Sunday, July 8, 2018 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
Elephant Man by Meet Your Death
Fire Walk With Me by Archie & The Bunkers
Bum a Ride by Oblivians
Rock 'n' Roll by Lou Reed
Mighty Man by James Leg
Love by Country Joe & The Fish
Don't Think Twice by Mike Ness
Snakepit Breakdown by Lydia Lunch Retrovirus
Crazy Crazy Mama by Roky Erikson
Chunk of Steel by Hollywood Sinners
Out of time by Yamantaka Sonic Titan
No Good Town by Trixie & The Trainwrecks
Drunk by Mark Steiner & His Problems
Conception of the Blues by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
Cool Town Woman by Tony Joe White
Don't Tell Jesus by The Devils
Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church) / Cheepnis / The Idiot Bastard Son / Orgy Orgy by Frank Zappa & The Mothers (From The Roxy Performances)
Second Cousin by The Flamin' Groovies
Too Much Wine by Leo "Bud" Welch
Will It Go Round in Circles by Billy Preston
Little Red Rooster by Sam Cooke
That's Why They Call it Temptation by Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis
But I Love You by Reverend Beat-Man featuring Nicole Izobel Garcia
Answering Machine by The Replacements CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican July 6, 2018
Here’s a true treat for all the Frank-o-philes out there: A new box set called The Roxy Performances features seven action-packed compact discs that include six full concerts plus a bunch of studio tracks (recorded at Ike Turner’s Bolic Sound Studios), rehearsal takes and sound checks by Frank Zappa & The Mothers in those golden days of December, 1973.
What a mighty time! Richard Nixon was preparing for his final Christmas in the White House. Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president, replacing Spiro T. Agnew, who was convicted in a kickback scam earlier in the year. The spacecraft Pioneer 10 took the first close-up images of the planet Jupiter. The Exorcist debuted in movie theaters that month.
And Zappa played the Roxy, a Hollywood Club that had just opened less than three months before.
Arguably (and Zappa fans do love to argue) Daddy Frank was at the height of his creative powers during this area . And the Roxy-era Mothers were complete monsters. Keyboard man George Duke, the incredible Ruth Underwood on marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and percussion and singer/sax man Napoleon Murphy Brock are among Zappa’s most valuable players and their playing on these tracks only cement their positions. Duke and Brock had roots in jazz and funk while Underwood was classically trained. In this version of The Mothers, they helped create a complex musical backdrop complimenting Zappa’s wilder musical visions -- but not stepping on his trademark low-brow dirty jokes that helped draw in the masses.
By my count, this is the fourth Zappa product based on those ‘73 Roxy gigs. There was Zappa’s 1974 album Roxy and Elsewhere (which featured most live material from those shows (and other non-Roxy tracks), much of which over-dubbed and remixed by perfectionist Zappa. Then four years ago there was a single-disc compilation, Roxy by Proxy, culled from those shows. Then in 2015 the Zappa Family Trust released a DVD featuring video from the Roxy shows. This package included an audio disc full of Roxy recordings.
Despite the sheer size of The Roxy Performances, this is a reasonably priced box set. It’s about $43 on Amazon, which ain’t bad.
The new collection includes multiple versions of “Penguin in Bondage,” “Cheepnis” (I’m just a sucker for a tune that starts off “Ate a hotdog, tasted real good …”), “Village of the Sun,” “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing,” and "Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church)." And then there’s “Pygmy Twylyte” There are six versions ranging in length from four to 20 minutes. Also there are versions of various songs from other Zappa albums of the era, such as Overnight Sensation (“I’m the Slime,” “Montana”), Apostrophe (“Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” “Cosmic Debris”) and One Size Fits All (“Inca Roads.”)
And there are older songs too, such as “The Dog Breath Variations” from Uncle Meat and “The Idiot Bastard Son,” which first appeared on Zappa’s 1968 classic We’re Only in For the Money. (“His father’s a Nazi in Congress today / His mother’s a hooker somewhere in L.A.” …”)
The melody of this song reappears during a Roxy rehearsal but with new lyrics directed at the then commander-in-chief and leader of the free world. Zappa re-titled it “That Arrogant Dick Nixon.” This song isn’t nearly as powerful as the original “Idiot Bastard” -- which probably is why Zappa never put it on an album during his lifetime.
But it’s interesting hearing him play around with his old songs. And there’s a twisted, mutated take on “Louie Louie” called “Orgy Orgy” showing that despite Zappa’s advanced musical chops, he never drifted too far away from the garage.
My only quibble about The Roxy Performances is that in addition to all the fantastic music there is an overabundance of the musicians tuning up, noodling and screwing around. I can’t help think that even the most zealous Zappa completist wouldn’t object to just a little judicious editing to snip out the dead air, which mostly takes place at the outset of the four concerts. But I can live with this collection as is. Zappa was a giant -- a musical madman, a hilarious comic, an acid-tongued social commentator.
Come back Frank! America still needs you.
Also recommended: * Late Blossom Blues: The Journey of Leo “Bud” Welch. In 2014 a new gospel and blues star emerged. Leo “Bud” Welch of Bruce, Miss. released his very first album, Sabougla Voices, a collection of 10 stinging gospel songs. Welch was a mere lad of 81 at the time. He quickly followed that up with an almost as powerful blues record called I Don’t Prefer No Blues and began touring. (He played Taos Mesa Brewing in early 2015.)
Late Blossom Blues, released on DVD earlier this year, is a documentary directed by Wolfgang Almer and Stefan Wolner, telling the story of Welch’s short but satisfying musical career.
Welch’s devoted manager Vencie Varnado helps tell the story. Varnado recalled he was only 12 when he first heard Welch play -- at a gig for which “nobody showed up.” After Varnado got out of the Army, he rediscovered Welch, who by that point had stopped playing blues and had taken his music to the church.
He recorded some live footage of the old man and pitched Welch to Fat Possum Records, the company that introduced the world to Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside and T-Model Ford. Some record company flunky told him “Well we don’t do blues anymore …” Varnado, however insisted on emailing a video clip to the company. And, he says, only minutes after pressing “send,” Fat Possum honcho Bruce Watson called him and within days Welch was in the studio.
There is plenty of impressive performance footage from festivals as well as Mississippi juke joints and plenty of scenes of Welch being crotchety and loveable. And over the end credits there is a video of a much younger Welch in church with a gospel band singing a righteous version of “Praise His Name,” the first song on Sabougla Voices.
Welch died last December, after the documentary was already making the film festival circuit. He wasn’t able to take advantage of Late Blossom Blues. But hopefully the movie will lead more people to his music.
Video time:
Here's the trailer for The Roxy Performances:
Here's "Inca Roads"
Here's the trailer for the Leo Welch doc
And here's a live version of "Girl in the Holler."
One hundred and five years ago on this date a child named Overton Amos Lemons was born in DeQuincy, Louisiana, near Lake Charles. His mother died when he was a teenager. Young Overton jumped a freight train that took him to New Orleans. There he transformed into Smiley Lewis and became one of that city's most respected blues singers.
"Depending on the situation, Smiley possessed a voice that could shake the shot glasses off a South Rampart Street bar or lullaby a baby to sleep," s 1993 profile in Offbeat said. "One of New Orleans’ most prolific artists, between 1947 and 1965 Lewis recorded some of the most enjoyable and consistent R&B put on wax."
The article quoted famed New Orleans record producer Dave Bartholomew, (who wrote and produced many of Lewis’ best songs: "Smiley had one of the best voices we had around,” Bartholomew said “But it didn’t pay."
Offbeat explained: "Despite recording the original and superior versions of such classics as `Blue Monday,' 'I Hear You Knocking' and 'One Night,' and leaving an enviable body of work, the times and the quirks of the record business held his career back."
Basically, Lewis' problems was that his songs kept getting covered by more famous artists like Fats Domino.
Here are a few Smiley songs that should have been hits. Let's start with his record with which he introduced himself to anyone with ears to hear, "Here Comes Smiley."
This ne is called "Lillie Mae," which was his mother's name.
Here's a smooth R&B ballad, "Someday You'll Want Me."
And here's a song that Elvis Presley later made famous.
Sunday, July 1, 2018 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
4th of July by X
The Outcast by Dave Van Ronk
96 Tears by Garland Jeffreys
Used by The Black Smokers
Medication by The Saucer Men
Mujeres Gatos en la Luna by Los Eskeletos
Dead Sea Fruit ny Miss Ludella Black & The Masonics
Bad Mouthin' by Tony Joe White
I'm Not Like Everybody Else by The Rockin' Guys
Do The Push and Pull by Rufus Thomas
We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys
Love Buzz by Shocking Pink
Love Buzz by Nirvana
Lille Girl by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
Commuter Baby by Trixie & The Trainwrecks
The Monkey Speaks His Mind by Andre Williams
The Crusher by The Cramps
Jump and Shout by The Dirtbombs
Taxidermy Porno by The Hex Dispensers
Laredo (Small Dark Something) by Jon Dee Graham
No Guilt by The Waitresses
Today is a Beautiful Day by Reverend Beat-Man & The New Wave
The Good Bastards by The Bennevilles
I'm Shakin' by Little Willie John
Praise His Name by Leo "Bud" Welch
It Came from the South by Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis
American Music by The Blasters
The Beast is You by The Electric Mess
Bottle of Wine by The Fireballs
House of the Rising Sun by Jello Biafra & The Raunch and Soul All Stars
Manny's Bones by Los Lobos
Mi Saxophone by Al Hurricane
You Done Me Wrong by Bill Hearne
Everything's Dead by The Dead Brothers CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
