eMusic January

Here's a month's worth of downloads on my eMusic account.

* Daddy Rockin' Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos.  Never heard of Nolan Strong or The Diablos? Don't feel bad. I didn't either. I downloaded this because it has songs by The Dirtbombs, The Reigning Sound, The A-Bones, Andre Williams,  Lenny Kaye and many more greats.

And I wasn't disappointed.

A little historical backtracking here. After enjoying the various interpretations of songs by this mystery man, I learned that Strong, who died in 1977, was a Detroit doo-wop and R&B lord, who was on Fortune Records, the same label as Williams and the late Nathaniel Mayer.

 Strong was known mainly for a minor hit called "The Wind." This is one of those spooky quasi-mystical doo-wop ballads where the singer seemingly pours out his soul from some distant, barren edge of reality.

Mark Sultan covers it here as the opening number. He gives it a dramatic instrumental intro before slowing down to a crawl and delivering the song in a sad falsetto.

The Dirtbombs take on "Daddy Rockin' Strong," which basically is a fairly faithful rewrite of "Daddy Rolling Stone." This version is a tough garage-band take that makes me look forward to some new material from The Dirtbombs.

The Reigning Sound does a fine job on "Mind Over Matter." This one reminds me of Bob Seger's  classic "Ramblin', Gamblin' Man." Meawhile, The Hentchmen's take on "Mambo of Love" is nothing short of a hoot. Is this the birth of punk mambo?

Kaye, Patti Smith's longtime guitarist, does a slow, soulful and reverent interpretation of "I Wanna Know." Williams, backed by The A-Bones practically loves to death the song "The Way You Dog Me Around."

Honestly, there isn't a bad cut on this tribute. Hopefully someone will make available some of Strong's own music sometime soon.

* Crash the Party by Benny Joy. This is just the first of the multi-volume retrospective of this Florida rockabilly who never made it to the same stratosphere as Elvis, Jerry Lee and Gene Vincent.

But this joyful noise sounds like he had a lot of fun trying.

This 15-song set includes some of Joy's best-known songs -- "Spin the Bottle," "Crash the Party," and "Button Nose," (which seems based around the basic "Peter Gunn" riff). There are several demos of Joy alone with his guitar, and some soulful ballads like "I Remember Darling" and "We'll Meet Again."

Several teenage lust tunes here will take you straight to Riverdale High circa 1959. I'm talking about "Miss Bobbie Sox," "Steady With Betty" and especially "In Study Hall," which contains the immortal rhyme, "Her eyes were blue / Her hair was pretty too."

* Slaughterhouse by Ty Segall Band. This is one of three (!) albums the prolific Californian released this year. I like Slaughterhouse best because it’s the noisiest and the most relentlessly rocked out, though there’s enough melody to keep it interesting. It’s a wild and thrilling show from the first cut, and blah blah blah ...

Sound familiar? I wrote a little more about this album in Terrell's Tuneup not long ago.  Indeed, this was one of my top 10 albums of 2012. Check that out HERE. (And seriously, it gets better with each listen.)

Plus:

* "I Can't Get No Nookie" and "I Am the Japanese Sandman" from The Complete Deity Recordings by The Masked Marauders. No that's not Mick Jagger growling "I Can't Get No Nookie" here. And none of The Beatles really took part in "Japanese Sandman." This entire album, originally released in 1969, is based on a joke review by Greil Marcus (using the nom de spoof T.M. Christian) in Rolling Stone about a supposed bootleg of a supposed "supergroup" session that included Bob Dylan and various Beatles and Stones. Amazingly, many readers took the review serious. Marcus and Rolling Stone crony Landon Winner couldn't resist recruiting a Berkeley band,  Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band (which sounds more fake than "The Masked Marauders") to record some of the songs mentioned in the review. Most people just forgot about this silly lark, but whispers of the fabled supergroup apparently survived into the new millennium. The Masked Marauders actually got the Snopes treatment in 2007.

* And, (tipping my hand that the downloads listed my January eMusic post weren't really downloaded in January)  ... several Christmas songs! It seems like forever ago, but I nabbed "Christmas Tree on Fire" by Holly Golightly and "City of Christmas Ghosts" by Poly Styrene & Goldblade (both from A Damaged Christmas Gift for You) and "Papa Ain't No Santa Claus, Mama Ain't No Christmas Tree" by Butterbeans & Susie and "Santa's Helper" by Joe Poovey (both from a compilation called Papa Ain't No Santa Claus, Mama Ain't No Christmas Tree). I used all of these on the 2012 Big Enchilada Christmas Special.

In the Spirit of Porter, The Marty Stuart Show

Reading an article about Marty Stuart in Saving Country Music last night I learned that Marty has his own variety show on RFD-TV. (He's only had it since 2009, so I can't blame you if you say "Duh!")

Apparently the show is modeled after those great syndicated country music shows I grew up watching -- The Buck Owens Ranch, The Wilburn Brothers Show and of course The Porter Wagoner Show.

I checked Marty's list of guests and there are some impressive names from the world of classic country music -- Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels, Del McCoury, Earl Scruggs  and of course Marty's wife, Connie Smith -- plus lesser-known greats who never cracked the Nashville Country Industrial Complex like Deke Dickerson, Kentucky Headhunters,  Old Crow Medicine Show and Carolina Chocolate Drops.

I have Comcast cable these days. Comcast carries RFD-TV, but apparently it's a premium channel.
Fortunately, there's the magic of YouTube.

Check these out:

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 
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
Body Combat by The Black Lips
I Need Lunch by The Dead Boys
Ghostified by Persian Claws
Juicy Lucy by Lovestruck
Packed by Gotham City Mashers
She's Hit by The Birthday Party
Hang a Picture by Thee Oh Sees
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White by Marshmallow Overcoat

Satisfaction by Devo
Musicians Are Scum by Pere Ubu
Can Your Pussy Do The Dog by The Rockin' Guys
The Girl With the Exploding Dress by The Electric Mess
No Confidence by Simon Stokes
Love Fuzz by Ty Segall
Life on the Dole by The Molting Vultures
Pink Slip by Unband
Charlie Laine Ate by Brain by The Ruiners

Rock 'n' Soul Music by Country Joe & The Fish
Everything by Public Enemy featuring Gerald Albright and Sheila Brody
Body Snatcher by The Dynamites with Charles Walker
Snatch it Back and Hold it by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Tryin' to Get Next to You by Wiley & The Checkmates
Frog Man by King Khan & The Shrines
I Got High by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
You Don't Know What You Mean to a Lover Like Me by Lee Fields & The Sugarman 3
Bad Girl by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Mama Don't Like My Man by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

It's a Good Day Today by David Lynch
The Eraser by Night Beats
Hey Mr. Rain by The Velvet Undergruund
Mind Over Matter by Reigning Sound
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, Jan. 18 , 2013 
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
I Lie When I Drink by Dale Watson
From a Jack to a King by Cornell Hurd
Day Dreaming by Wanda Jackson
Corn Liquor Made a Fool of Me by The Bad Livers
Skip a Rope by The Kentucky Headhunters
In Your Wildest Dreams by The Reverend Horton Heat
The Deadening by Legendary Shack Shakers
Ding Dong by The World Famous Headliners
The Wreck of the Old 97 by Rhett Miller

Ring of Fire by Ronnie Dunn (with members of Mariachi Buenaventura)
Stay Away from the Cociane Train by Johnny Paycheck
The Savior by The Imperial Rooster
Hog-Tied Over You by Tennessee Ernie Ford & Ella Mae Morse
Man with the Gallows Eyes by The Chatham Singers
Little But I'm Loud by Rosie Flores
Southern Cannonball by Hank Snow
Dumb Blonde by Dolly Parton
Whoa Boy by Luke McDaniel

Alligator Chomp by Shooter Jennings with Tony Joe White
Ain't Living Long Like This by Waylon Jennings
Five Brothers by Marty Robbins
Riley's Got a Woman by Dr. Ruth & The Pleasure Seekers
Long Gone Lonesome Blues by The Grievous Angels
Jackson by Carolina Chocolate Drops
How Did the Young Man Lose His Leg by The Perch Creek Family Jug Band
Cotton Fields by Creedence Clearwater Revival
How Cold Hearted Can You Get by Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys

Precious Time by Broomdust Caravan
A Little Mo' Love by Chris O'Connell
California Cottonfields by Merle Haggard
Feeling Mortal by Kris Kristofferson
Dollar Dress by Jon Langford
Old Faded Memory by Rachel Brooke with Lonesome Wyatt
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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TERRELL'S TUNEUP: The Ones That Got Away (Almost)

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 18, 2013

Here’s a stack of albums released during 2012 that deserve notice — though I didn’t get around to reviewing them last year. Call these the ones that got away — almost. Some are several months old, but they aren’t quite ready for the proverbial dustbin of history.

* We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash. On April 20 last year, a small star-studded army of country and “Americana” (I still hate that label) musicians descended upon Austin to pay tribute to the late Man in Black in honor of his 80th year. This package includes a concert DVD and a CD of most of the performances. As is typical for all-star flusterclucks, this show had a few misfires. There’s an overly MOR take of “It Ain’t Me, Babe” by Shelby Lynne and Pat Monahan and a too-fragile “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Amy Lee. And while Johnny Cash could make Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” his own, Lucinda Williams falls way short.

Fortunately, there are many delights here. When I first read the credits I wondered about the wisdom of having Seattle singer Brandi Carlile do “Folsom Prison Blues,” but just a few seconds into it, it became obvious that she nailed it. The Carolina Chocolate Drops turn “Jackson” into a fiddle-and-banjo romp. Rhett Miller rocks “The Wreck of the Old 97,” the song that gave his band its name. Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon, sings with Amy Nelson, daughter of Willie, for a version of “Cocaine Blues” that is worthy of Cash’s own interpretation. Kris Kristofferson sounds like the tough old outlaw he is on “Big River.”

I was never a big fan of Brooks & Dunn, but Ronnie Dunn does a fine version of “Ring of Fire” here, backed by “friends from New Mexico,” a couple of trumpeters from Santa Fe’s favorite all-female mariachi band Mariachi Buenaventura. (The group backed Dunn a couple of years ago on his video for “How Far to Waco.”)

* World Famous Headliners. Former NRBQ guitarist and part-time Santa Fe resident Big Al Anderson has got himself a new band. Nobody who has followed Big Al’s work with NRBQ (dang, it’s been nearly 20 years since he left them) or his solo work will be surprised that the Headliners’ sound is nice and rootsy, with tasteful pop sensibilities. There are three guitarists in this outfit — Anderson, Shawn Camp (who co-wrote all the songs with Anderson), and Pat McLaughlin. All three sing. The album is loaded with good-time songs. One of my favorites is “Jukin’” — a funky, bluesy, countryish tune. The Headliners get shamelessly pretty on the soulful “Take Me Back,” which would have fit in on Anderson’s smoky After Hours album, while “I Bleed” sounds like a tune from Pet Sounds remade by Southerners. Anderson and company aren’t afraid to get just a little bit goofy on tunes like “Ding Dong” and “Party ‘Til the Money’s Gone.”


* Blues Funeral by Mark Lanegan. Even before the Screaming Trees broke up around the turn of the century, Ellensburg, Washington, singer Mark Lanegan had established himself as a solo artist known for moody, often morose songs. The ache in Lanegan’s weary voice is almost tangible. At his best, he can make Leonard Cohen sound like Bobby Sherman. Listening to a Lanegan album is like walking into a dark house at 4 a.m. that you think is empty — until you see the ominous glow of a cigarette on the other side of the room. “The Grave Digger’s Song” and “St. Louis Elegy” (featuring background vocals from his Gutter Twins colleague Greg Dulli) show Lanegan doing what he does best. But undoubtedly the biggest surprise on Blues Funeral is “Ode to Sad Disco.” With the loud relentless electronic drums and dark textured synths, Lanegan makes it sound like — you guessed it — a sad disco.

* The Backward Path by Dan Melchior. Melchior is an Englishman who was a major player in the Medway garage/punk scene that produced Billy Childish and Holly Golightly. (He’s worked with both of those artists.) In recent years he’s played with a hard-punching, blues-influenced band called Das Menace. There’s not much Menace in this low-key album. On most songs here he sounds more like Robyn Hitchcock than Childish. The best song is “I Have Known the Emptiness,” which features an acoustic guitar over a dreamlike electronic backdrop. “I have known the emptiness and I tried to love it/But it nearly bored me half to death,” Melchior deadpans. As much as I like it, I think it would sound even better with some Das Menace crunch and fire.

* Tall Tales by The Perch Creek Family Jug Band. Here are some Australian family values for you. This group isn’t lying by calling itself a family band. All but one member has the surname Hodgkins. Some of the band’s songs don’t really sound like jug-band music — sometimes they sound more like they were made by a bluegrass group or lightweight blues band. And sometimes the band reminds me of one of those goofy British skiffle groups of the 1950s with its earnest covers of American folk, jazz, blues, and country songs — everything from “Oh, Susanna” to “Minnie the Moocher.” But Perch Creek does have a jug player, not to mention “Australia’s top one-legged saw player.” That’s Christi Hodgkins, who is the subject of the original song “How Did the Young Man Lose His Leg.”