TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 20, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
We Are Normal and We Want Our Freedom by Bonzo Dog Band
Night Train to Spokane by Gas Huffer
Puzzlin' Evidence by The Talking Heads
Thunderball by Davie Allan & The Arrows
Showgirl by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
The Hump by Heavy Trash
Bad Kids by The Black Lips
The Crusher by The Cramps
Happy Happy Christians by The Click Kids

The Cutester Patrol by The Grandmothers
They Don't Want Me by Wall of Voodoo
Insult Song by The Fall
Legend of Hillbilly John by Half Japanese
Changing Colors by The Bell-Rays
I'm Through With White Girls by The Dirt Bombs
Push Up Man by The Fleshtones
New Spark by Johnny Powers & The A-Bones

Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight
Say It Loud, I'm Black and Proud by The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner
I'm a Millionaire by Lee Fields
Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack
Raw Spitt by Swamp Dogg
The Collection Song by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Funky Like Don King by Jon E. Edwards

Bro by Panda Bear
What Have My Chickens Done Now by The Residents
Yard by The Birthday Party
Murder's Crossed My Mind by Desdemona Finch
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

eMUSIC JANUARY

* Jukebox Explosion by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I've missed Spencer in all his get-down gonzo glory. Heavy Trash, Spencer's latest rockabilly duo with Matt Verta-Ray is kind of fun, but it's just a light snack compared with the all-you-can-eat, Hound Dog Taylor-on-angel-dust banquet that was the Blues Explosion.

The JSBE seemed to be everywhere in the mid 90s. (They once opened for The Breeders at a Sweeney Center show here in Santa Fe.) The trio has released a couple of albums early this century, but none since 2004.

This is a collection of old singles that before now had been available only on 7-inch vinyl, which means only serious collectors had ever heard this stuff before. Fans won't be disappointed. All 18 tracks are joyful and noisy with Spencer howling like a soulman caught in a subway wreck.

* The Missing Link by Harmonica Frank Floyd. The first time I ever heard of Haronica Frank was in Greil Marcus' epic Mystery Train, in which he was the subject of the first chapter. Floyd was an archetypal American ramblin' trickster, picker and grinner, traveling the South in medicine shows and street corner concerts. He also was a true rock 'n' pioneer, recording for Sun Records in the early '50s -- even before Elvis.

This was recorded live (in Memphis schools) and in the studio in 1979, a couple of years after Mystery Train was published and a few years before his death. He sounds like a geezer here, (he was in his early 70s) almost like a cross between Hasil Adkins and Doc Watson. Frank and Hasil could have had a lot of fun together on "Shoop-a-Boop-a-Doodler."

The between-song patter is nearly as much fun. You learn Frank loves all kinds of music -- except that granda opera. He just hates it. And don't miss the wild bird calls in the track called "Without My Teeth."

* Hello by Half Japanese. This is a band, led by geek savaant jad Fair that I've been slowly discovering (over the past 15 years or so). This is a 2001 release featuring a good tight band with The Sadies' Dallas Good on guitar.

It's not quite as loosey goosey joyful as Sing No Evil, the last Half Japanese album I downloaded from eMusic (which I just realized is no longer available on eMusic!). But it's worthwhile. And "Mississippi," an electric organ and drum-driven dragstrip instrumental, is such a blast it's a wonder that Quintin Tarantino's never used it in a soundtrack.



* A Glint of The Kindling and Songs of Love and Parting by Robin Williamson . Some sheer Pagan joy by Williamson, who was half of The Incredible String Band. Glint was recorded with The Merry Band, which included harpist Sylvia Woods, while Parting was a solo album. Some of these tunes will take you back to the time when Druids roamed the Earth, a pastoral time when people expected their political leaders to be poets and singers. (Them was the days!) This is British folk-style music, yet little of this material sounds musty or academic.

Perhaps for nostalgic reasons, I just downloaded the original albums here, skipping, at least for now, the spoken word Five Bardic Mysteries bundled with the former or Selected Writings 1980-83 tacked onto the latter album. Both these albums made up a cassette tape my friend Parris made me, a tape that turned out to be one of my most played in the 1980s.

*Blues Masters Vol. 6 by Champion Jack Dupree. You might notice I'm posting this fairly late in the month. I've been so busy this past few weeks -- Christmas, my campaign-trail travels, the start of the Legislature -- that I haven't been downloading much from eMusic and in fact came within hours of losing 17 tracks. (As I've explained before, you have to download all your monthly allotment before your account refreshes, or you lose what you've got left over) Usually I get my 90 downloads within a couple of weeks.

So I was looking at new stuff available in eMusic's blues question and came across this. Bingo! Just a few nights ago I heard BC play a Champion Jack tune on KSFR's Blue Monday and liked it so much I thought I should check to see if eMusic had any good Dupree material. Double bingo! This abum has exactly 17 tracks.

New Orleans-born Champion Jack (1909-1992) was an ex-boxer who punched the keyboard like a sparring partner. His percussive barrelhouse style is unique but pure New Orleans. This album is full of standards -- "Sportin' Life," "CC Rider," "In the Evening," "Rock Me, Mama," "Tomorrow Night." But sometimes, such as his solo on "Careless Love," he makes an old song sound like something completely new.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 18, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org


OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Big Iron by Mike Ness
Honky Tonk Hell by Webb Wilder
Okie Boogie by The Maddox Brothers & Rose
Hamburgers and Popcorn by Boozoo Chavis
Zydeco Road by Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas
Drinkin' on the Weekend by Big Al Anderson
Call of the Wreckin' Ball by John Doe
There'll Be No Distinction There by Bare Bones
When It's Springtime in Alaska by Johnny Horton

The Man I Shot/The Purgatory Line/Checkout Time in Vegas by The Drive-By Truckers
When Garlits Raced Malone by Ronny Elliott
The Snake by Johnny Rivers
The Times They Are a Changin' by Del McCoury Band
The Hucklebuck by The Riptones

Don't Go by Hundred Year Flood
River Ohio by Goshen
Big Balls in Cowtown by Don Walser
We've Got to Get Ourselves Together by The Flying Burrito Brothers Minglewood Blues by John Sebastian & The J Band with Geoff Muldaur
White House Blues by Earl Taylor & The Stoney Mountain Boys
When the Good and tne Bad Get Ugly by Butch Hancock
Mental Cruelty by Buck Owens & Rose Maddox
Rub-a-Dub-Dub by Hank Thompson

Perfidia by Sally Timms & Jon Rauhouse
Down Where the Drunkards Roll by Richard & Linda Thompson
Dream Operator by The Talking Heads
When the Circus Comes to Town by Los Lobos
Take Me by George Jones & Tammy Wynette
I Do Believe by Waylon Jennings with The Highwaymen
I Wish I Was in New Orleans by Tom Waits
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: TRUCKING THROUGH CREATION

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 18, 2008

If anyone was wondering whether the Drive-By Truckers was a band in decline, fear not. It’s true that their last album, A Blessing and a Curse was mediocre by Trucker standards. And it’s true that they lost guitarist/songwriter Jason Isbell. But their new album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, scheduled for release on Tuesday, Jan. 22, shows the Truckers at full-fighting strength.

The DBTs are sounding more country than they have in years. Part of that is due to the recent return of John Neff, original Trucker and pedal-steel player. His dreamy playing on “The Opening Act” sounds as if he’s been listening to Jerry Garcia’s first solo album.

It probably should have been apparent from last year’s “The Dirt Underneath” unplugged tour (which included a show at the Lensic) that the Truckers would be aiming for a more acoustic sound emphasizing melody. Perhaps there are too many slow ones here and not enough of the crazy rockers that the Truckers built their reputation on. But mellow doesn’t have to equal weak, as this album proves.

Also contributing mightily to the sound of this album is Muscle Shoals deity Spooner Oldham, who is basically an honorary Trucker, having played a major role in the Dirt Underneath tour.

