TERRELL'S TUNEUP: IMMORTAL SOUL

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 9, 2006

Soul belter Bettye LaVette made a more-than-respectable “comeback” album a couple of years ago. Her new effort, Scene of the Crime, shows that I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise was no fluke. This woman, with her slightly raspy voice and impeccable taste in material, is on fire.

LaVette’s late-blooming career is a weird story even by show-biz standards. She’s toiled away on the fringes of success for more than 40 years, and she’s just starting to reach her prime. She’s a true example of someone who has only gotten better with age.

LaVette started out in the 1960s, the golden age of soul, though she never quite became a household name. In 2000, the European label Munich released a live LaVette album called Let Me Down Easy: In Concert. Her performance of its title song still twists my head off. The record wasn’t a runaway hit, but apparently some people who counted heard it. LaVette started recording in this country again.

Two years ago, LaVette got the full Joe Henry treatment — covering songs by contemporary songwriters like Dolly Parton, Sinead O’Connor, Fiona Apple, and Lucinda Williams with a rocking band. I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise is a good album, a really good album. But — I’ll go ahead and say it — Scene of the Crime is a great one.

First of all, there’s the matter of the band. The Drive-By Truckers, yes, the alt country/neo-Southern rock wild boys (and girl) who made it OK for punk rockers to admit they like Lynyrd Skynyrd, play behind LaVette. But that’s not as weird as it sounds. As Truckers fans know, DBT founder Patterson Hood is the son of Muscle Shoals session bassist David Hood. Plus, the band toured this year with Stax/Volt soul keyboard/songwriter great Spooner Oldham (including a stop in Santa Fe in May.)

On LaVette’s record, DBT sounds like Muscle Shoals: the Next Generation. (Oldham and David Hood are along for this ride too.)

LaVette is no stranger to Muscle Shoals. She recorded an album there called Child of the Seventies about 35 years ago — which, in keeping with LaVette’s hard-luck biography, was not released until a few years ago.

It’s true, DBT provides a harder-edged sound than the musicians on I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise. But the band never overwhelms LaVette; it seems to inspire her.

The album grabs a listener immediately with a slinky swamp rocker called “I Still Want to Be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am),” written by Alabama native Eddie Hinton. There are several cool rockers here that seem natural for LaVette. John Hiatt’s “The Last Time” sounds like it was written for her. “You Don’t Know Me at All” is nice and bluesy.

And LaVette also shows she can nail the slow ones. “Choices” is a song George Jones did just a few years ago, after a well-publicized alcoholic relapse. I don’t know how much of this tune applies to LaVette’s own life, but when she sings, “I found I liked drinkin’” a listener finds her completely believable.

But the showstopper is a weird old Elton John song I’d completely forgotten called “Talking Old Soldiers.” I had to check the credits to make sure it wasn’t a Tom Waits “grand weeper.” The song is the lament of a sad old veteran at a bar. One of the most frightening musical moments I’ve heard in years is when LaVette shouts “How the hell do they know what it’s like to have a graveyard for a friend.”

Among the most satisfying cuts is “Before the Money Came (The Battle Of Bettye LaVette).” Not only is it a rocking little number, but LaVette looks back on her career: “Some folks didn’t know my worth/Didn’t know where I fit in/40 years I kept on singin’ before the money started rollin’ in.” It’s a fitting triumph.

Also recommended

* 100 Days, 100 Nights by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. Ms. Jones is the undisputed queen of the current soul revival. She’s been making music since girlhood — singing in church and getting gigs as a background singer for R & B and even disco artists. But she had to keep a day job for too many years. She worked as a corrections officer on Rikers Island in New York — if that ain’l credentials, I don’t know what is.

Jones made several singles for the Desco label in the late ’90s but didn’t make her own album until 2002, when she was in her 40s.

Some accuse the singer of being retro. True, this music fits right in with good old Stax/Volt records. The Dap-Kings are nice and horny, with funky, Steve Cropper-ish guitar by Binky Griptite. True, it’s not hard to imagine Otis Redding singing “When the Other Foot Drops,” and “Let Them Knock” could have been a hit for Carla Thomas. But I don’t find the songs old-fashioned in the least. It’s just strong, honest music — about love, lust, and tears — that I like for the same reason I like those older records.

Jones saved the best for first on this album — the title song is a minor-key steamer. But there’s not a weak tune here. There’s a little Motown gloss on “Tell Me” and a little bit of the swamp in “Nobody’s Baby.” And I bet the trumpet solo at the end of “Keep on Looking” goes on a lot longer when the Dap-Kings perform it live.

* Wattstax: Music from the Wattstax Festival and Film. Speaking of old Stax music, this recently released three-disc collection is a treasure-trove. Most of the material has been released before, but this is definitive.

Wattstax, for the uninitiated, was a 1972 music festival in Los Angeles, organized by the Memphis-based label and emceed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

There are classic performances by stalwart Stax stars like the Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, and Carla Thomas. Unfortunately there’s only one Isaac Hayes song here — “Theme From Shaft.” (Hayes’ full-length At Wattstax is worth seeking out.)

But even more fun is the abundance of worthy, if not as famous, Stax acts such as The Emotions, the Soul Children, Rance Allen, Lee Sain (who does a tune called “Them Hot Pants”), and Hayes’ songwriting partner David Porter. Perhaps my favorite cut is the nine-minute “Son of Shaft” by the wonderful, funky Bar-Kays.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE POLITICAL UNIVERSE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 8, 2007

Welcome to the center of the universe. The political universe, at least.

That designation was bestowed upon this state last week by Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza.

“With an open Senate seat for the first time in 25 years and THREE open House seats, New Mexico is shaping up as the center of the political universe in 2008,” Cillizza wrote. “Who says big states have all the fun?”

To pick a nit here, in reality, this is the first open Senate seat here in 35 years. Twenty five years ago, Democrat Jeff Bingaman defeated incumbent Republican Harrison Schmitt. Republican Pete Domenici won an open seat in 1972.

In citing three open House seats, Cillizza is assuming Rep. Tom Udall will join the rest of the state’s current Congressional delegation — Republican Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce — in running for Domenici’s seat.

“While Udall is still being somewhat coy about his intentions, there is little doubt in the Washington political world that he will be a candidate and that he’ll enjoy establishment support both inside and outside the Beltway,” Cillizza wrote.

But, to paraphrase Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chávez, who also is running for U.S. Senate, we should let New Mexicans decide whether we’re the center of the political universe, not people in Washington, D.C.

While talking politics this week, University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson made the comment: “This is really the place to be in ’08 for politics. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sounds like the center of the political universe to me.

The candidate glut: If Udall runs for Senate, I’m not going to run for his seat in Congress. Neither is state Rep. Peter Wirth, and I’ve got the press release to prove it.

But I assume everybody else is.

In reality, Democrats who have said they are considering the Congressional District 3 race — if Udall runs for Senate — are Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján, state auditor Hector Balderas, former County Commissioner Javier Gonzales, current County Commissioner Harry Montoya, former state Rep. Patsy Trujillo, Española Mayor Joe Maestas, Sheriff Greg Solano and lawyer Geno Zamora.

So far.

Your petitions are no good here: The sheer number of possible District 3 contenders has some state Democrats worried about a strange little law that slipped through the state Legislature last year.

House Bill 1156, which won unanimous approval of both legislative chambers and was signed into law by Gov. Bill Richardson, makes it tougher for candidates to get on the primary ballot.

Before the new law, candidates won a place on the ballot if they received at least 20 percent of the delegate votes at their party’s preprimary convention. Those who got less than that magic figure still could get on the ballot by submitting additional petitions with signatures of registered voters to the secretary of state.

The new law got rid of the petition option. Those who get less than 20 percent are out of luck.

Only trouble is, the large number of Democratic candidates in District 3 could increase the chances no candidate reaches the 20 percent mark at the preprimary convention. And, under the law that passed, there is no provision to get anyone on the ballot with less than 20 percent.

Here’s a little nightmare for Democrats: No candidate gets enough delegates to secure a place on the ballot. The GOP runs one candidate who automatically wins a Congressional seat in a heavily Democratic district.

“We’ve got a very unusual situation,” said Laura Sanchez, executive director of the state Democratic Party on Wednesday. “The party rules didn’t anticipate that scenario.”

Sanchez’s Republican counterpart, Adam Feldman, through a spokesman, agreed.

“There need to be provisions in the law for situations like this, which offer another path onto the ballot; candidates should be required to go through the party convention phase first, and the alternative path should make the prospective candidate show that he/she is a Republican capable of competing in a state primary and general election. Requirements should be difficult and truly test a potential candidate’s fortitude.”

A spokesman for the secretary of state said Wednesday that the office is working on a proposed fix. The Legislature would have to amend the law in its next session and tack on an emergency clause. Both parties hold their preprimary conventions March 15.

DENISH'S FINANCE REPORT

You can my story about Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's campaign finance report for her 2010 (!) gubernatorial race HERE.

You can see her entire report HERE.

I think it's great that Denish is voluntarily releasing these reports long before the deadline. Our state law requiring reports only once a year during non-election years is pathetic.

Then again, we've got all these legions of candidates emerging for Congress and U.S. Senate races next year, 2010 does seem like a long time away.

NEW SURVEYUSA POLL: CHAVEZ PULLS AHEAD OF GOP CONTENDERS -- SLIGHTLY

There's a new poll for the New Mexico Senate race, performed by SurveyUSA in partnership with Roll Call that shows Bill Richardson, Marty Chavez and Diane Denish beating both Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.

This is good news for Chavez, who last month was trailing both GOP candidates.

Tom Udall was not included in the poll. As Josh Kurtz, political editor of Roll Call explains, "He was not tested in Roll Call's poll - and his plans were disclosed too late to be included in the Election Preview, which went to press on Thursday." In last month's poll Udall also was ahead of both Republicans by good margins.

Denish was included because at the time the poll was taken she had not taken herself out of the race.

Richardson -- who insists he is not running for Senate -- would defeat Pearce and Wilson by more than 20 points.

Chavez would run a closer race. He'd beat Pearce by five points and Wilson by four. But the margin of error is 4 percent, so both should be considered dead heats.

Wilson and Pearce continue to beat Santa Fe developer and political newcomer Don Wiviott.

More on this in The New Mexican on Tuesday.

KSFR DARK TONIGHT

I was just informed that due to a power outage at Santa Fe Community College, KSFR is off the air and won't be back on in time for my show.

So there's no Sound World tonight.

I'll be back at the station for The Santa Fe Opry next week.

Meanwhile, you can listen to this instead: CLICK HERE