Sunday, October 31, 2010
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@ksfr.org
THE 2010 STEVE TERRELL RADIO SPOOKTACULAR
Spooktacular 2010 Podcast Intro
Halloween Hootenanny by Zacherle
It's Halloween by The Shaggs
Night of The Vampire by The Fuzztones
I Walked With the Zombie by Roky Erikson
I'm a Mummy by The Fall
Werewolf by Southern Culture on the Skids
Macon County Morgue by Captain Clegg And The Night Creatures
Panic in Georgia by Deadbolt
Halloween by Mudhoney
Frankenstein Meets The Beatles by Dickie Goodman
Monster Party by The Powerknobs
Monster by Fred Schneider
Evil Hoodoo by The Seeds
It's Monster Surfing Time by The Deadly Ones
Hoodoo Man Blues by Junior Wells
Scream and Scream by Screamin' Lord Sutch
Voodoo Queen Marie by The Du-Tells
Haunted House by Jumpin' Gene Simmons
Ghost Busters by Ray Parker, Jr.
Orgies: A Tool of Witchcraft by Louise Heubner
Witchcraft by The Spiders
Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) by Concrete Blonde
I'm Your Witch Doctor by The Chants
Feast of The Mau Mau by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Carne Voodoo by Rocket From the Crypt
Halloween She Got So Mean by Rob Zombie with The Ghastly Ones
Haitian Voodoo Baby by The X-Rays
Big Black Witchcraft Rock by The Cramps
Ghoul a Go Go by The Tex Reys
Brand New Girl by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm by Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees
'Taint No Sin by Tom Waits with William Burroughs
Monster Blues by Dexter Romweber
Witchdoctor's Curse by The Frantic Flattops
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Hopefully by now you have partaken of the ghoulish delights of my latest Big Enchilada Podcast, Spooktacular 2010. If not it's HERE.
But I'm not the only GaragePunk podcaster to work the spooky side of the street in recent days. For the ultimate in rock 'n' roll Halloween sounds, bob for some of these razor-laden apples:
* Uncle Yah-Yah has risen from his swampy grave and blessed us with a brand new "Haunted Shack Theater" Halloween Special. Of course all of his episodes are appropriate for this most wonderful time of the year.
* The Mal Thursday Show from Austin, Texas gives us two hours of classic spook rock on his latest episode "Halloween Special."
* While it's not an "official" GaragePunk Network podcast, Radio Free Bakersfield always is a hoot and this week on Episode 203 Ted Pilgrim of Satan's Pilgrim is the guest host, spinning Halloween rock.
And of course, you can still get my own previous Halloween podcasts Big Enchilada 15 CLICK HERE Big Enchilada 1 CLICK HERE
Friday, October 29, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Ghost of a Texas Ladies' Man by Concrete Blonde
Yo Soy Tejana by Suzzette Lawrence & The Neon Angels
Forbidden Fruit by Marti Brom
Monster's Holiday by The Plainsmen
Down on the Farm by Big Al Dowling
Hillbilly Monster by James Richard Oliver
Voodoo Woman by Nancy Apple
Taint No Sin (To Take Off Your Skin) by Fred Hall
The Ex-President's Waltz by David Massengil
El Chupacabra by The Cedarsqueezers
Wasp's Nest by Ray Wylie Hubbard
West L.A. Getaway by Los Lobos
Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare
Wild Wild Young Men by Rose Maddox
Brownie's Stomp by Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies
Go Go Truck by The Defibulators
Bad Boys by Southern Culture on the Skids
Nothin' But Tough by Kip Tyler & The Flips
Ghost In The Graveyard by Prairie Ramblers
Mr. Pain by Halden Wofford & The Hi Beams
Mind Your Own Business by Hank Williams
No Shoes by Hasil Adkins
Hoodoo Bash by Michael Hurley, Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones
Dear Abby by John Prine
Night of the Wolves by Gary Heffern
Deep Blue Sea by South Memphis String Band
From This Outlaw To You by Simon Stokes
Canadian Whiskey by Doug Jeffords
My Morphine by Gillian Welch
She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me) by Jerry Lee Lewis
Perfect Stranger by Eleni Mandell
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican October 29, 2010
In the weeks preceding Halloween, the average American, according to statistics I just made up, will hear “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett 17.3 times.
That novelty hit from 1962 (trivia note: Leon Russell played piano on the record) seems omnipresent, but it’s hardly the only tacky rock ’n’ roll monster song. They’re everywhere — full of shrieks, wolf howls, cackling witch laughs, bad horror puns, and even worse Boris and Bela impersonations — if you know where to look for them.
From personal experience, I can truthfully say that monsters and rock ’n’ roll were two major cultural obsessions of American boys, and probably some girls, who grew up in the early ’60s. So it’s natural that those two realms would cross-pollinate.
Recently, I was reminded of a really stupid horror-rock album I had as a kid. The track that stuck in my memory was called “Frankenstein Meets The Beatles.” I had looked for that online more than a couple of times in past years without any luck. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if the memory was just a hallucination caused by smelling too much airplane glue while putting together plastic models of The Wolfman and The Mummy.
But one midnight dreary, I decided to look again. Lo and behold, I found it. A legal version, even! It was on a record called The Monster Album by none other than Dickie Goodman, most famous for his “break-in” songs, like “The Flying Saucer” and “Mr. Jaws,” set up as newscasts in which the reporter is answered by short samples of current pop hits.
Besides “Frankenstein Meets The Beatles,” the album had songs with such titles as “Ghoul From Ipanema” and “Mambo Mummy.”
