Therefore Wacky Wednesday and Throwback Thursday won't be appearing here this week or next. I have a Terrell's Tune-up already in the can so that may or may not be appearing here Friday.
Sunday, July , 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Granny's Little Chicken by The Dirtbombs
Who Will Save Rock 'n' Roll by The Dictators
He Sure Could Hypnotize by The A-Bones
Boom Badda Do Ba Dabba by PowerSolo
Romance by Wild Flag
The Mad Daddy by The Cramps
Diddy Wah Diddy by The Sonics
Still Rollin' by Left Lane Cruiser
I Like My Baby's Pudding by Wynonie Harris
Walk Out by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Whettin' My Knife by The Ghost Wolves
I'm Not a Sissy by The Fleshtones
Shiver by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Heat Wave by The Vagoos
Dial Up Doll by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Formula X by Boss Hog
Drop In and Go by The Molting Vultures
Eddie Are You Kidding by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
That Old Black Magic by Louis Prima with Keely Smith
Memphis Egypt by The Mekons
Onion by The Mekons
Where Were You by The Mekons
Poor Valley Radio by Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls
Beaten and Broken by The Mekons
Hainted by Churchwood
The Bride Wore Black by Flogging Molly
Shake by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Crystal Night by The Black Lips
Howling Wolf Blues by Johnny Dowd
Pinky's Dream by David Lynch with Karen O
Strawberries Mean Love by Strawberry Alarm Clock
Carrickfergus by Van Morrison & The Chieftains
Lucky Day by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 21, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Big Iron by Marty Robbins
Ladies Love Outlaws by Waylon Jennings
The Guns of Jericho by Flogging Molly
Monarch Butterfly by Jason Eklund
Jason Eklund
JASON EKLUND Live
Honey Bee
Goin' to Town
Party in My Car by Blonde Boy Grunt & The Groans
The Devil Can't Come in Your House by Jason Eklund (Live)
Cool and Dark Inside by Kell Robertson
Dying Crap Shooter's Blues by Blind Willie McTell
Ditty Wah Ditty by Ry Cooder
Wherever You Are by Chris Darrow
Country Side by Jason Eklund
Shake It Up by Boris McCutcheon
Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian by Those Darlins
The Troubles by The Roches
I Thought He Was Dead by Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls
Our Land by Terry Allen
Change Your Ways or Die by The Cactus Blossoms
The Girl That Broke My Heart by Chris Isaak
The Nail by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Here Comes That Rainbow Again by Leo Kottke 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
Leapin' lizards, it's a new Big Enchilada episode! Featuring some of the world's greatest lizard bands including The Jesus Lizard, The Flying Lizards, The Lot Lizards! The Iron Lizards, The Thunder Lizards ... and more!
By the time Ryland P. Cooder released his first solo album, Ry Cooder, in 1970, he'd already built an impressive resume doing session work with Captain Beefheart (!), Paul Revere & The Raiders, Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot, Little Feat, Taj Mahal (they'd played together in a short-lived but influential group called The Rising Sons when Cooder was a teenager) and The Rolling Stones. That's Ry's mandolin on "Love in Vain" and his slide guitar on "Sister Morphine."
While Cooder's reputation was made by his impressive instrumental prowess, those 1970s solo albums -- my favorites being Into the Purple Valley, Paradise and Lunch and Chicken Skin Music -- established him as a musician with an incredible knack for finding obscure gems from the world of blues, jazz, folk, hillbilly, gospel and soul music, putting his own stamp on them and making them relevant for modern audiences. Cooder introduced anyone with ears to hear to so many artists and songs we might otherwise have missed, we really owe him.
Here's a small sampling of the songs Cooder taught us
Here's "Jesus on the Mainline," which appeared on Paradise and Lunch. I'm not sure whether the 1959 Alan Lomax field recording version by James Shorty and Viola James with a Mississippi church congregation is the first recording of this song. But it's a good one.
Ry Cooder knows what "Diddy Wah Diddy" means. So did Blind Blake back in the late 1920s.
Cooder was one of, if not the first, contemporary artists to recognize the genius of the mysterious traveling preacher Washington Phillips
For Into the Purple Valley (1972), Cooder recorded "FDR in Trinidad," which originally was recorded as "Roosevelt in Trinidad" by calypso star Atilla the Hun (Raymond Quevedo). Cooder's pal and sometimes musical collaborator Van Dyke Parks recorded this song for his own 1972 album Discover America.
Cooder played "Girls from Texas" as a country tune. But originally it was a soul song by Jimmy Lewis
I was surprised to learn that the original version of Blind Alfred Reed's "Always Lift him Up" was a relatively upbeat song. Cooder did it on Chicken Skin Music as a moving dirge.
Here are links to some past Throwback Thursdays in this vein you might enjoy
Remember when cartoons were dark, surreal, sometimes terrifying and almost always funny ... in glorious black and white?
Chances are the ones you remember that match this description were probably the work of Max Fleischer, the Austrian-born animation master who was born on this day in 1883.
Happy birthday Max. Here's a musical tribute to you.
Fleischer, who created Betty Boop as well as the first Popeye cartoons, basically was the anti-Disney. With his brother Dave Fleischer directing many of his classic works, Max never was as successful as Uncle Walt, but for most of us believers in the subversive power of old cartoons, Max Fleischer is the mad king.
His work was psychedelic -- years before the invention of LSD. They were full of multi-layered gags, obscure, throwaway pop culture references and, best of all, sexual innuendo.
"... the Fleischer universe was populated by individuals straight out of the diverse immigrant culture that surround that studio in New York City. Wise guys and con men, obese hippos and `gangsta' gorillas, tattooed sailors and a sexy bitch named Betty ... These were the denizens of Fleischer's world."
And another element that contributed greatly to the crazy energy of Fleischer's cartoons was the music, especially the jazz of the era. For instance, untold numbers of youngsters and probably a lot of oldsters were first introduced to the music of Cab Calloway.
Here is one of those in which Cab sings "Old Man of the Mountain" (and a little "Minnie the Moocher")
This is an early (1930) short called "Swing You Sinners" featuring popular crooner Billy Murray on vocals.
Fleischer produced a series of live action / cartoon combinations centered around music. Here's a singing cowboy tune, "Twilight on the Trail" featuring Louise Massey and their band The Westerners (following some cowpoke jive by one of Massey's brothers.) Don't forget to follow the bouncing ball to sing along
Rudy Vallee appears in "Betty Coed" (1931) featuring the title character, who I suspect is a proto-Boop.
And finally here's Irene Bordoni singing "Just a Gigolo" in this 1932 cartoon with Betty Boop.
Sunday, July 16, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Bloody Mary by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Station lost power right as I began the second song. Rest of the show cancelled.
Friday, July 14, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Clown Collector by The Cactus Brothers
Heartbroke by Sunny Sweeney
I've Always Been Crazy by Carlene Carter
Forget About Tomorrow Today by Dale Watson & Ray Benson
One Last Question by Jason & The Scorchers
Fixin' to Die by Steve Earle
Done Gone Crazy by Ray Condo & The Ricochets
Drinkin' with My Friends by Honky Tonk Hustlas
King Kong vs. Godzilla by Boris McCutcheon
Two Weeks Late by Ashley Monroe
I Think I'll Just Sit Here and Drink by Merle Haggard
High Class Girl from the Country by Zephaniah Ohora
Mean Mama Blues by Ernest Tubb
Mournin' Blues by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Stealin' Stealin' by Rapheal Saadiq
You're the Reason by Nancy Apple
Last One Standing by Ronny Elliott BILLY THE KID SET
Billy the Kid by Woody Guthrie
Billy 1 by Los Lobos
Me and Billy the Kid by Joe Ely
Billy the Kid by Charlie Daniels
Dancing With the Ghost of William Bonney by Bone Orchard
Billy the Kid by Chris LeDoux
Billy the Kid by Riders in the Sky
Billy the Kid by Ry Cooder
Billy 7 by Bob Dylan
Watching th River Go By by John Hartford
Up to No Good Livin' by Chris Stapleton
Please Don't by Lauria
The Future's Not What It Used to Be by Gary Heffern
Here Comes That Rainbow Again by Leo Kottke CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican July 14, 2017 Singer-songwriterBoris McCutcheon is one of the original members of the local legion of superheroes who make up the Frogville Records stable. He was born in Massachusetts, but he’s lasted many winters in Northern New Mexico. In fact, he’s the only musician I know who’s ever been a mayordomo of an acequia.
But the important thing is that McCutcheon just keeps growing as a songwriter. His new album — I’m Here. Let Me In. — is his first since 2013’s Might Crash, and there’s not a dud on this record. It’s my favorite since 2005’s Cactusman Versus the Blue Demon. Most of McCutcheon’s albums in recent years have been credited to Boris & The Salt Licks. But this one, McCutcheon says, is a solo project, even though The Salt Licks appear on a couple of live songs and individual Salt Licks play on other songs, as do various Santa Fe stalwarts.
Among the best tracks are the upbeat “It’s Her Turn Now,” featuring the fabulous Salt Licks (guitarist Brett Davis, bassist Susan Hyde Holmes, Kevin Zoernig on keyboards, and Paul Groetzinger on drums). And this is followed by a pretty country song called “A Week Before the Fourth of July.” I think I was hooked in the first verse, when McCutcheon sings of eating tacos on the open road.
Another standout is the bluesy “Lazy With You,” in which Boris praises the virtues of sloth. A strong harmonica by Greg Williams and banjo by Alex McMahon give the song a Tom Waits feel. Meanwhile, the slow dirge-like “Poor Tired Hands” is a stark portrait of a guy who might benefit from a little laziness.
In a slow hillbilly waltz called “Godzilla vs. King Kong,” McCutcheon sings of domestic strife. As you might assume by the title, the lyrics are full of humor, but it’s bittersweet humor. With the deceptively pretty melody, you can’t help but feel for the unhappy couple. One verse goes, “Oh how did I wind up with a warrior princess?/She knows how to fight and kick my ass/There’s a storm in her eyes and she don’t know what she wants/She’s askin’ questions and getting’ no response.”
Keep listening to this album and you could end up with a storm in your ears.
Boris McCutcheon’s CD release party for I’m Here. Let Me In. is 8 p.m. Friday, July 14, at Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina St. Tickets are $12 at the door ($10 in advance from www.meowwolf.com). The opening act is none other than Tony Gilkyson, a former local yokel who went on to play in such groups as X, Lone Justice, and Chuck E. Weiss’ God Damn Liars.
Also recommended:
* Countryachi by John Wagner. Wagner is not only known as a country singer and songwriter, but he has also owned and operated an Albuquerque recording studio for many years. As the title implies, the songs on this album are country songs, sung by Wagner, with added mariachi horns and strings. A couple of groups — Mariachi Tenampa (an Albuquerque group that has recorded at least one album of their own at Wagner’s studio) and Mariachi Los Vaqueros — lend their talents to the project.
The idea isn’t completely new. After all, back in the early ’60s, one of Johnny Cash’s biggest hits, “Ring of Fire,” featured mariachi horns. Basically, the horns and strings, when added tastefully, provide a tangy embellishment on a good three-chord song.
The songs on this album include two early classics by Belen-based country singer Mose McCormack, a long-time Wagner crony. If New Mexico had a songwriter hall of fame, McCormack’s “Beans and Make Believe” (the title song of Moses’ 1976 debut album) and “New Mexico Blues” would both deserve a prominent place there. Wagner also includes a couple of mariachi’d-up songs by the late great Lewie Wickham, who was half of an Albuquerque duet with his recently deceased brother Hank Wickham (“Border Town Blues” and “Yesterday Took Wings”), along with several originals, including “He’s Sorry” (which contains a Kristofferson-worthy first line: “He said he was sorry this morning for his sorry excuses last night”) and my favorite, “It’s Not Right,” a sad (like-to-be) cheatin’ song.
* When I’m an Angel by Lauria. It was 20 years ago when long, tall Laurianne Fiorentino, then fairly new to Santa Fe, released her first album, The Match, a set of 15 songs recorded live at the Santuario de Guadalupe. Two decades and several albums later, Fiorentino — now recording under the name of Lauria — still possesses her rich, sultry alto and songwriting chops, as this new record shows.
Lauria is at her best on bluesy, jazzy songs like the opening track, “Homeland,” which features a cool mandolin by Tristan Scroggins as well as Asher Barreras on bass; “Please Don’t,” with trumpet by JQ Whitcomb; and “Simple as the Sun,” a song that originally appeared on The Match. The melody is similar to a song I used to sing back in my Methodist Youth Fellowship days: “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.”
Also worthy is “All Night Rain,” an aching seven-minute country song that doesn’t actually have a steel guitar in it, though it’s easy to imagine one. And defying genre pigeonholing is the song “Drop,” a spoken-word piece in which Lauria, reciting lines like “I’m a melted drop of matter, a tear that never fell/When darkness comes to get me, you can find me in the well,” is backed only by drummer Joel Fadness, some uncredited voice, and her own harmonica honking.
* Songs for Donald by Jim Terr. Failing parodist songwriter from Las Vegas, N.M. attacks the president of the United States of America — who won the election in a landslide — with unfunny, unfair, unpatriotic songs. #sad
I’m trying to help you here, Jim. If you could get Trump to attack you on Twitter, that would boost your GoFundMe project for this album (www.gofundme.com/DonnieTrunkCD) and sell a jillion copies.
Video Time
Here's Boris McCutcheon doing "Poor Tired Hands."
John Wagner plays "New Mexico Blues" with Mariachi Tenampa and special guest appearance by Mose McCormack
You're going to run to the rock, the rock was a meltin' Run to the sea, the sea was a boilin' Run to the moon, the moon was a bleedin' Run to the Lord, Lord won't you hide me?
It's one of the most frightening spirituals ever sung on American soil: "Sinner Man."
It's about a sinner trying to escape from the hands of an angry God. "Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to /
All on that day?" But everywhere he goes, everything is -- literally, I guess -- going to Hell.
I suppose the song is ancient. Certainly the terrifying theology behind it is.
The earliest version I can find is a song included in a 1911 collection of songs,The Most Popular Plantation Songs, compiled by Gilbert Clifford Noble (co-founder of Barnes & Noble. The lyrics are somewhat different, but the same idea is there:
Oh! sinner, Oh! sinner man... Oh! sinner, Oh! which way are you going? Oh! come back, sinner, and don't go there, Which way are you going? For hell is deep and dark despair, Oh! which way are you going?
The theme of a sinner running from the wrath of God has appeared in many songs. In 1954, a gospel group called The Sensational Nightingales recorded a tune called "On the Judgement Day," which basically is "Sinner Man," and apparently has been renamed "Sinner Man" in later releases.
A couple of years later, swing man Les Baxter recorded his take on "Sinner Man" (with vocals by Will Holt.)
The Weavers introduced "Sinner Man" to the folk music world.
Down in Jamaica in 1966 The Wailers recorded a proto-reggae version of "Sinner Man." A decade later, Wailer Peter Tosh turned the song into "Downpresser Man."
But it was Nina Simone who, in the early '60s, brought new fire into "Sinner Man" in a 10-minute, piano-driven version.
Here are a couple of 21st Century "Sinner Man" takes. In 2002, The Colorado goth-country 16 Horsepower put their own peculiar stamp on the song.
And Black Diamond Heavies recorded a powerful version in 2008.
But my favorite "Sinner Man" is the two-part romp recorded by R&B mutant Esquerita in the mid '60s but not released until 2012. It's definitely based on the Nina Simone version, though it's even wilder. Here's Part Two. Hang on and run to the rock!
In the past several days I've seen the following video -- Donny & Marie
Osmond performing Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" in 1978 on their old TV
show -- posted on two or three friends' Facebook pages. (I saw yours first,
Tommy T, so you're responsible for this.)
Behold:
Did you make it all the way through the ice-skating sequence?
But Donny & Marie weren't the only Top 40 pop stars to have their own TV
variety shows in the Me Decade. The airwaves were crawling with them.
Below are some memorable musical moments from some of these tacky shows.
Here's The Captain & Tennile backing up poet/spaceman Leonard Nimoy.
Former New Mexico Music Commissioner Tony Orlando with his back-up singers
collectively known as Dawn, had their own show between 1974 and 1976. Watch
'em boogie!
So you want some rock 'n' roll? In 1973 on their variety show, Sonny &
Cher did this medley featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, The Four Seasons
and ... Bobby Vinton?????!!!??
The golden age of crappy TV variety shows is long gone. But a couple of
decades later on their short-lived syndicated TV talk show, Donny & Marie
outdid themselves with a big production where they attempted to lead the
children in to the dark world of the occult with this song from a movie about
a cross-dressing, multi-sexual vampire.
Sunday, July 9, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Keep Movin' by Freddy Cannon & The Gears
You're My Pacemaker by Archie & The Bunkers
Sheena's in a Goth Gang by The Cramps
Machine Born to Think by The Bonnesvilles
Don't Slander Me by Roky Erickson
Tin Foil Hat by Casy Jones Dead
One Night of Sin by Simon Stokes
Big Cluckin' Mistake by MFC Chicken
Lucid Nightmare by The Black Lips
Wreck My Flow by The Dirtbombs
The Trough by The Molting Vultures
Dirty Lil' Dog by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
Don't Try to Tell Me by Thee Vicars
Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine by Country Joe & The Fish
She's a Woman by The Beatles
Remember by The Mekons
Crying in the Chapel by The Orioles
The Box by Gregg Turner
96 Tears by Aretha Franklin
Psychotic Reaction by Brenton Wood
The Train Kept a-Rollin' by The Yardbirds
Madhouse by Evan Johns
Home is Where the Hate Is by Mary's Kids
What Once Was Dead by Laino & The Broken Seeds
The Point is Overflowing by Left-Lane Cruiser
Tar Paper by The Blind Shake
Hold Me by The Angel Babies
Drop by Lauria
I Put My Trust in Thee by Marie Knight
Up in Flames by Julee Cruise CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 7, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Walkin' in L.A. by Steve Earle
Skip a Rope by The Kentucky Headhunters
Nothing at All by The Waco Brothers
Sappy by Iron Horse
I Got Stoned and Missed It by Shel Silverstein
Down in Sinaloa by Panama Red
No Glory by The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers
Dirty Little Blues by The Whiskey Charmers
Daddy Was a Preacher, Mama Was a Go-Go Girl by Miss DeLois & The Music Men
Don't Leave it a Lie by Shinyribs
Ladies in the Know by Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Brand New Heartache by Chris & Herb
Don't Take Your Guns to Town by Johnny Cash
I'm Coming Home by Johnny Horton
There's Two People Here Not Talkin by Miss Leslie
I Do Believe I've Had Enough by Zephaniah Ohora
Your Wife by Audrey Auld
We're All Gonna Die Someday by Kasey Chambers
Uneasy Rider by Charlie Daniels
Who Shot Sam by George Jones
Little Pink Mack by Kay Adams
She Got the House by Evan Johns
Trooper's Holler by Hank 3
Please Don't Take the Baby to the Liquor Store by The Reverend Horton Heat
Can You Blame the Colored Man by South Memphis String Band
Pay Day by Laino & Broken Seeds
Them Stems by Chris Stapleton
Stems and Seeds by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
Tomi Tomi by The Hawaiians
Shadows Where the Magic Was by James Hand
Silver Tongue by Modern Mal
Mississippi by The Cactus Blossoms
Last Drop by Chris Mars 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
Today would have been rock 'n' roll pioneer Bill Haley's 92nd birthday.
He didn't make it. He died in 1981 at the age of 55 in Harlingen, Texas.
He's best known for his hit "Rock Around the Clock," which he recorded in 1953 -- nearly three years before Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" was released. "Rock Around the Clock" was used as the theme song to the 1955 juvenile delinquency cautionary tale Blackboard Jungle. That lead to appearances by Bill Haley & His Comets in two 1956 movies, Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock.
But throughout his troubled life, Haley never received the respect he deserved as a rock innovator.
From the Allmusic Guide:
Bill Haley is the neglected hero of early rock & roll. Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly are ensconced in the heavens, transformed into veritable constellations in the rock music firmament, their music respected by writers and scholars as well as the record-buying public, virtually every note of music they ever recorded theoretically eligible for release. ... he's often treated as little more than a glorified footnote, an anomaly that came and went very quickly, in most histories of the music. The truth is, Bill Haley came along a lot earlier than most people realize and the histories usually acknowledge, and he went on making good music for years longer than is usually recognized.
Haley's final years, in which he lived in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, were marked by
alcoholism and erratic behavior. According to an article on the Pop History Dig website
... in May 1980, Haley set off to tour once again, this time to South Africa for three weeks of shows. But there, according to his wife Martha who traveled with him, he had some bizarre moments on stage, telling stories to his audience rather than singing. Back in Texas, in the fall of 1980, family members noticed more odd behavior, including his son Jack, who had come for a brief visit that proved troubling. Old friends and former business associates were getting rambling, late night phone calls as well. At this point, he appears to have begun living in the pool house, while the family stayed in the main house. In the fall of 1980, Haley was picked up by the police and detained, then bailed out by Martha, who had him see a psychiatrist, who gave him some medication. Some believe Haley may have had an underlying anxiety disorder, leading to a chemical imbalance in the brain, with Haley then self-medicating with alcohol. In any case, there were more episodes of Haley’s odd behavior, some paranoia, and becoming almost a Jekyll-and-Hyde type character. There had also been news reports of Haley having a brain tumor, but these appear to have been fabrications, or false stories used to keep him from further touring.
Bill Haley, Jr. talked about his father's life and death in a 2013 interview with the New Zealand music magazine Elsewhere
My father didn't live up to his responsibilities as a father and I think that troubled him and ate at him, but the fact he became an alcoholic really spun him out of control and there was a physical deterioration and mental instability. There were rumours he had brain cancer and there were other explanations for his erratic behaviour. He would spend hours and hours in the middle of the night calling friends and acquaintances, myself included, but I can tell you of one instance in particular where he said “I'll call you in the morning”. Now I didn't think he would, but he did and he was sober which was the exception not the rule. And he was clear, alert and lucid. So I think the drinking was the real cause of the behaviours which leads to the speculation as to what the real issues were. And I gotta say this about my dad, he had a tendency to fabricate things – why I don't know – but I think it goes into the cause of his alcoholism which was guilt. If the question is what do I think killed him, it was alcoholism exacerbated by a guilty conscience. That's my best answer.
According to Pop History Dig:
One evening in February 1981, Haley’s youngest daughter, Martha Maria, living in the main house in Texas, had brought her father some food in his pool house. She has recalled being very sad at the experience, as he gave her “the biggest hug” that evening. Crying as she relayed the story of seeing her father, she described the scene: “I wanted to get out of there. It was so painful to see him in that condition. He was lonely and wanted to feel loved.” Bill Haley died the next day. He was 55 years old. News reports listed “natural causes” in Haley’s death, likely a heart attack. He was found fully clothed on his bed in the pool house after the mailman came by. ... In some ways, no doubt, the lack of recognition contributed to his sad ending, breaking his spirit. True, Haley had his demons and insecurities, not least was his life-long impaired vision in one eye. Others suggest that he may not have had the personality for the life he chose and was just not a good fit for the high-exposure world of pop music celebrity. ... In the end, Bill Haley was a musician, with an irresistible itch to scratch – to record, to write, to create something new. Which he did in some profusion.
Tom Russell and Dave Alvin wrote a moving song about Haley's death called "Haley's Comet" :
There was no moon shinin' on the Rio Grande A truck of migrants pulled through town The jukebox was busted at the bus depot When Haley's comet hit the ground
To commemorate Haley on his birthday, let's go a bit beyond "Rock Around the Clock." Here are some other songs by Bill Haley & His Comets. First one called "Crazy Man Crazy."
This one has been a favorite of mine since childhood.
Here's one that indeed is "barbaric."
And here's that powerful song by Tom Russell and Dave Alvin (backed by Katy Moffat in this version.)
Birth of SPAM: July 5, 1937 One of the more popular—and ridiculed—foods of the 20th century makes its debut when George A. Hormel & Company launches a new product it calls SPAM luncheon meat. It’s mainly pork shoulder, a part of the pig that generally was thrown away because it was too fatty for ham, but not fatty enough for bacon. At, first, the company simply had called it Hormel Spiced Meat, but switches to SPAM as a result of a contest to come up with another name (The winner was awarded $100.). Why SPAM? One company spokesman said it’s meant to be short for “Shoulder pork and ham.” A later story contended that it stands for “Spiced meat and ham.” It would later be given more unflattering names, such as “Something posing as meat.” At 10 cents a can, though, it’s a big hit. Within a year, one out of every five American families—with the worst of the Great Depression still fresh in their memories–make SPAM a part of their diets. It really took off in World War II because it could easily be shipped overseas and stored. SPAM became a staple of the American GIs diet, served meal after meal. Overall, Hormel sent 100 million pounds of SPAM overseas during the war.
Need I say more? Let the music begin!
That's from the 1989 compilation Monty Python Sings. But it wasn't the first time Monty Python sung the praises of Spam' Here's a sketch from 1970.
Yes, Weird Al had an opinion or two about "Spiced Meat and Ham."
A rapper called Milk Dee in 1994 teamed up with Ad Roc from The Beastie Boys for this song called "Spam," which dropped this wisdom:
Spam! Ain't the move it's imitation ham! Ham is pork and the pork is foul Cut it like a pig and that ain't my style Two MC's you know we're versatile
So happy anniversary, Spam!
Most people are happy that this was a limited edition
Sunday, July 2, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
4th of July by X
Poor Beast, Marginal Man by Rattanson
Bless You by The Devil Dogs
It Won't Be Long by The Black Lips
Down on the Street by The Stooges
Don't Bug Me I'm Nutty by New Bomb Turks
A Girl Like You by The Mummies
Shiver by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Who Shot the Druggies by Lynx Lynx
I Ain't Got Nobody by Patti Smith
Cheap Thrills by Ruben & Jets
Underneath the Sheets of White Noise by Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
The Slow Drag Under by Benjamin Booker
Queen of the Pill by The Jackets
No Friend of Mine by The Cynics
Golden Surf II by Pere Ubu
Mailman by The Count Five
The Push by The Molting Vultures
Baby Scratch My Back by Slim Harpo
Unknown Passage by Dead Moon
Smells Like Teens Hear It by Public Enemy
Burn Em Brew by Left Lane Cruiser
He Looks Like a Psycho by The Electric Mess
Big 10-Inch Record by Moose Jackson
Never Coming Home by Reigning Sound
Tucson Girls by Gregg Turner
Little Egypt by The Coasters
Dignity by Bob Dylan
Full Moon in the Daylight Sky by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
O Money by The Mekons
Edge of My Bed by The Angel Babies
Chapel of Dreams by The Dubs
On the Nickel by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Boy, is it hot out there. How hot is it? So hot you'll need asbestos earphones just to handle all the sizzling sounds on this pulse-pounding Big Enchilada episode. Let it burn!