Here is a bunch of songs by TV stars who probably wish they'd never sung them.
Let's start with Burt Ward, who portrayed Robin on Batman in the mid '60s. The song "Boy Wonder I Love You" is fairly typical '60s teen idol dreck. But it's teen idol dreck written and arranged by Frank Zappa! Plus, some of Zappa's original Mothers of Invention, including my late pal Jimmy Carl Black, played on the record.
They had incredibly long, scraggly hair, and clothes that appeared not to have been washed in this century if ever. These were musicians who became famous for tearing up furniture, their speakers, their microphones and even their expensive guitars onstage. They were maniacs! ... Their fearless leader and king of grubbiness was the late Frank Zappa. (The full name of the band was Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.) After recording with me, Frank became an internationally recognized cult superstar, which was understandable; after working with me, the only place Frank could go was up.
The following video proves him right
Perhaps the greatest TV news anchor to never exist was Ted Baxter, portrayed on The Mary Tyler Moore Show by Ted Knight. Here's an ode from Ted to another television journalist Barbara Walters from his 1975 novelty album Hi Guys. I'm still searching for the restraining order Walters surely filed after hearing this.
And in this clip from NBC's Hullabaloo, (a music show I watched back in the mid '60s even though it was hopelessly inferior to ABC's Shindig) Michael Landon -- Little Joe on Bonanza -- does the Freddie with Peter & Gordon
Sunday, Aug. 7, 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
When the Lights Go Out by Jimmy Witherspoon
Richard Speck by The Chesterfield Kings
Swollen Colon Lament by Figures of Light
Waste of Time by The Cynics
Big Ass on Fire by Pocket FishRmen
Casn't Judge a Book by Thee Headcoats
Things Could Change by Rock 'n' Roll Monkey & The Robots
Night of Two Moons by Digger & The Pussycats
Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance by The Mothers of Invention
Graveyard Boogie by Cawama
Hot and Nasty by Eddie Spaghetti & Brian Venable
Bloodstains on the Wall by Honeyboy
Bloodstained Carpet by Dino's Boys
Destroy All Music by The Weirdos
Drunk Town by The Devils
Mornin' Noon and Night by Daddy Long Legs
Constant Pain by Pussy Galore
God of Thunder by Quintron & Miss Pussycat
How to Fake a Lunar Landing by Alien Space Kitchen
Full Moon in the Daylight Sky by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Heartbreak in the First Degree by The Soulphonics
Do the Primal Thing by NRBQ
I Can't Control Myself by The Ramones
Mixed Bizness by Beck
Pockets by Sulphur City
Mr. Good Enough by JJ & The Real Jerks
Shakin' Street by The MC5
Dirty Old Man by The Sonics
Warlord of the Royal Crocodiles by Tyrannosaurus Rex
Naapusissa by The Shangri Blahs
The Big Break by Richard Berry
Kremlin Dogs by Gregg Turner
Hey Yah by Richard Cheese
You Must Be Be a Witch by Dead Moon
Up the Dumper by The Melvins
Girl from the North by Dengue Fever
Night of the Lotus Eaters by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Kiss by Judee Sill
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, Aug. 5, 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
Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child by Mojo Nixon
TTT Gas by The Gourds
Longer by Lydia Loveless
When I Steal by Ruby Dee & The Snakehanders
Be My Ball and Chain by Brennen Lee & Noel McKay
Three Diamond Rings by Trailer Radio
Cowboy Song by Slackeye Slim
Boots and Spurs by Kyle Martin
Dangerous Nan McGrew by Helen Kane
Another Brick in the Wall by Luther Wright & The Wrongs
Gin & Tonic by Joe West
Lotta Lotta Women by Robbie Fulks
Never Be Again by Ugly Valley Boys
Put Your Teeth Up on the Window Sill by Southern Culture on the Skids
Pig Fork by The Imperial Rooster
Gold by The Handsome Family
Under the Jail by Mose McCormack
Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain / Mother's Best ad by Hank Williams
Bonapart's Retreat by Audrey Williams
You Flopped When You Got Me Alone by June Carter
Don't Ya Tell Henry by Bob Dylan & The Band
The Devil Ain't Lazy by Asleep at the Wheel with The Blind Boys of Alabama
Sweet Georgia Brown by The Western Flyers
One More Night Alone by Dan Whitaker & The Sidebenders
Making Believe by Wanda Jackson
Poor Don't Vote by Paul Burch
Hickory Wind by Bob Mould & Vic Chesnutt
It Comes to Me Naturally by NRBQ
Take These Chains from My Heart by Merle Haggard
Scrapyard Lullabye by Chris Whitley
Tell Me Why I Do by Dex Romweber
Rye Whiskey by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
(Out on the Streets) Junk is Still King by Gary Heffern CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Aug. 5, 2016
Decades before the issue of musicians “selling out” and shilling for corporate products became a subject of serious handwringing among the deep thinkers of rock ’n’ roll, Southern flour mills were bankrolling radio shows that popularized their products as well as major country and blues artists.
The Martha White company was sponsoring The Grand Ole Opry — with a cool jingle by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs — while King Biscuit Flour was bankrolling Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio show in Helena, Arkansas.
Even Hank Williams had a corporate sugar daddy — or more accurately a flour daddy — in a Decatur, Alabama, mill called Mother’s Best Flour Company.
In 1951, the company sponsored a weekday morning at WSM in Nashville starring Hank and his Drifting Cowboys. More than 15 hours of these shows are available on a 15-CD box set called The Complete Mother’s Best Collection ... Plus! reissued last month in different packaging than the original 2010 edition.
Here you’ll hear Hank and his band singing songs, cutting up between numbers and sometimes even screwing up. At one point Hank says he’s going to perform “I Saw the Light” but instead starts singing a different song. Hank stops the song, saying “Now which one am I singing? I wrote so many of ’em to the same tune I don’t know which one I’m started off on …”
You’ll hear Hank singing some of his best-known hits — there are three different versions of “Move it On Over,” four of “Cold, Cold Heart,” etc. — novelty songs, cover songs, a plethora of gospel songs, instrumentals by the Drifting Cowboys — and 30-some songs by Miss Audrey.
Mr. and Mrs. Hank Williams
Ah, Miss Audrey!
Audrey Williams was a beautiful woman and a muse for some of her husband’s greatest songs. (She divorced Williams in 1952.) But she had a voice that could peel paint. I wonder how many sales of Mother’s Best Flour were lost by music lovers turning the dial when her off-key voice came over the airwaves.
She does some dandy humorous songs like “Four Flusher” and “Model T Love.” June Carter would have killed with these songs. But Audrey just made them painful. They should have let Big Bill Lister, Hank’s rhythm guitarist and opening act, do these numbers. (Lister has only one solo track here, a funny talking song called “Foolish Questions.”)
My favorite songs here are Hank’s versions of country classics made famous by others. Among these are Moon Mullican’s “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone,” Roy Acuff’s “Low and Lonely,” Bob Nolan’s “Cool Water,” and a Fred Rose song Willie Nelson made famous more than 20 years after Hank died, “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain.”
Hank’s version has a verse that Willie didn’t use, probably because it didn’t fit in with the story he was telling on his album Red Headed Stranger:
“Now my hair has turned to silver/All my life I’ve loved in vain/I can see her star in heaven/Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain.”
Trouble ahead, lady in red
There’s a genuine Hank Williams oddity here. “Stars in Her Eyes” is a 14-minute musical melodrama about venereal disease in which Hank narrates and sings little snippets.
This wasn’t sponsored by Mother’s Best. It was a part of a U.S. Public Health Service project to reach Southerners about the dangers of VD. None other than the renowned folklorist Alan Lomax helped the government line up singers like Roy Acuff, Woody Guthrie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and, yes, Hank Williams, to star in musical public service announcements. (There is a cool podcast by WNYC about that HERE.)
Hank’s contribution to this effort was the story of Joe and Lena, a young couple. He goes through their entire tedious courtship and their marriage, aided by a handful of uncredited actors who sound like rejects from radio soap operas. The woman who plays Lena is especially overwrought.
My favorite part is the last scene in which Lena begs forgiveness for giving Joe the clap. Joe gives a classic 1950s manly reply: “Let’s not talk about it. Not now. Not ever.”
At the recommended retail price of $129, it’s fair to say this box set is for Hank Williams completists only. And there are problems beyond the hefty price tag.
The introductions and closings of all the individual programs — there are nearly three hours of these when you add them up — are extremely repetitive. And so are the plugs for Mother’s Best that follow nearly every song. While charming at first, these start getting old fairly quickly.
Despite these flaws, this box set will give a listener a deeper insight into the personality and the musical grasp of one of the true giants of American music.
For those who just want the music, there was a fantastic 2008 three-disc box called The Unreleased Recordings that features 55 Hank songs — just the songs, and no Audrey solos — from the Mother’s Best sessions. It’s out of print, but you can find it for a reasonable price online.
Robbie Fulks in Los Alamos: It was only a few weeks ago in this very column that I was raving about Robbie Fulks’ latest record, his “seemingly subdued, but actually powerful acoustic album Upland Stories,” and how 20 years after his recording debut, Fulks continues to grow as an artist.
You can see for yourself whether I was correct. Fulks is playing at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5, at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos as part of Russ Gordon’s free summer concert series. Yes, I said free! Bring your own lawn chairs.
Video Time!
These videos, of course are brought to you by Mother's Best Flour
Until very recently I believed that Helen Kane was the actual voice of Betty Boop.
But just a couple of months ago after writing a column about Cyndi Lauper, a diligent editor showed me the error of my ways. (Thanks, Molly B!)
So no, Helen Kane was not Betty Boop. But when you listen to her songs, you can see how one can make that assumption.
Kane was born Helen Claire Schroeder Aug. 4, 1904 in the Bronx. She started her entertainment career in Vaudeville and by the late 1920s she was making records as well as movies.
And yes, her "boop boop a doop" had become her trademark by this time.
Betty Boop didn't make her debut until 1930. Her face resembled Kane's. But even more so, Betty's voice (provided through the years by at least three actresses, Margie Hine, Mae Questel and Bonnie Poe) resembled Kane's
Cane sued Max Fleischer Studios in 1932, claiming the company had appropriated her vocal style. The case dragged on for more than two years and eventually Kane lost.
We all love Betty Boop but Kane, who died in 1966, deserves love too.
So let's celebrate her music on her 112th birthday.
Cyndi Lauper made this song famous.
But the first song of Kane's I ever heard was this one.
And here's where I first heard that song:
And for those who really want to Boop out, here's a collection of her songs from the Internet Archive
Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr., better known in the free world as Mojo Nixon turned 59 years old yesterday.
Happy birthday, Mojo!
Mojo doesn't perform music that much these days. For the past several years he's done a weekday radio show called The Loon in the Afternoon for Sirus XM's Outlaw Country station.
But his songs are immortal.
Though he's best known for such classics as "Don Henley Must Die," "Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child," and of course "Elvis is Everywhere" -- the song that made me a lifelong fan -- today I honor Mojo with a bunch of less familiar songs.
Let's start with this clip from 1989 -- which was around the first time I ever heard Mojo live -- Here he sounds like a one-man redneck Velvet Underground.
Truly he was the King of Sleaze.
From the early '90s, Mojo & The Toadlickers sing "Poontango"
Here is a live performance from earlier this year in which Mojo discusses current events and politics. I can hear the influence of Wesley Willis in this one.
And speaking of politics, back in 1990, Mojo was a guest on CNN's Crossfire where he did battle with Pat Buchanan (who used to work for another Nixon) and some Junior League Tipper Gore over the evils of rock 'n' roll and the need for mandatory labeling of dirty, perverted, violent, Satanic records.
(If you're a masochist, the rest of Mojo's Crossfire appearance can be found HERE and HERE.
Sunday, July 31, 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
Rats in My Kitchen by The Fleshtones
Fall on You by The Plimsouls
Knee High by Dino's Boys
Better to Be Lucky Than Good by The Electric Mess
Night of the Sadist by Larry & The Blue Notes
Animal by Knoll Allen & The Noble Savages The Striker by The Giant Robots Bless You by The Devil Dogs
We'll Be Together by The Pretty Things
Manic Romantics by Soulphonics Cha Cha Cha Chewy by Jonny Manak & The Depressives Skinny Jimmy by The Del Moroccos
If a Man Answers by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
The Sky is a Poisonous Garden by Concrete Blonde
Shotgun Shooter by GØGGS
Bloody Hammer by Roky Erickson & The Aliens
Spooks by Ghost Bikini
El Sadistico by Deadbolt
No Novelty by Nots
Andres by L7
Moonlight Motel by The Gun Club
Crawl Through Your Hair by New Mystery Girl
Alien Agenda by Alien Space Kitchen
Big Black Hole by The Oblivians Celebration Number One by The Night Beats
Yona's Blues by The Come n' Go Louie Louie by The Flamin' Groovies
Shattered by The Good Feelings
You Got the Love by The Cynics Wild Little Rider by The Bloodhounds
High John the Conquerer by Gogol Bordella
Russian Lullaby by Pierre Omer's Swing Revue
Zycie Jest Piekne by Kult
Reckless Heart by Johnny Rawls
Muriel by Eleni Mandell
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 29, 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
Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum
The One That Got Away by Legendary Shack Shakers
Hard Travelin' by Tim Timebomb
It's All Over But the Crying by Jan Howard
Sloppy Drunk Blues by Devil in a Woodpile
Cornbread and 'Lasses and Sassafrass Tea by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
I Got Nothing by Don Whitaker & The Shinebenders
Skip a Rope by Dallas Wayne
Don't Fall in Love WIth a Girl Like That by The Boxcars
Buffalo Gals by J. Michael Combs
Anything Goes at a Rooster Show by The Imperial Rooster
Don't Shoot by Kyle Martin
I Don't Claim to Be an Angel by Laura Cantrell
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter by The Western Flyers
Rubber Room by Frontier Circus
Dolores by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
Railroad Lady by Jerry Jeff Walker
Jimmy Jack's Diner by Trailer Radio
The Marching Hippies by Guy Drake
Never Come Home / Cocktails by Robbie Fulks
Do You Know How It Feels to Be Lonely by Carla Olson
Begging for a Bullet by Dean Miller
Win-Win Situation for Losers by Dave Insley
Roarin' by Gary Stewart
One Meat Ball by Josh White
Number One With a Bullet by Freakwater
The Pilgrim Chapter 38 by Kris Kristofferson
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends by Joan Osborne
Watching the River Go By by John Hartford
Thy Burdens are Greater Than Mine by Hank Williams
For years I've been fascinated by a song that I just always assumed was an Old
West cowboy song, the song that might be sung out on the range, or by Miss
Kitty's prettiest showgirls at the Long Branch Saloon.
"Buffalo Gals."
I always assumed there was something going on beneath the lyrics about dancing
with the girl with the hole in her stocking. Something spooky and mystical and
sexy.
Recently while reading about "Buffalo Gals" on the Library of Congress
Folklife Todayblog, a commenter named Joe Ward described exactly what I thought the song was
about:
It may have been a cleaned up account, but when I was a child in Texas I
was told that it was based on an old cowboy legend that on moonlit nights on
the prairie, sometimes the spirits of sleeping buffalo would emerge in the
form of beautiful young girls and dance in the moonlight.
I imagined it as an invocation, with the horny old cowpoke singing it trying to
conjure up his own buffalo gal, who I'm sure would snort, kick up a lot of dust
and, uh, dance by the light of the moon. But there's good evidence that "Buffalo Gals" didn't start out as a cowboy
song. And that article in Folklife Today, written by
Stephanie Hall suggests that originally the Buffalo gals might have just been girls from
Buffalo, N.Y.
Hall writes:
"Buffalo Girls" became the title of a 1990 Larry McMurtry novel about
Calamity Jane
... the origin of this song is often given as having been composed by the
minstrel show performer John Hodges under his stage name “Cool White” in
1844. The lyrics are somewhat different, as shown by the title: “Lubly Fan
Will You Cum Out To Night?” [sic] (Lubly Fan is Lovely Fanny). It is an
early example of a song sung by a white man who performed in black face
using a mock African American dialect. Just one year later another white
group who performed in black face, The Ethiopian Serenaders, published sheet
music for “Philadelphia Gals,” (1845) with similar lyrics and no attribution
for a composer or lyricist. ... The Ethiopian Serenaders published another version, “Buffalo Gals”
(presumably for Buffalo, New York), also unattributed. This is the first
sheet music version of the song as it is most familiar to us today.
Hall, however, raises the possibility that the song could have existed long
before it was published.
"Folk songs and minstrel show songs were often in oral circulation long
before they appeared in published form, so first publication is not
necessarily a reliable indication of a song’s age or the composer. It was
not uncommon for the person who first transcribed a song to claim
authorship, especially in the nineteenth century. ... Versions of the song
may even have existed in oral tradition before “Lubly Fan” or “Buffalo Gals”
appeared on minstrel stages.
Hall found what might be a version of the song in the guise of a fiddle song
found in Virginia and West Virginia called "Round Town Gals" circa 1839. You can
find a version of that
HERE.
After the song was published in the mid 1840s, it began to travel around the
country. Sometimes the title would be changed to match the locale in which it
was being played. But "Buffalo Gals" began to stick.
"Who are those buffalo gals?" Hall wrote. "The bison is a symbol of America,
especially the American west. As the song takes on new life, the `gals' may be
women of the west, pioneers, cowgirls, or perhaps fancy women."
Or maybe even the spirits of wild animals who take human form to dance by the
light of the moon.
Below are some worthy versions of "Buffalo Gals."
Woody Guthrie was not the first to record it, but he captured the spirit. His
"Buffalo Gals is a drunken square dance.
Springsteen put some rock 'n' roll in it.
Former Santa Fe resident Eliza Gilkyson played with the lyrics and made it her
own.
And, of course, Malcolm McLaren went crazy with it.
OK, the Republican National Convention last week and the Democratic National Convention this week got me scouring YouTube for weird old campaign songs. But late Tuesday night, my brother Jack turned me on this guy's version of a real 1960 campaign song for Richard Nixon.
Brian Dewan is an artist, musician and furniture maker -- and apparently a fan of strange campaign songs -- from Catskill, N.Y.
Don't ask me when these songs were recorded. They were uploaded on YouTube in 2006, but other than that I can't find a clue.
Here's his version of that Nixon tune.
This stirring ode to Jimmy Carter actually was a song-poem. I posted the original version by Gene Marshall HERElast year.
And this one was ripped from the pages of Mad Magazine circa 1972.
Hopefully Dewan will be covering this song, which has been floating around the Internet the last few days.
Rat on! Here is the the July episode of The Big Enchilada Podcast, a rodent-infested sewer of sounds featuring Barrence Whitfield, The Fleshtones, The Gories, Bloodshot Bill, King Salami and Jack Oblivian, plus new tunes by The Nots and Ty Segal's new band GØGGS. You’re in the rat place at the rat time.
Sunday, July 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
Just My Kind by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Psilocybic Mind by The Marshallow Overcoat
I Object by Sex Hogs II
We Don't Care by The Molting Vultures
She Got Harder by GØGGS
We Who Wait by Jay Retard
Cult Casulty by Messkimos
Garbage Man by The Cramps
Inherently Low by Nots
I'm a Loner by The Jaybees
Banana Splits Theme The Dickies
Puzzlin' Evidence by Talking Heads
Circuit Breaker by The Pastels
Shut Up by The Monks
King's Highway by Sulfer City
Hard Drivin' Man by J. Geils Band
Meet Me at the Graveyard by Andres Williams
Raw Power by Iggy & The Stooges
Took My Lady to Dinner by King Khan & The Shrines
Misery by The Devils
It's the Law by Bob Logg III
Zombie Blocked by Left Lane Cruiser
The Trip of Kambo by O Lenadario Chucrobillyman
Junk Train by Lonesome Shack
Bag of Bones by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Barbed Times by The Blues Against Youth
Tiger Man by John Schooley
Back it Up by King Mud
Shackin' Up by Daddy Longlegs
Clown of the Town by Reverend Beat-Man
Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes by The Raunch Hands
Shepherds of the Nation by The Kinks
Cheryl's Going Home by Miriam
Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Mark Lanegan
What Kind of Fool Am I? by Sammy Davis, Jr. CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 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
Building Our Own Prison by The Waco Brothers
All You Fascists by Billy Bragg & Wilco
Old Man Trump by Ryan Harvey with Ani DiFranco & Tom Morello
Where's the Money by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Waitress, Waitress by Little Jimmy Dickens
Pretty Little Kitty by Ruby Dee & The Snake Handlers
Booze is Good by Dan Whitaker & The Shinebenders
Too Much of Nothing by Bob Dylan & The Band
World's in a Bad Condition by Dave & Phil Alvin
Fruit of the Vine by Nancy Apple
I'm a Ramblin' Man by Waylon Jennings
All American Girl by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
Dallas Alice by Doug Sahm
Be Real by The Bottle Rockets
Pool Cue by Two Tons of Steel
I Told Her Lies by Robbie Fulks
Hippie from Mississippi by Chesney Carroll
Elvis is Everywhere by The Pleasure Barons
Secret Mountain by Legendary Shack Shakers
What You Gonna Do, Leroy by Brennen Leigh
If You Got the Culo, I Got the Burro by Kyle Martin
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican July 22, 2016
Left Lane Cruiser's Skiddley Bow
Decades ago Muddy Waters proclaimed, “The blues had a baby and they named it rock ’n’ roll.” I wonder if Muddy knew that well into the 21st century, the bastard offspring of that unholy union would keep coming.
What follows are recent releases from blues-rock bands that could be classified as “punk blues,” though let’s not get too hung up on labels.
Unlike the blues rockers of the 1960s and ’70s, who worshipped at the altar of Chicago blues stars like Muddy, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson, these newer groups are more influenced by the primitive Mississippi Hill Country Fat Possum Records roster of the early to mid-’90s (R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, Paul “Wine” Jones).
In fact, a friend of mine who caught Lonesome Shack at the Mine Shaft Tavern told me they’re the closest thing to the late Junior Kimbrough he’s heard in years.
* The Switcher by Lonesome Shack. This trio is based in Seattle, but their roots are in New Mexico.
Singer/guitarist Ben Todd spent part of his youth in Silver City and Albuquerque. His mom still lives in Deming. In the early part of this century, he and his girlfriend moved to a trailer in a remote part of Catron County, near Alma, N.M. Todd built a little shed he dubbed “Lonesome Shack” (after a Memphis Minnie song), where he could practice guitar and write songs without driving his girlfriend nuts.
Todd wrote all the songs here except an old gospel shouter called “Safety Zone” (best known in recent years for its version by The Fairfield Four). With Todd’s guitar and vocals out front, Lonesome Shack can get rough and rowdy on songs like “Diamond Man,” “Mushin’ Dog,” and “Chemicals.” But they aren’t as hard-driving as many of their punk blues peers. Lonesome Shack is a little more subtle on slow burners like the spooky “Dirty Traveler” and the almost noirish “Blood.”
* Sin, You Sinners! by The Devils. This is an Italian duo — guitar man Gianni Vessella and singer/drummer Erica Toraldo — that plays a hopped-up, explosive, hellfire version of the blues that owes more to crazed punk rock than it does to Hound Dog Taylor. Naming themselves after a classic 1971 Ken Russell movie about a priest who is executed for witchcraft, The Devils perform dressed as a priest and a nun and play songs with titles like “Coitus Interruptus (From a Priest)” — check YouTube for the wild and wonderful video of this one — “Shaking Satan’s Balls,” “Hell’s Gate,” and “Azazel.” No wonder they caught the attention of Reverend Beat-Man of Voodoo Rhythm Records. I believe they attend the same church.
The Devils are relentless. One song is more thunderous than the last. Currently my favorites are “Magic Sam” (I’m assuming this is a tribute to the late Chicago bluesman, who died of a heart attack in 1969 at the age of thirty-two) and, even though it’s barely more than a minute long, “Puppy Nun,” a joyful little rager that opens the album. All in all, Sin, You Sinners! is a blasphemous blast.
* Beck in Black by Left Lane Cruiser. LLC is a leading light of contemporary punk blues, with Freddy “Joe” Evans IV on slide guitar and vocals and, up to a couple of years ago, Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck on drums. (When I saw them in Austin in 2014, they also had a bass player who made wild noises on a crazy homemade electric instrument fashioned from an old skateboard and a beer bottle.)
This is a strange odds-and-sods album of songs selected by Beck. It’s mostly remastered tracks from the band’s earlier albums, although six of the 14 songs have never been released before.
Among these are “The Pusher,” an anti-hard-drug anthem written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by Steppenwolf back in the late ’60s. Despite being a Steppenwolf fan, I didn’t immediately recognize it until well into the first verse. LLC plays it nice and bluesy. The lyrics are probably more relevant today than they were in 1968.
Another song here with a history is “Chevrolet,” written by Ed and Lonnie Young but based on a 1930 song called “Can I Do It for You?” by Memphis Minnie (her again!) and Kansas Joe and covered by all sorts of acts, from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band (with vocals by Maria Muldaur), Donovan (who renamed it “Hey Gyp [Dig the Slowness]” and took songwriting credits) and, best of all, The Animals. LLC attack the song with their usual crunch and pow, making it a highlight of this collection.
But I like LLC’s original songs, too. Some of my favorites include “Circus” (even though it doesn’t seem to have much to do with circuses), “Amy’s in the Kitchen” (which starts off with a Tom Waits-like percussion and vocals segment before the guitar soars in), and the drum-heavy instrumental “Sausage Paw.”
* Victory Motel Sessions by King Mud. This group is basically a side project for Left Lane Cruiser’s Freddy “Joe”
Evans and drummer Van Campbell, who plays with a band called Black Diamond Heavies (like LLC, on the Alive/Natural Sound label). Guitarist Parker Griggs from Radio Moscow (also on Alive/Natural Sound) joins in on a couple of songs, making King Mud something of a punk-blues supergroup.
My favorite Mud songs at the moment are “Smoked All My Bud” (the whole group sounds mean and desperate); the frantic “War Dancers”; and the hard-rocking closing track “Blood River.”
Video time!
Enjoy some punk blues videos. First some live Lonesome Shack.
The common critical view of the British Invasion hitmakers known as Herman's Hermits is that they were lightweight popsters whose greatest ability was making teenage girls scream and wet their pants. They weren't as rough as The Stones or as creative as The Beatles blah blah blah. And they didn't even have a cool dance like Freddie & The Dreamers.
But I've always respected Herman and the boys, mostly for the important work they did digging up weird old British Music Hall songs to introduce to a new generation.
Back in the early days of Throwback Thursday, I did a feature on one of those songs, "Two Lovely Black Eyes," written in 1886 by Charles Coborn.
Below are several other old tunes that I never would have known without Herman's Hermits.
And one of these was one of Herman's greatest hits, "I'm Henry VIII, I Am." Below is a 1911 version performed by singer/comedian Harry Champion. It was written circa 1910 by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston.
The Herman's Hermits album that really leaned on English Music Hall delights was the American version ofBoth Sides of Herman's Hermits. Here's one of my favorites, "My Old Dutch," written and sung by Albert Chevalier. I'm not certain of the recording date of this version, but he wrote it circa 1892.
Here's another hit for the Hermits. "Leaning on the Lamp Post was sung in 1937 by George Formby in the film Feather Your Nest.
And here's another from Both Sides of Herman's Hermits, "The Future Mrs. 'Awkins," also written by Albert Chevalier, circa 1898. This is a more recent version (1942) by British singer and actor Stanley Holloway.
Here is a Wacky Wednesday salute to some true punk rock survivors and all around funny guys: The Dickies.
This group -- fronted for decades by warbling singer Leonard Graves Phillips and guitarist Stan Lee (no, not that Stan Lee) -- the group, which formed in 1977, is one of the longest-running punk bands from Los Angeles.
They have plenty of original songs, many of which, like "Bowling With Bed Rock Barney," "You Drive Me Ape, You Big Gorilla," and "Manny, Moe & Jack." But some of their most hilarious are their cover songs.
I'll let the band make that argument.
The Dickies wrote and performed the theme song to the movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space and they write an ode to another tacky '80s flick The Toxic Avenger. But probably their first foray into themes from bad sci-fi was their cover of the theme to Gigantor, a 1960s cartoon about a robot.
The Dickies are one of the few punk bands to attempt a Simon & Garfunkel song.
The Dickies tackle this old Broadway tune
The Dickies are hip to Heap, (Uriah, that is)
And most bands that would choose to cover Iron Butterfly would take the easy way out and do "In a Gadda da Vida." Not The Dickies. They chose this obscurity:
But many fans, including me, believe in their hearts that The Dickies never topped this as their greatest cover song:
Tip of the hat to my pal Chuck, who back in the '80s turned me on to The Dickies' album We Aren't the World. I've never recovered.
Sunday, July 17, 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
Eve of Destruction by Gregg Turner
Bermuda by Roky Erikson
Garbagehead by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel
Cold Line by Nots
Circus by Left Lane Cruiser
Needle Trade Off by GØGGS
Hang Up by The Cramps
Down the Road by Dead Moon
Zombie Outbreak by Alien Space Kitchen
Favorite War by He Who Cannot Be Named
The Decay of Lying by The Melvins
Drunk Town by The Devils
Possessed by Robert Johnson by Dead Cat Stimpy
Radio X by Horror Deluxe
Hey You by Evil Enc Group
Shut My Mouth by The Oblivians
Rimbaud Diddley by Churchwood
Gimme Dat Ding by The Pipkins
Musical Tribalist by Wild Billy Chyldish
Mother's Tin Mustache by Nobody's Children
Jukebox Babe by Alan Vega
Cheree/ Mr. Ray by Suicide
Dillinger by San Antonio Kid
Never Enough Girls by The Sloths
Here He Comes by New Mystery Girl
Blood by Lonesome Shack
Love Me Baby (Cherry July) by Question Mark & The Mysterians
Show Me Some Love by Pierre Omer's Swing Revue
Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye by The Casinos
Venus by Television
Don't Blame Me by Flat Duo Jets
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 15, 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
Me and Billy the Kid by Joe Ely
Jesus Loves You (But I'm on the Fence) by Trailer Radio
You're the Reason OUr Kids Are Ugly by Cyndi Lauper & Vince Gill
Cracklings by The Gourds
Rock Chalk by Calamity Cubes
All Knocked Up by Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers
Big Lotsa Love by The Bottle Rockets Cathead Biscuits and Gravy by Nancy Apple & Rob McNurlin
Billy the Kid by Tex Ritter
Heartsick Blues by Luke Winslow King
Love You 'Cause You're Perfect by Al Scorch
Hold Whatcha Got by Jimmy Martin with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
More of You by Chris Stapleton Billy the Kid by John Hartford
The Creeper by Al Duvall Fuck Off by Audrey Auld
Stars in Her Eyes by Hank Williams
Secret Love by Loretta Lynn
Catch Another Train by Dan Whitaker & The Shinebenders
Down on Music Row by Dolly Parton
Dancing With the Ghost of William Bonney by Bone Orchard
Billy the Kid by Ry Cooder
Tomorrow's Taking Baby Away by Dex Romweber
Sweet Home Reservation by Bill Palmer
Oh the Wind and the Rain by J. Michael Combs
Lakes of Ponchartrain by Peter Case
The Cold Hard Truth by George Jones
How Far Down Can I Go by Brennen Leigh CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
There's a cool band coming to the Mine Shaft Tavern in former ghost town of Madrid, N.M.tonight(Friday July 17).
That's Lonesome Shack, a punk-blues trio (or "haunted boogie blues" as the group calls its sound) from Seattle. Frontman Ben Todd actually has roots in this Enchanted Land.
The group's publicist told me recently:
Ben's not originally from NM but he moved from Washington to Silver City, NM ('97-'98), then Albuquerque, NM ('98-'2001), and then moved to a rural area in Catron County near Alma,NM ('01-'04) where the Lonesome Shack still stands. His mom currently lives in Deming, NM.
Here's Lonesome Shack in action:
Doors open at 7 p.m. at the Mine Shaft tonight.
I didn't give you much advance warning on Lonesome Shack, so here's a show where I'm giving you plenty of warning:
That's right, one of my favorite songwriters playing for free at Ashley Pond as part of Russ Gordon's wonderful summer concert series.
I reviewed Robbie's latest album, Upland Stories just a couple of months ago, (CLICK HERE) I'm could be wrong, but this could be the first time he's ever performed in New Mexico.
One hundred thirty five years ago tonight Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett
went into the home of Pete Maxwell in Ft. Stockton, N.M.where he shot and killed
Billy the Kid.
In his stocking feet.
That was the end of Henry McCarty, (or was it William Bonney?) Dead at
21.
But that was just the beginning of the legend of Billy the Kid. Heroic tales of
the "Boy Bandit King" spread across the country, spread by biographies, pulp
novels and, of course songs.
In some tellings he was a sociopathic killer. In others, a Robin Hood who stood
up to the political powers of the day.
I want to say "rest in peace, Billy." But I know he'll never rest in peace.
As Paul Hutton, a history professor at the University of New Mexico told me a
few years ago, “Billy can’t be killed. He’s the outlaw of our dreams.”
Here are my favorite Billy songs.
Woody Guthrie sings the classic.
Ry Cooder put a new melody (and song great mandolin) on his version
Bob Dylan, who co-starred in the Sam Peckinpah movie
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, wrote the soundtrack or the film. I'll never forget the time I was visiting the
old Lincoln County Courthouse -- where Billy killed two deputies to make his
escape -- and this haunting song was playing.
Joe Ely's Billy the Kid isn't tied to any historical version of Billy. I
personally don't believe the Kid would really shoot his girlfriend's chihuahua.
But it's still a great song.
This is the late John Hartford's Billy song.
And here's Bone Orchard from Taos, N.M. adding to Billy's legend.
This week for Wacky Wednesday I'm just posting a bunch of songs for strippers.
Let's start with one my Mom taught me as a kid.
Seriously.
Actually she just sang the first verse of this saga of Queenie, the cutie of the burlesque show. I thought it was hilarious and she did too.
(That's one of two songs I remember my mom teaching me. The other was a parody making fun of Mary Margaret Truman. ("She lives up in the White House with her father, Harry S") It was sung to to the tune of "The Missouri Waltz.")
A couple of weeks before Mom died, I played her this YouTube of "Strip Polka" on my iPhone, in her nursing home.
She wasn't completely conscious, but she smiled. The nurses thought I was crazy. But it meant something to us. Here's that song ...
This next one was a huge Top 40 radio hit in the early '60s. Probably because it didn't have any lyrics. But oh what pictures it put in my dirty little grade-school mind!
This one's a David Bromberg original about a supernatural carnival "coochie" dancer.
Here is one of the songs that made me love Doug Kershaw.
Here's a live 1977 rendition of Tom Waits' "Pasties and a G String" (with a little West Side Story and "Hernando's Hideaway" thrown in at the end.)
The Mekons have just released a new song and video called "Fear & Beer (Hymn for Brexit)"
They call this sweet little dirge "a hymn for a post factual democracy sung joyously by the disenchanted and forgotten as they tumble teary eyed into the arms of their oppressors."
Beware the Langford trumpet solo!
The song is from an upcoming album (and video and book) called Mekons Existentialism scheduled for release in September.
Sunday, July 10, 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
Money Money by A-Bones
Magic Sam by The Devils
Mean Machine by The Cramps
The Day I Got My Spine Back by Deadbolt
Bumble Bee by The Casual Dots
Jim Dandy by LaVern Baker
I Ain't Got You by The Yardbirds
Murder in My Heart for the Judge by Moby Grape
Junk Train by Lonesome Shack
Go-Go Girls by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Rock this Joint by Tim Timebomb
Subway Train by New Mystery Girl
Terry Got a Muffin by NRBQ
Circus by Left Lane Cruiser
Pump it Up by Mudhoney
Family Business by Dengue Fever
Cyclo by Yol Aularong
Big Damn Roach by The Immortal Lee County Killers
Baby You Crazy by Nick Curran & The Lowlifes
International Man of Mystery by Pierre Omer's Revue Swing Cremora
I May Be Gone by The Oblivians
Those Little Lies by The Bonnevilles
Ghost Rider by Alan Vega
Kremlin Dogs by GreggTurner
Bad Suggestion by The Sinners
Rollin' Stone by Muddy Waters
Give Me Back My Wig by Luther Allison
Detroit (I'm So Glad I Stayed) by Andre Williams
Village of Love / Going Back to the Village by Nthaniel Mayer
Tiger in a Cage by Johnny Rawls
Switched to Drinkin' Gin by Mojo Ju Ju
Picking Up After You by Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, July 8, 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
Granny Panties by Broomdust Caravan
Gamblin' Man by Mike Ness
Devil's at Red's by Anthony Leon & The Chain
Way Out West by Moonshine Willie
Thank You Lord by James Hand
Don't Get Weird by Boris & The Saltlicks
Everybody Out by Al Scorch
Quit That Ticklin' Me by Bayou Seco
Robot Drone by Holly Wood
San Antonio Romero by Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band
Band of Gold by Loretta Lynn
My Tight Wad Daddy by Audrey Williams
Dead Bury the Dead by Legendary Shack Shakers
Kohrn Sirrup Sundea by Imperial Rooster
Drinking Champagne by Willie Nelson
A Girl Don't Have to Drink to Have Fun byThe Stumbleweeds
Rehab Girl by Joe West & The Sinners
Big City by Merle Haggard
No Relief in Sight by Dallas Wayne
Baton Rouge by Bill Hearne
Keep Your Mouth Shut by Beth Lee
TJ by Hickoids
Do You Think About Me by The Waco Brothers
Pins and Needles by Alex Maryol
Dance This Mess Around by Asylum Street Spankers
Rainbow Stew by Jason Ringenberg
Aunt Peg's New Old Man by Robbie Fulks (Coming to Los Alamos Aug. 5)
Here is a bunch of songs by TV stars who probably wish they'd never sung them.
