TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 23, 2005
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
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Eve of Destruction by The Dickies
Steppin' Out by Paul Revere & The Raiders
Hard to Be Human by The Mekons
Don't Break Me Down by The Donnas
Burn in Hell by The Ponys
Can't Stand to See Your Face by Holly Golightly
Johnny Carson by The Beach Boys

Dead Lover's Twisted Heart by Daniel Johnston
Walking the Cow by T.V. on the Radio
Wrong Place, Right Time by The Fall
Home and Garden by Pere Ubu
Squeeze Me Macaroni by Mr. Bungle
Twenty Small Cigars by Frank Zappa
Willie Nelson (Take 2) by Miles Davis
Gentleman's Lament by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples by Parliament
Female Troubles by Bootsy's New Rubber Band
Pop That Thang by The Isley Brothers
Wifesitter by Swamp Dogg
Your Love is So Doggone Good by Isaac Hayes
The Real Story by David Holmes

Bottle of Wine by The Fireballs
The Mercy Seat by Kazik Staszewski
Who Are You by Tom Waits
Nuts in My Family Tree by Napoleon XIV
Dust 2 by Elvis Costello
Wedding Dress by Mark Lanegan Band
True Love by Tiny Tim & Miss Sue
My Little Corner of the World by Yo La Tengo
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 21, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Cowboy in Falmes by The Waco Brothers
Demonic Possession by Drive-By Truckers
Creek Cats by The Legendary Shack Shakers
Flannery Said by The Moaners
Walk to the End of the World by Ronny Elliott
The Rubber Room by Porter Wagoner
Moonshiner's Child by Tammy Faye Starlite

Deep as Your Pocket by Tres Chicas
Fist City by Loretta Lynn
Loretta by Neko Case
Rocky Top by Lynn Anderson
Someone to Give My Love To by Big Al Anderson
The Good Ain't Gone by Rex Hobart & His Misery Boys
Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets by Johnny Paycheck
11 Months and 29 Days by Dave Alvin
It Won't Be Long (and I'll Be Hating You) by Rex Hobart & His Misery Boys

Rock-a-Billy Fever by Wanda Jackson
Right or Wrong by Kelly Hogan
Hot Dog That Made Him Mad by Wanda Jackson
Rock Your Baby by Candye Kane
Fujiyama Mama by Trailer Bride
Lovesick Blues by Wanda Jackson
Hot Dog by Rosie Flores
This Train by Sleepy LaBeef

Tonight She Hits the Honky Tonks Again by Justin Trevino
Worried Man Blues by George Jones
Something Stupid by The Mavericks with Trisha Yearwood
Drinkin' Thing by Gary Stewart
The Snakes Crawl at Night by Charlie Pride
Between Lust and Watching TV by Cal Smith
Stoned to the Eyes by Miranda Brown
Like a Monkey in the Zoo by Vic Chesnutt
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: A TRIBUTE TO TRIBUTE ALBUMS

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 21, 2005

No matter how harshly critics dismiss tribute albums, the dang things keep proliferating. Someone out there must like ’em. And despite my own grumbling from time to time, in more than a few cases, I like ‘em too.

So here’s my idea: A tribute to tribute albums. Here a batch of “various artists” would do their interpretations of other various artists’ interpretations on a variety of tribute albums.

For example, Alejandro Escovedo could do his version of Elvis Costello’s version of “Ship of Fools” from Deadicated, the Grateful Dead tribute, while Tom Waits could do his take on Los Lobos’ version of “Midnight Shift” on Not Fade Away: Remembering Buddy Holly. Guided by Voices and Beck would have to fight over who covered the Bongwater rendition of “You Don’t Love Me Yet” from the Roky Erikson tribute Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye. The possibilities nearly are infinite …

Meanwhile here’s a bunch of recent tribute albums I’ve been enjoying.

The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered. This is a double-disc set featuring a various-artist tribute on the first disc and the original versions by Johnston on the second. This format actually is a great idea, particularly for an artist as obscure as Johnston. Some of the tunes on Disc Two, namely the ones that originally were released on self-recorded, lo-to-no-fi cassette tapes, are pretty hard to find.

For the uninitiated, Johnston, a Texas resident, is a cult hero of the indie rock world. He's got a history of mental problems, many of which are addressed on his painfully sincere songs of unrequited love, loneliness and rejection.

Many of the interpretations on Disk One emphasize the pretty melodies, which sometimes are obscured by tape hiss on Johnston's early works. This especially is true on "Go," a collaboration between Sparklehorse and The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev's down-home take on "Blue Clouds" and "Dream Scream" by Death Cab For Cutie, which is more dreamy than screamy.

There are a couple of stripped-down primitive Johnston interpretations, like frog-voiced Calvin Johnson's "Sorry Entertainer," (just vocals and percussion) and "King Kong," which, as done by Tom Waits is a disturbing chant that sounds like an outtake from Waits' recent Real Gone.

But the true standout here is Vic Chesnutt's mournful "Like a Monkey in the Zoo." It already arguable was Johnston's saddest song, but Chesnutt makes it even sadder.

*Hard-Headed Woman" A Celebration of Wanda Jackson. The word "celebration" is right on the mark here. Just about every track on this record sounds like the various artists took to heart the command in Jackson's signature: "Let's Have a Party."

Jackson, for those deficient in rock history credits, was an important rockabilly pioneer. Starting out as a protégé of country star Hank Thompson, she was one 1950s country singer who had no trouble adapting to rock 'n' roll. She's well into her 60s now, but she's still touring.

Not surprisingly, this album is dominated by female singers. Rosie Flores, who helped revive Jackson's career last decade, sings a swingy "In the Middle of a Heartache," that has a lot of Patsy Cline in it. Meanwhile, the indomitable Neko Case rips it up on "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," Candye Kane is as brassy on "Rock Your Baby" as Laura Cantrell is wide-eyed innocent on "Wasted."

Meanwhile, Jackson's country side is well-represented by Kelly Hogan's smoky "Right or Wrong," Ana Fermin's heartbreaking "The Box it Came In" and Jesse Sykes' sweet moan on "Weary Blues From Waiting."

But Jackson's music isn't just for women. Cornell Hurd's droll vocals on "This Gun Don't Care Who It Shoots," Robbie Fulks' earnest version of "Tears at the Grand Ol' Opry" and Wayne Hancock's rendition of the classic "Let's Have a Party" all are highlights.

But my favorite here is the most radical reworking of a Jackson song, Trailer Bride's surreal take on Jackson's first rockabilly hit "Fujiama Mama." There's heavy drums and monster-movie organ as Melissa Swingle tosses off the lyrics in a carefree way. When she sings "I'm a Fujiama Mama just about to blow my top," it sounds like you'd better get out of her way. It's contributions like this, which take familiar songs to new territory, that make tribute albums worth it.

*Touch My Heart: A Tribute to Johnny Paycheck. Robbie Fulks produced this tribute to the legendary hell-raiser Paycheck, so you know it's going to be tasteful. Fulks rounded up an impressive gaggle of various artists including stars of traditional country (George Jones, Gail Davies, Johnny Bush), alternative country (Neko Case, Mike Ireland, Jim Lauderdale) and beyond.

Mavis Staples does a take on the title song that completely blurs the lines between soul and country. Former NRBQ guitarist and part-time (Santa Fe resident) Big Al Anderson does much the same on "Someone to Give My Love To."

As usual, Hank Williams III sounds like the ghost of his granddaddy on "I'm the Only Hell My Daddy Ever Raised."

And baritone belter Dave Alvin is even more impressive than usual with his tough, bluesy "11 Months and 29 Days."

The saddest part of this record though is the fact that Buck Owens' voice, which has been ravaged by throat cancer, is unrecognizable on "Take This Job and Shove It," where he shares vocals with a rather strange line-up: Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Bobby Bare and Radney Foster. It's a fun tune, it's just disturbing to hear Buck that way.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: REPUBLICANS FOR LUJAN

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 20, 2005

Nobody doubted that Democrat Ben Lujan would be officially re-elected as House Speaker when the Legislature convened this week. After all, the Ds outnumber the Rs 42-28 in the House.

What was surprising was that he received four votes from House Republicans, who on Tuesday chose him instead of House Republican Leader Ted Hobbs of Albuquerque.

The dissenting four were Reps. Jeanette Wallace of Los Alamos, Sandra Townsend of Aztec, Janice Arnold-Jones of Albuquerque and Dan Foley of Roswell.

It’s obvious the nomination of Hobbs was symbolic, just like the nomination of Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque for Senate president pro-tem. (Carraro lost to Democrat Ben Altamirano of Silver City Tuesday on a straight party vote.) Minority parties in both chambers do such things to show solidarity.

So why would four Republicans buck their leader?

Both Wallace said Townsend said they did it partly because Lujan was assured of victory.

“Ben is my neighbor,” Wallace said, referring to the fact that Lujan’s Santa Fe County district is next to hers. “I enjoy working together with my neighbors. Sometimes we put up (challengers) just to be antagonistic.” Republicans should save confrontations for more important issues, she said.

“It was nothing to do with Rep. Hobbs,” Townsend said.

But the two others who voted for Lujan said it was because of Hobbs.

“I vote for the one who could do the best job,” Arnold-Jones said. “I have no big political agenda. I have no desire to hurt Ted. But I have serious questions about his leadership style and the lack of communication.”

Foley, who made an unsuccessful bid for Republican whip several weeks ago, said, “The leadership team is trying to get me moved off my committees. It was hard for me to vote for someone who was trying to cut me off at the knees.”

Hobbs on Wednesday denied he had tried to get Foley removed from the Judiciary and Business and Industry Committees.

“When I submitted my recommendations to the speaker, I basically asked for 99 percent of what my members had asked for,” he said. The speaker of the House has the authority to appoint all House committee members.

When Lujan announced the appointments Wednesday, Foley was off both his old committees.

Hobbs said he doesn’t think the four votes against him indicates any serious divisions among House Republicans.

“I don’t think there are insurmountable problems,” he said. “I don’t twist arms and I never have questioned a member’s vote.”

What was the governor reading? Tuesday’s State of the State address represented a technological milestone of sorts. It’s the first time a governor used an electronic teleprompter to read his speech.

Richardson spokesman Billy Sparks said such machines frees up a speaker from having to look down on the podium to read a text. Instead, the speaker can look directly at the crowd — and directly into a television camera.

“Most major speeches these days are done with teleprompters,” Sparks said.
The machine itself belongs to the state Film Office, Sparks said. “The speech was a training event for them,” he said.

I blog, therefore I am: Don't forget, for the next two months, in addition to my regular legislative coverage, I’ll be keeping a web log concerning the festivities at the session. For anecdotes, observations and wisecracks concerning the Legislature, check it out.

FUNNIEST BUCK OWENS REVIEW I EVER READ

Here's just a taste:

"I pulled the sharpened keno pencil from my neck where I had attempted to puncture my jugular vein after witnessing Buck Motherfucking Owens doing a Shania Twain number and began writing out MY request ..."

CLICK HERE for the whole thing.