Friday, November 12, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell
This show is dedicated to Dave Klug. Hang in, Dave!
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
All American Girl by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
I'm Just a Honky by The Ex-Husbands
TTT Gas by The Gourds
Then I'll Be Moving On by Mother Earth
Agony Wagon by The Legendary Shack Shakers
O Babe, It Ain't No Lie by Bingo
Billy's First Ex Wife by Ronny Elliott
Darktown Strutters Ball by (unknown home recording)
La La Land by Goshen
Love and Lust by Hundred Year Flood
The Fame of Lofty Deeds by Jon Langford
Must You Throw Dirt in My Face by Elvis Costello
Just Like Geronimo by Marlee MacLeod
Never Gonna Change by Drive By Truckers
Hand to Mouth by The Flying Burritto Brothers
Cans, Copper & Car Batteries by Joe West
The Old Gospel Ship by Iris Dement
Gospel Train by The Wright Brothers
Christian Automobile by The Dixie Hummingbirds
The Tigers Have Spoken by Neko Case
I've Got a Tiger By The Tail by Buck Owens
Tiger in Your Tank by Muddy Waters
Tiger Man by Elvis Presley
The Preacher and the Bear by Sid Hausman & Washboard Jerry
Bears in Them Woods by Nancy Apple
Got the Bull by The Horns by Johnny Horton
Blessed With Happiness by Geraint Watkins
We're Gonna Live in the Trees by Robyn Hitchcock
Is That You by Buddy Miller
Country Bumpkin by Cal Smith
It's a Big Old Goofy World by John Prine
Together Again by Ray Charles
My Reasons Why by Blaze Foley
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
TERRELL'S TUNEUP: OUT OF THEIR GOURDS
As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Nov. 12, 2004
On their sixth or seventh album Blood of the Ram, The Gourds stretch out. You hear a wider array of influences -- ‘60s garage-band, ’70s soul, a touch of Irish folk.
This is hardly the first time this Austin band has painted with colors beyond their basic American roots pallet. After all, they first became notorious a few years when they did a version of Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” in their trademark Cajun-touched, south-Texas country sound with that unique hopped-up but clunky style.
So it makes weird sense when you hear echoes of Al Green on “Escalade,” or when you think of Pigpen-era Grateful Dead when you hear the organ on “Triple T Gas” or you wonder whether you’ve stumbled upon a long-lost aborted Rolling Stones collaboration with some unknown hillbilly singer on the hilariously crude “Turd in My Pocket.”
Indeed there are wicked references to The Gourds’ musical forbearers here.
“Spanky,” apparently inspired by shoplifting tykes in the fishing section of a discount store, is a countrified version of The Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat”; “Illegal Oyster” contains a Bizzaro World nod to Gershwin’s “Summertime,” in the lines “Well, your daddy’s broke/And your mother’s homely”; and the title song, sung in a pseudo Waylon Jennings register, can trace its roots to Sam the Sam & The Pharaohs’ “Wooly Bully.” (“He had great longhorns, harder than a pony keg/2 comin’ out of his head, one between his legs.”)
But the main reason Blood of Ram is such a kick is because it sounds like The Gourds.
You’re not always sure just what Kev Russell or Jimmy Smith, the main Gourd vocalists are singing about. Their lyrics are a jumble of picaresque tales, mystery oracles and half-formed dirty jokes.
“Wafer of bread, my last poker chip/Curse to you Chairman Mao crackin’ the whip,” Smith sings on “Triple T Gas.”
“31 days my fingers feel like rain/This jail was built on cracklins and cocaine,” is how Russell starts his surreal I-Fought-the-Law fantasy called “Cracklins.”
But with the irresistible musical backdrops, colored by Claude Bernard on accordion and Max Johnston (formerly of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco) on fiddle and banjo, it all makes sense.
Blood of Ram is full of what are bound to become Gourd standards. They’ve been together 10 years now and they just keep getting better.
Also Recommended:
*Dial W For Watkins by Geraint Watkins.Here’s another rootsy musical eccentric conjuring simple but irresistible aural magic.
Watkins, a 50ish picker from Wales, is mainly known as a sideman. He’s done studio work with Van Morrison, Paul McCartney and Tom Jones (!) and has toured with Nick Lowe (who plays bass and sings background on some cuts) Surprisingly this is his first American solo disc.
There are some tunes that are bound to twist your head off.
The album starts out with a slow, churchy minute-long tune called “Two Rocks,” which features Watkins crooning over soft organ chords. Then suddenly it turns into a Delta stomp called “Turn That Chicken Down” featuring a saxophone and harmonica over a National guitar. Watkins sings like he’s channeling T-Model Ford with a repeated refrain, “turn that chicken down, turn it down …” There’s a techno bridge. It ends with some trombone blurts.
The first tune that really sold me on this album was Watkins’ cover of the Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks classic “Heroes and Villains.” It’s done jump blues style, complete with scat singing, as if Louis Prima took a stab at Smile.
While “Chicken” and “Heroes,” as well as the cowboy swing of “Go West” are impressive novelties, it’s actually Watkins’ original soul ballads that give this album its staying power.
He’s got a lot in common with Lowe in his ability to nail smoky love songs like “I Will” and bitter heartache tunes “Bring Me the Head of My So-Called Lover.”
Watkins might also remind listeners of white soul songster Dan Penn on songs like the sad, soulful “Only a Rose” in which Watkins sings over a tremolo guitar, and “The Whole Night Through,” an upbeat, pretty, country-flavored declaration of devotion.
This is timeless music. Watkins might be a late bloomer at the age of 53, especially in a business still dominated by youth-culture. But I’m just glad he bloomed at all.
*Oval Room by Blaze Foley. Lucinda Williams eulogized him in her song “Drunken Angel” as Townes Van Zandt did in “Blaze’s Blues.” Merle Haggard immortalized him in his heart-wrenching cover of “If I Could Only Fly.”
But surprisingly, Austin singer-songwriter/character Blaze Foley -- who was shot and killed in a drunken argument in 1989 -- is next to impossible to find on CD. Live at the Austin Outhouse is out there somewhere. And now there’s this album, consisting mainly of Outhouse outtakes, produced by Gurf Morlix and John Casner.
There are several political tunes here, including the title song, which, written in 1988, proves that despite what you saw on t.v. this summer, not everyone loved Ronald Reagan.
Then there’s WW III, which is disturbingly timeless with lyrics like “I’ve been thinking, Uncle Sam, it’s time we went to war … If you don't hurry, sure enough/all these kids'll be grown up/be too old to die for you, so get 'em if you're going to."
Then there’s “Springtime in Uganda,” a diatribe against dictator Idi Amin that shows a shocking cultural insensitivity toward fundamentalist Islam and cannibalism.
But Blaze is at his best with his heartbreak songs. “My Reasons Why,” “Cold, Cold World” and -- especially -- “Someday” (with back-up here by the Texana Dames) are just waiting to be covered by George Jones or Haggard, who allegedly has made noises about doing an album of Foley songs.
Hear music from these CDs on The Santa Fe Opry, 10 p.m. to midnight Friday on KSFR, 90.7 FM and streaming on the web at www.ksfr.org.
Nov. 12, 2004
On their sixth or seventh album Blood of the Ram, The Gourds stretch out. You hear a wider array of influences -- ‘60s garage-band, ’70s soul, a touch of Irish folk.
This is hardly the first time this Austin band has painted with colors beyond their basic American roots pallet. After all, they first became notorious a few years when they did a version of Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” in their trademark Cajun-touched, south-Texas country sound with that unique hopped-up but clunky style.
So it makes weird sense when you hear echoes of Al Green on “Escalade,” or when you think of Pigpen-era Grateful Dead when you hear the organ on “Triple T Gas” or you wonder whether you’ve stumbled upon a long-lost aborted Rolling Stones collaboration with some unknown hillbilly singer on the hilariously crude “Turd in My Pocket.”
Indeed there are wicked references to The Gourds’ musical forbearers here.
“Spanky,” apparently inspired by shoplifting tykes in the fishing section of a discount store, is a countrified version of The Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat”; “Illegal Oyster” contains a Bizzaro World nod to Gershwin’s “Summertime,” in the lines “Well, your daddy’s broke/And your mother’s homely”; and the title song, sung in a pseudo Waylon Jennings register, can trace its roots to Sam the Sam & The Pharaohs’ “Wooly Bully.” (“He had great longhorns, harder than a pony keg/2 comin’ out of his head, one between his legs.”)
But the main reason Blood of Ram is such a kick is because it sounds like The Gourds.
You’re not always sure just what Kev Russell or Jimmy Smith, the main Gourd vocalists are singing about. Their lyrics are a jumble of picaresque tales, mystery oracles and half-formed dirty jokes.