Brighter Than Creation’s Dark shows the emergence of Shonna Tucker, the band’s bassist, as a singer and songwriter.

When I heard her first song on the album, “I’m Sorry Houston,” I had to check the credits to make sure that Neko Case wasn’t guesting. Tucker’s got a sweet, husky voice and a sexy Southern accent. She only has three songs here, the other two being “Home Field Advantage,” an all-out rocker that ends in a Yardbirds/Count Five guitar explosion, and a truly lovely tune called “The Purgatory Line.”

Among the highlights here are “Goode’s Field Road,” a song by Trucker-in-chief Patterson Hood that displays the dark bluesy sensibilities heard on Bettye LaVette’s The Scene of the Crime, on which the DBTs served as the backup band.

On “Checkout Time in Vegas,” a somber little tune with Neff’s steel playing off Oldham’s electric piano, Mike Cooley sings, “Bloody nose, empty pockets, a rented car, trunk full of guns.” It’s a loser’s lullaby in which you never quite find out what’s going on. You just know it’s a bad situation.

Another cool Cooley song is “Lisa’s Birthday,” an outright honky-tonker that almost sounds like some long-lost Willie Nelson song. “Lisa’s had more birthdays than there are sad country songs,” he sings.

The effect the Iraq war on those who fight it is the subject of two Hood songs. “The Home Front,” a slow, steady tune, is the story of a woman whose husband is killed in the war.

But far more powerful is “That Man I Shot,” which is a classic hard-edged Trucker rocker. “That man I shot was trying to kill me. ... That man I shot, I was in his homeland, I was there to help him, he didn’t want me there/I did not hate him/I still don’t hate him/He was trying to kill me/I had to take him down.”

Hood’s “Monument Valley” closes the album. It’s a slow, sad, contemplative tune, sweetened by Neff’s steel and referencing two John Ford/John Wayne movies (The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance). “When the dust all settles and the story is told/history is made by the side of the road/by the men and women who can persevere/and rage through the storm no matter how severe.”

Brighter Than Creation’s Dark is a long album. There are 19 songs totaling more than 70 minutes. In fact, my major problem with this work is its length. At this point, however, I’m not sure which tunes I’d eliminate.

Also recommended:

* Jalopypaint by Ronny Elliott. Here’s another ace album by one of the free world’s most unjustly overlooked songwriters. As usual, this Tampa, Florida, roots-rocker fills the disc with wonderful story songs dealing with his heroes, a few villains, and objects of his lust. There’s lots of history, a little politics, and plenty of brooding about his life and career.

The album starts off with “Red Rumor Blues,” a meditation on the McCarthy era. The song ends with Elliott listing American icons who ended up on the blacklist — including some surprising names. Edward G. Robinson? Artie Shaw? Gypsy Rose Lee, for crying out loud?

There’s a cool Jesse James song here, “Great Train Robbery.” But that’s not as much fun as “When Garlits Raced Malone,” a rowdy little tune about Tampa drag-racing hero Don “Big Daddy” Garlits driving a dragster called Swamp Rat and taking on rival Art Malone in 1963. Elliott apparently saw the race when he was 16, but he was so caught up in the excitement he confesses, “I don’t remember who won that day when Garlits raced Malone.” (For the record, according to the National Hot Rod Association Web site, “Garlits defeated Malone with an 8.26 e.t. at 186 mph.”)

“Modern History” is a reminiscence of early sexual encounters. “Staring hard through my X-ray spex/I was desperate for romance, she was peddling sex.” The song also pays homage to Marilyn Monroe. “She slept with the brothers, they just had to kill her.”
As always, Elliott’s back-up band (they used to be called “The Nationals,” but they’re not credited as that on this album) is tight and masterful. On “St. Petersburg Jail,” Alex Spoto’s fiddle and Elliott’s mandolin bounce off Harry Hayward’s martial drums.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of hearing Ronny Elliott, this album is a good one to start with. But like the opium he sings about in “Brothels in China,” it is addictive.




Groundhog Day Special: The Flood is returning! Hundred Year Flood and Goshen are playing at the Santa Fe Brewing Company on Feb. 2. It’s $10 at the door, but check HYF’s MySpace page for info on $5 tickets.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: TO BOLDLY GO

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 17, 2008

You must be bold to throw the word bold around as much as Bill Richardson does. He has used it liberally both at home and on the campaign trail during his recently concluded presidential run.

In his State of the State address on Tuesday, he used it five times.

“In this budget session, my agenda is focused and bold.”

“It’s been said that the future doesn’t belong to the faint of heart. It belongs to the brave and it belongs to the bold.”

“No one can question we’ve taken bold initiatives.”

“My agenda is bold and focused.”

“Now is no time to retreat from bold action.”

No question. The governor is focused on being known for being bold.

Bold Web site: Though Richardson dropped his presidential quest and returned to the best job in the world, he’s not officially seeking the vice presidency, but not ruling it out, if anyone invites him to that dance.

However, a Washington state Democratic activist and Richardson supporter has taken it upon himself to push for such an invitation.

Ken Camp, who helped run an independent “Washington for Richardson” blog (not affiliated to the campaign), last week started a “draft Richardson” blog.

“I whole-heartedly support Governor Bill Richardson, but I will delete this blog and the corresponding petition if asked to by Governor Richardson or any of his senior staff,” Camp wrote in his initial post. “I know the Governor has said he isn’t interested in being Vice-President, and if asked to cease my activities, I will.”

However, on Wednesday Camp said he hadn’t heard from Richardson or any of his staff so far, despite some buzz about his project in New Mexico blogdom.

There’s a link on the blog to an online petition Camp started. It touts Richardson’s experience and says: “We call on the Democratic nominee for President to make Bill Richardson his or her Vice-President.”

Camp said he’d collected “42 signatures as of a minute ago. Many of them are names I recognize as grass-roots supporters of Governor Richardson.”

Former Richardson campaign manager Dave Contarino, asked Wednesday about Camp’s Web said, “You can’t stop the people.”

Adair vindicated: The American Civil Liberties Union has dropped a lawsuit against state Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell.

Last year, the ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Virgil Beagles — a Roswell man who has written letters to newspapers criticizing Adair — who claimed he was barred from a legislative committee meeting last year. (Click HERE and scroll down for my original report on the lawsuit.)

As part of the settlement, the ACLU released a statement saying, “The parties acknowledge each other’s First Amendment Rights, including the right to comment upon the lawsuit and settlement. The ACLU of New Mexico acknowledges that Senator Rod Adair is a strong supporter of the U.S. and N.M. Constitutions. The parties mutually release each other from any and all claims arising from lawsuit.”

Adair reacted with typical humility (and perhaps slightly tongue-in-cheek), issuing a news release reporting he’d “won a historic victory.”

The release stated: “Adair acknowledged the clear and total victory in the case. ‘The statement they released concerning my well-known commitment to civil rights for everyone contradicts, word-for-word, the frivolous complaint they had filed,’ he said. ‘I cannot imagine a more complete surrender by anyone in any case in New Mexico history.’ ”

Adair’s original settlement offer demanded the ACLU donate $10,000 to the Boy Scouts in Roswell, but that didn’t happen.

“They clearly indicated that would be a humiliation that would embarrass them nationally,” Adair wrote. “Observers believed that given the ACLU’s fanatical opposition to the Boy Scouts, they would bring in perhaps up to a dozen more lawyers from around the country to fight that provision of the settlement. ‘My counsel indicated that it might be best for the taxpayers in the long run to accept the ACLU’s offer of unconditional surrender as it was.’ "

The ACLU has opposed government funding for the Boy Scouts because the organization does not allow gays.

State ACLU spokeswoman Whitney Porter, asked to comment on the Adair statement, said, “The ACLU feels the point was made that all citizens have the right under the First Amendment to access the legislative process.”

UPDATE: (Friday, Jan. 18, 2008) I changed the Richardson petition link, which, as Ken Camp informed me, has been combined with two other independent "draft Richardson" petitions that sprang up last week.