Friday, January 12, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Ghosts of Hallelujah by The Gourds
I Told You So by Ramsay Midwood
Devil in the Blue Dress by Bill Kirchen
How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
The Shakin' Fears by P.W. Long
Love-A-Rama by Southern Culture on the Skids
Cat Scratch Fever by Hayseed Dixie
Animal Hoedown by Harry Hayward
Mean Man Blues by 1/4 Mile Combo
Wanted Man by Johnny Cash
Hama Hama Hula by Jon Rauhouse
Singer of Sad Songs by Waylon Jennings
Life of a Fool by Paul Burch
American History by Cary Swinney
Palestine, Texas by T-Bone Burnett
The Caves of Burgundy by Boris & The Saltlicks
BLAZE 'n' HAZE SET
Rainbows and Ridges by Blaze Foley
Wild Man by Hasil Adkins
A Song for Blaze by Elliot Rogers
She Said by The Cramps
Down Here Where I Am by Blaze Foley
No More Hotdogs by Hasil Adkins
Someday by Blaze Foley
Me and Jesus by Hasil Adkins
Springtime in Uganda by Townes Van Zandt
All Beauty Taken From You In This Life Remains Forever by Chris Whitley & The Bastard Club
Unbroken Love by Andy Fairweather Low
Magic Glasses by Ed Pettersen
Silverlake Babies by Eleni Mandell
If I Could Only Fly by Merle Haggard
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
TERRELL'S TUNEUP: HAZE 'n' BLAZE
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 12, 2007
Late last year, two albums were released featuring never-released or long-out-of print recordings from late, great, American wild man originals — Hasil Adkins and Blaze Foley.
Besides the fact that they both played guitar and they’re both dead — Foley was shot to death in 1989, while Adkins died in 2005 just shy of his 68th birthday — one might conclude that Blaze and Haze don’t have much in common. But both men’s music generally was overlooked by the mainstream. And both artists inspired worshipful cults. In my view, the worship is well-deserved, and these new albums should be seen as sacraments.
*Best of the Haze by Hasil Adkins. The crashing strum of an out-of-tune guitar with a menacing backwoods voice declaring, “Well I’m gonna tell you what happened” is the foreboding start of this record. It’s as if you’ve found yourself in a nightmare in which you’re trapped in a hillbilly’s still house on the wrong side of the cosmic tracks — where the guy talking has one hand on the neck of a battered guitar and the other hand on a shotgun.
How can you describe Hasil Adkins? I don’t think I can top All Music Guide, which called him a “frantic one-man band who bashed out ultra-crude rock & roll tunes about sex, chicken, and decapitation into a wheezing reel-to-reel tape machine in a West Virginia shack.”
Probably the best known of those groups who went on the Adkins diet is The Cramps, whose trademark “psychobilly” sound sprang from the Haze.
He started out in the 1950s, recording his bizarro-world one-man rockabilly for tiny regional labels. It was those early 45s that inspired The Cramps and others and eventually led to Adkins recording long-players in the ’80s and ’90s on the Norton label (plus an album on Fat Possum Records and a live recording from the Chicago-based Bughouse label).
Unfortunately, despite the title of this album, you won’t find those scratchy-but-sublime old recordings here. What Best of The Haze offers is a bunch of tracks from early-’90s sessions for a never-released album on the now-defunct IRS label (once the home of R.E.M., Concrete Blonde, and Wall of Voodoo, among others).
He’s older in these recordings but hardly mellower. There are some re-recordings of classic Haze “hits” (including the opening cut “She Said” and “This Ain’t No Rock ’n’ Roll Show”), a couple of cover songs (Hank’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and Elvis’ “Teddy Bear”), a Christmas tune (“Santa Claus Boogie”), and even a gospel tune (“Me & Jesus”).
But the best is “Wild Man” — another re-recorded old song that shows Adkins as the ultimate dirty old man. The song basically consists of Haze frantically strumming his guitar, apparently tuned to the key of H, and singing — sometimes almost screaming — “verses” that repeat the phrase “you call me a wild man” and stopping every so often to speak lines like: “Now you wouldn’t take your clothes off would ya? [pause] Well, if you did, it would be all right!”
*Cold, Cold World by Blaze Foley and The Beaver Valley Boys. While it’s not hard to see why an acquired taste like Hasil Adkins never made a splash in the mainstream, Blaze Foley should have been a star.
Only thing is, Blaze lived as crazy as Haze sang. He was essentially homeless, sleeping under pool tables at bars. He patched up old shoes with duct tape.
But this hard-drinking, even harder-living Texan (born Michael David Fuller) wrote what can only be called some mighty songs. His best known surely is “If I Could Only Fly,” the stunning title track of Merle Haggard’s best album of this century. Hag, who also recorded that song with Willie Nelson about 20 years ago, reportedly has contemplated releasing a whole album of Blaze songs.
Haggard’s not alone. John Prine sang Foley’s “Clay Pigeons” on his last album. Both Lucinda Williams and Townes Van Zandt wrote songs about Foley (“Drunken Angel” and “Blaze’s Blues,” respectively). And there have been several little-noticed Blaze tribute albums, featuring performances mainly by the singer’s Austin pals, released in recent years.
Cold, Cold World is graced by Gurf Morlix, a fine artist in his own right who plays guitar and bass and sings backup here. The songs were recorded in 1979 and 1980 — at a time when some thought Foley might reach some level of mainstream success.
The album has some pretty country songs like the title song and the mournful “Picture Cards” (which has similarities to “If I Could Only Fly”), some breezy, bluesy stuff like “No Goodwill Stores in Waikiki” and “Slow Boat to China,” and even some topical numbers like “Election Day” (later recorded by Lyle Lovett) and “Officer Norris” (a protest against a cop).
Foley’s wry humor is all over the album, especially on songs like “Christian Lady Talkin’ on a Bus,” “Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries,” and “New Wave Blues” which starts out, “There goes that tongue again, back in my ear again.”
The man should have been a star.
January 12, 2007
Late last year, two albums were released featuring never-released or long-out-of print recordings from late, great, American wild man originals — Hasil Adkins and Blaze Foley.
Besides the fact that they both played guitar and they’re both dead — Foley was shot to death in 1989, while Adkins died in 2005 just shy of his 68th birthday — one might conclude that Blaze and Haze don’t have much in common. But both men’s music generally was overlooked by the mainstream. And both artists inspired worshipful cults. In my view, the worship is well-deserved, and these new albums should be seen as sacraments.
*Best of the Haze by Hasil Adkins. The crashing strum of an out-of-tune guitar with a menacing backwoods voice declaring, “Well I’m gonna tell you what happened” is the foreboding start of this record. It’s as if you’ve found yourself in a nightmare in which you’re trapped in a hillbilly’s still house on the wrong side of the cosmic tracks — where the guy talking has one hand on the neck of a battered guitar and the other hand on a shotgun.
How can you describe Hasil Adkins? I don’t think I can top All Music Guide, which called him a “frantic one-man band who bashed out ultra-crude rock & roll tunes about sex, chicken, and decapitation into a wheezing reel-to-reel tape machine in a West Virginia shack.”
Probably the best known of those groups who went on the Adkins diet is The Cramps, whose trademark “psychobilly” sound sprang from the Haze.
He started out in the 1950s, recording his bizarro-world one-man rockabilly for tiny regional labels. It was those early 45s that inspired The Cramps and others and eventually led to Adkins recording long-players in the ’80s and ’90s on the Norton label (plus an album on Fat Possum Records and a live recording from the Chicago-based Bughouse label).
Unfortunately, despite the title of this album, you won’t find those scratchy-but-sublime old recordings here. What Best of The Haze offers is a bunch of tracks from early-’90s sessions for a never-released album on the now-defunct IRS label (once the home of R.E.M., Concrete Blonde, and Wall of Voodoo, among others).
He’s older in these recordings but hardly mellower. There are some re-recordings of classic Haze “hits” (including the opening cut “She Said” and “This Ain’t No Rock ’n’ Roll Show”), a couple of cover songs (Hank’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and Elvis’ “Teddy Bear”), a Christmas tune (“Santa Claus Boogie”), and even a gospel tune (“Me & Jesus”).
But the best is “Wild Man” — another re-recorded old song that shows Adkins as the ultimate dirty old man. The song basically consists of Haze frantically strumming his guitar, apparently tuned to the key of H, and singing — sometimes almost screaming — “verses” that repeat the phrase “you call me a wild man” and stopping every so often to speak lines like: “Now you wouldn’t take your clothes off would ya? [pause] Well, if you did, it would be all right!”
*Cold, Cold World by Blaze Foley and The Beaver Valley Boys. While it’s not hard to see why an acquired taste like Hasil Adkins never made a splash in the mainstream, Blaze Foley should have been a star.
Only thing is, Blaze lived as crazy as Haze sang. He was essentially homeless, sleeping under pool tables at bars. He patched up old shoes with duct tape.
But this hard-drinking, even harder-living Texan (born Michael David Fuller) wrote what can only be called some mighty songs. His best known surely is “If I Could Only Fly,” the stunning title track of Merle Haggard’s best album of this century. Hag, who also recorded that song with Willie Nelson about 20 years ago, reportedly has contemplated releasing a whole album of Blaze songs.
Haggard’s not alone. John Prine sang Foley’s “Clay Pigeons” on his last album. Both Lucinda Williams and Townes Van Zandt wrote songs about Foley (“Drunken Angel” and “Blaze’s Blues,” respectively). And there have been several little-noticed Blaze tribute albums, featuring performances mainly by the singer’s Austin pals, released in recent years.
Cold, Cold World is graced by Gurf Morlix, a fine artist in his own right who plays guitar and bass and sings backup here. The songs were recorded in 1979 and 1980 — at a time when some thought Foley might reach some level of mainstream success.
The album has some pretty country songs like the title song and the mournful “Picture Cards” (which has similarities to “If I Could Only Fly”), some breezy, bluesy stuff like “No Goodwill Stores in Waikiki” and “Slow Boat to China,” and even some topical numbers like “Election Day” (later recorded by Lyle Lovett) and “Officer Norris” (a protest against a cop).
Foley’s wry humor is all over the album, especially on songs like “Christian Lady Talkin’ on a Bus,” “Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries,” and “New Wave Blues” which starts out, “There goes that tongue again, back in my ear again.”
The man should have been a star.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
THE GOURDS!
I didn't realize there were so many Gourds fans in Santa Fe, but it was a great turnout last night at the Santa Fe Brewing Company and the band delivered.
It took a couple of numbers for them to warm up, but then a Cajun-flavored tune kicked them into an overdrive that rarely faltered.
It also was great to see Boris & The Saltlicks, who opened the show/
The Brewing Company is hoping to bring The Gourds back for an outdoor show if this winter ever stops.
See more photos on my FLICKR SITE.
ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: ICY ROADS, RATS & WEASELS
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 11, 2007
A writer known as “the lean gray wolf” of investigative journalism says the New Mexico press seemed forgiving toward Gov. Bill Richardson after the recent hundred-year snowstorm left travelers stranded on highways crossing the state.
Dan K. Thomasson, a former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service, said in his syndicated column this week that the state administration’s response to the snowstorm could detract from Richardson’s prospects as a presidential candidate.
Thomasson isn’t just any run-of-the-mill ink-stained crank. He broke the story of President Kennedy’s affair with a Mafia moll and was literally thrown out of the Chappaquiddick police station for demanding to see the accident report on the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
Described by The Albuquerque Tribune, a Scripps Howard paper, as a frequent visitor to the state, Thomasson apparently was in Santa Fe around New Year’s.
“In this land of enchantment where the deer and the antelope still play and the politically corrupt Santa Fe Ring once held sway, the old timers are betting that the next entrant in the Democratic sweepstakes will be Bill Richardson, the former congressman, Energy secretary and now governor,” Thomasson wrote.
“Before getting too excited about that prospect, consider that Richardson’s administrative expertise got severely tested by the politician’s nightmare — a snowstorm that discombobulated the state and its capital for days longer than it should have, leaving New Mexicans grumbling from Gallup to the Colorado line,” Thomasson wrote.
He noted the only downtown Santa Fe streets cleared by Jan. 1 were the ones near the hotels hosting Richardson’s inaugural ball. Of course those streets are the city’s responsibility, not the state’s. And it probably was a wise idea to clear an area where thousands of people — that is, thousands of potential lawsuits — were about to converge.
Even given the rarity of such a storm here, the Indiana native said it doesn’t look good for our governor if the snow response is any indication of the way he’d respond to more serious emergencies. But, referring to the nation’s first presidential primary, he wrote, “If the warming trend continues in the East, perhaps he won’t have to embarrass himself by mentioning how he handled what is normally an every day New Hampshire occurrence.”
Rats ’n’ weasels: With cockfighting in serious jeopardy in the coming legislative session (Richardson finally came out against this family activity, which is legal in only New Mexico and Louisiana), fans of the fighting birds might have to consider other entertainment.
Author Nick Tosches in King of the Jews, his 2005 biography of gangster Arnold Rothstein, wrote about a Water Street (that’s New York, not Santa Fe) gaming establishment run by a saloon owner named Christopher “Kit” Burns in the 1860s.
“Sportsman’s Hall offered four sporting events: rat killing by a weasel, rat killing by a dog, rat killing by a man, and dog fighting,” Tosches wrote.
“Sportsmen complained that rat killing by a weasel was too slow, as the weasel, who was a natural-born rat killer, devoted too much time to the chase. Rat killing by a dog was a better spectacle, and it made for better gambling. ... As for rat killing by a man, Burns often found it difficult to find a man willing to get into the pit, chase down a big fat river rat, seize it, and take off its wild vicious head with a chomp of a jaw. Some men would do anything for a bottle. But such men were not always adept in the pit. ... Long-moneyed bettors cheered whenever the rat took a piece of hand, lips, cheek or nose.”
Dog fighting has been illegal in this state for years. However, I don’t believe there’s anything on the books concerning rat fighting.
Cockfighting proponents say if their opponents succeed, next thing you know, animal-rights activists will go after rodeo, hunting and fishing.
But don’t worry. I understand they’re having a hard time lining up sponsors for that anti-fishing bill.
Friends of the Earth: Santa Fe lawmakers — all of them Democrats — made good grades on The Conservation Voters of New Mexico’s scorecard for the past two legislative sessions.
In the House, state Rep. Peter Wirth scored a perfect 100 percent, based on his votes on various measures. Close behind were House Speaker Ben Luján and Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, who both got cumulative grades of 92 percent. Rep. Jim Trujillo came in last for Santa Fe with a 70 percent rating.
On the Senate side, John Grubesic scored a 95 percent rating while Nancy Rodriguez got 83 percent.
Emerging women: Players in both major political parties in New Mexico often grumble privately that it’s hard to recruit qualified candidates for state office. However, a group of Democratic women has been recruiting and training women for just that purpose.
EmergeNew Mexico, an organization co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and former Attorney General Patricia Madrid, just completed a seven-month program designed to train Democratic women in how to plan, fund, organize and win political campaigns. Twenty-three women who successfully completed the program will take part in a graduation ceremony at the Roundhouse Rotunda on Saturday.
Some of these might be returning to the Capitol. According to a press release, EmergeNew Mexico is a part of a national group that claims 60 percent of its graduates go on to win elections.
Meanwhile, some believe that Emerge leaders Denish and Madrid, who ran against each other for lieutenant governor back in 1994, might emerge as rivals again for governor in 2010.
January 11, 2007
A writer known as “the lean gray wolf” of investigative journalism says the New Mexico press seemed forgiving toward Gov. Bill Richardson after the recent hundred-year snowstorm left travelers stranded on highways crossing the state.
Dan K. Thomasson, a former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service, said in his syndicated column this week that the state administration’s response to the snowstorm could detract from Richardson’s prospects as a presidential candidate.
Thomasson isn’t just any run-of-the-mill ink-stained crank. He broke the story of President Kennedy’s affair with a Mafia moll and was literally thrown out of the Chappaquiddick police station for demanding to see the accident report on the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
Described by The Albuquerque Tribune, a Scripps Howard paper, as a frequent visitor to the state, Thomasson apparently was in Santa Fe around New Year’s.
“In this land of enchantment where the deer and the antelope still play and the politically corrupt Santa Fe Ring once held sway, the old timers are betting that the next entrant in the Democratic sweepstakes will be Bill Richardson, the former congressman, Energy secretary and now governor,” Thomasson wrote.
“Before getting too excited about that prospect, consider that Richardson’s administrative expertise got severely tested by the politician’s nightmare — a snowstorm that discombobulated the state and its capital for days longer than it should have, leaving New Mexicans grumbling from Gallup to the Colorado line,” Thomasson wrote.
He noted the only downtown Santa Fe streets cleared by Jan. 1 were the ones near the hotels hosting Richardson’s inaugural ball. Of course those streets are the city’s responsibility, not the state’s. And it probably was a wise idea to clear an area where thousands of people — that is, thousands of potential lawsuits — were about to converge.
Even given the rarity of such a storm here, the Indiana native said it doesn’t look good for our governor if the snow response is any indication of the way he’d respond to more serious emergencies. But, referring to the nation’s first presidential primary, he wrote, “If the warming trend continues in the East, perhaps he won’t have to embarrass himself by mentioning how he handled what is normally an every day New Hampshire occurrence.”
Rats ’n’ weasels: With cockfighting in serious jeopardy in the coming legislative session (Richardson finally came out against this family activity, which is legal in only New Mexico and Louisiana), fans of the fighting birds might have to consider other entertainment.
Author Nick Tosches in King of the Jews, his 2005 biography of gangster Arnold Rothstein, wrote about a Water Street (that’s New York, not Santa Fe) gaming establishment run by a saloon owner named Christopher “Kit” Burns in the 1860s.
“Sportsman’s Hall offered four sporting events: rat killing by a weasel, rat killing by a dog, rat killing by a man, and dog fighting,” Tosches wrote.
“Sportsmen complained that rat killing by a weasel was too slow, as the weasel, who was a natural-born rat killer, devoted too much time to the chase. Rat killing by a dog was a better spectacle, and it made for better gambling. ... As for rat killing by a man, Burns often found it difficult to find a man willing to get into the pit, chase down a big fat river rat, seize it, and take off its wild vicious head with a chomp of a jaw. Some men would do anything for a bottle. But such men were not always adept in the pit. ... Long-moneyed bettors cheered whenever the rat took a piece of hand, lips, cheek or nose.”
Dog fighting has been illegal in this state for years. However, I don’t believe there’s anything on the books concerning rat fighting.
Cockfighting proponents say if their opponents succeed, next thing you know, animal-rights activists will go after rodeo, hunting and fishing.
But don’t worry. I understand they’re having a hard time lining up sponsors for that anti-fishing bill.
Friends of the Earth: Santa Fe lawmakers — all of them Democrats — made good grades on The Conservation Voters of New Mexico’s scorecard for the past two legislative sessions.
In the House, state Rep. Peter Wirth scored a perfect 100 percent, based on his votes on various measures. Close behind were House Speaker Ben Luján and Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, who both got cumulative grades of 92 percent. Rep. Jim Trujillo came in last for Santa Fe with a 70 percent rating.
On the Senate side, John Grubesic scored a 95 percent rating while Nancy Rodriguez got 83 percent.
Emerging women: Players in both major political parties in New Mexico often grumble privately that it’s hard to recruit qualified candidates for state office. However, a group of Democratic women has been recruiting and training women for just that purpose.
EmergeNew Mexico, an organization co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and former Attorney General Patricia Madrid, just completed a seven-month program designed to train Democratic women in how to plan, fund, organize and win political campaigns. Twenty-three women who successfully completed the program will take part in a graduation ceremony at the Roundhouse Rotunda on Saturday.
Some of these might be returning to the Capitol. According to a press release, EmergeNew Mexico is a part of a national group that claims 60 percent of its graduates go on to win elections.
Meanwhile, some believe that Emerge leaders Denish and Madrid, who ran against each other for lieutenant governor back in 1994, might emerge as rivals again for governor in 2010.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
THE GOURDS TONITE!
One of my favorite bands, The Gourds from Austin, Texas, will be playing the Santa Fe Brewing Company tonight.Also on the bill is New Mexico's own Boris & The Saltlicks.
And if you get there at 6 p.m. you can catch a screening of Lexie Shabel's We Like to Drink, We Like to Play Rock 'n' Roll.
It costs $10 in advance (not sure if those are still available) or $15 at the door.
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