TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. NICK

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 5, 2004

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' new double-disc set Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is an exhilarating double blast of joy, rage, dour Aussie blues, back-alley philosophy, dark-end-of-the-street religious revelation, death-row humor, profound profanity - and even a touch of sweet sentimentality.

In other words, it's everything that those of us who love Nick Cave love about Nick Cave.

This set is the strongest music Cave has released in nearly a decade. Between 1992 and 1996, Cave released, right in a row, the three greatest albums of his career, Henry's Dream, Let Love In and Murder Ballads. (There was an excellent concert album, Live Seeds, in there too.)

Since that time, his albums have all been worthy. But, beginning with The Boatman's Call, Cave's efforts were lower key, gentler, though no less dark meditations, lacking the fire and ferocity of those earlier works.

We should have known though that something amazing was afoot after Cave's last album, 2003's Nocturama, an otherwise sedate work that was carried by the concluding track, a crazy, obsessive, hard-punching 15-minute odyssey of lust and depravation called "Babe, I'm On Fire."
This new effort proves he was right.

Abattoir Blues and The Lyre of Orpheus are separate albums, even though they're sold together. (Don't whine. The set costs about as much as a single CD.)

In general, Abattoir is louder and more raucous, while Lyre, at least in form, is softer and mellower -- though that rule was made to be broken by the frantic Lyre tune "Supernaturally."

I probably ought to insert here the boilerplate rockcrit admonition against double albums -- how with some judicious editing, two good albums could have been boiled down to one great one. Well, maybe that's true here, but the fact is, each track is worth listening. I'm happy that every song is on here.

Of the two albums, I prefer Abattoir, mainly because it recalls Cave's harder rocking days.

It kicks off with "Get Ready For Love", a hard-charging gospel tune. "Get Ready for love!" Cave bellows as the London Community Gospel Choir answers, "Praise Him!" Organist James Johnston (a new Seed) makes his instrument scream with ecstasy, while Mick Harvey's guitar plays hopped-up Yardbirds riffs. Meanwhile Cave shouts about God's face burning in your retinas.

The full promise of Cave's newfound rock 'n' roll fervor, however isn't realized until the tough, crunching "Hiding All Away." It's the story of a man hiding from his lover - we're never told exactly why - with each verse a tale of abuse and frustration for the hapless searcher, the victim of a series of dirty jokes. But in the last verse, the song shifts as Cave sings "And we all know a war is coming/ Coming from above/" The Bad Seeds turn it up to 11 as Cave and the choir repeat "There is a war coming! There is a war coming!"

One of the most touching songs here is "Let the Bells Ring," Cave's tribute to the late Johnny Cash, (who recorded Cave's electric chair horror "The Mercy Seat.")

Unlike some Cash tributes, The Bad Seeds don't try to imitate JC's trademark chunka-chunka sound. Instead it's a stately eulogy that Bono would have given his left testicle to have written.

"Your passing is not what we mourn/But the world you left behind," Cave sings. "Those of us not fit to tie the laces on your shoes / Must remain behind to testify through an elementary blues."

The Lyre of Orpheus, while quieter than the other album, has some destined-to-be-classic Cave songs. The title song featuring a sinister mandolin by Warren Ellis, sounds like Cannon's Jug Stompers fronted by a grim Australian singing obscene versions fo Greek myths.

But Cave shows his tender side in "Breathless," a light - especially for Nick Cave! - tune, which with its flute and acoustic guitar recalls The Incredible String Band.

My favorite tune on Lyre has to be "Babe You Turn Me On." With acoustic musical background that sounds like a long, lost outtake from Astral Weeks (except something here -- is that Conway Savage's piano? -- sounds like steel drums), Cave moans lustily to a lover. And you have to admire a songwriter who can use the words "nightingale" and "panties" in the same verse.

Some songs on Lyre -- slow, piano-driven ballads like "Easy Money" and "O Children" -- show that Cave hasn't completely turned his back on the more contemplative style he showed in late '90s works like The Boatman's Call and No More Shall We Part. In fact these songs will remind fans of Cave's more hard-edged work exactly what was admirable about those softer albums.

"O Children," especially is powerful. It's built on the old gospel train metaphor, but this it's hard to tell whether this train is bound for glory or doom.

