THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, May 16, 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
Feelin' Good by Levon Helm
Les Secrets D'Evangeline by Mama Rosin
Cajun Joe (The Bully 0f the Bayou) by Doug & Rusty Kershaw
Bully of the Town by Joe Maphis
The Gallows by Possessed by Paul James
Ten Million Slaves by Otis Taylor
Fishing Blues by Taj Mahall
Don't Go Cutting on My Cattle by Bone Orchard

Train of Life by Laura Cantrell
Bayou Tortous by James McMurtry
Time Heals by The Gear Daddies
Hillbilly Blues by Ronnie Dawson
Wolfman's Romp by The Juke Joint Pimps
How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away? by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
The Curley Shuffle by Jump 'N the Saddle
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Brother Williams' Memphis Sanctified Singers

COAL MINING SET
Lawrence Jones by Kathy Mattea
Last Train to Poor Valley by Norman Blake
16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford
Dark as a Dungeon by Merle Travis with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Working in the Coal Mine by Devo
Dreams of a Miner's Child by The Stanley Brothers
Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn
Paradise by John Prine
Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean
Que Creek by Buddy Miller
Timothy by The Buoys

The Last Word in Lonesome is Me by Roger Miller
Carbon-Dated Love by I See Hawks in L.A.
Former American Soldier by Chip Taylor
Buffalo Skinners by Woody Guthrie
Hank Williams' Ghost by Darrell Scott
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots
Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: IN THE MINES, IN THE MINES WHERE THE SUN NEVER SHINES

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 15, 2008


Back in the 1980s and ’90s, Kathy Mattea was one of Nashville’s dependable country/pop hit makers. Her voice was soulful, and she’d often allow folk and bluegrass elements in her music, though she never strayed too far from the Nashville formula.

But like many female singers in modern corporate country — think Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood — Mattea at some point fell out of favor with the evil druids of 16th Avenue who control the Country Music Industrial Complex. It would be a nasty accusation to say that Nashville would callously dump a singer because of age (Mattea turns 50 next year), but that’s how things seem to work out now, isn’t it?

The good news is that Mattea still has that soulful voice, and, being free of commercial pressure, she’s at liberty to follow her creativity. And she’s done that quite capably with her new album, Coal. The bad news is that the album won’t get the airplay and won’t make the money it deserves.

Mattea is a native of West Virginia and the granddaughter of coal miners (on both sides of her family). She was moved by the tragedy of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in her home state, in which 12 men were killed. So she took a batch of fine songs about the mining life by the likes of Jean Ritchie, Hazel Dickens (outright radicals you’d never hear on conservative Hot New Country radio!), Merle Travis, and others; grabbed Marty Stuart to produce and play on it; and made one powerful little bluegrass-soaked concept album.

Mattea sings about the extremely backbreaking work that is coal mining. She sings about a profession where danger is double and pleasures are few. Then there are the health hazards, which Mattea addresses in her a cappella version of Dickens’ wrenching “Black Lung,” which closes the album.

Mattea also tells of the economic hardships when the mines shut down. Ritchie’s “Blue Diamond Mines” recounts the story of one such impacted community: “Now the union is dead and they shake their heads/Well, mining has had its day/But they’re stripping off my mountaintop/And they pay me eight dollars a day.” The song even name checks “John L.” — Lewis, that is — president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. With Stuart on mandolin and Loveless on vocal harmonies, the song is a bittersweet treat.

Even harder-hitting is “Lawrence Jones,” which was written by Si Kahn, a folk singer, political organizer, and son of a rabbi man. This is a song about a bloody 13-month strike in Harlan County, Kentucky, that began in 1973. According to a 2006 article in The Nation, "The miners went out on strike, and an escalating fight ensued between gun thugs hired by Duke Power and the men and women on the picket line. Finally, a Duke Power employee shot miner Lawrence Jones in the face one night and Jones died at the hospital.”

“There’s blood upon the contract like vinegar in wine/And there’s one man dead on that Harlan Country line,” Mattea sings.

Musically, the album drags a bit on slow, mournful songs like “Red-Winged Blackbird” and “Coming of the Roads” (both written by Billy Edd Wheeler.) And I’ve heard better versions of “Dark as a Dungeon.” Otherwise, Coal is a diamond.

Bonus! Mining for coal songs — my personal favorites:

1. “Dark as a Dungeon” by Merle Travis with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Though lots of people have recorded this Travis tune, his version on Will the Circle Be Unbroken? is my favorite. Honorable mention: Johnny Cash’s cover of the song on his live At Folsom Prison album.

2. “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Working in a coal mine doesn’t pay well, but it apparently gives you license to kill those who refuse to step aside when they see you comin’. Tennessee Ernie’s is the coolest version of this classic Travis song, but I also like Stan Ridgway’s oddball arrangement.

3. “Quecreek” by Buddy Miller. Like Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” this song was ripped from the headlines. On the day Buddy was finishing his Midnight and Lonesome album in 2002, nine Pennsylvania coal miners who had been trapped for three days were rescued. Buddy’s wife, Julie Miller, wrote this song, which appears at the end of the album.

4. “Last Train From Poor Valley” by Norman Blake. The mines shut down, a marriage fails, and brown-haired Becky is Richmond-bound.

5. “Working in a Coal Mine” by Lee Dorsey. This funky 1966 tune by New Orleans soul man Dorsey made mining sound cool and funky. But just like Rose Royce’s song about working at a car wash 10 years later, the record was better than the reality. Devo covered Dorsey’s song, too, but can you imagine anyone being allowed to work in a mine wearing those silly Devo hats?

6. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn. Coal mining can’t be that bad if it spawned Loretta.

7. “Dream of a Miner’s Child” by The Stanley Brothers. The plot of this traditional tune is simple: A little girl has a nightmare about a mining disaster and begs her dad not to go to work, but he ignores her. Guess what happens.

8. “Paradise” by John Prine. The tale of Mr. Peabody’s coal mine in Muhlenberg County and the greatest strip-mining protest song ever written.

9. “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean. Big John was the type of miner “Sixteen Tons” was written about: “Everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John,” Jimmy drawls. Even though he’d killed a guy from Louisiana in a fight over a “Cajun queen,” John’s superhuman heroism in a cave-in redeems him. This is one of the greatest faux-folk songs from the era (late ’50s and early ’60s) that produced “The Battle of New Orleans,” “El Paso,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “Long Black Veil,” and others.

10. “Timothy” by The Buoys. Just because you’re in a mining disaster doesn’t mean you have to start skipping meals.

Radio: You know dang well you’re going to hear a lot of these songs tonight (Friday) on the Santa Fe Opry, 10 p.m. on KSFR-FM 101.1.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: S. UDALL BACKS BEN RAY

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 15, 2008

U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate, has not and isn’t expected to make an endorsement in the crowded Democratic primary that likely will determine who will take his congressional seat.

But his dad has.

Former U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall on Wednesday announced he’s supporting Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

“I’ve followed (Luján’s) career, and I have a high regard for him,” the elder Udall said in a telephone interview. He said he likes Luján’s record on energy and environmental issues. “He’s interested in all the things I am,” Udall said.

Stewart Udall was a congressman from Arizona in the 1950s. He served in the cabinets of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. “I’m a very independent-minded individual at my old age,” he said. “I simply told Tom (about his decision to endorse Luján), and he didn’t object.”

A story for Hillary: During my conversation with Stewart Udall, he said this year’s presidential race reminds him of a situation with his brother, the late Arizona Congressman Mo Udall.

“My brother ran for president in 1976,” Stewart Udall said. Mo Udall lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter that year. A few years later, Mo Udall was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his brother noted, but that didn’t stop his desire for the White House.

“During Reagan’s first two years, there was a recession,” Stewart Udall said. “My brother talked to people saying he was thinking of running again. I brought a group of friends to talk him out of it. It’s a disease that’s progressive, and he’d have to think about the next five years.”

Apparently the group of friends were effective in talking Mo Udall out of another presidential bid. And after all, Stewart Udall said, “my brother was famous for the statement that once you get it in your mind that you’re the best candidate for president or the only one qualified, the only remedy is formaldehyde.”

This, Stewart Udall said, is applicable to Hillary Clinton.

More fun with endorsements: It’s that time of year, of course. Here’s a couple that caught my eye:

Long shot Democratic congressional candidate Jon Adams sent an e-mail Wednesday endorsing A.J. Salazar for district attorney. “A.J.’s record shows a commitment to fighting drunk driving, domestic violence, and crime across the board,” said Adams, a former assistant attorney general. “A.J. is exactly the kind of tough on crime district attorney we need.”

So far, Salazar hasn’t returned the favor.

Also on Wednesday, former Secretary of State Shirley Hooper endorsed Valerie Espinoza in her re-election bid for Santa Fe County clerk.

“It’s almost unreal that I gave (Espinoza) her first job when I was Secretary of State in 1979 and she gave me my last when she became County Clerk in 2005,” Hooper, Espinoza’s chief deputy until 2006, said in an e-mail.

And it’s not really an endorsement, but ... Española Mayor Joe Maestas, who is running for Public Regulation Commission, is mailing campaign literature with a picture of him with Gov. Bill Richardson, along with a quote saying: “Mayor Joe Maestas has a proven record of accomplishment and leadership and would make a great commissioner on the PRC.”

But Richardson said Wednesday that he isn’t actually endorsing in the race. “I like Joe Maestas, but I like Paul Campos and Louie Gallegos too,” he said. Maestas, the governor said, is the only PRC candidate to ask him. “I’ll pose with anybody who asks,” he said, “but it’s not an endorsement.”

Official state Dem blogger: The national Democrats have chosen the Albuquerque-based Democracy for New Mexico as the official New Mexico blogger at the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver.

DFNM’s Barbara Wold posted Wednesday: “Some months ago the DNC solicited applications from bloggers in all 50 states (plus several territories) to vie for one blogger slot per state. They’ll form what’s called the State Blogger Corps at the Convention. ... Each official state blogger will be credentialed for seating with the state’s delegation on the Convention floor, and will be an integral part of the Convention action.”

I’m not official, but I’ll be blogging from the convention as well (right here on this blog) in addition to my regular duties writing stories for The New Mexican.

MY $600

I just received my $600 from the IRS.

I paid $500 on my car, knocking off a couple of months payments and a little interest.

But I didn't want to be completely unpatriotic by paying debts instead of buying new stuff.

So I spent about $40 on Amazon for two out-of-print CDs in the LAS VEGAS GRIND series (volumes 1 and 6). One satisfied customer wrote, "Some of the raunchiest, sleaziest, most glouriously (sic) outdated rock 'n' roll you'll ever hear." (You'll be hearing some of these albums on Terrell's Sound World soon after they arrive.)

Earlier tonight I paid almost $40 for a tank of gas. So that leaves me about $20 to stimulate the economy.

MORE ON THE PUSH POLL

I found out a lot more about the Common Sense Issues push poll -- sorry "personalized educational artificial intelligence poll." READ IT HERE.

Turns out that Udall's not the only target. In fact. at least until the primary's over he's not even the main target. That would be Heather Wilson.

“Congresswoman Heather Wilson did not vote for (a bill to outlaw transporting) minors across state lines for abortions nor did she vote to save the life of Terri Schiavo. And Heather Wilson supported spending federal dollars to fund life-destroying human embryonic stem-cell research.”

That's one of the things you hear if you tell the automated caller you support Wilson. Indicating you support other candidates takes you down diffrent paths. (CSI executive director Patrick Davis was nice enough to have the company call me at home so I could hear what happens when you say you support Pearce, Wilson and Udall.)

Here is a link to a Time magazine story about CSI's activites in the Iowa Caucuses. Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was supported by the group, publicly disavowed the push polling for him, though the Mitt Romney campaign questioned the sincerity of the disavowal.