* New Hope for the Wretched/Metal Priestessby The Plasmatics. I recently rented a DVD of the late Tom Snyder's Tomorrow Show interviews with "punk and New Wave" groups -- which also includes the performances of the bands and musicians, In fact, it includes the entire shows. The Rev. Rex Humbard, the world's first televangelist was a guest on the show the night that Wendy O. Williams and the boys blew up a car in the NBC studios while performing the song "Masterplan.". The good Rev.was surprisingly mellow about the band. Less tolerant preachers would have condemned them as porn-rock demons from Hell.
And, oh yeah, they played music -- basically a metal edged punk rock -- or punk-edged metal. Undoubtedly they were more impressive live -- with all their explosives and chainsaws and Wendy wearing nothing on her breasts but band-aids, etc.-- than in the studio.
Still, The Plasmatics are a lot of fun on record. I like "Monkey Suit," which reminds me a little of "The Electric Prunes' "Get Me to the World on Time" and "Black Leather Monster." And this album, which includes their 1980 album and a 1981 EP (Metal Priestess) includes several live tracks, including "Sex Junkie," "Squirm" and "Masterplan," which unfortunately isn't the Tomorrow Show version.
* '50s Rockabilly Hellraisers. Here's another impressive rockabilly obscurities bargain from a mysterious re-issue label called Rock-A-Billy.Just a few months ago, I got another one from eMusic -- 1950s Rock N' Roll & Rockabilly Rare Masters.
That one had 56 tracks. Hellraisers has 70, for a mere $5.99. Sure, I already had a handful of these, but still, what a bargain!
Some of my favorites here include "Switchblade Sam" by Jeff Daniels, which tells a tale tale involving Stagger Lee and Charlie Brown (The Coasters' hero not the Peanuts character. I assume); "Boppin' Wig Wam Willie" by Ray Scott (Are these cartoonish 1950s depictions of Native Americans actually racist or innocent fun. Talk amongst yourselves); "Move Over Buddy," a space travel novelty by Billy Jack Hale a no-wonder-you-never-hear-this-on-the-radio rocker, "Quicksand Love" by Macy Skipper, which features the immortal line, "I'm like an elevator, I'm goin' down all the time." YIKES!
There also are hree tunes by Mississippi rockabilly Andy Anderson, who lived a few years in New Mexico, including "Johnny Valentine," "Tough Tough, Tough," and "You Shake Me Up."
Back when I was a kid in the '60s, I considered music like this to be somewhat of a guilty pleasure. This was your parent's music. So here's a lesson for today's youth: Wipe your nose, junior. Your parents probably are a lot hipper than you thought.
Plus:
* Nine tracks from Cameo Parkway 1957-1967. I heard The Dovells' "You Can't Sit Down" for the first time in years in a supermarket a few days ago and I was shocked and ashamed that it wasn't in my collection. I looked it up on eMusic and found this four-disc treasure trove.
Cameo-Parkway was a Philadelphia label best known for hitmakers Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker -- neither of whom I'm particularly wild about. But they also were home to Dee Dee Sharpe and The Orlons, two acts that twisted my head off as a youngster. In fact, in the early '60s, before Motown dominated the soul-pop market, Cameo-Parkway was the true "sound of young America." (And by the mid '60s, it also was the home to ? & The Mysterians -- though I already have all three of the songs on this collection.)
The Orlons always created a musical party that sounded like a lot more fun than most parties I've ever been to. "So Much in Love" by The Tymes still is one of of the most soulful doo-wop songs I've ever heard. And Dee Dee's "Gravy on My Mashed Potatoes" sounds as if it's based on a double entendre that I still can't quite figure out.
Among the other tunes I picked up are selections by Screamin' Lord Sutch ("She's Fallen in Love With the Monster Man"), Johnny Maestro ("I'll Be True," apparently from that period between The Crests and The Brooklyn Bridge) and Don Covay ("The Popeye Waddle," apparently a dance craze that never quite caught on.) And there's a great R&B version of Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" by a group called Billy Abbott & The Jewels. I'll be coming back for more here.
