THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, December 4, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Please Don't Take the Baby to the Liquor Store by The Rev. Horton Heat
Doghouse Blues by Wayne Hancock
Change in the Weather by John Fogerty
Cotton Fields by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Rockin' Granny by Nancy Apple
Little Bells by Rosie Flores & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Hot Dog That Made Him Mad by Carolyn Marks & The Roommates
Silver Threads and Golden Needles by Wanda Jackson

Big Mamou by Waylon Jennings
You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover by Sleepy LaBeef
Good Lovin' by Quarter Mile Combo
It's the Law by Bob Log III
Poor Little Critter on the Road by Trailer Bride
Mud by The Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
Pontiac Joe by The Electric Rag Band
Darlin' by Jimmy Dale
Billy the Kid by Jacques & The Shakey Boys
Sal's Got a Meatskin by Cliff Carlisle

Border Radio by Bill Hearne
Jubilee Train by The Blasters
Monica's Mother by Gary Gorence
One Hour Mama by Maria Muldaur
Sadie Green (The Vamp of New Orleans) by Roy Newman & His Boys
Suits Are Picking Up the Bill by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Horse Doctor Come Quick by Corb Lund
Rabbits Don't Ever Get Married by Hank Penny

Droppin' Out by Ron Haydock & The Boppers
Lovesick Blues by Artie Hill & The Long Gone Daddies
Barn Dance Rag by Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers
Wrong Side of the Tracks by Guy Clark
Oil in My Lamp by The Byrds
Why Me Lord by Johnny Cash
The Birth of Jesus by Clarence Fountain & Sam Butler
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: THE DIN OF THE TIN

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 4, 2009

It’s strange that one of the most exciting, innovative, and all-around crazy albums released this year was recorded in the late ’70s.

I’m talking about the “new” CD Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes by the long-defunct Akron, Ohio, band Tin Huey.

Tin Huey rose from the same weird Midwestern creative ether as its homeboys Devo and Pere Ubu from nearby Cleveland.

Some people will be drawn to this record — consisting of previously unreleased live recordings and Huey rarities — because it features early work by sax maniac Ralph Carney, who has blown on some of Tom Waits’ finest albums along with guest shots with The B-52s, Ubu, Elvis Costello, The Black Keys, and many others. (Recently he’s been touring with They Might Be Giants.) Though best known for sax, Carney also plays clarinet, flute, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, Jew’s harp, and who knows what else.

Tip your Waitress: But it wasn’t Carney who first attracted me to Tin Huey. It was Huey singer/guitarist/Chris Butler and Huey’s connection with another Ohio band — The Waitresses. Butler was basically the brains behind The Waitresses, a band that rose to a short but well-deserved glory in the great New Wave scare of the early ’80s.

Fronted by singer Patty Donahue, whose hilariously whiny, disengaged-punk-chick, proto-Valley Girl voice epitomized the music of that era, The Waitresses actually had a hit with a song called “I Know What Boys Like,” which you can find on just about any Best of New Wave compilation in bargain bins across this great land. Butler wrote or co-wrote virtually every song Donahue ever sang with the group.

Some have dismissed The Waitresses as a one-hit-wonder or an ’80s novelty band. But if you ever saw them live (I did, at Perkins’ Palace in Pasadena in May 1982) or listened to their albums, you know that their music was strange and deceptively complex. There was a definite Zappa/Beefheart influence, as was the case with Tin Huey. The Waitresses had a sax player named Mars Williams who was a crazy performer — though, recently re-rereading the liner notes of The Best of The Waitresses CD, I realized that Carney, not Williams, played sax on “I Know What Boys Like” and sax and harmonica on my personal favorite Waitresses tune, “No Guilt.”

The first song on Before Obscurity is an early version of “Heat Night,” which would appear on The Waitresses’ first album, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful. But even better for Waitresses’ fans is “The Comb.” It’s a live performance featuring Donahue on lead vocals. Butler considers this to be the birth of The Waitresses — it was the first time he and Donahue performed together in public. For devotees of Donahue, who died of lung cancer in 1996, this alone will make Before Obscurity mandatory listening. It’s a sweet reminder of her cool persona.

But wait, there’s more: Even without the Waitresses connection, there’s lots to love about Before Obscurity. I already mentioned the debt to Zappa and Beefheart and common cultural roots with Devo and Pere Ubu.

There’s some obvious proto-punk influence, most apparent in the group’s cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (which must have been recorded on or around April 21, as they begin the track singing “Happy Birthday” to Iggy). You can also hear some Velvet Underground, and there’s probably a Television influence, especially on the song “Return Engagement.” (I thought I heard a little Mission of Burma here, but that’s not likely, because that band from Boston didn’t release its first recording until 1981. Must have been something in the air.)

Even though Huey was obscure, I wouldn’t be surprised if some musical acts that came later were hip to the group. Listen to Mr. Bungle, for instance, and you might hear echoes of Tin Huey. A few nights ago, when the Huey tune “Remi” came up on random shuffle mode on my iTunes, at first I thought it was Primus — but with an arrangement by Tom Waits. (This track is actually credited to “Ralph Carney & Friends,” with an explanation that the friends include “one or more Hueys.”)

“Pink Berets” is a dated political spoof about letting women into the military (there’s a reference to the ERA. Don’t know what that was, kids? Look it up!). The punch line is, “Now I’m a boy in the USO.” (I prefer the spoof from the early '90s by Santa Fe's Jim Terr: "The Ballad of the Queen Berets.")

Here’s a disclaimer for the last four tracks on the album: they are best listened to if you’re a longtime fan, musicologist, or flirting with unconsciousness. (I wonder how many people fall into all three categories.) These are lo-fi live recordings of the band, apparently without Butler or Carney. Though not truly representative of Tin Huey’s sound, it’s good rocking fun.

Free Huey: Do check out the band's Web site. There you’ll find a free MP3 of a cover of Talking Heads’ “Don’t Worry About the Government.”

WEASELS "DEFEND" KOOKABURRA

Speaking of reasons to despise the music industry, I heard a report on NPR tonight that got me pig-bitin' mad.

Weasels in the Land Down Under!

It seems some Australian music publishing company is suing Colin Hay and Ron Strykert of the early '80s band Men at Work claiming copyright violation. Oh no, did The Men steal "Down Under" from somewhere?

Well, not the whole song. But if you listen close to a little flute part between verses you'll hear a little snatch of "Kookaburra" -- you know, the kiddie song about the bird who sits in the old gum tree.

Apparently that's a copyrighted song, written by an Australian school teacher in 1934. In the NPR piece you'll hear an Aussie lawyer explain, "Kookaburra' is a four-bar song. Over half that song is used in 'Down Under,' which is the test of law."

As NPR reporter Neda Ulaby points out, half of four bars is two bars!

Next we'll hear that Larrikin Music Publishing is coming after this little music pirate.



And here's The Men from the early days of MTV:

HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY HOW MUCH I HATE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

Thanks to a Twitter pal (was that you, T. Tex?) I stumbled across this loathsome tale of music industry weaselry.

It's a blog post by Tim Quirk lead singer of long defunct band Too Much Joy. (I've played songs like "King of Beers," "Long Haired Guys From England" and of course their wonderful cover of "Seasons in the Sun" for years on Terrell's Sound World -- and I saw them live once at South by Southwest circa 1995).

Anywho, Tim dissects his royalty statement from Warner Brothers and makes a pretty good case that it's, well, not that accurate.

... I am conflicted about whether I am actually being a petty jerk by pursuing this, or whether labels just thrive on making fools like me feel like petty jerks. People in the record industry are very good at making bands believe they deserve the hundreds of thousands (or sometimes millions) of dollars labels advance the musicians when they’re first signed, and even better at convincing those same musicians it’s the bands’ fault when those advances aren’t recouped ...

Read the whole thing HERE.

Meanwhile, here's a little Too Much Joy:

Seasons in the Sun - Too Much ...

(And to learn about Too Much Joy's bizarre relationship with Newt Gingrich CLICK HERE.)

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 29, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Anala by The King Khan & BBQ Show
Bow Down and Die by The Almighty Defenders
Diet Pill by L7
Caught With the Meat in Your Mouth by The Dead Boys
Monk Chant by The Monks
You Don't Know by The Fleshtones
Cannibal Girls by The Hydes
I Want Love and Affection, Not the House of Correction by Barrence Whitfield
She Wants to Sell My Monkey by Tav Falco

Goddamn Sounds Good by Bob Log III
Let's Have a Party by King Automatic
I Can Only Give You Everything by Them
Thrill Me by Three Bad Jacks
Devil Smile by Nekromantix
Too Much Fun by The Sons of Hercules
Slide by Tin Huey

I'm Broke by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Rapping With Lee by Lee Fields
Stupidity by The Detroit Cobras
The Joker by Bob Bunny
Jungle Talk (I Want Some of That) by Shane Kai Ray
Chicken Papa by The Preachers
Stivali E Colbacco by Gogol Bordello
Polka Dancer by Brave Combo
Son of a Gun by The Polkaholics

Queen Anne by Buick MacKane
Laredo (Small Dark Something) by Jon Dee Graham
The Trip by Donovan
Ode to Billy Joe/Hip Hug Her by Wiley & The Checkmates
Gee I Really Love You by Heavy Trash
Up Above My Head by Sharon Jones, Billy Rivers & The Angelic Voices of Faith
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

MUST BE HOLIDAY SEASON

Here's some Christmas cheer on video.

I'd been wary of the Bob Dylan Christmas album, but I've gotta admit, I get a kick out of this video. (Thanks, Stuart and Al)

And yes, Dylan admits he got the arrangement from Brave Combo, who's been doing this song for years. (from an interview with Street News Service)

BF: MUST BE SANTA is a real jumping polka. Did you hear a lot of polka bands growing up?
BD: Yeah, I heard a few.
BF: I never heard that song before. Where did you hear it?
BD: I first heard that song years ago on one of those “Sing Along with Mitch” records. But this version comes from a band called Brave Combo. Somebody sent their record to us for our radio show. They’re a regional band out of Texas that takes regular songs and changes the way you think about them. You oughta hear their version of Hey Jude.

Come to think of this, I played the Brave Combo version on last year's Big Enchilada Christmas Podcast.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, November 27, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Go Cat Go by J.P. McDermott & Western Bop
Tonight She Hits the Honkey Tonks by Justin Trevino
Walmart Killed the Country Store by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
I Turn to the Wine by Justin Trevino
Complicated Dance by The Electric Rag Band
It's the Law by Bob Log III
Heaven's Just a Sin Away by John Fogerty
Bring it on In the House by Stan Ridgway & Pietra Wexstun
High by Zeno Tornado & The Boney Google Brothers
I'm a One-Woman Man by The Hindu Love Gods
Hush Money by The Collins Kids

Voodoo Woman by Nancy Apple
Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy by Bill Hearne
Stealth Cowboy by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Plastic Love by The Riptones
Hanging Dog by Jacques & The Shakey Boys
Chauffeur by Rosie Flores & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
I Find You're Cheatin' on Me by Hank Thompson
All Bound Down by Haywood County Ramblers

I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven by Eddie Dean
Whoa Mule by Roy Acuff
Evenin' Breeze by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Pan American by Artie Hill & The Long Gone Daddies
Don't Drop Out by Dolly Parton
Haggard Like I've Never Been Before by Merle Haggard
Get Them Pretty Girls by The Bad Livers
The Swimming Song by John Carter Cash
Honky Tonk Gal by The Starline Rhythm Boys

Sweet Rosie Jones by Buck Owens
Phases & Stages (Theme)/Walkin' by Willie Nelson
Ring O' Roses by The Mekons
One Way Ticket Down by Guy Clark
Servants' Entrance by Amanda Pearcy
Forbidden Love by Billy Kaundart
Marie by Leon Redbone
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: THE RAP (SHEET) OF KHAN

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 27, 2009

It’s a good thing that the King Khan & BBQ Show isn’t as famous as the Beatles and that President Obama probably doesn’t hate and fear Arish “King” Khan as much as President Nixon hated and feared John Lennon.

Improbable as this comparison is, I couldn’t help but recall Lennon’s tribulations when the Nixon administration tried to get him deported as an “undesirable alien” because of a drug bust. What prompted this memory was Khan’s arrest with his road manager, Kristin Klein, in Kentucky earlier this month on charges of possession of psychedelic mushrooms.

The arrest of Khan, a Canadian citizen, occurred on the road between the band’s gigs promoting its new album, Invisible Girl. 

Here’s the group’s official statement on Nov. 17, via Pitchfork:

“On November 16, 2009 Kristin Klein entered a guilty plea to 2nd degree possession of a controlled substance in Christian County, Kentucky. Ms. Klein was driving a rental vehicle that was randomly stopped at a safety checkpoint. Officers located a controlled substance in the cab of the vehicle. Ms. Klein was unaware of the contraband and the validity of her license was indeterminable at time of arrest. Under KY law a driver of a vehicle is responsible for its contents. Therefore, Ms. Klein entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to appear on April 2, 2010, to provide proof of her valid license.”

The Kentucky New Era newspaper reported that Khan and two others with the KK & BBQ entourage “were allowed to enter a pretrial diversionary agreement. The drug possession charge against each of them will be dropped if they stay out of trouble for a year, said [Khan’s local lawyer Rick] Boling. They were ordered to pay court costs.”

There were fears throughout Khan fandom that this bust would be a terrible chapter in the war on drugs — being arrested in Christian County, Kentucky, for Pete’s sake! As the River Front Times’ St. Louis Music blog put it, “Keep in mind, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where cops in a tiny Kentucky town unfairly hassle a crazy looking Indian man wearing a huge shark-tooth necklace.”

But it looks like the judge was pretty lenient, almost more concerned about the driver’s license than he was the mushrooms. Of course, the catch is that Khan has to stay out of trouble for a year. That could be the real trial.

While Khan is also known for his soul revue The Shrines (and less so for The Tandoori Knights, another two-man band, and the garage/punk/lo-fi/gospel supergroup The Almighty Defenders, whose self-titled album I reviewed here a few weeks ago), some of his finest work is with Mark Sultan. Sultan, aka BBQ, is another Canadian, who was Khan’s bandmate in a Montreal band, the Spaceshits.

You might think of two-man guitar/drums groups in terms of stripped-down blues bashers like Flat Duo Jets and the early White Stripes. There’s certainly that element at work in KK & BBQ.

But what distinguishes this dynamic duo is its anchor in raw doo-wop. The basic sound, therefore, is punk-rock roar, embellished by some Ruben & The Jets/Sha Na Na/rama-lama-ding-dong silliness but based on some seriously pretty melodies and occasional sweet harmonies.

It’s all there in the opening cut, “Anala,” on which Khan handles the lead vocals. It wouldn’t be hard imagining The Penguins or The Moonglows singing this.

This is followed by the title cut, which features a folk-rock guitar that sounds inspired by The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” or The Searchers’ “When You Walk in the Room.”

But my favorites are the ones on which Sultan’s high voice soars, such as “I’ll Be Loving You” and “Tryin’.” Sometimes Sultan sounds like a more ragged Sam Cooke — or, cynics might say, a hipster version of Steve Perry of Journey. Whatever, the boy can sing.

The most interesting Sultan-led song on Invisible Girl is “Third Avenue.” It starts out and ends as a seriously greasy doo-wopper, but it’s got a strange psychedelic freak-out section featuring guitar and organ. Unfortunately the song that’s getting the most attention is “Tastebuds,” which is obscene, juvenile — and annoyingly catchy. Looks like maybe the two are trying to expand their fan base by becoming fratboy faves.

I just hope they weren’t blasting this on the car stereo when the cops stopped them in Kentucky.

Also recommended:

* My Shit is Perfect by Bob Log III. If a two-man band is just too crowded for you, check out one of the most fun one-man bands out there — and “out there” is a good description — Mr. Log’s music might be for you.

This is just good down-home stomping blues with Log’s trademark distorted vocals (he performs in a motorcycle helmet) and some scattered electronic embellishments. Log was once part of the Arizona-based blues/noise duo called Doo-Rag back in the mid-’90s.

Log’s basic sound on this album is a funky, clunky hoedown. But it’s obvious that Log actually knows how to pick, as he shows every so often — including with the speedy acoustic guitar workout on the instrumental “Bucktooth Potato.”

My favorite here is “Manipulate Your Figments.” It’s one of the best electronically mutated blues tunes I’ve heard in a while.

PSYCHOBILLY TURKEY

If you're not too bloated from Thanksgiving dinner, there's a cool psychobilly band playing in Evangelos' basement -- a performing space currently known as The Underground -- that night.

Three Bad Jacks is a Los Angeles based trio. I saw them on the 4th of July at the Hootenanny Festival in Irvine and they rocked.

Thursday's show starts at 9 p.m. and the cover is a mere $5.

A promoter named Johnny Pink has started putting on shows in The Underground. Earlier this month he had The Koffin Kats, another psychobilly bunch. On Dec. 8 a band called Jon Wayne & The Pain will play there, with local blues dudes Gary Farmer & The Troublemakers opening.

Nice to see another venue opening up like this and nice to see this space in particular being used again. I think the last show I saw down in Evangelos' basement was a trick pool shot exhibition by a guy called Fast Eddie whose best trick of the nigth was making a lot of people in the audience believe his claim that he was the inspiration for the Paul Newman character in The Hustler.

And for some completely different kind of music, I just got a last-minute email about a show happening tonight (Wednesday) at High Mayhem, 2811 Siler Lane (at Siler Road).

Tristan Perich wrote, "I'm a New York-based composer, lugging a harpsichord around the country and playing a new piece for it with low-fi 1-bit electronics (an extension of 1-Bit Music, my circuit-in-a-cd-case album from a few years ago). Lesley Flanigan performs on her own hand-built speaker feedback instruments, which generate tones that she layers on top of her own voice."

A trip-hop group from Cincinnati called Evolve also is on the bill

I haven't heard them before, but it's High Mayhem, so it's bound to be interesting.

Suggested price is $10. Show starts at 9 p.m.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 22, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
November/Weapon by The Rockin' Guys
Tiki Man by Deadbolt
Low Budget Life by J.J. & The Real Jerks
I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was in by Mojo Nixon
Misunderstood by The Sons of Hercules
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Warren Zevon
Bad Boy by Larry Williams

It's a Cadillac by Three Bad Jacks
Ghost Rider by Allen Vega
Shout Bama Lama by Detoit Cobras
Little Latin Lupe Lu by The Strawberry Zots
Moodswings by King Automatic
Kukamonga Boogaloo by King Khan & The Shrines
Mojo Workout by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Let Them Knock by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

City of Refuge by Alvin Youngblood Hart
Christ is Everthing by The Soul Stirrers
The Holy Ghost is Here by Rev. Milton Brunson
I'm Waiting for Jesus by The Dixie Hummingbirds
15 Rounds for Jesus by Sister Wynona Carr
Pray On by The Staples Singers
Jordan River by Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens
Three Little Fishes, Five Loaves of Bread by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
I'm on My Way by Mahalia Jackson
Don't You Ever Let Nobody Drag Yo' Spirit Down by Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir with Wilson Pickett & Eric Bibb

Ultimate by Gogol Bordello
Tip My Canoe by Dengue Fever
Always Horses Coming by Giant Sand
The Comb by Tin Huey featuring Patty Donahue
Circus by Tom Waits
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis