THE SPEED OF SOUND

Back in the summer of 1970, just weeks after National Guard troops killed four students at an anti-war demonstration at Kent State University, the song "Ohio" became a hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Neil Young wrote the lyrics, according to some accounts, the day of the killing and soon afterward got the rest of the guys in the studio. Within mere days, "Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming" was blasting over radios all over this great nation.

This quick musical response to big news stories doesn't happen much anymore. (Can you imagine "Ohio" getting past today's Clear Channel taste setters?)

But in the past two weeks two songs paying tribute to the life of Pope John Paul II.

Just today Stan Ridgway sent folks on his e-mail list a link to a free MP3 of "Buried the Pope (Blues for John Paul)."

Despite the funny picture, this is an earnest and sincere song in which Stan calls the late pontiff, "a man of peace and hope."

The other Pope song came out even quicker. Last Friday I received an CD from Chicago singer/songwriter/picker/poet Acie Cargill. It's a 5-song EP and among those to whom he pays tribute is John Paul II in a song called "John Paul the Peacemaker."

I can't find the EP on Acie's Web site, but if you scroll down to "singles & Shorts" section, you can buy a single of the song.

Unlike Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1970, Stan and Acie aren't going to get much airplay with their respective pope tunes. But I'll play Acie's tonight on The Santa Fe Opry and Ridgway's Sunday night on Terrell's Sound World. Both shows start at 10 p.m. Moutnain Daylight Time on KSFR, 90.7 FM.

WHEN JAZZMEN AGE

NPR's All Things Considered has been running a disturbing series by reporter Felix Contreras this week about what happens to jazz musicians when they age.

On Wednesday night Contreras talked with Little Jimmy Scott and others who have lost out on royalties.

This is infuriating when you consider all the record industry's non-stop whining that internet downloading (and a few years ago used CDs) hurt artists because it denies them royalties. In truth, the music industry has done more harm to artists and their royalties than downloading ever could.

Other stories in the series can be heard HERE and HERE.

The last installment is tonight. KUMN has been playing these after 6 p.m.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: GIGGING LIEBERMAN

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

Gov. Bill Richardson had some fun at the expense of fellow Democrat Joe Lieberman in a speech to The Associated Press in San Francisco Monday.

"Did you see that kiss that the president gave Lieberman after the State of the Union?" Richardson asked. "Turns out that was the farthest Lieberman has ever gotten with a goy."

Though he used to get rather defensive with the New Mexico press about his habit making his state police drivers go way over the speed limit, in front of a national press audience, Richardson he made a joke out of a well-publicized 2003 incident.

"Sen. Lieberman got me in trouble too," Richardson said. "You may have read in The Washington Post ... that I was seen driving 100 mph going to one of Sen. Lieberman's fund raisers. I was just trying to get there while Lieberman was still a Democrat."

Emulating Gary: Richardson is still a Democrat, but lately he seems to be taking on some traits of a Republican - namely his predecessor, Gary Johnson.
Earlier this year Richardson was honored by the conservative/libertarian think tank, The Cato Institute, who named Richardson the most fiscally responsible Democratic governor in the U.S. The Cato folks used to be wild for Johnson.

And on Tuesday, the gov's office announced that the nation's most fiscally responsible Democratic governor is having lunch Friday with magazine publisher Steve Forbes -- who was Gary Johnson's candidate for president in 2000."

Forbes is trying to get state business leaders to sponsor a special economic development supplement in upcoming issues of Forbes Magazine and Forbes International Magazine.

Filibuster follies: One of the most partisan sore spots in Congress these days is the possibility that Senate Republicans -- frustrated with Democrats blocking some of President Bush's candidates for federal judgeships -- might seek to end the right of senators to filibuster judicial nominees.

Democrats, who are the minority party in the Senate, vehemently oppose this threatened change, which has been dubbed "the nuclear option."

New Mexico senators are divided on the issue. Democrat Jeff Bingaman is against doing away with the judicial filibuster, while Republican Pete Domenici has been convinced that the "nuclear option" might be necessary.

But Republicans point out that 10 years ago the filibuster shoes were on the other feet.

In 1995, Bingaman was one of 19 senators to support a proposal that would have limited filibusters.

At that time, all Republicans in the Senate, including Domenici, voted against the rule change.

So why have our senators done an apparent do si do on the filibuster issue?

Jude McCartin, a spokeswoman for Bingaman, said Wednesday that the measure her boss voted for is different than the measure sponsored a decade ago by Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa and Joe Lieberman, D-Connecticut.

