TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: THE ROADS LEAD BACK TO RAY

Note: Instead of reviewing new CDs in my column today, I paid tribute to Ray Charles, whose funeral was today. Avid readers of this blog may notice I lifted a little -- but just a little -- from my old box set review I posted here the day Ray died.

My friend Phil from North Carolina pointed out that the entire memorial service will be available on the NPR web site, but just for a week.

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican

Ray Charles is one of the reasons I love music enough I have to write about it.

Ray was there for me right at the beginning, when I was eight years old and first started listening fanatically to the radio. One day in the spring of 1962 at a supermarket I sneaked two record albums into my mother’s grocery cart. One was Sam Cooke’s Twistin’ the Night Away. The other Ray Charles’ landmark crossover hit Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Mom was cool. She paid for them. (LPs were about $3 each back then.)

They were first real albums. And that was it. Between Cooke’s “Whole Lotta Woman” and Brother Ray’s exuberant “Bye Bye Love” and achingly sad “You Don’t Know Me,” there was no turning back. Alvin & The Chipmunks just weren’t going to do it for me anymore.

That was 42 years ago. Since then I’ve gone up and down countless other musical paths -- many roads that are directly connected to and influenced by Ray Charles and his gospel-colored, blues drenched soul, and some that seemingly have little or nothing in common with the man behind the shades.

But, to paraphrase the lyrics of “Georgia on My Mind,” for me all those roads lead back to Ray Charles.

It struck me last week the night after Ray Charles died, as I was playing “You Don’t Know Me” as a part of a radio tribute, how that song cuts to the essence of unrequited love. You can hear the tears, the frustration, the self scorn, as he sings the bridge, “Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by …” The singer’s emotion is so raw you barely even notice the sweetening strings and white-bread chorale behind him.

And it struck me how the song retains all the power it had when it first punched me in the gut back in the third grade. If anything, it’s even more powerful to adult ears.

Of course, it’s the raw power of his emotion -- in addition to his vocal and piano talents -- that made Ray Charles so great in the first place. He blended so many styles of American music -- R&B, blues, gospel, country, pop, Broadway show tunes -- into his own distinctive sound then used them to express the entire spectrum of human emotion.

Try to find a more joyful song than Ray’s version of “You Are My Sunshine,” which, with the help of Raelette Margie Hendrix he makes sound like a Dionysian voodoo orgy.

Try to match the subtle seething anger of “I Believe to My Soul,” in which he doesn’t sound like he’s kidding when he threatens to “use my rod.” And try to match the sheer, sweating lust of the call-and-response section of “What’d I Say.”

He had tunes that were full of humor -- “It Should Have Been Me,” his take on “Makin’ Whoopee,” and “Understanding,” where his threat of decapitation is played for laughs. (“Her soul better belong to the good Lord, ‘cause her head gonna belong to me.”)

The Genius has songwriting credits on many of his early classic songs (“Hallelujah I Love Her So,” “I’ve Got A Woman,” “I Believe to My Soul“), but he’s best known for making tunes written by others into his own.

He had access to some top-notch material of course. From Hoagy Carmichael to Doc Pomus, from Buck Owens to Stevie Wonder. And Ray Charles did Beatles songs (“Yesterday,” “Eleanor Rigby”) better than The Beatles did Ray Charles tunes. (The Fab Moptops’ short, lo-fi and forgettable version of “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” is on their Beatles Anthology 1.)

But the thing about Ray Charles is that he was perfectly capable of turning a bad song into a good one by reaching into the depths of the tune, finding the one kernel of soul and building on it.

He proved this in the early seventies with “Look What they’ve Done to My Song, Ma” some pop bubblegum by Melanie. Look what he did to her song! By the end of it, he's improvising, ``I'm insane, insane, mama, I'm goin' crazy, mama!”

And the only time I ever got to see Ray Charles in person -- Albuquerque’s Civic Auditorium, December 1982, with a purple checkered jacket, a 17-piece orchestra and a beautiful batch of Raelettes -- he made “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” into one of the night’s most memorable songs. Normally the line, “The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye” is a self-fulfilling prophecy. But Charles made the audience savor it, drawing each word out slowly until you couldn’t help but smile. And he turned the lyric, “The sound of the Earth is like music,” from an empty-headed truism into a mystical statement of purpose.

Ray Charles is one with the Earth now. Like that lucky old son, he’s rollin’ round Heaven all day. The rest of us should just feel grateful for all the music he left behind.

DANG ME! DANG US ALL!

Here in Santa Fe we like to claim Roger Miller as one of our own, being that he lived in Tesuque for the last dozen years or so of his life.

But the fact is, he thought of his hometown as Erick, Oklahoma, where he spent most his childhood.

The good citizens of Erick are about to open a Roger Miller museum. Makes me want to head back to Oklahoma just to see it.

I met Roger shortly after he moved to Santa Fe backstage at a Michael Martin Murphey concert at Paolo Soleri in the summer of 1980. Roger was the "surprise guest."

It would have been the first time I'd seen him play since I saw him at Springlake amusement park in Oklahoma City, circa 1965. I was in sixth grade then. Roger was a true hero for most Okie kids -- especially those of us who thought we could write a song.

But it wasn't meant to be that night at Paolo Soleri in 1980. Roger came out on stage, said, "Hi, I live down the road aways," struck a chord -- and the rain came down. That's back when Santa Fe used to have a "monsoon" season. It rained so hard that the rest of the show was cancelled.

The next time he tried to perform around here was at the Downs of Santa Fe at a Barbara Mandrell show a couple of years later. It rained like hell that night too, but at least the stage was covered, so the show went on.

I interviewed him for The Santa Fe Reporter shortly after the Paolo fiasco. (The above photo was taken by my first ex-wife Pam Mills at that interview at Roger's home.)

For a couple of years in the early '80s, I ran into him and his wife Mary frequently. Once he introduced me to Dandy Don Meredith at the Shohko Cafe. But one of the biggest nights for my ego was when Roger Miller introduced me to Hank Thompson in the dressing room of The Line Camp in Pojoaque. "Steve grew up on Reno Street," Roger said, referring to an old Oklahoma City skid row.

So if you're traveling Route 66, check out Roger's museum in Erick.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS FRIENDS

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican

Sometimes politicians can be judged on the enemies they make as well as the friends they have.

This being the case, Gov. Bill Richardson probably is grateful for a couple of Enron day traders whose recorded conversations have stirred outrage around the country in recent days.

By now everyone should have heard about the outrageous taped conversations by Enron execs cheering "Burn, baby, burn as a forest fire shut down a large transmission line into California four years ago, worsening that state's energy crisis and driving electrical costs even higher.

The Enron jokers boasted about ripping off "those poor grandmothers in California," who they derisively dubbed "Grandma Millie."

"Now she wants her (expletive deleted) money back for all the power you've charged right up her (expletive deleted) for (expletive deleted) $350 a megawatt hour," one of the Enronoids scoffed.

It would be hard to find villains more villainous than these yuppie-weasel versions of Snidely Whiplash.

As revealed in transcripts of the Enron tapes, our governor, who was secretary of energy at the time, was held in even more contempt than Grandma Millie, at least by a couple of Enron traders.

But with enemies like this, who needs friends?

Richardson's name comes up in another recorded conversation, apparently made in August 2000, by another couple of Enron boys (not the same two who disrespected Grandma Millie).

"That (expletive deleted) Bill Richardson," said one of the men, identified only as "Matt".

"He's (expletive deleted) gone!" said the other, called "Tom" in the transcripts. "The (expletive deleted) Bill Clinton, he's ( expletive deleted). Ah, all those (expletive deleted) socialists are gone."

Noting that their company was Bush's largest contributor, both Matt and Tom fantasize about Enron president Ken Lay replacing Richardson as secretary of energy. That, of course, didn't happen.

For more transcripts and audio excerpts of Enron conversations, CLICK HERE

Big political weekend: Starting Friday out-of-state politicians will be invading Santa Fe as the city plays host to three national meetings.

On Friday and Saturday the Democratic National Committee's Platform Drafting Committee will be holding public meetings at Santa Fe Indian School, hearing testimony on domestic issues such as health care, the economy, education and civil rights.

Among those scheduled to speak - besides our governor of course - are former Labor secretary Robert Reich, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack - who, even more than Richardson in recent weeks, is frequently mentioned as a possible running mate for Sen. John Kerry. Indiana Gov. Joseph Kernan is tentatively scheduled to speak.

Members of the public who would like to testify or submit written comments should e-mail the committee at platform@dnc.org, or fax at 202-572-7897. Because schedule and space are limited, interested parties should submit written comments as well.

With all those Democratic governors in town, it's only natural for the Democratic Governors Association to meet. They are having their annual summer policy conference here Friday and Saturday at Hotel Santa Fe.

They've got a three-hour meeting scheduled Saturday to discuss energy, transportation and technology. The rest of their schedule consists of a cocktail reception, dinner, breakfast, a golf tournament and attending The Buckaroo Ball.

Then starting Sunday is the Western Governors Association meeting at the Eldorado Hotel, which goes on until Tuesday. They've got a lot of receptions and one "gala dinner" scheduled.

But they've also got scheduled sessions on the proposal for regional presidential primaries, the drought, energy and other issues. Among the speakers scheduled include Interior Secretary Gail Norton, Intel president Paul Otellini, and national political pundit Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

FASHIONABLE

This is the first time I've ever been mentioned in a fashion column. CLICK HERE

But she didn't even mention my Big Ugly Guys T-shirt ...

THE SECRET VOODOO HISTORY OF ROCK 'n' ROLL

O.K., folks this is required reading. It's filmmaker Michael Ventura's classic essay "Hear That Long Snake Moan," in which the author argues that blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll, TV evangelism, and a lot of our pop culture springs from the religion of voodoo.

The web host indicates the essay will be on his site only temporarily, so read it right away.

CLICK HERE

By the way, "Long Snake" appears in Ventura's compilation Shadow Dancing in the U.S.A. . Amazon.com says it's out of print, but there are used copies available for real cheap.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAY LIST

Sunday, June 13, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
She's a Rainbow by The Rolling Stones
Over the Border by Eric Burdon
Max Ernst's Dream by Mission of Burma
Jubilee by Patti Smith
The Devil's Music by The Three Johns
Bulldozer Love by the Baby Robots

Show Me the Way by Dinosaur Jr.
Fog Over Frisco by Yo La Tengo
Hell Rules by The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282
Wayfaring Stranger/Fly Me to the Moon by Giant Sand
Pink Cigarette by Mr. Bungle
King of Beers by Too Much Joy
Ain't Dead Yet by The Breakers
A Million days by Prince

Ray Charles Set
(All songs by Ray Charles except where noted)

Confession Blues
Let's Go Get Stoned
Understanding
Drown in My Own Tears
I Believe to My Soul by Van Morrison
Hide Nor Hair
Spirit in the Dark by Aretha Franklin with RC

Hallelujah I Love Her So by The Beatles
Eleanor Rigby
I Don't Need No Doctor
A Song For You
Don't Change On Me
That Lucky Old Sun.
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

MANNY, WE HARDLY KNEW YE

The New Mexico Highlands University Board of Regents on Friday selected long-tim State Sen. Manny Aragon, the Senate majority floor leader, to be president of the university.

That's set off a leadership vacumm in the state Senate, as Senate President Pro-tem Richard Romero also is stepping down. He's running for Congress against incumbent Republican Heather Wilson.

Read my story on the leadership scramble HERE

More Manny coverage in The Santa Fe New Mexican can be found HERE and HERE

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAY LIST

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, June 11, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Out of Control by Dave Alvin
If You Were Me and I Were You by Dwight Yoakam
We Always Fight When We Drink Gin by The Austin Lounge Lizards with Kelly Willis
There's a World Between You and Me by Jerry J. Nixon
Family Tree by Loretta Lynn
Borrowed Bride by The Old 97s
Leave My Woman Alone by Jim Stringer
I Got a Woman by Johnny Cash & June Carter

Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms by Flatt & Scruggs
Take Me by Jerry Garcia & David Grisman
Rise When the Rooster Crows by Norman & Nancy Blake
Precious Memories (Was a Song I Used to Hear) by Jerry Faires
My Long Skinny Lanky Sarah Jane by The Stanley Brothers
Ruby Ridge by Peter Rowan
In Tall Buildings by John Hartford
Don't You Want Me Baby by Moonshine Willie
Some of Shelly's Blues by The Earl Scruggs Revue

Ray Charles Country Set
(All songs by Ray Charles except where noted)
I'm Movin' On
We Didn't See a Thing by George Jones, Ray Charles & Chet Atkins
You Don't Know Me
You Are My Sunshine
Together Again
Born to Lose
Two Old Cats Like Us by RC and Hank Williams, Jr.
Busted
Seven Spanish Angels by RC and Willie Nelson
I Can't Stop Loving You

You Ain't Going Nowhere by The Mekons
You're Not My Same Sweet Baby by Chuck Prophet
Makes Me Wonder If I Ever Said Goodbye by Cowboy Johnson
What Do We Do Now by John Hiatt
Amanda/A Couple More Years by Waylon Jennings
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: HILLBILLY HEAVEN

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican

Although Jerry Garcia died in 1995, for the past several years there has been a steady flow of CDs — and one movie, Grateful Dawg — documenting his partnership with mandolin magician David Grisman.

For Garcia, his low-key acoustic sessions with Grisman were something of a return to his beginnings long before the Grateful Dead burst into the cosmos. Garcia’s music of choice was bluegrass, jug band, old-timey blues and hillbilly tunes.

But according to the liner notes of the latest of these collaborations, Been All Around This World, this will be the last of these sweet collections.

This CD shows a wide array of source material. Garcia and Grisman play the Jimmy Cliff reggae classic “Sitting in Limbo” (which also was on the Grateful Dawg soundtrack album) and James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy,” which shows that as a soul shouter, Garcia was a great guitarist. They delve into traditional Irish sounds on “Handsome Cabin Boy Waltz” and do a jazzy take on “Nine Pound Hammer” with Matt Eakle on flute.

But my favorites are a couple of country tunes. “Drink Up and Go Home” is an obscure Freddy Hart honky-tonk waltz with Joe Craven on fiddle.

Even more impressive is their version of Leon Payne’s classic (made famous by George Jones), “Take Me.” Although this aching love song was a big hit for Possum in the mid-1960s — and I believe it is among his very best recordings — for reasons best known to the Byzantine barons of the music publishing biz, it rarely appears on Jones’ greatest-hits collections. While Garcia doesn’t have Jones’ vocal ability by a long shot, there’s so much sincerity in his voice that he and Grisman do the song justice.

Although these Garcia-Grisman collaborations aren’t exactly essential recordings, it saddensme to think there won’t be any new ones.

Also recommended
*Morning Glory Ramblers by Norman & Nancy Blake. This CD by multistring man Norman Blake and his wife and longtime music collaborator Nancy is just a sweet joy from start to finish.

Norman’s hoarse drawl takes you immediately to the hills and hollers. His voice has always sounded the way you’d imagine some backwoods balladeer from centuries past would. And on this record — the Blakes’ first duet album in nearly a decade — it’s great to hear a bigger contribution from Nancy. Her voice is a perfect complement to her husband’s.

The songs are traditional, or at least traditional-sounding. There are religious numbers (“The Wayworn Traveler,” sometimes recorded as “Palms of Victory,” is a standout), songs of sin (“Short Life of Trouble” and the Hank Williams/Luke the Drifter morality rap “Men With Broken Hearts”), love songs (“Loved You Better Than You Knew”) and a hard-times lament (“All the Good Times Are Over”).

But for me, the coolest thing about Morning Glory Ramblers is the fact that Norman & Nancy included a song by longtime Santa Fe picker and singer Jerry Faires: “Precious Memories (Was a Song I Used to Hear).” This is the second Faires song Norman has recorded. Jerry’s “D-18 Song (Thank You, Mr. Martin)” appeared on the 1990 album Norman Blake & Tony Rice 2. (Check out www.dualtone.com.)

*An Evening Long Ago by The Stanley Brothers.The 20 songs on this CD were recorded late one night (early one morning?) in 1956 at a radio station in Bristol, Va.

These sessions have been sold at Ralph Stanley concerts (in a vinyl version) — and those who have been to a Ralph Stanley concert know that Ralph will sell anything that’s not nailed down — but this is the first CD release.

According to the liner notes by Larry Erich (who set up the mikes for the session), the stop at WCYB capped off a full day for the band, including “radio shows, barn dances, hog auctions and the like.”

Besides Ralph on banjo and the late Carter Stanley on guitar, there were Curley Lambert on mandolin and Ralph Mayo on fiddle.

Most of the songs they recorded at the station were old traditional tunes. There are ballads of murders — “Poor Ellen Smith” — and other assorted tragedies (a mining disaster in “Dream of a Miner’s Child,” a fire in “Come All You Tenderhearted).” The best of these is “Story of the Lawson Family,” which the Stanleys wrote based on a true Christmas murder-suicide in North Carolina in the late ’20s.

But not everything’s so grim here. “My Long Skinny Lanky Sara Jane” has lines like, “Well they say her breath is sweet/But I’d rather smell her feet.”

*The Essential Earl Scruggs. The name Earl Scruggs is practically synonymous with bluegrass banjo. This two-disc collection covers Scruggs’ career from his work with Bill Monroe in the late ’40s to his “solo” work in the early ’80s. (Thankfully, it overlooks his 2001 collaborations with Sting, Elton John and Melissa Etheridge on the guest-star-heavy Earl Scruggs and Friends.)

Twenty-five of the 40 songs here are cuts by Flatt & Scruggs after they split from Monroe’s band. Their lengthy partnership, which lasted until the late ’60s, helped define bluegrass as much as Monroe or the Stanley Brothers did. Their powerful 90-mph 1950 recording of “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” is still breathtaking, while “Old Salty Dog Blues” (with fiddler Benny Sims on vocals) is just as cocky as rockabilly, which hadn’t even been born yet.

But while the tracks with Lester are the main strength of this collection, the latter-day Scruggs stuff has some gems as well. There’s a fine version of “I Still Miss Someone” with Johnny Cash on vocals. And there’s one of ex-Monkee and underrated country songwriter Mike Nesmith’s greatest tunes, “Some of Shelley’s Blues,” done here by the Earl Scruggs Revue, which featured the banjo man’s sons.

R.I.P. THE GENIUS!

Ray Charles died today. An Associated Press story is HERE.

I only got to see Ray in concert once, back in the early '80s at Albuquerque's Civic Auditorium.

What can I say? He was great.

I'll be honoring The Genius on both my radio shows this weekend (Santa Fe Opry on Friday night, Terrell's Sound World on Sunday, both starting at 10 p.m. on KSFR 90.7 FM

Here's an old Terrell's Tune-Up I wrote reviewing a Ray Charles box set.

DISCOVERING RAY CHARLES
Originally published in in The Santa Fe New Mexican Oct. 10,1997.

When introducing her guest singer at a 1971 concert at the Filmore West, Aretha Franklin exclaimed, ``I discovered Ray Charles!''

Those too young to remember the old Flip Wilson TV show probably won't get the joke. She is referring to one of Flip's most popular routines, the one where Columbus is pitching his expedition to Queen Isabella. The exuberant queen exclaims, ``Chris gonna find Ray Charles!''

Indeed, assuming that our music is one of America's greatest treasures, one of the most shining jewels is Ray Charles.

Rhino Records recently released the most comprehensive treasure chest of Brother Ray's music to date, the five-disc collection, Genius & Soul, The 50th Anniversary Collection.Half a century in show business. Prevailing over physical handicap, drug addiction, untold changes of musical styles. And almost every one of these 102 songs (which span the years from 1949 to 1993) sound fresh, vital and downright majestic.

It's true that Ray Charles is blind, but when it comes to music, he is a man of vision. Who else could sing blues, jazz, soul, pop, Tin Pan Alley, show tunes, country and even soda pop jingles? finding any kernel of passion, infusing it with his personality and making it sound like the only song that matters. Who else could record songs by Hoagy Carmichael, Buck Owens, The Beatles, the Gershwins and Quincy Jones and make it all sound like they were written especially for him?

Ray can even turn a fluffy little bubblegum ditty like Melanie's "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" into a soulful howl. (It must have been a joyous kick in the head for Ms. Safka when she heard what Ray Charles did to her song. By the end of it, he's improvising, ``I'm insane, insane, mama, I'm goin' crazy, mama!'')

There are so many great tunes here, it doesn't seem right to mention just the few that space will allow. I doubt that I have to convince anyone of the wonder of such hits like "Hit the Road, Jack," "I Got a Woman," "Georgia On My Mind," "Unchain My Heart" and "What I Say." (If I ever become Ayatollah, I'll put Ray Charles on the $10 bill with the inscription, "Tell your Mama, Tell Your Pa, I'm gonna send you back to Arkansas.")

But here's some lesser known Charles tunes that ought to be more famous:

* "It Should Have Been Me": This is an early one, recorded in 1953, a proto-R&B tune written by someone named Memphis Curtis. It sounds a lot like the songs that Lieber and Stoller would later compose. Ray's voice is noticeably higher.

*"You Are My Sunshine": This is the greatest of Ray's country songs. But, with the help of singer Margie Hendrix (the real star of this tune), it doesn't sound ``country'' at all. In fact, it sounds like some kind of voodoo ceremony accompanied by a big band.

*"Ruby": Like many of Ray's tunes, this one features lush strings and a full-blown chorus. Rock purists might cringe, but Charles radiates so much passion here, your average loud, raunchy guitar group pales by comparison.

*"Don't Change On Me": A minor hit from the early '70s, showing Ray's sweeter side. It's just a sincere, simple love song with a chorus that clings to your brain.

*"Understanding": A disquieting thought: Did O.J. Simpson ever hear this 1967 song? Here Ray warns his woman better not cheat because if she does, Her soul better belong to the good Lord, 'cause her head gonna belong to me?

A personal note: When I first started getting seriously into music back in the third grade Ray Charles' "Hide 'Nor Hair," a minor 1962 hit written by Percy Mayfield, was one of my favorite songs. My mom bought me (actually, I put it in her grocery cart when she wasn't looking) Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which was released about the same time, but to my grave disappointment, the song wasn't there.

Nearly a decade later I bought Ray's 25th Anniversary Collection, which until this box set was his best compilation. But "Hide 'Nor Hair" wasn't there either. Indeed, that single was never on an album. Until now. It's the first song on Disc Three. Naturally, it was the first song I played when I got this box.

Not only did I remember most of the lyrics though I hadn't heard it in more than 30 years I also remembered what first drew me to Ray Charles and to music in general. I won't argue that it's his greatest song. (At the moment I'm leaning to "In the Heat of the Night" or "I Believe to My Soul") But it sure means a lot to me.