One hundred and five years ago on this date a child named Overton Amos Lemons was born in DeQuincy, Louisiana, near Lake Charles. His mother died when he was a teenager. Young Overton jumped a freight train that took him to New Orleans. There he transformed into Smiley Lewis and became one of that city's most respected blues singers.
"Depending on the situation, Smiley possessed a voice that could shake the shot glasses off a South Rampart Street bar or lullaby a baby to sleep," s 1993 profile in Offbeat said. "One of New Orleans’ most prolific artists, between 1947 and 1965 Lewis recorded some of the most enjoyable and consistent R&B put on wax."
The article quoted famed New Orleans record producer Dave Bartholomew, (who wrote and produced many of Lewis’ best songs: "Smiley had one of the best voices we had around,” Bartholomew said “But it didn’t pay."
Offbeat explained: "Despite recording the original and superior versions of such classics as `Blue Monday,' 'I Hear You Knocking' and 'One Night,' and leaving an enviable body of work, the times and the quirks of the record business held his career back."
Basically, Lewis' problems was that his songs kept getting covered by more famous artists like Fats Domino.
Here are a few Smiley songs that should have been hits. Let's start with his record with which he introduced himself to anyone with ears to hear, "Here Comes Smiley."
This ne is called "Lillie Mae," which was his mother's name.
Here's a smooth R&B ballad, "Someday You'll Want Me."
And here's a song that Elvis Presley later made famous.
Sunday, July 1, 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
4th of July by X
The Outcast by Dave Van Ronk
96 Tears by Garland Jeffreys
Used by The Black Smokers
Medication by The Saucer Men
Mujeres Gatos en la Luna by Los Eskeletos
Dead Sea Fruit ny Miss Ludella Black & The Masonics
Bad Mouthin' by Tony Joe White
I'm Not Like Everybody Else by The Rockin' Guys
Do The Push and Pull by Rufus Thomas
We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys
Love Buzz by Shocking Pink
Love Buzz by Nirvana
Lille Girl by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
Commuter Baby by Trixie & The Trainwrecks
The Monkey Speaks His Mind by Andre Williams
The Crusher by The Cramps
Jump and Shout by The Dirtbombs
Taxidermy Porno by The Hex Dispensers
Laredo (Small Dark Something) by Jon Dee Graham
No Guilt by The Waitresses
Today is a Beautiful Day by Reverend Beat-Man & The New Wave
The Good Bastards by The Bennevilles
I'm Shakin' by Little Willie John
Praise His Name by Leo "Bud" Welch
It Came from the South by Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis
American Music by The Blasters
The Beast is You by The Electric Mess
Bottle of Wine by The Fireballs
House of the Rising Sun by Jello Biafra & The Raunch and Soul All Stars
Manny's Bones by Los Lobos
Mi Saxophone by Al Hurricane
You Done Me Wrong by Bill Hearne
Everything's Dead by The Dead Brothers CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
I've always been intrigued by the phenomenon of the "answer song," songs recorded in direct response to some big hit. It was as if the answer-song artist was forcing a conversation with the singer of the original tune.
If there was a popular tune about a bad relationship or break-up, an answer song would provide perspective from the other party involved. If it was a song involving current events, the answer song would provide a rebuttal.
There are some truly important artists who sang answer songs -- Etta James and Kitty Wells, to name a couple. But there is something so inherently tacky, so nakedly bottom-feederish about the whole game of trying to glom onto someone else's hit, I can't help but love the answer-song.
Did I mention Etta James? In 1955, she answered Hank Ballard's "Work With Me Annie" with "Roll With Me Henry." Ballard answered the answer song with a song called "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)."
Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was a response to Hank Thompson"s "The Wild Side of Life."
I never realized that the girl The Big Bopper was talking to on the phone in "Chantilly Lace" was Jayne Mansfield!
Here's another telephone conversation set to song. The thing I love about Jeanne Black's answer to Jim Reeve's "He'll Have to Go" is the fact she complains about her ex-lover being a no-show at a date "just yesterday." But less than 24 hours later, she's lassoed some other funky dude who "Holds me much more tenderly than you." Girl moves fast!
But Ruby, why do you have to go to town?
A band called The Beach Bums, led by a young and apparently right-wing Bob Seger took Sgt. Barry Sadler's "Ballad of the Green Berets" and turned it into " protest against protesters," an attack on draft dodgers and war resisters.
And responding to Barry McGuire's famous protest tirade "Eve of Destruction" was this song by a jangly trio called The Spokesmen. The song basically says, "Hey Barry, why the long face? Don't you realize the advances in modern medicine and technology? And don't forget the work of the United Nations ..."
Though as a group The Spokesmen were a one-hit wonder, two members -- John Medora and David White -- had been songwriting partners for years. And they wrote some classics including "At the Hop," performed by Danny & The Juniors and Lesley Gore's proto-feminist "You Don't Own Me."
