BEATLE BOB IS A FRIEND OF MINE

Thanks to Chuck for alerting me to this nine-minute "documentary teaser" on Beatle Bob, the celebrated dancing fool -- and I mean that only in the nicest way -- of St. Louis.

He's usually at South by Southwest in Austin. But I don't think he's ever been to New Mexico.

This video doesn't really dig deep into Beatle Bob's personal life or anything. But apparently there's a full-fledged documentary by Jenni Serling in the works.

So for now, just be teased. Check out the testimony by Mojo Nixon at the end of the video.




Beatle Bob joins the Waco Brothers, South by Southwest 2006

A SHRINE TO BUKOWSKI?

My former colleague T.J. Sullivan wrote this impressive blog piece after tripping over some breathless hyperbole in Time Magazine about an effort to preserve Bukowski's East Hollywood bungalow. Apparently the phrase "cultural earthquake" gave him the same acid reflux I get when some dimwit hype peddler declares some rock star a "legend."

Really? A place in which Bukowski flopped and farted on a regular basis is the epicenter of a cultural quake that continues to rock LA's literary landscape? What magnitude are we talking?

The Time article, one you pull yorself out of the rubble of the earthquake, really isn't bad. But, I think Bukowski would have appreciated T.J.'s piece.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: BRING ON THE PSAs

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 20, 2007

If you think you’ve been seeing a lot of Lt. Gov. Diane Denish lately, maybe you’re watching too much late-night television.

Denish, like several New Mexico politicians before her, frequently pops up in public service announcements — those noncommercial commercials that television stations run to fulfill their “public service” requirements.

A Denish spokeswoman, Kate Nelson, insists these have nothing to do with the fact the lieutenant governor is running for governor in 2010.

Denish taped a spot about adoption for the state Children Youth and Families Department. There’s one for Insure New Mexico — a task force created by Gov. Bill Richardson and chaired by Denish that has studied ways to increase the number of people with health insurance in the state.

In the past, she has appeared in at least two PSAs for the state Department of Transportation through the New Mexico Broadcasters Association, aimed at discouraging underage drinking, plus another DOT spot aimed at first-time drunken-driving offenders.

Plus, Nelson said, Denish has lent her voice to a few radio spots for various causes, including a recent one plugging an event for an organization concerned with breast cancer.

A few television PSAs are still in the can. Nelson said the state Taxation and Revenue Department asked Denish to tape some spots to inform people about a new driver’s license issuance process that won’t be unveiled until the spring.

All of this face time on television screens might bring back memories of other state officials — former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, former Attorney General Patricia Madrid and Land Commissioner Pat Lyons, all of whom appeared in PSAs in recent years to plug various programs or causes. Critics charged the officials were using taxpayer money to promote their own careers by building their name recognition — a charge all three vehemently denied.
As does Denish.

“She already has name recognition,” Nelson said. “That’s one reason why these agencies ask her to do these.”

Denish doesn’t accept every invitation to make a public service announcement, Nelson said. “Just the issues she’s personally interested in.”

If PSAs become an issue for Denish in the 2010 race, she won’t be alone. Earlier this year The Albuquerque Tribune reported that Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez — a probable primary opponent for Denish — did the voice-over for a city-produced 30-minute documentary called Shaping the Future: Albuquerque’s Economic Success, which some suggested was a thinly disguised campaign ad. (To which Chávez protested, in the Tribune in July, “I’m not a candidate for anything.”)

Corruption list: The three Republican members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation made a nonprofit organization’s list of what it considers the 22 most corrupt members of Congress.

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce were included in the third annual “Beyond DeLay” report by a Washington, D.C., group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.

Domenici and Wilson were included for making phone calls to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias — calls that Iglesias interpreted as pressure to bring corruption charges against a prominent Democrat, former state Sen. Manny Aragon of Albuquerque, before the 2006 election. This allegedly would have helped Wilson in her close re-election contest with Madrid. (Aragon eventually was charged, earlier this year, with several felony counts.) Both Domenici and Wilson repeatedly have denied they tried to pressure Iglesias.

CREW earlier this year filed complaints against Domenici and Wilson over the Iglesias matter.

As for Pearce, CREW alleges the congressman from Southern New Mexico failed to report the 2003 sale of the assets of Lea Fishing Tools Inc., of which he was president, on his financial disclosure statements.

CREW also criticized Pearce for backing a plan to open Southern New Mexico’s Otero Mesa to oil-and-gas drilling while taking more than $78,000 in campaign contributions from the Yates family — which is involved in the oil business and traditionally is a big GOP contributor in the state.

A Pearce spokesman released a statement that said: “They don’t have their facts correct. Rep. Pearce filed an accurate financial disclosure statement and all of Mr. Pearce’s assets and transactions were correctly reported as law required. There has been no violation of the Ethics in Government Act and Mr. Pearce stands by the documents on record. ... It is appalling that a group which claims to promote ethics and accountability would publish outright lies.”

Investigation heating up?: An “independent journalism” Web site called Truthout reported Wednesday that the Senate Ethics committee investigation of Domenici over the Iglesias case is heating up.

“According to some senior staffers working for lawmakers who sit on the Ethics Committee, the six-month preliminary investigation into Domenici has turned up enough evidence to open a formal, public investigation into the New Mexico senator,” the Web site says.

However, Truthout said it’s not clear whether a formal investigation will be filed.

eMusic & Epitaph

Soon after posting my past month's eMusic downloads, I came across this story saying that the Epitaph label -- whose subsidiaries include Anti (home of Tom Waits, Neko Case, Bettye LaVette and others) -- is not renewing its contract with eMusic.

The reason is that eMusic sells its downloads for about a third of the price charged by iTunes and other services. (iTunes charges 99 cents per song, plus tax, while the average price for the subscription-based eMusic is closer to 30 cents. Those like me who were members before the latest price increase were grandfathered in at the old price, so I'm paying about 22 cents per download.)

On first glance that might make sense for Epitaph and its artists. Who wouldn't want to make three or four times as much for a song?

However, eMusic president David Pakman makes an interesting case.

At a time when the music industry is in such steep decline, our research and experience shows us that consumers are still willing to buy music, provided the value is right. And 99 cents a song is not an acceptable price point for all consumers. That’s one reason why eMusic exists and has been so successful; those consumers who are willing to spend more on music (provided the price is right) do so with us. (eMusic subscribers) spend more than 14 times as much as the average iTunes customer at a time when per capita spending on all music and audio is under $24. (eMusic subscribers) buy twenty times more music than the average iTunes customer.

We know that consumers seeking good value don’t have to buy CDs for $16 or buy downloads for $1 each. They simply go to Amazon and eBay and buy used Epitaph CDs for $3 each. When consumers buy used CDs, as you know, the artist and label don’t get paid at all. Some analysts have estimated that as much as 30% of Amazon’s music business comes from selling used CDs. With facts like these, it’s hard to argue that we, as an industry, can control the price of music. You, the consumers, make that decision and you are telling us what we need to know — you’ll buy more if you can pay less.

Pakman is lowballing the price of most used CDs, but what he says is basically true. Most of us only have a certain amount we can spend per month on music. If eMusic went away I wouldn't have much more than my $20 a month to spend on downloads. I'd probably spend it on used CDs. I've probably spent less than $10 on iTunes since they opened the thing.

I've said it before, but one thing I like about eMusic is the fact that because you have to download your allotment before the end of your month, it encourages you to experiment. I've ended up with some great tunes I otherwise would not have purchase -- and not very much bad stuff.

I'm glad Pakman is standing pat. And I hope Epitaph eventually changes its mind.

UPDATE: 9-20-07 I noticed that Fat Possum is still on eMusic, so I removed the reference to the label in the original version of this post.

eMUSIC SEPTEMBER

* Raw and Alive: The Seeds in Concert. This was recorded a couple of years after their mid '60s short-lived heyday, but Sky Saxon and his band sound as gloriously seedy as ever. Lots of snarling fuzztone and proto psychedelic Farfisa.

Their hits are here -- "Pushin' Too Hard," "Can't Seem to Make You Mine." There's a 9-minute "Up in Her Room" in which they repeat those Louie-Louie chords over and over, proudly basking in the tease and the sleaze. They push even harder into the astral plane with "Gypsy Played His Drums," which, thankfully, isn't a drum solo. The Seeds still sound wild and vital. Like the overwrough DJ ("Humble Harv") says in his introduction, they'll "make your feet move and your head spin."


*Live In London - The BBC Recordings 1972 - 1973 by Judee Sill. Just a few years ago you couldn't find hardly anything about Judee on the Internet. There even was dispute about when she actually died. (It was 1979 -- a goddamned heroin overdose.)

But since the Rhino Handmade releases of her two albums, especially the immortal Heartfood, a few years ago, more and more people are being initiated into the strange and alluring world of Judee's music. Last year Warner's re-released both the albums and various outtakes and alternate versions as Complete Asylum Recordings (also released under the title Abracadabra: Asylum Years.) And the year before, Water Records released Dreams Come True, consisting of recordings for her never-completed third album, plus other stray demos and live tapes.

Now comes a live album, also released by Water. These were recorded during a British tour. It's stripped-down solo versions of songs from Judee Sill and Heartfood. If you haven't heard those albums, get them first to hear the songs as God, or at least Judee, intended them to be remembered. But if you are already a Sill fan, you'll want this record. While I prefer Heartfood's full-blown version of "The Donor," the solo version here also will infest your soul.


*Petey Wheatstraw - The Devil's Son in Law by Rudy Ray Moore (actually, Nat Dove & The Devils). When the Allmusic Guide says to "Avoid at all costs" a CD and I've kind of liked the audio clips I've heard from it, I have to take that as a challenge. Sure the theme song is a super disco-y, but hell ... This soundtrack is tons of fun. I just wish more old bluesmen got the Blaxploitation treatment. "They say Mississippi John Hurt is one bad mother ... HUSH Yo' MOUTH!" (In reality, this movie apparently has nothing to do with the actual bluesman Peetie Wheatstraw, whose real name was William Bunch. Bunch took his stage name from an African American legend of "the Devil's Son-in-law." ) Plus I might want to adopt the blues-soaked "Steve's Den" as some kind of theme song. Now I've gotta Netflix the movie.


*Foot Hill Stomp by Richard Johnston. Though not as powerful as his live performance (I just saw him earlier this month at the Thirsty Ear Festival in Santa Fe), this record by the one-man band from Beale Street, still is a hoot.

This album is loaded with tunes by R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. This might be the greatest Fat Possum album that's not on Fat Possum.

Here's a true case of saving the best til the last: The late Jessie Mae Hemphill joins Johnston on the final track "Chicken and Gravy."


*Good Bad Not Evil by The Black Lips. This Georgia band proudly is carrying the Nuggets torch. I first became acquainted with them earlier this year when I stumbled across Los Valientes Del Mondo Nuevo, a live album they recorded in a Tijuana nightclub.

This new one is a studio effort and it seems more solid, while not losing a bit of that Tijuana spirit. The BLs step back from their Count Five/Seeds/Swingin' Medallion fuzztone bop for a moment and actually play some decent cowpunk on the twisted country spoof "How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died."

*Conversations by Archie Shepp & Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio. This seven-song 1999 effort teams saxmaster Shepp with drummer El'Zabar's group (Ari Brown on piano and a little sax and bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut.)

Songs like "Revelations" and the opening Conversations 1" remind me of John Coltrane's classic quartet, the music going from brooding to celebratory. There's also some downhome vocals on "Big Fred" (the album is dedicated to the late bassist Fred Hopkins) and "Brother Malcolm," a joyful ode to Mr. X.

*Spike's Choice: The Desco Funk 45' Collection by various artists. Here's some fine samples of one of those soul revivals I wrote about a few weeks ago. I already had the four Lee Fields tracks. Besides Fields, a proud disciple of James Brown, a belter named Sharon Jones is one of the main draws to this album. She's got six tracks here, including the funky "Hook And Sling Meets The Funky Superfly (Part 1)."

The biggest surprise is Ravi Harris & The Prophets. The lead instrument here is the sitar. East Indian music never sounded so funky!

PLUS ...

* Keeper of the Secret - A Sampler of Dionysus Records Empire . This is a compilation from a cool little indie label based in Burbank that records garage, punk, soul, exotica, and even country. Nothing that has made me crave more, at least so far. (Except maybe the loopy "How to Keep Your Husband Happy" by The Comopolitans, which has a nice early B-52s sound). But it's great to be able to check out this stuff for free.

* African Roots by Various Artists - Frochot Music Yes, another FREE African Compilation from eMusic -- at least it was free earlier this month. Some of these sound almost like field recordings rather than the rock 'n' soul-soaked sounds of modern African dance music. There's lots of the kora and other acoustic instruments. The only name I recognize here is Saif Keita from Mali, who sings a mournful tune called "Mono." Things get more interesting with Bembeya Jazz National from Guinea in the early 1960s. Their song "Wisky Soda" sounds almost like early ska.