TRUE STORIES

So a good friend of mine sent me a link to this tacky conspiracy nutball video and it reminded me of "Puzzling Evidence" in True Stories. In looking for that scene on YouTube, I quickly realized that several scenes from that movie -- one of my favorites of the '80s --are available.

David Byrne said after the "soundtrack" alnum came out, he regretted not releasing a version with the actual actors singing their songs. Hey Dave, I've always liked that idea. It's not too late.

Here's a few of my favorites:



Here's the great Pops Staples as a Voodoo priest. (As you'll see, this was from the German version of the film)



And who can forget The Lying Woman, Santa Fe's own Jo Harvey Allen?

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, April 3, 2009
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
Viper of Melody by Wayne Hancock
A Fool Such as I by John Doe & The Sadies
Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young by Faron Young
Money Honey by Wanda Jackson
Hush Money by The Collins Kids
Repo Man by Ruthie & The Wranglers
Drugstore Truck-Driving Man by The Byrds
Oh You Pretty Woman by Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel
I'm Little But I'm Loud by Little Jimmy Dickens
Bottle of Wine by Deano Waco & The Meat Purveyors

The Fool by Robert Gordon & Link Wray
Somethin' in the Water by The Legendary Shack Shakers
Red Dog Cider by Andy Anderson
White Sport Coat by The Meat Puppets
They're Hangin' Me Tonight by Marty Robbins
The Shore by John Egenes
Blackjack David by Norman & Nancy Blake
Midnight Special by The Louvin Brothers
Merchant's Lunch by The Austin Lounge Lizards

Battle of Love/Out on the Highway by Mose McCormack
All You Can Cheat by Robbie Fulks
Drinkin' Town by Mike Neal
Texas Me by Delbert McClinton
Let's Invite Them Over by Southern Culture on the Skids
Hello Lola by The Sunshine Skiffle Band
What's That Taste Like Gravy by The King David Jug Band
Bring Back Storyville by Guy Davis

Lust Never Sleeps by Ronny Elliott & Rebekah Pulley
There Stands The Glass by Webb Pearce
Don't Make Me Pregnant by Tammy Faye Starlite
Take Me Back Again by Amber Digby
Live and Let Live by Gov. Jimmie Davis
Run 'em Off by Lefty Frizzell
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Mahalia Jackson
Hog of the Forsaken by Michael Hurley
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: MONK TIME AGAIN

(I'm a little late posting Tuneup this week. Hey I'm on vacation! Gimme a break!)

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 3, 2009

Think of Elvis crooning "Wooden Heart" with the puppets in G.I. Blues. Think of John Lennon rocking out with a toilet seat around his neck as he, Stu Suttcliffe, Pete Best, and the other Beatles entertained hopped-up, drunken sailors in various night spots along Hamburg's Reeperbahn.

Indeed, some strange rock 'n' roll hoodoo was cooking up in Germany in the early 1960s. And those with ears to hear realize that these cosmic forces, harnessed perhaps by U.S. military intelligence, culminated in an obscure but influential band called The Monks.

Though their lone "official" album Black Monk Time, was not released in the U.S. during the '60s, it became an archetypal cult classic — its praises sung by the likes of Jack White and The Fall's Mark E. Smith.

But it's available now. A company called Light in the Attic is re-releasing Black Monk Time and issuing a new compilation of lesser-known recordings called The Early Years, 1964-1965. Though you can't buy the CDs until April 14, you can listen to both HERE. (You have to register, but it's worth it.)

For those not familiar with the story of The Monks, the band was the product of the
U.S. Army. Gary Burger, David Havlicek (aka Dave Day), Larry Clark, Roger Johnston, and Eddie Shaw were American soldiers stationed at Geinhausen, east of Frankfurt. According to the Early Years liner notes, Burger originally was into country music, while Day was an "Elvis worshipper." The two guitarists started jamming together at the base's Army service club and eventually formed a band called The Torquays — named after an instrumental hit of the day by Raton, New Mexico's finest band, The Fireballs.

The Torquays were a fairly typical "beat band" of that period, performing a lot of covers by American rock and R & B groups. (A couple of their songs are on The Early Years — "There She Walks" and "Boys Are Boys," an early version of a tune that would appear in a radically different version on Black Monk Time.) They played mainly at Army dances and at Army-sponsored events to promote goodwill (in hospitals, old-folks' homes, etc.). Though nobody was getting rich, the Torquays gig was fun enough that even after they were discharged from the Army, they stuck around in Germany.

But then things started getting weird. The band changed its name. The guys got bizarre haircuts — shaving the top of their heads, leaving a monk-like fringe.

And, most important, they began seriously experimenting with their sound, writing songs based on primitive beats and minimalist lyrics. Clark's organ style alternated between medieval cathedral, roller rink, and the Tex-Mex-influenced style then in vogue with bands like The Sir Douglas Quintet and Question Mark & The Mysterians. Burger started fooling around with guitar feedback and fuzztone. And for reasons still unclear after four decades, Day traded his guitar for an electric banjo.

Some of the tunes sound like crazed polkas or travelogue music. "Hushie Pushie" from The Early Years sounds like a mutation of "Tiger Rag," except they sing "hushie pushie" instead of "hold that tiger."

This wasn't the Summer of Love for The Monks. Some of their song titles were punk-rock angry: "I Hate You" and "Shut Up."

No longer bound by military censorship, some Monks songs contained vague political rants. Take "Monk Time" (the version on Black Monk Time)

"You know, we don't like the Army. What Army? Who cares what Army? Why do you kill all those kids over in Vietnam? Mad Viet Cong. My brother died in Vietnam. James Bond, who is he? ... Pussy Galore is coming down, we like it! We don't like the atomic bomb."

More often, however, the lyrics were baby-talk simple. Sometimes, just nonsense chants: "Higgle-dy piggle-dy/Way down to heaven/Yeah!" or "Cuckoo, cuckoo/Who's got the cuckoo?/Now someone stole my cuckoo/And I wanna know who who."

And as strange and aggressive as the sound was, it somehow never sounded threatening, especially when Burger would introduce tunes like a brainumbling Down'? Well, come on Monks! Let's go!"

I, for one, do like "Love Tumbling Down." Instrumentally, the version on Black Monk Time is best, especially the crunching guitar effects Burger gets here. However, on The Early Years, the vocals sound more like a foreshadowing of the music of Ruben & The Jets. Plus, on that version you get the goofy intro.

Black Monk Time didn't do much on the European charts and didn't get released in the U.S. until the late '90s. The band recorded a couple of sides in 1967, the country-flavored but still loopy "Love Can Tame the Wild" and the gawdawful, fairy-fey generic folk-rock "He Went Down to the Sea." (Both are included in the reissue of Black Monk Time.) Shortly afterward, The Monks broke up, sparing the world any more crud like the latter song.

The Monks had a reunion in 1999 at New York's Cavestomp Festival. Since then, Day and Johnston have died. But as long as people keep discovering this timeless, primitive music, it'll always be Monk Time somewhere.

THE TERRIFYING FUTURE

A fellow political-reporter friend of mine sent me a link to this video, which seemed to freak him out.




I dunno. Somehow it reminded me of this:

# 8 PODCAST: SANTA FE OPRY FAVORITES VOL. 2

My latest podcast is ready for you to stream or download.

Santa Fe Opry Favorites Vol. 2 features more country music as the Good Lord intented for it to sound, in all its twisted roots and branches.

This show features several of New Mexico's best country/folk/hillbilly/roots-rock acts -- Kell Robertson, Mose McCormack, Hundred Year Flood, the late Rolf Cahn and the mysterious Jerry J. Nixon ... and lots more.

These are the kind of tunes I play on the Santa Fe Opry, every Friday at 10 pm (Mountain Time) on KSFR, Santa Fe Public Radio

CLICK HERE to download the podcast. (To save it, right click on the link and select "Save Target As.")

CLICK HERE to subscribe to my podcasts (there will be more in the future) and HERE to subscribe on iTunes.

You can play it on the little feedplayer below:



My cool BIG feed player is HERE.
Here's the play list:

Opening Theme: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Cool and Dark Inside by Kell Robertson
I Wanna Be Sedated by Two Tons of Steel
How Many Biscuits Can You Eat by Stringbean
Workin' For The Devil by Deano Waco & The Meat Purveyors
The Marriage Song by The Stumbleweeds
Beans and Make Believe by Mose McCormack

(Background music: Water Baby Boogie by Joe Maphis)
Grinding Wheel by Hundred Year Flood
Just Call Me Steven, I'm Leavin' by Cornell Hurd
Railroad Shuffle by Jerry J. Nixon
Umm Boy You're My Baby by Bill Johnson & The Dabblers
Hush Money by The Collins Kids
Stop Look and Listen by Patsy Cline
The Squid Jiggin' Ground by Peter Stampfel & The Bottle Caps

(Background music: Wednesday Night Waltz by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys)
Sweet Mary Alice by Possessed by Paul James
Hidin' in the Hills by Butch Hancock
They Don't Rob the Trains Anymore by Ronny Elliott
Special Love by Rolf Cahn
Closing Theme: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets