Thursday, October 31, 2019
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Vintage Halloween Songs
Halloween fell on Throwback Thursday this year, so here are several spooky tunes, some of which go back more than 100 years.
Confession; I first heard this first one in the 1990s on a Tom Waits album, with vocals by William Burroughs, "`Tain't No Sin to Take Off Your Skin and Dance Around in Your Bones" goes back at least to 1930. Here's a version by a sultry-voiced singer named Lee Morse and Her Bluegrass Boys. (No, this ain't bluegrass music. But, according to the All-Music Guide the band included Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey
Here's Louis Armstrong in the early '50s
According to my late grandmother, Rudy Vallee was something of a teen idol in his day. This song would make him more like the Screamin' Jay Hawkins of the Roaring '20s.
Finally, this song by Arthur Collins must have been the hot of every Halloween party in 1912. Beware the Ragtime Goblin Man!
For more Halloween songs check out my latest Big Enchilada podcast
Sunday, October 27, 2019
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, October 27, 2019
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
SOUND WORLD SPOOKTACULAR!!!
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
It's Halloween by The Shaggs
Monsters Holiday by Buck Owens
Swamp Gas by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
The Witch by The Sonics
Zombie Dance by The Cramps
Vampire Sugar by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
Murder in the Graveyard by Screaming Lord Sutch
Devil Dance by The A-Bones
Monster Blues by Dex Romweber
Frankenstein Meets The Beatles by Dickie Goodman
Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde
Stand for The Fire Demon by Roky Erikson
Satan's Bride by Gregg Turner
You've Become a Witch by The Electric Mess
Halloween by Misfits
(I Lost My Baby to a) Satan Cult by Stephen W. Terrell
It Ain't No Sin to Take Off Your Skin and Dance Around in Your Bones by The Pete Allen Jazz Band
2 Big Pumpkins by Elvira
Evil Hoodoo by The Seeds
Halloween Spooks by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
She's My Witch by Fire Bad!
Don't Meet Mr. Frankenstein by Carlos Casal Jr.
Werewolf by Southern Culture on the Skids
The Witch by Stud Cole
Graveyard by Dead Moon
Hearse With a Curse by Mr. Gasser & The Weirdos
With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm by Rudee Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees
Edgar Allen by Lou Reed
Bo Meets the Monster by Bo Diddley
Hillbilly Zombies by Deadbolt
Demon in My Head by Joe Buck Yourself
Vampiro by Los Peyotes
Ghost Riders in the Sky by Lorne Greene
Corpse Grinder by The Meteors
Spooks by Louis Armstrong
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
You these spooky tunes. There are 12 hours of Spooktacular music on The Big Enchilada!
CLICK HERE
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Friday, October 25, 2019
TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Serious Country from Tyler
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
October 25, 2019
Right up there with Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price, Tyler Childers is at the top of my list of favorite country music discoveries in recent years. I became an unapologetic zealot about three-quarters through my first listen of his landmark 2017 album Purgatory. And the good news is that his new album, Country Squire (Hickman Holler) is even better.
Unfortunately, lots of folks who might like him probably haven’t heard of Tyler Childers. Here’s what you need to know:
He’s just a youngster, in his late 20s. He comes from Kentucky, which is also the case with Sturgill (who co-produced both this album as well as Purgatory) and Chris Stapleton — not to mention Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, John Prine, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Skaggs, and many others.
And he plays country music. Basic, fiddle-and-steel country music, singing honest tales of life with a little sob in his voice and (I imagine) a little bourbon on his breath. The man can sing. He can pick that guitar. And he can write. Many of the themes in Childers’ lyrics traverse along well-trodden country themes — love of home and family; love and hate of life on the road as a touring troubadour; a working man’s sympathy for those toiling on the farms and in the mines; love for, and sometimes regret over, the sweet release of the metaphorical Saturday night; and sometimes, fear of sin’s cruel wages. Yet when Childers sings, it never sounds corny.
The title song, which kicks off the album, is about a hard-working guy who’s not only a musician, but also a dedicated family man trapping varmints to make a winter coat for the woman he loves.
Well tomorrow, we hit the country music highway/On our way to Circleville/We’re off to do some weekend warring/While we sing and drink our fill/And when I ain’t out playing on my six-string/With the nickels I acquire/I’m trying to fix her up a castle/It’s called the Country Squire.
That “castle” is an old “53-year-old camper” that he’s planning to refurbish for the missus. So much is packed into this song — the hard work, the hell-raising, the love, and the hope.
“Country Squire” is followed by “Bus Route,” a song of vivid childhood memories, in which we meet “the prettiest little girl,” who’s the object of Childers’ childhood crush.
Tried to kiss her once in the aisle of the bus/And she walked right over me/Face-down in the gum on the floor/I was hopin’ that she’d change her mind …
(Spoiler alert: Years later she does.)
And we also meet Ray Dixon, the grouchy old bus driver who refused to take any lip from the unruly country kids he’s responsible for. ("All he needed was a glare in the mirror/And a paddle that he carved from pine …")
Moving away from straight country is “All Your’n,” which veers into Stax-era soul sounds — a nice reminder of the natural intersections between white and black Southern music. It sounds almost like some long-lost Dan Penn song.
One of my very favorites is the final track, “Matthew,” a fiddle-driven ode to Childers’ brother-in-law, an Iraq war veteran who now works the night shift, guarding “rusty missiles” at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky. It’s also about Matthew’s dad, who raised his young ’uns right “on a little bit of scripture and an acreage of paradise.” The old man’s also a musician, and Childers compares his guitar picking to that of the late bluegrass great (and one-time member of The Byrds), Clarence White.
Not much really happens here. Despite the allusions to missiles and war (and a terrible logging accident that cost Matthew’s father a leg years ago), nobody gets killed or hurt during the course of the song. We hear of the family fishing, swapping tales, and telling lies. It’s just a sweet portrait of people Childers obviously loves.
Mister, this is country music!
Also noted:
* Sound & Fury (Elektra) by Sturgill Simpson. I can’t decide whether I hate this album or kind of like it. But I can honestly say, mister, this ain’t country music.
In one of the later episodes of Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary series, someone — I forget who — makes the point that since early in the history of the genre there’s been a tension among artists who try to stretch the boundaries of country. Be it Jimmie Rodgers recording with Louis Armstrong, Bob Wills incorporating swing jazz, Chet Atkins and Billy Sherrill creating a smooth “countrypolitan” sound, or John Denver and Olivia Newton-John crashing the country charts in the 1970s — the tension has always been there.
Now Simpson, an adventurous artist whom I highly respect, would be the first to say that this new album (actually a soundtrack to an anime film) is not hillbilly music. It’s a loud sort of rock with screaming guitars and obnoxious synthesizers that sounds closer to prog rock.
I’m certainly not opposed to country artists testing the boundaries and trying weird stuff. Heck, I remember seeing a Crystal Gayle concert a few decades ago where her keyboardist played a crazy synthesizer on the classic hillbilly hit “Rocky Top,” and it sounded cool. And yes, there are a few catchy tunes here that perhaps I could learn to appreciate.
And I believe there are some good songs buried deep in some of the tunes. I just hope Simpson gets back to the country.
Here are some videos
First, the title song
The official "All Your'n" video
And here's what Sturgill's up to ..
October 25, 2019
Right up there with Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price, Tyler Childers is at the top of my list of favorite country music discoveries in recent years. I became an unapologetic zealot about three-quarters through my first listen of his landmark 2017 album Purgatory. And the good news is that his new album, Country Squire (Hickman Holler) is even better.
Unfortunately, lots of folks who might like him probably haven’t heard of Tyler Childers. Here’s what you need to know:
He’s just a youngster, in his late 20s. He comes from Kentucky, which is also the case with Sturgill (who co-produced both this album as well as Purgatory) and Chris Stapleton — not to mention Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, John Prine, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Skaggs, and many others.
And he plays country music. Basic, fiddle-and-steel country music, singing honest tales of life with a little sob in his voice and (I imagine) a little bourbon on his breath. The man can sing. He can pick that guitar. And he can write. Many of the themes in Childers’ lyrics traverse along well-trodden country themes — love of home and family; love and hate of life on the road as a touring troubadour; a working man’s sympathy for those toiling on the farms and in the mines; love for, and sometimes regret over, the sweet release of the metaphorical Saturday night; and sometimes, fear of sin’s cruel wages. Yet when Childers sings, it never sounds corny.
The title song, which kicks off the album, is about a hard-working guy who’s not only a musician, but also a dedicated family man trapping varmints to make a winter coat for the woman he loves.
Well tomorrow, we hit the country music highway/On our way to Circleville/We’re off to do some weekend warring/While we sing and drink our fill/And when I ain’t out playing on my six-string/With the nickels I acquire/I’m trying to fix her up a castle/It’s called the Country Squire.
That “castle” is an old “53-year-old camper” that he’s planning to refurbish for the missus. So much is packed into this song — the hard work, the hell-raising, the love, and the hope.
“Country Squire” is followed by “Bus Route,” a song of vivid childhood memories, in which we meet “the prettiest little girl,” who’s the object of Childers’ childhood crush.
Tried to kiss her once in the aisle of the bus/And she walked right over me/Face-down in the gum on the floor/I was hopin’ that she’d change her mind …
(Spoiler alert: Years later she does.)
And we also meet Ray Dixon, the grouchy old bus driver who refused to take any lip from the unruly country kids he’s responsible for. ("All he needed was a glare in the mirror/And a paddle that he carved from pine …")
Moving away from straight country is “All Your’n,” which veers into Stax-era soul sounds — a nice reminder of the natural intersections between white and black Southern music. It sounds almost like some long-lost Dan Penn song.
One of my very favorites is the final track, “Matthew,” a fiddle-driven ode to Childers’ brother-in-law, an Iraq war veteran who now works the night shift, guarding “rusty missiles” at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky. It’s also about Matthew’s dad, who raised his young ’uns right “on a little bit of scripture and an acreage of paradise.” The old man’s also a musician, and Childers compares his guitar picking to that of the late bluegrass great (and one-time member of The Byrds), Clarence White.
Not much really happens here. Despite the allusions to missiles and war (and a terrible logging accident that cost Matthew’s father a leg years ago), nobody gets killed or hurt during the course of the song. We hear of the family fishing, swapping tales, and telling lies. It’s just a sweet portrait of people Childers obviously loves.
Mister, this is country music!
Also noted:
* Sound & Fury (Elektra) by Sturgill Simpson. I can’t decide whether I hate this album or kind of like it. But I can honestly say, mister, this ain’t country music.
In one of the later episodes of Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary series, someone — I forget who — makes the point that since early in the history of the genre there’s been a tension among artists who try to stretch the boundaries of country. Be it Jimmie Rodgers recording with Louis Armstrong, Bob Wills incorporating swing jazz, Chet Atkins and Billy Sherrill creating a smooth “countrypolitan” sound, or John Denver and Olivia Newton-John crashing the country charts in the 1970s — the tension has always been there.
Now Simpson, an adventurous artist whom I highly respect, would be the first to say that this new album (actually a soundtrack to an anime film) is not hillbilly music. It’s a loud sort of rock with screaming guitars and obnoxious synthesizers that sounds closer to prog rock.
I’m certainly not opposed to country artists testing the boundaries and trying weird stuff. Heck, I remember seeing a Crystal Gayle concert a few decades ago where her keyboardist played a crazy synthesizer on the classic hillbilly hit “Rocky Top,” and it sounded cool. And yes, there are a few catchy tunes here that perhaps I could learn to appreciate.
And I believe there are some good songs buried deep in some of the tunes. I just hope Simpson gets back to the country.
Here are some videos
First, the title song
The official "All Your'n" video
And here's what Sturgill's up to ..
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
WACKY WEDNESDAY: 'Tis The Season of Elvira!
Yes it's a week before Halloween, so let us now praise famous vamps ... namely Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Back in the early '80s she starred in the Elvira's Movie Macabre, a Los Angeles-based syndicated horror movie shows that featured Peterson in her most famous role as the sexy vampire girl in the low-cut black dress. She offered commentary and bad puns during breaks. And by the end of the decade she seemed to be everywhere.
From her website:
Elvira’s reign as ‘Queen of Halloween’ has spanned more than three decades and includes an IMAX movie, music CDs, books and more than a thousand licensed products. She co-wrote and starred in the feature films Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills.
And she also sings. So here's a musical tribute to the Queen of Haalloween.
Most of these are from the early-to-mid 80s, so pardon the cheese:
Elvira also is a rapper
Here's a live performance at Knott's Berry Farm
And this one is featured on my latest Big Enchilada podcast!
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Scare Yourself Silly with the NEW Big Enchilada Podcast
Once again it's Halloween and once again The Big Enchilada takes you on a journey into the heart of supernatural terror where monsters lurk and creatures slither. You'll hear songs full of ghosts, zombies, vampires and all sorts of creepy stuff. Hang on!
And remember, The Big Enchilada is officially listed in the iTunes store. So go subscribe, if you haven't already (and gimme a good rating and review if you're so inclined.) Thanks.
DOWNLOAD | SUBSCRIBE | MIXCLOUD | FACEBOOK | iTUNES! |
Mixcloud is now the official home of Radio Mutation
Here's the playlist:
(Background Music: Doctor Spook by Frankie Stein & His Gouls)
Don't Meet Mr. Frankenstein by Carlos Casal, Jr.
Necrophilia Twist by Fire Bad
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by The Barbaraellatones
Lady Creature by Baronen & Satan
Secret Chamber by The Thingz
Graveyard by Dead Moon
2 Big Pumpkins by Elvira
(Background Music: Igor's Lament by Tony & The Monstrosities)
I Was a Teenage Creature by Lord Luther & The Kingsmen
Voodoo Doll by Deadbolt
All Black and Hairy by The Fuzztones
Ghost by Ty Segall
Vampire Girl by Jonathan Richman
The Tombstone Hymn by Rev. Tom Frost
(Background Music: Spooky Bongos by The Hustlers
Graveyard Girl by The Vagoos
The Devil's Trick is Not a Treat by The Devils
Tribo Canibal by Horror Deluxe
Bloody Holiday by Nekromantix
(Background Music: Spooks-a-Poppin' Theme by The A-Bones)
Play it here:
Support Radio Mutation on Patreon
Sunday, October 20, 2019
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, October 20, 2019
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
Monster by Nobunny
Begone by Daddy Long Legs
The Experimenter by Thee Oh Sees
Hungry Baby by Kim Gordon
Persona by Nots
A Different Kind of Ugly by Sons of Hercules
What About You by The Jackets
Never Did No Wanderin' by The Folksmen
RIP Nick Tosches |
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee by Jerry Lee Lewis
Volare by Dean Martin
Garbageman by The Cramps
Breaking You Down by Left Lane Cruiser
Drop Out Boogie by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
Gimme Danger by Iggy Pop
Poison Ivy by Imperial Wax
Trippin' Like I Do by Mystic Braves
Girl by REQ'D
Show Your Love by The Toy Trucks
Forgiveness Through Pain by The Yawpers
Achin' to Be by The Replacements
Harar 1883 by The Mekons
Sucka Punch (Get Back) by Dinola
Cain by Churchwood
Everybody Loves a Clown by Gary Lewis & The Playboys
As Old As Espanola by Boris McCutcheon
Whiskey and a Woodstove by Hoth Brothers
Blind Kinky Friedman by Kinky Friedman
Crawl by Eilen Jewell
My Love by Dion
That's Life by Frank Sinatra
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE
Thursday, October 17, 2019
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Happy Birthday Michael McKean
Some know him as Chuck McGill, brother of Slippin' Jimmy on Better Call Saul. Some know him as Lenny, Squiggy's pal on Lavern & Shirley,
But when I think of Michael McKean, who turns 71 today, I think of David St. Hubbins, guitarist, singer and co-frontman of fictional metal monsters Spinal Tap.
So here's a musical salute in honor of McKean's/St. Hubbins' birthday. Turn it to 11!
Here's a live performance of "Stonehenge,"
Everyone likes a big bottom!
McKean, along with Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, also was a member of another band, The Folksmen, who we met in the under-rated Guest movie A Mighty Wind.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, October 13, 2019
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
Gangster of Love by Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Evil Thing by Thee Headcoatees
I Won't by The Replacements
Mirage by The Mekons
Pretty Girl Snatcher by LoveStruck
Maybe Your Baby by The Dirtbombs
Mosquito by Ghost Wolves
Scepter by Sleeve Cannon
She Was Mine by Fire Bad!
CBD by The Toy Trucks
Half-Painted House by Nots
Sweet Thang by Jack Oblivion & The Dream Killers
Nadine by Harlan T. Bobo
Love All of Me by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Dick Shake by The Juke Joint Pimps
Bermuda by Roky Erickson
Roky Sais by Dead Ghosts
Dirt Bag Fever by Quintron
Dreaming by Blondie
Million Times by Alien Space Kitchen
Sheela Na Gig by P.J. Harvey
Kiss This Year Goodbye by RÃ¥ttanson
Collapse by Sex Hoggs II
Gazing from the Shore by Mark Lanegan Band
Agreeable Woman by James Wayne
Hey Fat Boy by Ween
Hail Hail, John Cale by Count Vaseline
Commotion by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Marie's the Name by Sha Na Na
Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy by Frank Zappa, Capt. Beefheart & The Mothers
Funnel of Love by Mike Ness
Robbers & Bandits & Bastards & Thieves by Drywall
Beeswing by Richard Thompson
I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos
No Easy Way Down by Mark Eitzel
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE
FOLK REMEDY PLAYLIST
Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
8 am to 10 am Sundays Mountain Time
Substitute Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's the playlist :
Hang Me, Oh Hang Me by Dave Van Ronk
The Mayor of MacDougal Street by Tom Paxton
The Mermaid Song by Jim Kweskin
Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me by Mississippi John Hurt
Nobody's Darling But Mine by Gov. Jimmy Davis
Meet Me at the Ice House, Lizzie by The Hoosier Hot Shots
I Want to Live and Love by Maddox Brothers & Rose
No Drunkard Can Enter There by The Delmore Brothers
Whoop 'em Up, Cindy by Uncle Dave Macon
Ex-Presidents Waltz by Dave Massengill
Matthew by Tyler Chiders
Life of Sin by Sturgill Simpson
Mighty Lonesome Man by James Hand
This Town Gets Around by Margo Price
Miles to Go by Eilen Jewell
Dolores by Eddie Noack
California Hippie Murders by Red River Dave
Lone Wolf Waltz by Martha Fields
Hank Williams Set
Howlin' At the Moon by Hank Williams
Has Anybody Here Seen Hank by The Waterboys
Hank Williams' Ghost by Darrell Scott
Mrs. Hank Williams by Fred Eaglesmith
Hank Williams Records by Hellbound Glory
Nashville Radio by Jon Langford
I'm a Long Gone Daddy by Hank Williams
In the Jailhouse Now by Dale Watson
She's in the Graveyard Now by Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band
Hard Travelin' by Simon Stokes
The Last Kind Words by David Johansen & The Harry Smiths
Geeshie by The Mekons
One Hour Mama by Rhiannon Giddens
Down on Me by Eddie Head & Family
Old Dog Tray by Peter Stampfel
Dreaming My Dreams by Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Friday, October 11, 2019
TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Fresh From the Kitchen
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Octber 11, 2019
Besides their music, one thing I like about the “garage-punk space-pop” trio from Albuquerque known as Alien Space Kitchen is that they have a better record of keeping promises than most politicians.
Early this year, they self-released The Golden Age of Climate Change: The ASK EP Project, Volume 1, a 7-song burst of joy concerning the pending last gasp of human history. I enjoyed that EP but took the group’s plan to release a new CD every three months with a grain — no, actually a pillar — of salt.
But my skepticism was for naught. By early summer Alien Space Kitchen — which consists of singer/guitarists Dru Vaughter, drummer/vocalist Noelle Graney and bassist Terry “Mess” Messal — released Give Punk a Chance: The ASK EP Project, Volume 2. Then just a few weeks ago they added Return of the Muckrakers: The ASK EP Project, Volume 3 to their discography. So they’re pretty much on schedule.
As the title might imply, most of the eight tunes on Give Punk a Chance are slightly faster, slightly harder-edged and slightly punkier than most of ASK’s music (though their fans shouldn’t have any trouble recognizing the band).
“It’s so easy you will see/It’s not rocket surgery,” Vaughter sings on the title song, before launching into an unexplained refrain of “God is dead, don’t ask me if I care.”
Another highlight of this EP is the urgent-sounding “505,” a salute, if backhandedly so, to the band’s homeland. “I’ve done my time in the 505,” goes the chorus.
The EP exits with “Enter the Void,” at just over four minutes, the longest song on the record. It starts out with some uncharacteristic acoustic guitar strumming. The electricity soon comes back on, though, and the tempo quickens. By the chorus, it sounds like full-fledged punk rock.
The lyrics deal with “lessons” learned at school: “Today at school they learned me how/to disavow the here and now.” Such observations are intertwined with sly references to classic advertising slogans. “Maybe I should give it up/’cause I’m not feelin’ 7-Up,” Vaughter sings, (reminding me of one of my favorite scenes in Repo Man.)
Like the other ASK EPs, Muckrakers is short but packed with musical goodies.
The first track that really grabbed me here is “This Will Take Time,” one of the group’s trademark cheerful doomsday ditties. This one features the refrain, “The world is in denial/We’re in a downward spiral/We’re dancin’ with the Devil every day …”
While several songs have underlying political messages, “Police Brutality” is a bonafide protest song. “Police brutality every day/What the hell’s going on in the USA?”
Alien Space Kitchen conjures the ghost of a major 20th-century religious thought leader in the song “Jimmy Jones.”
The warning here, in an age where the president is looking more and more like a cult leader, is to not drink the Flavor Aid. (And yes, Vaughter got the correct brand name of the last-call-at-Jonestown drink.) “We’ve got to take a crazy stand before they kill us all/Jim Jones is still among us, his writing’s on the wall,” he sings.
Here’s a quibble: I know what he’s trying to say, but wasn’t “They’re going to kill us! … We’ve got to make a stand” basically what Jim Jones was babbling about as his followers were collapsing around him?
I’m not sure why Alien Space Kitchen chose to do a series of EPs instead of a regular-length album. But having listened to three of them so far, I believe the format works.
I remember the Golden Age of CDs (which preceded The Golden Age of Climate Change by a few decades) when many artists felt obligated to practically fill up each compact disc so it seemed like every album was at least an hour long. Few albums warranted that.
In contrast, the ASK EPs range from 18 to 26 minutes each and, to borrow the title of an old Jerry Lee Lewis box set, they’re all killer, no filler.
In a recent radio interview, Vaughter and Graney said they actually have two more EPs in the can, and Volume 4, which they say will have a completely different sound, will be unleashed late this year or early next. I’m already looking forward.
Also recommended:
* Ride the Tusk by Sex Hogs II. Here’s another EP (five songs, just under 13 minutes) by another garagey/punky trio with roots in this enchanted land. Drummer Nate Daly — I guess you’d call him the boss Hog — played in an Albuquerque band called The Scrams until a few years ago when he scrammed off to Chico, California.
The music is tight, punchy, and pretty melodic. There is plenty of acoustic guitar, played by “Guitar Hog” ( Johnny Meehan).
The finest moment on the whole album has to be Meehan’s crazy, shredding guitar solo on the song “No Blame.” But coming close to that is the crazy, shredding — and all-too-brief — harmonica solo (by I don’t know which Hog) on the final song, “Bricks.”
Both Sex Hogs II and Alien Space Kitchen sell their music, including all the titles mentioned here, through Bandcamp.com. Go buy their stuff.
Video Time!
I couldn't find any videos for Sex Hogs II, but here's Alien Space Kitchen performing "Give Punk a Chance" at a recent Santa Fe show
Here's one of my favorites from Return of the Muckrakers
Octber 11, 2019
Besides their music, one thing I like about the “garage-punk space-pop” trio from Albuquerque known as Alien Space Kitchen is that they have a better record of keeping promises than most politicians.
Early this year, they self-released The Golden Age of Climate Change: The ASK EP Project, Volume 1, a 7-song burst of joy concerning the pending last gasp of human history. I enjoyed that EP but took the group’s plan to release a new CD every three months with a grain — no, actually a pillar — of salt.
But my skepticism was for naught. By early summer Alien Space Kitchen — which consists of singer/guitarists Dru Vaughter, drummer/vocalist Noelle Graney and bassist Terry “Mess” Messal — released Give Punk a Chance: The ASK EP Project, Volume 2. Then just a few weeks ago they added Return of the Muckrakers: The ASK EP Project, Volume 3 to their discography. So they’re pretty much on schedule.
As the title might imply, most of the eight tunes on Give Punk a Chance are slightly faster, slightly harder-edged and slightly punkier than most of ASK’s music (though their fans shouldn’t have any trouble recognizing the band).
“It’s so easy you will see/It’s not rocket surgery,” Vaughter sings on the title song, before launching into an unexplained refrain of “God is dead, don’t ask me if I care.”
Another highlight of this EP is the urgent-sounding “505,” a salute, if backhandedly so, to the band’s homeland. “I’ve done my time in the 505,” goes the chorus.
The EP exits with “Enter the Void,” at just over four minutes, the longest song on the record. It starts out with some uncharacteristic acoustic guitar strumming. The electricity soon comes back on, though, and the tempo quickens. By the chorus, it sounds like full-fledged punk rock.
The lyrics deal with “lessons” learned at school: “Today at school they learned me how/to disavow the here and now.” Such observations are intertwined with sly references to classic advertising slogans. “Maybe I should give it up/’cause I’m not feelin’ 7-Up,” Vaughter sings, (reminding me of one of my favorite scenes in Repo Man.)
Like the other ASK EPs, Muckrakers is short but packed with musical goodies.
The first track that really grabbed me here is “This Will Take Time,” one of the group’s trademark cheerful doomsday ditties. This one features the refrain, “The world is in denial/We’re in a downward spiral/We’re dancin’ with the Devil every day …”
While several songs have underlying political messages, “Police Brutality” is a bonafide protest song. “Police brutality every day/What the hell’s going on in the USA?”
Alien Space Kitchen conjures the ghost of a major 20th-century religious thought leader in the song “Jimmy Jones.”
The warning here, in an age where the president is looking more and more like a cult leader, is to not drink the Flavor Aid. (And yes, Vaughter got the correct brand name of the last-call-at-Jonestown drink.) “We’ve got to take a crazy stand before they kill us all/Jim Jones is still among us, his writing’s on the wall,” he sings.
Here’s a quibble: I know what he’s trying to say, but wasn’t “They’re going to kill us! … We’ve got to make a stand” basically what Jim Jones was babbling about as his followers were collapsing around him?
I’m not sure why Alien Space Kitchen chose to do a series of EPs instead of a regular-length album. But having listened to three of them so far, I believe the format works.
I remember the Golden Age of CDs (which preceded The Golden Age of Climate Change by a few decades) when many artists felt obligated to practically fill up each compact disc so it seemed like every album was at least an hour long. Few albums warranted that.
In contrast, the ASK EPs range from 18 to 26 minutes each and, to borrow the title of an old Jerry Lee Lewis box set, they’re all killer, no filler.
In a recent radio interview, Vaughter and Graney said they actually have two more EPs in the can, and Volume 4, which they say will have a completely different sound, will be unleashed late this year or early next. I’m already looking forward.
Also recommended:
* Ride the Tusk by Sex Hogs II. Here’s another EP (five songs, just under 13 minutes) by another garagey/punky trio with roots in this enchanted land. Drummer Nate Daly — I guess you’d call him the boss Hog — played in an Albuquerque band called The Scrams until a few years ago when he scrammed off to Chico, California.
The music is tight, punchy, and pretty melodic. There is plenty of acoustic guitar, played by “Guitar Hog” ( Johnny Meehan).
The finest moment on the whole album has to be Meehan’s crazy, shredding guitar solo on the song “No Blame.” But coming close to that is the crazy, shredding — and all-too-brief — harmonica solo (by I don’t know which Hog) on the final song, “Bricks.”
Both Sex Hogs II and Alien Space Kitchen sell their music, including all the titles mentioned here, through Bandcamp.com. Go buy their stuff.
Video Time!
I couldn't find any videos for Sex Hogs II, but here's Alien Space Kitchen performing "Give Punk a Chance" at a recent Santa Fe show
Here's one of my favorites from Return of the Muckrakers
Thursday, October 10, 2019
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Happy Birthday Oscar Brown, Jr.
Ninety one years ago in Chicago, jazz singer, songwriter, poet, playwright and Civil Rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr. was born.
Though his 1960 album Sin & Soul was widely praised, and most if those songs resonate today, Brown never became the star he deserved to be.
Interest in his music was sparked back in 2016 by an unlikely source: one Donald J. Trump, who recited (badly) the lyrics to one of his songs, "The Snake," which was a soulful rewrite of an old Aesop's fable of a woman who found a snake who was dying. She took him in, nursed him back to health and the ungrateful damned thing bit her, saying (in Oscar's version), "You knew damned well I was a snake before you took me in."
In Trump's telling, the snake was a metaphor for Syrian refugees (that might have been changed to Mexicans in some of his versions) and the "tender woman" represented foolish liberals who didn't recognize the inherent danger of brown strangers. Or something.
No, Trump isn't an Oscar Brown fan. He mistakenly credited the song to soul singer Al Wilson, who covered Brown's song in the '60s.
And a couple of years after he started using "The Snake," Brown's daughters rebuked the president.. "The elephant in the room is that Trump is the living embodiment of the snake that my father wrote about in that song," daughter Africa Brown said on CNN.
Oscar Brown, Jr. died in 2005 at the age of 78. His music lives on.
Here's the first one that grabbed my attention. "Mr. Kix" was covered a few years ago by Dave & Phil Alvin.
"The Work Song" was covered by both Nina Simon and The Animals (!)
Another favorite is "Hazel's Hips."
And here's the song that should inspire us to remember Oscar, not that other guy who likes to recite it.
Monday, October 07, 2019
There's a brand new Big Enchilada
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Here's the playlist:
(Background Music: Totalitarian Polka by A Pony Named Olga)
Follow the Leader by Wiley Terry
This is Rock 'n' Roll by Los Pepes
Million Times by Alien Space Kitchen
Forever by Sex Hogs II
Reverso Destructo by The ToyTrucks
He's a Mighty Good Leader by Beck
(Background Music: Free Your Ass and Your Mind Will Follow by Funkadelic)
Leader of the Sect by The Downliners Sect
Untamed Dame by RÃ¥ttanson
Hialeah Backstretch by Charlie Pickett
Red Me by Guitar Wolf
Goin' Away Baby by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes
Take Me to Your Leader by The Lancers
(Background Music: Soviet National Anthem by youtubeaccount 01)
We Want to Talk to Your Leader by The Scaners
Don't Take Your Bad Trip Out on Me by The Electric Mess
Why Follow Me by Pan Ron
'Til the Following Night by Screaming Lord Sutch
Pony Dress by The Flesh Eaters
Why Don't You Follow Me Down by The Berries
(Background Music: I Will Follow Him by Little Peggy March)
Play it here:
(Background Music: Totalitarian Polka by A Pony Named Olga)
Follow the Leader by Wiley Terry
This is Rock 'n' Roll by Los Pepes
Million Times by Alien Space Kitchen
Forever by Sex Hogs II
Reverso Destructo by The ToyTrucks
He's a Mighty Good Leader by Beck
(Background Music: Free Your Ass and Your Mind Will Follow by Funkadelic)
Leader of the Sect by The Downliners Sect
Untamed Dame by RÃ¥ttanson
Hialeah Backstretch by Charlie Pickett
Red Me by Guitar Wolf
Goin' Away Baby by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes
Take Me to Your Leader by The Lancers
(Background Music: Soviet National Anthem by youtubeaccount 01)
We Want to Talk to Your Leader by The Scaners
Don't Take Your Bad Trip Out on Me by The Electric Mess
Why Follow Me by Pan Ron
'Til the Following Night by Screaming Lord Sutch
Pony Dress by The Flesh Eaters
Why Don't You Follow Me Down by The Berries
(Background Music: I Will Follow Him by Little Peggy March)
Play it here:
Sunday, October 06, 2019
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, October 6, 2019
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
Agony by The Muffs
No Man's Land by Imperial Wax
Wish She's Come Back by The Mystery Lights
In Glass by Notts
Along for the Ride by Alien Space Kitchen
Brontosaurus by Hickoids
Homicyde by Kazik & Zdunek Ensemble
I Put a Spell on You by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Heart Attack and Vine by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Low Down Monkey Blues by Tom Waits with The Replacements
Bastards of Young by The Replacements
End of My Neighborhood by The Fleshtones
Cypress Grove by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes
Bricks by Sex Hogs II
Your Justice by Los Pepes
Disbelief Suspension by Mark Lanegan Band
This Wondrous Day by Kyra
I'm Out of Control by The Milkshakes
Can't Judge a Book by Thee Headcoats
Apartment Wrestling Rock 'n' Roll by Reverend Beat Man
Cock in My Pocket by Iggy & The Stooges
The Mad Daddy by The Cramps
Dancing on My Knees by The Yawpers
Straight Hard and Long by Meet Your Death
Chinese Buffet by The Royal Hounds
Too Bad by Lonesome Shack
I Had a Dream by Dex Romweber
Since I Fell For You by The Night Beats
How Many Stars by The Mekons
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.
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Wednesday, October 02, 2019
WACKY WEDNESDAY: In Praise of The Maddox Brothers & Rose
I've been enjoying Ken Burns' Country Music documentary series on PBS. But one thing I'm not enjoying is the never-ending bitching on social media about artist Burns didn't cover, or cover enough. (I'm about half way through it it, so if, by the end I don't see anything on The Waco Brothers or The Hickoids, I might join in the whine-fest.)
But til then, let's look at the doughnut and not the hole. There are many great country musicians to whom Burns devoted precious footage who aren't very well known to modern ears, and one such act is the band known as The Maddox Brothers and Rose.
Fred, Cal, Cliff, Don, "Friendly" Henry (the working girl's friend) and little sister Rose Maddox brought the boogie to country music, basically playing rockabilly decades before anyone ever heard of rockabilly. Mixing honky-tonk, a little bluegrass, some R&B -- and almost always irreverent humor -- they provided good times and great sounds for the Okies who had migrated to California during the Great Depression. They also were forerunners of the Bakersfield sound and inspirations to the likes of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens (who recorded several duets with Rose in the early '60s.
Though they called their style "Okie boggie," the Maddox clan was from Alabama. The whole family walked, hitchhiked and hopped trains to Modesto, Calif. in 1933.
From Don Maddox's bio on the PBS website:
In 1939 they drove their Model A to the Sacramento State Fair and entered a hillbilly band competition. The Maddox siblings took the stage and ripped through “Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down,” with hard-driving rhythms and raunchy lyrics, and tore up the competition, officially winning the title “California’s best hillbilly band.” After that, the family performed at rodeos and in honky tonks up and down the West Coast. Rose, only 12 at the time, performed in bars, despite rules that no one under the age of 18 could enter. During that period, she heard Woody and Jack Guthrie perform “Reno Blues”—a song she later remade into the group’s biggest hit, “The Philadelphia Lawyer.”
When Don and his brothers returned from military service in 1946, the band reformed. Dressed in gaudy, brightly colored costumes made by North Hollywood tailor Nathan Turk, the Maddox Brothers and Rose called themselves “America’s Most Colorful Hillbilly Band” and were known for their high-energy performances – with hollers, spoken asides, and brother Cal’s crazy laughter. Don became the comic of the group and developed a confident “Don Juan” persona. His screeching “mule” fiddle became an integral part of the Maddox stage show.
Here's the song that won them that contest in Sacramento:
This is the song that made me a fan after hearing it on KUNM's Home of Happy Feet years and years ago.
Mama was right ...
Most of us are familiar with this kind of blues
And here's an oddity from 1956 I just stumbled on. I'm not sure why they renamed "I Got a Woman" to "The Death of Rock and Roll." I just hope Ray Charles got some royalties.
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TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
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