TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAY LIST

Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays MDT

Annual Labor Show
Host: Steve Terrell
Co-host Stanley "Rosebud" Rosen


OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Plenty Tough and Union Made by The Waco Brothers
Joe Hill by Paul Robeson
There is Power in the Union/No More Layoffs/Public Workers Stand Together by
The Solidarity Singers
Then Workin' Man Can't Get Nowhere Today by Peter Case
Workin' Man's Blues by Merle Haggard
Working Man Blues by Louis Armstrong & King Oliver

In Every Street Down With the Police by The Jewish Labor Bund
The Wreck of the Old 97/San Quentin by Johnny Cash
Union Fights the Battle of Freedom/The Memorial Day Massacre by Bucky Halker
King Harvest Has Surely Come by The Band
Bread and Roses by Brooklyn Women's Chorus

Pie in the Sky by Stanley "Rosebud" Rosen
The Unwelcome Guest by Billy Bragg & Wilco
(excerpt from a Howard Zinn speech)
Sad State of Affairs by The Descendents
The Greatest Bulb is Burned Out by Billy Bragg
Rich Man's War by Steve Earle
Corporate Me by Kito Peters
Decolores/We Were There by The Brooklyn Women's Choir

Turn Back the Hands of Time/Trust in Me by Eddie Fischer
Sweetheart on the Barricade by Richard Thompson
If Jimmy Didn't Have to Go by Charlie King & Karen Brandow
Solidarity Forever by The Solidarity Singers
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, Sept. 10, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Cash on the Barrelhead by Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
The Buck Starts Here by Robbie Fulks
Where's the Money by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Busted by Ray Charles
Black Magic by Betty Dylan
If You've Got the Money, I've Got The Time by Lefty Frizzell
Brother Can You Spare a Dime by Odetta & Dr. John

Nowhereville by Ronny Elliott
Fiesta by The Pogues
Mezcal Road by Joe "King" Carrasco
Una Mas Cerveza by Billy Bacon & The Forbidden Pigs
Tijuana Waltz by Jenny Kerr
Volver Volver by Jon Dee Graham

Hear Jerusalem Moan by Tammy Faye Starlite
You Were Always On My Mind by Eric Ambel
Fall on the Rock by Buddy Miller
Reprimand by Joe West
Home to Houston by Steve Earle
Curly Toes by (unknown)

The Virginian by Neko Case
Where Has All the Money Gone by Junior Brown
Man in Black by Johnny Cash
Sweethearts Together by The Rolling Stones
Goners by Michael Hurley
Liver by Desdemona Finch
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

BURN HIM

Last night was the annual burning of Zozobra, one of the world's most ultra-bitchen community celebrations of all time. I went with my son, which is what I've been doing nearly every year since 1995 when he was three.

For those who don't know, Zozobra is a massive 40-50-foot monster puppet who is ritually burned to symbolically burn our gloom of the past year. Last night was the 80th burning. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE ZOZOBRA INFO)

I'd seen Zozobra a few times before we moved here in 1968. Since then, I've only missed twice.

In 1973 my friends and I got to drunk and didn't make it in time. We arrived at Ft. Marcy Ball right when the lights came on.

Then last year I missed it because of the Democratic Presidential debates in Albuquerque where seven or eight candidates did their best to burn Howard Dean.

What amazes me is how the Zozobra ritual has grown and evolved. When I first saw it I was probably about three. Back then Santa Fe was so small, people drove their cars into the ballpark and watched from right outside the cars.

All I remember is that I was terrified.

But in a good way.

For years the ritual was just one guy (Harold Gans) moaning with a crude drum beat in the background. The Fire Dancer danced, torched Old man Gloom and then the fireworks went off.

Now it's grown into an impressive and elaborate pseudo-Pagan spectacle with several dancers -- The Queen of Gloom and her court -- fancy syncopated drums and eerie music. Still a lot of moaning and fireworks and they still have a Fire Dancer.

This was Katy Lilienthal's first year and she was beautiful. Her dad Chip did it
for 30-plus years. (His mentor Jacques Cartier did it for 30 years or so before that.) Katy got the job only after some controversy. (Check my August archives, Aug. 11 post)

My only disappointment this year was that there was no "Gauntlet of Jesus" afterwards. Usually there's a line of folks the Potter's House with bullhorns berating the crowd and passing out those cool Jack Chick comics where people go to Hell for cussing etc.

A few years ago when that kid got killed on the Plaza in a gang shooting, the shooter's family was up with the Potter's House screaming bloody Christ at the crowd. (It was after that when they moved the burning from Friday to Thursday, which I still feel is a shame. I know many disagree -- especially my police friends -- but I liked it when the crowd was crazier and there was someplace to go after the burning.)

A few years later the Potter's House folk got too pushy with the cops and lots of them ended up getting pepper-sprayed in the face. It was sad how many free-speech liberals applauded what many of them would call "police abuse" if the victims had been different. (I can't believe it: My original story on that incident is still on the web! CLICK HERE)

Sure, the Jesus screamers are annoying but they've become part of the tradition and I missed them. This year they had a band on a traffic island -- I'm pretty sure it was a Jesus rock band -- but no bullhorns and no Chick comics. Now if we all go to Hell for seeing Zozobra without repenting NOBODY WARNED US!

Otherwise, Viva la Fiesta!

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: SHAVER & SON

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Sept. 10, 2004

It’s curious that Billy and the Kid is credited solely to Billy Joe Shaver, considering that most of the vocals and songwriting and virtually all of the guitar work was done by his son Eddy, who was “the Kid” of the title.

It’s ironic because during the years that Eddy Shaver played with his dad, the albums were credited to “Shaver,” a band name that was shorthand for giving the father and the son equal credit.

And as a matter of fact, most the cuts here were originally intended as part of an Eddy Shaver solo album -- a project that was halted when Eddy died of a drug overdose on New Year’s Eve 2000.

In the liner notes Billy Joe writes that he and his son’s musical collaborator Tony Colton finished the album after “visits and instructions from Eddy.” I’ve listen to enough of Billy Joe Shaver’s music to know that this God-fearing Texan is not the type to make such a claim lightly.

While it’s touching that Shaver would do this for his son, the sad truth is that it doesn’t measure up to most of his albums of the past 10-15 years.

First of all, poor Eddy just wasn’t the songwriter his dad is. In truth, few people are. Billy Joe’s tunes on Waylon Jennings’ classic Honky Tonk Heroes (including the title song, “You Asked Me To,“ “Black Rose” and seven others) practically defined the “outlaw” movement of the ‘70s. (And Billy Joe didn’t rest on his laurels. His songwriting in the last 10 years is as strong as ever.)
Secondly, Eddy’s music, a metal-tinged blues/boogey that seems to aim somewhere between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gv’t. Mule, gets monotonous.

That’s not to say Eddy doesn’t have some good moments on this album. “Baptism of Fire,” a live recording, is a slow burner. With its images of “long legged women in short, short skirts,” and “holy rollers who ride subway trains,” sung to a backdrop of liquidy guitar, shows Eddy at least had the beginnings of an interesting songwriting career.

The same could be said of “Eagle on the Ground,” a demo featuring just Eddy and his guitar. The picking is flashy on this minor-key tune, but the lyrics, which deal with the cost of addiction -- “there were demons in them bottles that tore the angels down and set afire their wings” -- give the song its punch.

But it’s the father, not the kid, who has the best songs on the album.

“Fame,” a lo-fi recording of Billy Joe strumming a guitar, is a simple but moving reflection about loss and failure.

But best of all is the ultra-spooky “Window Rock,” in which Shaver’s fire-and brimstone Christianity melds with Native American mysticism. Over a spacey, psychedelia-dripping guitarscape by Eddy, Billy Joe sings:

“If you take enough peyote, evil ones will soon find you/They will stalk you in the dream world, but Window Rock will see you through/by the light of the Navajo moon.”

I can see why Billy Joe wanted to complete his son’s album. And besides, you can’t argue with “visits and instructions.” But I’m hoping he’s busy right now writing new songs and getting on with his own work.

Recommended:

* Rubber Factory by The Black Keys. Normally the music snob in me would look askance and hold my nose at a couple of goofy looking white kids from Akron, Ohio making a career of pounding the crap out of cranked up old blues riffs.

That’s exactly what The Black Keys do. And not much more.

But somehow, they make it work. In fact the new album by The Keys, for the most part is just as brash and unabashed -- and just as simple -- as their previous two.

But singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach seems to be singing with more confidence. And Patrick Carney tears into his drum set as if he’s trying to summon the wicked spirit of Keith Moon. The music bounces and flows.

Most the songs are raw garage blues rampages. But there are a couple of spots where the Keys dare to get pretty. “The Lengths” is a minimalist soul ballad, with Auerbach making a lap steel scream for joy.

All but two of the songs are original (O.K., “Stack Shot Billy” is a rewrite of “Stagolee”). But their choice of covers shows The Keys have fine tastes.

“Act Nice And Gentle” is an old Kinks song. Auerbach and Carney perform it like a tougher version of Mungo Jerry. (And the lap steel gets a great workout here.)

The other cover is bluesman Robert Pete Williams’ ode to self-loathing, “Grown So Ugly,” previously covered (37 years ago) by Capt. Beefheart. The Keys were undoubtedly influenced by Beefheart’s version, but theirs is even more primitive.

The Black Keys will be in Santa Fe 10 p.m. Tuesday. They’re playing at The Paramount. They’re the official “after party” for Neko Case and The Handsome Family, who are playing earlier at The Lensic. Tickets for the Black Keys are $12, but if you have a Neko ticket stub they’re only $5.

Big Barn Dance: Taos singer Michael Hearne presents his second annual Big Barn Dance this weekend at The Old Blinking Light and Casa de Caballos Barn in Taos. The acts this year include Terri Hendrix with Lloyd Maines, Bill & Bonnie Hearne, The Buckarettes, Manzanares, Syd Masters & The Swing Riders, Shake Russell & Dana Cooper, Luke Reed, Mentor Williams, The Rifters and of course Michael Hearne & South by Southwest.

Ticket prices range from $25 to $50. For a complete schedule CLICK HERE

NADER CERTIFIED IN NM, DEMS SAY QUICK LAWSUIT LIKELY

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Sept. 10, 2004

The state Bureau of Elections on Thursday certified independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader to be on New Mexico’s general-election ballot. But the chairman of the state Democratic Party said his party is likely to file legal action to derail Nader, possibly as early as today.

“Ralph Nader is not a legitimate independent candidate," Democratic chairman John Wertheim said Thursday. “We doubt this Republican-backed petition drive is sufficient. It’s very likely we’ll challenge it.”

But time is quickly running out. Earlier this week state elections director Denise Lamb said her office will have to mail absentee ballots to New Mexico voters who are in the military and/or overseas by the end of next week.

Carol Miller, Nader’s New Mexico coordinator, said that Wertheim’s threat of a lawsuit “shows disrespect to the courts and to the people of the state.”

Although the Nader campaign this week submitted petitions with more than 31,000 signatures — more than twice the number needed — Wertheim said Democrats checking the petitions found “a bunch” of signatures of people not registered to vote. He declined to give an exact number.

But another argument Democrats might make in court is that Nader isn’t truly an independent candidate because he’s been endorsed by several minor parties, including the Reform Party, the Peace and Justice Party, the Populist Party and the Independent Party of Delaware.

Last month a panel of three judges in Pennsylvania ruled that Nader shouldn’t be on the ballot as an independent in that state because he is the Reform Party’s nominee.

It isn’t clear whether New Mexico election law has the same provision that knocked out Nader in Pennsylvania.

In this state an independent candidate is defined as a “candidate without party affiliation.” It would be up to a court to determine whether Nader is affiliated with parties in other states that endorse him.

In Florida this week, a court ruled that Nader couldn’t be on the ballot as the Reform Party candidate because that party — started by Texas billionaire Ross Perot who ran for president twice in the 1990s — is not a legitimate national party and did not follow Florida law in giving Nader its nomination.