A word of caution: While the cover looks the same and that song about The Beatles is there, the version of The Monster Album I found on eMusic and Amazon is not the same album I had in 1965. In fact the only other tune from the original that appears to be on this is “Dracula Drag” (which refers to hot-rod racing, not his manner of dress).
Bags of candy: If you’re looking for a good Internet source for crazy old Halloween music, it’s hard to beat WFMU’s Rock ’n’ Soul Ichiban! blog . In fact it’s hard to beat that blog, a project of a great public radio station in New Jersey, for crazy old music of any sort.
Its recent Halloween posts include “the swingin’est version of the Alfred Hitchcock theme you will ever hear” (by Stanley Wilson & His Orchestra); some videos set to songs from a proto-Elvira from Portland, Oregon, named “Tarantula Ghoul”; and a link to an impressive 60-track collection of spooky instrumentals, spiced up with several audio clips from horror-movie trailers.
The collection is from J.R. Williams, an Ichiban contributor and comics artist from Oregon who frequently posts links to amazing mp3 compilations on his Flickr page.
Halloween Instrumentals: Ghost Guitars features a fine variety of sounds. There are a few artists you should recognize — The Ventures (“The Bat,” “Fear,” and “He Never Came Back”), Duane Eddy (“The Trembler”), The Champs (most famous for “Tequila,” but here they do Henry Mancini’s “Experiment in Terror”), and Merv Griffin — yes that Merv Griffin — doing a faux-Lugosi intro to a rocking little thriller called “House of Horrors.”
There are also a number of bands I suspect were one-offs — Frankie Stein & His Ghouls, The Gravestone Four, and Tony & The Monstrosities, etc.
While there’s lots of “surf” music and strip-club sax here, this collection also includes moody tremolo twang like “Innersanctum” by Jim Wolfe & The T-Towners, which reminds me of The Viscounts’ “Harlem Nocturne” and even a little funk in “The Exorcist” by The Devils. You can find this collection HERE. But, hurry. Williams frequently removes links to the downloads.
Even more goblin rock is on a blog called Spread the Good Word!. The host, who calls himself Reverend Frost, has 16 compilations of Halloween tunes waiting for you to download. (These aren’t separate tracks like Williams’ compilations. They’re all on hour-long mp3s.) I downloaded the latest.
A favorite here is “Mummy’s Ball” by The Verdicts. Rockabilly ace Ronnie Dawson does his version of “Rockin’ Bones,” later covered by The Cramps. There are also some more recent songs by groups like the Fuzztones (“I’m The Wolfman”) and goth-rockers Alien Sex Fiend (”Now I’m Feeling Zombified”).
And yes, there’s a Dickie Goodman tune from The Monster Album: “My Baby Loves Monster Movies.”
The world’s scariest band: That’s the title claimed by Deadbolt, a San Diego surf/pyschobilly/SpaghettiOs-Western trash-rock combo that’s been around for more than 20 years and makes music perfect for this time of year.
Its latest self-released album, Voodoo Moonshiner, touches on many time-honored Deadbolt themes — criminal activity, violence, and the supernatural.
It’s no rock opera, but some of the songs — “Voodoo Moonshine” and “Panic in Georgia” — deal with a strange brew of mountain dew that turns God-fearing hillbillies into flesh-eating zombies.
One of my favorites is “Buy a Gun (Get a Free Guitar).” It’s a song about a possessed pawn-shop guitar that transforms its owner into a great musician — and a crazed killer.
Then there’s “The Mocker,” a series of short skits about a haunted recording studio in which a singer is taunted and trapped by a mysterious ghostly voice.
The funniest part is hearing tough-guy Deadbolt singer Harley Davidson crooning dreary little singer-songwriter ditties that seem to attract and fuel The Mocker.
Warning: this CD is difficult to find. When I last checked, Amazon had one copy. On your mark, get set ...
My own Halloween rock contributions:
My latest Big Enchilada podcast, Spooktacular 2010, is up and ready to creep into your computer. It's RIGHT HERE
The live radio version of Spooktacular broadcasts 10 p.m. Sunday — Halloween night! — on KSFR-FM 101.1 and streaming HERE.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
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@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Mr. Kicks by Oscar Brown, Jr.
Grim by Ass Ponies
Ride Helldorados by Deadbolt
Sophisticated Boom Boom by Kid Congo Powers with The Knoxville Girls
Goat Throat by The Scrams
Too Much Junkie Business by Johnny Thunders
Woman Cops by Ding Dongs
Bandstand by The Tandoori Knights
99 Beef Steaks by Willie White
Hodad Makin' the Scene with a Six Pack by The Silly Surfers
Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner
Jackie Chan Does Kung Fu by Thee Headcoatees
Sorry Somehow by Husker Du
Black by The Monsters
Let's Go Nutz by Joe "King Carrasco" & The Crowns
Big Sur, Bear Mountain, Ciro's, Flip Side, Protest Song by Kim Fowley
Bellringer Blues by Grinderman
Ikebukuro Tiger by Guitar Wolf
Heebie Jeebies by Little Richard
Bloody Hammer by Roky Erikson & The Resurectionists
Nothing Can Bring Me Down by Mondo Topless
Crumble by Dinosaur Jr.
Trash Truck by Tad
Fix That Broken Halo by The Ruiners
Yellow Elevator #2 by The Black Angels
That's a Lie by Too Much Joy
Somebody Stop Me by The Dynamites Featuring Charles Walker
B.O.O.G.A.L.O.O. by Diplomats of Solid Sound
Get It Together by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
Mama Don't Like My Man by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Ode To Billie Joe/Hip Hug-Her by Wiley And The Checkmates
You've Got My Mind Messed Up by James Carr
Heaven by Little Jimmy Scott
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Fe fe, fi fi, fo fo fum, it's a Monster's Holiday! Halloween is here again and it's the second anniversary of The Big Enchilada! Sit back with a cold glass of your favorite blood type and enjoy the ghoulish sounds of Stud Cole, Roky Erikson, Johnny Dowd, Deadbolt, The Monsters, The Fuzztones, The Scrams, Electricoolade, The Electric Mess, The Hydeouts, Marshmallow Overcoat and so many more. Rock your rockin' bones!
(Background Music: Spooks-a-Poppin' Theme by The A-Bones)
Don't Shake Me Lucifer by Roky Erickson & The Resurectionists
I'm the Wolfman by The Fuzztones
Coffin Nails by Coffin Nails
The Zombie Stomp by Danny Ware
Breathing With the Dead by Organs
I Got the Creeps by Big John Bates
Frankenstein Meets The Beatles by Dickie Goodman
Friday, October 22, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM email me during the show!terrell@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Bloody Mary Morning by Willie Nelson
Haunted House Boogie by Happy Williams
Jukebox Fever by Jerry Lee Merritt
One Hour Mama by Maria Muldaur
I Just Fall by Reckless Kelly
Sheriff Jodie Pickins by Deadbolt
Rebel Within by Hank III
My Neighbor Burns Trash by Southern Culture on the Skids
Something I Said by Ray Condo & The Hardrock Goners
Two Bottles Of Wine by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
You Got a Long Way to Go by Ronnie Dawson
Hoboes Are My Heroes by Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
When Dorey's Behind the Door by Al Duvall
Xmas Ornament/Your Hearty Laugh by The Defibulators
This Haunted House by Eilen Jewell
Bennie Hess Boogie by Bennie Hess & His Nation Playboys
I'm Comin' Home by Johnny Horton
Hound Dog by Billy Starr
Broken Down by Joe Cassady & His West End Sound
That's When Your Heartaches Begin by Elvis Presley with The Million Dollar Quartet
Rainy Day Woman by Waylon Jennings
Hot Tamale Pete by Bob Skyles & His Skyrockets
Mohair Sam by Charlie Rich
Who Walks In When I Walk Out by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Miss Maybelle by Richard Johnston
Gloomy Sunday by Singing Sadie with Al Duvall
Barroom Girls by Doug Jeffords
This Orchid Means Goodbye by Carl Smith
Don't Take Your Love to Town by Johnny Cash
Cherokee Fiddle by Michael Martin Murphey
Walk You Home by Marlee MacLeod
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
After all, for more than 20 years, the musicians have cultivated a goofy faux-hillbilly image — wearing funny hats, cheap sunglasses, backwoods/thrift-shop clothes — and singer/bassist Mary Huff sports a beehive that would frighten most bees. And they sing lots of funny songs about fried chicken, banana pudding, strippers, stock cars, Little Debbie pastries, tacky tiki bars, moonshine, and white-trash cultural affairs. I don’t know whether they still do this, but for a while, they were known for throwing pieces of fried chicken at their audience at live shows.
The only thing is, while they’re very funny, these North Carolinians are real musicians. As a trio (most of the time), SCOTS is a tight little outfit, playing a distinctive blend of country, rockabilly, surf, swampy R & B, garage, occasionally bluegrass, and exotica.
Huff has a voice as big as her hair (I always hope for more songs where she sings lead), and Rick Miller is a fine rock ’n’ roll guitarist. The only time I saw them live (at the late and lamented Paramount in 2001), I realized that they were playing surf music better than a lot of so-called surf bands out there.
Southern Culture’s latest effort, The Kudzu Ranch (named for the recording studio where they make the magic), is something of a return to form for the band. Their previous album, Countrypolitan Favorites, spotlighted their country side. (In fact, it was an homage to the Nashville sound of the late ’50s and early ’60s. Kudzu is far more varied.)
The opener, “Bone Dry Dirt,” is a pounding rocker with Miller playing Creedence-worthy guitar licks and drummer Dave Hartman knocking the snot out of his trap kit. One of SCOTS’ best-known songs is “Too Much Pork for Just One Fork.” They return to their own private hog heaven with the next song “Pig Pickin’,” a jumpy little rocker.
Huff sings it nice and pretty on “Highlife,” which almost sounds like a folk-rock tune. But her big moment on this record is “Bad Boys,” a lusty tribute to tattooed love boys who “need a good spanking.” Sings Huff, “I gotta get one of those!” It’s not quite as powerful as her signature song, Joanna Neel’s “Daddy Was a Preacher, But Mama Was a Go-Go Girl,” but it’s pretty snazzy.
They get mysterioso with a smoky little charmer called “Montague’s Mystery Theme.” They do a full rollicking SCOTS treatment of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country.” “Busy Road,” which concerns civilization encroaching on a backwoods home (“Lost two dogs about a month ago”), has an irresistible Bo Diddley beat. And Miller breaks out the banjo for “My Neighbor Burns Trash” (“Says I got a pack of matches and a pile of leaves/Three bags of garbage and some gasoline/Got a plastic jug and some cellophane/Burn anything that can’t run away”).