The Harkin-Lieberman amendment "would have closed debate on progressively lower thresholds starting with three-fifths and gradually reducing the votes needed to a simple majority," McCartin said.

Under that proposal, a senator could still hold up legislation or a nomination by 57 days, she said.

"The Harkin proposal was in response to general legislative gridlock," McCartin said, noting that the Dems were the minority party in the Senate back then too.

She said in that particular Congressional session, "there had been twice as many filibusters as there were from 1789 to 1960. We do not have that kind of general gridlock. About 95 percent of Bush's judicial nominees have been confirmed and the federal courts now have the lowest vacancy level since the Reagan administration."

But Republicans say that doing away with judicial filibusters has become necessary because, they say, Democrats have abused the system in holding up some Bush choices.

"Sen. Domenici, being a member of the minority party for much of his career has a good understanding of guarding against trampling the rights of minority party members," said Domenici spokesman Matt Letourneau.

But, he said, judicial filibusters "have not been part of the process." Until the George W. Bush administration, he said, the last time a judicial nominee was filibustered was in the late 1960s, when Republicans successfully opposed President Johnson's nomination of Abe Fortas as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It took him a long time to get to where he'd go along with the nuclear option," Letourneau said. "Even today Sen. Domenici would like to see a resolution of this problem without having to resort to that."

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, April 17, 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
Pay Day Loans by The Winking Tikis
Matchecka (At Mty Mothers remix) by The Warsaw Village Band
Faraway by Sleater-Kinney
Bu$leaguer by Pearl Jam
Yes by Manic Street Preachers
Revolution Part 1 by The Butthole Surfers
Nasty Boogie by Champion Jack Dupree

Earthquake Weather by Beck
Justine Allright by Heavy Trash
Elves by The Fall
Hell Rules by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282
Hende Baba by Thomas Mapfumo
Everybody Knows That You Are Insane by Queens of the Stone Age
Get Off the Air by The Angry Samoans
Winner of the Zoo by Romz Record Crew

Lookin' Down the Road by Lou Reed
25th Century Quaker by Captain Beefheart
Advance Romance by Frank Zappa with Captain Beefheart
The FCC Song by Eric Idle

Crime Scene Part 1 by The Afghan Whigs
Swingin Party by The Replacements
You Are So Beautiful by Al Green
O Children by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Glisten by Howe Gelb
Evil Will Prevail by The Flaming Lips
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

BLACKING OUT THE GENERAL

One thing I've learned during my 25 years in journalism: You get accused of the damnedest things.

Just yesterday a strange Internet accusation came to my attention. It's on a web forum for supporters of Gen. Wesley Clark. (The 2008 election is closer than you think, folks ...)

A forum member known as "KayCeNM" posted my Roundhouse Round-up column about Gov. Bill Richardson on Saturday Night Live.

In introducing it, KayCeNM said:

Steve Terrell is the one that blacked out our General in our local paper. I've never forgiven him for hat.

I did what??????????

How was General Clark "blacked out" in the paper? During the New Mexico presidential caucus season in late 2003-early 2004, I remember writing stories when Clark had a press conference in the governor's office then toured the local food bank; when Gert Clark appeared at a rally; when Jamie Koch and a couple of other staffers jumped ship from the doomed Gephardt campaign and went to work for Clark; and covering a meeting of Clark campaign workers at Tiny's Lounge.

This plus countless mentions in various stories when I called to get reactions from the various campaigns. Plus there were stories about the Clark campaign in The New Mexican by the Associated Press and other writers.

One bit of coverage preserved here in this very blog is a post-caucus column recalling Roberto Mondragon singing "Decolores" at a Clark rally at the Inn at Loretto.

If my purpose was to "black out" Clark coverage, I did a pretty lousy job at it.

I tried to find an e-mail link for KayCeNM but wasn't successful. I'm interested in hearing KayCe's side of the story about me "blacking out" the general.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, April 15, 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
Gamblin' Man by Mike Ness
Psychedelic Cowboy Rasta Muslim by Michael Parrish
Fire Down Below by The Waco Brothers
The Pilgrim (Chapter 33) by Paul Burch
I Wish You Knew by Kelly Hogan & Scott Ligon
New Delhi Freight Train by Terry Allen
You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd by Roger Miller
The Moon is High by Neko Case

I Was There When It Happened by Johnny Cash
Hillbilly Fever by The Osborne Brothers
Old Camp Meeting Time by Grandpa Jones
Pink Buritto by R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
Sadie Green (The Vamp of New Orleans) by Roy Newman & The Boys
Truck Driver's Blues by Cliff Brunner & His Boys
Shake It and Break It by Devil in the Woodpile
The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man by Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright
Baby It's Cold Outside by June Carter with Homer & Jethro

Ruination Day Set
April the 14th Part I by Gillian Welch
Booth Killed Lincoln by Bascom Lamar Lunsford
The Titantic by Bessie Jones, Hobart Smith and The Georgia Sea Island Singers
The Great Dust Storm by Woody Guthrie
Booth Killed Lincoln (Fiddle Tune) by Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Ruination Day Part 2 by Gillian Welch
Dusty Old Dust (So Long It's Been Good to Know Yuh) by Woody Guthrie
Oklahoma City Bombing by Acie Cargill
Dark Day by The Silver Leaf Quartet

Talking NPR Blues by Utah Phillips
I Tremble for You by Waylon Jennings
I Love You So Much It Hurts Me by Merle Haggard
Unbranded by Hank & Nancy Webster
Weighted Down by Jay Farrar & The Sir Omaha Quintet
Walk to the End of the World by Ronny Elliott
Don't Let Her Know by Ray Charles
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: THE PRESIDENTIAL iPOD

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 15, 2005

The New York Time's Elisabeth Bumiller scored a journalistic coup recently when she got hold of a major White House document.

President Bush’s iPod.

Granted, it’s not quite on the same level as 35 years ago when The Times and The Washington Post published The Pentagon Papers, but at least no right-wing bloggers have accused the playlist of being fabricated.

In Monday’s edition, Bumiller reported that the First iPod “is heavy on traditional country singers like George Jones, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. He has selections by Van Morrison, whose "Brown Eyed Girl" is a Bush favorite, and by John Fogerty, most predictably `Centerfield,’ which was played at Texas Rangers games when Mr. Bush was an owner and is still played at ballparks all over America.”

Interesting facts: Bush received his iPod in July as a birthday gift from his daughters. He has about 250 songs on it, (“a paltry number compared to the 10,000 selections it can hold.”) Bush, doesn’t download the music himself. His aide Blake Gottesman does it for him. Apparently Mark McKinnon, a Bush biking buddy and chief media strategist for the 2004 campaign, also has done some downloading for the leader of the free world. Bush mainly listens to it during bicycle workouts.

In evaluating the president’s playlist, Bumiller quotes Joe Levy music editor at Rolling Stone.
“This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for boomers,” Levy said. “It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not."

Anyone surprised?

The article notes that despite Bush’s fondness for Fogerty, his iPod doesn’t contain “Fortunate Son,” the Creedence Clearwater Revival song that sounds as if it were written for Bush even though it was a hit more than 30 years before his presidency.


You can also bet he doesn’t have anything from last year’s two volume Rock Against Bush punk compilations that includes selections by Jello Biafra, Social Distortion, Bad Religion, Green Day, The Offspring, Ministry, Rancid and others. And I seriously doubt if he has Mary Gauthier’s “Karla Faye,” a sad ballad about a woman executed when Bush was governor of Texas (discussed a few weeks ago in my column on death-penalty songs.)

Here’s some other songs that would get Blake Gottesman fired if they showed up on Bush’s personal music player:

* “Far Away” By Sleater-Kinney. This song, from the punk-girls’ 2002 album One Beat is about a young mother watching the news on Sept. 11, 2001. The last verse probably would cause Bush to wreck his bike: “And the president hides/while working men rush in/To give their lives …”

* “Bu$hleaguer” by Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder caused some controversy in Denver last year when he destroyed a Bush mask on stage. (Did I hear calls for a constitutional amendment?) Pearl Jam’s 2002 album Riot Act contained this weird little mainly spoken-word track that had lyrics like “A confidence man, but why so beleaguered?/He's not a leader, he's a Texas leaguer/Swinging for the fence, got lucky with a strike/Drilling for fear, makes the job simple/Born on third, thinks he got a triple.”

* “The Lie” by The Waco Brothers. You might think a president from Crawford, Texas would want to hear something by a band called The Waco Brothers, (led by Jon Langford of The Mekons). If Bush does get curious he probably shouldn’t start with the 2002 album New Deal, which ends with this song: “to the manor born/a silver spoon in your nose/trade up and trade faith/like a new set of clothes/follow suits in new boots/sounds vague, listen close/the lie between the lines.” Of course the Wacos were fairly hard on Bush’s predecessor too. Back in the mid ‘90s they sang a song that began, “The last president of the United States/that’s Dollar Bill the cowboy …”

* “The FCC Song” by Eric Idle. This free internet download from the Monty Python regular apparently was inspired by the Federal Communication Commission’s heavy fines on shock jock Howard Stern. But, sung in a lilting, cheerful English Music Hall style, Idle soon turns it into a hilariously obscene screed against the entire Bush administration: “So fuck you very much dear Mr. Bush/ for heroically sitting on your tush … ” That’s one of the milder parts.

* “President’s Day” by Loudon Wainwright III. This is another internet-only free download released last year. However this song became instantly dated on Nov. 3. “George was the first one -- Abe was the best/Libraries and airports named after the rest/But this year I'm queasy about Presidents' Day/For there's been more than one George I'm sorry to say … And next year at this time I sure hope I can say/I feel a lot better about Presidents' Day/(with no George in the White House -- Oh Happy Day!)”

* “That’s the News” by Merle Haggard. Back in the late ‘60s President Nixon, delighted with anti-hippie songs like “Okie From Muskogee” had Hag play the White House. But Merle, staying true to his populism, has grown more cynical about politicians in this 2003 song. There’s no flag-waving here. “Suddenly the cost of war is somethin' out of sight/Lost a lotta heroes in the fight/Politicians do all the talkin': soldiers pay the dues …”

* “Déjà Vu All Over Again” by John Fogerty. Bumiller points out that Fogerty was part of the anti-Bush "Vote for Change" concert tour during last fall‘s presidential campaign. And the title song of his latest album, inspired by the war in Iraq, proved he had some of the “Fortunate Son” spirit in him. “Day by day, I hear the voices risin'/ Startin' with a whisper like it did before/Day by day, we count the dead and dying/Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score …”

RUINATION DAY

Happy Ruination Day, ya'll ...

Reading NewMexiKen this morning, I realized today is April 14, the anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln, the sinking of the Titanic and the Great Dust Storm of 1935.

I wrote about April 14 a few years ago in reviewing a Gillian Welch album. When I looked up the review I realized I'd written it just a few days after another momentous day in American history, Sept. 11, 2001.

(At the time of writing it, I didn't even snap that April 14 was the actual day of the Great Dust Storm. Should have listened closer to Woody Guthrie. )

So here's my original meditation on April 14. And be sure to listen to The Santa Fe Opry Friday night (10-midnight, KSFR, 90.7 FM) when I'll play an April 14 segment.

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Sept. 21, 2001

In light of last week's terrorist attacks on this country, there are a pair of related songs on the new Gillian Welch album, Time (The Revelator) that take on new relevance.

"April the 14th (Part 1)" and "Ruination Day (Part 2)" are dark meditations on American history and symbolism. In the wake of the horror of 9-11, those songs are both disturbing yet strangely comforting.

"April the 14th" has a slow, mournful melody, while "Ruination Day" is a bluesy tune full of understated rage. Both seem at first a surreal jumble of American history with direct references to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the sinking of the Titanic.

Indeed, both these momentous events occurred on April 14. The date almost rivals in historical gravity April 19, the anniversary of Lexington and Concord, Waco and Oklahoma City.

Both songs refer to "God Moves On the Water," an old spiritual about the Titanic that gleefully celebrates the sinking of the great ship as a sign that God will punish mankind for getting too uppity.

But there is no hand-clapping happiness to be found in these songs. The mighty have fallen and the singer is stunned.

There are other stray historical references of doom here -- Okies fleeing the Dust Bowl in the first song; Casey Jones, the engineer of the fabled train wreck in both.

Both "April the 14th" and another song, the lengthy, hypnotic "I Dream a Highway" contain an obscure phrase, "the staggers and the jags," which is an antiquated term for VD. Its used in a historical ballad "Barretts Privateers" by Canadian folksinger Stan Rogers. (Privateers were basically pirates, except they were commissioned by governments to prey on enemy nations.) In the Rogers song, as well as in " April the 14th," the cook in the kitchen has "the staggers and the jags," a vivid metaphor of disease about to spread.

If there is one ray of hope here, its a seemingly unrelated story of the Idaho punk band that unfolds in " April the 14th." Its a crappy gig-- the anonymous band sharing the bill with four others, splitting the $2 cover charge. They didn't make enough cash for a half a tank of gas, and the local press, scumbags that they are, didn't even show. But as the singer watches the group loading their equipment into their van, all she feels is envy and intrigue.

"I watched them walk through the Bottom Land and I wished I played in a rock n roll band," Welch sings.

Although the entire album is acoustic, featuring guitars and banjo by Welch and longtime partner David Rawlings (who co-wrote the songs), Time (The Revelator) is full of rock n roll desire.

