication of a song’s age or the composer. It was
not uncommon for the person who first transcribed a song to claim
authorship, especially in the nineteenth century. ... Versions of the song
may even have existed in oral tradition before “Lubly Fan” or “Buffalo Gals”
appeared on minstrel stages.
Hall found what might be a version of the song in the guise of a fiddle song
found in Virginia and West Virginia called "Round Town Gals" circa 1839. You can
find a version of that
HERE.
After the song was published in the mid 1840s, it began to travel around the
country. Sometimes the title would be changed to match the locale in which it
was being played. But "Buffalo Gals" began to stick.
"Who are those buffalo gals?" Hall wrote. "The bison is a symbol of America,
especially the American west. As the song takes on new life, the `gals' may be
women of the west, pioneers, cowgirls, or perhaps fancy women."
Or maybe even the spirits of wild animals who take human form to dance by the
light of the moon.
Below are some worthy versions of "Buffalo Gals."
Woody Guthrie was not the first to record it, but he captured the spirit. His
"Buffalo Gals is a drunken square dance.
Springsteen put some rock 'n' roll in it.
Former Santa Fe resident Eliza Gilkyson played with the lyrics and made it her
own.
And, of course, Malcolm McLaren went crazy with it.
OK, the Republican National Convention last week and the Democratic National Convention this week got me scouring YouTube for weird old campaign songs. But late Tuesday night, my brother Jack turned me on this guy's version of a real 1960 campaign song for Richard Nixon.
Brian Dewan is an artist, musician and furniture maker -- and apparently a fan of strange campaign songs -- from Catskill, N.Y.
Don't ask me when these songs were recorded. They were uploaded on YouTube in 2006, but other than that I can't find a clue.
Here's his version of that Nixon tune.
This stirring ode to Jimmy Carter actually was a song-poem. I posted the original version by Gene Marshall HERElast year.
And this one was ripped from the pages of Mad Magazine circa 1972.
Hopefully Dewan will be covering this song, which has been floating around the Internet the last few days.
Rat on! Here is the the July episode of The Big Enchilada Podcast, a rodent-infested sewer of sounds featuring Barrence Whitfield, The Fleshtones, The Gories, Bloodshot Bill, King Salami and Jack Oblivian, plus new tunes by The Nots and Ty Segal's new band GØGGS. You’re in the rat place at the rat time.
Sunday, July 24, 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
Just My Kind by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Psilocybic Mind by The Marshallow Overcoat
I Object by Sex Hogs II
We Don't Care by The Molting Vultures
She Got Harder by GØGGS
We Who Wait by Jay Retard
Cult Casulty by Messkimos
Garbage Man by The Cramps
Inherently Low by Nots
I'm a Loner by The Jaybees
Banana Splits Theme The Dickies
Puzzlin' Evidence by Talking Heads
Circuit Breaker by The Pastels
Shut Up by The Monks
King's Highway by Sulfer City
Hard Drivin' Man by J. Geils Band
Meet Me at the Graveyard by Andres Williams
Raw Power by Iggy & The Stooges
Took My Lady to Dinner by King Khan & The Shrines
Misery by The Devils
It's the Law by Bob Logg III
Zombie Blocked by Left Lane Cruiser
The Trip of Kambo by O Lenadario Chucrobillyman
Junk Train by Lonesome Shack
Bag of Bones by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Barbed Times by The Blues Against Youth
Tiger Man by John Schooley
Back it Up by King Mud
Shackin' Up by Daddy Longlegs
Clown of the Town by Reverend Beat-Man
Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes by The Raunch Hands
Shepherds of the Nation by The Kinks
Cheryl's Going Home by Miriam
Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Mark Lanegan
What Kind of Fool Am I? by Sammy Davis, Jr. CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 22, 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
Building Our Own Prison by The Waco Brothers
All You Fascists by Billy Bragg & Wilco
Old Man Trump by Ryan Harvey with Ani DiFranco & Tom Morello
Where's the Money by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Waitress, Waitress by Little Jimmy Dickens
Pretty Little Kitty by Ruby Dee & The Snake Handlers
Booze is Good by Dan Whitaker & The Shinebenders
Too Much of Nothing by Bob Dylan & The Band
World's in a Bad Condition by Dave & Phil Alvin
Fruit of the Vine by Nancy Apple
I'm a Ramblin' Man by Waylon Jennings
All American Girl by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
Dallas Alice by Doug Sahm
Be Real by The Bottle Rockets
Pool Cue by Two Tons of Steel
I Told Her Lies by Robbie Fulks
Hippie from Mississippi by Chesney Carroll
Elvis is Everywhere by The Pleasure Barons
Secret Mountain by Legendary Shack Shakers
What You Gonna Do, Leroy by Brennen Leigh
If You Got the Culo, I Got the Burro by Kyle Martin
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican July 22, 2016
Left Lane Cruiser's Skiddley Bow
Decades ago Muddy Waters proclaimed, “The blues had a baby and they named it rock ’n’ roll.” I wonder if Muddy knew that well into the 21st century, the bastard offspring of that unholy union would keep coming.
What follows are recent releases from blues-rock bands that could be classified as “punk blues,” though let’s not get too hung up on labels.
Unlike the blues rockers of the 1960s and ’70s, who worshipped at the altar of Chicago blues stars like Muddy, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson, these newer groups are more influenced by the primitive Mississippi Hill Country Fat Possum Records roster of the early to mid-’90s (R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, Paul “Wine” Jones).
In fact, a friend of mine who caught Lonesome Shack at the Mine Shaft Tavern told me they’re the closest thing to the late Junior Kimbrough he’s heard in years.
* The Switcher by Lonesome Shack. This trio is based in Seattle, but their roots are in New Mexico.
Singer/guitarist Ben Todd spent part of his youth in Silver City and Albuquerque. His mom still lives in Deming. In the early part of this century, he and his girlfriend moved to a trailer in a remote part of Catron County, near Alma, N.M. Todd built a little shed he dubbed “Lonesome Shack” (after a Memphis Minnie song), where he could practice guitar and write songs without driving his girlfriend nuts.
Todd wrote all the songs here except an old gospel shouter called “Safety Zone” (best known in recent years for its version by The Fairfield Four). With Todd’s guitar and vocals out front, Lonesome Shack can get rough and rowdy on songs like “Diamond Man,” “Mushin’ Dog,” and “Chemicals.” But they aren’t as hard-driving as many of their punk blues peers. Lonesome Shack is a little more subtle on slow burners like the spooky “Dirty Traveler” and the almost noirish “Blood.”
* Sin, You Sinners! by The Devils. This is an Italian duo — guitar man Gianni Vessella and singer/drummer Erica Toraldo — that plays a hopped-up, explosive, hellfire version of the blues that owes more to crazed punk rock than it does to Hound Dog Taylor. Naming themselves after a classic 1971 Ken Russell movie about a priest who is executed for witchcraft, The Devils perform dressed as a priest and a nun and play songs with titles like “Coitus Interruptus (From a Priest)” — check YouTube for the wild and wonderful video of this one — “Shaking Satan’s Balls,” “Hell’s Gate,” and “Azazel.” No wonder they caught the attention of Reverend Beat-Man of Voodoo Rhythm Records. I believe they attend the same church.
The Devils are relentless. One song is more thunderous than the last. Currently my favorites are “Magic Sam” (I’m assuming this is a tribute to the late Chicago bluesman, who died of a heart attack in 1969 at the age of thirty-two) and, even though it’s barely more than a minute long, “Puppy Nun,” a joyful little rager that opens the album. All in all, Sin, You Sinners! is a blasphemous blast.
* Beck in Black by Left Lane Cruiser. LLC is a leading light of contemporary punk blues, with Freddy “Joe” Evans IV on slide guitar and vocals and, up to a couple of years ago, Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck on drums. (When I saw them in Austin in 2014, they also had a bass player who made wild noises on a crazy homemade electric instrument fashioned from an old skateboard and a beer bottle.)
This is a strange odds-and-sods album of songs selected by Beck. It’s mostly remastered tracks from the band’s earlier albums, although six of the 14 songs have never been released before.
Among these are “The Pusher,” an anti-hard-drug anthem written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by Steppenwolf back in the late ’60s. Despite being a Steppenwolf fan, I didn’t immediately recognize it until well into the first verse. LLC plays it nice and bluesy. The lyrics are probably more relevant today than they were in 1968.
Another song here with a history is “Chevrolet,” written by Ed and Lonnie Young but based on a 1930 song called “Can I Do It for You?” by Memphis Minnie (her again!) and Kansas Joe and covered by all sorts of acts, from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band (with vocals by Maria Muldaur), Donovan (who renamed it “Hey Gyp [Dig the Slowness]” and took songwriting credits) and, best of all, The Animals. LLC attack the song with their usual crunch and pow, making it a highlight of this collection.
But I like LLC’s original songs, too. Some of my favorites include “Circus” (even though it doesn’t seem to have much to do with circuses), “Amy’s in the Kitchen” (which starts off with a Tom Waits-like percussion and vocals segment before the guitar soars in), and the drum-heavy instrumental “Sausage Paw.”
* Victory Motel Sessions by King Mud. This group is basically a side project for Left Lane Cruiser’s Freddy “Joe”
Evans and drummer Van Campbell, who plays with a band called Black Diamond Heavies (like LLC, on the Alive/Natural Sound label). Guitarist Parker Griggs from Radio Moscow (also on Alive/Natural Sound) joins in on a couple of songs, making King Mud something of a punk-blues supergroup.
My favorite Mud songs at the moment are “Smoked All My Bud” (the whole group sounds mean and desperate); the frantic “War Dancers”; and the hard-rocking closing track “Blood River.”
Video time!
Enjoy some punk blues videos. First some live Lonesome Shack.
The common critical view of the British Invasion hitmakers known as Herman's Hermits is that they were lightweight popsters whose greatest ability was making teenage girls scream and wet their pants. They weren't as rough as The Stones or as creative as The Beatles blah blah blah. And they didn't even have a cool dance like Freddie & The Dreamers.
But I've always respected Herman and the boys, mostly for the important work they did digging up weird old British Music Hall songs to introduce to a new generation.
Back in the early days of Throwback Thursday, I did a feature on one of those songs, "Two Lovely Black Eyes," written in 1886 by Charles Coborn.
Below are several other old tunes that I never would have known without Herman's Hermits.
And one of these was one of Herman's greatest hits, "I'm Henry VIII, I Am." Below is a 1911 version performed by singer/comedian Harry Champion. It was written circa 1910 by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston.
The Herman's Hermits album that really leaned on English Music Hall delights was the American version ofBoth Sides of Herman's Hermits. Here's one of my favorites, "My Old Dutch," written and sung by Albert Chevalier. I'm not certain of the recording date of this version, but he wrote it circa 1892.
Here's another hit for the Hermits. "Leaning on the Lamp Post was sung in 1937 by George Formby in the film Feather Your Nest.
And here's another from Both Sides of Herman's Hermits, "The Future Mrs. 'Awkins," also written by Albert Chevalier, circa 1898. This is a more recent version (1942) by British singer and actor Stanley Holloway.
Here is a Wacky Wednesday salute to some true punk rock survivors and all around funny guys: The Dickies.
This group -- fronted for decades by warbling singer Leonard Graves Phillips and guitarist Stan Lee (no, not that Stan Lee) -- the group, which formed in 1977, is one of the longest-running punk bands from Los Angeles.
They have plenty of original songs, many of which, like "Bowling With Bed Rock Barney," "You Drive Me Ape, You Big Gorilla," and "Manny, Moe & Jack." But some of their most hilarious are their cover songs.
I'll let the band make that argument.
The Dickies wrote and performed the theme song to the movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space and they write an ode to another tacky '80s flick The Toxic Avenger. But probably their first foray into themes from bad sci-fi was their cover of the theme to Gigantor, a 1960s cartoon about a robot.
The Dickies are one of the few punk bands to attempt a Simon & Garfunkel song.
The Dickies tackle this old Broadway tune
The Dickies are hip to Heap, (Uriah, that is)
And most bands that would choose to cover Iron Butterfly would take the easy way out and do "In a Gadda da Vida." Not The Dickies. They chose this obscurity:
But many fans, including me, believe in their hearts that The Dickies never topped this as their greatest cover song:
Tip of the hat to my pal Chuck, who back in the '80s turned me on to The Dickies' album We Aren't the World. I've never recovered.