Sunday, June 24, 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist : OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Why Can't We Be by Wild Evel & The Trashbones
Clever Way to Crawl by Persian Claws
Chunk of Steel by Hollywood Sinners
1970 by The Stooges
Til You Lie in Your Grave by Miss Ludella Black & The Masonics
Subsonic Dream by The Darts
Vibrator Violator by Moron's Morons
Buzz the Jerk by The Pretty Things
Shut Up Woman by Bo Diddley
Midnight Attractions by Archie & The Bunkers
Prehistoric Love by J.C. Satan
I Like It Like That by Gino & The Goons
Hippie Hippie Hoorah by Black Lips
Love is Simply a Dream by Reverend Beat-Man
Money Shot Man by Churchwood
Snake Farm by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Long Black Stockings by Tony Butala
Oh Marie by Louis Prima featuring Lily Ann Carol
Long Runs the Fox by The Bonnevilles
I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby by Captain Beefheart
Bad Man by Oblivians
Shout Bama Lama by Detroit Cobras
Cruel Friend by Nots
Up and Down by Chesterfield Kings
Tingling by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Surrender My Heart by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
White Collar Wolf by The Devils
Mule Train by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Medicaid Fraud Dogg by Parliament
Dionetics by The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
Memphis by Karen Black
Damned If I Do, Damned if I Don't by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Break Bread by The Melvins
Fancy by Geraldine Fibbers
Blue Velvet by Bobby Vinton CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican June 22, 2018
Last year an album called Sidelong by an artist I’d never heard of named Sarah Shook (with her band The Disarmers) instantly became one of my favorite country albums in recent years. The album was already a couple of years old by the time I heard it, originally released back in 2015. Venerated “insurgent country” label Bloodshot Records of Chicago rereleased it last year, so the rest of the world could hear it. The North Carolina native’s unabashed, unaffected hillbilly drawl, her equally authentic defiant attitude, the way her band emulated the '70s “outlaw country” sound while never sounding hokey or retro, and Shook’s good old-fashioned songwriting chops added up to what just might be one important new artist.
So I was somewhat apprehensive a couple of months ago when I got a copy of Shook’s follow up, Years. How could this be as good as Sidelong, coming just a year later? Dare I listen to this when I’m bound to be disappointed?
But such anxiety quickly subsided. Years is no sophomore slump. Though no song on the new one grabbed me quite as hard as Sidelong’s “Keep the Home Fires Burnin’,” there is no shortage of memorable tunes here.
The 10 songs on this album are basically meditations on the end of a troubled relationship. “I'm afraid of losin'/Not afraid of losin' you,” Shook sings in “Good as Gold,” the opening song, So what’s she afraid of losing? “My heart, my pride/A wreck inside/Nothin' on this jukebox 'cept them blues …”
But don’t think the album’s full of confessional self-pity. Shook’s confidence, pride, and humor frequently shine through the heartache. In the next song, “New Ways to Fail,” she sneers, “It seems my way of livin' don't live up to your standards/And if you had your way I'd be some proper kind of lady/Well the door is over there, if I may speak with perfect candor/You're welcome to walk through it at any old time that you fancy.”
And then the wonderfully profane chorus: “'Cause I need this shit like I need another hole in my head.”
And I’m not sure whether it’s possible for a woman to be “cocky,” but Shook sure sounds that way in the upbeat country/rockabilly tune “Damned If I Do, Damned if I Don’t,” which is my favorite song on the record. She sings, “I didn't mean to stay out all night drinkin'/I didn't mean to stay out 'til the break of day/I didn't mean to stay out 'til the goddamn cows came home/Please believe me, it just happened this way.“
Even though on paper it sounds like Shook is pleading for forgiveness — and by the last verse, she’s begging for her lover, who’s locked her out of the house, to let her in — her voice doesn’t sound all that contrite. Damn if I don’t love Sarah Shook.
Also recommended:
* Clippety Clop by Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs. For a whole decade now, sweet Holly and her partner known as Lawyer Dave have made wonderful funky country bluesy good-time music together from their farm near Athens, Georgia. But by day, the couple work together in another venture: a horse rescue operation.
The British-born Golightly — a veteran of the all-girl garage group Thee Headcoatees — has been involved with horses all her life, so it’s not really surprising that she’d record a concept album about her beloved beasts. All but four of the dozen songs on the new album are about horses. The other four are about mules.
Among the selections are some classic American songs. After kicking off with a laid-back take on “Mule Skinner” (a Jimmie Rodgers tune usually going by “Mule Skinner Blues”), the couple also put their stamp on the cowboy standard “Strawberry Roan,” “Stewball” (based on the earthy Leadbelly version, not the pretty one by Peter, Paul & Mary) and my favorite, “I Ride an Old Paint.”
Performed by Holly and Dave as an upbeat slop waltz with growling guitar, “Old Paint,” is an authentic cowboy song, published by Carl Sandburg in 1927. Since then, it’s been recorded by various folksingers, country artists, and movie cowboys. I first heard it by Loudon Wainwright III in the early '70s, and I’ve loved it ever since — even though I still don’t know what “throw the houlihan” means.
Other high points here include “Two White Horse,” which is lyrically related to the “One Kind Favor”/“See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” family. If you don’t listen to the words that Holly and Dave sing, you probably wouldn’t realize that this jaunty little number is all about death and funeral rites.
Then there’s “Pinto Pony,” which was penned by an under-recognized songwriter named Paul Siebel, best known for “Louise,” recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker, Leo Kottke, and others. And on “Jinny Mule” Holly gets to show off her affinity for the blues, while Lawyer Dave sounds like he’s murdering both his guitar and his drums.
In truth the whole album is nothing but a joy. I love Holly and The Brokeoffs — and the horses they rode in on.
Here are some videos:
First some live Shook
This is the official video for "The Bottle Never Lets Me Down."
Unfortunately I can't find any videos for any song from Clippety Clop. But here's an old Holly & The Brokeoffs tune:
Ray Davies -- singer, songwriter and front man for The Kinks -- turns 74 today.
Happy birthday, Ray.
Born in Muswell Hill in North London in 1944, Davies and his younger brother Dave Davies. The two brothers began performing in bands together as teenagers. By 1964, The Kinks had a recording contract. And by that summer, they had a hit with a Ray Davies original, "You Really Got Me."
To honor Ray on his birthday, and to give a hint at how influential Davies and The Kinks have been, I'm going to present several videos of other artists performing Davies songs.
Kinks Kovers, as it were.
Let's start with "I'm Not Like Everybody Else," as done by The Chocolate Watchband
Here's Queens of the Stone Age with their take on "Who'll Be the Next in Line."
Sly & The Family Stone created a funkified version of "You Really Got Me."
Southern Culture on the Skids put the hillbilly in "Muswell Hillbilly."
The Fall practically made "Victoria" their own.
And The Murder City Devils sound like they're well acquainted with Old Demon "Alcohol."
Finally, here are The Kinks themselves on Shindig in the mid '60s. Damn, they were good!
It's Brian Wilson's birthday! The songwriter and architect of The Beach Boys' sound is 76 years old today.
Happy Birthday, Brian!
Though he's best known for his beautiful melodies and flawless harmonies, Wilson also was responsible for some outright wackiness on early Beach Boys albums.
Here's his wackiest moments:
It was supposed to be a dumb skit about a conflict between Wilson and singer Mike Love that appeared on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2.
It's not likely that anyone in 1964 would have realized that this painful stab at comedy actually foreshadowed decades of strife between Wilson and Love.
A year later, the album Summer Days (and Summer Nights !!) included a bizarre doo-wop parody called "I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man." At the time it seemed sweet and silly. But back then we didn't know about the Wilson boys' abusive father Murray Wilson.
The video below was recorded about a decade after "I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man." was released.
Unlike the first two, this song isn't throwaway material. Musically, it fit in well with the other songs on Love You (1977). Still, any song heaping near-religious praise unto Johnny Carson has to be considered wacky. And Wilson doesn't disappoint.
It's time for another rollicking Big Enchilada hillbilly episode. So prepare yourself for a virtual buffet of honky-tonk, rockabilly, cow-punk, folk, bluegrass and other down-home sounds designed to tickle your innards. This episode featuring the likes of Holly Golightly & The Broke-offs, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Ray Condo, Butch Hancock and more.
And remember, The Big Enchilada is officially listed in the iTunes store. So go subscribe, if you haven't already (and gimme a good rating and review if you're so inclined.) Thanks.
Sunday, June 17, 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Wavespotting by Mean Motor Scooter
Lusty Little Lucy by Nick Curran & The Lowlifes
Sugar Bee by The Sir Douglas Quintet
Mon Nom by The Yawpers
On Broadway by Esquirita
Throw Me a Line by The Ugly Beats
Shortnin' Bread by The Ready Men
I Have Enough by Reverend Beat-Man
Wild and Free by Hank III
I Am What I Am by The Fleshtones
Plastic Jack by The Electric Mess
Tropical Hotdog Night by Captain Beefheart
You on the Run by Black Angels
Annie by Elastia
Blue Ticket by Ratannson
Shot Down by The Sonics
The Bottle Never Lets Me Down by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
He's Making a Tape by Wild Billy Childish & Musicians of the British Empire
Wild America by Wayne Kramer
Feels Good by Stud Cole
Sex Cow by Teengenerate
Voodoo Got Me by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
I'm Your Witch Doctor by Them
Lost in Today by Archie & The Bunkers
Mad Love by The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies
Polk Salad Annie by Jason & The Scorchers
Victoria by The Fall
Ants on the Melon by The Gourds
Stewball by Holly Golightly
How Does That Grab You Darlin' by The Empress of Fur
Lightning's Girl by Nancy Sinatra
Papa Won't Leave You Henry by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos
Love Letters by Kitty Lester CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, June 15, 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
The Ballad of Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum
Tell the King The Killer's Here by Ronny Elliott
Life of Sin by Sturgill Simpson
Bloody Mary Morning by Willie Nelson
Life, Love, Death and The Meter Man by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
Fruit of the Vine by Nancy Apple
I Will Stay With You by Emily Kaitz with Ray Wylie Hubbard
Snake Farm by Ray Wylie Hubbard
I Ride an Old Paint by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Pigfork Jamboree by The Imperial Rooster
Crazy Mixed Up World by Ray Condo and His Hardrock Goners
LSD by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
I'm Home Gettin' Hammered While She's Out Gettin' Nailed by Jesse Dayton
The Hand of The Almighty by John R. Butler
This Town Gets Around by Margo Price
Hillbilly Town by Mose McCormack
Wine Spo Dee Odee by Kell Robertson
Hello Trouble by Bill Hearne
See Willy Fly By by The Waco Brothers
Nashville Radio / The Death of Country Music by Jon Langford's Hillbilly Lovechild
Wild Wild Wild by Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis
Mighty Lonesome Man by James Hand
God Has Lodged a Tenant in My Uterus by Tammy Faye Starlite
Daddy Was a Preacher, Mama Was a Go Go Girl by Southern Culture on the Skids
Ode to Billy Joe by Bobbie Gentry
Roadmap for the Blues by Butch Hancock
Long Way to Hollywood by Steve Young
I Hate These Songs by Dale Watson
(Out on the Streets) Junk is Still King by Gary Heffern
In Tall Buildings by John Hartford
Someday We'll Look Back by Merle Haggard CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Want to keep this hoedown going after I sign off at midnight? Check out The Big Enchilada Podcast Hillbilly Episode Archive where there are hours of shows where I play music like you hear on the SF Opry.
An unnamed cowboy was passing through Santa Fe on his way toward the Mexican border many years ago. Here he met up with a couple of women, both of whom being poets with ears for folk songs. The mysterious stranger gave then a song they wouldn't forget.
It was full of colorful cowboy lingo about throwing the hoolihan, and feeding the coulees, as well as black humor about a guy's wife who was killed "in a poolroom fight" and a cowpoke who asks that when he dies, tie his body to the back of his horse so "we'll ride the prairies /That we love the best ..."
Poet Carl Sandburg learned the song from one of the women, Margaret Larkin, who lived in Las Vegas, N.M. He published it in his American Songbag collection in 1927. There, he wrote of the song:
“This arrangement is from a song made known by Margaret Larkin of Las Vegas, New Mexico, who intones her own poems or sings cowboy and Mexican songs to a skilled guitar strumming, and by Linn Riggs, poet and playwright, of Oklahoma in particular and the Southwest in general. The song came to them at Santa Fe from a buckaroo who was last heard of as heading for the Border with friends in both Tucson and El Paso. The song smells of saddle leather, sketches ponies and landscapes, and varies in theme from a realistic presentation of the drab Bill Jones and his violent wife to an ethereal prayer and a cry of phantom tone. There is rich poetry in the image of the rider so loving a horse he begs when he dies his bones shall be tied to his horse and the two of them sent wandering with their faces turned west.”
Ah! The old mysterious-buckaroo-passing-on-songs-in-Santa-Fe ploy. Happens all the time. That's how I learned the tune "Hang on Sloopy" many years ago ...
But Ken Bigger, writing about the song for the Murder Ballad Monday blog, expresses some skepticism about Larkin's Santa Fe story. "Given the song’s themes and history, I was led to wonder whether Larkin might have written the song herself," he wrote. "I thought perhaps that she hid her authorship in order to avoid compromising the song’s perceived authenticity."
But Bigger admits his suspicion is theory is "purely speculative, and there are compelling arguments against it. "Hiding her authorship would have involved at least Larkin and probably Sandburg in levels of deception inconsistent with their other work."
More than a decade after publishing American Songbag, Sandburg recorded the song. Here it is:
"Old Paint" became a staple in the Hollywood heyday of the singing cowboy. Roy Rogers & Dale Evans covered it. So did Rex Allen.
And, with help from Woody Guthrie, the song became a favorite of mid-century American folksingers.
Woody took some liberties with the lyrics, adding a verse that goes:
"I’ve worked in your town, I’ve worked on your farm / All I’ve got to show is this muscle in my arm / Blisters on my feet and callous on my hand /Goin’ to Montana to throw the hoolihan."
He also changed details about Old Bill Jones' family, giving him a daughter and a son instead of "two daughters and a song." And though Old Bill's wife still died in a free-for-all fight, Woody doesn't mention that the tragedy occurred in a sleazy old poolroom. ("He preserves her virtue, perhaps, without diminishing the tragedy," Bigger wrote.)
"Old Paint" has been recorded by numerous artists. Johnny Cash, Michael Martin Murphey, Linda Rondstadt, Chris LeDoux, underground country renegades The Pine Hill Haints have all thrown that hoolihan.
Recently Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs included a rocking version on their new horse-oriented album Clippety Clop (which you can read about in my next Terrell's Tune-up column.)
But my favorite version remains the first one I heard, the one by Loudon Wainwright III in the early '70s.
Today is the birthday of the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan -- and namesake of Forrest Gump, Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Born in Chapel Hill Tennessee on July 13, 1821, Forrest was a general in the Confederate Army.
Even before his Klan years, Forrest was not a nice guy. Rebel soldiers under his command committed what came to be known as one of the worst atrocities of the Civil War, the Fort Pillow Massacre.
There, in 1864, Forrest's troops slaughtered nearly 300 Union soldiers who had surrendered after the battle of Fort Pillow. Most of those were African Americans.
Forrest died and went to Hell in 1877.
So let's give the evil old bastard and his twisted, hateful legacy a one-fingered musical birthday salute.
In the late 1970s, the reggae band Steel Pulse had some thoughts about the group Forrest led.
The most memorable scene from one of my favorite movies O Brother Where Art Thou (2000) was a Klan rally. In the same way that David Lynch's Blue Velvet forever changed the way we hear Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," this scene added terrifying new dimensions to the old folk song "O Death," sung by bluegrass great Ralph Stanley in O Brother. (Actor Wayne Duval, who portrayed the Imperial Wizard, lip-synched Stanley's song.)
Country singer James Hand and me at KSFR, July 2013
For those of you who didn't hear my startling announcement on KSFR over the weekend, here's the news:
I've decided to pull the plug on my Friday night show, The Santa Fe Opry. The last lonesome show will be this Friday.
I've been doing this hillbilly/alt-country/ rockabilly/bluegrass/roots-rock show for more than 20 years. I love the music and I love doing the show.
But after much consideration following my recent health scare, I’ve decided to cut my time on the radio back to one night a week.
I decided to ax the Opry rather than Terrell's Sound World on Sunday for a few reasons.
First of all, having a Friday night slot made it stressful at work whenever it was a heavy news day. Anyone involved in the journalism racket knows that some government officials delight in what's known as the "Friday night news dump" -- waiting until 5 pm to make important announcements and or answer public-records request.
Secondly, while all us DJs have our own styles, there are other programs at KSFR that specialize in country and folk sounds -- Acoustic Explorations on Thursday nights, Tom Adler's Folk Remedy on Sunday mornings. And Donna Howell often dips in these waters on her Gotta Dance show on Sunday night. Meanwhile over at KUNM, The Home of Happy Feet -- which is a major influence on The Santa Fe Opry -- is still going strong.
But there isn't really any other show around these parts that specializes in the garage/punk music that is the basis for Terrell's Sound World. So that's a big reason I decided to keep my Sunday night slot.
However, as I said this weekend, from this point on more hillbilly sounds will surely creep into the Sound World mix.
Also, despite all the fun I had doing to the show, I failed to achieve one of the goals I had for the program -- getting a cease-and-desist letter from the Santa Fe Opera.
So as of last week, KSFR is looking for a replacement for my 10 p.m.-midnight slot on Fridays. My hope is that someone steps up and continues The Santa Fe Opry -- or something close to it. Of course, that might not happen. If you or someone you know is interested, contact operations manager Sean Conlon at sean@ksfr.org
Thanks to all those who tuned in over the years, called me at the station or dropped me an email or Facebook comment. Please tune in 10 p.m. Friday, June 15, for a special farewell Santa Fe Opry show.
Sunday, June 10 , 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Back from the Shadows Again by Firesign Theatre
The Roaring 20s by Archie & The Bunkers
Tiki Man by Deadbolt
Interlude: Got Me All Alone by Black Lips
Take Off Your Clothes by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
He's Unhappy by Freak Genes
Chem Farmer by Thee Oh Sees
Stroke by Kazik
Mule Skinner by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Dead Moon Night by Dead Moon
Heartbreak Boogie by Hillbilly Moon Explosion
Dirty Photographs by The Bonnevilles
Here Comes That Sound Again by The Dirtbombs
Cat in Hell's Chance by Sir Bald Diddley & His Wig Outs
Flamboyant Duck by The Melvins
Guts is Enough by The Devils
Happy Birthday Howlin' Wolf!
I'm the Wolf
I've Been Abused
Coon on the Moon
The White Wolf is Back in Town by Reverend Beat-Man
Tall Black and Bitter by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
I'm Gone by The Electric Mess
The Projects by Baronen & Satan
You Got Good Taste by The Cramps
Wild Man by Hasil Adkins
It's Nothing New to Me by San Antonio Kid
My Heart by De Los Muertos
Mean Blue Spirits by The Dead Brothers
Town Without Pity by Gene Pitney
Old by Bettye LaVette
I Just Left Myself Today by The Hickoids CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, June 8, 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Two White Horses by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Charlottesville by Jesse Dayton
Long Hauls and Close Calls by Hank 3
Outlaw State of Mind by Chris Stapleton
No Heart by The Waco Brothers
Will You Wait for Me by Ramblin' Deano
Your Red Wagon by Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis
God Damn USA by Trixie & The Trainwrecks
New Ways to Fail by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Big Dummy by Tommy Collins
Drinkin' Champagne by Jerry Lee Lewis
High on a Mountain Top by Loretta Lynn
My Huckleberry Friend by The Gibson Bros
Big Time by Hellbound Glory
At Least I'm Genuine by Stevie Tombstone
Reservation Radio by Eric Hisaw
Blood on the Bluegrass by Legendary Shack Shakers
Mountain Man by Ugly Valley Boys
Knockin' on Your Screen Door by John Prine
Sam Stone by Swamp Dog
Strangest Stranger by Salty Pajamas
Coulda Woulda Shoulda by Peter Case
Like a Hole in My Head by The Tillers
Demon in my Head by Joe Buck Yourself
Ode to Billy Joe by Joe Tex
Dignity by Bob Dylan
Will You Miss Me by Peter Rowan
More Pretty Girls than One by Doc & Merle Watson
Louise by Jerry Jeff Walker with Nicolette Larson
Don't Blame Me by The Everly Brothers
I Drink by Bobby Bare CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Want to keep this hoedown going after I sign off at midnight? Check out The Big Enchilada Podcast Hillbilly Episode Archive where there are hours of shows where I play music like you hear on the SF Opry.
Elvis Presley idolized him and I loved him too. When I was a kid, Dino and his devilish grin made me suspect that my parents' generation might not be as square as they'd have you believe.
To celebrate here are some live videos.
Let's start off with this classic. a medley of "Volare" and "Evening in Roma."
I first heard this song on a Jerry Lee Lewis (not Jerry Lewis) record. Dino does a great job on it also.
This is Dean's signature song. Listen close. He's not always reverent with the lyrics.
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican June 1, 2018
The Swiss singer/songwriter/trash rocker/record-company owner/philosopher/holy man known as Reverend Beat-Man was speaking for himself in an interview more than a decade ago. But he could have been talking for untold numbers of unsung, underpaid heroes of modern music when he said:
“I have to get up in the morning out of the bed, and I have to play guitar. I have to go to the office and put out records that nobody buys. I just have to do it. I don’t know why.”
Obviously Beat Zeller is possessed by a very demanding creative spirit that won’t let him live any other way. His new album, Blues Trash(Voodoo Rhythm Records), is testament to that. The title is similar — probably too similar — to that of the two-volume Surreal Folk Blues Gospel Trash, the good reverend’s solo project from 2007. But the new album is no rehash. Beat-Man’s sound is evolving.
On Blues Trash, he’s backed by a band dubbed the New Wave. Members include Bosnia-born accordion player Mario Batkovic, a couple of Bern homeboys (drummer Julian Sartorius and Resli Burri, who plays several instruments), and Los Angeles native Nicole Izobel Garcia, who in recent months has toured with Beat-Man as a drummer. On the album, she also plays organ and sings.
The first track, “I Have Enough,” sounds like classic Beat-Man. It’s a growling rocker built around a raunchy blues lick, the kind Howlin’ Wolf used to hear in his skull when he closed his eyes at night. This is followed by “I’m Not Gonna Tell You,” a tasty slice of garage-punk that would easily fit in with the crazed repertoire of Beat-Man’s longtime band The Monsters. As usual, Beat-Man’s vocals sound like Popeye auditioning for a German industrial band.
Beat-Man in Santa Fe, 2009
But then things start getting weird on the third track, “Today Is a Beautiful Day.” With a lilting beat, a sinister guitar, and what sounds like a tooting tuba, Beat-Man takes a cue from his pals the Dead Brothers, who have billed themselves as a “funeral orchestra.” (New Waver Burri has played with that band.) The Rev croons:
“Well, today is a beautiful day/Today is a wonderful day/’Cause today, baby, I feel like a newborn child/’Cause today, baby, I’m gonna die.”
The same morbidly fatalistic doomsday spirit returns a few tracks later with a song called “Then We All Gonna Die.” Here Beat-Man sings over a harmonium and ominous drums that eventually turn into a troubling rumble: “When I see the flowers laying on my grave/When I see the sky turn from blue to black/Then we’re all gonna die.”
Even spookier is a stark but alluring love song in Spanish featuring Garcia on lead vocals, with Beat-Man singing a gruff “But I love you” four times at the end of each verse. “But I Love You” has to be the prettiest song to ever appear on a Beat-Man album — or in the entire Voodoo Rhythm catalogue.
Accordion man Batkovic steps out into the spotlight on a couple of tracks. There’s the jaunty Balkan-sounding “I’ll Do It for You,” a dance tune, sung by Beat-Man, that would have fit in the Borat soundtrack.
Then, the final track, “Lass Uns Liebe Machen” (German for “Let’s Make Love”) sounds like a damaged relic from the Weimar Republic. With Beat-Man singing, Batkovic’s accordion is the main instrument, at least until the musical saw (I assume played by Burri) comes in.
But while I appreciate Beat-Man’s multicultural excursions, the best song on Blues Trash is a prime example of, well, blues trash. That’s “The White Wolf Is Back in Town.” It’s a slow-burning howler — literally. Beat-Man howls at the outset of every verse. He plays a steady, repetitive blues lick punctuated by scary sounds from Garcia’s organ and a screaming sax. We never find out who or what the White Wolf is. But I would guess the town has cause to be nervous.
So once again, Beat-Man has followed his compulsions and indulged his obsessions, releasing an album full of wild, unsettling music. And probably, like all its predecessors, not that many people will buy it. But for those of us who have heard the call of the White Wolf, it’s comforting just to know the good Reverend Beat-Man is still in the game.
Also recommended:
*Songs from the Lodge by Archie & The Bunkers. Sometimes I worry about the youth of the 21st century.
I don’t have any exact statistics, but there are a disturbing number of youngsters who don’t give a rip about rock ’n’ roll.
They’re into hip-hop or techno, and many, we’re told, don’t really give a rodent’s posterior about music in general, and will give you blank stares when you mention Little Richard, Bo Diddley, or The Ramones, assuming all that talk is nothing but geezer babble.
Fortunately, this is not completely true. Despite changing times and priorities, rock ’n’ roll is still a guiding light for millions of young people. And there are even some bands ready to carry the torch.
In fact, one of my favorite groups in recent months is Archie and the Bunkers, a pair of teenage brothers from Cleveland. Drummer Emmett and organ player Cullen O’Connor have a unique high-energy sound they call “hi-fi organ punk.”
Their new album is even more impressive than their debut, Mystery Lover. The opening tune, “Bill’s Bad Day,” sets an urgent tone that never lets up. Other highlights include “You’re My Pacemaker,” the frantic “Lost in Today” and “122 Hours of Fear,” which is a cover of a song by The Screamers, a California “techno-punk” band from the late ’70s.
Plus, The Bunkers give us not one, but two songs about Twin Peaks, “Fire Walk With Me” and “Laura.”
These boys not only have talent, they have taste! Let's see some videos:
Here's a song from Blues Trash
And here's a live song by Reverend Beat-Man, sung by Nicole Izobel Garcia
One hundred and twenty nine years ago the South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania broke. creating a flood that killed at least 2,200 people.
A little history from History.com: Johnstown is 60 miles east of Pittsburgh in a valley near the Allegheny, Little Conemaugh, and Stony Creek Rivers. It is located on a floodplain that has been subject to frequent disasters. Because of the area’s susceptibility to floods, a dam was built in 1840 on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles upstream from Johnstown. Nine hundred feet by 72 feet, it was the largest earth dam (made of dirt and rock, rather than steel and concrete) in the United States and it created the largest man-made lake of the time, Lake Conemaugh. The dam was part of an extensive canal system that became obsolete as the railroads replaced the canal as a means of transporting goods. As the canal system fell into disuse, maintenance on the dam was neglected. In 1889, Johnstown was home to 30,000 people, many of whom worked in the steel industry. On May 31, the residents were unaware of the danger that steady rain over the course of the previous day had caused. A spillway at the dam became clogged with debris that could not be dislodged. An engineer at the dam saw warning signs of an impending disaster and rode a horse to the village of South Fork to warn the residents. However, the telegraph lines were down and the warning did not reach Johnstown. At 3:10 p.m., the dam collapsed, causing a roar that could be heard for miles. All of the water from Lake Conemaugh rushed forward at 40 miles per hour, sweeping away everything in its path.
Floods this devastating frequently end up being the subject of folk songs and even pop songs. The website for the Johnstown Flood Museum lists three such songs that were written not long after the tragedy. These include "That Valley of Tears," composed by William Thomas, "My Last Message" by J.P. Skelly, and Joseph Flynn's "The Johnstown Flood," which possibly is the song Bruce Springsteen refers to in "Highway Patrolman." ("Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played `Night of the Johnstown Flood' ,,,")
I searched but couldn't find any versions of these songs. However, on YouTube I did come across three Johnstown flood songs, all by artists I'd never heard of. But they sound pretty cool, so here they are.
I was at a medical appointment this morning when it occurred to med that I hadn't posted this week's Throwback Thursday. A couple of seconds later I realized I hadn't posted Wacky Wednesday either.
Maybe blame the medication?
Anywho, this week is kind of a sequel to a relative early Wacky Wednesday, in which I posted songs about ducks. Here's some equal time for chickens.
Let's start with the Louis Jordon classic :Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens."
Cab
This 1940 Cab Calloway tune has long been one of my favorites
Moving deep into the rock 'n' roll era here's "Psycho Chicken," a spoof of a Talking Heads song by a band called The Fools.
But nobody captured the essence of chickens better than the genius, Ray Stevens.
One hundred and four years ago this week -- May 22, 1914 -- Herman Poole "Sonny" Blount was born in Birmingham, Alabama. In the early 30s he began a career in music. Moving to Chicago in 1945, Sonny played piano with R&B shouter Wynonie Harris and jazz greats like Fletcher Henderson and Coleman Hawkins.
By the early 1950s, Sonny transformed into Sun Ra, a visionary emissary from the planet Saturn, sent to earth to preach a cosmic philosophy of peace and love.
Like Sonny Blount, Sun Ra was a great musician. He formed an amazing musical collective called the Arkestra that played with him, in various forms, for the next 40 years.
Here's what The New York Times said about Sun Ra in its 1993 obituary:
Sun Ra was jazz's most theatrical band leader. A performance of his would feature anything from large drum choirs and African-style chants to orchestral be-bop, free expressionism and swing pieces. He had singers, dancers and acrobats and sometimes film and light shows ... He and his band, usually called the Arkestra, dressed in a funny version 1950s intergalactica, with glittering hats (which, in fact, were spandax tank tops), robes and amulets that signified everything from Egyptology to outer space surrealism. Sun Ra made his performances a mixture of camp, pandemonium, seriousness and musical intelligence. Below are a couple of lengthy performances by Sun Ra and crew. The first includes two songs from a 1989 appearance on the syndicated Night Music.
And here is part of his set at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival
Finally here's a fun little tune from Sun Ra's Walt Disney tribute album, Second Star to the Right.
R.I.P Saturn man. May Mr. Bluebird always be on your shoulder.
Correction: The earlier version if this post said Sun Ra was born 114 years ago. Actually it's a mere 104 years. Thanks to Facebook friend Russ for pointing it out.
On this day 84 years ago a team of law enforcement officers led by the Bureau of Investigation (back before they were known as the FBI) killed Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Park in an ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
Before dawn on May 23, 1934, a posse composed of police officers from Louisiana and Texas, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, concealed themselves in bushes along the highway near Sailes, Louisiana. In the early daylight, Bonnie and Clyde appeared in an automobile and when they attempted to drive away, the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed instantly.
And thus ended the bloody career of the armed and dangerous couple known as Bonnie & Clyde.
At least until they were reborn as Hollywood legends in the 1960s.
At the time they were killed in 1934, they were believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries. Barrow, for example, was suspected of murdering two police officers at Joplin, Missouri and kidnapping a man and a woman in rural Louisiana. He released them near Waldo, Texas. Numerous sightings followed, linking this pair with bank robberies and automobile thefts. Clyde allegedly murdered a man at Hillsboro, Texas; committed robberies at Lufkin and Dallas, Texas; murdered one sheriff and wounded another at Stringtown, Oklahoma; kidnaped a deputy at Carlsbad, New Mexico; stole an automobile at Victoria, Texas; attempted to murder a deputy at Wharton, Texas; committed murder and robbery at Abilene and Sherman, Texas; committed murder at Dallas, Texas; abducted a sheriff and the chief of police at Wellington, Texas; and committed murder at Joplin and Columbia, Missouri.
But like I said, Bonnie & Clyde staged a spectacular comeback in 1967.
Filmmaker Arthur Penn directed Bonnie & Clyde, starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. It became a box office smash. There were questions about the movie's historical accuracy and controversy over what some saw as a glamorization of criminals. But soon after it's release, everyone knew who Bonnie and Clyde were.
Besides the movie, several musicians jumped on the Bonnie & Clyde bandwagon in 1967 and 1968. Here are some of them.
Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames had a big hit with "The Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde."
Merle Haggard wrote and performed "The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde."
Even Mel Torme couldn't resist. His song is called "A Day in the Life of Bonnie & Clyde."
Meanwhile, French pop star Serge Gainsbourg teamed up with the one and only Brigitte Bardot (!!!) on a song called "Bonnie & Clyde." This tune borrows heavily from the poem Bonnie Parker wrote about her exploits with Barrow.