"I Want To Sing That Rock and Roll," Welch and Rawlings sing in a live recording also included in the Down From the Mountain soundtrack. Meanwhile "Elvis Presley Blues" contains the refrain "Didn't he die? Didn't he die?" yet the verses celebrate the glory that was Elvis, who "shook it like a chorus girl ... shook it like a Harlem queen ..." and electrified the soul and broke the shackles of a puritanical nation.

"He shook it like a holy roller with his soul at stake."

Welch, in that Idaho band of "April the 14th" sees the spark of Elvis spirit, the spirit of John Henry and Lewis and Clark and the Apollo astronauts. Their van's gas tank might be empty, great ships may strike icebergs and heroes may fall, but they will make it to the next gig one way or another.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: COMIC RELIEF

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 14, 2005

We’ve known all along that New Mexico politicians are funny characters.

But in the past week or so, two prominent public servants from the Land of Enchantment have been noticed by national comedy shows on television.

An overweight Hispanic comic impersonated Gov. Bill Richardson as a victim of Bee Gee rage on Saturday Night Live, while Jon Stewart mocked interview footage of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici last week on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

This is pretty impressive for our politicos. After all, Bruce King never made it onto Hee-Haw.

Attacked by a Bee Gee: The last sketch on last week’s SNL was a spoof called “The Barry Gibb Talk Show.” Former cast member Jimmy Fallon played head Bee Gee Barry Gibb, while Justin Timberlake portrayed his brother, Robin Gibb. Their “guests” included Cameron Diaz as U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Drew Barrymore as right-wing author Ann Coulter and Horatio Sanz as the governor of the state of New Mexico.

In the skit, Barry Gibb — speaking in a warbly Bee Gee voice that sometimes slips into a falsetto — asks his guests questions, only to turn on them and angrily berate them. When it’s Richardson’s turn, both brothers Gibb sing his name.

“That’s really great,” Sanz/Richardson says. “First, Barry, let me say that my wife and I are big fans. Every time you guys are in New Mexico, we are there. I mean we really get into it.”

To which Fallon/Gibb replies, “Oh, every time we’re there. That’s really wonderful, considering we haven’t been to New Mexico in 12 friggin’ years. Don’t you patronize me. I’m Barry Gibb! I’ll take out my Bowie knife and gut you like a fish ...”

Watching Gibb yell in Richardson’s face, poke his belly and mess up his tie, I couldn’t help but think of the governor’s ever-present entourage of state police guards, who in real life would have made Bee Gee frappe out of Gibb if he tried that.

Though he didn’t have many lines last week, Sanz was a natural for Richardson. Not only is the resemblance uncanny, but Sanz must have watched a bunch of Richardson’s Larry King appearances to get his mannerisms down. I’m betting this won’t be the last time the Chilean-born funny man impersonates our gov. In fact, I bet Sanz is praying that Richardson runs for president.

Culture of comedy: Domenici’s treatment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week was far more pointed than Richardson’s on SNL. (You can find a link to a Real Audio clip HERE)

Stewart was making a point that many Republican politicians immediately picked up on the Bush administration catch phrase “culture of life” to describe the views of late Pope John Paul II.

He ran a clip of Domenici in Rome — from an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer — saying, “Frankly, this pope, as I view it, is a great, great pillar of humanity ... because he liked freedom and he was in love with the culture of life.”

“Yes!” Stewart said. “As luck would have it, the Pope’s death turned out to be a wonderful time to point out how his views coincided exactly with those of many conservatives.”

After having some similar fun with President Bush’s spokesman Scott McClelland, Stewart said, “Unfortunately for the administration, the Pope also expressed other beliefs.”

He then ran a clip of Blitzer pointing out that Domenici’s support of the death penalty is contrary to the Catholic Church’s position.

“You know, that's a nice question, but I didn't really come on here to talk about that. ” Domenici told Blitzer.

To which Stewart quipped, “I came on here to spin the Pope’s death positively for me.”

In fairness, a transcript of the CNN interview shows that Domenici didn’t actually cut off questioning at that point.

The senator didn’t actual answer Blitzer’s capital punishment question, but he said the Pope, “... stands for some eternal truths and it's hard for a human beings to believe every single one of those things that he talks about, but he will go down in history without question, as one of the great ones. Not only because he thought there were certain truths that were just right, they didn't go left or right, that they were what they were.”

THE WINKING TIKIS WINK AGAIN

Those fabulous brothers Covelle, better known as The Winking Tikis, of Moscow, Idaho have a new soon-to-be smash hit called "Payday Loans." CHECK IT OUT