“Wafer of bread, my last poker chip/Curse to you Chairman Mao crackin’ the whip,” Smith sings on “Triple T Gas.”
“31 days my fingers feel like rain/This jail was built on cracklins and cocaine,” is how Russell starts his surreal I-Fought-the-Law fantasy called “Cracklins.”
But with the irresistible musical backdrops, colored by Claude Bernard on accordion and Max Johnston (formerly of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco) on fiddle and banjo, it all makes sense.
Blood of Ram is full of what are bound to become Gourd standards. They’ve been together 10 years now and they just keep getting better.
Also Recommended:
*Dial W For Watkins by Geraint Watkins.Here’s another rootsy musical eccentric conjuring simple but irresistible aural magic.
Watkins, a 50ish picker from Wales, is mainly known as a sideman. He’s done studio work with Van Morrison, Paul McCartney and Tom Jones (!) and has toured with Nick Lowe (who plays bass and sings background on some cuts) Surprisingly this is his first American solo disc.
There are some tunes that are bound to twist your head off.
The album starts out with a slow, churchy minute-long tune called “Two Rocks,” which features Watkins crooning over soft organ chords. Then suddenly it turns into a Delta stomp called “Turn That Chicken Down” featuring a saxophone and harmonica over a National guitar. Watkins sings like he’s channeling T-Model Ford with a repeated refrain, “turn that chicken down, turn it down …” There’s a techno bridge. It ends with some trombone blurts.
The first tune that really sold me on this album was Watkins’ cover of the Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks classic “Heroes and Villains.” It’s done jump blues style, complete with scat singing, as if Louis Prima took a stab at Smile.
While “Chicken” and “Heroes,” as well as the cowboy swing of “Go West” are impressive novelties, it’s actually Watkins’ original soul ballads that give this album its staying power.
He’s got a lot in common with Lowe in his ability to nail smoky love songs like “I Will” and bitter heartache tunes “Bring Me the Head of My So-Called Lover.”
Watkins might also remind listeners of white soul songster Dan Penn on songs like the sad, soulful “Only a Rose” in which Watkins sings over a tremolo guitar, and “The Whole Night Through,” an upbeat, pretty, country-flavored declaration of devotion.
This is timeless music. Watkins might be a late bloomer at the age of 53, especially in a business still dominated by youth-culture. But I’m just glad he bloomed at all.
*Oval Room by Blaze Foley. Lucinda Williams eulogized him in her song “Drunken Angel” as Townes Van Zandt did in “Blaze’s Blues.” Merle Haggard immortalized him in his heart-wrenching cover of “If I Could Only Fly.”
But surprisingly, Austin singer-songwriter/character Blaze Foley -- who was shot and killed in a drunken argument in 1989 -- is next to impossible to find on CD. Live at the Austin Outhouse is out there somewhere. And now there’s this album, consisting mainly of Outhouse outtakes, produced by Gurf Morlix and John Casner.
There are several political tunes here, including the title song, which, written in 1988, proves that despite what you saw on t.v. this summer, not everyone loved Ronald Reagan.
Then there’s WW III, which is disturbingly timeless with lyrics like “I’ve been thinking, Uncle Sam, it’s time we went to war … If you don't hurry, sure enough/all these kids'll be grown up/be too old to die for you, so get 'em if you're going to."
Then there’s “Springtime in Uganda,” a diatribe against dictator Idi Amin that shows a shocking cultural insensitivity toward fundamentalist Islam and cannibalism.
But Blaze is at his best with his heartbreak songs. “My Reasons Why,” “Cold, Cold World” and -- especially -- “Someday” (with back-up here by the Texana Dames) are just waiting to be covered by George Jones or Haggard, who allegedly has made noises about doing an album of Foley songs.
Hear music from these CDs on The Santa Fe Opry, 10 p.m. to midnight Friday on KSFR, 90.7 FM and streaming on the web at www.ksfr.org.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
STEALING THE ELECTION
I'm on vacation this week, so no political column. (I wrote this week's Terrell's Tune-up early, so look for that tomorrow.)
However for political junkies like me, there's never a real vacation from politics.
Since the election, probably 14 friends have e-mailed me links to Greg Palast's article that John Kerry actually won the election in Ohio and (gulp!) New Mexico, due to ballot spoilage and Republican dirty tricks.
The one part of Palast's article that struck me was his analysis of New Mexico's Chaves County, with his quaint image of "brown people" who "drive across the desert" to vote." Palast finds it surprising that Kerry lost to Bush by a big margin in Chaves County despite a large Hispanic population. Gee, does that mean that conservative Chaves County Republicans like state Sen. Rod Adair and Rep. Dan Foley have won by voter fraud too? Rise up Roswell liberals, wherever you are!
(And Palast apparently doesn't know -- or believe -- that Bush got about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in this state. Some of those "brown people" apparently drove across the desert to vote Republican.)
I've talked to so many Santa Fe folk who refuse to believe that a majority -- albiet a very slight majority -- of people in this state and the country would actually favor George W. Bush. As one friend, who believes the election was stolen by GOP voting machines, told me, "I just can't believe that so many people are so stupid."
Here's my personal nutball election conspiracy theory: All the lefty whining about the "stolen" election is being fed and orchestrated by none other than Karl Rove. It's his evil plan to forment mistrust and distrust of the election process itself, so in the future they'll just stay at home.
But seriously, for a good sober look at some of the election conspiracy theories, check out this story at Salon.com . (If you're not a subscriber, you'll have to get a "day pass" which involves looking at an advertisement. It won't kill you.)
Of course there are those who will only argue that the liberal Salon.com is now part of the right-wing election-stealing conspiracy. (Excuse me, I have to catch a plane to spray some chemtrails on innocent citizens.)
I'm not saying that the country doesn't need to take a good look and serious study of the very real problems in the election -- the long lines, the whole provisional ballot mess. There are many improvements that must be made.
But waddling in conspiracy theories is a self-defeating waste of time.
(There's a comment button on this blog. Flame on.)
However for political junkies like me, there's never a real vacation from politics.
Since the election, probably 14 friends have e-mailed me links to Greg Palast's article that John Kerry actually won the election in Ohio and (gulp!) New Mexico, due to ballot spoilage and Republican dirty tricks.
The one part of Palast's article that struck me was his analysis of New Mexico's Chaves County, with his quaint image of "brown people" who "drive across the desert" to vote." Palast finds it surprising that Kerry lost to Bush by a big margin in Chaves County despite a large Hispanic population. Gee, does that mean that conservative Chaves County Republicans like state Sen. Rod Adair and Rep. Dan Foley have won by voter fraud too? Rise up Roswell liberals, wherever you are!
(And Palast apparently doesn't know -- or believe -- that Bush got about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in this state. Some of those "brown people" apparently drove across the desert to vote Republican.)
I've talked to so many Santa Fe folk who refuse to believe that a majority -- albiet a very slight majority -- of people in this state and the country would actually favor George W. Bush. As one friend, who believes the election was stolen by GOP voting machines, told me, "I just can't believe that so many people are so stupid."
Here's my personal nutball election conspiracy theory: All the lefty whining about the "stolen" election is being fed and orchestrated by none other than Karl Rove. It's his evil plan to forment mistrust and distrust of the election process itself, so in the future they'll just stay at home.
But seriously, for a good sober look at some of the election conspiracy theories, check out this story at Salon.com . (If you're not a subscriber, you'll have to get a "day pass" which involves looking at an advertisement. It won't kill you.)
Of course there are those who will only argue that the liberal Salon.com is now part of the right-wing election-stealing conspiracy. (Excuse me, I have to catch a plane to spray some chemtrails on innocent citizens.)
I'm not saying that the country doesn't need to take a good look and serious study of the very real problems in the election -- the long lines, the whole provisional ballot mess. There are many improvements that must be made.
But waddling in conspiracy theories is a self-defeating waste of time.
(There's a comment button on this blog. Flame on.)
Monday, November 08, 2004
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Sunday, November 7, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell
Co-host Laurell Reynolds
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Mozambique by Bob Dylan with Emmylou Harris
Dummy by NRBQ
Hotel Senator by Minus 5
Remember A Day by Pink Floyd
Hate Is The New Love by The Mekons
Now We Have The Bomb by Sally Timms
Wasted Union Blues by It's A Beautiful Day
Working Class Hero by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
Don't Go Into That Barn by Tom Waits
Hard Time Killin' Floor by The Twilight Singers
Hellbound 17 1/2 by Primus
One Sunny Day by Fleetwood Mac
Who Makes The Nazis by The Fall
Oklahoma by Bone Pilgrim
Chimes Of Freedom by The Byrds
NICK CAVE SET
All Songs by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
(See review of Abattoir Blues and The Lyre of Orpheus a couple of posts below)
The Lyre of Orpheus
Do You Love Me?
