WACKY WEDNESDAY: Eat a Hot Dog!

I had this friend named Big Norm back in college. Sometimes he misunderstood lyrics to popular songs. Sometimes I think he did it on purpose. For instance, at the dawn of the disco scourge, Big Norm thought that the spoken refrain of Van McCoy's "Do the Hustle" was "Eat a Hot dog!"

Goofy, I know. But sometimes when I'm craving a good old American frankfurter, deep in my skull I hear Van McCoy's music and Big Norm's voice telling me what to do.

And sometimes I think of some of the great American songs about hot dogs posted below. Except some of these might not actually be about food, per se.

Let's kick it off with a rockabilly classic by one Corky Jones, which was a pseudonym for the one and only Buck Owens. (Back in the '50s, Buck tried to conceal his identity as not to offend his country fans. But by the end of the 80s he re-recorded this song under his own name and made it a title song of one of hi last studio albums.)




In the mid 1920s, Butterbeans & Susie always had hot dogs on their menu.



Bessie Smith had a similar idea a few years later.



Then there was Hasil Adkins



And this song by The Detroit Cobras practically could be the theme song for the American Wiener Institute.

The First Big Enchilada Podcast of 2016

Welcome to the first Big Enchilada podcast episode of 2016. We've all been working hard since the holidays, so let's just take a little break for some music. This is the most rocking show I've done in a while, And it might just be the first show in podcast history to have songs by Dead Moon and Tom Jones in the same episode!

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Here's the playlist:

(Background Music: Black Cat Strut by WaveSauce)
Way Down in the Hole by Compulsive Gamblers
Parchment Farm by Dead Moon
Prove Me Wrong by Thee Fine Lines
Drug Mugger by Ty Segal
Everything Went Black by The Phantom Scars
Burning Tread Baby by Left Wing Fascists

(Background Music: Song of The Nairobi Trio (Solfeggio) by The Fortune Tellers
I Wish You Would by Tom Jones 
Get Outa My Way by The Laughing Dogs
So Long Sanity by The Orange Iguanas
Insecticide by Downliners Sect
Sztos (Stroke) by Kazik & Kwartet ProForma
Nowheria by Bungalow Bums 
Saved by The Woggles

(Background Music: Tarzan's Monkey by The Apes)
A Glimpse of Another Time by Wild Billy Chyldish & CTMF
Little No More by The Hentchmen
Gotta Stop by Badass Mother Fuzzers
John Dillinger Blues by The Fugates
I Kiss You Dead by The Monsters
Blood River by King Mud

Play it below

BIG ENCHILADA 92: Hard at Work by Steve Terrell on Mixcloud

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 24, 2016
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

Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Burning Tread Baby by Left Wing Fascists

War Dancers by King Mud

Gotta Stop by Badass Mother Fuzzers

Across the River by Dead Cat Stimpy

Do The Clam by The Cramps

Make You Say Wow by Bob Log III

Sweet Poison Caladina by YVY

Rat's Revenge Part 1 by The Rats

Hot Fingers by Little Freddie King

Booty City by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

 

Shout Bama Lama by Benjamin Booker

Hey Sailor by Detroit Cobras

Chatterbox by New York Dolls

Little Blonde Girl by Any Dirty Party

Give Me Love by The Gories

Backstreet Girl by Social Distortion

New Day Risin' by Husker Du

Black Beard by The Universals

 

A Little Mixed Up by Koko Taylor

Nervous by Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim

Whistle Bait by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages

Golden Shower of Hits by The Circle Jerks

I See the Light by Reverend Beat Man

The Masks by Death

Call the Police by The Oblivions

Last Time I Saw Cole by Deadbolt

 

Hungover by Kady Bow

Love to Love by Miriam

Bowlegged Woman, Knock-Kneed Man Part 1 by Bobby Rush

C'mon Billy by PJ Harvey

The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow) by The Beach Boys

Life in Vain by Daniel Johnston

Curtain Falls by Bobby Darrin

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 22, 2016
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

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens

Pelican Bay by Peter Case

Church on a Saturday Night by Artie Hill & The Long Gone Daddies

Cry Baby Cry by Banditos

Looking at the World Through a Windshield by Bill Kirchen

A-11 by Johnny Paycheck

Evenin' Breeze by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks

Then I'll Be Movin' On by Mother Earth

A Passing Policeman by The Brothers Johnson

 

The Rubber Room by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole

Psycho by Jack Kittel

Committed to Parkview by Porter Wagoner

Nervous Breakdown by Whiskeytown

I'm Sorry by The Beaumonts

Knock Off Your Naggin' by Stonewall Jackson

Good BBQ by The Riptones

Precious Time by Broomdust Caravan

When I Was a Cowboy by Odetta

 

Katy Kay by Robbie Fulks

The Outcast by Tom Russell with Dave Van Ronk

Hello Stranger by Carolina Chocolate Drops

Two Sweethearts by The Carter Family

The Winding Stream by Roseanne Cash

I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Mother Maybelle Carter

Peace in the Valley by Orion

 

Samson by Greg Brown

Run 'em Off by Brennen Leigh

Needle and Thread by Eilen Jewell

Lost Highway by Sabah Habas Mustapha

Train of Life by Merle Haggard

Same God by Calamity Cubes

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 TUNE-UP: Orion Unmasked!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
January 22, 2015

The life of Jimmy Ellis of Orrville, Alabama, is one of the greatest oddball rock ’n’ roll stories of all time. You probably aren’t familiar with the name of Jimmy Ellis. How about his stage name — Orion? Not familiar with that either? Well, no matter. If you like true-life bizarre tales from the sleazy side of rock, you’ll enjoy the documentary Orion: The Man Who Would Be King. 

Ellis was born in 1945. He had an amazing gift — a singing voice nearly indistinguishable from that of Elvis Presley. But, as the movie by Jeanie Finlay explains, when Ellis moved to Los Angeles in the early ’70s to pursue a musical career, what he first saw as a blessing turned out to be a curse. No label of any size wanted to sign him precisely because he sounded so much like Elvis. 

At one point, after Presley died, Ellis released a single called “I’m Not Trying to Be Like Elvis” — but nobody was convinced. It was after this that things started getting strange.

A novelist named Gail Brewer-Giorgio had written a book about a Presleyesque singer called Orion who had faked his own death to escape the pressures of fame. She was looking for someone to sing Orion’s parts for a never-made movie version of her book. She met Ellis through a mutual friend.

Shelby Singleton got wind of the project and of the amazing singer Ellis. Singleton, a wheeling-dealing huckster on par with Col. Tom Parker himself, had purchased Sun Records — the company that launched Elvis’ career — from Sam Phillips. 

You want an album cover with good taste
or one that tastes good?

Singleton first had Ellis record a vocal track over an old Jerry Lee Lewis song, “Save the Last Dance for Me,” and released it as a single by "Jerry Lee Lewis & Friends." Similar duets came out on classic old Sun Records tracks by Carl Perkins and Charlie Rich — tracks that the real Elvis had nothing to do with. The way I see it, Singleton should have been arrested for desecrating historic monuments.

Then Brewer-Giorgio’s Orion came to life. Under Singleton’s direction, Ellis donned gaudy jumpsuits and colorful Lone Ranger-style masks and went on the road. His first album had a cartoon of Orion ascending from a casket, but that tasteful idea went out the window after retailers objected.

The album cover lifted text from the Orion novel (the documentary reveals that Brewer-Giorgio never got paid for it). Many gullible Elvis fans actually believed that Orion was the King in disguise. And the Singleton-era incarnation of Sun Records, of course, did nothing to discourage the strange belief.

At first Ellis basked in the dedication of his fans, which, according to the film, included a number of attractive females eager to offer themselves to the masked man. 

But as the record and concert ticket sales declined, he grew tired of the masquerade. In 1983, he tore off his mask, which proved to be a deal-breaker for Singleton. Sun Records dumped him, and Ellis’ career took a nose-dive. After trying a number of different names and personas, Ellis eventually went back to the mask. But the latter-day Orion failed to capture the old fire.

Finlay tells the story through interviews with Ellis’ friends, family (including Ellis’ son), side musicians, and others. Brewer-Giorgio gets a lot of time. She spent much of her career writing nonfiction books, pushing the idea that Presley, like her fictional Orion, faked his own death. If Finlay mentions this in the film, I must have missed it when I blinked.

Orion with Kiss

Best of all, there is generous live footage of Ellis/Orion performances. And there is a still photo of Orion with members of KISS. Apparently they performed on the same bill in Europe in the early ’80s.

Orion was a man haunted by hucksters. And unfortunately, Finlay engages in a little hucksterism of her own. Near the end of the film, she implies there might be a genetic reason Ellis sounded so much like Presley. Ellis was adopted, you see, and the only name for his father on his birth certificate was “Vernon,” just like … just like ... But mostly, Finlay brings real dignity to the life of a man who previously has been dismissed as merely a weird musical joke.

Orion: The Man Who Would Be King opens at the Jean Cocteau Cinema (418 Montezuma Ave., 505-466-5528) on Friday, Jan. 22.

Also recommended

There’s another cool music documentary opening in Santa Fe this week — The Winding Stream, directed by Beth Harrington. This one is the story of the Carter Family, that venerated clan from Virginia often credited as the originators of what has come to be known as country music. 

The bulk of the film focuses on the original group: A.P. Carter, his wife, Sara, and his sister-in-law Maybelle. No, the Carters didn’t invent country music, but they were the first hillbilly vocal group to achieve widespread popularity. And A.P.’s determination to collect and record the songs of the mountains helped ensure the endurance of this music.

Making a case for the importance of the Carter Family is not a major undertaking. Just on the strength of their most famous songs — “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” “Keep on the Sunny Side,” “Wildwood Flower,” and others — their reputation would be set in stone.

Harrington’s real task was making them seem human. Sara, the main singer of the original group, had a voice that seemed resigned and weary. Unlike the songs of their chief contemporary, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carters’ tunes rarely, if ever, show any humor. Photos of Sara and A.P. always remind me of Grant Wood’s American Gothic. (Maybelle Carter, who kept performing with her daughters for decades, including a stint with her son-in-law, Johnny Cash, never had a problem seeming warm and human.) 

Through interviews with various Carter descendants, Harrington brings warmth and depth to those stony icons, A.P. and Sara Carter. And that helps you appreciate the classic songs even more.

And the doc is full of wonderful music including archival footage plus more contemporary versions of Carter songs by the likes of George Jones, John Prine, Roseanne Cash, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Grey DeLisle & Murray Hammond and others.

Clutch Cargo

One quibble: There is little footage of the original Carters performing. Harrington tried to bring some of the songs to life by animating still photos. Unfortunately this process looks like some modern-day Clutch Cargo cartoon, more bizarre than illuminating.

The Winding Stream opens at The Screen (Santa Fe University of Art & Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive, 505-473-6494) on Friday, Jan. 22. 




Enjoy some videos:

Here is the official trailer for the Orion movie



Here is Jimmy Ellis' best-known pre-Orion hit





Here is the trailer for The Winding Stream




This duet featuring Anita Carter and Hank Williams is in the movie