TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, December 26, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
There's a Moon Out Tonight by The Capris
Jimi Hendrix Polka by Brave Combo
Grease Box by TAD
Start Choppin' by Dinsosaur Jr.
Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana
Bastards of Young by The Replacements
Don't Break Me Down by The Donnas
Within a Martian Heart by Man or Astroman?

Low Self Opinion by The Rollins Band
Youth Against Fascism by Sonic Youth
The KKK Took My Baby Away by The Ramones
Nazi Girlfriend by Iggy Pop
White Man in Hammersmith Palais by The Clash
Evil Hearted Ada by The Flamin' Groovies
Muffin Man by Frank Zappa with Captain Beefheart
Build High by Frank Black

She May Be White But She Funky by Howard Tate
Pull Your Clothes Off by Junior Kimbrough
Meet Me In The City by The Blues Explosion
Big Mama's Bumble Bee Blues by Big Mama Thornton
Let Me Down Easy by Betty Lavette
Let the Door Knob Hit You in the Back by Butterbeans & Susie

Falling Elevators by MC 900 Ft. Jesus
Look Out There's a Monster Coming by The Bonzo Dog Band
Go by Sparklehorse with The Flaming Lips
Make It Rain by Tom Waits
Her Tears Break My Heart by Bernadette Seacrest
I Love Her, She Loves Me by NRBQ
My True Story by The Jive Five
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY FRIENDS!!!!!

Here's to a happy holiday for all my buddies and blog readers.

And my Christmas wish: Everyone should take to heart the psychedlic wisdom of the old motto of The Family Dog in San Francisco: "MAY THE BABY JESUS SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND OPEN YOUR MIND."

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: THE CHURCH OF BUDDY

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec. 24, 2004

The world of alternative country, whatever that is, has produced few, if indeed any, more soulful voices than that of Buddy Miller.

I’m hardly the first to note this. It’s hard to find any review of Miller that doesn’t employ the words “soul” or “soulful.”

But there’s a reason for that. Each one of his albums over the course of the last decade are full of songs that cut right to the core with their sincerity and hard-won truth. With his world-weary drawl, Miller sounds like someone who doesn’t sit down and sing a song until he’s lived it from every side.

Miller’s latest, Universal United House of Prayer, is no different -- except that it might just be his strongest work yet.

Named after an actual church in the Nashville area, this record is the closest thing to pure gospel music Miller has ever recorded. No, it’s not quite holy rolling. Not all of the songs specifically name check God or Jesus or quote scripture (though drummer Brady Blade reads a psalm in the background of “Don‘t Wait.”)

But throughout the album there are lyrics of spiritual yearning. This, along with the background vocals of Regina and Ann McCrary -- daughters of the Rev. Sam McCrary of The Fairfield Four -- make Universal United House of Prayer a religious experience.

There’s a couple of fine cover tunes on Universal United. He takes Ira and Charlie Louvin’s “There’s a Higher,” adds some funky percussion (courtesy of Brady Blade and Steve Hindalong), sweet fiddle by Tammy Rogers and call-and-response vocals from the McCrary sisters to make the song sound ancient and modern at the same time.

Then there’s the 9-minute, slow-burning version of Bob Dylan’s Cold War classic “With God on Our Side.” backed by a tremelo guitar, a churchy organ (by Phil Madeira) and martial drums, Miller sounds like the Universal Soldier himself, damning war and nationalism from a throne in the sky.

(At one point there it seemed like all these old protest tunes were quaint and dated. Unfortunately that’s no longer true. Last month a bunch of kids in Boulder, Colo. Became the subject of an FBI investigation when local right-wingers didn’t like them performing Dylan’s “Masters of War” at a high school talent show.)

Ultimately though, the most enduring songs on this album are the ones written by Miller and/or his wife Julie.

“Fire and Water,” written by the couple, is a song about Julie Miller’s brother, who died shortly before the album was recorded. More upbeat is “Don’t Wait,” in which Miller’s Creedence-like guitar is out front and the McCrarys get full of the spirit.

Miller’s guitar is even more swampy, in fact, downright spooky on “Is That You,” a slow, bouncy full-force call to God.

The voices -- Miller and the McCrarys -- are even more out front on the concluding track, “Fall on the Rock,” a Julie-penned gospel shouter that warns, “You better fall on the rock or the rock’s gonna fall on you.”

In short, Universal United House of Prayer is a record full of joy, grief, faith and despair. If it doesn’t make you feel religious, it should at least make you feel very human.

Also Recommended:

*Lifeline by Iris DeMent. Iris DeMent? I thought she was dead ...

No, not really. During the past eight years or so, you can find her songs on a variety of soundtracks (The Horse Whisperer and Songcatcher to name a couple) and tribute albums (Jimmie Rodgers, Tom T. Hall) and dueting on records by John Prine, Tom Russell, Steve Earle and her husband Greg Brown.

But until now she hadn’t released an album of her own since 1996 when she gave the world her jaw-dropping “The Way I Should.”

But each impressive new guest appearance just fueled the burning question: “Where the hell is the new Iris album?”

A bad case of writer’s block, she’s said in interviews.

While her distinct, warbling voice is still in fine form, Lifeline doesn’t indicate whether or not DeMent has recovered from her writer’s block. All but one of the songs here are old traditional gospel tunes, many of them public domain.

These are mostly fondly-remembered songs from DeMent’s childhood, songs her mother used to sing.

In her liner notes DeMent writes, “These songs aren’t about religion. At least for me they aren’t. They’re about something bigger than that. There was a great urgency in my mother’s voice when she sang out that came out of desperation, a great need.” DeMent also talks about a “calmness” in her mother after singing.

Backed only by acoustic instruments -- sometimes just her piano -- these songs done her elicit a certain calmness also.

There are familiar hymns like “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” Before now I’d always considered this a rather gimpy song. But DeMent pours her soul into it, making it a powerful declaration.

There are obscure songs with odd and ominous titles like “I Don’t Want to Get Adjusted” (“I don’t want to get adjusted to this world, to this world/I’ve got a home that’s so much better …”) and “God Walks These Dark Hills.”

And there’s one DeMent original “He Reached Down,” in which she retells the Bible stories like the Good Samaritan and Jesus telling only those without sin to cast the first stone at an adulteress. This is her subtle way of saying that religion is not the sole property of right-wingers.

I hope this signals the end of DeMent’s writer’s block. As the writer of “Wasteland of the Free,” one of the most on-target protest songs of the ‘90s, she is needed.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: GARY J. ON E. SHIRLEY

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec. 23, 2004

Thanks to Public Regulation Commissioner E. Shirley Baca getting arrested on charges of marijuana possession at the Albuquerque International Airport earlier this month, marijuana is once again a hot topic around the halls of state government. There hasn't been this much chatter about pot here since Gary Johnson was governor.

Johnson, who was in office from 1995 to the end of 2002, became a national voice for reforming drug laws, though his advocacy undoubtedly hurt his relationship with many of his fellow Republicans and didn't win many Democratic friends in the Legislature.

In case you've been on another planet for the past couple of weeks, Baca's arrest touched off an uproar.

A majority of her fellow PRC members asked her to resign. Both Gov. Bill Richardson and state Democratic Chairman John Wertheim both have said she should step down. Some just shook their heads and said, "Eeee, Shirley ..."

The reaction has been so one-sided, it's almost hard to believe that just a few years ago there was a serious debate in the Roundhouse about decriminalizing weed.

So what does Johnson think about the Baca situation?

In an e-mail conversation this week, the former governor said, "I find the E. Shirley Baca story indicative of what is going on in this country every day. There are people in all walks of life that pay taxes, are good parents, are influential in their communities, and are law abiding citizens except for the fact that they smoke marijuana.

"I don't think it should be illegal to smoke marijuana in the confines of your own home doing no harm to anyone arguably other than yourself," Johnson said.

"All that said, Shirley Baca seems to be a hypocrite," Johnson said. "She smokes pot and yet it's not OK for anyone working for her. She advocates zero tolerance for anyone using drugs and alcohol within her office and yet it appears that does not apply to herself."

Baca reportedly told airport police that she occasionally smokes marijuana. However since then she has denied that she put the contraband in her suitcase where authorities found it.

"In my business and in state government I had drug policies that were not zero tolerance," Johnson continued I wanted to help individuals that might turn out to be drug or alcohol abusers."

"I don't remember her standing beside me when I advocated rational drug reform in this country," Johnson said. "I don't remember her wanting rational drug reform in her high-profile runs for the U.S. Congress. Come clean Shirley, and advocate change in our current drug policies. Prevent the future millions that will be subjected to arrest and incarceration. You are now one of them."

I'd just like to thank the governor: Many things have changed since the Johnson era. Back in those days, a big percentage of people in the room at a governor's press conference actually were members of the press.

But Bil Richardson is a believer in press conferences doubling as pep rallies. These events are packed with folks whose main reason for being there is to pay verbal tribute to the chief executive. I recently joked with a Richardson press aide about creating a new drinking game: You take a shot every time someone says, "I'd just like to thank the governor."

But last week was the ultimate. There was a press conference Friday to announce a holiday anti-drunken driving blitz and his proposal for spending $150 million on economic development, housing, water, energy, health and higher education projects.

The Governor's Cabinet Room was jammed with police from a whole galaxy of police departments from around the state, as well as bureaucrats from the various agencies in line for their share of the money.

Somewhere in the claustrophobic confides of the room were about three reporters - including The New Mexican's Ben Neary. The room was so crowded that reporters from the Associated Press and The Albuquerque Journal were left standing in the lobby of the governor's office. They didn't make their way into the press conference until the cops started leaving after the DWI announcement.

Fighting urban legends: Recently a co-worker sent everyone in our office an alarming e-mail about telemarketers getting a directory of cell phone numbers. The same dire warning was posted on my favorite internet music board too.

Like most alarming e-mails, it's not true. And if you don't believe me, ask Attorney General Patricia Madrid, who just issued a written statement debunking the cell phone/telemarketing scare.

"I want to reassure New Mexicans that this is just another 'urban legend' that spreads around the Internet like wildfire," Madrid said in the statement. "Even though you may trust the person who sent it to you, do not immediately trust the information contained in these messages. ... Research the claims in an e-mail before you press the 'send' button - don't help perpetuate 'urban legends' by spreading them before looking into their accuracy."

A good place to start is www.snopes.com, which specializes in urban legends and hoaxes.

MORE OFF-KILTER CHRISTMAS CAROLS

For those of you who enjoy the kind of musicial Yuletide merriment found in the weirder songs I played on The Steve Terrell Christmas Special Sunday, check out Alicublog. Be sure to read the readers' comments. (Thanks, Margot!)

Until PRUSSIAN BLUE puts out a Christmas album" (I'm Dreaming of a White Power Christmas" ????), my current favorites in this sub-sub genre are "Six Bullets For Christmas" by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies (Download it HERE) and "Jinglecide" by The Rockin' Guys. (I'm talking about the long defunct band from Arkansas. Apparently there's a rockabilly group from Estonia using the same name in more recent years.)

And one that KSFR's Sean Conlon just turned me on to is "Even Squeaky Fromme Loves Christmas" by The Rev. Glen Armstrong. (Download it HERE And check out Sean's wonderful Undercurrents on KSFR, 10 p.m. Mountain Time, Wednesdays.)

And just when I'd had my fill of weird Christmas songs, last night when I was downloading some Bollywood soundtracks from E-music, I discovered that the song "Aao Tumhen Chand Pe" from the movie Zakhmee (a 1975 movie with "ACTION, REVENGE, GOOD MUSIC" according to searchamovie.com ) starts out with an East Indian version of "Jingle Bells."

Isn't it time we put the "Hare Krishna" back in Christmas?