Pappa Won't Leave You Henry
The Weeping Song
Hiding All the Way
Babe, I'm on Fire
The Curse of Milhaven
O Children
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell
Co-host Laurell Reynolds
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Mozambique by Bob Dylan with Emmylou Harris
Dummy by NRBQ
Hotel Senator by Minus 5
Remember A Day by Pink Floyd
Hate Is The New Love by The Mekons
Now We Have The Bomb by Sally Timms
Wasted Union Blues by It's A Beautiful Day
Working Class Hero by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
Don't Go Into That Barn by Tom Waits
Hard Time Killin' Floor by The Twilight Singers
Hellbound 17 1/2 by Primus
One Sunny Day by Fleetwood Mac
Who Makes The Nazis by The Fall
Oklahoma by Bone Pilgrim
Chimes Of Freedom by The Byrds
NICK CAVE SET
All Songs by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
(See review of Abattoir Blues and The Lyre of Orpheus a couple of posts below)
The Lyre of Orpheus
Do You Love Me?
Pappa Won't Leave You Henry
The Weeping Song
Hiding All the Way
Babe, I'm on Fire
The Curse of Milhaven
O Children
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Saturday, November 06, 2004
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
Friday, November 5, 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
Bad Times (Are Comin' Round Again) by The Waco Brothers
Oval Room by Blaze Foley
Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms by Flatt & Scruggs
There's a Higher Power by Buddy Miller
Cracklins by The Gourds
Burn, Burn, Burn by Ronny Elliott
Living in the U.S.A by Acie Cargill
Mother Earth by Mother Earth
Let's Make Believe We're Sweethearts by The Light Crust Doughboys
Sister Kate by The Ditty Bops
I Love Onions by Susan Christie
Don't Fence Me In by Sid Hausman & Washtub Jerry
The Tigers Have Spoken by Neko Case
Reprimand by Joe West
Tonya's Twirls by Loudon Wainwright III
Sugar Sugar (In My Life) by John Fogerty
When You Sleep by Tres Chicas
Tell Me True by Grey DeLisle
I've Got $5 and It's Saturday Night by George Jones & Gene Pitney
Jones on the Jukebox by Johnny Bush with Tommy Alverson
I Love You by C.C. Adcock
Don't You Want Me by Moonshine Willie
Goddamn Lonely Love by Drive By Truckers
Moon River by The Bubbadinos
F the CC by Steve Earle
Dark Hollow by Bill Monroe
Follow You Home by Kasey Chambers
Charmers by Richard Buckner
A Kiss on the Lips by Julie Miller
Be My Love by Geraint Watkins
Wings of a Dove by Lucinda Williams & Nanci Griffiths
Feel Like Going Home by Charlie Rich
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting:
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays MDT
Host: Steve Terrell
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Bad Times (Are Comin' Round Again) by The Waco Brothers
Oval Room by Blaze Foley
Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms by Flatt & Scruggs
There's a Higher Power by Buddy Miller
Cracklins by The Gourds
Burn, Burn, Burn by Ronny Elliott
Living in the U.S.A by Acie Cargill
Mother Earth by Mother Earth
Let's Make Believe We're Sweethearts by The Light Crust Doughboys
Sister Kate by The Ditty Bops
I Love Onions by Susan Christie
Don't Fence Me In by Sid Hausman & Washtub Jerry
The Tigers Have Spoken by Neko Case
Reprimand by Joe West
Tonya's Twirls by Loudon Wainwright III
Sugar Sugar (In My Life) by John Fogerty
When You Sleep by Tres Chicas
Tell Me True by Grey DeLisle
I've Got $5 and It's Saturday Night by George Jones & Gene Pitney
Jones on the Jukebox by Johnny Bush with Tommy Alverson
I Love You by C.C. Adcock
Don't You Want Me by Moonshine Willie
Goddamn Lonely Love by Drive By Truckers
Moon River by The Bubbadinos
F the CC by Steve Earle
Dark Hollow by Bill Monroe
Follow You Home by Kasey Chambers
Charmers by Richard Buckner
A Kiss on the Lips by Julie Miller
Be My Love by Geraint Watkins
Wings of a Dove by Lucinda Williams & Nanci Griffiths
Feel Like Going Home by Charlie Rich
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
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TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
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