* Three tracks from Soundway Records Presents The Sound of Siam : Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz and Molam from Thailand 1964 - 1975.I'll write in detail about this next month when I pick up the rest of the tracks. Let's just say for now that this is a step or two beyond the wild and wonderful Thai Beat a Go-Go series, two volumes of which I downloaded on eMusic years ago. And, judging from what I've heard, it's worthy of Soundway's collections of African funk and psychedelia I've loved in recent years.
And for the holidaze ...
* "Christmas in Las Vegas" and "Jingle Bells" by Richard Cheese. (Both fromSilent Nightclub) and "Christmas Lights" by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire (from Christmas 1979I'm slowly acquiring the whole album.)
Sunday, January 2, 2011 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
I Would Die 4 You by The Rockin' Guys
I Ran With A Zombie by The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies
Ramblin' Rose by The MC5
Keep On Rubbing by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
Go Ahead and Burn by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Test Tube Babies by The Plasmatics Let the Good Times Roll by The Sonics
Whistlebait Baby by LoveStruck Shortnin' Bread by The Ready Men
Licking the Frog by Manby's Head
Scotch and Water and You by Monkeyshines
I Worn by Body For So Long by T-Model Ford & GravelRoad
You Can't Sit Down by The Dovells
Knabonga by Kilimanjaro Yak Attack
Just to Hold You by Mark Sultan
So Much In Love by Tymes
The People Hater by Jerry & Brad
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 31 , 2010
Here’s the 10 albums released in 2010 that I liked best.
* Reform School Girl by Nick Curran & The Lowlifes. Curran plays some of the roughest, rawest R & B/rockabilly being made today, with raspy voice, banging piano, wailing sax, and a guitar that sounds as if Chuck Berry used it in voodoo rituals. It should remind you of that era when crazed DJs unleashed their sinister communist plot of corrupting America’s youth by playing wild, primitive sounds oozing with sex and rebellion.
* Agri-dustrial by Legendary Shack Shakers. The title is a pretty apt description of the basic Shack Shakers sound. It’s rootsy but with a hard-rocking edge. Singer and frontman J.D. Wilkes plays a mean harmonica and occasional banjo and jew’s-harp, while co-conspirator Duane Denison, formerly of punk-noise patriarchs The Jesus Lizard, makes some crazy noise on his guitar. The rhythm section is grounded in metal as well as in cowpunk. This might be considered a concept album about the South. Or maybe it’s a collection of horror stories, with song titles like “Two Tickets to Hell,” “The Hills of Hell,” and “God Fearing People.”
* Grinderman 2 by Grinderman. The first album by Nick Cave’s Grinderman is an intense burst of bile, anxiety, rage, obscenity, and loud, sloppy rock ’n’ roll. This year’s follow-up, while slightly less ragged than the original, is almost as good. On “Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man, “ Cave howls like Howlin’ Wolf on “Smokestack Lightning.” You can hear echoes of Patti Smith’s “Gloria” and The Doors’ “When the Music’s Over,” as well as an intentional nod to blues belter Lucille Bogan’s “Shave ’Em Dry.” “Worm Tamer” — full of fun innuendo and double-entendre — rocks even harder, with a mutated Bo-Diddley-conquers-the-Martians beat. “Super Heathen Child” takes us right to a nightmare world. A girl is “sitting in the bathtub sucking her thumb,” though she’s fully armed as she waits for the Wolf Man.
* Wig! by Peter Case. Case is so good in his acoustic troubadour role that many of his listeners might not even realize that he’s also an accomplished rocker. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, he was the frontman for The Plimsouls and, before that, The Nerves. Now, aided by guitarist Ron Franklin and D.J. Bonebrake, the drummer for X, Case recorded a bunch of blues-soaked, swampy rockers for this album. And it’s some of the toughest music he’s ever made.
* I’m New Here by Gil Scott-Heron. Produced by Richard Russell, this album, Scott-Heron’s first in 16 years, is harrowing. It’s mostly low-key and somber and almost like an encounter in a dark alley with a ghost. The album kicks off with a sweet memory of being raised by his grandmother. But at the end of the song, his granny dies “and I was scared and hurt and shocked,” Scott-Heron says. And then the music gets louder, the beat turns harsher, and suddenly the singer finds himself in an electronic mutation of one of Robert Johnson’s most frightening blues, “Me and the Devil.” Scott-Heron drifts from nightmare to revelry and back again. In “New York Is Killing Me,” he sings a blues melody over persistent hand claps and a clacking rhythm, punctuated by bass drum. A gospel choir comes in a couple of times but disappears like a dream figment. The album is less than 30 minutes long. But it’s one intense half hour.
* Self Decapitation by Delaney Davidson. Traces of Salvation Army marching bands and dark blues permeate this New Zealand native’s album. You can hear influences of American blues, early jazz, and Eastern European/Gypsy sounds. Davidson performs “In the Pines” as an industrial-edged blues tune with an acoustic guitar and altered vocals yielding to over-amped guitar and crazy-loud drums. But my favorite is the delightfully filthy “Dirty Dozen,” a foul-mouthed country-blues stomp that reminds me why I love music in the first place.
* A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) by Ray Wylie Hubbard. As with other recent Hubbard efforts, this record features a minimalist bluesy sound. There are lots of slide guitar, fierce but simple drums, and lyrics concerning sin and salvation — but little else. Some songs have echoes of bluegrass, with mandolin, banjo, and fiddle occasionally emerging from the primordial blues bog.
* The Big To-Do by Drive-By Truckers. This is the DBT’s best album since 2004’s The Dirty South. It’s full of sex, crime, humor, strippers, circus acts, and girlfriends who say, “I’m too pretty to work and you’re uglying up my house.” All that and loud, loud guitars. Unfortunately, the only mediocre song on the album is one titled “Santa Fe.”
*A Poison Tree by Movie Star Junkies. Images of murder, torture, and betrayal color the lyrics of this album, which features dark but melodic tunes colored by with spaghetti-Western guitars over Farfisa organ and drums that evoke marching bands. The Junkies proudly cite The Birthday Party as an influence, and sure enough, you can hear echoes of early Nick Cave. The last song, a seven-minute epic called “All Winter Long,” ends in a dense instrumental with fuzzy guitar licks that bring back memories of The Electric Prunes.
* Descending Shadows by Pierced Arrows. Back with his previous band Dead Moon, singer Fred Cole bragged that he’s “been screaming at the top of my lungs since 1965.” That’s true — he was in a band called The Lollipop Shoppe that produced a garage-band classic “You Must Be a Witch.” The good news for Dead Moon fans is that Pierced Arrows sounds like a continuation of Moon’s basic guitar/bass/drums sound. Fred Cole and wife/bassist Toody Cole still sound wild and ferocious.
Honorable Mention:
* You Are Not Alone by Mavis Staples
* Wake Up the Snakes by Johnny Dowd
* $ by Mark Sultan
* The Wages by The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
* Phosphene Dream by The Black Angels
Sunday, December 26, 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
Waves of Fear by Lou Reed
Monkey Mess by Thee Vicars
Rosalyn by The Pretty Things
On the Move by Pierced Arrows
Music is the Magic by Kim Fowley
Pimples and Braces by Ric Gary
Corruption by The Plasmatics
Don't Blow Your Mind by The Spiders
People Look Away by Death
Are You For Real, Girl? by Mystic Five What Kind of Fool Am I?by Sammy Davis, Jr.
Coming Back Alive by The Stomachmouths Dope Fiend Boogie by The Cramps
Wig-Wag by Manby's Head
Battle Cryby Monkeyshines Muck Muck by Yochanan
The Egyptian Thing by The Syndicate Part of Your Plan by The Oblivions Farmer John by Ross Johnston with Monsieur Jeffrey Evans
Quicksand Love by Macy Skipper
Honey Bop by Wanda Jackson
Boppin' Wigwam Willie by Ray Scott
Sugar Doll by Johnny Jay
Evil Hearted Me by Jody Reynolds Old Black Joe by Jerry Lee Lewis
Betty Lou' s Got A New Tattoo by Creep Love Bug Crawl by Jimmy Edwards
Switch Blade Sam by Jeff Daniels Loaded Gun by The Rev. Horton Heat
(Mama) You Got To Love Your Negro Man by Dewey Cox Shadow My Baby by Ray Condo & The Ricochets
Lick My Decals Off Baby by Captain Beefheart Mencerminkan Mahkota Kotor by Arrington de Dionyso Sports Car by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 New York is Killing Me by Gil Scott-Heron Withered and Died by Elvis Costello
Cast No Shadows by The Mekons
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
"From the land of shotgun weddings and child brides ..." comes the last Big Enchilada podcast of 2010 featuring hillbilly, honky tonk, rockabilly and crazed country sounds. Among the artists represented here are Hasil Adkins, Tav Falco, Hank III, Rev. Beat-Man, Angry Johnny & GTO, The Defibulators and, from the chic salons of Espanola, N.M., The Imperial Rooster! Plus there's an entire of segment of songs from the mysterious Twisted Tales from the Vinyl Wastelands series. You don't need champagne on New Year's Eve. Just drink a jug of this musical moonshine from Below Tobacco Road!
(Background Music: Buster's Crawdad Song by The Tune Wranglers)
Tobacco Road by Tav Falco
Pig Fork by The Imperial Rooster
Corn Money by The Defibulators
49 Women by Jerry Irby & His Texas Ranchers
Blue Moon of Kentucky by Rev. Beat-Man
Punchy Wunchy Wickey Wacky Woo by Hasil Adkins
(Background Music: The Magnificent Seven by Jon Rauhouse)
TWISTED TALES FROM THE VINYL WASTELANDS SET
Burn Your Bra, Baby by Bennie Johnson
Dark Angel by Benny Joy
Arson Carson by Willie Swanson
Swamp Gas by The Space Walkers
Auctioneer Lover by Wendy Powers
The Guy Who Looks Like Me by Big Shorty
Marijuana, the Devil Flower by Johnny Price
Lover Man Minus Sex Appeal by Cousin Zeke
(Background Music: Steel Guitar Stomp by Hank Penny)
Feelin' Right Tonight by Marti Brom
Okie's in the Pokie by Jimmy Patton
In the Nuthouse Now by Angry Johnny & GTO
Long Hauls, Close Calls by Hank III
Good Morning Judge by Louis Innis & His Stringdusters
(Background Music: Tobacco Road by Southern Culture on the Skids)
You like this hillbilly stuff? If so, then you'll probably like some of my previous episodes like:
Sunday, December 19, 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
THE STEVE TERRELL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Ain't No Santa Claus on the Midnight Stage by Captain Beefheart
Santa Can't Stay by Dwight Yoakam
Jingle Bell Rock by The Fall
I Believe in Father Christmas by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Christmas Lights by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire Eggnog by The Rockin' Guys Real Live Doll by The Trashmen Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto by James Brown
Put The X Back In Xmasby Candye Kane & Country Dick Montana
I Know What You Want For Christmas by Kay Martin & Her Body Guards
The Rocking Disco Santa Claus by The Sisterhood
I'm Givin' You the Blues (For Christmas) by Thee Fine Lines Sleigh Bells, Reindeer & Snow by Rita Faye Wilson Shake Hands With Santa Claus by Louis Prima Santa Claus is Surfin' To Town by Soupy Sales Santa Claus by The Sonics Santa Claus by Thee Headcoatees Dinosaur Christmas by Wee Hairy Beasties North Pole Boogie by Billy Briggs
A Christmas Carol by Tom Lehrer White Christmas by Otis Redding
God Rest Yee Merry Gentlemen by Legendary Shack Shakers Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge Christmas Night in Harlem by Louis Armstrong It's Christmas Time by The Qualities Hey Santa Claus by The Chesterfield Kings B.C Clark's Anniversary Sale by (anonymous jingle singers) Sleigh Ride by Alvin & The Chipmunks Monster's Holiday by Lon Chaney Jr. Christmas at K-Mart by Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band The Jesus Song by The Persuasions Lucy's Tiger Den by Terry Allen
Sausage and Sauerkraut for Christmas by The Polkaholics
Merry Christmas from the Family by Robert Earl Keen
Christmas Everyday (Maybe It'll Help) by Giant Sand
Christmas is a Special Day by Fats Domino
A Change at Christmas by The Flaming Lips
Christmas Lullaby by Shane MacGowan & The Popes
Oh Holy Night by Brian Wilson
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Friday, December, 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
Bang Bang Baby, Bang Bang Merry Christmas by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
11 Months, 29 Days by Johnny Paycheck
Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait by Little Jimmy Dickens
Oh! You Pretty Woman Asleep At The Wheel with Willie Nelson Sweet Baby of Mine by Marti Brom
Friends by Cracker Bad Road, Good People by Boris McCutcheon & The Saltlicks
All I Want For Christmas is My Upper Plate by Homer & Jethro Can Man Christmas by Joe West with Mike the Can Man
Law and Order on the Border by Gary Pinon Touch of Evil by Tom Russell with Eliza Gilkyson
Hot Tamale Pete by Bob Skyles & His Skyrockets Queen of Skid Row by Luke Gibbons
If The River Was Whiskey by Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers Santa's Birthday Feast by Cootie Leroux & Nat King Kong Pick a Bale of Cotton by Flathead
That Christmas Moon by Leon Redbone Pots and Pans by Ray Wylie Hubbard Half a Boy, Half a Man by Queen Ida Must Be Santa by Brave Combo The Polkaholics Are Comin' to Town by The Polkaholics
Sugar Creek by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band Stealing Hubcaps by Billy Ledbetter Dump Road Yodel by Legendary Shack Shakers Wine, Women and Loud Happy Songs by Ringo Starr
Kiss Me Quick and Go by The Maddox Brothers and Rose Someone Stole My Santa Suit by The Christmas Jug Band with Dan Hicks
Something Funny in Santa's Lap by The Moaners The Wig He Made Her Wear by Drive-By Truckers Your Hearty Laugh by The Defibulators Blue Christmas Lights by Chris Hillman & Herb Pederson Snowin' on Raton by Doug Jeffords Old Toy Trains by Roger Miller
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, whose indescribable music melded Delta blues, avant garde jazz and Lord knows what else, is dead. He was 69.
According to the Associated Press, the reclusive Beefheart died from complications stemming from multiple sclerosis.
Although he hadn't released any new music for 25 years or so, Beefheart's influence can be heard in Tom Waits' stranger tunes to the crazier edges of punk rock and "alternative" music -- (I'm thinking of The Butthole Surfers, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Old Time Relijun, etc.)to the fucked-up crazy blues of Jon Spencer and Voodoo Rhythm bands like Stinky Lou & Goon Mat, Thee Butchers Orchestra and Juke Joint Pimps.
When I interviewed Mark E. Smith of The Fall at Evangelos' in the early '80s one thing we talked about was our shared love for Captain Beefheart.
He was a high school chum of Frank Zappa. I always thought a great sitcom would be about Zappa and Beefheart in some 1950s high school, where everyone else seemed right out of Archie Comics.
This photo was taken in 1970 by my friend George Bullfrog. Follow this link to a bunch more of George's Beefheart shots. (If you are interested in purchasing a print of any or all of these pictures then please contact him at bllfrog@concentric.net for details.)
Here's a good way to remember Beefheart. He directed this video himself.
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican December 17, 2010
Ten years ago this week, I wrote in this column a list of my Top 10 favorite Christmas songs, which may have been based on a previous version that was published about a decade before that.
Everyone’s tastes change a little through the years, but looking over that list, I’ll stand by those selections. I still play those songs at home and on my radio shows every year.
But there is lots of great Christmas music out there. So here’s a new list of my favorite Christmas songs that I cherish almost as much as the ones on the old list.
1. “Santa Doesn’t Cop Out on Dope” by Sonic Youth. The band made up of Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Steve Shelley has never been known for its humor. So it’s not going out on much of a limb to declare that this is hands down the funniest song they ever recorded. It’s a Martin Mull tune, originally recorded by the singer-comic in the mid-’70s as a parody of smug moralists trying to use “hep lingo” to rap to the youth about drugs and such. Sonic Youth adds a few layers of absurdism, not to mention crazy noise.
2. “All For Gloria” by Elastica. This is a rock ’n’ roll reimagining of “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” by a predominantly female band that burned out way too quickly in the ’90s. The recording is from a John Peel BBC Christmas show, which ended up on an album called Elastica: The Radio One Sessions. But I bet most American fans first heard it on Just Say Noël (on which it was called “Gloria”) — the same 1996 Geffen Christmas collection that featured the Sonic Youth song mentioned above. On Radio One, Elastica also does a pretty cool version of “We Three Kings” called “I Wanna Be a King of Orient Aah.”
3. “Must Be Santa” by Brave Combo. Bob Dylan took Combo’s crazy pumped-up polka arrangement of this old kiddie song for his Christmas album last year (and made a hilarious video that was an internet sensation). I like the original better.
4. “White Christmas” by Otis Redding. Nobody should have even attempted to sing this Christmas chestnut after Redding worked it over. Like he did with practically everything he ever recorded, the man just sang his guts out.
5. “Eggnog” by The Rockin’ Guys. The Guys are a punk band from Conway, Arkansas, which I never would have discovered except for the goodwill of a former colleague who’s an Arkie expat. The song is a tender reminiscence of the singer’s “poor old peg-leg pappy” and how the family would get together at Christmas and “decorate his stump.”
6. “Blue Christmas Lights” by Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen. Buck Owens co-wrote and recorded this sad Yuletide honky-tonker. But Hillman & Pedersen, who covered it in the ’90s, make it haunting with their harmonies.
7. “Christmas in the Trenches” by John McCutcheon. This is a touching ballad about the famous 1914 Christmas truce during World War I. British and German troops spontaneously laid down their arms to sings carols and celebrate the holiday before getting back to the serious work of killing one another the next day.
8. “Can Man Christmas” by Joe West with Mike “The Can Man” Burney. Burney — who collects aluminum cans around the Lone Butte area for recycling — narrates a couple of anecdotes involving his Santa Claus suit as West and his band play a slow, sad melody.
9. “Star of Wonder” by The Roches. Unaccompanied, sisters Maggie, Suzzy, and Terre sing otherwordly harmonies on this tune written by Terre.
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10. “Christmas Boogie” by Canned Heat with Alvin & The Chipmunks. Yes, a melding of two great bands. Guitarist Henry “The Sunflower” Vestine is amazing, even in a weird novelty like this. And Bobby “The Bear” Hite learns not to call chipmunks “mice.”
In the spirit of Christmas recycling, here’s my December 2000 Christmas Top 10.
1. “Little Drummer Boy” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Jett wasn’t the first rocker to do this song. Remember David Bowie’s duet with Bing Crosby? I don’t think Der Bingle would have attempted this version.
2. “Merry Christmas From the Family” by Robert Earl Keen. A lovable if somewhat dysfunctional family — with all its addictions, prejudices, and stepchildren — sits down for a hilarious Yuletide feast.
3. “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl. A saga of a love gone wrong: a boozy Irish immigrant lands in the drunk tank, haunted by the curses of his fed-up wife (“Merry Christmas, my ass. I pray God its our last!”) and the carols of a police choir.
4. “We Three Kings of Orient Are” by The Beach Boys. The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album, recorded in the early 1960s, contains some raw dreck, but the boys’ trademark harmonies on this tune are near-mystical.
5. “Old Toy Trains” by Roger Miller. This song, written for his son Dean, who was a toddler at the time, is a rare public glimpse of Miller’s sweet side.
6. “2,000 Miles” by The Pretenders. The grand finale to Learning to Crawl, the group’s last great album, “2,000 Miles” is a sad but beautiful winter song.
7. “Father Christmas” by The Kinks. Santa, bring me some class warfare!
8. “Santa Can’t Stay” by Dwight Yoakam. On one level this tune is hilarious: a drunken father dons a Santa suit and barges in on Mama and her new beau as the mystified children look on. But any divorced guy who can remember his first Christmas after the split-up can’t help but feel pangs of horror listening to this.
9. “Merry Christmas Baby” by Elvis Presley. “Blue Christmas” is much better known, but this is Elvis at his bluesy best.
10. “The Chipmunk Song” by David Seville and The Chipmunks. Dang, I can actually remember when this first came out one Christmas season in the late 1950s. It was the very first single by Alvin and his brothers, and it has a certain youthful innocence lacking in the group’s later work. After all, this was when The Chipmunks were young and hungry — before they sold out.
* The Steve Terrell Christmas Special: Hear a bunch of these songs and so much more at 10 p.m. to midnight Sunday, Dec. 19, on KSFR-FM, 101.1 FM.
* Enchiladas roasting on an open fire: More music to ruin any Christmas party! Hear my podcast Xmas special HERE
Blog Bonus: Here's three short reviews of recent Christmas music I reviewed for Pasatiempo which have been published, or will be published this month.
From the darkest backwoods of Massachusetts comes Angry Johnny with a sleighfull of songs about all those things that make Christmas the most wonderful time of the year — Santa Claus, drinking, snow, depression, shopping, gunplay, jingle bells and homicide.
In other words, all the elements of a good Angry Johnny album — plus all the Christmas wrappings.
Killbilly cultists have known for a long time that the Angry one had a soft spot for the holidays. Several years ago he released a free MP3 on his Web site of a song called “Six Bullets For Christmas.” That classic is included on this album.
The basic theme of “Six Bullets” — killing a loved on Christmas Day as payment for infidelity — is revisited here on the title song. But this time there’s a twist, a happy ending of sorts, at least for most of the characters involved.
Of course, Christmas is for the children. Therefore it’s appropriate that the opening tune, “Shootin’ Snowmen” is about innocent, if dangerous youthful Yuletide tradition. “Christmas carol from both barrels and the snowman is history ...”
With songs like “Slaughter in a Winter Wonderland” and “Santa Gets His,” this album is not for the squeamish. But for those who get tired of holiday fluff, this is more fun than swatting a sugarplum fairy.
The Polkaholics Jingle Bells, Schmingle Bells (Self released)
It’s Christmas time in Crazytown and who better to provide the soundtrack than that polka-powerpunk trio,The Polkaholics. No, this isn’t your grandfathers polka band. No accordions, no tubas. Dandy Don Hedeker, Jolly James Wallace and Stylin’ Steve Glover play frenzied guitar rock with a hopped-up oom-pah-pah beat.
With this 7-song EP, the boys infuse some holiday classics with polka culture, adding references to beer, kishka, Old Spice, sauerkraut, kielbasa and more beer. Thus we have “Yakov the Polka Reindeer” (guess why his nose is so shiny), “White Christmas” redone as “Polka Christmas” and, instead of “Jingle Bells,” The Polkaholics sing “Sausage Balls.”
And if the genre-blending isn’t enough with the polka, punk and Christmas music, “The Polkaholics Are Comin’ to Town” starts off as a surf rocker. There are other musical non sequiturs, such as the guitar riff from “Day Tripper” opening the song “Drinkin’ With Santa.” And “In Excelsis Polka” is a wild polkafied mash-up of Bach, Van Morrison, Patti Smith and — for reasons I’m still trying to understand, “Sympathy for The Devil.”
The entire EP is only 20 minutes long. But dancing to it provides quite an aerobic work-off — the better to work off all that beer and sausage.
Good news! You can download all seven songs for free until Dec. 31RIGHT HERE!.
Old smoothie Dan Hicks has been Christmas music for decades. He’s part of the San Francisco-based Christmas Jug, whose song “Somebody Stole My Santa Suit” appeared on Rhino Records’ wonderful Bummed Out Christmas compilation CD back in 1989. He re-recorded that one, a reimagining of “Somebody Stole My Gal” for this album, though jug fans probably will prefer the original.
Longtime Hicks fans will have a flash of familiarity when they hear the first song, “Christmas Mornin’” on this album. It doesn’t become obvious until he starts singing, but it’s a funny re-write of an already funny Hicks standard, “Where’s the Money?”
There’s plenty of Christmasizing old songs here. Louis Jordan’s hit “Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie” becomes “Santa Got a Choo Choo,” while the jugband chestnut “Beedle Um Bum” — a song Hicks performs in concert — magically transforms into “Santa Workshop,” a story of an elf named McGerkin.
And there’s some covers of Christmas classics here — “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “I Saw Mommy Kissin’ Santa Claus,” Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolf” — done in the acoustic swinging Hot Licks style. My favorites of these are is “Carol of the Bells” sung scat style by Hicks and his Lickettes (The kazoos sound pretty snazzy here too) and “Cool Yule,” a song written by Steve Allen and made famous by Louis Armstrong.
Hicks make Yule sound cooler than ever.
Here's a Hicks video featuring singing squirrels and aliens
He wrote it more than a year ago, but I just stumbled across singer/songwriter Tom Russell's haunting essay, "Where God and the Devil Wheel Like Vultures: Report from El Paso." It's a bittersweet, harsh funny in a dark way and weirdly poetic examination of the sad state of affairs in Cuidad Juarez as well as El Paso, where Russell has lived for the past 13 years.
It's a lament for the city now known as The Murder Capitol of The World. Strangely, it's also a celebtation.
I wasn't around in the days when Sinatra played Juarez, as Russell sings about on his album Borderland. But Russell's words evoke memories of those distorted strains of Canned Heat's "One Kind Favor" and The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" coming out of jukebox of El Submarino bar off Juarez Avenue, hitting my brainwaves in perfect synch with the first jolt of tequila back in 1972.
Of cab drivers, hookers, cheesy strip-joint MCs -- "Señor, you can kiss the monkey ..." -- of cheap ham sandwiches at Fred's Rainbow Bar, 35-cent margaritas, those weird guys who use to go from club t club clicking together little metal bars (hooked up to a battery) and offering drunken gringos the chance to get the hell shocked out of them for 75 cents.
Cameo-Parkway was a Philadelphia label best known for hitmakers Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker -- neither of whom I'm particularly wild about. But they also were home to Dee Dee Sharpe and The Orlons, two acts that twisted my head off as a youngster. In fact, in the early '60s, before Motown dominated the soul-pop market, Cameo-Parkway was the true "sound of young America." (And by the mid '60s, it also was the home to ? & The Mysterians -- though I already have all three of the songs on this collection.)