Miller predicted a court will quickly throw out any Democratic lawsuit in New Mexico.
“I can’t imagine any lawsuit against us getting any votes for John Kerry,” she said. “I think there could be a backlash against them.”

Democrats nationwide are afraid that Nader will pull votes away from Democrat Kerry and perhaps throw the election to President Bush.

Some New Mexico Republicans — including state Sen. Rod Adair of Roswell — advocated that Republicans sign Nader’s petitions.

In New Mexico four years ago, Democrat Al Gore beat Bush by only 366 votes. Nader, at that time running as the Green Party candidate, received 21,251 votes.

Few political observers expect Nader to do that well this year. An Albuquerque Journal poll this week showed Nader at only 1 percent — about a quarter of his 2000 total.

Despite his setback in Florida, Nader received some good news Thursday when an Oregon judge ruled that Nader’s name should appear on Oregon’s ballot — overturning a decision by the state’s Democratic secretary of state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: LOG CABINS & BUSH

While the national board of the Log Cabin Republicans -- an organization of gay and lesbian members of the GOP -- announced this week that they would not endorse President Bush for re-election, New Mexico's Log Cabin leader reassured state Republicans that he's still on board with Bush.

"As you know, while echoing Vice President Cheney in respectfully disagreeing with the Federal Marriage Amendment issue, I have continued to be a vocal and financial supporter of President George W. Bush and of Bush-Cheney '04," Pat Killen of Albuquerque wrote in a letter to state Republican honchos.

Cheney, who is the father of a lesbian, recently said, "People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."

Killen, 24, said he has given a total of $330 to the Bush campaigns this year and in 2000, plus $250 in "soft money" to the Republican Party at a Bush event four years ago.

He was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in New York last week.

Killen said the bylaws of the national Log Cabin Republicans specify that state and local chapters don't get involved in federal races. "I strongly believe that President Bush must continue to provide his steady leadership of our nation in these times of change and challenge, especially in the areas of protecting our homeland, fighting the war on terror and strengthening our economy," Killen wrote.

But support by Bush -- and the Republican convention -- for the proposed constitutional amendment that would outlaw same-sex marriages is the main reason the national Log Cabins decided to withhold support for Bush's re-election.

The organization also objected to a section of the Republican platform that Killen says condemns "any and all legal recognition of gay and lesbian families, including domestic partnerships or civil unions."

Killen said another reason for the Log Cabins not endorsing Bush was the GOP Platform Committee's refusal to adopt a "unity plank" that had been endorsed by their group as well as abortion-rights groups called Republicans for Choice and the Republican Youth Majority.

State Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, who was on the platform committee, said Wednesday that after discussions with the various groups, the committee approved a slightly different version of the "unity plank," which said, "As the party of the open door, while steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we respect and accept that members of our party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views. This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions."

Carraro said the Platform Committee believed that the main focus of the platform should be the big issues -- the war on terrorism and the economy. The committee decided to go along with Bush's wishes -- without a great deal of discussion -- on other issues such as gay rights and abortion, Carraro said.

"This was the platform the president wanted," Carraro said.

The Log Cabin Republicans, who endorsed Bush and paid for television commercials for him in 2000, say exit polls indicate that more than a million gays and lesbians voted for the GOP ticket that year -- including nearly 50,000 in Florida.

In his letter to the state GOP, Killen stressed that the national Log Cabin group is not endorsing John Kerry. He pointed to the official statement of the board that applauds Bush for his foreign and economic policies.

He didn't mention the part of the statement that said, "Log Cabin's decision was made in response to the White House's strategic political decision to pursue a re-election strategy catered to the radical right."

But in that statement, the gay Republicans also said, "Log Cabin also denounces the continued flip-flops on gay and lesbian issues from Democratic nominee John Kerry. Senator Kerry has repeatedly made clear his opposition to civil-marriage equality and has supported discriminatory constitutional amendments in Massachusetts and Missouri."

NADER FILES PETITIONS IN N.M.

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Sept. 8, 2004

Unless Democrats can disqualify more than half the 31,000-plus petition signatures submitted Tuesday for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, the controversial consumer advocate will be on November’s general-election ballot in New Mexico.

Carol Miller, Nader’s New Mexico coordinator, submitted the petitions to the Secretary of State’s office Tuesday.

Miller said the petition drive was successful despite “organized and well-funded malicious attacks” by Democrats, who fear Nader will draw enough votes from their candidate, John Kerry, to tip the state to President Bush.

Although the state has only five electoral votes, New Mexico is a battleground state in what most pundits think will be a close election.

Miller said Nader petition gatherers had been harassed and intimidated by Democrats. “We’re just lucky we had some strong people,” she said.

“I’m calling on the New Mexico Democratic Party to take the high ground,” Miller said. “I’d encourage the Democrats not to divert their energy on Ralph Nader and concentrate on getting out the vote for John Kerry.”

State Election Director Denise Lamb said she expects to certify Nader’s name for the ballot this week. Nader needs valid signatures of 14,527 registered voters.

Lamb said her office only checks whether signatures are legible and contain a name and address. She said her office doesn’t check voter-registration lists to determine if each signature on a Nader petition is valid. Instead, the office checks to see if names are legible and include addresses.

However, a private group — such as the Democratic Party — could file a lawsuit to challenge the validity of petition signatures. Matt Furtado, a state Democratic party spokesman, said Tuesday that Democrats might do just that.

“Given Ralph Nader’s submission of insufficient signatures in Virginia, Missouri, Arizona and Pennsylvania, we will be reviewing those (New Mexico signatures) very carefully.”

Any lawsuit would have to be filed quickly because voting for overseas military begins Sept. 18. Absentee voting for other New Mexico voters begins Oct. 5.

The president of an anti-Nader group that purchased television commercials in New Mexico last month said Tuesday that it looks as if Nader will be on New Mexico’s ballot.

David Jones of The Nader Factor said his group will concentrate on trying to convince potential Nader voters that “the only way to stop the Bush agenda is to unify with the Democrats. Issues they care about — job outsourcing, health care, consumer rights, the environment — are all being undermined by the Bush presidency.”

Jones said he didn’t have the state-by-state breakdown for money spent trying to stop Nader, so he couldn’t say how much The Nader Factor has spent in New Mexico. The organization — which is a 527 political group — has spent about $300,000 nationwide, he said.

That figure doesn’t include the legal costs for the Democratic parties of various states fighting Nader in courts. According to Ballot Access News — a newsletter dedicated to minor political parties — the Nader campaign has pending legal battles in seven states.

Furtado repeated state Democratic claims that Republicans in the state are using Nader’s campaign to hurt Kerry. He pointed to state Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, who circulated Nader petitions via e-mail.

Adair said Tuesday he only gathered “a couple of thousand” signatures for Nader.

But Miller said she didn’t accept any of Adair’s petitions. “I said all along that we didn’t need Rod Adair’s help,” she said.

However, Lamb said, “I don’t know if they’re from Rod Adair, but there sure are a lot of signatures from Chaves County.” Chaves is Adair’s county.

Adair has agreed that Nader’s name on the ballot helps Republicans. But he’s countered that the Libertarian Party, whose candidate Michael Badnarik is on this state’s ballot, draws votes away from the GOP.

Also on the New Mexico presidential ballot are the Green Party’s David Cobb and The Constitution Party’s Michael Peroutka.

“Voters want choice,” Adair said. “It’s part of democracy, despite what the Democrats want.”

In 2000 Democrat Al Gore beat Bush in New Mexico by 366 votes statewide. In that election, Nader, who was running as the Green Party candidate, got 21,251 votes, which was about 4 percent.

Most observers don’t expect Nader to get nearly that much support here this year. An Albuquerque Journal poll on Sunday showed Nader with only about 1 percent.

Nader had good news and bad news in other states Tuesday.

In Wisconsin — another battleground state — Nader supporters turned in twice the number of signatures he needs to get on the ballot there. Only 2,000 valid signatures are required in Wisconsin.

More on Nader Here