ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: WHEN WE GET BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
October 13, 2004

Nobody is doubting former Supreme Court Justice Paul Kennedy’s qualifications to serve as special counsel to the legislative panel considering the possible impeachment of indicted state Treasurer Robert Vigil.

But Bob Johnson, director of New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said Kennedy is dead wrong about the state Open Meetings Act.

Earlier this week the House impeachment subcommittee held one session in closed-door executive session — which Johnson said was a violation of the act.

Johnson pointed out that the only situation that allows an executive session is to discuss pending or threatened litigation.

Kennedy told reporters that the pending litigation involved was the federal criminal case against Vigil — which grew even more serious Wednesday when a grand jury brought 19 new extortion counts against him.

When Kennedy’s answer was printed, Johnson called me to explain that the exact wording of that part of the act is, “Meetings subject to the attorney-client privilege pertaining to threatened or pending litigation in which the public body is or may become a participant.”

“Unless the Legislature is going to become part of the criminal case, this is a violation of the Open Meetings Act,” Johnson said.

House Majority Leader Kenny Martinez, D-Grants, a member of the panel, told me Wednesday that any executive sessions will be kept to the minimum.

Another member, Rep. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces told me that not all the panel members support having closed-door meetings.

Anonymous calls: Sinister new implications related to secret testimony in the impeachment proceedings arose last week when I received a call from a guy who didn’t want to give his name but wanted to share some gossip, or “word on the street” about the Vigil case.

I’m not sure which street this came from, but the word there, according to the caller, is that Vigil intends to bring up dirt on lawmakers during any impeachment hearings.

Perhaps this rumor was sparked by the fact that Vigil’s lawyer subpoenaed campaign finance reports from several politicians, including legislators.

But the thought crossed my mind: Could this be the reason for taking Vigil’s deposition outside the view of the public?

Certainly there’s no evidence that this is the reason for all the talk about making all the evidence available to House members — but nobody else.

I’d like to believe Kennedy and panel members when they say their only concerns are tainting potential witnesses and potential jurors in the criminal case.

But if these sessions are held behind closed doors and the testimony kept from reporters and interested public members, that suspicion will be out there.

Philadelphia story: During the impeachment panel’s first meeting last week, Rep. Larry Larranaga, R-Albuquerque, spoke about court documents implicating Vigil in an alleged kickback scheme. “You don’t have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to understand this,” Larranaga said.

The next day, the subcommittee hired Kennedy, who happens to have been born in Philadelphia. A sheepish Larranaga told me that he was just using a figure of speech.

(For new developments in the Treasurer scandal CLICK HERE and HERE.)

One of our 50 (state capitols) is missing: It was surprising to read an article in The Salt Lake City Tribune about Gov. Bill Richardson and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s joint announcement of their proposed early Western-state presidential primary.

“On Tuesday, Utah's Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, chairmen from both major parties and the governor and several staffers flew to Albuquerque for a news conference,” the story said.

I was there. But I could have sworn I was in Santa Fe.

"THERE'S NO STOPPING PAT ..."

Looks like the special session of the Legislature is about to shut down. I've got way too much to do to pay any attention to music biz press releases. But this is disturbing enough that I have to share in its entirety:

PAT BOONE CELEBRATES HIS 50TH YEAR IN SHOW BUSINESS WITH MULTIPLE-GENRE ALBUM RELEASES PLANNED


Legendary crooner Pat Boone celebrates 50 years in music in 2005 and 2006 with releases planned in multiple genres ranging from country to gospel to R&B to Latin to Celtic. In 2005 alone, Mr. Boone has released and album of patriotic songs, American Glory, a collection of country tunes, Ready to Rock, and a soon-to-be classic gospel album, Glory Train: The Lost Tapes, released in September to qualify for Grammy and Gospel Music Association consideration.

Given his youthful appearance and demeanor, it's hard to believe that Pat first topped the charts back in 1955 with a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame." Over the years, Pat maintained his pop icon status by continually surprising people with his innovative and original take on covers (remember 1997's In a Metal Mood?) and original tunes.

Pat is still knocking 'em dead at radio (and video), as well. The singles "NASCAR Time" and "Thank You, Billy Graham," are accumulating impressive airplay at stations and outlets around the country while his song "Still Waters Run Deep" has been a smash with the 'stepping' crowd in Chicago. "NASCAR Time," the lead track from his upcoming country album, Ready to Rock, is Pat's tribute to America's favorite pastime and all its major racetracks, at which Pat has made several appearances this year alone.

"Thank You, Billy Graham." is a star-studded homage to America's pastor, Billy Graham. The video, which is included with every copy of Pat's gospel album, Glory Train: The Lost Tapes, features contributions from Bono, Leann Rimes, Michael McDonald, Andre Crouch, and tv talk-show host Larry King.

There's no stopping Pat as he rolls into his 51st year of performing. 2006 heralds the release of a love song collection entitled Hopeless Romantic. The ballad-heavy album will feature "Waltz for the Lonely," a song he wrote with guitar great Chet Atkins that includes Atkins' last recorded performance before his death. Hopeless Romantic also includes "You Make My Life a Song", co-written with Paul Williams as Pat's 50th anniversary present to Pat's beloved wife, Shirley. The first single "Still Waters Run Deep" is already a radio hit at AC and Urban formats.

His Spring 2006 release, We Are Family, will be a twist on the Frank Sinatra "Duets" concept featuring covers of R&B classics recorded with their original performers. Included are performances by Smokey Robinson ("Tears of a Clown"), the Four Tops ("I Can't Help Myself"), Kool & the Gang ("Celebration"), KC & the Sunshine Band ("Get Down Tonight"), Sam Moore ("Soul Man"), Sister Sledge (on the title tune), Earth, Wind & Fire ("That's the Way of the World"), Ray Parker Jr. ("A Woman Needs Love") and what Boone calls the piece de resistance, with James Brown doing "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." Lest he not touch a genre with his talent, Pat also penned a rap song he performs with rap legend, Kool Moe Dee.

Boone's calling this effort "my big finale, a musical fireworks display," and insists he intends to stop touring next year - though he knows better than to say "never." "If something comes up that I need to do after that, of course I can do it," he says. "But I do consider this just a giant thanks and farewell."

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, October 9, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
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
I Wanna Hotdog For My Roll by Butterbeans & Susie
Hotdog (Watch Me Eat) by The Detroit Cobras
Stop Breaking Down by The White Stripes
Rich by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
No Regrets by The Von Bondies
Baby Let Me Take You Home by The Animals
Your Momma by BigUglyGuys
Nutbush City Limits by Nashville Pussy
Hanky Panky by Tommy James & The Shondells

Chariot Wheels by Nancy Apple & Rob McNulty
Tied Up by Cordell Jackson
Red Hot by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Livin' For the City by The Dirtbombs
Captain Kelly's Kitchen by Dropkick Murphys
Mississippi Boll Weevil by North Mississippi Allstars
The Saga of Jesse Jane by Alice Cooper
The Bucket by Kings of Leon
Incense & Peppermints by The Strawberry Alarm Clock

The Chain by Fleetwood Mac
Dreams by Yo La Tengo
What Makes You Think You're the One by Twilight Singers
Silver Spring by Fleetwood Mac
Landslide by Smashing Pumpkins
Tusk by Fleetwood Mac

Laughin' and Clownin' by Sam Cooke
Stranded by Van Morrison
City in the Sky by The Staples Singers
Find Me Now by The Reigning Sound
Star Bodies by The New Pornographers
Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon by The Jefferson Starship
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

I DO NOT CRUISE FOR TRANSVESTITES IN AN EXPENSIVE SPORTS CAR

My friend Dana sent me the link to this amazing E-Bay auction.

Indeed, sometimes the stories behind the auction are better than the actual product being auctioned.

(This one's not going to be up for long so you'd better CHECK IT OUT FAST)

NO OPRY PLAYLIST

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't do The Santa Fe Opry last night. I was being held hostage in this big round building.

I did escape my captors in time to hear most of the show, hosted last night by the ever capable Laurell Reynolds.

She did a great job as usual, though she played a couple of songs that I almost certainly wouldn't have -- "Cook Yer Enchiladas" and "Brother to the Bear" by Steve Terrell. I'm not sure, but this might be the first time "Brother to the Bear" -- based on a story an inmate serving a life sentence told me 20-some years ago -- has ever been played on the radio.

Anywho, you can find what kept me from my radio show -- my recent contributions to the ongoing Robert Vigil saga -- HERE and HERE.

I'll be back at KSFR for Terrell's Sound World 10 p.m. Sunday.

Now go give some money to the KSFR fund drive!

IMPEACHMENT PROCESS STARTS, HANG ON TO YOUR PENS

You can find a lovely photo of me chewing on a pen with my story about the new House panel looking at the possible impeachment of State Treasurer Robert Vigil in today's New Mexican.

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: WHEN COBRAS STRIKE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
October 7, 2005

Back at the turn of the century (this century) the phrase “garage rock” was thrown around a lot to describe basically any guitar-based, indie-spawned band. Although the label sounded cooler than say “punk” or “alternative,” few of the groups that fell under this umbrella actually sounded like a garage band as I remember them from my misspent youth in the 1960s.

However, one of the neo-garage bands that actually sounds like real garage music is a female-led group The Detroit Cobras whose sex-charged, slightly retro but never campy sound is a high-voltage joy.

Like their previous efforts, The Cobras’ latest CD Baby is full of covers of mostly obscure R&B and ‘60s rock tunes -- and, on this CD, even a gospel tune. It’s a great trick -- pick songs most people haven’t heard and bring them back to life in your own style. Among the songwriters drawn from here are Pops Staples, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, Allen Toussaint, Hank Ballard and Bobby Womack.

There is one original song here, though “Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)” has historical antecedents -- Butterbeans & Susie’s “I Want a Hot Dog For My Roll,” Bessie Smith’s “I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl" (she also needed a little hot dog for her roll), and Buck Owens’ “Hot Dog.” Still, hearing Rachel Nagy sing, “It takes a lot of dogs to satisfy a girl like me,” makes the whole concept sound fresh, at least for a moment.

Indeed, The Cobras’ greatest asset is front woman Nagy, whose sultry, husky voice sounds like Chrissy Hynde before she became a vegetarian nag. She can sound rough and raunchy, but she can sound sweet in a soulful way, such as her admirable take on Naomi Neville’s “It’s Raining.”

Just about every cut on Baby is a load of fun, from the goofy “My Baby Loves The Secret Agent,” (Those of My Generation have to remember the mid-’60s secret-agent craze) to the intense “I Wanna Holler (But the Town’s Too Small),” which was a minor hit by Gary U.S. Bonds.

And yes, for all the lust in her heart and bedroom in her voice, Nagy sounds fine singing gospel. “You Don’t Knock” is an irrestible stomper.

Two slight quibbles.

“Cha Cha Twist” was included on The Cobra’s early album Mink Rat or Rabbit. The new version on Baby doesn’t add anything.

Secondly, I’m biased because I so love the original version of “Insane Asylum” by Koko Taylor and Willie Dixon. The Cobras do an OK job on the song, but they don’t come anywhere near the original.

Then again, I’m impressed with a band that would event want to cover “Insane Asylum.”

Also Recommended:

*Dirty Diamonds by Alice Cooper. Auntie Alice has been making me laugh for nearly 35 years now. “I’m a killer and I’m a clown,“ he crooned on an early record. I still chuckle when I think of “The Ballad of Dwight Frye,” where Cooper, in the guise of a mental patient sings about stealing toys from his children, working himself into a frenzy until he finally screams, “Don’t touch me!”

Cooper’s latest album isn’t a great one. With the possible exception of the pensive crime-jazz intro to the title song, He doesn’t break any new ground. Cooper seems a little too comfortable in his lite-metal mode, though “Pretty Ballerina” shows he didn’t get the wimp rock out of his system with “Only Women Bleed” all those years ago.

But the jaded old sap can still make me laugh. First time I popped this CD into my car stereo, I chuckled all the way down Cerrillos Road at the “shock-rock Romeo’s” lyrics like, “The first time I saw her, she said she want to date me/The next time I come back she tried to castrate me ...”

Then there’s “The Saga of Jesse Jane” about a cross-dressing truck driver who gets arrested in Texas. “I drive a truck all night long/Listening to Judy Garland songs ... ” It gets worse from there.

In “Perfect,” he mocks a would-be pop star who thinks she sounds great in the shower, but falls apart at the karaoke bar. Then there’s the middle-age angst of the guy whose “heart is pumping bacon” and drinks “enough coffee to wake the dead” in “Your Own Worst Enemy.”

Cooper might not be cutting edge like he was back in the early ’70s. But if you need a good cheap laff, you can still go ask Alice.


*Driftin’by BigUglyGuysThis is pure, visceral, independent Kansas City biker rock. Chief ugly guy Rio DeGennaro is over 60, but he rocks like a crazed teenager. Backed by a basic guitar/bass/drums unit colored by a greasy sax, DeGennaro sings of boozing, biking and lusting for young girls and their moms like a true believer.

Most of the tunes are just plain fun, but the Uglys get serious on a couple of tunes. “Dreamin’ Part 2” is about a soldier in Iraq missing his lover and afraid he won’t come home. Likewise, “Life Blues” is the song of a man who’s separated from his wife and kids. He misses them and he misses the comfort of his childhood home and the love between his parents.

But DeGenero doesn’t dwell on such misery too. Long the album ends with “Yo Beanhead,” a highly-caffeineated ode to a good cuppa joe.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: GOODBYE GAS GUZZLER

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
October 6, 2005

A governor should lead by example, Gov. Bill Richardson told reporters Wednesday. Therefore, in this energy-conscious time in which the high cost of gasoline is on the minds of most citizens, Richardson has decided it’s time to trade in his gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle for something more fuel-efficient.

“We’ve been talking about a hybrid vehicle or a natural-gas vehicle,” Richardson said at a news conference when asked about the SUV he uses for state business.

Two weeks ago, this column pointed out that the governor showed up in his huge Lincoln Navigator — which gets about 13 mpg — for a press conference to talk about the country’s over-dependence on gas and oil.

Richardson’s decision to trade in his Lincoln comes a couple of months after U.S. Rep. Tom Udall bought a Toyota Prius to use in his travels around his northern New Mexico Congressional District.

“He seems to like it a lot,” Udall spokesman Glen Loveland said Wednesday. “It saves a lot on gasoline costs.” The gas-electric hybrid gets 60 mpg in the city, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The Prius is for use in New Mexico,” Loveland said. In Washington, D.C. Udall usually walks from his home to the Capitol, Loveland said.

Richardson, however, said he probably won’t buy a Prius. “I’ll stick with American companies,” Richardson said. A spokesman later told the Associated Press that Ricahrdson is considering a Ford Escape, a hybrid SUV that gets about 36 miles per gallon.

Richardson said that state police, who are charged with protecting the governor, will have a say in what type of vehicle he eventually buys. “Security is a concern,” he said.

Beam me up: Don’t call her “Gail Beam” any more. The nine-year state House member announced Wednesday that she has legally changed her name to the one she was given at birth: Gail Chasey. The next part of her name will remain “D-Albuquerque.”

Chasey, a member of the House Judiciary Committee said the fact that she just started law school at the University of New Mexico had something to do with changing her name.

“This is a time of new beginnings for me,” she said in an e-mail “Going to law school has been a longtime goal of mine. I also feel that the time is right for me to reclaim my birth name, Chasey. Making both changes now seemed like an appropriate synergy in my life.”

She said her name changes honors her mother, who worked for many years at UNM, and her father, an Air Force B-29 pilot in World War II, who died earlier this year.
Chasey is married to former state Attorney General David Norvell.

Gavel me down: When Lt. Gov. Diane Denish calls the state Senate to order for the special session today, she will have one less gavel to chose from which to chose for the task.

Denish gave one of her four gavels to Sonya Carrasco-Trujillo, her former deputy chief of staff who recently became acting Santa Fe municipal judge while the state Judicial Standards Commission investigates suspended Judge Fran Gallegos.

Let’s just hope Denish doesn’t need four gavels during the special session.

Remembering the ‘90s gas wars: Last week in this column, Sen. John Grubesic talked about how state lawyers are no match for high-price oil company lawyers — with their “alligator briefcases” and “private jets” — in trying to prove price gouging.

He recalled how as a rookie lawyer for the state Attorney General’s Office was promptly humiliated in court by a small army of Houston lawyers in the early ‘90s.

This was when then-Attorney General Tom Udall was looking into allegations of price fixing by petroleum companies in Santa Fe.

“The industry had strategically filed three separate suits in New Mexico to quash our investigatory subpoenas, and all of them were in oil-and-gas country,” Grubesic said.

Jerry Marshak, an assistant attorney general who was with the office back then, has different memories. The oil companies had filed 35 to 40 cases to stop the attorney general’s subpoenas, Marshak said in an interview last week.

Marshak said he got “roped in” to handle the subpoena cases after Grubesic’s courtroom loss in Carlsbad. Marshak said he convinced the courts to consolidate all the remaining cases, and eventually the courts ruled in his favor.

“The suits and jets lost,” Marshak said.

The battle maybe, but not the war.

While the state got the documents they were seeking, the state never took any legal action concerning gas price fixing.

ODE TO BILLIE JOE

The main thing that struck me about last night's Green Day concert was how much the band has grown in pure showmanship since last time I saw them, 11 years ago. Their set at the 1994 Lollapalooza was just a short 45-minute set, and all I remember really is that Billie Joe flashed his weenie (which for a second or two I thought he was going to do last night) and got some white kid with dreadlocks from the audience -- who Billie Joe joked was "the guy from Counting Crows" -- up on stage to dance around.

Back in 1994 they were a rising band with incredible buzz. When I saw them it was just a few days after their performance at Woodstock '94, where they were the most talked-about band. Dookie was a big hit at the time. But I never figured them for much more than a flash in a pan. In early 2004 that assessment would have been correct. But then came American Idiot. I would have loved to have been in the room with the band when they were informed that this album had become a major hit. It must have been like the scene in This Is Spinal Tap where, after a long, frustrating slide Nigil returns to inform them that the group had a big hit record in Japan.

When I talk about showmanship, I'm not talking about the pyrotechnics (which I thought were over used, though the kids loved them) or the funny hats they wore during "King For a Day." I'm not even talking about the pink Easter Bunny who opened the show by dancing to The Village People's "YMCA." I'm talking about stage presence and the way Billie Joe Armstrong engages the crowd.

They don't seem to have lost that crazy energy of the mid '90s (even though they've added a second guitarist, which means Billie Joe doesn't have to carry that load all the time). But they realize they've come way beyond the old punk rock days of small clubs, tiny crowds and sleeping on floors -- and there's no going back.

Among my favorite moments was a shtick where they get audience members to come up to "form a new band," taking over on drums, bass and guitar. Both the drummer and bassist chosen fit right in barely missing a beat. But the first guitarist, a girl who looked like a high schooler, choked terribly. I felt sorry for the poor kid, as apparently did Billie Joe. When the number was over, he called her back on stage and handed her his guitar again. "You keep this," he said. "No go practice!"

I also liked the fact that they covered The Isley Brothers' "Shout," done as a medley with Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" (which they performed with Billie Joe and other band members lying down.) This number included a horn section, which only played on a few tunes. I actually would have liked to have seen more of these guys. There are very few tunes that don't benefit from a good sax.

I still love their old hit "Basket Case." I probably humiliated my son as I sang along with the chorus "Sometimes I give myself the creeps/Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me ..." (Actually Anton looked like he was in Rock 'n' Roll Heaven throughout the whole show. I decided not to embarrass him by asking "You got anything with Herman's Hermits?" when we hit the T-shirt stand.)

But my favorite song was one of which I don't even know the title. It's a wild stomp that has serious Irish overtones. With the piano player/trumpeter playing accordion It almost sounded like a Pogues tune. (If anyone knows the song I'm talking about, please post it in the comments section.)

My only complaint about the whole night is the damned traffic situation. It took us well over an hour to get from I-25 around the Cesar Chavez exit to the parking lot. I've only been to two previous shows at the Clear Channel-operated Journal Pavilion. Neither the Jackson Browne/Steve Earle/Keb Mo show or last year's Styx concert attracted the huge crowd that went to Green Day last night.

We missed the entire opening act Jimmy Eat World. (But I did get to hear Joe Monahan on the radio talking about the Albuquerque city elections. We pulled into a parking space right after Joe and friends announced the results from the very first ballot box reporting.) Supposedly the new road to Journal Pavilion will be ready late next year.

TUESDAY IS GREEN DAY

I was extremely relieved last month when Gov. Bill Richardson announced the date of the special session and it wasn't on Oct. 4. This is the night of the Green Day show in Albuquerque and months ago I took this day off because my son Anton was not going to miss this concert.

Anton's in junior high now and this will be the first concert that he really wanted to see. The fact that his old man saw Green Day 11 years ago on a drunken trip to Phoenix with his Uncle Boo Boo doesn't even detract from his anticipation -- though he is praying to God that I'm only joking when I tell him I've been practicing all the latest dance steps so I can "groove out" to the music. (He has nothing to fear. I couldn't get ahold of Beatle Bob to give me some lessons.)

Of course I've taken Anton to several music shows that I wanted to see. He got rightly scared a few years ago at a strange experimental music show with J.A. Deanne and Al Faaet where a dancer acted like she was going to impale me with a hat rack. Anton actually liked Junior Brown and The Last Mile Ramblers when we saw them in Cerrillos a few years back. And someday he'll realize how cool it was that I took his picture in the lap of T-Model Ford at the 1999 Thirsty Ear Festival.

Something tells me Green Day will be more fun than the special session. And I bet I know one legislator who agrees. Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell might be one of the most conservative members of the House, but he loves his rock 'n' roll. He told me a few days ago that he's going. And he's not even taking his kid -- he just likes Green Day. (I have sources that say Dan does a mean karaoke version of Metallica's "Enter Sand Man" too.)

Speaking of music and the special session, I figured the session will go late Friday, so Laurell Reynolds will be substituting for me on The Santa Fe Opry Friday. (Give to the KSFR fund raiser!!!!)