The beat of this 7-minute dirge starts out kind of plodding, the intensity starts to build as the choir starts singing "O children, lift up your voice, lift up your voice/Children/Rejoice, rejoice."

But this only seems seems to provoke Cave, whose gloomy verses ("Poor old Jim's as white as a ghost/he's found the answer that was lost/We're weeping now, weeping because/There ain't nothing we can do to protect you") contradicts the call for joy. Cave moans in resignation, the ecstatic glory of "Get Ready For Love" turned sour, as the choir signs, "Hey little train wait for me/I once was blind but now I see/Have you a seat left for me ."

Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus proves that Cave still is in prime. He's a dirty-minded disciple, an oracle of the slaughterhouse, a poet, a preacher, a prophet -- and a damned powerful rocker as he pushes 50.

Nick on the radio: Terrell's Sound World will present an hour of Nick Cave music, including many from these albums Sunday night on KSFR, 90.7 FM (and streaming live on www.ksfr.org). The show starts 10 p.m. Sunday, the Cave segment will begin right after 11 p.m.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: NEW VICTIM CLASS -- SF GOP

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Nov. 3, 2004

The atmosphere at Fox’s Upstairs Bar & Grill was festive Tuesday night as local Republican activists toasted President Bush’s New Mexico lead and impending national victory.

Celebrating with them was a local Democrat, City Councilor David Pfeffer, whose decision to back Bush angered many of his fellow party members and constituents.

Pfeffer was sitting by himself drinking a beer and watching the results come in on Fox News.

“You know what I have in common with these folks here?” Pfeffer asked a reporter.

The fact that you support the same candidate?

“Not just that,” Pfeffer said. “They and I share the same feeling of oppression.”

Funny, the reveling Republicans didn’t seem all that oppressed as they downed their beers and ate tacos and posole at the St. Michael’s Drive nightspot. In fact, they seemed pretty happy that their party was about to cement its hold on all three branches of the federal government.

But the “oppression” of Republicans in Santa Fe, a town with a 3-to-1 Democratic registration edge — has been a constant drumbeat of the local GOP for several months. Local Bush supporters have complained loudly about the destruction of Bush-Cheney campaign signs and told anecdotes about vehicles with Bush stickers getting “keyed.”

(For the record, I’ve heard similar tales from local Democrats. Santa Fe police, meanwhile, say there was no noticeable upswing in political vandalism this year.)

Pfeffer continued.

“It’s that monolithic liberal mind-think you find in Santa Fe,” he said. “It’s not just a one-party system here, but lots of people in Santa Fe think it should be.”

Pfeffer compared his decision to go public with his endorsement of Bush with “coming out of the closet.”

“There was such a negative reaction,” he said. “You know, I’m not stupid. I do read. I have a right to express my own opinion without getting sneered at.”

Pfeffer, who this week purchased a full-page ad endorsing Bush in this newspaper, said the ad got two types of responses from local Dems.

“There were those who were upset and reacted with name-calling and in-your-face hostility,” he said.

But then, he said, there were those who were grateful for him taking such a stand. These Democrats, he said, reacted “with a humility in their voice.”

Pfeffer, who spoke at a Bush rally in Albuquerque this summer, said he gave his two V.I.P. tickets to two women he described as “open-minded Democrats.”

Both, he said, said they had no idea that Bush could get such a positive reception in New Mexico.

Of course both campaigns here were pretty good at making sure that the overwhelming number of people who got into their rallies would give their respective candidates an enthusiastic reaction.

Many local liberals were already angry with Pfeffer over his role in the last city election.

He admitted to proofreading a newspaper ad for a pro-development group called Santa Fe Grass Roots that was highly critical of three councilors seeking re-election. Some of those councilors characterized the full-page advertisement, which ran in this paper, as an “attack ad,” saying it contained inaccuracies concerning their council records.

The Bush endorsement only added to their displeasure with Pfeffer. Although municipal elections are, in theory at least, non-partisan, some say the endorsement cast serious doubts on Pfeffer’s re-election. His seat is up for re-election in 2006.

Will Pfeffer seek re-election? Will he formally abandon the party he says has abandoned him and join the party that has embraced him?

“That’s not on my front burner now,” he said. Pointing to the red and blue map on the television screen — which was getting redder every few minutes — he said, “Right now this is my main concern.”

***

For my story on the latest numbers from New Mexico, CLICK HERE

WHO WAS THAT NADER GUY?

A shorter version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Nov. 3, 2004

So what happened to Ralph Nader in New Mexico?

Democrats state predicted doom and gloom if Nader, who ran this year as an independent, would be able to split the progressive vote. They fought tooth and nail in court — but ultimately unsuccessfully — to deny him a place on the ballot.

Apparently some Republicans here felt the same way. Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, distributed ballot petitions for the Nader candidacy. GOP lawyer Pat Rogers volunteered his services to represent Nader free of charge in his court battles.

(Both Adair and Rogers insisted their only interest was providing a wide choice to New Mexico voters.)

Four years ago, when Democrat Al Gore edged out George W. Bush in the state by a mere 366 votes, Nader, who ran then as the Green Party candidate got more than 21,000 votes or four percent of the total.

However, by 1 a.m. Wednesday with more than 90 percent of the vote counted unofficial results showed Nader drawing only one percent of the vote. Nationwide he wasn't doing significantly better.

Nader’s New Mexico coordinator Carol Miller, interviewed Tuesday before the polls closed, said she thinks Nader was the victim of a “four-year dirty-trick campaign” by Democrats and a “blackout” by state news organizations.

“It’s one of the saddest moments in American history,” Miller said. “Taking Ralph Nader, a true national leader who has done so many good things, and tell so many lies about him.”

As far as media coverage goes, Miller said, “Nader was never treated like an equal candidate.”

Miller said the real agenda of Nader foes was “to get rid of anyone who stands up to the corporations.”

However a spokesman for the state Democratic Party said that Nader’s “Diminishing support reflects the fact that his campaign in New Mexico was nothing but a Republican phenomenon.”

Matt Farrauto noted that some Green Party leaders joined the Kerry campaign. These include David Bacon, the 2002 Green Party gubernatorial candidate, who changed party registration to Democrat; and Abe Gutmann, a past Green candidate for U.S. Senate who became a leader of a national group called Greens for Kerry.

NM: LEANING BUSH, BUT TOO CLOSE TO CALL

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Nov. 3, 2004

Once again, the battleground state of New Mexico was too close to call in the presidential race by the end of election night on Tuesday, and both sides remained optimistic.

Shortly after midnight Wednesday, unofficial figures from The Associated Press, with 94 percent of precincts reporting, showed President Bush leading U.S. Sen. John Kerry 52 percent to 47 percent in the race for New Mexico’s five electoral votes.

However, Gov. Bill Richardson noted that many strong Democratic precincts in Northern New Mexico and the Navajo Nation had yet to be counted.

“I think he’ll pull it out,” Richardson said of Kerry late Tuesday. But speaking to reporters at the secretary of state’s office, he predicted a very narrow win for the Democratic candidate.

“I think he’ll win by about 1 percent,” Richardson said. “I’ve said that all along.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the state Bush campaign predicted a victory for the president in New Mexico.

“We’re up by 20,000 votes,” Danny Diaz said in a telephone interview. “We’ve run the strongest Republican campaign this state has ever seen.”

Diaz was interviewed shortly after national news networks had called Ohio and Alaska for Bush, pushing the incumbent president’s electoral college count to 269, one electoral vote shy of victory.

“This state could deliver it to Bush,” Diaz said. “We’re trying to beat Nevada to the punch.”

Santa Fe County apparently chose Kerry by a wide margin. With 86 of 87 precincts reported, Kerry was winning this county by better than a 2-to-1 margin.

However, the Bush campaign chairman in Santa Fe County, Bob Parmelee, said he was very optimistic about Bush winning statewide. “The Democrats are digging themselves into a hole by moving further to the left,” he said. “I hope they keep digging.”

Despite losing the county, local Republicans, who watched election results on televisions at Fox’s Upstairs Bar & Grill on St. Michael’s Drive, seemed to be far more upbeat than Democrats who attended election parties at the Eldorado Hotel and The Paramount, a downtown nightclub.

The crowd at Fox’s cheered loudly every time good returns for Bush were announced on television.

One local Democrat activist, who asked not to be identified, said Tuesday he was frustrated by friction between the national Kerry campaign operating here and local Democrats.

“The Kerry campaign played by the playbook instead of by New Mexico rules,” said the man, who described himself as a “disgruntled foot soldier” in the Kerry campaign. “The Bush campaign was better at playing by New Mexico rules.”

“The Kerry campaign wasted people by putting poll watchers in Northern New Mexico,” he said. “They should have had those people in places like Clovis.”

Richardson and Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said that despite fears of problems at the polls, the election ran relatively smoothly in the state.

“There were no cases of harassment or intimidation,” Richardson said.
Vigil-Giron predicted the final turnout figure would be a record 75 percent of registered voters.

Denise Lamb, director of the state Elections Bureau, said election officials in Cibola County couldn’t locate provisional ballots for some time. Vigil-Giron said voters in Albuquerque’s Paradise Hills were still lined up to vote an hour after the official closing time.

Matt Brix, director of New Mexico’s Common Cause, said there were only sporadic reports of election problems in the state.

Some polling places in Albuquerque had three-hour waits, he said. In Las Cruces some polling places ran out of provisional ballots, Brix said.

Ever the state booster, Richardson told reporters that “the real winner tonight is New Mexico. We got an unprecedented amount of attention.”

The governor noted that in the past, New Mexico “was just a small state that was ignored in the presidential sweepstakes.”

This election was different, however.

Richardson was responsible for part of the national attention. He helped persuade the national Democrats to hold the first televised debate among the Democratic presidential contenders in New Mexico in September 2003.

He convinced the state Legislature to allow parties to have a presidential caucus in February. This attracted visits by most of the Democratic candidates.

Richardson also was chairman of the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July.
But what attracted the most attention was the fact that New Mexico is such an evenly divided state politically. In 2000, Al Gore beat Bush by a mere 366 votes.

Both Bush and Kerry, their running mates, family members and numerous surrogates made visits to the state this year. Bush appeared in Albuquerque as recently as Monday night, while former President Bill Clinton and Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, led weekend rallies in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Halloween Hootenanny by Zacherle
Bloodleting by Concrete Blonde
Monster Rock by Screaming Lord Sutch
Don't Shake Me Lucifer by Roky Erickson
Big Black Witchcraft Rock by The Cramps
The Munsters Theme by Los Straitjackets
Frankenstein Conquers the World by Daniel Johnston & Jad Fair
Night Visit by Stan Ridgway & Pietra Wexstun

I Drink Blood by Rocket From the Crypt
Halloween by Sonic Youth
I Put a Spell On You by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
House of 1,000 Corpses by Rob Zombie
I Scare Myself by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Ghostyhead by Ricki Lee Jones
Halloween Spooks by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross

Give Me Some Truth by John Lennon
There Is No Time by Lou Reed
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Country at War by X
Rich Man's War by Steve Earle
Faraway by Sleater-Kinney
Shepherds of the Nation by The Kinks
Civil Disobedience by Camper Van Beethoven

Papa's Got a Brand New Baghdad by The Capitol Steps
American Question by Jason Ringenberg
Misguided Missiles by NRBQ
Something Broken in the Promised Land by Wayne Kramer
The Bush Boys by The Mammals
Rockin' in the Free World by Neil Young
People Have the Power by Patti Smith

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, October 29, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell
Co-host: Laurell Reynolds

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Monster's Holiday by Buck Owens
Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare
TTT Gas by The Gourds
Sweet Dreams by Roy Buchannan
Sweet Dreams by Emmylou Harris
Living With the Animals by Mother Earth
I Have A Ball by The Ex-Husbands

Let The Bells Ring by Nick Cave
The Mercy Seat by Johnny Cash
Beautiful by Gordon Lightfoot
Snow by Jesse Winchester
Train From Kansas City by Neko Case
Last One Standing Ronny Elliott
Can Man Christmas by Joe West

Stealin' All Day by C.C. Adcock
Susie Q by Dale Hawkins
Baby Scratch My Back by Slim Harpo
Born On The Bayou by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Wicked Old Witch by John Fogarty
Pole Salad Annie by Tony Joe White
Amos Moses by Jerry Reed
Who Do You Love by Ronnie Hawkins& The Hawks
8-Piece Box by Southern Culture On The Skids

Cash on the Barrelhead by Dolly Parton
I Love My Truck by Glen Campbell
Jolene by The White Stripes
One More Bottle of Wine by Emmylou Harris
If You Don't Want My Love by John Prine
Love in Mind by Neil Young
Crazy Arms by Linda Rondstadt
The Maple Tree by Grey DeLisle
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: IT CAME FROM THE SWAMP

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Oct. 29, 2004

Lafayette Marquis, C.C. Adcock’s second album (and his first one in 10 years!) is a rollicking and refreshing work that brings swamp rock into the 21st Century.


And the young Louisianan Adcock knows that swamp rock is a sound that’s not only worth preserving, but worth building upon.

It’s snaked its way through the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Though there’s no real definitions of this elusive sub-genre, you know it when you hear it in the funky tone of the guitar, the loose rhythmic grooves, the laid-back drawl of the singer.

Where it started, nobody knows. You could argue it has roots in Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya.” You have to assume a connection with zydeco and Cajun music of rural Louisiana.

You heard it in rockabilly journeymen like Jody Reynolds and his death meditation “Endless Sleep,” and Dale Hawkins’ “Suzy Q.” Bo Diddley -- and his hillbilly disciple Ronnie Hawkins -- conjured the swamp in “Who Do You Love,” while Louisiana bluesman Slim Harpo’s “Baby, Scratch My Back” practically defined the sound.

Swamp rock took a hard-rock turn with Creedence Clearwater Revival in longs like “Green River” and “Born on the Bayou.” J.J. Cale brought a little Oklahoma to the swamp. It got all souled up on “Polk Salad Annie” by Tony Joe White. And it seemed natural in the early ‘70s country charts with Jerry Reed hits like “Amos Moses.”

But some might say that since those days when the gator got Annie’s granny, the swamp has been drained. The sound now seems to live on in various revival bands, novelty acts like Southern Culture on the Skids and the occasional new release from an old master like Fogerty or Tony Joe.

While Adcock has a solid roots resume -- he’s played guitar in bands backing Bo Diddley and Buckwheat Zydeco -- Lafayette Marquis is no a work of nostalgia.

True, one song here, “Runaway Life,” where Adcock is backed only by a fiddle and acoustic guitar, is pure Cajun country.

But the rest of the album has a hard-edged sound in which the guitars not only lay out bayou grooves, they sometimes grate and thunder. The drums, played mostly by Adcock’s touring band member Chris Hunter are more frantic and ferocious than your father’s swamp rock.

Then there’s strange musical colorations on some tunes -- Dr. Dre sideman Mike Elizando on “bass and beats and mood sympathizer ,“ sax maniac Dickie Landry, who blows a maelstrom on a tune called “I Love You,” and the fluttering accordion of at Breaux just audible beneath the crunching metal guitars on “Loaded Gun.”

Other highlights here include then psychedelic “Peter Gunn” style workout called “Stealin’ All Day” (supposedly the last studio production by the late Jack Nitzsche); the Santana-goes-swamp joy of “Blacksnake Bite”; and the dark “Slingshotz n’ Boom-R-Angz,” which sounds like it’s sampled Creedence’s version of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”

I’m not exactly sure why it took 10 years for Adcock to follow-up his self-titled 1994 debut. (Consumer tip -- you can find used copies of this CD for less than a dollar on Amazon.com) Usual music industry nightmares I suppose. Now that he’s on a respected indie label, Yep Roc, I hope Adcock doesn’t fade away for another decade.


Also Recommended:

Déjà Vu All Over Again by John Fogerty. It must be that time of decade, there’s a new Fogerty album.

Since the early 70s breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty has averaged two solo albums every 10 years. (And in the ‘90s, his second offering was a live “greatest hits” CD).

But it’s always good to hear from Fogerty and his first album of the new millennium is full of delights. (Plus, he’s released two albums since C.C. Adcock’s last one, so we shouldn’t complain.)

Recorded with a basic stripped down band (including drummer Kenny Aronoff on most tunes), Fogerty shows his mastery of his various styles.

“In the Garden” and “She’s Got Baggage” are raw and almost metallic. (“Baggage” has a “Hey-ho” chant in the middle that sounds almost like a tribute to The Ramones.

“Radar” features a Mysterion-style organ (played by Fogerty himself) that’ll make you cry 96 tears

“I Will Walk With You” (featuring Jerry Douglas on dobro) and “Rhubarb Pie” are sweet country numbers, while “Honey Do” is a gentle rockabilly tune.

Fogerty‘s “Fortunate Son,” “Run Through the Jungle” and “Bad Moon Rising” are some of the most enduring Vietnam-era protest songs. One this album, the title song is inspired by the war in Iraq. It’s not as strong as those others, but the song is a bitter indictment.

“One by one I see the old ghosts rising/Stumbling across the Big Muddy/Where the light goes dim/Day after day another Mama’s crying/She’s lost her precious child/to a war that has no end.”

For the record, Fogerty doesn’t get real swampy until the next to the last song, “Wicked Old Witch,” which starts off with a banjo solo before the electric guitar, bass and drums kick in.

Nearly 40 years later, the old boy’s still got swamp water in his blood.

Get swampy on the radio -- on The Santa Fe Opry, Friday 10 -midnight on KSFR, 90.7 Santa Fe Public Radio. Right after the 11th hour this week, you’ll hear C.C. Adcock, John Fogerty, Tony Joe White, Slim Harpo and others.

Then Sunday, same time, same station, Terrell’s Sound World presents the ghoulishly fun Steve Terrell Spook-tacular for the first hour of the show. Then, after the 11th hour there will be a special pre-election set of political tunes.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE TEXANS ARE COMING!

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Oct. 28, 2004

They're coming over the border by the hundreds.

They walk among us.

They're going to do their best to influence the election.

They call themselves "Texans."

"Last week we were in Texas and we discovered that the Texas GOP has been funneling hundreds and hundreds of volunteers into New Mexico, which makes great sense," noted political pundit Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, on his Web site this week.

It makes great sense because President Bush has his home state wrapped up. But New Mexico still is considered a battleground state. Our modest five electoral votes could be crucial in a tight race.

Between 400 and 500 Texas Republicans are coming to help the Bush campaign here, a spokeswoman for the state Bush effort confirmed.

Matt Farrauto, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said he's not surprised by the Texas Republican brigade. But he said the John Kerry campaign has 4,500-plus volunteers to help get out the vote on Tuesday. Some of those are from out of state, Farrauto said.

From blue stripes to red stripes

Sabato's Web site this week also changed New Mexico from leaning Kerry to leaning Bush.

"We can no longer ignore a series of public and private tracking polls showing Bush narrowly ahead," Sabato wrote. "Bush almost carried it in 2000, and despite Gov. Bill Richardson and his work for Kerry, Bush might be able to pull New Mexico into the Republican column. These are five critical electoral votes, and we will be watching all the way through election night."

Good words for the Gov.

Speaking of Richardson, the governor received a whole bouquet of compliments in an e-mail news release before Kerry's stop in Las Cruces last week.

Only trouble is, it was from the Bush campaign using Richardson to try to trash Kerry.

"When Senator Kerry campaigns with Governor Bill Richardson tomorrow in New Mexico, Kerry will probably be standing on the left side of the podium," Bush campaign spokesman Danny Diaz wrote. "Richardson supports the death penalty, but Kerry has voted against it at least 18 times and even opposed the death penalty for terrorists. Richardson has proposed tax cuts, but Kerry has voted 98 times for tax increases totaling $2.3 trillion. Richardson signed New Mexico's concealed carry legislation into law, but John Kerry has an 'F' rating from the NRA."

Many New Mexican Republicans pull out their hair any time national GOP types refer to Richardson as a tax cutter. The governor did push through personal-income-tax cuts for the upper brackets and fought hard to get rid of the gross-receipts tax on food. But Republican legislators insist that other taxes and fees have gone up under Richardson.

Sleepless in Southern New Mexico
Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell, and two friends -- we don't know if they're Texans -- are driving around various Southern New Mexico communities on what they call the "No Sleep Till Tuesday Tour."

Foley and friends are meeting up with local GOP legislative candidates for get-out-the-vote rallies. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has joined the No Sleepers at some stops, Foley said. Crowds, he said, have ranged between 30 and 50 people.

"The key is to let people know there's an alternative on the ballot," Foley said.

While the tour made it as far north as Santa Rosa, no Santa Fe area stops are planned, Foley said.

A NAVAJO BLESSING FOR KERRY

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Oct. 27, 2004

ALBUQUERQUE _ Sen. John Kerry’s campaign rally kicked off Tuesday with a unique blend of politics, baseball and Navajo spirituality.

Chester Nez, one of the 29 original Navajo Code Talkers from World War II -- who recently made sports headlines by blessing the Boston Red Sox when they were three games behind the New York Yankees in the American League playoffs -- gave a traditional Navajo blessing to Kerry’s campaign.

The Red Sox came back to win four straight games to vanquish the Yankees.

Kerry, who still is trailing President Bush in most polls, hopes the blessing works for him

Nez, 83, was dressed in a Red Sox warmup jacket and red cap as he sprinkled corn pollen in the four directions as thousands of Kerry supporters gathered at Albuquerque Civic Plaza cheered.

When Kerry took the microphone he thanked Nez. “The Code Talkers were such great patriots,” he said, referring to the Navajo Marines who transmitted messages in code based on the Navajo language in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, The Japanese never did crack the code.

“We are so grateful for your service,” Kerry said. “And the Red Sox are so grateful.”

Nez threw out the first pitch of an April Red Sox game and performed a blessing for the team. According to the Associated Press, when the Sox were one game away from being eliminated by the Yankees, “Nez stepped outside his home, faced east, and said another Navajo blessing.”
Kerry got cheers when he told the audience, “I want the red Sox to win the World Series, but the grand slam will be next week when we win the election.”

Kerry had no blessings for Bush during his 35-minute speech.

He hammered the President over the report earlier this week of hundreds of tons of explosives missing in Iraq. Terrorists, he said “may be helping themselves to the greatest explosives bonanza in history.”

Bus, Kerry said, “Tried to hide this information until after the election. And what did the president say when the news broke yesterday? Not a word. His silence confirms what I’ve been saying for months. We rushed into war without a plan to win the peace.”

Kerry also turned to familiar themes he’s stressed throughout the campaign -- that Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs during a term in office, and that Bush’s tax cuts mainly helped the wealthiest citizens.

“We need a president to fight not for the most powerful corporations in America, but for the families that built America and keep America strong,” he said.

He promised to raise the minimum wage to $7 an hour, increase the child care credit by $1,000 and establish a $4,000 tax credit for college tuition. He claimed the government could absorb these costs by cutting corporate welfare and rolling back Bush’s tax cuts for the highest income levels.

Kerry also promised to put Los Alamos National Laboratories and Sandia Laboratory to work on creating alternative energies.

“I want America’s energy future to not be in the hands of the Saudi Royal family,” he said.

In a written statement issued before Kerry‘s appearance, Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, said “John Kerry’s ‘ripped from the headlines’ attacks are not a vision for winning the War on Terror and not enough to rally voters behind his plans for job-killing tax hikes.

“Kerry keeps trying to talk down New Mexico's economy, but can’t hide the reality that the state’s unemployment rate is below its average in the 1990’s, “ Diaz said. “Kerry's funding numbers for his energy trust fund don’t add up, and would take money needed for essential services like education away from New Mexico. New Mexicans aren’t going to trust a candidate who proposed slashing our intelligence budget by $6 billion after the first World Trade Center attack. I hope this wasn’t John Kerry’s last visit to New Mexico, because he leaves our state with less support after each trip.”

Early during his speech a small group began heckling Kerry. “That’s alright,” Kerry said. “Look folks, the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Nobody who attends my campaign rallies has to sign a loyalty oath. I welcome diversity of opinion.”

That was a dig at Bush, who has sometimes required people attending his rallies to sign statements of support. Organizers of a July event in Rio Rancho for Vice President Dick Cheney had such a requirement.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, Oct. 24, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Stand for the Fire Demon by Roky Erickson
One Kind Favor by Canned Heat
Cannibal's Hymn by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Top of the Hill By Tom Waits
Babbling Flower by Dead Meadow
Perfect Day by Lou Reed

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN SET
51-7
Take the Skinheads Bowling
O Death
New Roman Times
Jack Ruby
Tania
Hey Brother

AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB SET
(All songs by American Music Club except where noted)
Ladies & Gentlemen
Jesus' Hands
Now You're Defeated
Myopic Books
No Easy Way Down by Mark Eitzel
It's Your Birthday
Johnny Mathis' Feet
The Devil Needs You

God's Eternal Love by Sally Timms
Ghosts of American Astronauts by The Mekons
I Hear They Smoke the Barbecue by Pere Ubu
Wonderful by Brian Wilson
Across the Bright Water by Bone Pilgrim
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis