eMusic August

* The World Ends: Afro-Rock and Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria by various artists This is the latest collection from the incredible Soundways Records. I spent nearly half my monthly credits on this cool collection, but it's worth it.

In the early '70s, following the bloody Biafran civil war, Jimi Hendrix guitar and James Brown funk invaded Nigeria.

Fuzz and wah-wah seized control of African guitars. Slinky organ sounds crept into the music. And the African drum was stronger than ever.

Bands like The Hykkers, Cicada and The Semi Colon created funky little masterpieces. In "Ottoto Shamoleda" by a band called Colomach you could hear a little Santana. The Hygrades' "Rough Rider" would fit in the soundtrack of any decent Blaxploitation movie.

And I like the advice of Chuck Barrister & The Voices of Darkness: "Be Kind, Be Foolish, Be Happy."


* Reform School Girl by Nick Curran & The Lowlifes. I owe Los Alamos music fiend Russ Gordon for turning me on to this band.

Basically Curran plays some of the roughest, rawest R&B/rockabilly this side of Barrence Whitfield. This album has a lo-fi, '50s car-radio sound to it. Curran sounds as if he's channeling Little Richard filtered through the ghost of Ronnie Dawson, the late rockabilly rowdy, with whom Curran used to play.

But the title song reveals a Phil Spector side. Probably Shadow Morton would be a more apt comparison, as the song has a distinct "Leader of the Pack" vibe to it.

Curran & The Lowlifes are playing up in Nuke City as part of Gordon's Free Concert Series on Friday August 20.

PLUS:

* The 35 songs from The Very Best Of by Hoosier Hot Shots that I didn't get last month. (This only cost me five credits though because the eMusic price was 40 tracks for 12 credits and I downloaded seven tracks last month. What a deal!)

Basically these Indiana cut-ups, who started recording in the early '30s, were the harbingers of Spike Jones. The slide whistle (played by Paul "Hezzie" Triesch) was an important part of the Hot Shot sound, as was the clarinet, played by Gabe Ward.

Among the tunes in this collection are whizbang versions of American standards like "The Band Played On," "Sioux City Sue," "Toot Toot Tootsie," and "I Wish I Cold Shimmy Like My Sister Kate."

There's also some bizarre obscurities by the quartet. My favorite is "I've Got a Bimbo Down on The Bamboo Isle." I found a scratchy old 1920 version of this tune by Frank Crumit on the Internet Archive a few years ago. It's about a swell gal who "all she wore was a great big Zulu smile." As I wrote of this song in a column a few years ago, "A ship wreck never sounded so sexy."

* 9 tracks from Hillbilly Classics. Talk about deals ... This is a 73 (!!!) song collection of mostly obscurities from the '40s and '50s. Costing only 12 credits, it's definitely one of the biggest bargains I've stumbled across on eMusic for some time.

My favorites of the ones I nabbed for now are "Nothin' Clickin', Chicken" by The Down Homers and "My Dreamboat Hit a Snag" by Louis Innis & The String Dusters." I'll start downloading the rest of this when my account refreshes.

ATTENTION ACOUSTIC PICKERS

My old friend Amy Airheart Bianco (who I first met when she was a DJ at the venerable KFAT Radio in Gilroy, Calif. in the early '80s) just sent me this. She's looking for acoustic musicians.

I know you're out there. Check it out!

Calling New Mexico’s Acoustic Musicians!

The third annual New Mexico Women Author’s Book Festival is taking place this October 2nd and 3rd in downtown Santa Fe at the New Mexico History Museum. During this free event, over 100 women authors will read from their works and over 3,000 people are expected to attend during the two days.

Festival Organizers are looking for 10-12 acoustic acts to perform Saturday or Sunday inside the New Mexico History Museum. Solos, duos, trios and quartets are encouraged to apply. Acts featuring women performers are also encouraged to send in audition materials. The performance area will be upstairs, with some seating and will be acoustic with no p.a.system. (this is due to noise restrictions in the building.) The performance area has very bright sound and will attract people coming from the café and the exhibit areas. A small stipend ($50.00 per act) is available for each act to help defray travel costs.

Acoustic acts from around the state are encouraged to apply. Sets up to 50 minutes in length will be booked and the stage will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 pm both days, with the last set ending by 4:50 p.m. Artists are welcome to bring their CD’s to sell during and following their sets, on the day of performance.

Please submit audition materials no later than September 1 to: Amy Bianco c/o MNMF Shops, P.O. Box 2065, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2065. For more information call (505) 982-3016 x 21.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, August 6, 2010
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
Hot Rodder's Lament by Deke Dickerson
Drinkin' Ain't Hard to Do by Hank III
Rated X by Neko Case
Fist City by Eilen Jewell
Backstreet Affair by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
Mr. & Mrs, Used to Be by Ernest Tubb & Loretta Lynn
Super Boogie Woogie by Jerry Irby with His Texas Ranchers
Chickenstew by The Sixtyniners
Room 100 by Ronny Elliott

Corn Liquor Made a Fool Out of Me by Bad Livers
Chug a Lug by Mojo Nixon & The World Famous Blue Jays
Shelly Hopped That Train by The Cedarsqueezers
A-11 by Buck Owens
Amazing Disgrace by Dollar Store
1234 Ever by Jon Langford & Skull Orchard
The Girl On Death Row by T.Tex Edwards & Out On Parole
Mike the Can Man by Joe West
Meet Me By The Ice House Lizzie by Hoosier Hot Shots

TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN WAITRESS
The Waitress Song by Freakwater
Ravishing Ruby by Tom T. Hall
Mr. Sellack by The Roches
The Beautiful Waitress by Terry Allen
Diesel Daisy by Killbilly
Sweetheart (Waitress at a Donut Shop) by Dan Hicks & His Hotlicks Waitret Please Waitret by Kinky Friedman
Tip That Waitress by Loudon Wainwright III
Highway Cafe by Tom Waits

Goodnight, Dear Diary by Joe Ely
Don't Touch Me by Eleni Mandrell
I Wish It Had Been a Dream by The Louvin Brothers
I Push Right Over by Robbie Fulks
Clouds That Won't Rain by Clothesline Revival
Tom Dooley by Snakefarm
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

SHARON JONES COMING TO LENSIC

Looks like Daptone Records is making inroads into Santa Fe. First we learned The Budos Band will be playing Corazon on August 19.

And now, Jamie from Fanman Productions informs us that the mighty Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings will play the Lensic Performing Arts Center on Sept. 27.

No word on ticket prices yet. All I know right now is that a band called Grace Potter & The Nocturnals will be opening.

Jones' show is scheduled 10 days after Barrence Whitfield is supposed to play at Santa Fe Brewing Company.

That's a lotta soul for this little town.

I wrote a quickie review of Jones' last album I Learned the Hard Way. You can find it HERE (scroll down.)

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 6, 2010

Here’s what I did last week on my summer vacation.

I spent several days last week in New York City. The major chunk of my time was spent at musical events (and riding the subways to get to them).

It was a near-impromptu trip, an impulse vacation. What sparked it was something I saw on the internet about The Detroit Breakdown, a free outdoor show at Lincoln Center sponsored by The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation. On the bill were two bands that rocked my reality as a junior high kid: Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and ? & The Mysterians.

Even more interesting were slightly more recent Detroit groups including garage/punk heroes The Gories and Death, a resurrected proto-punk group.

Here’s the magical part. Only moments after I made my plane and hotel reservations, I got an email invitation from the promoters of another free show: Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds — led by a guy who’s been a member of The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and The Gun Club — who were playing at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.

To me, this was a cosmic confirmation from the universe. Then later I learned that Gogol Bordello would be playing with Primus the night before the Detroit Stomp. Glory hallelujah!

Here’s a rundown of the music I saw last week:

* Sweatin’ to the oldies: ? & The Mysterians and Mitch Ryder offered a sharp contrast in their different approaches. And I have to say that ? and his band kicked major rump. From the moment he bounced onto the stage wearing a cowboy hat and a pink-and-purple jacket with Buffalo Bill fringes, ? was a psychedelic sprite belting out his rock ’n’ soul.

The Mysterians included all their original members — five Chicanos who grew up hanging out and playing music with one another. They’re tight and yet have an easy way together. They’ve done all these songs a jillion times, but they still look like they’re having the time of their lives playing them.

Ryder, on the other hand, had a bunch of new players who looked young enough to be his grandkids. These Wheels weren’t even hub when Ryder was tearing up the charts with “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “Jenny Takes a Ride.” All were proficient musicians, but they lacked that warriors’ bond that comes from years on the road.

But the main difference between the two is that ? and crew have retained their garage-band spirit, while Ryder’s band had a classic-rock edge. Ryder’s band even had a big production number that started out with tinkly-winkly piano versions of Rolling Stones songs like “Ruby Tuesday” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” leading with epic guitar crescendos to an overwrought version of “Gimme Shelter.” (I left during the drum solo. I just couldn’t take it.)

On the other hand, The Mysterians did a version of The Stones’ “Satisfaction.” But there was nothing grandiose about it. They played the song as I imagine they did in 1965.

The Mysterians got a little outside help. Soul singer Louise Murray of the Jaynetts dueted with ? on “Sally Go Round the Roses.” Murray sang on the original recording of this cool tune. But more impressive, the one and only Ronnie Spector joined the group on their big hit “96 Tears.” It was an unbelievable moment. She basically vamped on the “you’re gonna cry, cry, cry, cry” outro, teasingly adding an occasional “be my baby” to the proceedings.

* The Gories: This was Mick Collins’ group before The Dirtbombs. Collins along with fellow guitarist Dan Kroha and drummer Peggy O’Neill started out in Detroit in 1986 and lasted until the early ’90s. They got back together last year for a reunion tour with The Oblivions. And The Gories still sound fresh, crazy, and aggressively primitive. Beginning with their unofficial theme song, “Hey Hey, We’re the Gories,” they bashed their way through a high-energy set that included Gories favorites like “Thunderbird E.S.Q.” and “Nitroglycerine,” as well as covers of John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillun” and Eddie Holland’s “Leaving Here.” They even went No Wave for a minute and did a cover of a Suicide song.

* Death: Talk about a band that was ahead of its time. Death was a trio of black kids from Detroit, back in the early 1970s, combined the soul and R & B they’d grown up with the Detroit rock of the day.

The son of singer/bassist Bobby Hackney, discovering one of his dad’s demo tapes in the attic, convinced his dad to reform the group. Death’s only studio recordings were released by the indie label Drag City as a CD called ... For the Whole World to See.

Death still roars. The band even did a song it wrote inspired by Richard Nixon, “Politicians in My Eyes.”

* Gogol Bordello: This international band of maniacs lived up to its reputation of playing intense and crazy live shows. It’s led by Ukraine-born Eugene Hutz, who immigrated to New York City in the early 1990s and recently moved to Brazil.

Gogol, whose members are from all over the world, play a high-charged rocking fusion of traditional Gypsy music — violin and accordion are important elements — other traditional European sounds, reggae, and more recently samba, creating a sound they modestly call “Gypsy punk.”

At their show on the Brooklyn waterfront, the musicians did some old favorites — “Not a Crime,” “Wonderlust King,” and “Start Wearing Purple” — plus a lot of their latest album, Trans-Continental Hustle.

* Primus: Following Gogol would be a heavy task for anyone. So, sadly, Primus was pretty much a major letdown. I’m a Primus fan and was excited about seeing the group. But after the group’s opening act, Les Claypool and the boys seemed plodding and spaced out.

* Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds: Kid Congo Powers is a hero in the garage-punk sub genre, which doesn’t place the highest value on instrumental virtuosity. Nevertheless, he’s an amazing guitarist who doesn’t need 15-minute solos to prove it. One of his encore tunes was an instrumental I didn’t recognize that sounded like a wild cross between Duane Eddy and “Psychotic Reaction.”

Opening his hourlong set with “I Found a Peanut,” a Thee Midnighters cover and the funniest song from his latest album, Dracula Boots, the Kid let rip with tunes spanning his career, including The Gun Club’s “Sex Beat” and two Cramps tunes, “I’m Cramped” and an extra-sinister “Goo Goo Muck.”

BLOG BONUS!

My snapshots of most these shows (and other things) can be found HERE.

Even better, here's some YouTube videos I found from some of the shows I saw. (The first two are from my GaragePunk Hidout pal allison levin's friend Corwin Wickersham.)

DEATH

THE GORIES

? & THE MYSTERIANS with RONNIE SPECTOR

MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS



GOGOL BORDELLO



KID CONGO POWERS & THE PINK MONKEYBIRDS

BATTLE OF THE DETROIT BANDS

If The Detroit Breakdown could be considered a battle of the bands between two groups that rocked my world back when I was in junior high – back in the mid '60s when there used to be actual battles of the bands – there was a clear winner Saturday night.

? & The Mysterians kicked major rump on Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels.

Of course it wasn't a “battle.” Music is the expression of the soul, which touches the spirit and lifts the soul in harmony with the world and shouldn't be perceived as a childish competition.

Screw that. ? & The Mysterians kicked ass! No disrespect to Mitch. Like I say, I've loved his music for nearly 45 years. In a year of flower-power excess, Mitch got back to the gritty rock 'n' roll basics .

The Detroit Breakdown is what sparked my impulse vacation to New York City. The event, sponsored by The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, was held at The Lincoln Center. The evening portion of the show not only included these '60s acts, but more recent Detroit groups including the wonderful Gories and Death. (More on these two bands later.)

