THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, March 9. 2012 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Eye to Eye With a Fool by Leon Payne
I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again by The Maddox Brothers & Rose
Club Temptation by Tom Armstrong
Whistle Bait by Larry Collins
El Corrido de Jesse James by Ry Cooder
Sparkling Brown Eyes by Webb Pierce
Detroit City by Bobby Bare
Dodo Blues by C.W. Stoneking
Missing in Action by Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys

Coricidin Bottle/ South of the River by Rat Wylie Hubbard
Can't Go to Heaven by The Dirt Daubers
Magic City Stomp by Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
Corn Liquor Made a Fool Out of Me by The Bad Livers
What's Patsy Cline Doing These Days (Parts 1 & 2)  by Marvin Etzioni with Jon Wayne & Grey DeLisle
Nashville Casualty and Life by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys
I Just Don't Care by Halden Wofford & The Hi Beams

If I Knew Now What I Knew Then by Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Shootin' Straight by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Cootchie Coo by Charlie Feathers
Walk It By Myself by Blonde Boy Grunt & The Groans
Down South Blues by John Schooley & His One Man Band
She Do the Taboo by Jason Eklund
Pocket Dial by The Possum Posse

Drinkin' Thing by Gary Stewart
Brown Eyed Handsome Man by Waylon Jennings
Lake of Fire by The Meat Puppets
Sad Songs and Waltzes by Willie Nelson
My Pillow by Roger Miller
Train of Life by Merle Haggard
I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal by Johnny Cash
Where Will I Shelter My Sheep by Flatt & Scruggs
I'll See You in My Dreams by Ukulele Ike
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Rocket's Red Glare

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
March 9 2012



Two of the most overused misused words in music journalism are “legend” and its adjectival brother “legendary.”

Read almost any rock rag, and you can find those words used in reference to any singer, picker, or band that existed more than 10 or 15 years ago. Eddie Money is a legend! The legendary Stone Temple Pilots! The living legend, Little Peggy March!

I’ve railed about this in the past and cautioned several younger writers to avoid it. If you want to write about legends, do a book about Paul Bunyan, Robin Hood, or Johnny Appleseed. So here I am now about to explain to you that a certain Cleveland band from the ’70s is kind of a (gulp) legend — or at least was for several decades.

Rocket from the Tombs
Early days

I’m talking about Rocket From the Tombs, a highly influential proto-punk band that included singer David “Crocus Behemoth” Thomas, later of Pere Ubu; guitarist Gene O’Connor, better known as Cheetah Chrome, who would join The Dead Boys; and the late punk-rock forefather Peter Laughner, also an early member of Pere Ubu.

Not only did Rocket hive off into two great bands, the group inspired an unrelated but very cool band across the country, San Diego’s Rocket From the Crypt, to take its name — kind of.

The reason I’ll break my own rule and use the “L” word here is because for 30 years or so after the band broke up — after being together about eight months — all anyone ever knew about Rocket From the Tombs was through word of mouth. There were scattered bootlegs, but the band never recorded a proper album during its brief existence in the mid-’70s. Those who never saw the group live and couldn’t find the boots just had to imagine how the band sounded. You had to create the Ubu/Dead Boys convergence music in your mind. And tell your friends about it. Thus, a legend was born.

A couple of Rocket From the Tombs’ songs, “Amphetamine” and a seven-minute recording of “30 Seconds Over Tokyo,” surfaced in a 1990s Pere Ubu box set, Datapanik in the Year Zero. But it wasn’t until 2002 that an actual legal album emerged. That was The Day the Earth Met the ... Rocket From the Tombs, a compilation of lo-fi live recordings and demos released by Smog Veil, Ubu’s record label. It included some tunes later to become known as Pere Ubu and Dead Boys standards as well as a couple of Stooges covers — “Search and Destroy” and “Raw Power” — and a crazed version of a Velvet Underground song, “Foggy Notion.”

It might sound harsh, but I’d argue it was at this point that Rocket ceased to be a legend. Though the group had been defunct for decades and though the release was barely publicized and basically ignored by the mainstream media, Rocket’s music was now accessible to anyone who knew how to search for it. Rocket no longer existed only in the mists of legend.

Apparently that album sparked something. Original members Thomas, O’Connor, and bassist Craig Bell got together with Richard Lloyd (from the band Television, which was lege ... oh, never mind) filling in for Laughner and drummer Steve Mehlman for a Rocket reunion tour in 2004. That tour resulted in an album called Rocket Redux, consisting of ancient RFTT classics recorded in the studio.

Finally, late last year, the 21st-century version of Rocket From the Tombs brought the world Barfly, a studio album with a bunch of new songs. And it’s a decent effort.

The album starts out strong with a song called “I Sell Soul.” Mehlman is storming on the drums while Thomas croons in his trademark warble, and O’Connor and Lloyd play showdown riffs. The band slows down a bit with “Birth Day,” which, without Thomas’ vocals, would actually sound more like a Television song. “Six and Two” is another one in which Lloyd’s Television influence really comes out.

My favorite tracks on Barfly are the crazy rockers. “Anna” falls into this category. So does the minor-key “Maelstrom,” which starts out with a guitar hook that has echoes of original Rocket killer “30 Seconds Over Tokyo.” You can hear a nod to The Velvet Underground in “Good Times Never Roll.” Like the song that precedes it, “Butcherhouse 4,” there’s a pervading blues-rock vibe.

One of my favorite songs is one that’s so good that Rocket included two versions. “Sister Love Train” (and the nearly identical “Love Train Express”) is a soul-infused tune. The main version is fortified by a horn section, while “Express” is a rawer, fast and furious guitar-dominated take.

Even the original Rocket didn’t play at breakneck speed all the time. The current band slows it down with “Romeo & Juliet” and “Pretty,” which starts off with a guitar lick that reminds me of (I’m not kidding) The Band. “Romeo & Juliet” seems plodding at first, but eventually some intense guitar solos emerge.

Rocket from the Tombs
These days

As you might have gathered, I like this album. It’s good rock ’n’ roll with some catchy tunes. If you like the music of Pere Ubu, The Dead Boys and/or the original Rocket From the Tombs, definitely buy it.

But it would be a stretch to call Barfly innovative and an even bigger stretch to call it anything close to dangerous — or even adventurous. The original Rocket was all those things. I guess it’s nearly impossible to live up to a legend.

For $10 you also can download a 1974 Rocket From the Tombs concert (Extermination Night) .

Don’t cry for me ’cause I’m going away. But I’ll be back some lucky day: Because of a vacation and a hot date with a surgeon, this is my last column for a few weeks. Please don’t cancel your subscriptions! But I will be blogging next week from South by Southwest. I haven’t been for four years, and for the first time I’ll be there without a press pass, so it should be an adventure. Watch this blog!

Enjoy some videos

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, March 4, 2012 
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(at)ksfr.org

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Quick Joey Small by Kasenetz-Katz Super Circus
Heart of a Rayt by Rocket from the Crypt
Earthquake by Butthole Surfers
Hippie Hippie Hoorah by The Black Lips
Poison by Hundred Year Flood
Leave My Kitten Alone by The Detroit Cobras
Baby I'm Your Dog by Stomping Nick & His Blues Grenade
Grits Ain't Groceries by '68 Comeback

Swimsuit Issue by Sonic Youth
Weekend by New Bomb Turks
C'Mon by The Dragons
Jump Jive and Harmonize by The Plimsouls
Roadrunner by The Modern Lovers
Little Miss Contrary by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire
Talking Main Event Magazine Blues by Mike Edison

Mr. Krushchev by Bo Diddley
Shoot it Up Baby by The Terrorists
Love Train Express by Rocket from the Tombs
Axis Abraxis by Mark Sultan
Fly Paper by Persian Claws
Sky is Black by The Hustlers
Porn in the USA by The Parents
We Sold Army Secrets for Dope by Help Me Devil
Lutin Au LSD by The Curlee Wurlee!
Hot Head by Captain Beefheart

Stranded In Your Love by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings with Lee Fields
Preacher's Blues by Lee Connors
What a Nice Way to Go by NRBQ
Mojo Hannah by Andre Williams
The Thunderer by Dion
Country Boy by The Band
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, March 2, 2012 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Shake a Leg by Kim Lenz
Cowboy in Flames by The Waco Brothers
Yodelin' Rhythm & Blues by Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
Hell, I'd Go! by Dan Hicks & The Acoustic Warriors
You're Bound to Look Like a Monkey by The Great Recession Orchestra
Rainmaker by Eliza Gilkyson & Tusker
Work on the Railroad by Trailer Bride
Whatever Kills Me First by Joey Alcorn
Hell Came to Killville by Angry Johnny
She's a Hum Dum Dinger by Gov. Jimmie Davis

I Was There When It Happened by Johnny Cash
Pigfork Jamboree by The Imperial Rooster
A Little Too Old (and a Lot Too Ugly) by Trailer Radio
The Devil Gets His Due by The Dirt Daubers
Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Flatt & Scruggs
Home Sweet Home by Reno & Smiley
Take This Job and Shove It by Eugene Chadbourne
Colorado Cool-Ade by Johnny Paycheck
The Teddy Bears' Picnic Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

I Want My Mojo Back by Scott H. Biram
Side by Side Doublewides by The Hickoids
Honky Tonk Carnie by Lone Wolf OMB
Crow Holler by The Shiners
Broken Man by The Goddamn Gallows
Bring The Nose by The Unholy Trio
Swinging From Your Crystal Chandeliers by The Austin Lounge Lizards
I'll Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms by Buster Carter & Preston Young

Wild Bill Jones by Wade Mainer & The Sons of The Mountainers
Burn Down That House by Poor Boy's Soul
I'm Ragged But I'm Right by George Jones
Weird by Dr. West's Medicine Show & Junk Band
I Push Right Over by Rosie Flores
Your Hearty Laugh by The Defibulators
Almost Persuaded by Etta James
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Politico Rock!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
March 2 2012


After three years of a terrible economy, a downright hostile Congress, and basically being forced to prove he’s not some sort of foreign impostor, President Barack Obama showed that he knows something about the blues.

B.B. King and The President

He recently proved it at a White House concert in honor of Black History Month, which featured an all-star blues band — B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Shemekia Copeland, Gary Clarke Jr., Jeff Beck, and others.

After thanking the musicians, the president stepped off stage. Guy, noting that Obama had recently sung a few bars of “Let’s Stay Together” at an Apollo Theater event attended by Al Green, coaxed him back. Obama demurred at first, but after Jagger handed him a microphone, the Leader of the Free World started singing the chorus of “Sweet Home Chicago.”

“Hey, baby, don’t you want to go,” Obama sang, muffled at first but at full force when repeating the line. Then he handed the mike to B.B. King, who sang the next words, “Back to that same old place.” The president, who by now seemed to be enjoying himself, finished the chorus: “Sweet home Chicago.”

Reviews of the performance -- like everything else in these poisonous political times --  probably broke along party lines. Most of the people I talked to thought it was kind of cool.

But one Obama critic I know tweeted that it made him “look like a clown.” And it only took a day or so for the Republican National Committee to produce an ad with a 15-second clip of the song with a chart of rising gasoline prices superimposed over it, ending with the message, “Obama’s Got America Singin’ the Blues.”

Not bad.

For reasons far beyond me, it is usually controversial when a political leader shows any musical talent.

Singing or playing popular music in public doesn’t destroy a politician. But political opponents will imply that it should.

After Obama’s Apollo appearance, Newt Gingrich sniffed, “I’m not going to compete with Obama in singing, because I’m not running for entertainer in chief. I’m running for president.”

There was similar scoffing by Clinton critics in 1992 when the sax-blowing, sunglasses-wearing future commander in chief played “Heartbreak Hotel” on The Arsenio Hall Show. At the time, Clinton was badly trailing in the polls. Some believe the moment helped him turn that around. Greil Marcus, in his 2000 book Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives, boldly declares, “Elvis Presley won the 1992 election for Bill Clinton.”

It doesn’t always work.

John McCain got little political advantage when he sang a line from a song associated with The Beach Boys. Of course, the Arizona senator substituted some lyrics: “Bomb bomb bomb/Bomb bomb Iran.”

Some folks just don’t want to take a politician seriously — especially a politician they’re not fond of — if he opens his mouth to sing something other than “The Star Spangled Banner” or “God Bless America.”

Roberto Mondragon sings on Plaza 2009

New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Charles Daniels and I talked about this a couple of years ago. Before he was appointed to the high court, Daniels was a guitarist in the Albuquerque band Lawyers, Guns & Money. What’s the big deal? Daniels pondered. Some people play golf. He plays guitar.

The first public official I ever interviewed at the Roundhouse, in 1980, was then Lt. Gov. Roberto Mondragón — he had just released one of his albums of Spanish-language songs. Mondragón told me that he got so tired of people asking him “Where’s your guitar?” that he started bringing it to work.

There have been some notable musician politicians. The late Sen. Robert Byrd played fiddle, releasing an album called Mountain Fiddler backed by ace bluegrass pros including Doyle Lawson.

In college, (or was it high school? ) Sen. John Kerry played bass in a surf band called The Electras, though he never played it publicly when he ran for president in 2004.

And don’t forget Kinky Friedman, who ran for governor of Texas in 2006.

Gov. Jimmie Davis

One politician known as much — perhaps more — for his music as for his politics was Jimmie Davis, a two-term governor of Louisiana, who co-wrote and performed “You Are My Sunshine.” When he first ran in 1944, Davis sang the song on the campaign trail. However, some of his earlier, raunchier songs stirred up a little trouble. In his 1977 book Country: The Biggest Music in America, Nick Tosches writes, “The opposition ran advertisements in newspapers listing some of his older, profaner songs. (His 1936 ‘Bed Bug Blues’ was called ‘depraved vulgarity.’).”

There were plenty of these kinds of songs to choose from. Among Davis’ risqué repertoire were tunes including “Red Night Nightgown,” “Tom Cat and Pussy Blues,” “Organ-Grinder Blues” (with lyrics like “Gonna get me some monkey glands / Be like I used to was”), “High Behind Blues” and “She’s a Hum Dum Dinger From Dingerville.” Tosches notes that before the end of the 1930s, Davis had become more of a mainstream crooner. “By 1938, the dirty songs had ceased.” But when he ran for governor again in 1960, “the dirty songs were dragged from the closet.” But again, Davis won.

There was no uproar from decent citizens last year when, on his talk show, bass-playing former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee backed Ted Nugent on “Cat Scatch Fever” and the Nuge sang -- right there on Fox News, "I can make a pussy purr with the stroke of my hand.

But just imagine if Obama and his White House blues band had sung a more menacing blues standard like John Lee Hooker’s “Crawlin’ King Snake” or Muddy Waters’ “Rollin' Stone” instead of “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Imagine the “Obama promotes the occult!” hysteria on talk radio had he sung “Hoochie Coochie Man” or “Who Do You Love.”

“Sweet Home Chicago” was a safe choice. In the end it probably will have no effect on the outcome in November. I just wish I could have been there for the show.

Enjoy some politician music:

Here's Obama ...



Gov. Jimmie Davis



John Kerry was a surf rocker



Kinky coulda been a governor



Everyone remembers "Heartbreak Hotel," but Bill Clinton also did this Billie Holiday classic.



Get them pussies purrin', Huck!



Remember this guy?

R.I. P. Louisiana Red

Louisiana Red, left, playing the Thirsty Ear Festival in 2006.
Also on stage is Dave "Honeyboy" Edwards, who died last year.

Ivorson Minter, better known as Louisiana Red, died over the weekend. He was 79.

Though a native of Alabama, Red moved to Germany in the 1980s. He died in a German hospital Saturday after slipping into a coma brought on by a thyroid imbalance, the Los Angeles Times reported.

From the Times obit:

Red's mother died within a week of his birth, and his father was lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan when he was 5, prompting an aunt to place him in an orphanage. He later lived with his grandmother and an uncle in Pittsburgh.

He landed a deal with Chicago's influential Chess Records after playing a song over the phone for label co-owner Phil Chess, who sent him a bus ticket for Chicago. The man who picked Red up at the station to drive him to meet Chess was Muddy Waters, who was to become one of the label's biggest stars.

Waters and some of his band mates, including harmonica player Little Walter and guitarist Jimmy Rogers, played on some of Red's recordings, and he appeared on records by other blues artists including Waters and John Lee Hooker.

I was lucky enough to see him play back in 2006 at the Thirsty Ear Festival in Santa Fe -- on the same bill as Dave "Honeyboy" Edwards. During Honeyboy's set, Red joined him on stage for several songs.

Red's just the latest blues great to die in the last year or so. He joins Honeyboy, Etta James, Johnny Otis, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Pinetop Perkins and Big Jack Johnson in that great juke joint in the sky.

Enjoy this video from 2007:

 

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012 
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(at)ksfr.org

 OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star) by The Village People
Celluloid Heroes by The Kinks
Beloved Movie Star by Stan Ridgway
New Age by The Velvet Underground
It'll Chew You Up and Spit You Out by Concrete Blonde
Shaky City by The Plimsouls

Mess Around by The Manxx
Sizes by The Cleopatras
Sunday You Need Love by The Oblivians
Rock 'n' Roll Can Rescue the World by Electric Eel Shock
Baby Don't Tear My Clothes by The Raunch Hands
Brain Dead by Sons of Hercules
Officer Touchy by The Scrams
Love Your Money by Daisy Chainsaw
Pretty Thing by The Pretty Things
No Body by The Tombstones
Rock 'n' Roll Grrrl by Ditch Bank Okies

Andre Williams Set
Hoods & Shades by Andre Williams
Babbling Brook by Andre Williams & The Goldstars
Nasty Women by Andre Williams
Tricks by Andre Williams
Hallelujah by Andre Williams & Green Hornet
Swamp Dogg's Hot Spot

That Ain't My Wife by Swamp Dogg
Just a Little Bit by Bobby King & Terry Evans
Chocolate River by The Seeds
House on Highland Ave. by The Gun Club
The Gravedigger's Song by Mark Lanegan Band
Sherry by Johnny Dowd
Wayfarers All by Dead Meadow
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, Feb. 24, 2012 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
 OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Cheap Motels by Southern Culture on the Skids
Honky Tonk Queen by Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys
Jason Fleming by The Sadies with Neko Case
Chevy Beretta by Johnny Corndawg
Cold Neon Stare by Jason Arnold & The Stepsiders
Evil Hearted Me by Jody Reynolds
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud, Loud Music by Joe Maphis & Rose Lee
I've Got $5 and it's Saturday Night by George Jones & Gene Pitney
String's Mountain Dew by Stringbean
Let's Duet by Dewy Cox & Darlene

Old Home Place / Ball by Whiskey Shivers
Drunkard's Hiccups by J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers
Shout Little Lulie by Ralph Stanley
Nothin' Better to Do by Blonde Boy Grunt & The Groans
The Story of My Life by Big Al Dowling
Burnt Toast Mornin' by Jason Eklund
Kiss Of Death by Split Lip Rayfield

Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down by Uncle Tupelo
Hand of the Almighty by John R. Butler
In the Pines by The Louvin Brothers
Southern Family Anthem by Shooter Jennings
Oak Tree Hangin' by Gary Gorence
I'm Comin' Home by Elvis Presley
You're Drifting Away by Johnny Cash
My Brand of Blues by Bloodshot Bill
Rose Marie by Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
Show Them to Me by Rodney Carrington

River of Crystal by Roy Acuff
More Pretty Girls Than One by Doc & Merle Watson
Leavin' Home by Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Wronglers
Summer Wages by David Bromberg
When The Gypsies Camped on Prairie Creek by Tom Irwin
Who Takes Care Of The Caretaker’s Daughter? by Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards
No Cane on the Brazos by The Band
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Andre's Still a Giant

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Feb. 24 2012



The last time I wrote about Andre Williams, I reported that he seemed to be slowing down. That’s an understandable thing for a guy who is 75 years old.

That assessment came from the fact that his latest album at the time, That’s All I Need, didn’t seem to have the fire of his previous efforts. But I think I probably spoke too soon.

Williams is releasing an impressive new album this week, Hoods and Shades. And that’s only a few weeks after a jumping little five-song EP, Nightclub, with a Chicago band called The Goldstars, came out.

Although he’s been in the music biz since the 1950s and wrote an actual hit — “Shake a Tail Feather,” covered by Ike & Tina Turner and James & Bobby Purify — Williams has never been a household name.

His is one of those terrible R & B years-in-the-darkness stories — obscurity, drugs, homelessness — that’s way too common. (Rest in peace, Howard Tate.) In the late ’90s Williams began his current incarnation as an underground indie rock elder statesman. He recorded for some of my favorite labels including Bloodshot, Norton, In the Red, and Pravda.

Williams’ albums are always fun, and Hoods and Shades is no exception. What’s exceptional about it is that it’s interesting on so many levels. The first thing you notice about Hoods is its cover, which resembles some blaxploitation movie poster. Williams is there, with his arms around a couple of gun-wielding babes against a backdrop of fiery explosions, skyscrapers, a police helicopter, hooded thugs, and some mean-looking guy in a fedora playing what appears to be a combination guitar/machine gun.

I’m not certain, but I’m thinking the latter is supposed to be guitarslinger Dennis Coffey. Coffey is best known as one of the Funk Brothers, that Detroit collective of studio cats who gave us the Motown sound.

He played on such Motown hits as “Runaway Child,” “Just My Imagination,” and “Cloud Nine” for The Temptations; “War” by Edwin Starr; and “What Does It Take to Win Your Love” by Junior Walker & The All Stars. He also played on non-Motown records including Funkadelic’s first album, Freda Payne’s song “Band of Gold,” and — best of all, in my book — “Who’s Making Love” by Johnny Taylor. In other words, he is one serious picker.

Indeed, it’s Coffey who most contributes to the unique sound of Hoods and Shades. But the rest of the musicians here aren’t exactly lightweights. Among them are Detroit producer and former Dirtbombs member Jim Diamond playing electric bass and Don Was on upright bass.

According to the publicity material for this project, Williams has referred to Hoods and Shades as his “folk album.” That’s probably because Coffey’s acoustic guitar-playing is prominent on many cuts. But the term folk is pretty misleading. This isn’t “Michael Row the Boat Ashore.”

Coffey and crew create a swampy sound to complement Williams’ vocals. This musical backdrop is a perfect fit for this collection of songs.

The opening song, an upbeat blues number called “Dirt,” is a new take on the basic dust-to-dust theme of Memphis Slim’s “Mother Earth.” Williams, taking the voice of a streetwise sage, chuckles before he starts singing, “It don’t matter how high we go/It don’t matter if it’s high or low/It don’t matter if we help or hurt/When it all boils down, we just dirt.”

There are a couple of lengthy story songs here that I suspect will be the main things most fans will remember about this album. There’s the atmospheric title song, in which Williams relates a number of terrifying descriptions of violence and poverty in a landscape haunted by young thugs hiding hardened faces behind hoods and sunglasses. The background music is a low-key acoustic blues shuffle with Coffey’s electric guitar providing a distant, desperate sounding response.

Then there’s a funny shaggy “Dogg” story called “Swamp Dogg’s Hot Spot.” Yes, the hero of this tale is none other than soul singer Jerry Williams, aka Swamp Dogg. Somehow I don’t think this story is really true. I’m not sure whether Swamp and Williams really met in “the county jail” like the song says, but I’m pretty sure that Andre Williams never got popped for “selling bootleg CDs.” (In real life, Swamp produced a 1990 Williams album, Directly From the Streets.)

My personal favorite on Hoods is a dandy new version of an old song Williams co-wrote, “Mojo Hannah.” This has been recorded by Esther Phillips, Aaron Neville, Marvin Gaye, and an underrated New Orleans singer named Tami Lynn. Williams doesn’t have the voice of any of those, but his knowing rasp does the song justice.

Nightclub is more typical of what Williams fans have come to expect in recent years. The Goldstars is a fine band playing at the intersection of garage rock and soul music. The group even did a high-energy cover of Williams’ song “Agile, Mobile, and Hostile” a few years ago. And recently The Goldstars has been Williams’ touring band.

Williams has been paired with many bands on recordings in recent years. But with The Goldstars, there’s a real chemistry that’s not always apparent with other backup bands.

My favorites here are “Hot Coffee,” a tight rocker in which Williams sounds like an unholy combination of sex maniac and caffeine fiend, and “Babblin’ Brook,” about a female companion who won’t shut up.

My only complaint about the E.P. is that it’s an E.P. and not a full-length album. I hope that’s something on Williams’ to-do list.

Obama Sings the Blues

After three years of a terrible economy, I think even the most hardcore Republican would have to admit that President Obama knows something about the blues.

On Tuesday he joined an all-star blues band -- B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger -- at the White House for a verse of "Sweet Home Chicago."

It was a Black History Month concert honoring the Blues. Read about it HERE or HERE and check out the video below.