Back in 1846 on this very day, President James J. Polk signed into law the Smithsonian Institution Act, which established this nation's national museum.
Congress chartered the Smithsonian Institution This came after James Smithson, a British chemist and mineralogist (and the bastard son of an English duke), donated $500,000 to the U.S. for this purpose.
James Smithson wrote a draft of his Last Will and Testament in 1826 in London, only three years before he died. He died on June 27, 1829, in Genoa, Italy, [and] was buried in a British cemetery. The will left his estate to his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, and stated that if his nephew died without an heir, the money would go "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge ...." After his nephew died without an heir [in 1835], Smithson's estate did come to the United States and a debate began about what this new institution would be.
Strangely, Smithson had never set foot in the U.S.
Did he feel his gift would have more impact on a young nation with only a few major educational and research institutions? Did he hope to immortalize himself in the United States in reaction to opportunities denied him in Britain by his illegitimacy? (Smithson once wrote, "On my father's side I am a Northumberland, on my mother's I am related to kings, but this avails me not.") Was he inspired by the tenets of many scientific societies of his day that held that civilization could achieve perfection through increased knowledge and public education?
To honor the Smithsonian here is an array of music videos from the Smithsonian's own record label, Smithsonian Folkways. (The Folkways label was created in 1948 by Moses Asch, a Polish-born recording engineer and folk music enthusiast. The Smithsonian acquired the label in 1987)
Let's keep this music -- and the spirit of The Smithsonian -- going!
Here's a shout song from McIntosh County Georgia.
Dave Van Ronk recorded several albums for Folkways.
Here's a little polka from Flaco Jimenez & Max Baca.
The Seldom Scene cover a John Fogerty song about Elvis.
And finally, Valerie June sings a Lead Belly classic.
On this day in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon left the White House in the face of near certain impeachment.
But by the late '80s, a merry band of rock 'n' rollers from Donaldsonville, Louisiana had begun a noble, if tongue-in-cheek, attempt to rehabilitate Nixon's image. Led by a firefighter named Kirk Paul Landry, aka "Kirk the Jerk Springstone," The Dick Nixons The Dick Nixons sang songs glorifying the 37th president.
The group in 1992 released an album called Paint the White House Black, which was produced by none other than Memphis titan Jim Dickinson. It was on Triple X Records (home of the Angry Samoans!)
Unfortunately The Dick Nixons failed to get their hero re-elected president in 1988 or 1992. But they had fun trying.
There is not much information about The Dick Nixons online and only a scattering of YouTube videos, some of which are below.
But Landry, who died in 2009 at the age of 51, was an interesting character. Besides his work in The Dick Nixons, he was a "founding moron" responsible for an event called The Shemp Festival in Donaldsonville in the 1980s, which, according to a local press account, "reaped national attention with the largest pie fight in the southern Unites States."
Sadly, Landry's career suffered a bizarre Nixonian twist. He rose to the rank as Donaldsonville's fire chief in 1992 and served in that position until 2004 when he was arrested for falsifying records. He was convicted in 2007, two years before his death.
Prosecutors said he altered fire reports to the insurance association to get a lower and better fire insurance rating for Donaldsonville. He "doubled his manpower on the fire reports he changed and added firetrucks that were not at the scene of the fires," prosecutors said. Landry’s lawyers argued that he "had no intent to defraud anybody" and that he only followed the advice of a Fire Department rating consultant hired by the city of to help get a lower and better fire rating.
He was sentenced to a year in prison but the judge suspended the sentence. Landry appealed the conviction, but a Louisiana appeals court affirmed the verdict and sentence about three months before Landry died,
Here are some songs by The Dick Nixons to commemorate this historical day.
This one's the very first Dick Nixons song I ever heard.
And here's the first part of a 1988 Dick Nixons television interview.