The Mysterians got a little outside help. Soul singer Louise Murray of the Jaynetts dueted with ? on “Sally Go Round the Roses. She sang on the original recording of this cool tune.

But more impressively, the one and only Ronnie Spector joined the group on their big hit “96 Tears.”

Allow me to repeat that: Ronnie Spector sang “96 Tears” with ? & The Mysterians!

But even without this added star power, The Mysterians would have ruled the night. From the moment he bounced onto the stage wearing a cowboy and a pink-and-purple jacket with Buffalo Bill fringes, ? was a psychedelic sprite belting out his rock 'n' soul.

Here's the main differences between them and Mitch Ryder. First of all, The Mysterians included all their original members. In other words, five Chicano guys who grew up hanging out and playing music with each other. They're tight and yet have an easy way with each other. They've done all these songs a jillion times, but they still look like they're having the time of their lives playing them.

Ryder on the other hand had a bunch of new players who looked young enough to be Mitch's grandkids. These Wheels weren't even hubcaps when Ryder was tearing up the charts with “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “Jenny Takes a Ride.” All proficient musicians, but lacking that warrior's bond.

But the main difference between the two is that ? and crew have retained their garage-band spirit while Ryder's band had a classic-rock edge. There was even a big production number that started out with tinkly-winkly piano versions of Rolling Stones songs like “Ruby Tuesday” and “You Can't Always Get What You Want” leading up with epic guitar crescendos to an overwrought version of “Gimme Shelter.” (Full disclosure: I left during the drum solo. I just couldn't take it.)

On the other hand, The Mysterians did a version of The Stones' “Satisfaction.” But there was nothing grandiose about it. They played the song as I imagine they did in 1965.

Besides ?, my favorite band of the day was The Gories. This was Mick Collins' group before The Dirtbombs. Collins along with fellow guitarist Dan Kroha and drummer Peggy O'Neill started out in Detroit in 1986 and lasted until the early '90s. They got back together last year for a reunion tour with The Oblivions.

True confession: I've dug The Dirtbombs for years, but I'm a relative newcomer to the pleasures of The Gories. Both are amazing bands.

And they still sound fresh and crazy. Starting out with their unofficial theme song, “Hey Hey, We're The Gories,” they bashed their way through a high-energy set that included Gories favorites like “Thunderbird E.S.Q.” and “Nitroglycerine,” as well as covers of John Lee Hooker's “Boggie Chillun,” Eddie Holland's “Leaving Here” and the R&B classic “Early in the Morning.” They even went No-Wave for a minute and did a cover of a Suicide song.

Also a lot of fun was Death, a Detroit hard-rock trio who back in the early '70s combined the soul and R&B they'd grown up with the Detroit rock of the day.

At one point Death singer/bassist Bobby Hackney gave shout-outs to some of their influences: Alice Cooper. Iggy & The Stooges. And Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels.

Check my snapshots of The Detroit Breakdown HERE

GOGOL CONQUERS BROOKLYN

Well actually Gogol Bordello started out in New York, so a lot of locals probably would say they conquered it a long time ago.

But they didn't fail to work the crowd into a frenzy and it didn't take 'em long.

They played some of old favorites -- "Not a Crime," "Wanderlust King" and, later in the set, "Start Wearing Purple." And they played a lot of their latest album Trans-Continental Hustle.

I realize that there are lots of people who are uninitiated into the pleasures of this band. So here's a quick primer:

Head Gogol Eugene Hutz, a native of the Ukraine, immigrated to New York City in the early '90s. There he fell in with like-minded musicians, many of them immigrants like himself from various parts of the world.

Together they crafted a high-charged rocking fusion of traditional gypsy music -- violin and accordion are important elements -- other traditional European sounds, reggae, South American sounds they modestly call "Gypsy punk." Recently Hutz moved to Brazil and traces of samba could be heard on the group's latest album

I wasn't immediately taken by the new Rick Rubin-produced Trans-Continental Hustle. But hearing it live Friday convinced me that the new songs stand proudly by the old.

My only disappointment was that they didn't play "American Wedding." But I didn't feel cheated.

I almost felt sorry for the headlining act of this show -- Primus. I'm a Primus fan. I love "My Name is Mud" and "Wynonna's Big Brown Beaver" and lots of their other songs. I was happy to hear that Les Claypool and the boys had reunited and I'd get to hear them.

But following Gogol Bordello would be a heavy task for anyone. (My buddy Chuck suggested that Shane McGowan in his prime might be able to pull that feat off. But not many others.)

So sadly, Primus was somewhat of a letdown after Gogol. Claypool does some interesting music, but after their opening act, it just didn't seem all that exciting.

Speaking of interesting -- the very first band to play Friday was a rocked-out jazz-fusiony/No Wavish trio called Dead Kenny Gs. They have a sax man (who doubles on keyboards) a bassist and a drummer who also plays vibes. They were lots of fun and left me wanting to hear more.

On the subway trip home when we transferred trains at the 14th Street station, Chuck noticed that Gogol's accordion player, Yuri Lemeshev was there, posing for pictures with fans. One of them was me.

Check my snapshots of Gogol Bordello HERE

But

CONGO ROCK

Brian Tristan, better known as Kid Congo Powers, has an impressive recording history having served time in The Cramps, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and The Gun Club. And his solo work, like last year's Dracula Boots, are full of under-recognized gems.

But you really haven't heard Kid Congo until you've heard him live.

I did just that at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Congo played there with his band The Pink Monkey Birds as part of a free show sponsored by Vice Records. Congo has a new split single with Hunx & His Punx, who opened the show, coming out in the near future.

Mr. Powers is a hero in the garage-punk sub genre, which doesn't place the highest value on instrumental virtuosity. Nevertheless, he's an amazing guitarist who does't need 15-minute solos to prove it. One of his encore tunes was an instrumental I didn't recognize that sounded like a wild cross between Duane Eddy and "Psychotic Reaction."

Opening his hour-long set with "I Found a Peanut," a Thee Midnighters cover and the funniest song from Dracula Boots, Congo let rip with tunes spanning his lengthy career. There were several others from Dracula Boots, including "La Llorona," (which I know would be a favorite in Santa Fe if he ever comes here), "Black Santa" and "LSDC." There were several songs from an upcoming singles compilation on In the Red Records (I believe he said the name of that's going to be "10 Greasy Pieces") and older tunes like "La Historia de un Amour."

And, yes, he did a Gun Club song, a tough version of "Sex Beat," and two Cramps tunes -- "I'm Cramped" and an extra-sinister "Goo Goo Muck."

I got a chance to yak a little wit the Kid before the show. He said he's excited because he's been asked to sing "Found a Peanut" with Thee Midnighters at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans in September. I wish I could be there for that.

(No, I didn't take that photo at the top of this post. My camera was in my suitcase, which hadn't arrived before I left for the show, thank you very much, American Airlines!) So I stole that picture from my pal and fellow GaragePunk podcaster Michael Kaiser, who saw Kid Congo in California last year. Thanks, Michael.)

NEW YORK HERE I COME!

As those of you who have heard me ramble in my recent radio shows and on the latest Big Enchilada podcast know, I'm headed to New York for a bunch of concerts and fun.

The biggest event to which I'm going is the Detroit Breakdown, a free outdoor show Saturday sponsored by The Lincoln Center and the Ponderosa Stomp. Among the acts performing there are a couple of groups I've loved since junior hight, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and ? & The Mysterians. Plus, the reunited Gories will be there as well as Death, a proto-punk band that also recently got back together. (Check this NPR report on them.)

Also I'll be going to see a Gogol Bordello/Primus show in Brooklyn Friday and, assuming my plane gets in on time, Kid Congo Powers at The Knitting Factory.

Watch this blog for reports, photos, etc.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, July 25, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
The Lowlife by Nick Curran & The Lowlifes
Sugar in My Hog by Fred Schneider with Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
Bitch Slap Attack by Lovestuck
Toilet Duck by Scared of Chaka
Treat Her Right by Los Straitjackets with Mark Lindsay
Repo Man by Iggy Pop
Baby Who Mutilated Everybody's Heart by Thee Mighty Caesars
I'm In With the Out Crowd by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Juimonos (Let's Went) by Little Richard Elizondo Combo
All These Things by Art Neville

Jenny Take a Ride by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
Devil With the Blue Dress by Shorty Long
C.C. Rider by Bobby Powell
Smokes by ? & The Mysterians
Ghost Rider by The Gories
La Llorona by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkeybirds
Troubled Friends by Gogol Bordello

Rockin' My Boogie by Charlie Musselwhite
Annie Mae/Memphis by Alex Maryol
Friday Night Dance Party by Bunker Hill
Baby Doll by The Del Moroccos
Memphis Chiken by The Gibson Bros.
Dizzy Miss Lizzy by Larry Williams

Never Go West by Seasick Steve
Shortnin' Bread by The Cramps
Flying High by Country Joe & The Fish
Adeniji by The Budos Band
The World Ends by The Black Mirrors
A Mission in Life by Stan Ridgway
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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