THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, Feb. 24, 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
Cheap Motels by Southern Culture on the Skids
Honky Tonk Queen by Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys
Jason Fleming by The Sadies with Neko Case
Chevy Beretta by Johnny Corndawg
Cold Neon Stare by Jason Arnold & The Stepsiders
Evil Hearted Me by Jody Reynolds
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud, Loud Music by Joe Maphis & Rose Lee
I've Got $5 and it's Saturday Night by George Jones & Gene Pitney
String's Mountain Dew by Stringbean
Let's Duet by Dewy Cox & Darlene

Old Home Place / Ball by Whiskey Shivers
Drunkard's Hiccups by J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers
Shout Little Lulie by Ralph Stanley
Nothin' Better to Do by Blonde Boy Grunt & The Groans
The Story of My Life by Big Al Dowling
Burnt Toast Mornin' by Jason Eklund
Kiss Of Death by Split Lip Rayfield

Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down by Uncle Tupelo
Hand of the Almighty by John R. Butler
In the Pines by The Louvin Brothers
Southern Family Anthem by Shooter Jennings
Oak Tree Hangin' by Gary Gorence
I'm Comin' Home by Elvis Presley
You're Drifting Away by Johnny Cash
My Brand of Blues by Bloodshot Bill
Rose Marie by Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
Show Them to Me by Rodney Carrington

River of Crystal by Roy Acuff
More Pretty Girls Than One by Doc & Merle Watson
Leavin' Home by Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Wronglers
Summer Wages by David Bromberg
When The Gypsies Camped on Prairie Creek by Tom Irwin
Who Takes Care Of The Caretaker’s Daughter? by Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards
No Cane on the Brazos by The Band
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: Andre's Still a Giant

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Feb. 24 2012



The last time I wrote about Andre Williams, I reported that he seemed to be slowing down. That’s an understandable thing for a guy who is 75 years old.

That assessment came from the fact that his latest album at the time, That’s All I Need, didn’t seem to have the fire of his previous efforts. But I think I probably spoke too soon.

Williams is releasing an impressive new album this week, Hoods and Shades. And that’s only a few weeks after a jumping little five-song EP, Nightclub, with a Chicago band called The Goldstars, came out.

Although he’s been in the music biz since the 1950s and wrote an actual hit — “Shake a Tail Feather,” covered by Ike & Tina Turner and James & Bobby Purify — Williams has never been a household name.

His is one of those terrible R & B years-in-the-darkness stories — obscurity, drugs, homelessness — that’s way too common. (Rest in peace, Howard Tate.) In the late ’90s Williams began his current incarnation as an underground indie rock elder statesman. He recorded for some of my favorite labels including Bloodshot, Norton, In the Red, and Pravda.

Williams’ albums are always fun, and Hoods and Shades is no exception. What’s exceptional about it is that it’s interesting on so many levels. The first thing you notice about Hoods is its cover, which resembles some blaxploitation movie poster. Williams is there, with his arms around a couple of gun-wielding babes against a backdrop of fiery explosions, skyscrapers, a police helicopter, hooded thugs, and some mean-looking guy in a fedora playing what appears to be a combination guitar/machine gun.

I’m not certain, but I’m thinking the latter is supposed to be guitarslinger Dennis Coffey. Coffey is best known as one of the Funk Brothers, that Detroit collective of studio cats who gave us the Motown sound.

He played on such Motown hits as “Runaway Child,” “Just My Imagination,” and “Cloud Nine” for The Temptations; “War” by Edwin Starr; and “What Does It Take to Win Your Love” by Junior Walker & The All Stars. He also played on non-Motown records including Funkadelic’s first album, Freda Payne’s song “Band of Gold,” and — best of all, in my book — “Who’s Making Love” by Johnny Taylor. In other words, he is one serious picker.

Indeed, it’s Coffey who most contributes to the unique sound of Hoods and Shades. But the rest of the musicians here aren’t exactly lightweights. Among them are Detroit producer and former Dirtbombs member Jim Diamond playing electric bass and Don Was on upright bass.

According to the publicity material for this project, Williams has referred to Hoods and Shades as his “folk album.” That’s probably because Coffey’s acoustic guitar-playing is prominent on many cuts. But the term folk is pretty misleading. This isn’t “Michael Row the Boat Ashore.”

Coffey and crew create a swampy sound to complement Williams’ vocals. This musical backdrop is a perfect fit for this collection of songs.

The opening song, an upbeat blues number called “Dirt,” is a new take on the basic dust-to-dust theme of Memphis Slim’s “Mother Earth.” Williams, taking the voice of a streetwise sage, chuckles before he starts singing, “It don’t matter how high we go/It don’t matter if it’s high or low/It don’t matter if we help or hurt/When it all boils down, we just dirt.”

There are a couple of lengthy story songs here that I suspect will be the main things most fans will remember about this album. There’s the atmospheric title song, in which Williams relates a number of terrifying descriptions of violence and poverty in a landscape haunted by young thugs hiding hardened faces behind hoods and sunglasses. The background music is a low-key acoustic blues shuffle with Coffey’s electric guitar providing a distant, desperate sounding response.

Then there’s a funny shaggy “Dogg” story called “Swamp Dogg’s Hot Spot.” Yes, the hero of this tale is none other than soul singer Jerry Williams, aka Swamp Dogg. Somehow I don’t think this story is really true. I’m not sure whether Swamp and Williams really met in “the county jail” like the song says, but I’m pretty sure that Andre Williams never got popped for “selling bootleg CDs.” (In real life, Swamp produced a 1990 Williams album, Directly From the Streets.)

My personal favorite on Hoods is a dandy new version of an old song Williams co-wrote, “Mojo Hannah.” This has been recorded by Esther Phillips, Aaron Neville, Marvin Gaye, and an underrated New Orleans singer named Tami Lynn. Williams doesn’t have the voice of any of those, but his knowing rasp does the song justice.

Nightclub is more typical of what Williams fans have come to expect in recent years. The Goldstars is a fine band playing at the intersection of garage rock and soul music. The group even did a high-energy cover of Williams’ song “Agile, Mobile, and Hostile” a few years ago. And recently The Goldstars has been Williams’ touring band.

Williams has been paired with many bands on recordings in recent years. But with The Goldstars, there’s a real chemistry that’s not always apparent with other backup bands.

My favorites here are “Hot Coffee,” a tight rocker in which Williams sounds like an unholy combination of sex maniac and caffeine fiend, and “Babblin’ Brook,” about a female companion who won’t shut up.

My only complaint about the E.P. is that it’s an E.P. and not a full-length album. I hope that’s something on Williams’ to-do list.

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: