Monday, November 30, 2015
Eagles of Death Metal on Paris Massacre
Maniacal religious fanatics from ISIS (ir ISIL? Or Daesh or whatever you want to call these evil creeps) shot and killed dozens of people at the band's Nov. 13 show at the Batclan concert hall. (I've seen the death count at 89 and 90. Not sure which if either are accurate. The toal number of victims of the Paris attacks is about 130 people.)
It's hard to listen to but the video of the interview is below.
The Eagles of Death Metal will donate all publishing royalties of this song to a fund for the Par8is victims and are encouraging other musicians to record it.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, November 29, 2015
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
Rollin' and Tumblin' by Canned Heat
Skinny Legs and All by Joe Tex
Bangkok by Jello Biafra & Ther Raunch 'n' Roll All-Stars
Jello Biafra by Wesley Willis
All Women are Bad by The Cramps
Sick Bed by The Voluptuous World of Karen Black
The Hand Don't Fit the Glove by Miriam
Luci Baines by The A-Bones
I'll Be Back by Question Mark & The Mysterians
Nerja Sawa by Mazhott
Viento by Rolando Bruno
Held My Baby Last Night by Hound Dog Taylor
Let's Get Funky by Elvin Bishop
Disease by Dead Cat Stimpy
Wish I Was a Catfish by T. Model Ford
Blind and Deaf by No-Hit Makers
Nobody Spoil My Fun by The Seeds
Jimmy Would by Chuck E. Weiss
Looking for Somebody by Any Dirty Party
Shotgun by Yo La Tengo
Wade in Bloody Water by The Grannies
Rock 'n' Roll Murder by The Leaving Trains
I'm Just the Other Woman by MSR Singers
Govinda by The Radha Krsna Temple
Gypsy by Lovestuck
Don't Cry For Me New Jersey by Candye Kane
She Wasn't Around by Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales
The Lady's Letter by Pops Staples
It Must Be Sunday by Phoebe Snow
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Friday, November 27, 2015
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
Friday, November 27, 2015
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
Skip a Rope by Kentucky Headhunters
Mud by Legendary Shack Shakers
What You Gonna Do, Leroy? by Brennen Leigh
Scorched by The Satellites
Corn Likker by Buck Owens
Together Again by Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen
Harm's Way by The Waco Brothers
I'm a Nut by Leroy Pullens
Go Find Your Heaven by Ted & The Wranglers
Turkey in the Straw by Sen. Robert Byrd
Send Me to the 'lectric Chair / I Like to Sleep Late in the Morning / Summer Wages by David Bromberg
Happy Hour by Ted Hawkins
Cold and Bitter Tears by Kasey Chambers
Tupelo County Jail by Old 97s
Two Dollar Strings by The Electric Rag Band
Dog by Bottle Rockets
Baby It's Cold Outside by Homer & Jethro
R.I.P. Davy Jones
Driftwood 40-23 / Side by Side Doublewides by The Hickoids
Song for David J by Glenn Jones
God Loves the Hickoids by The Grannies
Viva Mose McCormack!
It's No Secret / Beans and Make Believe / New Mexico Blues / Under the Jail by Mose McCormack
I'm Coming Home by Cynthia Becker
Four Old Brokes by Joe Ely
It Keeps Right on a Hurtin' by Louie Setzer
Big Fool of the Year by George Jones
I'vre Got a Tender Heart by Merle Haggard
Come on Up to the House by Oh Lazarus
Miracle of Five by Eleni Mandell
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
TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Don't Fear the Foreign!
November 12, 2015
America: home of the brave, land of the fearful. And crown thy good with paranoid contradictions … Them foreigners, if they aren’t bringing terrorism, they’re bringing Ebola. Their gun-toting mass murderers are coming to take away the jobs of decent American gun-toting mass murderers ...
Recent events in the news — along with some new albums from around the world I’ve been listening to lately — got me thinking about a certain punk-rock band I discovered online earlier this year. It’s called Mazhott, and starting about 2007, the group rocked the casbah from Damascus, Syria. Yes, that Syria.
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Mazhott live! |
In a 2009 interview in Taqwacore Journal, the band’s guitarist Rashwan said, “We sing about stuff that matters to young people, in general, and social [issues]. [For example], the high school diploma, here, is unbelievably difficult, so, we wrote about that. We wrote about fathers forcing their young daughters to marry older men, about our generation that is frustrated and lost and don’t know [what] to do with their lives, about less separating of boys and girls, and about how we need more attention and freedom.”
Of course, I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics because they’re in Arabic. But the music rocks, so I bought the digital version of Mazhott’s EP from its Bandcamp page. With my modest payment, I wrote a note wishing the musicians well and hoping they were all safe from the troubles over there.
I got a nice email back from Rashwan, who said, “All of us at Mazhott are safe and sound, but unfortunately each in a different country.” I guess that would make them refugees, but if I’m not reading too much into it, “safe and sound” implies some level of stability.
And I just heard from Rashwan last week for the first time in months. He sent me an MP3 of a new Mazhott song — their first recording in years. I'll play that on Terrell's Sound World, on KSFR-101.1 FM and www.ksfr.org, at 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29.
Did I say something about some music from around the world?
Damn the fear-mongering! Let these new albums cross your borders and immigrate into your ears!

Guitarist Bruno, who I believe is Argentine, was a member of this hopped-up, snot-rock combo. Now he’s been reborn as a cumbia king. Or as his new record company Voodoo Rhythm describes his new sound, “Full Blast Psychedelic Latino Cumbia Garage with a very Cheesy Touch of a ’70s Supermarket!!!”
His cumbia obsession started out as a side project while Los Peyotes was still happening. He’d upload old cumbia songs onto his computer and mutate them into rocking Latin dance numbers filtered through his own punk-rock perspective. For Bailazo, he composed original songs and hired actual musicians to create this crazy sound.
Bruno brings an international perspective to his already wild musical vision. He throws in Middle-Eastern sounds on “Falafel King.” (Is that an oud, dude?) And there’s also what sounds like a bagpipe. This tune would make the British world music band 3 Mustaphas 3 jealous.
And he’s turning Siamese on “Thai Cumbia,” which could almost be a kung fu movie soundtrack waiting to happen. This track starts off and ends relatively slow. But the sped-up middle section sounds like some frenzied Carlos Santana guitar attack.
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Cankisou in action |
You’ll hear strands of Middle-Eastern music; rhythmic Afro-beat sounding sounds; jazz excursions and sonic allusions to Balkan music; and a touch of metal here and there. (And Breaking Bad fans’ ears will perk up at the opening notes of the song “Korobori,” which sounds just like the soundtrack to that late, great show’s opening sequence. “Korobori” turns into what sounds like a salute to the band Morphine — except there’s a brief bluegrass section in there, too.)
I can’t write about Cankisou without quoting from its own origin myth on its website:
“Cankisou music is based on an old legend about one-legged Canki people, and the band also learnt their language, which is understandable all over the world.”
For a one-legged people, these guys sure kick butt. If you like Gogol Bordello or 3 Mustaphas 3 (them again!) or, to get a little more obscure, Polish rocker Kazik Staszewski and his band Kult, do yourself a favor and listen to some Cankisou.
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Live at the old Santa Fe Brewing Company a few years ago |
Many of the original members of the band were living in Libya when they were forced into military service by the late and not-so-great dictator Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi. Some of Tinariwen also fought as Tuareg rebels against the government of Mali.
So truly, this music is what Joe Strummer would have called “rebel rock.” Actually it’s trancy guitar music with powerful Saharan percussion provided by a conga-like instrument called a darbuka. And no, I don’t understand the lyrics, sung in a Berber language, Tamasheq. But I understand the words have gotten the group banned on the radio in Mali and Algeria, so they must be subversive.
Even cooler, Tinariwen leader Ibrahim Ag Alhabib has said in interviews that some of his earliest influences were the singing cowboys of American Westerns. I don’t hear any Gene Autry in this album, but I’ll keep listening.
Songs from all the acts I discussed here can be found on the latest Big Enchilada podcast.
Let's have some videos!
Here is Mazhott's last live show in Damascus back in 2010
Enter Rolando Bruno
Those Cankisou boys were the wildest men in Borneo back in 2012
And here is Tinariwen live in Paris with Lalla Badi.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Songs of Thanks
Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends and loyal readers.
On this holiday -- which somehow always seems to coincide with Throwback Thursday -- I'm just going to give you a few songs of gratitude.
Here's a New Orleans singer named Allen Matthews, also known as "Fat Man Matthews" and listed on this 1953 single as "Fats Matthews." The song is written by none other than Dave Bartholomew, the venerated band leader, songwriter, talent scout and A&R man who is responsible for the rise of another Fats, Antoine Domino.
Here's the Last of the Red Hot Mamas herself, Sophie Tucker who recorded this in 1934. (I'm thankful to B.C. for playing this on his pre-Thanksgiving episode of Blue Monday on KSFR this week.

Assuming this is the same guy, Hackett, no relation to Buddy Hackett, was an opera singer from Massachusetts who was born in 1889 and died in 1942. He was best known for his role of Romeo in Roméo et Juliette.
The Allmusic Guide says of Hackett:
If at times his dramatic fires burned on low flame, he was nonetheless appreciated by many connoisseurs for his finesse and unfailingly musical performances.
Enjoy a little Thanksgiving finesse below
Have a safe and humane Thanksgiving. Don't accept any turkeys with drugs or razor blades.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
WACKY WEDNESDAY: A Song-Poem Primer
I can't believe I've done an entire year of Wacky Wednesdays and not done a feature on song-poems,
Another one from the movie is one of the most infamous song-poems out there: "Blind Man's Penis" by John Trubee. Unlike Singletary and most other song-poem poets, Trubee purposely wrote strange and outrageous lyrics as a weird prank. Sung by Ramsey Kearney, the prank became an oughta-be country classic. (I played it on The Santa Fe Opry last week.)
Here is the title song of that song-poem compilation I reviewed in 2001. This is the original versionsung in falsetto by song-poem superstar Rodd Keith. This version, which has obvious mixing mistakes was rejected by lyrics writer Mary Clignett and was remixed with the backwards track gone.
Gene Marshall, who recorded under the name John Muir, delivered this anti-drug message.
This one's a sad story of a decent American cuckolded by an Argentine cowboy.
(From my 2001 column) E. Grange's “Palace Roses" is downright surreal. The music is raw honky tonk with a sweet, weeping steel guitar. Singer Todd Andrews drawls a verse about dancing roses before the speaking part: "I am the father of the palace roses/I sponsor many ceremony dances at my beautiful pink roses palace/the roses palace is attended by all the roses then there is dining after the dancing/and fun is had by all."
Here's another Rodd Keith classic. The lyrics were by a lady named Mildred Shankland.
And here's a loving cover of "Rug Bug" by NRBQ.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Be Thankful! There's a New Big Enchilada episode!
(Background Music: Shock Hop by Johnny Cale)
Android Robot by Acid Baby Jesus
Split Decision by JJ & The Real Jerks
Down and Out by The Vagoos
Just Let Me Know by Any Dirty Party
Across the River by Dead Cat Stimpy
Judy in Disguise by Jello Biafra & The Raunch and Soul All-Stars
(Background Music: Lipovacko Kolo by 3 Mustaphas 3)
El Brujito Ramon by Rolando Bruno
Chaghaybou by Tinariwen
Nomadisavej by Cankisou
Ram Say Sok by Dengue Fever
Awiha by Mazhott
(Background Music: Hammer Blow by Skip Martin)
Sky Saxon / Seeds Set
No Hay Mas Qui Dar by Los Shains
It's a Hard Life by The A-Bones
Stems and Flowers by The Chesterfield Kings
Moth and The Flame by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels
The Wind Blows Your Hair by Purple Merkins
You Can't Be Trusted by The Seeds
Sunday, November 22, 2015
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, November 22, 2015
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
Jack Ruby by Camper Van Beethoven
Fish in the Jailhouse by Tom Waits
Highway 61 Revisted by Bob Dylan
Accelerated Emotion by The Fleshtones
Lose Your Mind by The Seeds
A+ on Arson Class by Rocket From The Crypt
Twist Man by Dead Cat Stimpy
Sai'een by Mazhott
A Man for the Nation by John Lee Granderson
November by The Rockin' Guys
Howl by J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound
Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor
Ax Me by JJ & The Real Jerks
Crazy Pills by Quan & The Chinese Takeouts
Little Blonde Girl by Any Dirty Party
Lee Harvey was a Friend of Mine by Homer Henderson
A Man Amongst Men by Big Joe Williams
Livin' in Chaos by The Sonics
No, I'm Iron Man by Butthole Surfers
Now I Step Over Your World / Punch Me Again, Now Ya Drunken Idiot by John Trubee & The Ugly Janitors of America
Screwdriver by The BellRays
Land of 1,000 Dances by Jello Biafra & The Raunch and Soul All-Stars
Darlin' Corey by Oh Lazarus
Moonlight Motel by Gun Club
Falafel King by Rolando Bruno
Tinde by Tinariwen with Lalla Badi
Venom Party by The Vagoos
Make You Mine by The Black Lips
The River in Reverse by Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello
Full Moon in the Daylight Sky by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
President Kennedy Gave His Life by Mary Ross
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
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Friday, November 20, 2015
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
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
Mudflap Girl by The Misery Jackals
Pigsville by The Waco Brothers
Shadows Where the Magic Was by James Hand
FBI Top 10 by DM Bob & The Deficits
Here Am I, Oh Lord, Send Me by Alvin Youngblood Hart
It'll Be Me by The Malpass Brothers
Sister Kate by Oh Lazarus
Whiskey in a Jar by Hazeldine
Blind Man's Penis by John Trubee & The Ugly Janitors Of America
Don Houston by Slackeye Slim
Anything Goes at a Rooster Show by The Imperial Rooster
Revelation Blues by Garner Sloan
Paranormal Girlfriend by Jim White vs. The Packway Handle Band
Devil in Her Eyes by Calamity Cubes
Down to the Bone by Legendary Shack Shakers
Three Bullets by Electric Rag Band
Fuck Off by Audrey Auld
Stranger in Town by Dave Alvin
I Pity the Poor Immigrant by Richie Havens
Worried Mind / A Man I Hardly Know by Eilen Jewell
Jailhouse Tears by Lucinda Williams with Elvis Costello
One Has My Name, The Other Has My Heart by Jerry Lee Lewis
All My Rowdy Friends by The Supersuckers
Big Things by James McMurtry
There Stands the Glass by Ted Hawkins
Shake Sugaree by David Bromberg
Dover to Dunkirk by Jack Hardy
Opportunity to Cry by Willie Nelson
Evicted by Peter Case
The Beast in Me by Nick Lowe
Where I Fell by Robbie Fulks
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
Thursday, November 19, 2015
THROWBACK THURSDAY: A Year of Great Old Songs
I don't know what got into me a year ago this week, but only one day after debuting my Wacky Wednesday feature on this blog,
I launched Throwback Thursday to explore the music and musicians of decades past. The original intent was to spotlight music from before I was born -- and echoes of those old sounds in more contemporary music. I haven't strictly adhered to that, but nearly all of my Throwback posts are based on music from at least 50 years ago.
Frequently on Throwback Thursday I'll select an old song, try to give a little history about it and show various versions of it to show how it's evolved.
I'm pretty sure this is a complete list of those tunes with links to the original posts. If I left out any you know of, please let me know. (I threw in a couple of Wacky Wednesday songs plus a few from a few years before I started Throwback Thursday as well)
Enjoy!
The Throwback Thursday Songbook, Volume 1
All My Trials
Auld Lang Syne
Beedle um Bum (This was my first Throwback Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014)
Brennan on the Moor
Cabbage Head / Four Nights Drunk / Wake Up Baby (from August 2014, a few months before I started Throwback Thursday)

Crawdad Hole
Diver Boy / Edwin
Ghost Riders in the Sky
Going Home / Miracles
Goober Peas
Goodnight Irene
House of the Rising Sun

Lili Marleen (from April 2011)
Moonlight Bay
Pretty Peggy-O
Sam Hall
See That My Grave is Kept Clean / One Kind Favor
Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair
The Sheik of Araby (This one appeared in Wacky Wednesday)

Sloop John B
Stagolee (This one is from 2008)
St. James Infirmary / Streets of Laredo / Dyin' Crapshooter Blues / Unfortunate Rake (This one is from 2012)
Two Lovely Black Eyes
White House Bues / Mr. Garfield
WPLJ (This one also appeared in Wacky Wednesday)
The Year of Jubilo
And in case you missed the first anniversary of Wacky Wednesday CLICK HERE
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
WACKY WEDNESDAY: One Year of Wacky
Wacky Wednesday, was created, I wrote, "to introduce you, the reader to strange, funny and/or confounding music -- the type of "unclaimed melodies" that the Firesign Theatre's Don G. O'Vani was talking about when he said, `if you were to go into a record store and ask for them they would think you were crazy!' "

I've tried to live up to that mission statement. Some weeks work better than others, but I think I've provided you guys with a lot of wackiness this past 12 months.
My very first post was a salute to a musician named Bob Purse who I'd just discovered on the Free Music Archive.
Below are videos and other mementos of the first year of Wacky Wednesday. Keep the wackiness alive!
Early on, I wrote about a song that tore at the soul of a youngster (yours truly) who loved The Beatles as well as Allan Sherman. The day I posted this, I showed it to my oldest grandson, then 3. He looked at me bewildered and asked, "Why does Pop hate The Beatles?"
I wish I knew, kid, I wish I knew!
Wacky Wednesday has explored the musical legacy of Muhammad Ali.
Bad karaoke is usually good for some good wholesome fun (and cheap laffs).
In honor of the 41st anniversary of the resignation of President Nixon, I did a Wacky Wednesday full of Watergate songs. Here is one I stumbled across while searching for another song.
On April Fool's Day I looked at a cruel prank that cost The Dwarves a record contract.
One of my favorite Wacky Wednesdays was one about "Cult Classics" -- by real cults.
And one Wednesday I featured songs by, about and associated with Popeye.
One Wacky Wednesday I wrote about that strange night in 1986 when Camper Van Beethoven served as Tiny Tim's pickup band. The complete show, starting with Camper's set, can be heard in the player below.
And not very long ago, in belated honor of R. Crumb's birthday, I explored the cartoonist's contributions to music.
One week we had a musical battle royal with songs by and about wrestlers. Here is a heartbreaker.
One week I looked at the history of "Louie Louie," including the your-tax-money-at-work FBI investigation of the subsersve song:
And the world of Bollywood is rarely short on wackiness.
This world isn't getting any saner. Something tells me there will be plenty of wackiness to mine in the year ahead.
Please come back to this blog tomorrow for a very special Throwback Thursday.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Eilen Jewell in Santa Fe Thursday
But the point is, I have been playing her songs on the radio for years, and I only play the stuff I like. So I heartily recommend you catch her show in Santa Fe this Thursday (November 19). She'll be playing at the Center for Spiritual Living, 505 Camino de Los Marquez. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Buy tickets HERE.
This is a homecoming of sorts for Eilen. She attended St. John's College around the turn of the century and she's said many times in interviews that her first public gigs were busking at the Farmer's Market here.
So be there at her show. Until then, enjoy a couple of her videos:
Sunday, November 15, 2015
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, November, 2015
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
Mercury Blues by David Lindley
Don't Slander Me by Roky Erikson
I Guess You're My Girl by The Vagoos

Saturday, November 14, 2015
Hula Nite with Sky Saxon
With Sean's permission, I share the email here:
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"Bring me the hula girls!" |
So we head down to the venue, which turns out to be the lobby of a seemingly deserted SRO hotel in the Tenderloin. There was a hand-drawn cardboard sign on the door, and that was apparently the only advertising that had been done for the gig besides word of mouth. There were maybe 20 people in the dimly lit room. There was a bar, but no stage; just a corner that had been cleared out. In another corner was Sky, sitting with 5 or 6 hippie chicks. They were young, maybe about 20. He looked old, and in bad shape.
During my friend's opening set (they were sort of a Toiling Midgets-wannabe band. In 1983 the Midgets had been our upstairs neighbors in the Mission district.) Sky's entourage got on the dance floor and hula-hooped. Things were looking up.
There was a problem, though. Sky hadn't brought a band. I'm not sure if he thought the promoter was going to provide one, or if he just forgot. He asked my friend's group to back him, although they didn't know any of his material. No worries, he said, just do your thing and I'll work with it. So they noodled around while he recited some verse and a few lines from Pushin' Too Hard, and sang "Mr Mojo Risin'" over and over while the hippie chicks continued with the hula hoops. After about 10 minutes of this, Sky went back to his table in the corner, the entourage packed up and they all left.
I'm still not sure if it was the best or worst show I ever saw.
So there you have it.
Don't forget the The Seeds: Pushin’ Too Hard is showing at the Jean Cocteau Cinema (418 Montezuma Ave., 505-466-5528) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and Thursday, Nov. 19. The doc’s director, Neil Norman will be on hand for Q & both nights.
I don't think hula hoops will be provided.
And don't forget tomorrow night's Terrell’s Sound World on on KSFR-101.1 FM. here I'll be playing a special segment featuring the music of the Seeds, Sky Saxon, and lots of cool bands covering their songs. The show starts at 10 p.m. with the Seeds set starting at the 11th hour.
Friday, November 13, 2015
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
Friday, November 13, 2015
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
Tobacco Road by Southern Culture On The Skids
Drinking Problem by Audrey Auld
Tied by The Yawpers
MisAmerica by Legendary Shack Shakers
Still Sober (After All These Beers) by The Banditos
Streets of Bordeaux by Texas Martha & The House of Twang
Oui (A French Song) by Terry Allen
Swing Troubador by Christine Albert
When First Unto This Country by David Bromberg
Yuppie Scum by Emily Kaitz
Crazy Crazy Lovin' by Johnny Carroll
Hot Rod Lincoln by The Satellites
Blackeyed Susie by J.P. Nestor
No Judgement Day by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
In New Orleans (Rising Sun Blues) by Dave & Phil Alvin
Cigarette Party by Dex Romweber Duo
LSD by Wendell Austin
UFO on Farm Road 318 by Sidney Ester
If You Mess with the Bull by Luke Reed
Long White Cadillac by Janis Martin
The Over You Rag by Electric Rag Band
Crazy Heart by Augie Meyers
Sorry You're Sick by Mary Gauthier
Bad Dog by Ted Hawkins
Dried Out River by Dad Horse Experience
Lucille by The Beat Farmers
Dust Off The Old Songs by Jason Eklund, Mike Good & Tom Irwin
Mary Lou by Kell Robertson
Big Train From Memphis by Mary & Mars
Cold Black Hammer by Joe Ely
My Walking Stick by Leon Redbone
Legend in My Time by Leon Russell
Green Fields of France by Dropkick Murphys
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
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Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
Thursday, November 12, 2015
TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: A Seedy Tale
November 13, 2015

Actually, most of those stunned and mourning people that day were grieving for some guy named Michael Jackson. But not me. The only tears I shed that summer day were for Richard Marsh, better known as Sky Saxon, the singer of one of most important ’60s-garage, proto-punk (and don’t forget flower power) bands in rock ’n’ roll history.
I didn’t care about the King of Pop! On that sad day, I looked to the Sky!
Saxon and his band, the Seeds, are now the subject of a well-researched, thoroughly entertaining, and totally rocking documentary called The Seeds: Pushin’ Too Hard.
I’ve been a Seeds fan since I was in junior high in the mid-’60s, which was back when their song (“You’re) Pushin’ Too Hard” was first a big hit. That tune fit in perfectly with some of the great snot-rock of the era such as “Dirty Water,” “96 Tears,” and “Psychotic Reaction.” but until this film I didn’t really know that much about Saxon or the Seeds.
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The Seeds |
I also didn’t realize that Saxon himself had been knocking around Hollywood for as long as he did, trying to get a break in the showbiz game. Born in Utah, he first went to Tinseltown in the late ’50s, initially signing to a label co-owned by Fred Astaire. Some of those quasi-doo-wop songs, which he released under the name “Little Richie Marsh,” can be found on YouTube today. They’re kind of cool, but you’d never realize these songs are the seeds of the Seeds.
The magic didn’t really start until Little Richie hooked up with Hooper and Andridge, a couple of high school pals who moved to Hollywood from their hometown of Farmington, Michigan. They started out covering the usual early rock classics. Things started to happen after they began writing their own songs.
Like many rock docs, much of the story told comes from famous folks who are fans of the film’s subject. Here we have the likes of the late Hollywood creep Kim Fowley, Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, members of the ’80s girl band the Bangles, Johnny Echols of the group Love, and others.
Iggy opines from his throne |
Watching the rise of the Seeds is exciting, and watching their fall in the documentary is painful. Norman presents the case that it was too much ego, as well as too many drugs, that led to Saxon’s decline and the disintegration of the band.
After two snarling, rocking albums came Future, an ill-conceived, badly executed third album — an artsy experiment, probably influenced by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and all the other “rock is art” idiocy of the era. The Beach Boys’ Johnston grouses, “I didn’t want to hear the Seeds with harps.” (Perhaps he didn’t recognize the irony here — a lot of people said the same thing about the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.)
Saxon’s appetite for LSD became a problem. “On stage it was like talking to a six-year-old,” a bandmate says. He tended to adopt stray humanoids who took advantage of his generosity and trust. Saxon’s house became a “flophouse for degenerates,” Savage says. “People fed Sky’s ego, giving him dope. He lost his edge.”
The Seeds broke up in 1969. Saxon apparently went to seed. (I apologize for that.) He lost his house, and folks would see him walking the streets or “wandering around the hills playing the flute,” according to one account in the film.
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Saxon in later years |
At one point in the ’70s, Saxon became involved with a utopian communal experiment (none dare call it cult) in Hollywood that ran a popular Sunset Strip health food restaurant (which is the subject of another fine documentary, The Source Family, released in 2012). Saxon was given a new name, “Arelich Aquarian,” by the group’s head honcho Father Yod. The former rock star worked in the restaurant and moved to Hawaii with the group when Yod decided it was time to flee the mainland.
There were reunions and reformations of the Seeds. Saxon recorded several solo albums (I have Transparency, which was released a few years before he died. It’s not bad, though it’s not the Seeds).
He eventually moved to Austin, where he worked with a band called Shapes Have Fangs. At the time of his death, he’d been planning on a tour with the contemporary versions of the Electric Prunes and Love.
It’s a corny cliché to compare a fallen music star to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun. Yet it seems appropriate for Saxon, who in his final years, this film shows, seemed like a sad, bewildered Icarus on a doomed quest to find his long-lost wings. But don’t forget — this crazy sucker in his prime flew pretty darn close to the sun.
The Seeds: Pushin’ Too Hard is showing at the Jean Cocteau Cinema (418 Montezuma Ave., 505-466-5528) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and Thursday, Nov. 19. The doc’s director will be on hand both nights.
Tune in to Terrell’s Sound World on Sunday, Nov. 15, for a special segment featuring the music of the Seeds, Sky Saxon, and lots of cool bands covering their songs. The show starts at 10 p.m. with the Seeds set starting at the 11th hour. That’s on KSFR-101.1 FM.
Hot video fun
Here is the official trailer for this movie:
Here's Little Richie Marsh:
And here is an epic Seeds song:
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Remembering Armistice Day
This one is for all the Willie McBrides and the other forgotten heroes of forgotten wars. And for Kurt Vonnegut too.
Yesterday was Veteran's Day, a day to honor the men and the women who have served in the military. Veteran's Day was born in 1945 after the end of World War II.
But it started out as something different: Armistice Day. A day to mark the end of a war. Kurt Vonnegut spoke of Armistice Day in his 1973 novel Breakfast of Champions. (I was going to look for this passage in in my battered old copy of the book to use here, but those wackos at Wonkette made it easier for me to copy and paste.)
I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not.
Indeed, I've heard lots of speeches by lots of politicians on Veteran's Day thanking veterans for their service and praising the military in general. But rarely do you hear them talk about the horror of war.
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Eric Bogle |
The first two were written by Eric Bogle. a Scottish folksinger who immigrated to Australia decades ago.
Both of the songs tell of the horrors of the War to End All Wars. And the first time I heard both of them I incorrectly assumed each was written by someone who had to be personally acquainted with that war. Actually Bogle wrote both of these songs in the 1970s.
To my ears the best versions of these Bogle songs are by Celt-Punk bands. Here is "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" as recorded by The Pogues for their seminal 1985 album Rum, Sodomy & The Lash.
Bogle wrote the song "No Man's Land," which came to be better known as "The Green Fields of France" after visiting a graveyard in the French countryside and coming across the grave of an Irish soldier named Willie McBride who was killed in 1916. Here's the recorded version by The Dropkick Murphys from their 2005 album The Warriors Code.
Lastly here's John McCutcheon's "Christmas in the Trenches." I know it's a little early, but as McCutcheon says in the introduction to this live performance, the story needs to be told 365 days a year.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
WACKY WEDNESDAY: Twisted Tales Rides Again!
I wrote a Tune-up column about the series about five years ago (and a Wacky Wednesday pre-Halloween post just recently.)
Through the years I've played dozens of songs from Twisted Tales and on my radio shows and even did a segment of them on an episode of The Big Enchilada podcast.
So what is Twisted Tales From The Vinyl Wastelands?
As described in its own promo, the "series takes the listener on a dark adventure, a wrong turn into a bizarre, alternate world of American country music performed by small town, unknown hicks ..."
And as I wrote, "... in Twisted Tales you’ll find story songs, answer songs to popular hits of the day, and novelty songs. There are topical songs ripped from the headlines of the time and politically incorrect songs — some probably racist, or at least shockingly unenlightened. The tracks are full of sex. But there are usually tragic consequences attached to lovemaking. It’s the same with liquor and drugs or being a hippie."
Well here's some long-awaited news. Vinyl Wastelands mastermind G Minus Mark (who has a bitchen podcast called Truckers, Shuckers, Freaks and Geeks) has reimagined, reconfigured, reshuffled and reconfluberated Twisted Tales into a new series with original artwork by Olaf Jens, which will be available on vinyl and digital as well as CD.
Volume One, called UFO on Farm Road 318, is available now. Volume Two, Beating on The Bars is set for release next month, You can order both HERE.
And you can listen to all the songs from Volume 1 below (and download them HERE)
The original Twisted Tales CDs, 15 volumes, I believe, can be found at Norton Records.
And find out mroe at the Vinyl Wastelands Facebook page.
Sunday, November 08, 2015
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, November 8, 2015
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
Spend the Night by The Sonics
Hey Darling by Sleater-Kinney
Poor Queen by Thee Oh Sees
No Confidence by Simon Stokes
Crankcase Blues by Mudhoney
The Sharpest Claws by The Dirtbombs
Bo Diddley is Crazy by Bo Diddley
Hanged Man by Churchwood
Rappin' Rodney by Rodney Dangerfield
Evil Hoodoo by The Seeds
Sheeba by Sky Saxon
Cooking for Television by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
One Kind Favor by Canned Heat
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry by Bob Dylan
Mother-in-Law by Jello Biafra & The Raunch and Soul All-Stars
I Got Spies Watching You by Figures of Light
It's a Man Down There by Sir Douglas Quintet
After the Rain by Mission of Burma
Love Comes in Spurts by Richard Hell & The Voidoids
Jail Bait by Andre Williams
Dirty Spliff Blues by Left Lane Cruiser
I Wanna Job by Abner Jay
Livin' in My Skin by The Pretty Things
Nasaparé by Cankisou
I'm at His Command by The Violinaires
The AARP is After Me by Drywall
House of Pain by Johnny Dowd
Absolutely Free by The Mothers of Invention
Tomorrow Wendy by Concrete Blonde
It's Only Make Believe by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Love Letters by De Romweber Duo with Cat Power
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Friday, November 06, 2015
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
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
Semi Truck by Commander Cody
The One That Got Away by Legendary Shack Shakers
Beaten and Broken by Robbie Fulks & The Mini-Mekons
Apartment 34 by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Monkey on the Moon by Gene Hall
Pardon Me I've Got Someone to Kill by Andre Williams & The Sadies
Pappa's on the Rooftop by Dave & Phil Alvin
Scorched by The Satellites
Pick a Bale of Cotton by Flathead
If There Wasn't Any Cows by Luke Reed
All Dressed Up for Trial by Peter Case
Big Fat Love by John Prine
Big Old Pussy Cat by John Riggs
Living With the Animals by Mother Earth
Big Fat Nuthiin' by Bottle Rockets
Tom Dooley by Bobby Bare
KELL ROBERTSON SET
(All songs by Kell except where noted)
Cool and Dark Inside
Guns, Guitars and Women
Go On Home by Jason Eklund, Mike Good & Tom Irwin
Mary's Bar
Star Motel Blues
Wine Spodee Odee
Down the Bar From Me
I Always Loved a Waltz
I'll Walk Around Heaven With You by Blonde Boy Grunt & The Groans
Emotional Needs by Uncle Monk
My Side by Electric Rag Band
The Long Way Home by Hot Club of Cowtown
Worried Mind by Eilen Jewell
Lonesome Suzie by The Band
The Ballad of Maverick by George Thorogood
Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me by Mississippi John Hurt
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
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Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
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