R.I.P. ART SANCHEZ

I was very saddened this morning to learn of the death of former Santa Fe City Councilor Art Sanchez. See Doug Mattson's obituary HERE.

I first met Art back in 1984 when he first ran for council and I was working for the Santa Fe Reporter. On the surface he seemed like a fairly typical Santa Fe politican -- a retired bureaucrat with time on his hands. But after talking to Art for more than 30 seconds you realized he was a man with specific plans. The main plank of the Sanchez platform was that the city should buy the local water company from Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Shortly after his election, I got hired to cover City Hall for The Journal North, my first job in daily journalism. Sanchez was very helpful to me during the next few years. Not only was he friendly and helpful, always letting me know what really was going on, but the straight-talking Sanchez frequently provided colorful, off-the-cuff quotes. This made my job more fun and helped establish his image as a gruff-but loveable curmudgeon.

Once elected, Sanchez worked hard to keep that promise about buying the water company. He pushed a special election for buying the water company in 1985. But the referendum went down in flames, partly because of the unpopularity of the city administration at the time. That defeat didn't stop Sanchez. Nearly 10 years later, Sanchez led another charge to buy the utility and this time he was successful.

Sanchez got mad at me after the water election of '85. As the votes from the city's east-side were coming in, heavily against the referendum, Sanchez grumbled that the "fat cats" on the east side didn't care about people's water bills. I quoted him in the paper and Sanchez said I got him in trouble. But that never stopped him from talking openly with me.

During the mid-80s -- a time of intense development activity in Santa Fe and an era in which the real estate industry seemed to dominate the City Council -- Sanchez allied himself with his old friend Councilor Carlos Gallegos. Together, they did something many at the time considered radical and anti-business: They asked tough questions, they demanded real answers and if they weren't satisfied, they weren't afraid to vote "no." Most the time back then Sanchez and Gallegos were in the minority on these votes, earning them the nickname "The Gang of Two."

Shortly after Sanchez's election, the city, which used to elect all councilors at large, went to a district system. As it turned out, Sanchez and Gallegos, who both were up for re-election in 1988, lived in the west-side District 3. The two old friends and political allies had to run against each other.

It was an extremely civil election. (By this time I was working for The New Mexican.) I remember after one candidate forum going out for drinks with Sanchez, Gallegos (who drank coffee) and a third District 3 candidate Felipe Cabeza de Vaca. (Neither Art nor Carlos seemed to mind that Felipe had referred to them as "Artless" Sanchez and "Careless" Gallegos during the forum.)

Gallegos won that election. Sanchez sat out the next four years, but won another term in 1992 when Galelgos retired. During this next term, he achieved his goal of leading the city to purchase the water company. Sanchez served until 2000, when he was defeated by Miguel Chavez.

Rest in peace, Art. Your courage, your stubborness, your knowledge and your humor will be missed.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, April 27, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
No One's Goin' Nowhere by Simon Stokes
Not My World by Vicious Beatniks
Sunrise (Turn On) by The Chesterfield Kings
Transmissions from Venus by Man or Astroman?
Perverts in the Sun by Iggy Pop
Your Ass is Next in Line by The Mummies
Baby Stardust by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
Girl Be Steadfast by Steadfasts
Fire in the Western World by The Dirtbombs
Phom Rak Khoon Tching Thing (I Really Do Love You) by The Viking Band

Current Events by Joe "King' Carrasco y Los Coronas
Don't Tease Me by ? & The Mysterians
El Microscopo Bikini (Dizzy Miss Lizzie) by Los Straitjackets with Cesar Rosas
Grasshopper by The Original Ben Vaughn Combo
Any Way the Wind Blows by The Mothers of Invention
Red Hot by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Life of the Party by The Slickee Boys
I Saw a Ghost (Lean) by The Black Lips
Soul Kitchen by X
Andres by L7

Come to the Water by Possessed by Paul James
She Said by Hasil Adkins
Factory Dog by John Schooley
Drunk Stripper by Bob Log III
Wreck My Car by Scott H. Biram
Work Me Baby by Richard Johnston
The Gallows by Possessed by Paul James

Rules of Bobby by Bobby Brodsky
Ain't No Justice by The Temptations
Experiment in Terror by The Blue Hawaiians
Up in Flames by Julee Cruise
I Wake Up Crying by Andre Williams
I Know I've Got Religion by The Staple Singers
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

GOP SENATE DEBATE

I'm late posting this, but my coverage on the Heather Wilson/Steve Pearce debate in Los Alamos Friday night is HERE.

While a lot of Democrats are getting depressed over the neverending Obama Clinton battle, at least in New Mexico Dems can take heart that in this state two major Republicans are happily ripping into each other.

But will this heated debate fester into an animosity that will hurt the GOP through the general election?

As Brian Sanderoff told me a couple of weeks ago, once the primary is over, so much national party money on both sides is going to pour into the state for the Senate race alone, it'll even things out somewhat.

ONE-MAN HILLBILLY/BLUES-BAND JAM

In conjunction with with today's Terrell's Tune-uo column about Possessed by Paul James, here's a collection of YouTube videos of PBPJ and other one-man hillbilly/blues bands.

If you like this sort of thing, be sure to tune into Terrell's Sound World Sunday night. I'll do a whole set of these artists. The show starts at 10 p.m. nd I'll do this set shortly after the Eleventh Hour. That's on KSFR, 101. FM (Click that link if you want to hear it live on the Web.)

(And speaking of KSFR, I've got to cover a political debate tonight, so Tom Adler will substitute for me on The Santa Fe Opry.)

Here's some videos:

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: LIKE A MAN POSSESSED

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 25, 2008

Here’s a backwoods, back-to-basic music treat. Working under the stage name of Possessed by Paul James, songwriter Konrad Wert is a one-man band, playing guitar, banjo, fiddle, and a foot-operated percussion instrument called a stomp box. But the most significant part of his music is his voice. As evidenced on his latest album, Cold and Blind, when he gets going, he sounds like (you had to have seen this coming) a man possessed.

Possessed by Paul James joins that loud, rowdy pantheon of blues-shouting, one-man bands like Richard Johnston, John Schooley, Scott H. Biram, and Bob Log III. But Wert is creakier and more country than these others, though just as wild. He’s like some lost Lomax field recording come to life.

Although Cold and Blind is on a European label (the irrepressible Voodoo Rhythm Records from Switzerland), Possessed by Paul James is American through and through. He was born and raised in an Amish-Mennonite family in Immokalee, Florida. According to some accounts, his dad was a preacher. “Paul James” is a combination of his father’s and grandfather’s names. Wert spent some time in Colorado; these days he lives in Kerrville, Texas, and has a day job as a special-education teacher.

The important thing is that Wert sounds as if he’s emerged from some primordial swamp where every shadow might be a demon. As he shouts and yelps, which he does on the title song and on “The Gallows,” you can imagine him as some sinner in the hands of an angry God.

“I didn’t see much flashiness as a kid in the family or within the church community,” Wert said in an interview in Whoopsy magazine. “We couldn’t dress for Halloween, no dancing, no secular radio, sacrifice for others so they can grow, etc., etc. So, you see, when you get a chance to sing, man, ...YOU FUCKING SING.”

And when Wert plays his fiddle at what seems like 1,000 miles an hour, as he does on “Sweet Mary Alice,” it’s hard not to think about Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem “The Mountain Whippoorwill (Or, How Hill-Billy Jim Won the Great Fiddlers’ Prize)” — and Charlie Daniels’ song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” — about the country boy working his bow like a maniac to save his soul in a contest with the devil.

Wert is explosive on crazed stompers like the ones mentioned above. There are some softer, slower songs here, like “Vodka and a Fight” and “Ferris Wheel” that aren’t as impressive. But I guess you have to catch your breath sometimes. Even when you’re possessed.

Also noted

* The Ballad of Don Clavio by Bobby Brodsky. This is probably the greatest work of outsider music to ever come out of Santa Fe, at least since singer-songwriter Julien Aklei (best known for her album We Can Mate With Rabbits) left town. This record is produced by none other than the ever-prolific Joe West. By comparison, West’s Mike the Can Man EP is downright mainstream.

Brodsky is a singer and poet (and longtime potter in La Cienega) whose stream-of-consciousness lyrics and recorded telephone conversationse the album. He rambles on about all sorts of things: a friend’s suicide, his belief that someone had stolen his guitars, and old drug habits. The best tracks come off as actual songs featuring a band led by West. It’s a lo-fi affair to be sure, but much of it is charming in a weird way.

Perhaps my favorite tune is “Talk to the Animals,” with Brodsky’s childlike rhymes: “I love to talk to the animals/And my favorite is the seal/He swims and prances/And he gets on his back and he dances/He claps he smiles and he asks me for a minnow/And then I go to the zebras.”

Also cool is “Love Is in the Air,” which features a folk-rockish tune with a truly tacky organ lead interrupted every few seconds by Brodsky saying, “There’s love in the air,” sounding like his voice was recorded from a shortwave radio broadcast. And I’m not sure why a minute or so of some random movie or TV dialogue was tacked on.

"Then there’s a nasty little garage-rock groove called “Rules of Bobby” that’s a whole lot of fun.

The main problem with the album is there’s too much aimless chatter. Brodsky’s seven-minute meditation on his first name (“My Name Is Bobby”) gets tiresome. But West has to be commended for his innovative use of chirping birds, which frequently pop up in unexpected places.


* Santa Fe All Stars. This is another recent project involving West. He sings and plays guitar with the aptly named All Stars, a group that includes mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist, upright bassist Susan Hyde Holmes, and guitarist Ben Wright. Their music is steeped in bluegrass.

This is a seven-song EP (26 minutes in all) featuring three West originals, a Gilchrist composition (a gorgeous lullaby called “Walker”), a Tom Waits cover (“Jockey Full of Bourbon,” sung by Holmes), and a couple of traditional folk-bluegrass standards (“Handsome Molly” and “Billy in the Lowground”).

The album is short but full of delight.


*The Cerrillos Islanders by the Overman Family Trio. I’ve been a fan of Dennis Overman’s music much longer than any of us would like to admit. I first heard him play when I was a freshman in college back in 1971 (please don’t do the math), when he was in a band called The Family Lotus with Jim Bowie, Jerry Faires, and other card-carrying hippies.

The trio, also known as the Cerrillos Islanders, consists of Dennis, his son Ian, and his daughter Gretchen. Dad learned ’em good in the ways of music.

This is a nice, laid-back acoustic album of good original songs with lots of banjo and Dobro.

My personal favorites are “Where’s My Check?” the ballad of a motel maid or janitor with an attitude sung partly in Spanish; Ian’s marimba in “What’ll It Be (A Soldier’s Song)”; and the lonely lament “Just Because,” which sounds nice and spooky.

UPDATE: In case you got here by permalink, be sure to check out my collection of one-man hillbilly/blues-band videos featuring Possessed by Paul James and other favorites HERE.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: IT DON'T MEAN A THING IF YOUR STATE DON'T SWING

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 24, 2008

Get ready, New Mexico. This state, according to people who keep track of all these things, is destined once again to be a major battleground in the presidential contest.

It don’t mean a thing, if you ain’t in a swing state.

Last week, Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza listed New Mexico as the third most likely state that went for Bush in 2004 to go Democratic in 2008.

“No state has more competitive contests at the federal level than the Land of Enchantment,” Cillizza wrote. “Four of the five federal offices (Senate as well as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd congressional districts) are open this November — a level of fluidity that means that millions of dollars are going to pour into the state.

"McCain gives Republicans a fighting chance in the state due to his neighbor appeal, but the state has been trending Democratic of late and either Clinton or Obama will be favored in the fall.”

Also, a New Jersey-based pollster who has conducted automated telephone surveys in this state told me he fully expects a November nail-biter in New Mexico.

“It will be fought to the very end,” said Jay Leve, president of SurveyUSA in a telephone interview. “Your state will be one of two, three, four of the closest states in the country. New Mexico has a track record of producing cliffhangers.”

He’s right there. Republican Bush won in 2004 by less than 1 percentage point. And in 2000, Democrat Al Gore won the state by less than 300 votes.

In its most recent New Mexico poll, SurveyUSA showed Republican John McCain edging out either Barack Obama (50 percent to 44 percent) or Hillary Clinton (49 percent to 46 percent.)

But Leve said these numbers are bound to fluctuate in the months to come. “Nothing in our polling suggests that a consensus has been formed (in New Mexico),” he said. “I expect a razor-thin margin.”

Indeed, SurveyUSA’s past months’ presidential matchup results in New Mexico (CLICK HERE and HERE) shows a wild array of results in which each of the three candidates has been on top at various times.

Why does this state produce such close elections? Leve said perhaps it’s due to the mixture of cultures here. He also said in New Mexico, like many Western states, there is less loyalty to political parties based on family traditions.

“It may turn out that your five (electoral) votes could turn out to be the most important,” Leve said. “It’s my hunch that New Mexico and Colorado and a couple of other Western states could be pivotal, especially if Obama is the Democratic nominee.”

Do they still call it “soft money”?: Our neighbor to the West, McCain, hasn’t forgotten about New Mexico. Not only did he launch his first general election television ad in this state, he’s also included this enchanted land as one of a handful states in a fundraising plan.

According to the Wall Street Journal on Monday, McCain is asking wealthy donors to give more than $70,000 each to special fundraising accounts.

Yes, this is the same John McCain who co-sponsored the McCain/Feingold Act, which limits individual contributions to campaigns to $2,300 for primaries and $2,300 for general elections.

According to the WSJ, most of the money won’t go directly to the McCain campaign. Most of it would go to the Republican National Committee while some of it would be divided among the state Republican parties of New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The paper said the McCain campaign also plans other accounts to route money to California, Ohio and Florida.

The last lonely superdelegate: The state Democratic Party’s Central Committee will meet in Albuquerque on Saturday to choose its “at-large unpledged” delegate — in other words, New Mexico’s last superdelegate — to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in late August.

In past years, when the party’s nominee had long been settled, this position held little interest outside a small circle of party activists.

But with the Obama/Clinton contest going into extra innings, Saturday’s vote will be a test of strength between the two camps. Who knows? The way things are going, the whole nomination could boil down to New Mexico’s final “unpledged” delegate.

So far, six of the state’s superdelegates have endorsed Clinton, while two have endorsed Obama. One of those is Gov. Bill Richardson, who still has a lot of clout in the party.

Three are still undecided. These are U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, Sen. Jeff Bingaman and state party chairman Brian Colón.

Colón, under party rules, nominates the at-large superdelegate. Josh Geise, acting executive director of the party, said Wednesday that Colón has yet to decide who to nominate.

None of the undecideds will tip their hands Saturday on who they’re supporting.
Spokeswomen for Udall and Bingaman said neither will be attending the meeting. Colón normally just presides at the meetings and doesn’t vote, Geise said.

Free BBQ: Congressional candidate Don Wiviott is hosting a free Earth Day celebration and barbecue Friday at Monica Lucero Park on Bellamah Drive.

According to a news release, the party starts at 5:30 p.m., and Wiviott will address the crowd on environmental issues at 6 p.m.

Wiviott’s news release stresses that the local developer, who prefers the description “green builder,” is a “dedicated environmentalist who has been on the forefront of providing a green energy future for New Mexico.”

Wiviott obviously still is interested in capturing a chunk of the environmental vote, despite recent endorsements for his opponent, Ben Ray Luján, by the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

NEW JERRY LAWSON SONG/ SAD NEWS ABOUT NATHANIEL MAYER

I just got a nice e-mail from Jerry Lawson, formerly of The Persuasions, and his wife Julie alerting me to a new Lawson song you can hear streaming on the Web.

The new one is called "Down on My Knees," featuring Jerry backed by a band (cool slide guitar and reggae beat.)

And from that page you can find two songs of Jerry with Talk of the Town, an a-capella group from Phoenix. The songs aren't named, but I recognize the last one as Randy Newman's "He Gives Us All His Love." (The other is good too. It's called "I Hope.")

Check them out by clicking the icon below: (It'll take you to "Down on My Knees" You'll find links to the other two on the right side of the page.)



But here's some bad news. According to Norton Records:

"... we received word yesterday that Nathaniel Mayer suffered a stroke this past week. Our prayers are with Nay Dog for a full recovery. LOVE YOU NATHANIEL!!!!

Ditto from Santa Fe, Nathaniel.