THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, May 6, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
When the Hammer Came Down by House of Freaks
Where There's a Road by Robbie Fulks
Wake Up and Smell the Whiskey by Dean Miller
A Girl Like That by Steve Earle
What You Mean to Me by NRBQ
Glendale Train by New Riders of the Purple Sage
Fast Train to Georgia by Billy Joe Shaver
You're Lookin' at Country by Loretta Lynn
The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee by Charlie Poole

The Bare Necessities by Michelle Shocked
Great Big Bear by The McCarthys
Bears in Them Woods by Nancy Apple
Walkin' After Midnight by The GrooveGrass Boyz
Transfusion by Nervous Norvus
Garbagehead by Eric Ambel
Swinging From Your Crystal Chandeliers by The Austin Lounge Lizards

Big Ol' White Boys by Terry Allen
War-Scarred Horses by Ronny Elliott
Woodrow Wilson by Vic Chesnutt
All of the Monkeys Ain't in the Zoo by Tommy Collins
Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
I'll Be Rested by Devil in a Woodpile
Price of Progress by Jason Ringenberg

Rehab Girl by Joe West
Cowgirls Ate My Mother by Bone Orchard
Army Ranger Pat Tilman by Acie Cargill
Sold American by Kinky Friedman
Frozen by Souled American
Vultures Await by Will Johnson
Permanently Lonely by Willie Nelson
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

THE CULTURE WAR: OH BABY, ME GOTTA GO!

Lots of folks can't believe we're still fighting the Scopes Monkey Trial 80 years later. But I'm still amazed we're fighting the "Louie, Louie" war. (I still recommended Dave Marsh's wonderful and extremely funny book about this touchstone song -- though it looks like Dave might have to write at least one more chapter ...)

Meanwhile two Republican state senators from Texas have made sure that no decent, patriotic Lone Star motorist will have to suffer the indignity of traveling down a highway named after a dope-smoking liberal like Willie Nelson.

Finally, Starbucks is refusing to sell the new Springsteen CD. The funniest take on this is Wonkette's.

As a certain outlaw country icon sang on his Yesterday's Wine album, "These are difficult times."

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: TERRY'S GREATEST MISSES

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 6, 2005

Terry Allen’s latest musical release, The Silent Majority, is a reissue of a an old collection of outtakes and oddities and stray cuts from soundtracks, theater and dance (!) productions and other Allen projects.

In the liner notes there’s a “warning” describing it as “a compilation of out-takes, in-takes, mis-takes, work tapes, added tos, taken froms, omissions and foreign materials.”

So you’d think the album would be in danger of dissolving into a disparate jumble of unrelated musical notions.

Nope.

Originally released on Allen’s Fate label more than a decade ago (the original cover was a doctored photo of Allen with Nancy Reagan. On the new one she was replaced by a stuffed coyote) The Silent Majority presents a surprisingly unified collection of irony-filled commentary on what it means to be an American.

Allen looks inward at America and its history. He sings “Home on the Range” with Joe Ely. He envisions Jesus as an Old West gambler/gunslinger (“Yeah, you went for your cross/But you drew slow and you lost …”), he memorializes a doomed New Mexico honky tonk picker in a medley from Pedal Steel, a 1988 dance production by Margaret Jenkins.

But Allen looks outward too, as an American pondering the rest of the world. And that’s when things get really interesting.

The first cut, the minute-and-a half “Advice to Children,” has Santa Fe resident Allen alone at his piano urging youngsters to strive for mediocrity, “Because this is America/the biggest and best of them all/Yeah this is America/All strung out on valium at the mall.”

Next thing you know, you’re listening to East Indian instruments -- tambora, veena, santoor, tabla, mridangam -- introducing Allen drawling about sailing in the ocean, “Trying to find America with you.”

You barely notice when Lloyd Maines’ steel guitar sneaks in.

The song is titled “Yo Ho Ho,” a nod of solidarity with sea pirates.

It may seem contradictory, looking for America while sailing to a foreign land. With Allen, somehow it makes sense. It’s a theme he also explored in his stunningly still relevant soundtrack for the 1984 film Amerasia, re-released a couple of years ago. (The song “The Burden” appears in Silent Majority.)

Some of the most satisfying tunes on Silent Majority feature Allen’s country-eastern experiments with musicians in Madras, India (recorded in 1992).

Besides “Yo Ho Ho,” Allen used the Indian musicians on his old outlaw romp “New Delhi Freight Train” (covered almost 30 years ago by Little Feat).

But the most thought-provoking cut recorded in Madras is a tune called “Big Ol’ White Boys,” a song first featured in a Paul Dresher theater production called Pioneer.

“Big ol’ white boys cross the ocean/In little bitty ships the whole world ’round,” Allen sings as the Indian instruments play obliviously in the background. “Got no notion where they’re goin’/What they’re doin’, or what they’ve found.”

In Allen‘s final analysis, the Big White Boys, after taming the mountains and the prairies, “rule the world while we get dumber/In the name of glut, our Lord and greed.”

Not every track on The Silent Majority is full of socio-politico importance. One of my favorite cuts here actually is a fairly mindless six-minute jam called “3 Finger Blues.” It’s a snarling little rocker with Allen on piano and Maines on guitar sounding like they’re trying to tear down some prison wall.

It’s great that Sugar Hill is re-releasing all these great out-of-print Allen masterpieces. But this just whets my appetite for some new material from Allen. I know the big white boy’s got some new material. Let’s hope we hear it soon.

Also Recommended:

Valentine Roadkill by Ronny Elliott. Here’s another tasty collection of tunes by Tampa, Fla. roots rocker Elliott. To steal (and mangle) a line from Elliott, it’s full of full of song, soul and fire.

Elliott’s voice, as well as his subject matter, lends itself to sad melodies, but this album seems even more somber than usual.

The war in Iraq seems to permeate Valentine Roadkill -- and not just in tunes like “No More War,” “War-Scarred Horses,“ and “I Don’t Hear Freedom Ring Anymore.”

You also hear a reference to “the blood of Arabia” in songs like “Hope Fades” over a droning steel guitar and a martial drum beat, along with sad images of a drunken George Jones on stage and Elvis passed out at Graceland.

Then there’s an untitled song about having a little talk with Jesus (featuring Elliott’s first dabbling in electronica weirdness) where the Lord “wasn’t wild about the idea of being appropriated by a bunch of hillbillies in the United States of America to fight wars for oil and greed.” But, according to Elliott, Christ likes Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

It wouldn’t be a Ronny Elliott album without some great songs about his fallen rock ‘n’ heroes. The album starts out with “Valentino’s Dream,” an ode to Huey Meaux, the “Crazy Cajun” who produced Freddy Fender and discovered Doug Sahm. Another troubled record producer, Phil Spector, is the subject of “Do Angels Ever Dream They’re Falling.”

Lord Buckley, Hank Williams and Jack Keruoac are memorialized by Elliott in “When Idols Fall,” though the singer did Hank more justice in “Loser’s Lullaby” from his album Magneto a couple of years ago.

It’s easy to get lost in Elliott’s words and stories. But the music by his longtime band The Nationals makes it even easier. Sonic delights on this album include Wayne Pearson’s sax on “Valentino’s Dreams” and Natty Moss-Bond’s harmony vocals on “War-Scarred Horses.”

BLOGGERAL

There's a new New Mexico political blogger -- Tom Bailey, a self described "post college grad in ABQ w/o a job who's interested, check that, sometimes obsessed with politics."

He's got a real interesting post today about the general manager of KOB TV making campaign contributions to Heather Wilson and Pete Domenici.

I put a permanent link to Bailey's site on the right side of this blog.

Tom's a lefty. I also link to home-grown right-wing blogs. Keep the debate nice and loud. I'm a reporter, not a partisan.

Speaking of right-leaning blogs, I was going to update my link to Rep. Greg Payne's blog -- he's got a new address. But then I noticed Payne's blog wasn't there in my link section. Ooops! My oversight. It's there now.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: BILL '08, THE T-SHIRT FRONT

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 5, 2005

Whenever someone asks Gov. Bill Richardson whether he's running for president in 2008 these days he'll just chuckle and answer with some variation of his official line of "Aw shucks, I'm too busy being governor of New Mexico to even think about that."

But out in Cyber Land, on at least one merchandising Web site, it appears that several people are trying to promote a Richardson 2008 campaign - or at least make a few bucks trying.

If you go to www.cafepress.com, click on "Go Shopping" and do a search for Bill Richardson, you'll find a whole souvenir shop full of Richardson paraphernalia.

There's Richardson 2008 T-shirts and sweat shirts - long sleeved, short sleeved, no sleeved - with several designs, Richardson 2008 coffee mugs, Richardson 2008 refrigerator magnets, Richardson 2008 tote bags and, of course, red-white-and-blue Richardson 2008 buttons, Richardson 2008 bumper stickers.

You can find Richardson 2008 baseball jerseys, Richardson 2008 golf shirts, Richardson 2008 BBQ aprons, Richardson 2008 infant creepers.

One bumper sticker even has a running mate chosen for the governor: "Richardson Obama 2008. "

Most of the goods feature generic looking logos. But you can find a few items featuring the face of our governor.

The site allows you to sort the goods by popularity. Apparently the biggest selling Richardson item at Cafepress is the "Bill Richardson President 2008 Trucker Hat" selling for $16.99.

These are few of my favorite things:

* The "Bill Richardson President 2008 Dog T-shirt" $19.99 "Put your pooch in his own cool doggie T-shirt," the blurb says. "Let him wear a doggie-cool design so he can express what he'd like to bark out loud." You'd think it would at least mention the fact that Richardson signed "Scooby's Law."

* The "Patriotic Richardson 2008 Boxer Shorts" $14.99 These feature an "open fly .for thinking outside the boxers."

* The "Bill Richardson President 2K8 Classic Thong." Under the description it says "Bill Richardson served in the US Congress, a US Ambassador, Energy Department chief, and Governor of New Mexico. Add to that his Hispanic heritage, and is a solid choice for President in 2008." But when you click "More details," you get beyond the governor's resume: "This under-goodie is 'outta sight' in low-rise pants. Toss these message panties onstage at your favorite rock star or share a surprise message with someone special ... later." Makes you wonder: Did Monica Lewinsky wear a Bill Richardson thong? This sells for $9.99.

Who's selling this stuff?: Cafepress is an umbrella for several web-based "shops" in which anyone can design and sell their own T-shirts, mugs, thongs or wall clocks. Merchants can remain anonymous behind monikers like "Irregular Goods: For Progressive Resistance," "Pres 2008" and "Democrats for President 2008 Bumper Stickers, More."

A spokeswoman for Cafepress couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Many of these "shops" sell doodads for several possible candidates. For instance at ButtonZup, Richardson is one of 11 possible Democratic contenders. He's right between former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and under Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

Though the overwhelming majority of the Richardson curios at Cafepress are supportive, there's one bumper sticker the governor wouldn't like: "Another Hard-working Teacher Stabbed in the Back by Gov. Bill Richardson," it says. This sticker, selling for $3.99, is offered by an outfit called "Unpractical Apparel." The only other politician to get barbed here is President Bush. He's on a T-shirt that says, "The W stands for Worthless." An e-mail to this merchant was unanswered by press time.

Thoughts from the gov's office: Asked what Richardson thinks about this treasure trove of Richardson products, the governor's chief of staff and 2002 campaign manager Dave Contarino said Wednesday Richardson is focused on his 2006 re-election campaign.

"It's flattering that at a national level there's a market for Bill Richardson memorabilia," Contarino said. "Unfortunately we can't share in the proceeds and royalties."

HAMMER TIME!

CLICK HERE

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 1, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Guest hosts: Chuck McCutcheon and Liisa Ecola

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Crawling From the Wreckage by Dave Edmunds
Color Me Impressed by the Replacements
Mr. Pinstriped Suit by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Don't Slander Me by Roky Erickson
Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers
Rental Car by Beck
JC Auto by Sugar
Jimmy Carter Says 'Yes' by Gene Marshall

The Infanta by the Decemberists
Greasy Jungle by the Tragically Hip
Material Girl by Petty Booka
You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla) by the Dickies
LSD Partie by Roland Vincent
Helena Polka by the Polkaholics
Root of all Evil by Desdemona Finch

POLISH ROCK SET:
Kryzys Energetyczny (Energetic Crisis) by Kazik Staszewski
Who Is Getting Married by the Warsaw Village Band
Marianna by KULT
Nie Pij Piotrek (Peter, Don't Drink) by Elektryczne Gitary
Wyszkow Tonie (The Town of Wyszkow Is Sinking) by Elektryczne Gitary
Szybka Piosenka o Zabijaniu (A Short Song About Killing) by De Mono
Mam Juz Ciebie Dosc (I've Had Enough of You) by De Mono
Jeden Raz Odwiedzamy Swiat (You Only Go Around Once) by Wilki

Streams of Whiskey by the Pogues
Handshake Drugs by Wilco
Common Man by the Blasters
Crackhouse May Day Suicide by Stuurbaard Bakkebaard
B-A-B-Y by Carla Thomas
Hulkster in Heaven by Hulk Hogan
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, April 29, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Cold Feelings by Social Distortion
Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash
Strange Woman by June Carter
California Stars by Billy Bragg & Wilco
Someone Else's Song by Wilco
Cocktail Desperado by Terry Allen
Running Gun by Michael Martin Murphey
Taxes on the Farmer Feed Us All by Ry Cooder

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by Hayseed Dixie
I'm Gonna Dig Up Howlin' Wolf by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
My Wife Thinks You're Dead by Junior Brown
Waitin' On a Train by The Bottle Rockets
Daddy's Cup by Drive-By Truckers
24-Hour Store by The Handsome Family
Jesus Rolled Over by Hundred Year Flood
Can Man Polka by Joe West

You're Gonna Miss Me by Hasil Adkins
Hot Rodding in San Jose by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Miss Missy From Old Hong Kong by Webb Wilder
You Ought to See Pickles Now by Tommy Collins
(This Isn't Just Another) Lust Affair by Mel Street
Walk on By by Charlie Pride
Lead Me On by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
Whoa Sailor by Hank Thompson
Big City by Merle Haggard
Red or Green by Lenny Roybal

Potato's in the Paddy Wagon by The New Main Street Singers
Nothin' Wrong With Me by NRBQ
Statue of Jesus by The Gear Daddies
Pity the Wandering Man by Hank & Nancy Webster
Hope Fades by Ronny Elliott
Fight or Flight by Shine Cherries
Moves Me Deeply by Peter Case
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

BACK TO THE CROSSROADS

I just watched a movie that I hadn't seen since the 1980s -- Crossroads, a 1986 picaresque blues fable and Voodoo allegory with echoes of Huckleberry Finn starring Joe Seneca and Ralph Macchio.

Seneca plays Willie Brown -- you might remember Robert Johnson mentioning him in his song "Crossroads" -- a cantankerous old bluesman wasting away in a New York City nursing home. Macchio plays Eugene -- later dubbed "Lightning Boy" by Willie. He's a nerdy Julliard student studying classical guitar, even though his true love is the blues. He locates Willie in a quixotic search for a mysterious "lost" Robert Johnson song. Willie agrees -- if young Eugene helps break him out of the nursing home and takes him back to Mississippi.

Besides Seneca's performance, the music is the main draw. It was put together by Ry Cooder. Sonny Terry plays the harmonica parts. The movie includes a performance by Frank Frost, whose band includes Otis Taylor on lead guitar. (But I'm not sure it's the same Colorado Otis Taylor of When Negroes Walked the Earth/White African fame. He sure doesn't look like the Otis I've seen and his bio doesn't mention Frank Frost or Crossroads.)Frost sings a jumping version of "Cotton Needs Pickin'"

The movie culminates in a "head-cutting" contest between Lightning Boy (Cooder's actually playing guitar) and a soul-selling hotshot played by metal monster Steve Vai. At stake are the souls of both Lightning Boy and Willie, who back in his youth signed at contract at the crossroads with the Voodoo god Legba. It's a cosmic showdown introduced by a surreal gospel quartet (featuring Bobby King)singing "Somebody's Callin' My Name." When the contest gets going the stage is graced by a sexy dancer (Gretchen Palmer) wildly prancing around the stage in a slinky black dress and red flower in her hair. She's not identified as such in the credits, but those with eyes to see will recognize her as Erzulie, Voodoo goddess of love.

Sure it's corny and you know who's going to win. But it's an enticing little melodrama.

Crossroads has been unavailable on DVD since it was quietly released last summer in that format. For the last few years if you asked for Crossroads at a video store, they'd think you were talking about that Brittney Spears movie of the same name. The real Crossroads is available at Netflix too. And Cooder's soundtrack still is available also, although it unfortunately doesn't have the head-cutting guitar showdown.

Hey Warner Brothers/Rhino -- isn't it about time for a deluxe 20th Anniversary Edition of the Crossroads soundtrack?

ACIE'S LATEST CDs

ACIE CARGILL
Coyote Kick Band
Acie Cargill’s Memorial Tributes
(Cobwebs Records)

Every time I hear folk-poet/picker/singer Acie Cargill, it feels like I’m listening to a true uncorrupted American voice. Cargill’s records seem like handmade artifacts -- no fancy production, and lyrics that, while sometimes clumsy and proudly corny, are so sincere they jolt you.

Coyote Kick Band is something of a departure for Cargill, who previously specialized in acoustic folk and country. But Coyote rocks with electric guitar and drums, as well as fiddle, banjo and mandolin.

There’s love songs, backwoods standards like the instrumental fiddle tune “Sally Goodin” a couple of mama songs (including a reprise of the Cargill classic “Dear Mother,” where mama gives advice like “Don’t you ever hit a woman, no matter what.” and “don’t you ever play gospel music in a tavern”) and topical songs.

“Baghdad Baghdad” shows Cargill’s inner conflicts about the war. It’s about a frightened soldier trying to communicate with Iraquis who hate him.

In mid April -- just days after the death of the Pope and just before the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing -- he released a new five-song EP of tribute songs. One‘s for “John Paul the Peacemaker” and one’s for the bombing victims (“Is this what you wanted, Tim McVeigh?”) Other subjects include NFL star Pat Tilman, (killed in combat in Afghanistan), Irish Republican Army martyr Bobby Sands and folksinger Dave Carter.

UPDATE: When I posted this review this morning I did so because I thought it was scheduled to run today in Pasatiempo's "Pasa Tempos" record review section. When I actually got the paper, I learned it was wrong. I usually wait for my New Mexican stuff to come out in print before I post it here. I guess this should just be considered a little free bonus preview for my loyal blog readers. Hopefully it'll see print next week.