And here's a whole concert by the Dick Nixons on SoundCloud
Sunday, August 6, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Johnny Voodoo by Empress of Fur
Bad Man by Oblivians
Fire in the Western World by Dead Moon
Never Felt Like This by King Khan & BBQ Show
You Can't Judge a Book by The Plimsouls
Right on You by Benjamin Booker
Rebel Intution by The Black Lips
Psychotic Reaction by The Cramps
So Much by Count Five
The Rocky to Dublin by The Young Dubliners
Donegal Express by Shane MacGowan & The Popes
The Bride Wore Black by Flogging Molly
Kicked to the Curb by Dropkick Murphys
The Captain's Dead b y Paddy & The Rats
Forty Deuce by Black 47
Jon Langford gets his kicks at Mekonville
Sweet Molly Malone by Brenton Wood
Mekonville Set
If I Was a Mekon by Too Much Joy
Simone on the Beach by The Mekons
Ballad of Soloman Jones by Jon Langford's Men of Gwent
Sugar Coated by Striplight
Compass by Esper Scout
I'm Gonna Do Well by Calva Louise
Metanoia by Churchwood
An Incident Off St. Kitts by Mini Mekons with Robbie Fulks
The Devil's Music by The Three Johns
Mystery by Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls
The Curse by Chivalrous Amoekons
Summer's Almost Gone by The Doors
Since I Don't Have You by The Skyliners
Tom Jones Levitation by C, Farley, P. Malone & The Chicken Cross Mail Vice Quire CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, August 4, 2017 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
Hard Travelin' by Simon Stokes
Big Zombie by Chivalrous Amoekons
Point of No Return by Lonesome Bob
Memphis, Egypt by The Larkins
Wild and Blue by The Mekons
One Hand Loose by Charlie Feathers
Dirty Little Blues by The Whiskey Charmers
Do You Call That a Buddy by Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons with Phil Wiggins
Dirty Mouth Flo by Robbie Fulks
The End / Demons in Your Head by The Imperial Rooster
Fast, Cheap or Well Done by Laura Hope & The Ark Tones
Eatin' Crow and Drinkin' Sand by Jesse Dayton
If Mama Coulda Seen Me by Steve Earle
Carve That Possum by Southern Culture on the Skids
Mountain Boys Have Fun with Mountain Girls by Spade Cooley
Ambulance by Shinyribs
Omaha by The Gourds
Foolish Heart by Nikki Lane
No More Crying the Blues by The Cactus Blossoms
Her Hair is a Mess by Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys
Quit Hollerin' at Me by John Prine
High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish by Tony Joe White
Elvis Presley Blues by Tom Jones
I Just Lost My Mind by Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys
Godzilla vs King Kong by Boris McCutcheon
The Terrible Operation by Jorma Kaukonen
Linda on My Mind by Conway Twitty
You've Never Been This Far Before by Freakwater
You Got the Light by Bobby Bare
First Girl I Loved by John Hartford CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Aug. 4, 2017 Young, dumb and snotty is nothing to be ashamed of in the punk rock racket. There’s a lot you can do with it. And The Black Lipsplay that card better than most – though they’ve been around long enough that the “young” part of that equation doesn’t quite fit as it used to.
But on their new album – their eighth! -- Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art?, the Lips show that young, dumb and snotty is just a part of the band’s weird charm. Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, Satan’s Graffiti is a crazed pogo-stick hop through the cosmos. I’ve liked just about all Black Lips albums, but to these ears, this is their best since their 2007 live-in-Tijuana record, Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo.
The album starts on a deceptive note, a strange, disturbingly mellow little instrumental called “Overture: Sunday Mourning,” featuring a sweet, sleazy sax by new Lips member Zumi Rosow. But that quickly fades to make way for a galloping rocker called “Occidental Front.” When singer Cole Alexander come on with the first verse, the melody sounds vaguely familiar, Is it Dock Boggs’ rasty old “Country Blues”? or is it that mean-eyed murder ballad “Wild Bill Jones,” turbo-charged with electric guitars? Listen close and you’ll hear Yoko Ono her bad self screaming in the background.
Virtually every track is a new adventure. “Can’t Hold On,” is a decent hard rocker, though the last minute or so slows down, becoming a New Orleans jazz funeral dirge. “Squatting in Heaven” begins with a bouncy rhythm and repeating guitar line – or is that Rosow’s sax? -- that could be the sonic equivalent of an insect sting before settling in as riff-heavy blues-rock rumble. “Rebel Intuition” is mutated rockabilly, “Lucid Nightmare” is tribal psychedelic punk while “In My Mind There Is a Dream” could be Portishead re-imagined as garage rock.
And there is even a cover of an early Beatles song, “It Won’t Be Long,” which evokes visions of The Black Lips performing at some Hamburg dive bar with toilet seats around their necks for drunken sailors and off-duty strippers.
By far, the most startling tune on Satan’s Graffiti is a pretty little love song called “Crystal Night.” There is no mention of Nazis or religious persecution, but it couldn’t be clearer that this is about Kristallnacht, 'the night of broken glass," (Nov. 9-10, 1938) in which storm troopers and German civilians attacked Jewish homes and businesses. The Lips sing, “Where do they take you? / Where have you gone? … We never said goodbye / Now you’re sent to die / On crystal night …”
Some reviewers have criticized The Black Lips for their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink craziness displayed on this album, the jarring shifts in styles and atmospheres from song to song. But I find it refreshing. In the end, -- Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art? finds coherence in its incoherence, hitting all kinds of targets with its scattergun approach.
Santa Fe Traditional Music Festival Returns: First of all, I think some disclosure is in order. This
is journalism and they make us have ethics and stuff. So here is my personal connection to this festival:
Back in 1985 (or maybe it was 1986?), when this event was known as the Santa Fe Fiddle and Banjo Contest, some buddies and me decided to form a bluegrass band in the parking lot on the day of the festival. (I think it was just one day back then.)
Calling ourselves “Smilin’ Ted and The Bluegrass Bird Beings,” we rehearsed two songs – bluegrass versions of Johnny Horton’s “North to Alaska” and my own “Cook Yer Enchiladas.”
And, much to my surprise – and to the chagrin of some serious bluegrass artistes who had entered – we won first prize in the Professional Bluegrass Band Division! Not including myself, there were some seriously talented instrumentalists in the Bird Being lineup. But I honestly think what won us the trophy was my daughter, who was four or five at the time, who danced as our “go-go girl.”
But that’s neither here nor there. The news is that the Santa Fe Traditional Music Festival is back in the Santa Fe area again, August 25, 26 and 27 at Camp Stoney, 7855 Old Santa Fe Trail.
Actually, it’s sort of complicated. Last year Southwest Pickers, the non-profit group that’s run the show for years moved the festival up to Red River, (where their Southwest Pickers Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival will take place Sept. 14-17).
The August festival at Camp Stoney is sponsored by a new group the Santa Fe Friends of Traditional Music and Outside In Productions – the same folks who bring us Santa Fe Bandstand every summer.
Whoever is in charge, the line-up looks fantastic. There will be a reunion of Elliott’s Ramblers, led by former New Mexican Elliott Rogers. Also appearing are some of the state’s finest old-timey, bluegrass and other traditional bands: Bayou Seco, Higher Ground, Lone Pinon, The Adobe Brothers, The Fast Peso String Band, Round Mountain, Mariachi Buenaventura and others.
Rumors of a Smilin’ Ted reunion however, are nothing but irresponsible speculation.
Tickets are $45 for all three days, though you also can buy tickets for single days. For the complete schedule and ticket information see check the website..
Therefore Wacky Wednesday and Throwback Thursday won't be appearing here this week or next. I have a Terrell's Tune-up already in the can so that may or may not be appearing here Friday.
Sunday, July , 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Granny's Little Chicken by The Dirtbombs
Who Will Save Rock 'n' Roll by The Dictators
He Sure Could Hypnotize by The A-Bones
Boom Badda Do Ba Dabba by PowerSolo
Romance by Wild Flag
The Mad Daddy by The Cramps
Diddy Wah Diddy by The Sonics
Still Rollin' by Left Lane Cruiser
I Like My Baby's Pudding by Wynonie Harris
Walk Out by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Whettin' My Knife by The Ghost Wolves
I'm Not a Sissy by The Fleshtones
Shiver by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Heat Wave by The Vagoos
Dial Up Doll by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Formula X by Boss Hog
Drop In and Go by The Molting Vultures
Eddie Are You Kidding by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
That Old Black Magic by Louis Prima with Keely Smith
Memphis Egypt by The Mekons
Onion by The Mekons
Where Were You by The Mekons
Poor Valley Radio by Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls
Beaten and Broken by The Mekons
Hainted by Churchwood
The Bride Wore Black by Flogging Molly
Shake by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Crystal Night by The Black Lips
Howling Wolf Blues by Johnny Dowd
Pinky's Dream by David Lynch with Karen O
Strawberries Mean Love by Strawberry Alarm Clock
Carrickfergus by Van Morrison & The Chieftains
Lucky Day by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
