THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, September 29, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Payday Blues by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Right or Wrong by Kelly Hogan
Gonna Be Flyin' Tonight by Wayne Hancock
Run to the Sea by Michael O'Neill with Nancy Apple

NANCY APPLE LIVE SET
You Said Goodbye by the San Juan River
Sun Will Always Shine
My Boyfriend
Truck Driver's Woman (from High on the Hog CD)
Chariot Wheels
Cathead Biscuits & Gravy
Queen of Country Music

I'd Do It All Over Again by Susie Salley
The Old Account by Rob McNurlin
39 and Holding by Jerry Lee Lewis
Pay the Devil by Van Morrison
I Will Stay With You by Emily Kaitz with Ray Wylie Hubbard
Johnny Cash Train by Cordell Jackson
Rollin' and Tumblin' by Bob Dylan
The Good Ship Venus by Loudon Wainwright III

Dollar Bill the Cowboy by The Waco Brothers
Wine, Women and Loud Happy Songs by Ringo Starr
Pale Imperfect Diamond by Jack Clift & John Carter Cash
Knapsack by Amy Rigby
This Old Town by Chip Taylor
Weakness in a Man by Waylon Jennings
Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor by Irma Thomas
Time's a Looking Glass by Jim Lauderdale
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: DUO, NOT SO DYNAMIC

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 29, 2006

Jeff Feuerzeig’s disturbing but strangely heartwarming documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston was finally made available on DVD last week. Even if you saw it when it played in Santa Fe in May, you have to check out the DVD version, if only for the filmed reunion of Johnston and his longtime muse/unrequited love Laurie Allen. I figured she probably had a dozen restraining orders against Johnston, but I guess I was wrong.

This film, in short, is one of the most moving musician documentaries I’ve ever seen (compared with this, the Townes Van Zandt bio-doc Be Here to Love Me is a virtual laugh riot). And even though Johnston is still too dang weird to ever become a “star,” the movie is bound to attract more interest in his music, and a lot of people will inevitably be led to the latest CD involving Johnston.

That would be The Electric Ghosts by Daniel Johnston and Jack Medicine. But, gentle readers, unless you’re already a Johnston fanatic, heed my words and don’t start here.

The CD cover art — a pretty cool cartoon of Daniel as a fat Batman and Medicine as Robin — isn’t an original Johnston drawing and lacks the strange monsters, frogs, or naked female torsos that grace nearly all of his other releases. (There is a Johnston rendition of Casper the Friendly Ghost on the back, though.)

Like other Johnston studio albums in recent years, this one is a radical departure from the lo-fi, hiss-addled cassette tapes of the 1980s that made us love Johnston in the first place.

To be fair, that has to be the hardest part of producing a Johnston album these days. His infamous “basement tapes,” which he used to dub himself and give away on the streets of Austin, are unlistenable to the average Joe. But when you try to make his music more audience-friendly, you take the chance of marring the very spirit that made those recordings such a raw joy to those with ears to hear. Most of the cuts on Electric Ghosts seem slicker and ultimately more colorless than his other albums from the last 10 years.

According to the liner notes, Mr. Medicine (real name Don Goede) was Johnston’s tour manager for three years. These notes, written by Goede, are so self-serving they put Bill Richardson’s press releases to shame.

“You see, Dan loved my music,” he writes in the second paragraph. Later, referring to The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Goede says, “I am proud to say I helped Jeff Feuerzeig the director out a lot with that movie preparing shots for him while Dan and I were touring.” He concludes by thanking Johnston for being “my biggest fan,” and correctly, for “letting me ride his coat tails.”

There you have it.

But don’t get the idea that there’s nothing worthwhile on The Electric Ghosts. The opening cut, “Sweetheart (Frito Lay),” a ’50s-ish melody with echoes of doo-wop, reminds me of the bizarre Mountain Dew jingle (heard in the documentary) that Johnston recorded in a mental hospital.

Johnston’s “cover” of David Bowie’s “Scary Monsters” is almost worth the price of the CD. Let’s just say he takes some liberties with the original, but, after watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston, the idea of the singer being tormented by monsters isn’t just metaphorical.

And, in fairness, one of my favorite songs here is “Blue Skies Will Haunt You From Now On,” which Johnston wrote, but Goede sings. It’s bluesy and spooky to the point of Satanism.

But as I said, new Johnston fans should start the proper way, with those old tapes (some are available on CD) on which Johnston’s cracking voice rises above the tape hiss and cheapo chord organ as he sings his guileless songs of pain and love that will never be. You can find most of them at www.hihowareyou.com. (One good place to begin your journey might be Discovered Covered: The Late Great Daniel Johnston, a 2004 “tribute album” that has one disc of acts like Beck, Tom Waits, and The Flaming Lips covering classic Johnston songs and a second disc of the original Johnston versions.)

