GOOD GOD YA'LL! R.I.P. JAMES BROWN!

I just woke up to the news that the Godfather is dead.

Here's the L.A. Times story.

Here's the NPR story. Audio soon should be available.

He's one of the great ones folks. I became a fan first time I heard him on the radio. I became a fanatic when I saw him on the T.A.M.I. Show, which now, more than ever needs to be released on DVD.

THE STEVE TERRELL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Sunday Dec. 24, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Silent Night by Bad Religion
Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto by James Brown
Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto by Snoop Doggy Dog
Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope by Sonic Youth
Even Squeeky Fromme Loves Christmas by The Rev. Glen Armstrong
Run Rudolph Run by The Rev. Horton Heat
Egg Nog by The Rockin' Guys
Christmas Treat, Peppermint by The Sisterhood
Happy Birthday, Jesus by Little Cindy

Ao Tumhen Chand Pe by Asha Bhosle
Must Be Santa by Brave Combo
Oy to the World by The Klezmonauts
Sleigh Ride by The Squirrel Nut Zippers
Merry Christmas Elvis by Michelle Cody
Bkue Christmas by Elvis Presley
Little Drummer Boy by Joan Jett
Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy by Buck Owens

Christmas at K-Mart by Root Boy Slim & His Sex Change Band
BeBop Santa Claus by BeBop Santa Claus
I Don't Believe in Christmas by The Sonics
My Last Christmas by The Dirtbombs
Santa Came in on a Nuclear Missile by Heather Noel
We Wish You'd Bury the Mrs. by The Crypt Keeper
Father Christmas by The Kinks
Santa Claus Boogie by Hasil Adkins
I Wish You a Merry Christmas by Big Dee Irwin & Little Eva
Christmas Spirit by Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends
White Christmas by Otis Redding

Christmas is a Special Day by Fats Domino
Christmas Eve Can Kill You by The Everly Brothers
Nothing But a Child by Steve Earle & Maria McKee
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
Silent Night/What Christmas Means by Dion
Oh Holy Night by Brian Wilson
Star of Wonder by The Roches.

SOME CHRISTMAS TUNES

I almost forgot to post the Christmas CD reviews I did for Pasatiempo this week.

Some of these I've been playing on my radio shows the last few weeks.

And you can hear even more on my (pre-recorded) Steve Terrell Christmas Special on KSFR tonight 10 p.m. to midnight on KSRF, 90.7 FM. It'll be streaming HERE.



* Christmas in Jail by The Soul Deacons (CD single, self-released) No, this isn’t some dark-hearted Christmas wish from The Soul Deacons for their former manager, whom they are suing. Santa Fe’s favorite soul band is covering an old R & B novelty song for a good cause. Not only are they selling it as a single (backed with the sweet soul ballad “Next Time”), but they also struck a deal with New Mexico’s department of transportation to use it for an anti-DWI radio spot, which is swamping the state’s radio waves. Several people have recorded “Christmas in Jail” through the years, but unlike other Christmas novelties, it hasn’t been overdone. The oldest version I know is by an obscure R & B group called The Youngsters. (It’s on an old Rhino compilation called Bummed Out Christmas.) You also can find it by Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson on Redneck Christmas. (reviewed below) The song is a longtime holiday favorite for Brother E. Clayton and the boys. When I saw them last December, they played it twice. The crowd would have been happy with a third time. The Deacons’ version includes a comical rap between a couple of “jailbirds.” But my favorite part is bassist Jimmy Martinez’s sinister “Ho, ho, ho.”

*Redneck Christmas by Various Artists (Time Life) As you might expect with a collection like this, Redneck Christmas has its share of “hot new” country duds and hackneyed corn. Let’s just say, if I never hear Elmo and Patsy’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” again, my Christmas would not be any less merry. But what is surprising is how many good tunes — even a few great tunes — are here. There’s a wonderful, old (1957!) George Jones song, “A New Baby for Christmas,” a Yuletide trucker tune (Red Simpson’s “Truckin’ Trees for Christmas”), and some hilarity from hick hipsters Homer & Jethro (“All I Want for Christmas Is My Upper Plate”). My favorite new discovery is Texas singer Dale Watson’s “You Can Call Me Nick,” a politically edged song about meeting a mysterious stranger in a drunk tank on Christmas Eve. (“He looked like an immigrant, his skin was dark and tough/He couldn’t even name our president.”) One twisted touch: on both ends of this compilation are songs that are basically country variations of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” The disc starts with Buck Owens’ 1965 hit “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy,” which contains that classic line: “If Santa Claus ain’t Daddy, then I’m gonna tell on them.” Buck and the Buckaroos were at the peak of their power about this time, and this song made the season even jollier. But on the other end of the album is “Santa Can’t Stay” by Dwight Yoakam, a darker version of this story that Yoakam first recorded for his 1997 Christmas album. On one level, the song — featuring an almost Phil Spector-esque production — is funny: a drunken father dons a red suit and barges in on Mama and her new boyfriend, Ray, as the mystified children look on. But any divorced parent who remembers that first holiday after the split-up can’t help but feel pangs of horror.


*Lou Rawls Christmas (Time Life) This, according to the liner notes, was the last album that Rawls — who died of cancer in January — recorded. He went down swinging. Recorded with a 10-piece band, Rawls romps through familiar, time-honored Christmas tunes. He even makes “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Come All Ye Faithful” — songs typically performed with an aura of piety — sound downright hip. You almost can imagine the shepherds and the wise men snapping their fingers along with these. And, backed only by piano and guitar, he brings out a bluesy side I’d never heard in “Jingle Bells.” There are a couple of missteps, though. Rawls is a little lackluster on Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song.” And the pseudo-Latin beat doesn’t quite flow on “Joy to the World.” If he wasn’t already likable enough, the album ends with Rawls talking about Christmas memories — mainly about his grandmother’s cooking. “She could make a turkey do dances and dances. ... She knew everybody loved them sweet potato pies. That’s what Christmas was all about. Yeah, buddy!” All in all, it’s a classy effort by a singer who could belt out soul ballads with Sam Cooke and then turn around and do a convincing take on the Sinatra songbook.

R.I.P. DEE JOHNSON

Former New Mexico First Lady Dee Johnson, Gov. Gary Johnson's former wife, died unexpectedly last week, the family announced Saturday.

The cause of death isn't known.

There's more about it HERE and there will be more from reporter Natalie Storey in Sunday's New Mexican.

UPDATE: Natalie's article is HERE

SUSPECT IN KATIE SEPICH MURDER ARRESTED

There's been a major break in the 2003 case of the Las Cruces murder that last year sparked major changes to the state's DNA collection laws.

Police in Las Cruces have arrested a suspect in the rape and murder of Katie Sepich, 20-year-old New Mexico State University who disappeared after a party at NMSU. The district attorney says Gabriel Adrian Avila, 27, has confessed.

Katie's parents, Dave and Jayann Sepich were at the Legisalture practically every day earlier this year lobbying for "Katie's Law," which requires law enforcement to collect DNA from all adults arrested for certain felonies. Currently DNA is collected only from those convicted of felonies. The law passed and was signed by the governor.

And, yes, DNA evidence is what led police to Avila -- although Katie's Law itself hasn't yet gone into effect.

Read the whole story HERE.