As always, there are plenty of fascinating instrumentals. “Slinky Spring Milt” sounds like a lost Duane Eddy twanger. “Jack’s Tune,” which closes the album, is slow and wistful. But the one that SCOTS fans will love the most is a surfy medley of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are” and an obscure Pink Floyd song called “Lucifer Sam.”
Is Southern Culture on the Skids a novelty act? If so, who cares? Life needs novelty. This is trash rock you won’t want to burn.
When visiting SCOTS' website, don't miss the “Home Cooking” section for some delicious recipes. Those turtle burgers look like a treat that city folks will never know.
Also recommended:
* Corn Money by The Defibulators. Before I start in on this fine debut album from this crazed country band from New York City (New York City?), brace yourself, Bridget, they’re coming to Santa Fe next week — to the Cowgirl BBQ on Wednesday, Oct. 27, to be exact. Judging by this album and a couple of videos I’ve seen, it should be a good evening.
Let me be straight. Though I’m a hillbilly fanatic, most contemporary alt-country bands bore me to tears. But I knew after hearing just a couple of tracks on The Defibs’ website that I was going to love this band.
In fact, Corn Money — which was actually released last year — is the best alt-country effort I’ve heard in years. Come to think about it, I like it even better than the Southern Culture on the Skids album reviewed above.
The Defibulators, a seven-member group, have fiddles, banjos, guitars, drums, a jew’s-harp, honking harmonicas, an upright bass, and a washboard player named Metalbelly.
Singer Erin Bru’s laconic vocals, especially on the song “Get What’s Coming,” remind me a little bit of Trailer Bride’s Melissa Swingle.
I hear a lot of various influences — or at least what I think might be influences — here. There’s a little SCOTS in the song “Go-Go Truck” and some Legendary Shack Shakers madness and a little Hank III raucousness on nearly every tune — maybe even some Reverend Peyton. The song “Xmas Ornament,” which I don’t think has anything to do with Christmas, sounds like some Handsome Family tune interpreted by the Asylum Street Spankers.
Almost every male-female vocal duo in every third-rate alt-country band in this land gets a Gram Parsons-Emmylou Harris comparison at some point by lazy writers and cheesy publicists. So I almost hesitate to use it here. But frontman Bug Jennings and Bru sound so purdy on “Your Hearty Laugh,” it reminds me of “The New Soft Shoe” by none other than Gram & Emmylou.
Check them out at the Cowgirl, 319 S. Guadalupe St., at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The cover charge is an incredible $3.
Sunday, October, 2010
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@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Blackberry Brandy by The Sinister Six
Chimp Necropsy by The Scrams
Blame it on Mom by Johnny Thunders
It's Great by Wau & Los Arrrghs!!!
Little Girl by Hollywood Sinners
Lipstick Vogue by Elvis Costello
Pump It Up by Mudhoney
Out of Focus by Blue Cheer
Maria Has a Son by Kult
Kitchenette by Grinderman
Breathing With the Dead by Organs
Rumors by Syndicate of Sound
Sub-Atomic Powerplay by Make-Overs
Fireface by The Chocolate Watchband
I Was A Teenage Kiddie Porn Star by Al Foul & the Shakes
Nothing To Do by Figures Of Light Suburban Cop by The Ruiners King Kong by Barrence Whitfield & the Savages
Around the World by Delaney Davidson
Second Dark Age by The Fall
This is the Day by Pierced Arrows
Luminol by Horror Deluxe
LSDC by Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkey Birds
Egyptian Maiden by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Dickie Chalkie And Nobby by The Mekons Swamp Woman by Johnny Dowd Heard It All Before by New Mystery Girl
On Main Street by Los Lobos
Your Love by Reigning Sound
Tough Lover by Etta James
Time Is on My Side by Irma Thomas with Alan Toussaint
Lenny Bruce by Stan Ridgway
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Wild Man Boogie by Ray Batts
Seen You With No Make Up by Mike Neal
Pig Pickin' by Southern Culture on the Skids
Hey Bub by Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
White Trash Girl by Candye Kane
Hello Walls by Faron Young
Wings of a Dove by Ferlin Huskey
Pride by Ray Price
Corn Money by The Defibulators
Chauffeur by Rosie Flores and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
R.I.P Solomon Burke
(All songs by Burke unless otherwise noted)
Down in the Valley
That's How I Got to Memphis
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love by Wilson Pickett
Pledging My Love
Soul Meeting by The Soul Clan (Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Ben E. King & Joe Tex)
Only a Dream
I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)
Diamond in Your Mind
Celebration of the Rescue of the Chilean Miners
Dark as a Dungeon by Merle Travis with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
16 Tons by Bo Diddley
Coal Tattoo by Kathy Mattea
Blackleg Miner by Steeleye Span
The Mountain by Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band
The Rescue from Moose River Gold Mine by Norman Blake
Redneck War by Ron Short
Que Creek by Buddy Miller
Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean
American Boy by Eleni Mandell
Write Me Sweetheart by Doug Jeffords
Put It Back by Billy Kaundart
Sweet Tequila Blues by Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
It's Not My Time To Go by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
In Northern New Mexico and parts of Albuqueruqe, you can tune in at KSFR, 101.1 FM on your FM dial. If you're out of state or out of range, don't go out of your mind. Find it on the Internet HERE .
With Phosphene Dream, their third full-length album, these cosmic avengers from deep in the heart of Texas offer a more varied sound than on their previous albums. The songs are shorter too. No 16- or 18-minute sonic odysseys like they had on Directions to See a Ghost and Passover.
Frontman Alex Maas sounds more confident than ever — though he still reminds me somewhat of Jim James of My Morning Jacket.
But make no mistake. As I realized the first time I ever heard The Angels — playing at a Roky Erickson Ice Cream Social during SXSW a couple of years ago — these guys play psychedelic music in the finest sense of the word.
Like Roky’s music, this is not the fairy-fey flower-power fluff that passes for psychedelic in some deluded circles. These angel-headed hipsters play intense, throbbing, hypnotic excursions to inner worlds — true to the song that gave them their name, “The Black Angel’s Death Song” by The Velvet Underground.
Something to ponder: if Erickson wanted to make an album with a young Austin band, he should have done it with The Black Angels, not Okkervil River — as he did on his last album, True Love Cast Out All Evil. That would have been a far more powerful team. (The Angels have backed Erickson in concert. Allegedly, there’s a DVD of that in the works, and you can find videos of live songs on YouTube.)
Back to Phosphene Dream — what we have here indeed is trippy. But not all trips are happy affairs. In fact, some are downright scary. And I believe there used to be a term — “bummer” — to describe chemically induced unpleasantness. The Angels have song titles like “River of Blood” and “Bad Vibrations,” which I guarantee will never be used in a Sunkist commercial. “Drink her last tear/Yeah you die for your dear/Bad vibes around her/She’s eating hearts again,” Maas sings in “Bad Vibrations.”
But no, this record is no bummer by any means. In fact, it makes me happy. Are varied than ever. There’s more attention to melody, some of which is actually catchy. And less shoegazing and more toe-tapping.
“Telephone,” which the Angels recently performed on the Late Show With David Letterman, clocks in at less than two minutes. But it’s a minute and 59 seconds worth of sheer fun — a snazzy little garage rocker with British Invasion overtones.
“Sunday Afternoon” even has a little Texas funk in it. I could easily imagine Hundred Year Flood having a go at this one. “Yellow Elevator #2” starts out with a bass line right out of The Zombies’ “Time of the Season,” and a cheesy keyboard right out of the B-52’s “Rock Lobster” somehow evolves into a Beatles vibe. The end reminds me of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy) — and all this unfolds in less than three minutes.
What is it with The Angels’ strange obsession with snipers? On their first album, Passover, they had a song called “The Sniper at Heaven’s Gate.” Phosphene Dream ends with a disturbingly happy-sounding little number called “The Sniper.”
“Phosphene” refers to seeing lights when your eyelids are closed. Close your eyes and listen to this album. See where the lights lead you..
Also recommended:
* Slovenly Records Sampler 2010 by various artists. Don’t say I never gave ya nothin’. HERE is a link to a free 55-song mp3 sampler of punk, garage, and weird noises from Slovenly Records, a Reno, Nevada, company. The only catch is that you have to sign up for its email list.
Slovenly’s not very well known as a label, and many of the acts on this sampler are not known at all. But scattered among the artists here are several impressive names from many countries.
From Great Britain there’s Billy Childish and his latest band, Musicians of the British Empire. There are Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! and Hollywood Sinners from Spain and King Automatic, the French one-man garage band. And from these United States are Black Lips and Reigning Sound.
Some of my favorite songs are tracks by bands I had never heard of. There’s a version of the Spider-Man theme (from the old cartoon show) by a Spanish band called Los Pataconas.
“Dyn-o-mite” by the now-defunct Ape City R&B, a Washington-state band influenced by the Angry Samoans, among others, is raw snot rock with echoes of long-forgotten ’60s garage groups. Electric Crush from San Antonio plays low-fi psychedelic freakout on “Clock Stands Still.”
Most of the voices you hear on the sampler are male. Among the refreshing exceptions is that of a lady known as “Helene 33” of The Okmoniks, a Tucson band (pictured below.).
Perhaps the catchiest tune here is “Your Love," the offering from Reigning Sound, led by Greg Cartwright, formerly of The Oblivians. If you listen close enough you can hear Motown in this one.
Most ridiculous is The Ridiculous Trio, an instrumental group — trombone, tuba, drums — that specializes in instrumental covers of Stooges songs. Here the threesome does “Down on the Street.” It’s lots of fun, but I don’t think Iggy did it this way.
But don’t take my word for it. Hear it yourself. And if you like rpms better than mp3s, most of these are available from Slovenly on vinyl 45s.
Solomon Burke, one of the greatest soul singers of all time died yesterday at the age of 70. He had just landed in the Netherlands, where he was scheduled to perform.
Born in Philadelphia, Burke, who also worked as a preacher, began recording in the 1950s. One of the first 45s I ever had as a kid was Burke's soul version of "Down in the Valley," an old cowboy song he turned inside out and made it into a soul testament.
In recent years he'd been making something of a comeback. He did a country album calledNashville in 2006. That featured a heartbreaking version of Tom T. hall's "That's How I Got to Memphis."
But my favorite song of his in recent years was from his 2002 album Don't Give Up on Me -- a cover of Tom Waits' "Diamond in Your Mind."
Rev. Burke left many diamonds for our minds. Below are some performances -- they look fairly recent -- of some of his soul classics.
UPDATE:
What the heck, here's Solomon with The Rolling Stones:
Sunday, October 10, 2010
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@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Psycho Train by The Sinister Six
Naked Naked Naked by The Raunch Hands
Messin' Around by The Ruiners
It Should Be Me by Billy Childish & Musicians of The British Empire
Don't Slander Me by Roky Erikson & Evil Hook Wildlife ET
Powers by The Vonz
Hellhound by The Barbarellatones
In & Out by The Black Lips
There'll Be Hot Coffee by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Worm Tamer by Grinderman
The Walnut Tree by Movie Star Junkies
Hey Girl, Liar Liar by The Living Deadbeats
Dagger Moon by Dead Moon
The Doorway by Pierced Arrows
Monkey House by The BellRays
Red River St. by The Kill Spectors
Mellow Yellow by Big Maybelle
The Sniper by The Black Angels
Purple Merkin Power by Purple Merkins
'New' Old Blue Car by Peter Case
Ain't She Wild by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Ten of Hearts by Mark Sultan
Shut Your Mouth When You Sneeze by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Naked by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Summer Time by Hang On The Box
Planet Claire by B52s
I'll Take Care Of You by Gil Scott-Heron
Demons and Goats by Johnny Dowd
Cry Me a River by Bettye LaVette
Too Close/On My Way To Heaven by Mavis Staples
Your English by Country Teasers
Closing Time by King Automatic
Get it While You Can by Howard Tate
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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My friends Chuck and Liisa were recently in the state. (Chuck was doing events for his new book.) Years ago they turned me on a great Polish rocker Kazik and his band Kult. (Liisa used to live in Poland) It's difficult to find Kazik music in the U.S., but he's easily available on YouTube. Here's a sampling of Kult/Kazik videos.
And Kajik even did an entire album of Tom Waits covers, which I reviewed a few years ago. Here's a video of "Singapur."
Friday, October 8, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Ghost Riders in the Sky by Last Mile Ramblers
Country Boy by Rosie Flores
Guacamole by Freddy Fender with Augie Meyers
Living Hell by Thunder Road
I Feel Like Singing by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Nothin' Shakin' by Linda Gail Lewis
See Willie Fly By by The Waco Brothers
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet by Kim Lenz & The Jaguars
Super Boogie Woogie by Jerry Irby with His Texas Ranchers
Stop Look and Listen by Patsy Cline
Jack & Jill Boogie by Wayne Raney
The Happy Camper by Rev. Horton Heat
Hot Dog by Buck Owens
Hot Dog, That Made Him Mad by Wanda Jackson
Thirty Days In The Workhouse by Peter Case
One Woman Man by George Jones with Marty Stuart
Swingin' From Your Crystal Chandeliers by The Austin Lounge Lizards
Hey Bub by Halden Wofford & The Hi Beams
Strangler In The Night by T.Tex Edwards & Out On Parole
The Fugitive by Merle Haggard
I'm a Honky Tonk Girl by Eilen Jewell
Foothill Boogie by Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Ain't Got Time For the Blues by Bill Kirchen with Maria Muldaur
Do You Believe (In Reincarnation)? by Cornell Hurd
No Good For Me by Waylon Jennings
Tomorrow's Just A Train Wreck Away by Joe Swank And The Zen Pirates
Reel Cajun (451 N. St. Joseph) by Beausoleil
You Made Me What I Am Today by The Watzloves
Garage Sale by Eric Hisaw
I'm Not Like Everyone Else by Chrissy Flatt
Rest Awhile by Bobby Bare
Heaven is My Home by Doug Jeffords
Don't Knock by The Staple Singers
I Belong to the Band by Mavis Staples
No Drunkard Can Enter There by The Delmore Brothers
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
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A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
October 8, 2010
Mavis Staples is in her 70s, and her new album, You Are Not Alone, finds her doing what she’s always done best — blurring the edges of soul, gospel, and pop music. And she sounds as strong as ever doing so.
I’m not saying that lightly. This album is truly powerful, recalling some of her most memorable moments with The Staples Singers back in the ’60s, without sounding nostalgic or self-conscious.
Staples’ fellow Chicagoite Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco produced this album. And he did as well as, if not better than, Ry Cooder on Staples’ previous studio album, We’ll Never Turn Back (an impressive collection of spirituals and civil rights-era tunes).
To his credit, Tweedy obviously wasn’t interested in making a “Mavis Meets Wilco” record — which, I’ll admit, I feared when first I heard about the partnership. He was just determined to make a good Mavis Staples record. (This is the second excellent album in recent years featuring a soul matron with an alt-country producer. The first was Bettye LaVette’s The Scene of The Crime, which was co-produced by the Drive-By-Truckers’ Patterson Hood in 2007.)
Tweedy is obviously in love with that swampy, tremolo-guitar sound that was the trademark of Mavis’ late dad, “Pops” Staples, back in The Staples Singers days. For the best introduction to this sound, don’t look to the group’s popular hits like “Respect Yourself.” Search out its gospel works. A few years ago, I found a copy of a Staples gospel collection called Uncloudy Day from the ’50s that seriously twisted my head off with Pops’ snaky guitar and those gritty vocals.
Most of my favorite songs on You Are Not Alone feature that guitar sound — provided here by a capable picker named Rick Holmstrom — and that gospel spirit.
There are three of Pops’ tunes here. “Don’t Knock” (which was also on Uncloudy Day) kicks off the record. It’s an upbeat number that does a great job of setting the mood. Another Pops song, “On My Way to Heaven” is part of a medley with a tune called “Too Close,” which closes the album. In between is the old man’s coolest contribution to this record, a hoodoo-dripping cruncher called “Downward Road.” Mavis sings lead while a chorus including Chicago songbirds Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor back her up.
There are some fine traditional gospel numbers that are among my favorites. Tony Joe White could have done a great version of “Creep Along Moses” — but I doubt if it would have been as great as the version by Staples and crew. “Wonderful Savior” is sung a cappella by Staples and her backup singers. This one has some truly nasty distorted guitar by Holmstrom.
And then there’s “In Christ There Is No East or West.” This is done as a lilting folk-rocker, an unusual arrangement for this album. But it’s an emotional standout — sweet-spirited, straightforward, and inviting, yet sung with Staples’ aura of knowing experience.
Staples sings several secular numbers written by well-known songwriters. There’s an obscure Randy Newman song called “Losing You,” which is slow, somber, and bluesy — it starts out with “I was a fool with my money, I lost every dime.”
Staples does a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune, John Fogerty’s “Wrote a Song for Everyone,” which, like most of The Staple Singers’ pop hits, sounds like it’s a gospel song without mentioning God, Jesus, or church. Staples goes down to New Orleans for Allen Toussaint’s “Last Train.”
And there are a couple of songs by Tweedy — the title cut and a surprisingly funky track called “Only the Lord Knows.” It’s a song about being confused and mistrustful in the modern world. “Only the Lord knows, and he ain’t you,” goes the refrain.
One of my favorite tunes here is a dandy cover of “We’re Gonna Make It,” a Little Milton soul hit from the ’60s. The lyrics are secular, but they have a poignant message about faith in times of economic hardship: “We’re gonna make it, I know we will.”
What I love about Staples is that she is unswervingly positive and inspirational without ever sounding corny or cloying — righteous, but never self-righteous. I’ve never met the woman, but I imagine she could make you feel better by just being around her. At least that’s how I feel when I listen to her music.
Also recommended:
* Joined at the Hip byPinetop Perkins& Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. Staples may be over 70, but Perkins could call her “young lady.” He’s 97, (no, that’s not a typo!) and Smith is a mere lad of 74. These two blues codgers — who played in Muddy Waters’ band in the 1970s and later together in The Legendary Blues Band — can still boogie.
This record isn’t earth-shattering, but its good basic Chicago blues. Perkins is still playing piano (he was playing at the Thirsty Ear Festival a few years ago), but Smith is no longer beating the drums (his son Kenny is doing that here); he’s singing and playing harp.
Two of my favorite songs here are by the two different Sonny Boy Williamsons. There is a good version of “Eyesight to the Blind” by Sonny Boy II (Rice Miller). And there is “Cut That Out,” a lesser-known song by the lesser-known Sonny Boy, John Lee Williamson.
But the showstopper here is a gospel standard, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” written by Thomas A. Dorsey. This version is far bluesier than most of the renditions I’ve heard. But remember, Dorsey started his career as “Georgia Tom,” a blues pianist who backed Tampa Red on songs including “Tight Like That.”
For reasons best known to Perkins, “Precious Lord” ends with a quick “Jingle Bells” piano riff followed by “Shave and a Haircut.”
Thanks and a tip of the hat to John at Monkey Beat Podcast for alerting his listeners to a 55-MP3 sampler from Slovenly Records, a Reno, Nevada company.
There's cool stuff from Wau y Los Arrrghs!!!, The Black Lips, Billy Childish, The Reigning Sound, King Automatic, The Hollywood Sinners and more.
And did I mention they're free??!! All you have to do is join their mailing list.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
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@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
The Cutester Patrol by The Grandmothers
Topless by Rolls Royce & The Wheels
Sun Is On My Side by Gogol Bordello
Mickey Mouse & The Goodbye Man by Grinderman
Grindin' Man by Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Do the Slide by The Montesas
Hulkster in Heaven by Hulk Hogan
Mo Gu by Carsick Cars
Let's Dress Up the Naked Truth by New Bomb Turks
Old Devils by Jon Langford
Before They Make Me Run by Steve Earle & The Supersuckers
Fate Has to Change by Kazik
Quiche Lorraine by B52s
Karma Chameleon by Petty Booka
Hot Pants by James Brown
Damn, It's Hot Part 2 by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Heat Wave by Martha & The Vandellas
A Question of Temperature by The Balloon Farm
Ring of Fire by Ray Charles
Hot and Nasty by Black Oak Arkansas
Burning Love by Elvis Presley
Disco Inferno by The Trammps
Timothy by The Buoys
Charlie Laine Ate My Brain by The Ruiners
Bad Vibrations by The Black Angels
Shake For Me by Howlin' Wolf
Tender Heart by Alejandro Escovedo
Where Do We Go from Here by Death
Baby You Crazy by Nick Curran and the Lowlifes
Satan Get Behind Me by Dead Men's Hollow
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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* It's Dance Time!by King Coleman. This is one I've been meaning to download for a longtime. I finally was spurred to do it after Carlton "King" Coleman died on Sept. 11 at the age of 78.
All the "hits" from the late 50s and early '60s are here -- at least they should have been hits. "The Boo Boo Song" is a strange and wonderful thing. He carries on hsi knack for fracturing nursery rhymes in "Three Soulful Mice."
There's "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" -- to which Joey Dee and The Starliters later added hot pastrami. There's Coleman's sequel "The Mashed Potato Man" and other dance craze ditties like "Do the Hully Gully," "Do the Booga-Lou" and "Let's Shimmy." He sums it all up in the title song where he commands his hypnotized legions on the dance floor to all of these and more.
Just about every one of the tracks here sounds like a party I wish I'd have gone to.
* 1950s Rock N' Roll & Rockabilly Rare Masters. Another great eMusic bargain compilation. Fifty six tracks for 12 credits. (I picked up the Hasil Adkins track "Ducken" last month. It's still one of my favorites on this album.)
These masters are rare. I only had one of them, "You Shake Me Up by Andy Anderson. (I wrote about him last year. He's a Mississippi rockabilly who used to live in Taos, N.M.)
Besides Adkins, the most recognizable names here are Freddy Fender, whose "Mean Woman" is included here, and Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell, whose "Duck Tail" should have been a universal anthem of the greasy '50s.
Then there's a guy named Creep. I've known lots of creeps, but not this one. There are two tracks by him, including "Betty Lou's Got a New Tattoo," later covered by The A-Bones. And if you're lookin' for a song to remind you of Elvis' "Trouble," you've come to the right place with Creep's tune "I'm Wise."
On this one he's singing in the Indonesian language translated lyrics of William Blake and Zohar. But this is no intellectual excercise. This stuff rocks!
The first song, "Kedalaman Air," reminds me of a frantic version of The Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" with a feral fuzztone guitar. The next one "Mani Malaikat" slows down into a swamp voodoo groove. The droning sax and fiddle remind me of "Up in Flames," the David Lynch-Angelo Badalamente song that Koko Taylor sang in Wild at Heart.
And then, the music starts to get really crazy ...
* 10 tracks from Hi De Ho Man by Cab Calloway. When I graduated from college in 1976 the only job I could find was managing a trailer park -- Vagabond Trailer Park on Cerrillos Road. Crappy job, but free rent, a block from a Lotaburger and an actual paycheck! One of the first things I did was go on a record buying binge. Some of those titles still are among my favorites -- Transformer by Lou Reed, Legalize It by Peter Tosh, How Late'll Ya Play 'Til? by David Bromberg, Radio Ethiopia by The Patti Smith Group and this one by Cab Calloway.
I know I've written this somewhere before, but I had seen Calloway in concert back in the early '60s at a Harlem Globetrotters game with my grandmother. So I was somewhat hep to the jive. But this record -- a double LP in its original release -- sealed it for me.
Through the years I picked up several of these tunes from other Calloway collections. But among the classics I downloaded now are "San Francisco Fan" -- about a golden-hearted gal who "gave her life to save her man, a man who wasn't worth a shovel full of Earth from the grave of San Francisco Fan."
And then there's Nagasaki, recorded in 1935. It's a place "where the fellers chew tobaccy/And the women wicky-wacky Woo." Sounds like a pretty swingin' town. Before we nuked it.
You got your basic "Jumpin' Jive," the scat-crazy "Abi Gezunt," a truly spooky "St. James Infirmary" and a fun workout called "15 Minute Intermission." But some of my favorites are the slow ballads like "My Gal" and "I'll Be Around." On these you get a true sense of Cab's vocal talents.
If you're new to Cab Calloway, this album is an excellent introduction. It worked for me.
* The first five tracks ofPhosphene Dream by The Black Angels. It's a psychedelic WHUMP! Austin's Black Angels are back for their third full-length album.
These guys, who I first saw at a Roky Erikson Ice Cream Social during SXSW a couple of years ago, play psychedelic music. Not your fairy-fey flower-power fluff, but intense, throbbing hypnotic excursions to other worlds. It's trippy, but not all trips are happy affairs. Some are downright scary. And thus, The Black Angels have titles like "River of Blood" and "Bad Vibrations."
The first thing a fan will notice about Phospene Dream is that the sound is far more varied than their previous albums. "Sunday Afternoon" even has a little Texas funk in it. I could easily imagine Hundred Year Flood having a go at this one. And the last half or so of "Yellow Elevator #2" even has a little Beatles vibe in it. (Think "I Want You/She's So Heavy.")
The songs are shorter too. No 16-minute odysseys like they had on their previous ones
I only had enough credits to get half of the 10 tracks, but my account refreshes next week so I can complete this trip.
Friday, September, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Moonshiner's Life by Hank III
Jason Fleming by Roger Miller
Lady Muleskinner by The Meat Purveyors
Country Girl by Dale Hawkins
Down Where the Watermelon Grows by The Volo Bogtrotters
Hoy Hoy Hoy by Wayne Hancock
Eat at Home by Tom Armstrong
Uh-Huh-Honey by Autry Inman
The Ballad of Charles Whitman by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys
Drag the Lake Charlie by Drive-By Truckers
East TX Rust by Shinyribs
God Fearing People by Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
Lonesome Side Of Town by Johnny Dilks And His Visitacion Valley Boys
It Ain't Up Here by Kell Robertson
Pill-Poppin' Country Weirdo by Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
Come To The Water by Possessed By Paul James
Too Drunk to Truck by Sixtyniners
Bosco Stomp by Beausoleil
Songs in Honor of Santa Fe's New Nudity Ordinance
Boobs a Lot by The Fugs
Naked Party by Ross Johnson with the Gibson Bros
Naked Man by Randy Newman
You Look Bad When You're Naked by Rosco Gordon
Buck Naked by Terry Allen
Please Don't Go Topless Mother by Troy Hess
Naked If I Want To by Moby Grape
Bounce Your Boobies by Rusty Warren
Naked Light of Day by Butch Hancock
Naked Girl Falling Down the Stairs by The Cramps
Your Name Is On My Lips by Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
Sure Feels Like Rain by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
A Little Bitty Tear by Ray Charles
Lookin' For A "Love Me" Gal by Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Lone Cowboy by Michael Martin Murphey
Up Above My Head by Lydia Clark
In Christ There Is No East Or West by Mavis Staples
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets