Obama Sings the Blues

After three years of a terrible economy, I think even the most hardcore Republican would have to admit that President Obama knows something about the blues.

On Tuesday he joined an all-star blues band -- B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger -- at the White House for a verse of "Sweet Home Chicago."

It was a Black History Month concert honoring the Blues. Read about it HERE or HERE and check out the video below.




 

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012 
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(at)ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Little Mouth by Sleater-Kinney
Pepper Spray Boogie by The Compulsive Gamblers
Weekend by New Bomb Turks
Barely Homosapien by The Hives
Birth Day by Rocket from the Tombs
Freezer Burn by Edison Rocket Train
Repulse Me Baby by Mark Sultan
Love Me by The Phantom
Albuquerque Annie by The 99ers
It Gets a Little Red by '68 Comeback
Animal Husbandry by The Hickoids
Bucket O Blood by Big Boy Groves

Mojo Hannah by Andre Williams
Nightclub by Andre Williams & The Goldstars
Pink Champagne by Don & Dewy
Little Esther's Blues by Esther Phillips with The Johnny Otis Show
Freaking Out by Mondo Topless
Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days by Louis Prima & The Witnesses
Hard-Hearted Hannah by Ukulele Ike

Oldest Story in the World by The Plimsouls
The Price of Love by The Everly Brothers
Thunderbird ESQ by The Gories
When It Comes to You I've No More Dreams to Lose by The Lazy Cowgirls
Angry Hands by Manby's Head
Get Happy by Simon Stokes
White Rabbit by The Frontier Circus
Candy by Johnny Dowd
I'll Take Care of You by Gil Scott-Heron

Amos Moses by Primus
Don't Let Me Down by The Pornostuntman
Run Through the Jungle by The Gun Club
Tripped Out by Pierced Arrows
I Told a Secret by Delaney Davidson
Bleeding Muddy Water by Mark Lannegan
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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Calling All Freaks! This Big Enchilada Episode is for YOU!

Don't freak out. It's Happy Hour down at the corner Freak Bar. The beer is cold and the jukebox is blasting the freakishly superb sounds of Barrence Whitfield & The Savages, King Khan, The Reigning Sound, Ty Segall, The Manxx, Stomping Nick, The Hex Dispensers, The Lot Lizards and more. You don't have to be a pinhead to appreciate this episode. But it helps.

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Here's the playlist:
(Background music: The (New) Call of the Freaks by Luis Russell & His Orchestra)
Circus Freak by The Electric Prunes
Knock Me off My Feet by The King Khan Experience *
Hard Lessons by The Manxx
The More I Dream, The Sicker I Get by The Lot Lizards
Babblin' Brook by Andre Williams & The Goldstars
Wolf Bait by Henry Throne

(Background Music: Psychobilly Freakout by Rev. Horton Heat)
Freaking Out by Question Mark (Nigeria)
Anna by Rocket From the Tombs
My Ass is Shaking by Stomping Nick & His Blues Grenade
Ramblin' Rose by Barrence Whitfied & The Savages *
Party Crasher by Mark Sultan
Taxidermy Porno by The Hex Dispensers
Watching My Baby by The Reigning Sound *

(Background Music: Freakish Man Blues by George Hannah & Meade "Lux" Lewis)
Freakin' Out by Death
Cents by Ty Segall *
Black Leather Swamp Nazi by Peter Stampfel
At the Ruin of Others by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds
World of Freaks by Harry Perry

* Follow these links to find free album or live set downloads from the artist


Play it here:

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, Feb., 2012 
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

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Done Gone Crazy by Ray Condo & The Ricochets
Heavy Breathin' by Cornell Hurd
Worries on My Mind by The Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show
Humpty Dumpty World by Ry Cooder
Ain't No Diesel Trucks In Heaven by Bob Wayne
Jesse James by Whitey & Hogan
You're Humbuggin' Me by Ronnie Dawson
Harm's Way by The Waco Brothers
Ubangi Stomp by Carl Mann
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs by Homer & Jethro

Cowboy Dan by The Ditchbank Okies
Barstool Mountain by The Frontier Circus
I'll Tell You What to Do by Ronny Elliot & The Nationals
Dolores by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
Crazy Love by Trailer Bride
My Pretty Quadroon by Jerry Lee Lewis
Hippie in My House by Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
Working on a Building by The Bad Livers
You Better Not Do That by Tommy Collins

Put Your Cat Clothes on by Carl Perkins
Ship of Broken Dreams by Hank Penny
Restless Man Blues by The .357 String Band
Harry Glen Ludlum by Tom Irwin
On a Givin' Day by Jason Eklund
Julie's Neon Shoes by Blonde Boy Grunt & The Groans
The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band by Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys
Always Late (With Your Kisses) by Merle Haggard
Married Life Blues by Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus) by Drive-By Truckers

Pastures of Plenty of Cedar Hill Refugees
Colors of Night by Peter Case
Hangman by Marty Stuart
This Town Called Fate by Stan Ridgway
Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar by The Louvin Brothers
Green Green Grass Of Home by Ted Hawkins
Gone by Ferlin Husky
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Timeless Plimsouls

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Feb. 17, 2012


Two years after their last live album, the mighty Plimsouls are back with an even more powerful concert CD. Not bad for a group that broke up almost 30 years ago.

Even if you didn’t know anything about The Plimsouls, you would have a hard time believing that Beach Town Confidential was recorded just a couple of months ago, not in 1983.

Now what should you know about The Plimsouls?

They rose from the fires of the frenzied L.A. punk/New Wave scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Led by Peter Case, who had been in a punk group called The Nerves, and fortified by Eddie Muñoz on guitar, Dave Pahoa on bass, and drummer Louie Ramirez, they forged a sound that featured the guitar frenzy of their punk peers but sweetened it with irresistible melodic hooks. You could hear echoes of rock’s founding fathers, mid-’60s folk-rock, and sweaty soul.

The Plimsouls only released a couple of studio albums in their heyday, including their major-label debut, the over-produced but — hey, it was the ’80s — still worthy Everywhere at Once, which yielded the closest thing the band had to a hit, “A Million Miles Away.” They broke up in the mid-’80s when Case decided to pursue a solo career as an acoustic troubadour, which was a return to his roots as a street busker in San Francisco’s North Beach area.

But about every 10 years or so he reunites with the other Plimsouls for a few shows, most recently in 2006. (In 1996, they actually did a fresh studio album, the undeservedly out-of-print Kool Trash, which every true Plimsouls fan should demand to have re-released.)

There are a lot of similarities between Beach Town Confidential and Live! Beg, Borrow, Steal, the Plimsouls’ live record recorded in 1981 and released in 2010. Many of the songs are the same — “Zero Hour,” “Shaky City,” and, of course, “A Million Miles Away.”

Both have covers of Thee Midnighters’ “Jump, Jive, and Harmonize,” and both have desperately horny versions of their own classic “Now” (“Right now! I need your love tonight! I can’t wait any longer!”). Both contain a Bo Diddley song (a splendid “You Can’t Judge a Book” on Beach Town). And both have guest appearances by The Fleshtones’ Keith Streng. (On Beg, Borrow, Steal, all the Fleshtones joined The Plimsouls for a couple of songs. On Beach Town, Streng plays guitar on “Jumpin’ in the Night,” a Flamin’ Groovies tune.)

But the more recent album includes a lot of songs we haven’t heard before on live Plimsoul albums.

“Jumpin’” is just one of the rarities here. Another is “Who’s Gonna Break the Ice,” which — like the best Plimsouls songs — is as catchy as it is urgent. There is even a little-known Everly Brothers song called “The Price of Love.” Like the Everly Brothers, the Plimsouls play this as a bluesy stomp with prominent harmonica. Case pals Andrew and David Williams sing lead on this one, their brotherly harmonies evoking the Everlys.

Beach Town Confidential has the only live recordings of Plimsouls tunes “Magic Touch” and “Oldest Story in The World” — hearty rockers both — and “Hobo,” an instrumental Case dedicates to “all the surfers in the house.” (The show was at Huntington Beach. There probably were quite a few there.)

I think my favorite Plimsouls surprise here, though, is a punchy version of a Moby Grape song, “Fall on You.” All I can say is “Grape job!”

Case is about to embark on a tour with former Nerves bandmate Paul Collins. (They’re playing in Arizona and Texas, but seem to have forgotten about that state in the middle.) I’m hoping the response to Beach Town Confidential will be so great that he will do another Plimsouls reunion — and record a new Plimsouls album — in the near future.

Also recommended:

*  Everybody’s Rocking by The 99ers. This record has been out since early last year, but I just recently sunk my teeth into it. It’s the third record by a group that bills itself as a Minnesota punk/rockabilly/surf band.

Minnesota? Why not? One of their songs here, “Minnesota Sun,” is a rewrite of The Rivieras’ “California Sun.” (Come to think of it, last year, the title song of the collaboration between Mama Rosin and Hipbone Slim was “Louisiana Sun,” a Cajunized “California Sun.”

Since this album was released, the term “99ers” has taken on new political connotations. But don’t worry. You won’t hear any weird “human mike” chants or political polemics here. The band named itself after its favorite ice-cream dessert.

This album, on the Spinout label owned by Los Straitjackets’ Eddie Angel, is nothing but good, basic, happy rock ’n’ roll, grounded in Chuck Berry, colored by The Beach Boys, and pumped up by The Ramones. (One song here is called “Ramones Forever.” It’s a cover of a Shonen Knife tune immortalizing our beloved cretins from Queens.)

My two favorites are sung by Molly Holley — the frantic “Six Steps to Your Heart” (I can almost imagine The Plimsouls playing this one) and a sultry cover of a Brenda Lee rockabilly-tinged “Sweet Nothin’s.”

There’s a song here called “Albuquerque Annie,” about a woman who sings in a rockabilly band. It mentions Central Boulevard as well as the Tramway. But it’s not the first time The 99ers set a song in the Land of Enchantment. Their 2008 album, Stand Up and Surf, has a song called (I’m not kidding) “The Surf at Santa Fe.” (“So to my compadres in Minneapolis/Get yourself to N.M. if you’re in need of bliss,” British Steve Shannon sings.)  According to one source close to the band, Shannon is a frequent visitor to this state.

Update: 2-27-12 The previous version of  The 99ers section here had a couple of errors, including the identity of the New Mexico visitor and Eddie Angel's relationship with the album. The text has been corrected.

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