TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, September 7, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Guest Co-host: Stanley "Rosebud" Rosen
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

POST LABOR DAY SPECIAL
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Plenty Tuff, Union Made by The Waco Brothers
There is Power in the Union by The Solidarity Singers
Bread and Roses by Healey & Juravich
Bread and Roses by Bobbie McGee
Mean Things Happening in Our Land by Healey & Juravich
Union Song by Carter Falco
The Pawn Broker's Window by Pat Wynne

Boiling Frog by Pat Wynne
Big Boss Man by Jimmy Reed
Damn Right I've Got the Blues by Buddy Guy
Worried Man Blues by Woody Guthrie
Republic Steel Massacre by Acie Cargill
Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man) by Randy Newman
Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds
Joe Hill by Paul Robeson

Working Man Blues by Merle Haggard
Sweetheart on the Baricade by Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson
Buddy Can You Spare a Dime by Bing Crosby
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live by The Del-Lords
Don't Look Now by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore by John Prine
Union Fights the Battle of Freedom by Bucky Halker
Money Is King by Growling Tiger

Babies in the Mill by Dorsey Dixon
Links in the Chain by Phil Ochs
Lawrence Jones by Kathy Mattea
None of Us Are Free by Solomon Burke
Red Neck Blue Collar by James Luther Dickinson
We Shall Not Be Moved/Roll the Union On by Joe Glazer
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, September 5, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Muleskinner Blues by The Cramps
That Little Honky Tonk Queen by Moe Bandy & Joe Stampley
Alabamy Bound by Van Morrison, Lonnie Donnegan & Chris Barber
Rolling Stone from Texas by Don Walser
Here's the River by Jim Stringer & The AM Band
Gettin' High For Jesus by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Bunny Moves On by Mad Tea Party
If I Kiss You by Lynn Anderson
I'd Rather Be Your Fool by Johnny Paycheck
Drinkin' Town by Mike Neal

Old Man Atom by The Sons of the Pioneers
Don't Blame Me by Flat Duo Jets
Down on the Farm by Big Al Downing & The Poe-Kats
Folsom Prison Blues by Charlie Feathers
Not Enough Happenin' by Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers
Be Careful (If You Can't Be Good) by Ray Condo & His Ricochets
Cheater's World by Amy Allison
Cry All Over Me by Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers
Life's Lonesome Road by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts

Take Your Time by The Frantic Flattops
Sex Crazy Baby by Hasil Adkins
She Wants to Sell My Monkey by Tav Falco
No Dice by Ronnie Dawson
You're Humbuggin' Me by Lefty Frizzell
Train Kept a Rollin' by Paul Burleson with Rocky & Billy Burnette
Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n' Roll Trio
Give That Love to Me by Ray Campi
Jungle Hop by Kip Tyler & The Flips
Miss Froggie by Warren Smith
Miss Lonely by Jerry J. Nixon
Lucky Old Sun by Jerry Lee Lewis

She's My My Neighbor by Zeno Tornado & The Boney Google Brothers
Hittin' it Hard by Jim Lauderdale
Yuppie Scum by Emily Kaitz
Tarmac by Hazeldine
That's How It Goes by The Meat Puppets
Is There Something Inside of You by Buckwheat Zydeco
Walking Down the Saturday Night Astral Plane by Andy Dale Petty
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

MICHELLE IN SANTA FE

My story on Michelle Obama's visit to Santa Fe Thursday -- and retired Major General Melvyn Montano's remarks about why John McCain supports the war in Iraq - can be found HERE.

And I just realized I never posted a week to my color piece about Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium a week ago . For the record, that's HERE.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: GARY J. and RON P.

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 4, 2008


Democrat Bill Richardson isn’t the only New Mexico governor to speak at a national political convention in recent days. His predecessor, Gary Johnson, this week was in Minnesota — not at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, but at former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul’s miniconvention nearby in Minneapolis.

Johnson spoke before some 13,000 attending the Paul campaign’s Rally for the Republic on Tuesday.


“I tried to draw correlation between my time in office and Ron Paul,” Johnson said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Ron Paul often casts the only ‘no’ vote in Congress. As governor, I had 750 vetoes. That’s more than the other 49 governors put together.”

In effect, his vetoes were the sole dissenting vote, said the man who became known as “Gov. No.”

In his speech, Johnson said, he talked about his efforts to reform anti-drug laws — a position that cost him the support of many state Republicans.

He also talked about how he’s against motorcycle helmet laws. He said he got a great response to a quip that he’s used before in New Mexico. Johnson told the crowd in Minneapolis he chooses to use a helmet when riding a motorcycle, “but for somebody that wants to drive their motorcycle and not wear a helmet, we have an organ-donor shortage in this country.”

The night before the rally, Johnson said, he got to spend about 45 minutes talking to Paul.

Despite his loyal following, Paul, who once ran as the Libertarian Party candidate for president, says he won’t run as a third party candidate this year.

So where does that leave Johnson?

The most recent GOP governor of New Mexico said he’s not backing John McCain for president. “My problem with McCain is the war and his foreign policy,” Johnson said. Like Paul, he believes having American troops in Iraq and many other countries has made the U.S. a target of terrorism.

He’s also not getting behind Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, either. “I debated Bob Barr about drugs when I was governor,” he said of the former Georgia congressman. “I find irony in his newfound libertarianism.”

And Johnson definitely isn’t backing the Democratic ticket, though Johnson predicted Barack Obama will be the next president.

She’s everywhere: U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque might have lost the Republican U.S. Senate primary to U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs in June, but it seems her name is popping up everywhere lately on the national campaign trail.

After Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver last week, the McCain campaign released a lengthy response from none other than Wilson, disputing Obama’s “Top Misleading Claims.”

Wilson has been active this week at the GOP convention in St. Paul. On Wednesday, she conducted a “reporter roundtable.” She was part of a group of prominent Republican women, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, and former Hewlett Packard chief executive officer Carly Fiorina, who were lined up to do television and radio interviews to demand better treatment for vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family.

Wilson has appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball, defending Palin’s anti-abortion record, and, on Tuesday, she even appeared on left-wing radio — Thom Hartman’s show on the Air America network. There she made an interesting — Freudian? — slip. When Hartmann, who apparently isn’t up on New Mexico politics, asked whether she was having a hard time in her Senate race, Wilson replied, “There was a primary and my colleague from Southern New Mexico, Steve Pearce lost that — uh, won that — primary, so I will actually be retiring from the House in January.”

So what does she have planned for January and afterward? Are these appearances indicative about a possible place for Wilson in a McCain administration?

“It’s like she’s standing in the John McCain employment office,” Albuquerque blogger >Joe Monahan said in an interview Wednesday.

A GOP source who asked not to be named said Wilson has become a “top-tier McCain surrogate” because she’s good at it. “She’s a great messenger,” the Republican said. “It’s fair to speculate about any number of opportunities for Heather Wilson, whether McCain wins or loses.”

Among the possible positions is secretary of the Air Force (Wilson is an Air Force vet) or a position with a foreign-policy think tank. “You can’t rule out governor in 2010,” the Republican source said.

Latest poll numbers: If so, Wilson will have to work on her numbers back home, though. According to >a new SurveyUSA poll of 631 likely voters in the 1st Congressional District, 40 percent said they have a favorable opinion of Wilson, while 45 percent had an unfavorable view.

The same poll showed Obama leading McCain in the district, which mainly consists of Albuquerque, by a 55 percent to 41 percent margin. The poll, sponsored by the Washington, D.C., publication Roll Call, did not talk to voters in other parts of the state.

In the 1st District Congressional race, Democrat Martin Heinrich was leading Republican Darren White 51 percent to 46 percent. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

There also was a question that could be significant in the U.S. Senate race here. Asked who is most responsible for gasoline prices, 35 percent said oil companies while only 12 percent said environmentalists. Republican Pearce constantly has characterized his Democratic opponent Tom Udall as being in league with “extreme environmentalists” while Udall and his supporters say Pearce is in the pocket of “Big Oil.”

NOEL WITHDRAWS

Jim Noel, whose hiring as state Election Bureau director was heavily criticized by Republicans because he is married to the stepdaughter of U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall, on Tuesday withdrew his appointment.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mary Herrera, Noel wrote, “I cannot in good conscience allow my appointment to distract from the real issues facing all of us this fall. ...

“Nor can I in good conscience allow certain individuals to use my appointment to cast any sort of doubt over the integrity of the electoral process,” Noel wrote. “The people of New Mexico deserve to know that their elections will be administered fairly. And while there is no doubt that I would bring nothing but integrity to the office, it has become increasingly clear that certain individuals with purely partisan interests would stop at nothing to inject fear into the election this fall.”

Noel’s current job is executive director and general counsel of the Judicial Standards Commission, which investigates complaints against judges and recommends disciplinary actions to the state Supreme Court.

His wife is Amanda Cooper, who is managing Udall’s Senate campaign.

The Elections Bureau job pays $104,809 a year.

Last week the state Republican Party released a statement saying, “The hiring of Tom Udall's son-in-law as state elections director is a stunning conflict of interest. During an election that will be extremely competitive, it is entirely inappropriate that a close family member of one of the candidates be in charge of counting the votes. Just when we thought the Secretary of State could not be any more partisan or incompetent, she proves us wrong again.”

UPDATE: This statement from state Senate Republican leader Stuart Ingle just came in: “It is important for the honor of our voters that our elections are run without any doubt whatsoever in the process. The decision to step down was the right one, and a very necessary one for the integrity of our election. Close family members of any candidate running for office, Democrat, Republican or Independent should never be in charge of an election here in New Mexico.”

UPDATE 9-3-08: Here's the link to the full story in today's New Mexican.

THIRSTY EAR: SUNDAY

There were moments Sunday at the Thirsty Ear Music Festival when the weather made things seem touch-and-go.

Opening act, bluesman Samuel James had to move from the main stage to the hotel to finish his first set. Somehow the rain affected Junior Brown's guitsteel, causing it to lose power a couple of times during his set. Alex Maryol's main stage set was moved to the hotel before he even started. And Patty Griffin's vehicle got stuck in the mud when her driver took a wrong turn on the way to Eaves Ranch.

But this is New Mexico, dammit, and most folks are just happy to get any rain, even when it falls on their favorite musicians. Everyone I talked to at the festival just grinned and shrugged off the weather. And anyway, it already was gone well before Patty took the stage.

Here's my favorite Sunday shows:

Samuel James proved you can even get the blues in Maine. He just learned guitar, banjo and other instruments in recent years and, inspired by his dad's Son House records, honed his act after splitting up with a girlfriend. He has a good voice and he can play. I hope to hear more from this guy.

What can I say about Junior (Jamie) Brown? Well, I said a lot of it yesterday on stage when I got to introduce my old Santa Fe Mid High and Sata Fe High School classmate (though he might not have wanted me to bring up how we took short cuts in cross country in gym class and probably didn't want me to mention where his old psychedelic band Humble Harvey got their projectors for their light shows back in 1968).

Like I said above, Brown's guitsteel was plagued by rain-releated problems. Sometimes he was clearly frustrated, but he soldiered on like the pro he is. At one point during the middle of his "Surf Medley" the instrument just went silent. It's hard to play a guitar instrumental without a guitar, but, not missing a beat, Brown started singing "Hey hey hey ya ..." and broke into Gary U.S. Bonds' "New Orleans" as his drummer and bassist played on. And then he started in on The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" until a stagehand returned with the guitsteel.

This was the second time I've seen Buckwheat Zydeco -- and it definitely was better than the first time. That was about 15 years ago at Sweeney Center when he was on the same bill as Richard Thompson. Though Thompson was the headliner, it was decided to let Buckwheat go on last -- perhaps because it made sense, on paper at least, to not have a dance band go on before an acoustic act. Or maybe it was because Buckwheat was late getting to town. But the sad part was that after Thompson's set, about half the audience left. Then there was a lengthy soundcheck. By the time Buckwheat actually went on the crowd had shrunk to just a couple of dozen. He played his heart out, but ended up cutting his set short.

He was a little late Sunday night too, but there was still a good sized crowd at the festival. Buckwheat didn't disappoint. With a band that included two guitarists, a trumpet, bass, drums, and rubboard (played by his son Sir Reginald Dural) they romped and stomped. There was even a cool, if somewhat lengthy version of "Hey Joe." And at one point he got a couple of local kids up on stage who did enthusastic 10-year-old boy versions of a zydeco dance.

In addition to the music had fun talking to Junior and Buckwheat live on the air for the KSFR/Southwest Stages broadcast. (I'd done that with Bill and Felecia of Hundred Year Flood on Saturday, though that conversation was taped and played later.)

I had to be careful with Jamie to not let the dialogue descend into a Santa Fe triva fest. (Though he did play a new song he wrote about The Horseman's Haven restuarant, so we had to talk about that.)

Buckwheat, (Stanley Dural) spoke about his life and career. He also asked for prayers for the people of the Gulf Coast. Most of his family is back in Lafayette, La., and he cleary was worried. It's amazing how he was able to perform with such joy with that on weighing his mind.

Check out my photos of the Thirsty Ear Festival HERE .

THIRSTY EAR: SATURDAY

I got back from Denver about 9:45 p.m. Friday and next thing I knew it was time for the Thirsty Ear Music Festival Saturday morning.

My role at the festival this year is different than ever before. In most past years I've worked with Jeff Dowd and others at the KSFR booth at the festival. A couple of the early years of the festival I played with my old band The Charred Remains at one of the second stages. I think the only time I went just to hear the music was the first one, back in 1999.

But this year, I'm involved with the KSFR/ Southwest Stages broadcast of the festival. (Check it out: We're broadcasting live between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. tonight on KSFR -- plus we're streaming on the Web during that time. (On Saturday we were simulcasting with KUNM, but not today.)

So for much of the time, I was back in the mobile Southwest Stages studio providing some yak between the music with Dowd and Laurell Reynolds of KSFR, mostly listening to the acts on stage via the radio.

Some of the time this was disconcerting. There was a 9-second delay, so you could hear the real-time performance outside as the radio blasted what had been played onstage 9 seconds before. Pretty surreal.

There was some great music though.

I got to the Eaves Ranch right at the end of Little Freddie King's set. (He's a New Orleans bluesman who used to play with Freddie "The Texas Cannonball" King.)

Fortunately I got to see most of the set by Hundred Year Flood. This was the first time I'd seen them since the night Kendra's baby was born. I had to miss Frogfest because of the DNC.)

How is it that this band just seems to be getting better and better. I didn't recognize a couple of the tunes they played early in the set, so I assumed they were from their upcoming album, Poison. But no, Frogville strongman John Treadwell told me that these are songs that have never made it onto an album. I bet they already have enough tunes for another album or two ready to go.

Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Texas blues great Johnny "Clyde" Copeland was up next. (That's her in the photo at the top of this post.) She gave a stomping , funky performance.

And she might have made at least one convert. My son has never been much of a blues freak (even though I have his picture sitting in T-Model Ford's lap at the first Thirsty Ear Festival nine years ago) , but he was enraptured by Shemekia.

There's hope for the youth of America!

Richard Thompson was up next on the main stage, doing a solo acoustic set. I've seen him solo, I've seen him alone with bassist Danny Thompson and once even saw him with a full band (back in 1988 at Club West here in Santa Fe.) He always gives a satisfying show.

I wish I could have been outside in front of the stage more when Thompson performed yesterday. The most memorable tune I was able to catch was his anti-war song "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" and it was powerful.

New Mexico blues guitarist Ryan McGarvey closed the show. He was called in at the last minute to substitute for zydeco princess Rosie Ledet, who couldn't make it reportedly due to illness.

There's a cool line up today, including Junior Brown, Buckwheat Zydeco and Patty Griffin. Maybe see you there.

UPDATE Forgot to put in the link to my Thirsty Ear '08 photos.

HAPPY RETIREMENT, 3D DANNY

I meant to post this earlier this week. My friend Ray in Oklahoma City sent me this link about Danny Williams retiring from KOMA radio at the tender age of 81.

He probably was my first TV hero. In the '50s he hosted a classic kiddie show on WKY-TV that featured the wonderfully low-budget adventures of 3-D Danny -- that's Dan D. Dynamo -- a space traveler.

In the '60s he became Xavier T. Willard on The Foreman Scotty show. Scotty was a cowboy, while "Willie" was his crusty sidekick.

Later in the '60s Danny also had an afternoon talk/variety show on WKY, Danny's Day. Williams boasts that he once interviewed President Lyndon B. Johnson on his show.

But even more impressive was that he had my band, The Ramhorn City Go-Go Squad & Uptight Washtub Band in early 1968.

My first encounter with Williams though was in his role as 3-D Danny. I probably was four years old when Danny did a live shooting of his show at Wedgewood amusement park. The day before he warned his viewers on TV if they saw the evil robot (whose name I forget) sneaking up on 3D Danny and Foreman Scotty, WARN THEM!

That day at Wedgewood, sure enough, the evil robot was about to attack. Scared out of my wits, I ran out on the set screaming and crying, telling my heros to look out. Remember, this was in the days of live TV. I'm sure the crew hated me for screwing up the scene, but Danny and Scotty (Steve Powell) were really cool in comforting me.

One other Danny Williams connection. When you hear me say, "Watch out for flying chairs" at the end of Terrell's Sound World every week, I got that from Danny, who hosted Live Wrestling on Saturday nights on WKY. The phrase became his weekly signoff after getting beaned in a chair-throwing orgy in a match one night.

Enjoy your retirement, Danny. And thanks for taking a hit frm that chair so I wouldn't have to.

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: THIS SONG'S FOR THE WORKIN' MAN

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 29, 2008

Like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween, Labor Day’s meaning has been obscured by time. For most folks, it’s a day off and symbolizes the end of summer — which is kind of dumb, because summer doesn’t actually end until Sept. 20 or so, and the start of school, which is summer’s end for most kids, is in late August in many places.

Labor Day, which became a federal holiday in 1894, was originally meant to honor all working people — not presidents, not any individual. And it wasn’t associated with any religious tradition. But yes, the day off with pay was part of the deal. Why no “Bosses’ Day”? Look at corporate salaries, and you’ll realize that every day is Bosses’ Day.

This country has a proud history of labor songs and songwriters. Joe Hill, leader of the Industrial Workers of the World, whose ghost appeared to Paul Robeson and Joan Baez in dreams, wrote some classics like “There Is Power in a Union,” “Rebel Girl,” and “Casey Jones: Union Scab.” Woody Guthrie wrote (or perhaps co-wrote) “Union Maid” and “Ludlow Massacre.” And we can’t forget Utah Phillips, who died earlier this year. He sang lots of labor songs and, in the 1990s, recorded two albums with Ani DiFranco — Fellow Workers and The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere — filled with original and classic labor tunes.

Here’s a list of my favorite songs for Labor Day. Most of them you won’t find in union songbooks, which is too bad.

1. “Plenty Tuff, Union Made” by The Waco Brothers. Sung by Jon Langford, this rockabilly rouser is a punchy, high-energy anthem. The song is about hard times, but there’s joy in the struggle, and ultimately it’s an optimistic tune. “I don’t think the king woke up one morning/Said all people should be better paid (no!)/Things were bad but things got changed/Plenty tough, union made.”

2. “Working Man’s Blues” by Merle Haggard. This country classic captures a lot of the conflicted sentiments and impulses of modern American workers. And with the opening line, “It’s a hard job just gettin’ by with nine kids and a wife,” it could serve as propaganda for Planned Parenthood.

3. “Sweetheart on the Barricade” by Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson. This tune, from Richard and Danny’s (no relation to each other, by the way) 1997 album Industry, owes much to Woody Guthrie’s “Union Maid,” with the added element of romance. Richard picked up on the sexual energy of the struggle for decent wages and working conditions: “My heart, it skips a beat/There’ll be fighting in the street/My sweetheart’s on the barricade.”

4. “Union Song” by Carter Falco. It’s not surprising that this Steve Earle-influenced song wasn’t embraced by the Nashville establishment. Lyrics like “I’m headin’ into tear gas, dig in, man, hold your ground” tend to scare corporate bosses in any industry. Falco curses “dirty scabs who cross the line” as well as cops firing rubber bullets at strikers. And he sings praises to César Chávez, Joe Hill, and all “union men and women standin’ up and standin’ strong.”

5. “Red Neck, Blue Collar” by James Luther Dickinson. This song, written by Bob Frank, is the highlight of Memphis veteran Dickinson’s 2006 Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger album. It’s not a glorification of the working class but a frustrated look at how so many working-class folks are systematically fooled into backing politicians and political positions that are contrary to their own economic interests.

6. “Lawrence Jones” by Kathy Mattea. This is the most powerful song from Mattea’s concept album Coal, released early this year. It was written by folk singer/organizer Si Kahn and deals with the bloody 13-month miners’ strike that began in 1973 in Harlan County, Kentucky. As documented in Barbara Kopple’s influential documentary Harlan County U.S.A., Jones was fatally shot.

7. “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” by The Del-Lords. This tune was written by West Virginia hillbilly bard Blind Alfred Reed at the outset of the Great Depression. It’s a screed against high prices, bad schools, trigger-happy cops, crooked preachers, and doctors who dispense “a dose of dope and a great big bill.” All these things were still around in the 1980s when New York’s Del-Lords ripped into it and made it rock.

8. “Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)” by Randy Newman. This song comes from the album Good Old Boys, which was released in 1974, so I always assumed the lyrics were aimed at Richard Nixon. “We’re not askin’ you to love us/You may put yourself high above us/Mr. President, have pity on the working man.”

9. “Don’t Look Now (It Ain’t You or Me)” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. In this rockabilly tune, John Fogerty takes a poke at the elitism found in too many hipster circles in the late ’60s. As Fogerty explained in a Rolling Stone interview: “We’re all so ethnic now, with our long hair and shit. But, when it comes to doing the real crap that civilization needs to keep it going ... who’s going to be the garbage collector? None of us will. Most of us will say, ‘That’s beneath me, I ain’t gonna do that job.’”

10. “Big Boss Man” by Jimmy Reed. “You got me working, boss man, working ’round the clock/I want me a drink of water, but you won’t let Jimmy stop.” The sentiments of this venerated blues song are so universal. I can imagine a movie about the construction of the Pyramids. One of the slaves stops his work, looks up, and begins to sing: “Big boss man, don’t you hear when I call?”

Workin’ man radio: Hear these songs and lots more when Stan Rosen joins me at 10 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, for Terrell’s Sound World’s annual post-Labor Day show (on KSFR-FM 101.1). As always, we’ll focus on songs about workers and the labor movement.

OBAMA SPEAKS