MY DEBATE ANALYSIS

My debate analysis for The New Mexican, focused on Gov. Richardson's performance is HERE.

In the piece I contend that Richardson missed an opportunity to stand out by not reacting to the weird guy who called his automatic weapon his "baby" -- an opportunity not missed by Joe Biden, who basically called the guy a wack job.

I've already received one e-mail from a strong gun-rights defender. It was a reasonable letter. I suspect there will be more -- and probably some won't be as reasonable.

Like I told the guy who wrote me, I wasn't taking sides on the gun issue. I'm not even a big gun-control advocate. I just think the guy in the video was kinda kooky and it would have been a good move to call a kook a kook -- especially someone with a good gun-rights record like Gov. Richardson. Kind of a "Sister Souljah moment" for firearms extremists.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, the Richardson campaign has declared victory in the debate, just as they did in all the others. They do point out he fact that a focus group of 24 undecided voters in Nevada declared him as "one of the winners." (Actually he tied with Hillary Clinton for the most votes from this group.)

Richardson's latest "job interview" ad that was shown during Monday's debate can be found HERE

LIVE BLOGGING CNN/YOUTUBE DEBATE

4:40 PM: Waiting for the festivities to begin. Surprisingly there's no pre-debate hoopla on CNN. Just Lou Dobbs. I think he's against illegal immigration. Watch this space ...

4:51 PM: Richardson is just about to enter the debate stage. They all have military escorts.

4:59 PM: Some Demo consultant on Hillary's team just denied with a straight face that Hillary's the "front-runner."

5:02 PM: Oh no, they're showing the reject videos.

5:03 PM: Anderson Cooper just called the governor of California a cyborg.

5:10 PM: 10 minutes into it and not a peep from Bill Richardson. So far the questions have been for other candidates.

5:11 PM: Hillary's not a "liberal," she's a "modern progressive." What happened to Richardson's "new progressive" label he was trying out a couple of years ago?

5:13 PM: Cooper just said the next question was for Biden. But the guy on the video said it was for all candidates.

5:15 PM: They're showing videos made by the candidates. Chris Dodd has one about his white hair.

5:19 PM: I think Richardson is the only candidate who hasn't spoken yet.

5:21 PM: Finally! Richardson says "politics" affected the handling of Hurricane Katrina. He blasts predatory insurance companies and others ripping off the people of New Orleans.

5:29 PM: In a question about gay marriage Richardson says he'd do what's "achievable" -- "full civil unions with full marriage rights." He also listed a litany of other issues -- hate crime bills, don't-ask-don't-tell, etc. He never directly mentioned marriage. He also didn't mention that he voted in favor of a federal Defense of Marriage Act in the '90s.

5:35 PM: I meant to say earlier that Dodd's "white hair" ad seems greatly influenced by Richardson's "job interview" spots. Speaking of ads, the Richardson campaign has launched a new one. CLICK HERE

5:38 PM: Edwards' ad they just showed shows he can laugh at himself too. It uses the song "Hair." I think that cost less than Edwards' last haircut. What is this Democrat hang-up on hair.

5:40 PM: Richardson gets a question on Darfur. "I was at that refugee camp," he said, drawing attention to his experience over there. He calls for a permanent UN peacekeeping force there. "America needs to respond with diplomacy." Biden calls for American troops there. he's been to that camp too.

5:44 PM: Richardson didn't mention the Olympic boycott he raised in New Hampshire, though he did say that China should be pressured.

5:52 PM: Richardson: "The lives of our young troops are more important than George Bush's legacy. ... No politics. Get it done."

5:54 PM: Mike Gravel gets down! U.S. soldiers died in vain. Obama and Edwards dodge that one.

5:56 PM: Edwards against Bush vacation.

6 PM: Half time! Richardson got to speak three times so far. Hurricane Katrina, gay marriage and Darfur. He was quite forceful during the last one. He hasn't made any real gaffes, but, as in previous debates, he hasn't had the opportunity to stand out. Being that the questions are from the public and addressed mainly to the front-runners, few questions have fallen his way. I guess these video submitters haven't seen the Richardson press releases that declare Richardson is in the top tier.

6:04 PM: Come to think about it, other than a couple of jabs at Hillary for her initial support of the Iraq war, none of the other candidates have done much to distinguish themselves and overtake Clinton either.

6:07 PM: "I'm trying to provoke a debate here." Richardson says about Iraq. He repeats his plan to get troops out of Iraq and leave none behind. Biden says "Let's start telling the truth."
Biden talks about his legislation about bomb-resistant vehicles. Hillary says administration should start planning to withdraw.

6:15 PM They're playing a Richardson ad I haven't seen before with the same job interview guy taking to fellow managers about this guy with great qualifications.

6:17 PM: They're playing a metal music video! Richardson says he'd scrap "No Child Left Behind" and gets big applause. Calls for $40K minimum wage for teachers. That's what teachers get here in NM right? Calls for a major effort for art and music programs in schools. Might have helped whoever made that weird YouTube video.

6:20 PM: I just corrected an unintentionally funny typo in the 5:29 post.

6:26 PM: Oh Lord, they just played one of those hillbilly videos. Now it's a creepy talking snowman. This is just plain weird ...

6:28 PM: Finally a question from a real person. Of course it's a lady in the bathroom.

6:30 PM: Richardson seems to waffle about whether he took a private plane to the debate today. He finally admits he did, but said it was "yesterday." Anderson Cooper doesn't ask him who paid for the jet.

6:32 PM: They're talking about nuclear energy. Richardson hasn't had a chance to say New Mexico is the clean energy state. Hillary is agnostic about nuke power.

6:34 PM: Gal on video seems to want Starbucks to run elections. Richardson said he would push states to go to verified paper-trail voting systems like New Mexico's.

6:39 PM: Dennis Kucinich's video is an ad for this "Text Peace" deal. he's repeated it several times. Kind of reminds me of that election where Jerry Brown had a 1-800 number.

6:41 PM: Richardson said he'll raise minimum wage. So far nobody has disagreed.

6:45 PM: Richardson calls for "bi-partisan" Social Security system. Now there's a bad country song video about taxes.

6:46 PM: Biden jabs at Richardson. talks about raising taxes to "pay for some of the things the governor is talking about."

6:47 PM: Richardson raised his hand for a rebuttal but Cooper moves on. Forgot to mention that Richardson, in his Social Security answer called for a national fight against diabetes.

6:54 PM: Richardson's health care plan would cover undocumented workers. He talks about getting rid of junk food in the schools "like we did in New Mexico."

6:55 PM: Good question from a guy who talks about the problem of having two families dominate the White House for all these decades.

6:59 PM: An atheist kid asks whether the Dems will pander to the religious right. Apparently they're all deeply religious Christians who believe in separation of church and state.

7:01 PM: Hey we're in overtime!A weird guy who has some kind of extreme gun and calls it his "baby" asks about gun control. Richardson wants instant background checks and to bring people together. Biden nails it. he says the guy in the video might not be mentally qualified to own a gun. "Hope he doesn't come looking for me."

7:05 PM: A YouTuber asks the candidates to say what you like and don't like about the candidate to the left. Obama says he likes that Richardson has devoted his life to public service. But he jokingly refers to Richardson's endorsement of the Yankees and the Red Sox -- without mentioning the Chicago White Sox. Richardson says he loves all the candidates. He praised Joe Biden as a hard worker. But my browser went down before I could get if he said anything bad about Biden.

It's been fun. I'll come back later and clean up some typos.

UDATE: Found a few typos. There's probably more. The price of live blogging.

WAREHOUSE 21 BENEFIT

Although they are 11 years apart in age, both of my kids have enjoyed the concerts and other activities at Warehouse 21.

The organization is trying to raise money for a new building in the Railyard. They've already raised more than $2.8 million but still need another $600,000 or so.

This Friday, July 27, there's a benefit dance at the old Club Luna (they call it "The Moon" in recent weeks), 519 Cerrillos Road, featuring The Soul Deacons.

Tickets are $21 or $30 for couples. For those under 21 it's $15 or $20 per couple.

Should be fun. Not only is it a good cause, but it would be kind of nostalgic to see the old joint where I saw X, Concrete Blonde and other cool shows back when Luna was Santa Fe's top night spot.

KSFR: HELLO ALBUQUERQUE!

I've yacked on the radio about KSFR's new frequency, but I don't think I've posted about it here.

Anywho, you currently can hear the station at its original home at 90.7 FM as well as its future home at 101.1 FM. (At some point in the near future we'll be dropping 90.7 altogether.)

A couple of weeks ago I listened to 101.1 from Santa Fe all the way to the airport in Albuquerque. True, there were a couple of rough patches, but for the most part KSFR was loud and clear even in the city.

So spread the word! Tell all your friends in Albuquerque that The Santa Fe Opry can be heard 10 p.m. - midnight Friday and Terrell's Sound World same time on Sunday nights -- both at 101.1 FM. (I'm selfishly plugging my own shows here, but there's lots of good ones on KSFR. Check the program guide.)

I haven't driven up north since we've been using the new signal, but we're supposed to be reaching all the way to Taos. Any reports from there would be welcome.

BACK TO WORK

Where's my Fats Domino CD? I need to put "Blue Monday" on repeat mode.

It's back to work today after two weeks off. (Yes, in case you were wondering why you haven't seen Roundhouse Round-up recently, that's why. I did write a couple of non-perishable Tune-up columns for the time I was on vacation.)

I'll be easing into this, starting the day writing an upcoming music column. Then at 5 p.m. (that's Mountain Time) I'll be live blogging the Democrats' Youtube/CNN debate. So come back to this here blog at 5.

Where's my coffee?

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, July 22, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and out new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Hard to Be Human by The Mekons
Guest Informant by The Fall
Wonderlust King by Gogol Bordello
Of Whales and Woe by Les Claypool
Pedro Bound by Mike Watt
Chocolate Out by The Boredoms
Jet Ninjin by Go! Go! 7188
Bumble Bee Zombie by Roky Erikson

Surfin' Down the Rio Grande by Sir Richard & The Knights
Lost in the Bayou by The Surf Lords
Liberteens in My Scene by The Dirty Novels
Nicole Told Me by Half Japanese
Plot Against the President by The Dick Nixons
Catch Hell Blues by The White Stripes
Stabbing Trilogy by The Gluey Brothers
Boys Don't Cry by Mummy the Peepshow

SWAMP DOGG SET
They Crowned an Idiot King
California is Drowning and I Live By The River
Surfin' in Harlem
America is Bleeding
God Bless America for What?
F**k the Bomb, Ban the Drugs
Crawdad Hole

Here Comes Terry by NRBQ
Peter's Trip by The Electric Flag
I Feel a Little Spaced Out by Os Mutantes
Qu'ran by Brian Eno & David Byrne
Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon by The Jefferson Airplane
Last Kiss by Pearl Jam
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, July 20, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Good BBQ by The Riptones
Come on Home to Houston by Cornell Hurd
Moon Gone Down by The Gourds
Long Haired Country Boy by Charlie Daniels
Waymore's Blues by Waylon Jennings with John Anderson
Wolverton Mountain by Southern Culture on the Skids
Old Black Joe by Jerry Lee Lewis
Shake That Thing by Big Al Anderson
She Got the House by NRBQ

Peach Blossom by Hundred Year Flood
Starry Eyes by Roky Erickson with Luanne Barton
You're Humbuggin' Me by Lefty Frizzell
Philadelphia Lawyer by Rose Maddox
Scraps From Your Table by Hazel Dickens
Happy Hour by Ted Hawkins
Gimme a Ride to Heaven by Terry Allen

Phantom Riders by King Richard & The Knights
Wicked Game by The Surf Lords
Old Chunk of Coal by Billy Joe Shaver
Worthless by Tony Gilkyson
Wildcat Tamer by John Schooley
Eleven Cent Cotton by Porter Wagoner
The Night Porter Wagoner Came to Town by Tabby Crabb
Back Home by Dolly Parton

Up the Country Blues by Maria Muldaur
I'm So Lonesome Without You by Hazeldine
Prodigal Son by John Egenes
Don't Go Back to Sleep by Patty Booker
Next Time You're Drifting My Way by ThaMuseMeant
Mean Old Wind Die Down by North Mississippi Allstars
Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

BACK TO REALITY

Yes, Santa Fe is REALITY ...

I'm back from my vacation to Texas. We visited my daughter and son-in-law, made a side trip to Waco to see the Branch Davidian compound (I always make my children visit crime scenes and massacre sites) and the not-so-fabulous Dr. Pepper Museum (cheap pricks don't even give free samples!)

And we got to see Hundred Year Flood at the Saxon Pub.

Check out my FLICKR site for my vacation photos. (Thanks to FLICKR I don't have to come to your house and give you a personal slide show.)

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: SWAMP DIGGITY DOGG!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 20, 2007

Nobody has ever accused Swamp Dogg of being too subtle. The cover of his new album, Resurrection, features a picture of the singer nailed to a cross, clad only in an American flag loincloth and a cap that reads "Witness Protection Program." Above his head a sign reads "Program Failure."

Yep, it’s a Swamp Dogg album all right, and it’s Swamp Dogg through and through, with songs of love, lust, and cranky political ranting.

While the notion of “cult artist” is overused, it fits Swamp Dogg (aka Jerry Williams). While he’s been releasing records for nearly 40 years, he’s never been a mainstream success. As he said in a June 2007 interview in the London newspaper The Guardian, “I’m not a down-and-out R & B singer. I’m not a used-to-be because I never was. I am so glad now that I didn’t become a great R & B hit in the ’60s, because I may still be in the ... ’60s, running around singing ‘Baby You’re My Everything’ and ‘I’m the Lover Man.’”

One of the things I love most about this singer is that he embodies so many contradictions. He’s known as a musical renegade and iconoclast who bolted the big-label, music-industrial complex and started his own independent label (Swamp Dogg Entertainment Group) years before it was fashionable. And yet his music, instrumentally at least, is basically conservative — old-fashioned, late ’60s/early ’70s soul that sounds as if George Clinton, Prince, and hip-hop never happened.

Although Dogg’s a soulster through and through, his biggest songwriting success is “She’s All I Got,” a country hit for Johnny Paycheck in the early ’70s.

And then there’s the matter of his lyrics. You’d probably expect him to be a fire-breathing, radical militant judging by the cover of this album; the titles of some of the songs (“America is Bleeding” and “They Crowned an Idiot King,” a one-fingered salute to the current chief executive); and his comfort with casual profanity and liberal use of the N word (Swamp Dogg obviously didn’t go to the recent NAACP “funeral” for the offensive epithet).

It’s true Swamp Dogg is anti-war and anti-Bush, and he believes racism is alive and well in modern America. But from his lyrics you also learn he opposes abortion and gay marriage, doesn’t like Mexican immigrants using Civil Rights-era slogans, and wants to keep God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

By my count, his politics are pretty close to those of Merle Haggard, which I personally find far more fascinating than those of the straight paint-by-numbers, talking-point liberal or conservative.

The 12-minute title song is a tour de force of Swamp Dogg’s political theory. Starting off with the rumbling of thunder he evokes the days of slavery, comparing it with the crucifixion. He praises Martin Luther King Jr. as “the messenger.”

Soon some of his social conservatism becomes apparent. Swamp Dogg denounces the welfare system, saying it encourages fatherless families. He blasts drugs, espousing a just-say-no policy. “You don’t have to do nothing about it, just leave it the hell alone and it will go away/It’s a proven fact that if a product is not being consumed the supplier will soon move on to other things.”

Swamp Dogg offers some sound economic advice to African Americans (or anyone else for that matter): “Start putting $10 to $15 a week into a savings account until it becomes big enough to buy a six-month certificate of deposit at 9 percent then continuously roll it over and don’t touch it and buy no damned Christmas presents!”

He also advises his people to put aside frivolous reading and “read a copy of Black Enterprise, Forbes, Money, and Fortune/Discover what the upscale black is doing and what the white man is planning to build in a year on the same site where you’re renting.”

He works himself into an emotional frenzy by the end of the song. “I will see you when you come out of the tomb!” he shouts. “ I will see you when you rise!”

Besides politics, the other major topic on Resurrection is love, specifically his recent marriage. “Today I Got Married” is a string-sweetened, tinkly-piano tribute to his wife, with a refrain that goes, “She knows how to fight to funk/She knows how to lift a [N word] up.” He promises to “do the things that make a marriage work/Bring my money home, get my lovin’ at home, and spend more time in church.”

This is a man who is passionate about and believes in everything he sings. It makes his music a true pleasure.


Also recommended:

* Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions by James Blood Ulmer. Here’s another 60-something black musician who has a way with angry protest songs.

Ulmer is a jazzman who has played with the likes of Ornette Coleman and Art Blakey. But in recent years his art has taken him deeper and deeper into the blues. I loved his 2005 album Birthright, but this new one is even more exciting. It was recorded in New Orleans’ Piety Street studios with a full band.

Ulmer performs several fresh-sounding covers of songs by Son House, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and Junior Kimbrough. But New Orleans — particularly, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — is never far from Ulmer’s mind. Songs include “Survivors of the Hurricane,” “Katrina,” “Let’s Talk About Jesus,” and “Backwater Blues,” a traditional blues number that in Ulmer’s hands sounds like a prophecy.

Ulmer’s main strength is that he captures the mysteriousness of the blues. Even when the band is rocking, you can imagine the husky-voiced singer in a graveyard, sitting on a tombstone, playing his guitar, and shouting melodies that double as secret incantations and dark warnings.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, July 15, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and out new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org


(This is the pre-recorded show I left for Sunday. Tom Adler filled in for me on The Santa Fe Opry Friday.)

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Conquest by The White Stripes
Fire Engine by 13th Story Elevators
Memos from Purgatory by The Chesterfield Kings
My Dawgy Heap by The A-Bones
Pinon Lurker by The Gluey Brothers
Come Back Baby by Rev. Beat Man & The Unbelievers
Step Aside by Sleater-Kinney
Mi Saxophone by Al Hurricane

Forty Dollars by The Twilight Singers
Big Shoe Head by Buick MacKain
Lonesome Cowboy Bill by The Velvet Underground
Ask The Angels by Patti Smith
Where Were You by The Mekons
Road Runner by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
Motorcycle Irene by Moby Grape
Violenza Domestica by Mr. Bungle

Budokan Tape Try (500 Tapes High) by The Boredoms
Moon I'm Coming Home by Pere Ubu
I'm Insane by Sonic Youth
I Live in a Split Level Head by Napoleon XIV
The Torture Never Stops by Frank Zappa

Love is All Around by The Troggs
Sad Days, Lonely Nights by James Blood Ulmer
Hookers in the Street by Otis Taylor
Hiawatha by Laurie Anderson
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis