Due to this being the last night of the state Legislature, I won't be doing The Santa Fe Opry tonight. Tom Adler will be sitting in.
Next week I'll be down in Texas, so Laurell Reynolds will bring you the SFO Opry.
I will be doing Terrell's Sound World as usual this week and next.
But since I'll be missing the Opry, I won't be able to do a tribute to the late Ferlin Husky who died this week. So enjoy this classic.
Also, let me give you a pretty country song by Santa Fe's own Billy Kaundart. I posted it on this blog a few years ago, but it's a timeless joy. Remember ... Billy Kaundart!
Friday, March 18, 2011
TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Songs of a Preacher Man
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
March 18, 2011
A preacher in a small Southern town has a double life. He goes astray and his life and the lives of everyone around him suffer for it. Tragedy follows. (“The reverend had his wife done in by a guy I knew in high school.”)
This is the theme of a couple of Patterson Hood songs on Go-Go Boots, the latest album by the Drive-By Truckers. It’s a story he told before in “The Wig He Made Her Wear” on the Truckers’ previous work, The Big To-Do. “Wig” is based on the true story of Mary Winkler, who was found guilty of voluntary man slaughter for killing her allegedly abusive husband, the Rev. Matthew Winkler, in 2006, at the couple’s home in Tennessee.
The spiritual offsprings of that twisted tale are the new album’s title song and “The Fireplace Poker.” These are apparently fictional accounts inspired by the 1988 murder-for-hire case in which Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, wife of the Rev. Charles Sennett, was stabbed and beaten in her home on Coon Dog Cemetery Road (I’m not making that up!) in Colbert County, Alabama.
The reverend committed suicide, authorities say, soon after being identified as a suspect. One of the contract killers, John Forrest Parker, was executed last year. “This was a wild case,” former Colbert County Sheriff Buddy Aldridge told an Alabama newspaper at the time.
The Sennett-murder songs are delightfully disturbing. In “Go-Go Boots,” there is a slow and bluesy setup in which Hood introduces the Cadillac-driving preacher, his mistress Missy, whose sexy footwear apparently did for this preacher what Mary Winkler’s wig and other accessories did for her late husband. And then there’s the son, driving his Camaro and working crappy jobs, the rage building inside as rumors about his mother’s death start to swirl.
The murder is only hinted at in “Go-Go Boots”: “He met these guys who didn’t mind getting dirty/He was a pillar and his alibi was sturdy.”
But the lyrics of “The Fireplace Poker” read almost like a police detective’s field notes. It’s a meandering epic sung matter-of-factly by Hood over a tense, sturdy beat. In the song, the preacher’s wife is stabbed and left for dead by the hired killer. But it’s the preacher who finishes the job with 15 whacks of a fireplace poker.
Also, in the song, the official story of the preacher’s suicide is questioned. The preacher’s son brings him home, apparently from questioning at the police station. Hood asks, “Was he alone when he died?/ Don’t call the son for questioning, that bullet was deserved./ Better call it suicide. Justice has been served.’”
In a video on the Truckers’ website, Hood explains that he’s fascinated when “people in positions of authority ... whether it’s a preacher or policeman, you know, people who are supposed to be standing up for the morally upright things, commit horrific crimes.” He says that he has an unfinished book and an unfinished screenplay based on the murder that inspired these tunes.
“In another life I might have been one of those people that write, you know, noir books or something, or direct noir movies,” Hood says in the video. “But instead I play in a noir band.”
“Go-Go Boots” and “The Fireplace Poker” weigh in at nearly 14 minutes. They’re like a movie within the album, but they’re not the only tracks that back up Hood’s contention that the Truckers are a noir band.
While the music here isn’t quite as rocked out as in most of DBT’s previous albums — there are lots of sweet soul grooves and a couple of honky-tonkers — the stories told are some of the most intense since The Dirty South, their 2004 album, which is still my favorite.
There’s the gripping “Used to Be a Cop,” a seven-minute Hood tale of a former officer who sounds like a walking powder keg. He’s a guy who was beaten by his father, grazed by a bullet in the line of duty, and divorced by a wife who thought he was crazy for all his fidgeting and pacing.
His car was repossessed, and he carries deep resentment about having to pay for a house, “but that bitch lives in it now.” Police work was the only thing he was good at, but he lost his badge because of “my temper and the shakes.” Mike Cooley’s guitar snarls and boils, and you keep thinking some atrocity is awaiting in the next verse.
“Ray’s Automatic Weapon” is another Hood song. This one is about a Vietnam veteran, not a criminal. The narrator is haunted by recurring nightmares and has a gnawing fear that something crazy might happen. Or maybe it already did. He begs his war buddy Ray to take back the gun he left with the narrator 40 years ago. “The things that I’ve been shooting at are getting all too real.”
Not all the songs here are blood and guts. The baritone-voiced Cooley sings “The Weakest Man,” an upbeat country tune you could easily imagine Conway Twitty singing. Cooley’s “Pulaski” is a sweet, cautionary tale of a small-town Tennessee girl who longs for the nightlife of Los Angeles. She comes to an unspecified tragic end.
And there’s not one, but two songs written by the late soul man Eddie Hinton. My favorite is “Where’s Eddie?” an emotional ballad co- written by funky Donnie Fritts and sung by bass player Shonna Tucker.
Go-Go Boots doesn’t hold together quite as well as last year’s The Big To-Do. My initial impression is that there’s more filler on Boots. But don’t worry. You’ll get your money’s worth on the songs I mentioned. I can’t think of many other bands these days that provide this much meat per platter.
BLOG BONUS
Here's the interview with Patterson Hood I mentioned above:
The Go-Go Boots Episodes - Episode 1 - Drive-By Truckers from Drive-By Truckers on Vimeo.
March 18, 2011
A preacher in a small Southern town has a double life. He goes astray and his life and the lives of everyone around him suffer for it. Tragedy follows. (“The reverend had his wife done in by a guy I knew in high school.”)
The spiritual offsprings of that twisted tale are the new album’s title song and “The Fireplace Poker.” These are apparently fictional accounts inspired by the 1988 murder-for-hire case in which Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, wife of the Rev. Charles Sennett, was stabbed and beaten in her home on Coon Dog Cemetery Road (I’m not making that up!) in Colbert County, Alabama.
The reverend committed suicide, authorities say, soon after being identified as a suspect. One of the contract killers, John Forrest Parker, was executed last year. “This was a wild case,” former Colbert County Sheriff Buddy Aldridge told an Alabama newspaper at the time.
The Sennett-murder songs are delightfully disturbing. In “Go-Go Boots,” there is a slow and bluesy setup in which Hood introduces the Cadillac-driving preacher, his mistress Missy, whose sexy footwear apparently did for this preacher what Mary Winkler’s wig and other accessories did for her late husband. And then there’s the son, driving his Camaro and working crappy jobs, the rage building inside as rumors about his mother’s death start to swirl.
The murder is only hinted at in “Go-Go Boots”: “He met these guys who didn’t mind getting dirty/He was a pillar and his alibi was sturdy.”
But the lyrics of “The Fireplace Poker” read almost like a police detective’s field notes. It’s a meandering epic sung matter-of-factly by Hood over a tense, sturdy beat. In the song, the preacher’s wife is stabbed and left for dead by the hired killer. But it’s the preacher who finishes the job with 15 whacks of a fireplace poker.
Also, in the song, the official story of the preacher’s suicide is questioned. The preacher’s son brings him home, apparently from questioning at the police station. Hood asks, “Was he alone when he died?/ Don’t call the son for questioning, that bullet was deserved./ Better call it suicide. Justice has been served.’”
In a video on the Truckers’ website, Hood explains that he’s fascinated when “people in positions of authority ... whether it’s a preacher or policeman, you know, people who are supposed to be standing up for the morally upright things, commit horrific crimes.” He says that he has an unfinished book and an unfinished screenplay based on the murder that inspired these tunes.
“In another life I might have been one of those people that write, you know, noir books or something, or direct noir movies,” Hood says in the video. “But instead I play in a noir band.”
“Go-Go Boots” and “The Fireplace Poker” weigh in at nearly 14 minutes. They’re like a movie within the album, but they’re not the only tracks that back up Hood’s contention that the Truckers are a noir band.
While the music here isn’t quite as rocked out as in most of DBT’s previous albums — there are lots of sweet soul grooves and a couple of honky-tonkers — the stories told are some of the most intense since The Dirty South, their 2004 album, which is still my favorite.
There’s the gripping “Used to Be a Cop,” a seven-minute Hood tale of a former officer who sounds like a walking powder keg. He’s a guy who was beaten by his father, grazed by a bullet in the line of duty, and divorced by a wife who thought he was crazy for all his fidgeting and pacing.
His car was repossessed, and he carries deep resentment about having to pay for a house, “but that bitch lives in it now.” Police work was the only thing he was good at, but he lost his badge because of “my temper and the shakes.” Mike Cooley’s guitar snarls and boils, and you keep thinking some atrocity is awaiting in the next verse.
“Ray’s Automatic Weapon” is another Hood song. This one is about a Vietnam veteran, not a criminal. The narrator is haunted by recurring nightmares and has a gnawing fear that something crazy might happen. Or maybe it already did. He begs his war buddy Ray to take back the gun he left with the narrator 40 years ago. “The things that I’ve been shooting at are getting all too real.”
Not all the songs here are blood and guts. The baritone-voiced Cooley sings “The Weakest Man,” an upbeat country tune you could easily imagine Conway Twitty singing. Cooley’s “Pulaski” is a sweet, cautionary tale of a small-town Tennessee girl who longs for the nightlife of Los Angeles. She comes to an unspecified tragic end.
 |
| Eddie Hinton |
And there’s not one, but two songs written by the late soul man Eddie Hinton. My favorite is “Where’s Eddie?” an emotional ballad co- written by funky Donnie Fritts and sung by bass player Shonna Tucker.
Go-Go Boots doesn’t hold together quite as well as last year’s The Big To-Do. My initial impression is that there’s more filler on Boots. But don’t worry. You’ll get your money’s worth on the songs I mentioned. I can’t think of many other bands these days that provide this much meat per platter.
BLOG BONUS
Here's the interview with Patterson Hood I mentioned above:
The Go-Go Boots Episodes - Episode 1 - Drive-By Truckers from Drive-By Truckers on Vimeo.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Grandpa Boogie
A song for a wonderful morning.
For Molly, Dan and Gideon Kilgore Brake.
(Nothing to see here, just listen!)
For Molly, Dan and Gideon Kilgore Brake.
(Nothing to see here, just listen!)
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, March 13, 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
Rats in My Kitchen by The Fleshtones
Alleys of Your Mind by The Dirtbombs
That's the Bag I'm In by The Fabs
I Want to Be Your Pussy Cat by Lightning Beat-Man
I Don't Know by The Del Moroccos
I Need Your Lovin' by Wolfman Jack & The Wolfpack
Jail La La by The Dum Dum Girls
Sweet Skinny Jenny by Esquerita
Bip Bop Bip by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Baby I Grind by Les Sexerinos
Love of My Life by Ruben & The Jets
Busload of Faith by Lou Reed
Goo Goo Muck by Ronnie Cooke & The Gaylads
The Crusher by The Novas
Rock-N Bones by Elroy Deitzel
Miniskirt Blues by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels
Bend Over I'll Drive by The Cramps
Circus Freak by The Electric Prunes
Jesus Never Lived on Mars by Eddie Spaghetti
St. Pat's Set
Sally Mac Lennane by The Pogues
The Likes of You Again by Flogging Molly
Whiskey in a Jar by The Dubliners
The Rocky Road to Dublin by The Young Dubliners
Livin' in America by Black 47
Captain Kelly's Kitchen by The Dropkick Murpheys
The Body of an American by Shane MacGowan & The Popes
The Rising of the Moon by The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem
I Will Stand at Your Grave by Sinead O'Connor
Almost a God by Movie Star Junkies
Ask the Angels by Patti Smith
Freedom by J. Mascis & The Fog
Puss in Boots by New York Dolls
Waitin' For Waits by Richie Cole
Innocent When You Dream by Tom Waits
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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
Rats in My Kitchen by The Fleshtones
Alleys of Your Mind by The Dirtbombs
That's the Bag I'm In by The Fabs
I Want to Be Your Pussy Cat by Lightning Beat-Man
I Don't Know by The Del Moroccos
I Need Your Lovin' by Wolfman Jack & The Wolfpack
Jail La La by The Dum Dum Girls
Sweet Skinny Jenny by Esquerita
Bip Bop Bip by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Baby I Grind by Les Sexerinos
Love of My Life by Ruben & The Jets
Busload of Faith by Lou Reed
Goo Goo Muck by Ronnie Cooke & The Gaylads
The Crusher by The Novas
Rock-N Bones by Elroy Deitzel
Miniskirt Blues by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels
Bend Over I'll Drive by The Cramps
Circus Freak by The Electric Prunes
Jesus Never Lived on Mars by Eddie Spaghetti
St. Pat's Set
Sally Mac Lennane by The Pogues
The Likes of You Again by Flogging Molly
Whiskey in a Jar by The Dubliners
The Rocky Road to Dublin by The Young Dubliners
Livin' in America by Black 47
Captain Kelly's Kitchen by The Dropkick Murpheys
The Body of an American by Shane MacGowan & The Popes
The Rising of the Moon by The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem
I Will Stand at Your Grave by Sinead O'Connor
Almost a God by Movie Star Junkies
Ask the Angels by Patti Smith
Freedom by J. Mascis & The Fog
Puss in Boots by New York Dolls
Waitin' For Waits by Richie Cole
Innocent When You Dream by Tom Waits
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, March 11, 2011
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
Friday, March 11, 2011
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
Walk Right In by Gus Cannon
Scrap Collectin' Man by Crankshaft & The Geargrinders
Graveyard Shift by Scott H. Biram
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live by The Del Lords
Pictures of Lily by The Hickoids
Teardrops by The Sixtyniners
Gone to Seed by The Riptones
Foolin' Around by Buck Owens
I'm Gonna Take You Home and Make You Like Me by Robbie Fulks
Three Bloodhounds Two Shepherds One Fila Brasileiro by Slim Cessna's Auto Club
The Gravy Shake by The Defibulators
I Like Drinking by The Gourds
The Ballad of Lightnin' Bill Jaspar by The Imperial Rooster
The Ballad of Lynann by Two Ton Strap
A) Enlightenment, B) Endarkenment (Hint There is No C) by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream by Gurf Morlix
The Hurrier I Go The Behinder I Get by The Last Mile Ramblers
Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me by Eddie Peabody
I Used to Be a Cop by The Drive-By Truckers
Ramona by Jerry J. Nixon
You're Bound to Look Like A Monkey by Hank Penny
My Screamin' Screamin' Mimi by Ray Campi
My Pretty Quadroon by Jerry Lee Lewis
Kiss an Angel Good Morning by Charlie Pride
When the Gates Swing Open by The Rev. Johnny L. Jones
Cold And Blind by Possessed By Paul James
Belshazzar by Johnny Cash
Dark Day by Silver Leaf Quartet
Reunion in Heaven by Flatt & Scruggs
Sayonara Yuichi & the Hilltone Boys
Going Where The Lonely Go by Merle Haggard
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
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
Walk Right In by Gus Cannon
Scrap Collectin' Man by Crankshaft & The Geargrinders
Graveyard Shift by Scott H. Biram
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live by The Del Lords
Pictures of Lily by The Hickoids
Teardrops by The Sixtyniners
Gone to Seed by The Riptones
Foolin' Around by Buck Owens
I'm Gonna Take You Home and Make You Like Me by Robbie Fulks
Three Bloodhounds Two Shepherds One Fila Brasileiro by Slim Cessna's Auto Club
The Gravy Shake by The Defibulators
I Like Drinking by The Gourds
The Ballad of Lightnin' Bill Jaspar by The Imperial Rooster
The Ballad of Lynann by Two Ton Strap
A) Enlightenment, B) Endarkenment (Hint There is No C) by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream by Gurf Morlix
The Hurrier I Go The Behinder I Get by The Last Mile Ramblers
Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me by Eddie Peabody
I Used to Be a Cop by The Drive-By Truckers
Ramona by Jerry J. Nixon
You're Bound to Look Like A Monkey by Hank Penny
Chopped by The Watzloves
Le Pistolet by Mama RosinMy Screamin' Screamin' Mimi by Ray Campi
My Pretty Quadroon by Jerry Lee Lewis
Kiss an Angel Good Morning by Charlie Pride
When the Gates Swing Open by The Rev. Johnny L. Jones
Cold And Blind by Possessed By Paul James
Belshazzar by Johnny Cash
Dark Day by Silver Leaf Quartet
Reunion in Heaven by Flatt & Scruggs
Sayonara Yuichi & the Hilltone Boys
Going Where The Lonely Go by Merle Haggard
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
TERRELL'S TUNEUP: New Fleshtones and Dirtbombs
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
March 11, 2011
On their new album, Brooklyn Sound Solution, those old masters known as The Fleshtones don’t do much but have a great time. No major statement, no great artistic insight, no over- all point. And those who love this basic, unaffected ’60s rock ’n’ soul-drenched guitar rock will have a great time listening to it. It’s scheduled for release on Tuesday.
On this album, the band, fronted by founding members Keith Streng and Peter Zaremba, is joined by Lenny Kaye, guitarist for The Patti Smith Group and compiler of the influential Nuggets collection of 1960s garage-band classics. (Kaye is less known for being the author of a book about crooners, You Call It Madness.) He fits in seamlessly.
I could spend a couple of paragraphs informing the uninitiated about this seminal New York band (which claims to be the only band to debut at CBGB — in 1976 — that never broke up and never had an inactive year). But you can find out about the group for yourselves on the Fleshtones’ bio documentary Pardon Us for Living but the Graveyard Is Full, available in its entirety online HERE.
What sets BSS apart from other Fleshtones albums is that nearly all the songs are instrumentals, covers, or both.
My favorite tunes here are a couple of cranked-up blues covers. There’s the signature tune of Bo Diddley sideman Billy Boy Arnold, “I Wish You Would” (probably best-known for its cover by The Yardbirds). The Fleshtones play it with a fuzzy bass line that can’t help but make you think of The Doors’ “Break on Through.” They could easily make a medley of the two songs.
Even better is “Rats in My Kitchen,” a song originally done by Sleepy John Estes. Estes recorded this for Sun Records in the ’50s. He did it as a slow blues. The Fleshtones transform it into a pounding, menacing song of horror. “You know I came home late last night/Somewhere ’bout half past 10/They stared at me with mean red eyes/I had to go right back out again.”
My only complaint about BSS is that there are too many instrumentals. Are Streng and Zaremba trying to conserve their vocal chords or what? Don’t get me wrong, I like all the songs. Their instrumental cover of “Day Tripper” rocks, and the Kaye composition “Lost in Xandu” sounds like a forgotten surf classic from a parallel universe.
And I’ve always loved the cool, jazzy opening song, “Comin’ Home Baby,” which was done in 1962 by Mel Tormé. Now granted, neither Zaremba nor Streng can sing like the Velvet Fog, but this song would sound even better as a vocal number.
That quibble aside, it’s great just knowing that The Fleshtones are still out there keeping the sound they call “super rock” alive.
Not recommended:
* Party Store by The Dirtbombs. It had been rumored for at least a couple of years that The Dirtbombs’ next project was going to be an album of bubble-gum covers. Head Dirtbomb Mick Collins had even talked about that possibility in interviews .
But while I was hearing, in the jukebox of my mind, Collins growling “Yummy yummy yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy” — with the group’s powerful two-bass, two drummers lineup behind him — The Dirtbombs threw a curveball.
The new album consists of covers of what several writers have called “classic Detroit techno” songs.
Well, burst that gum bubble!
For someone like me who couldn’t tell a classic Detroit techno band from a classic Cincinnati bagpipe ensemble, this is a huge “huh?”
But I’m a Dirtbombs fan, and one of the things I love about the group is its willingness to experiment with various sounds.
Plus, I’m curious. I’ve always associated Detroit with Motown, Mitch Ryder, MC5, and the great neo-garage bands that arose there in the ’90s — groups like The White Stripes and Collins’ first band, The Gories.
But I have to say, this little experiment has left me disappointed. How many other punk bands could cover Lou Rawls, The Bee Gees, and Yoko Ono as this Motor City primitive garage/punk/soul outfit did on its 2006 compilation If You Don’t Already Have a Look?
Party Store starts off strong with a song called “Cosmic Cars.” This might have begun as a techno tune when done in the early ’80s by Cybotron. But here it’s pure Dirtbomb rock ’n’ roll. (They do another Cybotron song here, “Alleys of Your Mind,” which is also one of the best on the album.) But by the second tack, “Sharivari,” the disco drums kick in. And they’re there for most of the rest of the record. Come on, Mick, if you’re going in that direction, at least give us a few Village People covers.
If you can make it through the 21-minute “Bug in the Bass Bin” (the first six minutes or so consist of engine noises), you’re a better Dirtbombs fan than I am.
The Dirtbombs aren’t the first to attempt a fusion of techno and garage or punk or whatever you want to call it. Just a few months ago in this column I reviewed a weird little album called Two-Headed Demon by a one-man band from Switzerland, a guy who calls himself Urban Junior.
UJ’s “Swiss-spankin-electro-trash-garage-boogie-disco-blues-punk,” as he calls it, sounds looser, trashier, and closer to the punk spirit than the stuff on Party Store. And it probably helps that none of the tracks on Two-Headed Demon are more three minutes.
But The Dirtbombs rarely stay in one place. Their next album is bound to be different. Maybe they’ll even give us some bubble gum.
Blog Bonus! Here's a classic Fleshtones video by M. Henry Jones from the late '70s.
March 11, 2011
On their new album, Brooklyn Sound Solution, those old masters known as The Fleshtones don’t do much but have a great time. No major statement, no great artistic insight, no over- all point. And those who love this basic, unaffected ’60s rock ’n’ soul-drenched guitar rock will have a great time listening to it. It’s scheduled for release on Tuesday.On this album, the band, fronted by founding members Keith Streng and Peter Zaremba, is joined by Lenny Kaye, guitarist for The Patti Smith Group and compiler of the influential Nuggets collection of 1960s garage-band classics. (Kaye is less known for being the author of a book about crooners, You Call It Madness.) He fits in seamlessly.
I could spend a couple of paragraphs informing the uninitiated about this seminal New York band (which claims to be the only band to debut at CBGB — in 1976 — that never broke up and never had an inactive year). But you can find out about the group for yourselves on the Fleshtones’ bio documentary Pardon Us for Living but the Graveyard Is Full, available in its entirety online HERE.
What sets BSS apart from other Fleshtones albums is that nearly all the songs are instrumentals, covers, or both.
My favorite tunes here are a couple of cranked-up blues covers. There’s the signature tune of Bo Diddley sideman Billy Boy Arnold, “I Wish You Would” (probably best-known for its cover by The Yardbirds). The Fleshtones play it with a fuzzy bass line that can’t help but make you think of The Doors’ “Break on Through.” They could easily make a medley of the two songs.My only complaint about BSS is that there are too many instrumentals. Are Streng and Zaremba trying to conserve their vocal chords or what? Don’t get me wrong, I like all the songs. Their instrumental cover of “Day Tripper” rocks, and the Kaye composition “Lost in Xandu” sounds like a forgotten surf classic from a parallel universe.
And I’ve always loved the cool, jazzy opening song, “Comin’ Home Baby,” which was done in 1962 by Mel Tormé. Now granted, neither Zaremba nor Streng can sing like the Velvet Fog, but this song would sound even better as a vocal number.
That quibble aside, it’s great just knowing that The Fleshtones are still out there keeping the sound they call “super rock” alive.
Not recommended:
* Party Store by The Dirtbombs. It had been rumored for at least a couple of years that The Dirtbombs’ next project was going to be an album of bubble-gum covers. Head Dirtbomb Mick Collins had even talked about that possibility in interviews .
But while I was hearing, in the jukebox of my mind, Collins growling “Yummy yummy yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy” — with the group’s powerful two-bass, two drummers lineup behind him — The Dirtbombs threw a curveball.
The new album consists of covers of what several writers have called “classic Detroit techno” songs.
Well, burst that gum bubble!
For someone like me who couldn’t tell a classic Detroit techno band from a classic Cincinnati bagpipe ensemble, this is a huge “huh?”
But I’m a Dirtbombs fan, and one of the things I love about the group is its willingness to experiment with various sounds.
 |
| Mick Collins (with The Gories last summer) |
But I have to say, this little experiment has left me disappointed. How many other punk bands could cover Lou Rawls, The Bee Gees, and Yoko Ono as this Motor City primitive garage/punk/soul outfit did on its 2006 compilation If You Don’t Already Have a Look?
Party Store starts off strong with a song called “Cosmic Cars.” This might have begun as a techno tune when done in the early ’80s by Cybotron. But here it’s pure Dirtbomb rock ’n’ roll. (They do another Cybotron song here, “Alleys of Your Mind,” which is also one of the best on the album.) But by the second tack, “Sharivari,” the disco drums kick in. And they’re there for most of the rest of the record. Come on, Mick, if you’re going in that direction, at least give us a few Village People covers.
If you can make it through the 21-minute “Bug in the Bass Bin” (the first six minutes or so consist of engine noises), you’re a better Dirtbombs fan than I am.
The Dirtbombs aren’t the first to attempt a fusion of techno and garage or punk or whatever you want to call it. Just a few months ago in this column I reviewed a weird little album called Two-Headed Demon by a one-man band from Switzerland, a guy who calls himself Urban Junior.
UJ’s “Swiss-spankin-electro-trash-garage-boogie-disco-blues-punk,” as he calls it, sounds looser, trashier, and closer to the punk spirit than the stuff on Party Store. And it probably helps that none of the tracks on Two-Headed Demon are more three minutes.
But The Dirtbombs rarely stay in one place. Their next album is bound to be different. Maybe they’ll even give us some bubble gum.
Blog Bonus! Here's a classic Fleshtones video by M. Henry Jones from the late '70s.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Scott H. Biram Tonight at Corazon
Scott H. Biram, one-man band, hillbilly screamer, Bloodshot recording artist and all around wild man, is playing tonight at Corazon.The show starts at 9 p.m., with Ralph White (former member of The Bad Livers!) opening.
I've reviewed two of his three Bloodshot albums. You can find those reviews HERE and HERE
Better yet, here's a live radio show Birham did, courtesy of the Live Music Archive. Enjoy and hope to see you at the Corazon tonight.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, March 6, 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
The Wanderer by Dion & The Belmonts
Necrophiliac in Love by The Blood-Drained Cows
I Wish You Would by The Fleshtones
Second Cousin by The Flamin' Groovies
Take A Chance On Me by The Mighty Hannibal
Time Bomb High School by The Reigning Sound
Traitor by The Jackets
Omaha by Moby Grape
Goat Throat by The Scrams
Bless You by The Devil Dogs
Clown's Tears by Sherman Rubin & The Undie Dogs
Return of the Mantis by The Hydes
Rock 'n' Roll by The Velvet Underground
Alverez by Davila 666
Blinding Sun by Mudhoney
Talk the Talk by Titty Bingo
Little Latin Lupe Lu by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
All in the Game by Tommy Edwards
Baby Dragon by Old Time Relijun
Rasa Senthuh by Arrington de Dionyso
Le Redresseur De Torts by King Automatic
White Jam by Captain Beefheart
Oh No/Orange County Lumber Truck by Frank Zappa
Secret Code by The Dirtbombs
Flyin' High by Country Joe & The Fish
Someone Else's Brain by Nobunny
Domino by The Cramps
Best Napkin I Ever Had by The Black Lips
Down for Death by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels
The Curse of Milhaven by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Ashes by The Pussywarmers
Why Did You Get Mad at Me? by Lightnin' Hopkins
America The Beautiful by Ray Charles
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 Wanderer by Dion & The Belmonts
Necrophiliac in Love by The Blood-Drained Cows
I Wish You Would by The Fleshtones
Second Cousin by The Flamin' Groovies
Take A Chance On Me by The Mighty Hannibal
Time Bomb High School by The Reigning Sound
Traitor by The Jackets
Omaha by Moby Grape
Goat Throat by The Scrams
Bless You by The Devil Dogs
Clown's Tears by Sherman Rubin & The Undie Dogs
Return of the Mantis by The Hydes
Rock 'n' Roll by The Velvet Underground
Alverez by Davila 666
Blinding Sun by Mudhoney
Talk the Talk by Titty Bingo
Little Latin Lupe Lu by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
All in the Game by Tommy Edwards
Baby Dragon by Old Time Relijun
Rasa Senthuh by Arrington de Dionyso
Le Redresseur De Torts by King Automatic
White Jam by Captain Beefheart
Oh No/Orange County Lumber Truck by Frank Zappa
Secret Code by The Dirtbombs
Flyin' High by Country Joe & The Fish
Someone Else's Brain by Nobunny
Domino by The Cramps
Best Napkin I Ever Had by The Black Lips
Down for Death by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels
The Curse of Milhaven by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Ashes by The Pussywarmers
Why Did You Get Mad at Me? by Lightnin' Hopkins
America The Beautiful by Ray Charles
Saturday, March 05, 2011
eMusic March
But enough of my pathetic excuses. ...
Nobunny is a crazy dude, real name Justin Champlin, who prances around the stage in a ratty-looking fuzzy rabbit mask. He looks like a wino who mugged the Easter Bunny.
His music is peppy pop punk, a slightly sweetened Ramones with some echoes of T-Rex, especially on the song "Breath." His sound also reminds me a little of that of Hunx & His Punx (who I saw open for Kid Congo Powers in New York last summer.)
For someone like me who couldn't tell a classic Detroit techno band from a classic Cincinnati bagpipe ensemble, this is a big "huh"? But I'm a Dirtbombs fan and one of the things I like about the group is their willingness to experiment in various sounds.
But I have to say, this little experiment has left me disappointed.
The album starts off strong with a song called "Cosmic Cars." This might have started out as a techno tune when done in the early 80s by Cybotron. But here it's pure Dirtbomb rock 'n' roll. (The DBombs do another Cybotron song here, "Alleys of Your Mind," which also is one of the best on Party Shop.)
But by the second tack, "Sharaveri" the disco drums kick in. And they're there for most of the rest of the record. Come on, Mick, if you're going in that direction, at least give us a few Village People covers!
The Battle of the Jug Bands is an annual event that takes place in Minneapolis every weekend after the Superbowl. This album is from the 2000 show. I'm not sure whether they've released any since then.
A main problem is that the recording quality isn't all that great. And while I'm no jug purist, too many of the groups here seem don't even come close to a real jugband. Much of this album is goofy pseudo old-timey sounds, like third rate Asylum Street Spankers.
Don't get me wrong, there's some cool little tunes here. "Hot Corn" by Ammon Hennessy is one of those. "Deep Fried Gators" by Sloppy Joe is a delight, as is their Jimi Hendrix parody "Purple Hay." My favorite line there is " 'scuse me while I kiss this cow."
But one of the problems here is that there's too many "wacky" covers or parodies of rock or pop tunes. The "jug" covers of "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Up on Cripple Creek" are pretty useless. (I previously downloaded previously "Kung Fu Fighting" by Girls on Top, which is kind of cool and "Sweet Virginia" by Hoakim Yoakim & The Eggwhites, which falls flat.)
I'm not really sure why Scion has decided to be the corporate benefactor of garage music these days. They've produced festivals and shows around the country (including the Kid Congo/Hunx show I mentioned above) and produced this cool little documentary I blogged about a few months ago.
So is Scion trying to co-opt the "garage scene"? Oh, who cares? I tend to think it's some young person in the marketing department with good taste who's somehow convince his or her bosses that this is a good promotion tool. I say enjoy it while the ride lasts. The company has made some great bands available to a lot of people who might not have heard it otherwise.
* Four songs from Hannibalism! by The Mighty Hannibal. This has been on my "Saved" list forever. It's about time I download this collection of sweet soul sounds from the Mighty one. More on this next month.
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