THE PORTRAIT OF BILLY JOE

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

It’s no wonder that The Portrait of Billy Joe is bound to remind viewers of Tender Mercies. Robert Duvall, the star of the Oscar-winning 1983 film about the tribulations and ultimate redemption of a down-and-out country singer, is the executive producer of this new video documentary about “outlaw” country bard Billy Joe Shaver.


Duvall’s girlfriend Luciana Pedraza directed it. (More trivia: Pedraza first met Shaver on the set of The Apostle, a 1997 film directed by and starring Duvall and which featured Shaver in a bit part.)

The similarities between Shaver and Tender Mercies’ “Mac Sledge” are numerous. Both are songwriters from rural Texas who took a stab at mainstream C&W success -- Shaver’s songs have been covered by Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Tom T. Hall, John Anderson and others -- only to fall victim to old demon alcohol. Both suffered immense personal tragedies, including the deaths of their only children, and both found strength through religious faith.

And like “Sledge” -- whose musical career was reborn, albeit on a smaller scale than his heyday, due to the interest of a worshipful band of younger musicians -- Shaver got a second wind in the 1990s fronting a band led by his guitar-stud son Eddy.

Portrait begins with a scene of a shirtless Shaver shaving. He’s grown a big white mustache, but he’s tired of it. His Mama wouldn’t have liked it. It’s coming off.

As he shaves the mustache he jokes about keeping a “stiff upper lip.”

“I guess I kept a stiff upper lip until I got the face I deserve,” he says.

While in front of the mirror, he points out his scar on his chest from a quadruple bypass surgery.

Shaver, who turned 65 this year, has had a pretty rough decade so far. In course of one year, his mother, his son, and the love of his life, Brenda Shaver died. The heart attack followed.

Memories of Brenda dominate much of the documentary. The couple married and divorced three times.

In a painful interview Shaver talks about how after Brenda died he discovered letters and pictures attesting to her relationship with another man.

“He was younger than me,” he says wistfully. “Taller … I don‘t know where he is now, but I wish him well.” Then Shaver makes a shooing motion with his hand and repeats ruefully, “Wish him well.”

Still, Shaver says she’s the only woman he ever loved. He describes in loving detail in the documentary how he wrote the song “I Couldn’t Be Me Without You” in an effort to win her back.

We see Shaver in concert. We see him at his uncle’s farm. We see him win a chicken at a lottery. And we see him in church. The full-immersion baptism scene with his guitarist friend Jesse Taylor takes us right back to Tender Mercies.

But it’s over before we know it. Portrait of Billy Joe is less than an hour long. As a fan of Shaver’s music I wish it would have been fleshed out with more songs. His retelling of all his tragedies indeed is moving, but more of his songs would have made a more complete portrait of the man.

Billy Joe Shaver is scheduled to appear at a V.I.P. only party at Willee’s tonight. For those of us who aren’t V.I.P.s, Steve Terrell’s Santa Fe Opry will feature a lengthy segment of Billy Joe music 10 p.m. tonight on KSFR, 90.7 FM.

I will introduce Billy Joe Shaver at the Santa Fe Film Festival's screening of The Portrait of Billy Joe 2 p.m. Saturday at the CCA theater, so I'm feeling like a V.I.P.

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: HELLO DUMMY!

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

They’ve been together for more than 35 years. They’ve recorded with rockabilly titan Carl Perkins, the late country star Skeeter Davis, The Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian and pro wrestling great Captain Lou Albano. While never achieving mass commercial success, they’ve long been considered “musicians’ musicians” and critics’ darlings.

And they’ve even been on The Simpsons.

But most importantly, NRBQ, one of the most versatile and longest lasting bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, still is cranking out amazing albums full of songs that are sometimes challenging, frequently taking strange turns and almost always catchy.


Their latest album Dummy is evidence of that. The boys of the Q can still rock like madmen one moment then create sweeter than sweet pop the next.

The title cut, which opens the album starts out with a discordant little riff, punched up by horns, which sounds like it might have been the soundtrack of a 1960s commercial for a headache remedy, then slows into a funky, Randy Newman-ish groove as singer Terry Adams drawls a bittersweet lament about self-inflicted ignorance.

What follows are samples of the entire NRBQ everything-but-the-kitchen-sink bag of tricks. “One Big Parking Lot” is a chunka-chunka rockabilly/Johnny Cash style workout. “Imaginary Radio” is pure sweet weirdo pop that sounds like Adams is mainlining Brian Wilson’s melodies -- as well as his lyrics. “Do the Primal Thing” sounds like gorilla warfare. “I Need Love,“ written and suing by NRBQ cofounder Joey Spaminato, sounds like a lost Al Green song. And “What You Mean to Me” is one of the prettiest songs NRBQ’s ever recorded.

All these are originals, written by Adams and/or Spaminato. But there’s a couple of inspired covers here too.

“All That’s Left is to Say is Goodbye” is a bossa nova written by Antonio Carlos Jobim. “Be My Love” was an Italian pop hit by Mario Laza, though NRBQ do it as a sweet country song.

The there’s “Little Rug Bug,” which started out as a “song-poem” -- a tune whose lyrics were written by a wanna-be songwriter who responded to one of those “Put Your Poems To Music” ads. (Q drummer Tom Ardolino is a leading song-poem collector and enthusiast.) On Dummy, “Little Rug Bug” becomes confectionary reggae.

The album ends with one of the few -- perhaps only -- overtly political tunes NRBQ has ever done, “Misguided Missiles.” Clocking in at under two minutes, this song blasts “misinformed patriots, their flags unfurled/ while their misplaced leaders destroy the world.” Amazingly, this tune was recorded 13 years ago. (And former Q-man Big Al Anderson, a part-time Santa Fe resident, is playing rhythm guitar.)

In a way, NRBQ records like Dummy are like those of The Firesign Theatre. Each new listen reveals something new you didn’t notice before.

Hear a lengthy NRBQ segment Sunday on Terrell’s Sound World, KSFR, 90.7 FM. Show starts at 10 p.m., the NRBQ segment will start right after 11 p.m.

Also Recommended:

*At The Organ by The Minus 5. Like NRBQ, Seattle-ite Scott McCaughey is a sucker for a sweet pop melody as much as sonic weirdness. With his revolving-door band that sometimes includes REM guitarist Peter Buck, ex-Posie Ken Stringfellow and, lately members of Wilco, McCaughey is responsible for some gorgeous madness.

This 7-song collection mostly consists of outtakes from their 2003 album Down With Wilco. In fact there are a couple of remakes of DWW’s best songs, “The Days of Wine and Booze” and “The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply.”

Among the highlights:

“(I’ve Got a) Lyrical Stance,” kicks off the CD. It’s a minute-and-a- half crazy rocker, with a Red Elvises Slav-rock synth hook. McCaughey and Jeff Tweedy share vocals, shouting lines like “I’ve got something in my pants/And it’s a lyrical stance.”

“Film of the Movie” is an outright country tune with clip-cloppy percussion and a prominent steel guitar. It might remind you of Bob Dylan’s “Lily, Rosemary and The Jack of Hearts.”

“The Days of Wine and Booze,” a dreamy ballad in its previous incarnation, is now a hard-edged rocker with Jeff Tweedy playing guitar as if he‘s auditioning for The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion . But the melody is just as memorable.

* Living With the Animals and Make a Joyful Noise by Mother Earth. I’ve waited for years for these classic hippie roots albums to be re-released on CD. Now here they are, on a little label called Wounded Bird.

Mother Earth was a San Francisco-based band that combined blues, soul, gospel and country. These are their first two -- and best --albums.

The band is best known as the launching pad for belter Tracy Nelson, who went on a respectable recording career. Her signature song “Down So Low” first appeared on Animals, though her greatest moment is the Memphis Slim song that gave the group its name.

But Nelson wasn’t the only Mother Earth singer. There also was the Rev. Ronald Stallings, a soul shouter who joined up on Joyful Noise, his best song be “Stop That Train.”

Then there was the quivering voiced R.P. St. John, Jr., who performed cosmic/comic tunes like “Living With the Animals” on the first album and the “I’ll Be Moving On” -- a close encounter between a freak and a southern police officer -- on the second. St. John also was responsible for a couple of cool psychedelic relics like the jazzy “The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You” on Animals and “The Fly” on Joyful Noise.

In general, Animals -- which includes guest appearances by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, organist Barry Goldberg, and keyboardist Mark Naftalin --is more bluesy, while Joyful Noise -- with backup on some cuts by steel guitarist Pete Drake and fiddlers Johnny Gimbel and Shorty Lavender has more overt country. (In fact, the album is divided between a "City Side" and a "Country Side")

Both albums sound just as refreshing and just as true as they did in 1968 and ‘69 when they first came out.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: WITH NEW LEADERSHIP, WHITHER DWI?

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec. 2, 2004

For years many New Mexico anti-DWI activists have called Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen and Rep. Kenny Martinez, D-Grants "obstacles."

Now they're both going to be called "majority leader."

Sanchez and Martinez - both of whom are lawyers - were elected by fellow Democrats in their respective chambers to the leadership posts. Both have been chairman of their judiciary committees for several years.

Those who have fought for tougher laws against drunken driving took notice when Sanchez and Martinez ascended to their new posts, wondering what the effect will be on DWI legislation.

When interviewed, activists tend to be diplomatic about Sanchez and Martinez in their new positions. "It will be interesting," said Terry Huertaz, executive director of the state Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter. "This is a great opportunity to put our state on the right track. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt."
But privately, some activists aren't as sunny.

"I think they're going to block anything that moves," said one DWI opponent interviewed under the condition of anonymity.

Sen. Kent Cravens, an Albuquerque Republican who has sponsored and backed many DWI bills, said Wednesday, "It's been difficult to talk to Michael and Kenny about increasing penalties and mandatory sentencing. They've resisted both of these ideas during the years.

"We have to work within the framework," Cravens said. "It's going to be all the more difficult to do these things, but they need to be done."

Asked about the perception that he's been an obstacle to tougher DWI laws, Sanchez said Wednesday, "I treat every bill fairly. I can't tell people what to think. I just do what I think is right.

"I can tell you that I've talked to several DAs who say they wish we wouldn't pass any more DWI laws," Sanchez said. "They say nobody truly understands all the laws we've passed in the last few years. Things are falling through the cracks."

Martinez, interviewed Tuesday, said he thinks any perception that he's an opponent of DWI reform is unfair.

"I don't know why (anti-DWI activists) should be worried," he said. "I worked pretty hard on the comprehensive DWI package a couple of years ago. I think we've seen some good DWI legislation in the past five years."

Martinez recently has been on a state task force that is recommending expanding the use of ignition interlocks to fight DWI. Interlocks require drivers to blow into a breath analyzer that won't allow a vehicle to start if his or her alcohol level is too high.

Martinez noted that he took much political heat earlier this year for sponsoring a bill to require ignition interlocks in all vehicles. "I've been cast nationally as being too aggressive on DWI," he said.

2005 DWI package: One thing is for certain. DWI will be an issue in the upcoming legislative session. Gov. Bill Richardson has made the fight against DWI a cornerstone of his administration.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Wednesday that the governor, who held retreats with lawmakers, has received positive reception of his latest DWI and crime from legislators in both parties.

On Wednesday, Richardson's DWI czar Rachel O'Connor appeared at the Corrections Oversight, Courts and Justice Committee to present four proposed bills from the governor's office. They include requiring ignition interlocks on vehicles belonging to all convicted DWI offenders; lowering the legal blood-alcohol level limit for convicted DWI offenders; allowing local governments to impose tougher restrictions on liquor sales in areas of high alcohol abuse; and establishing a "Drunkbusters Hotline" to report drunk drivers.

O'Connor said more DWI legislation is likely to emerge in the session, which begins Jan. 18.

At least we know he was reading us. A "behind-the-scenes" story about the recent presidential campaign in the Nov. 15 Newsweek indicated that Democratic candidate John Kerry didn't get the rest and relaxation he needed during his mid October visit to Santa Fe.

"Kerry felt anything but relaxed and confident, however on the morning of the third debate on Oct. 13 in Tempe, Ariz. He was irritated by a headline in a Santa Fe, N.M. newspaper, TIME TO BREAK THE TIE. Kerry was tense and whiny: "I don't understand this," he groused to an aide. "I've beaten this guy twice now - and somehow it's a tie. Why is this a must-win for me? When is it going to be a must-win for him?"

"This guy" was President Bush. The newspaper was us.

The headline - which actually didn't include the word "the" - referred to the dead heat in the polls at the time.

HOAXES, PRANKS & WEIRDNESS

I just want to pass on a couple of sites I stumbled across this morning:

THE MUSEUM OF HOAXES CLICK HERE

BOING BOING CLICK HERE

and one of my all-time classic faves:

LANDOVER BAPTIST CHURCH CLICK HERE

Hours of entertainment ...

NM ODs ON CAMPAIGN ADS

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

(Somehow this one missed the New Mexican's web site.)

So you think you saw significantly more campaign commercials on television this year than you saw during past election seasons?

You’re right.

According to a new study by a Washington, D.C.-based organization called the Alliance for Better Campaigns, politicians spent an estimated $28 million on campaign commercials in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe market this year.

That’s nearly four times the amount spent in 2000, the previous presidential-election year.

Furthermore, the Albuquerque/Santa Fe market, while ranked 47th in market-area population, ranked eighth in the nation for number of political commercials aired in the study. Meanwhile, only six television stations in the country aired more political ads than KOAT-TV, Albuquerque’s ABC affiliate.

“Television air time is the No. 1 cost center for candidates in competitive races,” said Meredith McGehee, president of the Alliance for Better Campaigns.

She made the point that the amount of political-ad revenue nationwide is “an enormous election-year windfall for broadcasters, who receive free licenses to operate on the publicly owned airwaves.”

New Mexico got so many political ads, because it was considered one of a handful of battleground states. Democrat Al Gore beat Republican George W. Bush here in 2000 by 366 votes. This year, the polls were close throughout the race. Bush eventually defeated Democrat John Kerry here by about 6,000 votes — less than 1 percent.
According to the study, which used figures compiled by a private firm called Campaign Media Analysis Group, New Mexico stations aired more than 38,000 political ads this year.

This includes ads for presidential candidates as well as state and local candidates, McGehee said in a telephone interview last week.

Besides the presidential race, candidates in Congressional District 1 — Republican incumbent Heather Wilson and unsuccessful Democratic challenger Richard Romero — both ran intensive television-ad campaigns.

In the previous presidential-election year, Albuquerque stations aired 18,871 political commercials at a cost of $7,169,600, according to the Alliance for Better Campaigns statistics.

Even though 2002 wasn’t a presidential year, politicos paid more than $10 million for more than 21,000 television commercials.

In a written statement announcing the release of the study, McGehee said the heavy volume of political advertising in presidential battleground states far outweighed the amount of news coverage of the election.

This adds weight to the argument made by critics of television news that people who get most of their news from television are more likely to be influenced by political commercials.

Citing statistics from the Lear Center Local News Archive, she said 30 minutes of local news in battleground states averaged almost six minutes of campaign advertising, but only three minutes of campaign news. Forty-five percent of all television campaign stories were about strategy or polls, while only 29 percent focused on campaign issues. Ad-watch stories, which check the truthfulness of political spots, made up less than 1 percent of campaign stories in the study’s sample, McGehee said.

New Mexico wasn’t one of the 11 television markets included in that study. However, in a 2002 study by the Lear Center, Albuquerque stations’ percentages of campaign stories were in line with those of other stations in the study.

The Alliance for Better Campaigns is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the cost of campaigns and increasing the flow of issue-based political information before elections. The organization’s honorary co-chairmen are former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and retired CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite.