Let's start this week off with a salute to a some New Mexico rock 'n' roll history: Yucca Records in Alamogordo.
This company put out some great rock, country and blues sounds in the 1950s and '60s. Probably the best known rock rocker to record there was El Paso's The Bobby Fuller Four, who released two singles on Yucca in 1961. Also bluesman Long John Hunter released several 45s on Yucca. The complete 45 Discography is HERE.
Norton Records has acquired a "motherlode" of unreleased Yucca recordings, which a recent Norton email described as "a star in Norton's ever growing constellation of able labels. Yucca’s output in the 1950’s and 1960’s is equaled by the number of world class recordings that sat in the can for fifty years."
This music is "selectively scattered throughout the ever-growing Norton Southwest series called El Paso Rock."
Here's some Youtubes of a few Yucca records:
Finally, some politically-incorrect fun with hijacking ...
Hat tip to David Barsanti for inspiring this post.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
O
Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013
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
Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013
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
Get Out of Dallas by Mal Thursday & The Cheetahs
What Moves the Heart by Mudhoney
She's Evil by Nick Curran & The Nightlifes
She's Evil by Nick Curran & The Nightlifes
Satan's Bride by Gregg Turner
Stay Away by Mondo Topless
Drop in and Go by The Molting Vultures
World of Tomorrow by Death
Henry County Meth Lab by Trophy Wives
Glow in the Dark by Lovestruck
Flat Foot Flewzy by NRBQ
Joe Bonner by The Gluey Brothers
Fall on You by The Plimsouls
Honky Tonk Biscuit Queen by The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
Arrested in Shanghai by Rancid
Gentlemen of the Road by Tim Timebomb
No Hay Mas Qgui Dar by Los Shains
Sugar by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
The South Side of Soul Street by Genie Brooks
Nighttime is the Right Time by Bettye LaVette, Nathaniel Mayer & Andre Williams
Who's Been Warming My Oven by Gable Reed
Control by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
I've Got a Thing About You Baby by Elvis Presley
The Monkey by The Great Gaylord
Mt. Everest by Royal Crescent Mob
Everybody Loves My Baby by Clarence Williams Blue Five
Backstreet Girl by Social Distortion
Mysterious Mystery by Persian Claws
Radio Police by The Masticators
Nothing is Impossible by Asha Bhosle & Bappi Lahiri
It is the Way You Name Your Ship by Gogol Bordello
My Robe Will Fit Me by The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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Saturday, August 17, 2013
Karen Black Sings "Rolling Stone" (and "Memphis")
Last night on the Santa Fe Opry I played Neko Case's version OF the song "Rolling Stone."
That was a modest tribute to the late Karen Black, who died Aug. 8. Black, who portrayed a country singer named Connie White in Robert Altman's Nashville not only performed the song in the movie, she wrote the darn thing.
And yes, that's Vassar Clements on fiddle
Neko's version is on a tribute album of various alt-country types performing songs from the Nashville soundtrack.
I couldn't find footage of that performance in the movie, but here's a Youtube of that song, plus "Memphis," the other song she wrote and sang in Nashville.
R.I.P.Karen.
That was a modest tribute to the late Karen Black, who died Aug. 8. Black, who portrayed a country singer named Connie White in Robert Altman's Nashville not only performed the song in the movie, she wrote the darn thing.
And yes, that's Vassar Clements on fiddle
Neko's version is on a tribute album of various alt-country types performing songs from the Nashville soundtrack.
I couldn't find footage of that performance in the movie, but here's a Youtube of that song, plus "Memphis," the other song she wrote and sang in Nashville.
R.I.P.Karen.
Friday, August 16, 2013
THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST
Friday, Aug. 16, 2013
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
Lost in the Ozone by Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen
TJ by Hickoids
Swing Low Sweet Chariot by Don Reno
Standing at the Edge of the World by Earl Poole Ball
The Girl Turned Ripe by Merle Haggard
Wishful Thinking by Wynn Stewart
Black Eyed Daisy by Carolina Chocolate Drops
Thwarted by Rob Nikolewski
Mama Hated Diesels by Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen
Elvis Tribute
Promised Land by Elvis Presley
The Pelvis by Ditch Bank Okies
A Fool Such as I by Marti Brom
Elvis is Everywhere by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame by Chris O'Connell
Heartbreak Hotel by The Cramps
You Asked Me To by Elvis Presley
I'll Fix Your Flat Tire Merle / Amie by Pure Prairie League
I'll Fix Your Flat Tire Merle / Amie by Pure Prairie League
A-11 by Johnny Paycheck
Boney Fingers by Hoyt Axton
Rolling Stone by Neko Case (RIP Karen Black )
Coulda Woulda Shoulda by Peter Case
Coulda Woulda Shoulda by Peter Case
Soldier Boy Johnny by The Imperial Rooster
Something Happens by Peter Case
The Devil Gets His Due by The Dirt Daubers
Baby Baby Me by Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys
Blackland Farmer by Steve Young
Baby Baby Me by Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys
Blackland Farmer by Steve Young
Yellow Submarine by Buddy Miller
Late Bloomer by Karen Hudson
Between the Whiskey and the Wine by Miss Leslie
World's Worst Lover by George Jones
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
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Like the Santa Fe Opry Facebook page
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list
TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Some Savage Soul
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Aug. 16, 2013
The savagery continues. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, Boston’s — perhaps the world’s — greatest R & B/punk-rock band, is officially a going concern, and their new album, Dig Thy Savage Soul, shows they’re still going strong.
After being apart for 25 years or so, wild man Whitfield reunited with the core of the original Savages to jump-start the group. With guitarist Peter Greenberg (a resident of Taos for the past several years) and bassist Phil Lenker (like Greenberg, a veteran of Boston garage-punk giants Lyres), the Savages made their “comeback” debut in New Mexico in September 2010 (with shows in Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque).
Soon afterward they toured Europe and rereleased an expanded version of their early-’80s self-titled first album and their first new record together in a quarter century, Savage Kings. Now they’re back for more — and on one of my favorite labels, Bloodshot Records, no less.
Dig Thy Savage Soul shows that Savage Kings was no fluke. Whitfield’s voice is still in fine form — whether he’s singing or screaming — the band is as tight as ever, and the material is inspired. Most of the songs are written by various Savages (including several by Greenberg and Taos crony and Manby’s Head bandmate Michael Mooney).
The album kicks off with “The Corner Man,” with its “love is like a boxing ring” theme, a pounding beat, and an urgent guitar riff. “You know she’s got a Sunday punch/You know you’ve got to face the feint/Kiss her hand or kiss the canvas/And love her through the standing eight.” (Later in the song the phrase “kiss her hand” is slightly altered.)
On “Sugar” Whitfield sings, “If you wanna beat me/That’s OK/ ’Cause I’m already beat up anyway. ... If you wanna slap me/That’s just fine/ ’Cause you know I’ll hardly feel it after one more glass of wine.”
My favorite on this album (and there are so many good tunes, this one is likely to change) is “Hangman’s Token,” one of the Greenfield/Mooney tunes. It starts off with a guitar riff virtually identical to the main hook of “Come Back Bird,” a forgotten garage-band classic by The Chevelle V (and recorded just a few years ago by Manby’s Head). It’s probably the only track that even comes close to having any political content.
“Now some folks appear so helpless, not a penny to their name/Get accused by them in power/ It’s a lowdown dirty shame/See that rich man in his mansion/While the poor folks live in tents/See they’re only there for the blamin,’ and it just doesn’t make no sense.”
Another standout is the minor-key soul workout “I’m Sad About It.” I’ve read a couple of reviews that compare Whitfield on this cut to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. I’ll buy that. Some of Whitfield’s most accomplished screaming is here.
The album ends with an old Jerry “Boogie” McCain song called “Turn Your Damper Down.” But there’s no indication that either Whitfield or his Savages intend to follow that advice. Once again they’ve made a near-perfect album for those of us who like a little garage rock in our soul music or a lot of soul in our garage.
Also recommended:
* The South Side of Soul Street: The Minaret Soul Singles, 1967-1976. Minaret was founded in the early 1960s in Nashville as a country and rock ’n’ roll label. A few years later a man from Valparaiso, Florida, named Finley Duncan bought the label. Duncan’s résumé — he owned a nightclub and a company that supplied jukeboxes and cigarette machines and served as a county chairman for the Democratic Party — might make him sound like a villain from some Burt Reynolds hicksploitation movie, but he’s the hero of this story.
He decided to take Minaret in a soul direction. By 1969 he partnered with Nashville producer Shelby Singleton to build Playground Recording Studio in Valparaiso, where most of the songs on this album were recorded. (The earliest ones were done at a variety of studios, including Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama.)
And yikes, what recordings! I hadn’t heard of any of the artists on this two-disc set — Big John Hamilton, Genie Brooks, Willie Cobbs, Doris Allen, Willie Gable, Johnny Dynamite, or Leroy Lloyd & The Dukes. Nearly every one of these tracks could proudly have been played on the radio right alongside of the great soul hits of the mid to late ’60s. And in fact, a lot of them should have been hits.
About half the songs here are by Hamilton, a South Carolina native who played with Etta James and Hank Ballard before coming to Minaret. While the liner notes emphasize what a nice guy and responsible family man he was, on “Big Bad John” (no, not the Jimmy Dean hit) he portrays himself as Stagger Lee reincarnated. “You know I walked in my room with my Colt .45/I saw my baby sitting with this guy/I shot him once, I shot her twice/I don’t give a ... if they’re dead or alive.” (I love how back then you could brag about killing people as long as you didn’t use the word “damn.”)
Hamilton also does a slow soul take on “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” (recorded years before Freddy Fender made it a national hit) and a rousing cover of Buddy Miles’ “Them Changes” with Doris Allen.
Allen is responsible for one of the stranger songs here, “Kiss Yourself for Me.” She sings to a faraway lover, “Make believe you’re in my arms just like you used to be/Walk up to your mirror and kiss yourself for me.”
Genie Brooks provides the title song, “South Side of Soul Street,” which is clearly inspired by Wilson Pickett’s “Funky Broadway,” while Gable Reed’s “Who’s Been Warming My Oven” has echoes of Joe Tex. “Patty cake, patty cake, baker man/Groundhog’s gonna be his mailman,” Gable threatens here.
That's not the only Minaret track that refers to children’s rhymes. Willie Gable playfully reworks “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” into something soulful and sexy. The other Gable song on this album, “Eternally,” features an electric sitar, an instrument that had a short shelf life, though I think it deserves revival.
“Blue Diamonds,” by a band called Double Soul, is a slow, sultry soul ballad, while Willie Cobbs’ “Don’t Worry About Me” and Hamilton’s “Lift Me Up” are straight-up blues.
Things apparently slowed down drastically for Minaret after 1970. Only four sides after that year appear on this album. The glory days of Southern soul were gone, and the age of disco was approaching. But these sounds are immortal, and these musicians deserve wider recognition. I’m grateful to Omnivore Recordings for digging up this beautiful, if overlooked, music.
Video time!
Aug. 16, 2013
The savagery continues. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, Boston’s — perhaps the world’s — greatest R & B/punk-rock band, is officially a going concern, and their new album, Dig Thy Savage Soul, shows they’re still going strong.
After being apart for 25 years or so, wild man Whitfield reunited with the core of the original Savages to jump-start the group. With guitarist Peter Greenberg (a resident of Taos for the past several years) and bassist Phil Lenker (like Greenberg, a veteran of Boston garage-punk giants Lyres), the Savages made their “comeback” debut in New Mexico in September 2010 (with shows in Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque).
Soon afterward they toured Europe and rereleased an expanded version of their early-’80s self-titled first album and their first new record together in a quarter century, Savage Kings. Now they’re back for more — and on one of my favorite labels, Bloodshot Records, no less.
Dig Thy Savage Soul shows that Savage Kings was no fluke. Whitfield’s voice is still in fine form — whether he’s singing or screaming — the band is as tight as ever, and the material is inspired. Most of the songs are written by various Savages (including several by Greenberg and Taos crony and Manby’s Head bandmate Michael Mooney).
The album kicks off with “The Corner Man,” with its “love is like a boxing ring” theme, a pounding beat, and an urgent guitar riff. “You know she’s got a Sunday punch/You know you’ve got to face the feint/Kiss her hand or kiss the canvas/And love her through the standing eight.” (Later in the song the phrase “kiss her hand” is slightly altered.)
On “Sugar” Whitfield sings, “If you wanna beat me/That’s OK/ ’Cause I’m already beat up anyway. ... If you wanna slap me/That’s just fine/ ’Cause you know I’ll hardly feel it after one more glass of wine.”
My favorite on this album (and there are so many good tunes, this one is likely to change) is “Hangman’s Token,” one of the Greenfield/Mooney tunes. It starts off with a guitar riff virtually identical to the main hook of “Come Back Bird,” a forgotten garage-band classic by The Chevelle V (and recorded just a few years ago by Manby’s Head). It’s probably the only track that even comes close to having any political content.
“Now some folks appear so helpless, not a penny to their name/Get accused by them in power/ It’s a lowdown dirty shame/See that rich man in his mansion/While the poor folks live in tents/See they’re only there for the blamin,’ and it just doesn’t make no sense.”
Another standout is the minor-key soul workout “I’m Sad About It.” I’ve read a couple of reviews that compare Whitfield on this cut to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. I’ll buy that. Some of Whitfield’s most accomplished screaming is here.
The album ends with an old Jerry “Boogie” McCain song called “Turn Your Damper Down.” But there’s no indication that either Whitfield or his Savages intend to follow that advice. Once again they’ve made a near-perfect album for those of us who like a little garage rock in our soul music or a lot of soul in our garage.
Also recommended:
* The South Side of Soul Street: The Minaret Soul Singles, 1967-1976. Minaret was founded in the early 1960s in Nashville as a country and rock ’n’ roll label. A few years later a man from Valparaiso, Florida, named Finley Duncan bought the label. Duncan’s résumé — he owned a nightclub and a company that supplied jukeboxes and cigarette machines and served as a county chairman for the Democratic Party — might make him sound like a villain from some Burt Reynolds hicksploitation movie, but he’s the hero of this story.
He decided to take Minaret in a soul direction. By 1969 he partnered with Nashville producer Shelby Singleton to build Playground Recording Studio in Valparaiso, where most of the songs on this album were recorded. (The earliest ones were done at a variety of studios, including Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama.)
And yikes, what recordings! I hadn’t heard of any of the artists on this two-disc set — Big John Hamilton, Genie Brooks, Willie Cobbs, Doris Allen, Willie Gable, Johnny Dynamite, or Leroy Lloyd & The Dukes. Nearly every one of these tracks could proudly have been played on the radio right alongside of the great soul hits of the mid to late ’60s. And in fact, a lot of them should have been hits.
About half the songs here are by Hamilton, a South Carolina native who played with Etta James and Hank Ballard before coming to Minaret. While the liner notes emphasize what a nice guy and responsible family man he was, on “Big Bad John” (no, not the Jimmy Dean hit) he portrays himself as Stagger Lee reincarnated. “You know I walked in my room with my Colt .45/I saw my baby sitting with this guy/I shot him once, I shot her twice/I don’t give a ... if they’re dead or alive.” (I love how back then you could brag about killing people as long as you didn’t use the word “damn.”)
Hamilton also does a slow soul take on “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” (recorded years before Freddy Fender made it a national hit) and a rousing cover of Buddy Miles’ “Them Changes” with Doris Allen.
Allen is responsible for one of the stranger songs here, “Kiss Yourself for Me.” She sings to a faraway lover, “Make believe you’re in my arms just like you used to be/Walk up to your mirror and kiss yourself for me.”
Genie Brooks provides the title song, “South Side of Soul Street,” which is clearly inspired by Wilson Pickett’s “Funky Broadway,” while Gable Reed’s “Who’s Been Warming My Oven” has echoes of Joe Tex. “Patty cake, patty cake, baker man/Groundhog’s gonna be his mailman,” Gable threatens here.
That's not the only Minaret track that refers to children’s rhymes. Willie Gable playfully reworks “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” into something soulful and sexy. The other Gable song on this album, “Eternally,” features an electric sitar, an instrument that had a short shelf life, though I think it deserves revival.
“Blue Diamonds,” by a band called Double Soul, is a slow, sultry soul ballad, while Willie Cobbs’ “Don’t Worry About Me” and Hamilton’s “Lift Me Up” are straight-up blues.
Things apparently slowed down drastically for Minaret after 1970. Only four sides after that year appear on this album. The glory days of Southern soul were gone, and the age of disco was approaching. But these sounds are immortal, and these musicians deserve wider recognition. I’m grateful to Omnivore Recordings for digging up this beautiful, if overlooked, music.
Video time!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Thee Oh Sees Live at Primavera Sound 2013
A few weeks ago I slobbered all over Floating Coffin, the latest album by Thee Oh Sees in my Terrell's Tuneup review.
I'm still loving that album and I was happy to stumble across a vicious live set recorded last May that includes several Floating Coffin songs -- and more.
Give this a listen! And if you like it, you can download it free and legal over at Free Music Archive.
They've also got Primavera sets by The Meat Puppets, Tinariwen and more. CLICK HERE
Sunday, August 11, 2013
TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
Y
Sunday, Aug. 11 , 2013
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
Betrayal Takes Two by Richard Hell & The Voidoids
Sunday, Aug. 11 , 2013
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
What's New Pussycat by The Malarians
Shoot the Freak by Lovestruck
I'm a No Count by Ty Wagner
A Girl Like You by The Mummies
On Film by Ex- Cult
Row Row Row by Willie Gable
In My Time of Dying by Coconut Kings
Fruit Fly by Hickoids
Ain't No Easy Way by Nancy Sinatra & Jon Spencer
Nancy Sinatra by Johnny Dowd
Betrayal Takes Two by Richard Hell & The Voidoids
Pretty Little Head by Chump
Just Head by The Grannies
Un Amor Sin Igual by Los Nivram
I'm Sad About It by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Born to Die by King Khan & The Shrines
Take it Away by Pietra Wexstun & Hecate's Angels
Mainline by The Standells
John the Conquerer (Truth is Always the Same) by Gogol Bordello
Lavar dy Sara by Cankisou
Saints & Sinners by Flogging Molly
Tip My Canoe by Dengue Fever
Voice From the Inner Soul by The Confusions
Out of Our Heads by Dropkick Murpheys
Casa del Sol Naixent by Els Dracs
Blues in the Night by Eydie Gorme
Casa del Sol Naixent by Els Dracs
Blues in the Night by Eydie Gorme
Pawn Shop by The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
Black Hole Sun by Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
Rocks Off by Tim Timebomb
Disorder and Disarray by Rancid
Jail Guitar Doors by The Clash
River by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE
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TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST
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