Recommended:


Echoes of the Past by Dead Moon. This garage/punk/psychedelic/trash-rock trio from Portland, Ore., is one of the great unsung bands of the last 15 years or so, though I’m a recent convert myself. Fans of The Cramps, Roky Erikson, The Fleshtones, and the Nuggets compilations will welcome this collection of singles dating to the late ’80s.

Even though Dead Moon goes back that far, its beginning is only about the halfway point of singer Fred Cole’s career. He’s been around as long as Roky and is not kidding when he sings, in “Poor Born”: “I’ve been screaming at the top of my lungs since 1965.” He was a member of The Lollipop Shoppe, a ridiculously named band whose mid-’60s single “You Must Be a Witch” can be found in the first Nuggets box set.

Cole’s quasi-falsetto screaming graces most of the 49 songs on this two-disc set, though his wife, Toody Cole, the band’s bass player, steps out front for girl-punk vocals on songs like “Johnny’s Got a Gun” and sings Exene Cervenka/John Doe-style harmonies with the hubby on songs like “Jane.”

One of my favorite moments is Fred’s guitar intro in “Over the Edge,” which reminds me of Robbie Krieger in The Doors’ “The End.”

Dead Moon’s music, though simple, is dark and a little mysterious. Some of these songs could be from the soundtracks of movies about serial killers. Visions of dark alleys and lonesome graveyards will dance in your head.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: POLITICAL FUN WITH MYSPACE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 28, 2006

Watch out, kids, there’s a new MySpace member making no secret about wanting to attract young folk — the New Mexico Democratic Party.


Back in the 2004 campaign, the hot new Web realm for politicians was Meetup.org. This year, the cyber baton seems to have passed to MySpace, a popular Internet hangout — especially with teenagers and young adults — that allows users to share photos, videos, music and personal journals.

“We are focused on creating a better future for the next generation and encouraging young people to engage in the political process,” state democratic chairman John Wertheim said in a news release last week. “Because it is on their turf (the Internet) we’re hopeful that our MySpace page will make the Democratic Party and civic activism more inviting to young people.”

“The Party plans on further utilizing the page to recruit volunteers and keep fellow ‘MySpacers’ aware of political news and events,” the news release said.

Under the personal information section, the party claims to be a 20-year-old female who lives in Albuquerque, (although the group shot featuring National Democratic Committee Chairman Howard Dean, Wertheim and other state Dem staffers makes it clear they aren’t really trying to pass as a 20-year-old woman.) According to other “personal” information, the party is married with children and was born under the sign of Sagittarius.

When you open the party’s profile page you get treated to a song and video of U2’s “Beautiful Day,” which was used as a campaign theme in 2004 by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. But that song didn’t make the page’s “Favorite Music” list, which includes only “Born in the USA,” “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful.”

As for movies, according to MySpace, the party likes All the President’s Men, The Candidate, Bullworth, The War Room and Primary Colors. The latter is a surprising choice, considering it’s a not-very-flattering comedic profile of a presidential candidate based on Bill Clinton.

For something that’s trying to appeal to the youth, the profile seems a little, well, stodgy when it lists its general interest as “Preserving the quality of life for New Mexicans by standing up for honest leadership and fair government, Real Security, Energy Independence, Economic Prosperity and Educational Excellence, A Health Care System that Works for Everyone and Retirement Security.”

I guess they couldn’t just say “skateboarding.”

But scroll down to the message section, and it gets a little more interesting. Someone sent in a Photoshopped picture of a baby urinating on President Bush.

On its news release, the party, probably wisely, stated: “The DPNM does not endorse the views or content of every person or organization associated with our MySpace network.”

You gotta have friends: One big feature of MySpace is the “Friends” list. As of Wednesday, the Democrats had 135 friends. Among these are Howard Dean, former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

There’s also a 58-year old man simply named “Bill,” who lists his hometown as Santa Fe and his occupation as governor of New Mexico.

Yes, Gov. Bill Richardson is on MySpace, though a spokesman for his office said Wednesday that he wasn’t aware of his boss’ MySpace profile. My bet is that it’s a product of the America For Bill Richardson blog, founded by a New Yorker named Ken Bulko who is pushing — in an unofficial capacity — Richardson for president. That site, and not the official re-election site, is the first link in the MySpace profile.

According to the profile, his interests including baseball, boxing, horseback riding, politics and cigars. (Well, that’s more interesting than “Preserving the quality of life for New Mexicans ... etc., etc.”)

His heroes are Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright. His favorite movie is Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (which was shot at least partly in New Mexico).

His body type is described as “More to love!”

And of course, “Bill” has friends, 110 so far. The first one shown on the main profile page is a 26-year-old student and auto-racing fan in North Carolina called “Johnny Upchuck.”

Despite Richardson’s well-known connections, I didn’t see any big-name politicos here — unless you count Jim Faris, a 22-year-old bluegrass musician and candidate for state Legislature in Kansas, or “Bill McKay,” who was the main character, portrayed by Robert Redford, in the 1972 film The Candidate.

Selling the state: The state GOP isn’t using MySpace, at least in an official capacity, spokesman Jonah Cohen said. He said his party is having too much fun with its blog, “New Mexico For Sale,” which catalogs scandals, assorted allegations of misdeeds and basically any bad press related to the majority party.

The circus billboardlike logo has photos of Richardson, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez, former Sen. Manny Aragón, former Treasurers Robert Vigil and Michael Montoya and former Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna.

But no Johnny Upchuck.

NANCY APPLE ON SF OPRY

Memphis country singer Nancy Apple will be appearing live on the Santa Fe Opry this Friday night.

Nancy's been on the show a few times before and it's always a lot of fun.

In addition to her career as a singer and songwriter, she has her own radio show, Car Tunes, on WEVL FM 89.9 in Memphis.

The Santa Fe Opry starts at 10 p.m. Friday on KSFR, 90.7 FM. If you're not in town, listen to the Webcast.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, September 24, 2006
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
Whiskey in a Jar by Metallica
Romero Had Juliet by Lou Reed
The Olde Trip to Jerusalem by The Mekons
Middle Class Revolt, Simon, Dave & John by The Fall
Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on My Knee by Captain Beefheart
Elevator Music by Beck
The Ballad of Dwight Fry by Alice Cooper

Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind by Yo La Tengo
You Must Be a Witch By Dead Moon
I'm Ready by The Twilight Singers
Too Smart Polka by The Polkaholics
Pretty Dancing Girl by Brave Combo
Rock Bottom Tears by Pima Express

The 400 by The Sadies
Let Loose The Kracken by The Bald Guys
Mermaid Love by Man or Astroman
Hangman Hang Ten by The Ghastly Ones
Impaler by The Derangers
Tailspin by Los Straightjackets
Huskie Team by The Saints
Fish Taco by Surficide
Cha Wow Wow by The Hillbilly Soul Surfers
The Theme From The Godfather by Satan's Pilgrims

On The Road by Tom Waits & Primus
Robbers & Bandits & Bastards & Thieves by Drywall
Lost Fox Train (For Joe) by Hazmat Modine
Hold On by Los Lobos
Thadfus Star by Carl Hancock Rux
Into Oblivion by Lisa Germano
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, September 22, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Rich Man's War by Hundred Year Flood
Thunder on the Mountain by Bob Dylan
Tulsa by Wayne Hancock
Have You Had Enough by Ricki Lee Jones
The Way of the Fallen by Ray Wylie Hubbard
The Heart Bionic by Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminal Starvation League
From Attic to Basement by Richard Buckner & Jon Langford
My Rifle, Pony & Me by Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson

I Wish by Marlee MacLeod
Don't Ya Tell Henry by The Band
I Wish I Didn't Want You So Bad by Jim Lauderdale
May I Be Your June by Mary Alice Wood
A Legend in My Time by Johnny Cash
Don't Blame Me by The Everly Brothers
Deep River Blues by Janet Bean
Sad Songs and Waltzes by Willie Nelson

DON WALSER SET
All songs by Don Walser

Marie
Please Help Me I'm Falling (with Larry Gatlin)
Divorce Me C.O.D.
Are You Teasing Me? (with Mandy Barnett)
I Ain't Got Nobody (with Asleep at the Wheel)
Texas Top Hand
A Fool Such As I
Rose Marie (with Kronos Quartet)

A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow by Mitch & Mickey
A Better Word For Love by NRBQ
Mary (Won't You Come Along?) by Jon Nolan
Whipoorwill by Greg Brown
Good Old Boys Like Me by Don Williams
Tiny Island by Leo Kottke
One of the Unsatisfied by Lacy J. Dalton
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 LITTLE TENGO IN THE NIGHT

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 22, 2006

They’ve been cranking out the tunes — frenzied guitar journeys, dreamy meditations, an occasional quirky cover, and stage stabs at shiny pop — for more than 20 years now. And the latest album by Yo La Tengo, sweetly titled I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, shows the trio still on top of its game, whatever that game is.

Tengo is the musical baby of guitarist Ira Kaplan and his wife, drummer Georgia Hubley. Bassist James McNew has been part of the Yo La family for most of its career. Sometimes Tengo sounds like Sonic Youth, sometimes closer to Fleetwood Mac. Actually the group reminds me of a lo-fi version of NRBQ. Both bands have covered Sun Ra, and YLT has covered at least one Q song (“Magnet”). Tengo doesn’t have NRBQ’s instrumental proficiency, and the group is rooted more in punk rock than R & B, but its catholic approach to music is similar.

On the new album, Yo La happily is all over the place, strolling down some strange avenues of pop sounds.

For example, “Mr. Tough” is a soul workout, horn section and all, with Kaplan singing in a funny, Prince-ly falsetto. The beauty of it is that he’s so unabashed about it. If it sticks out like a sore thumb, what the heck. There are sore thumbs all over the place.

The group gets even stranger in “Sometimes I Don’t Get You.” I had to stop and think of why this wistful, poppy little tune seemed so familiar. Then I realized, this is the kind of music they used to use in late-’60s romantic-comedy movies, when the young hero and the young heroine were first falling in love. It’s the kind of song that plays during the montage scene where the couple is seen walking down a bustling city street, feeding pigeons, and then running through a park hand in hand, then riding in a horse-drawn carriage.

The next track, a nine-minute slo-mo, astral-plane instrumental called “Daphnia,” could be used for the drug sequence in the same movie. A piano is the main instrument here, playing off reverberating guitar noise.

The spacey “Black Flowers” sounds like a Flaming Lips demo with horns and strings added for depth.

Don’t think Yo La has forgotten how to rock. “Watch Out for Me Ronnie” is breakneck garage rock, complete with a “Heart Full of Soul” fuzz-buzz guitar solo.

But the Yo La Tengo I love best is evident in songs like the opening cut “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind,” the 12-minute closer “The Story of Yo La Tengo,” and the middle-of-the-album “The Room Got Heavy.”

On “Hatchet” and “Story,” the band takes its time to build up to full-fledged guitar fury. “Hatchet” has a crazy guitar hook that repeats throughout and a bouncy beat that almost suggests The Beatles’ “Taxman.”

Wild bongos and a screeching, Farfisa-like organ propel “Room.” Just listening to this song makes you want to sweat.

When you’re finished reading this, get thee to the computer and read a much better review of it by comedian David Cross on eMusic:

“Forged in hubris and leather, this New Jersey (and Brooklyn!?) trio consisting of the fat guy and two Jews are quite capable of taking us on one wild and wacky ride through the debauched underworld of the ‘Indiers.’ I have not listened to the CD, nor will I, but I nonetheless review it based on the track titles alone.”

More fun with Yo La Tengo: Every band should have its own political cause. On Yo La’s Web site, you can sign its petition.

“Appalled by the increasing ubiquity of soy sauce, Branston Pickle, sriracha, chutney and the scourge of undocumented salsas on our tables, we believe enough is enough and ask you to join us in our petition to the United States Congress demanding legislation that would once and for all make ketchup our national condiment. Our leaders must say no [to] the Mayonnazis and Mustardistas who would make our country weaker by dividing us. Let us speak together as one ... for America.”

Also recommended:

* Chainsaw of Life by Hellwood. On the heels of Johnny Dowd’s latest album, Cruel Words, the Dutch company Munich Records has released this little gem, a collaboration between Dowd and bizarro swamp songwriter Jim White. Dowd’s drummer Willie B (real name Brian Wilson) is the third full-fledged Hellwooder. Frequent Dowd vocal partner Kim Sherwood-Caso sings on several cuts.

Hellwood will be a welcome treat for fans of the movie Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, in which White was prominently featured and Dowd performed.

Even though Dowd and White collaborated on writing several of the tunes, most of the songs sound like either Dowd songs or White songs. (Well, except for “Fireworks Factory,” which was written by White and sung — or, rather recited — by Dowd, but it sounds amazingly like Stan Ridgway.)

White’s best moment, and perhaps the most powerful track on the album, is “A Man Loves His Wife,” a slow, acoustic, “scenes from a marriage” ballad that deals with a guy who “loves his kids but he scares them to death/When he comes home from work everyone holds their breath.”

My favorite Dowd song here is “Thomas Dorsey,” an ode to the great gospel songwriter. It’s a slow, plodding dirge, with marimbas and flanger-y guitar. “His songs give comfort, they give inspiration to lost souls across this great nation,” Dowd drawls menacingly. Later he confesses, “I wish Satan would let me go/Devil music is all that I know/I sing songs of lust and depravity/That’s the only kind of songs that come out of me.”

Well, that’s about right. But Dowd’s devil music is inspiring in its own wonderful way.