Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015 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 Here's the playlist
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Dames, Booze,Chains and Boots by The Cramps
Journey to the Center of Your Mind by The Ramones
Do the Clam by Elvis Presley
Thunder Kiss '65 by White Zombie
I Can't Stand It by Velvet Underground
As You Go Down by Holly Golightly
The Musical Rogues by Wild Billy Chyldish
Beaver Patrol by Wild Knights
G-Man Hoover by Sir Lancelot
Crystal Ball by The King Khan & BBQ Show
Katy Didn't by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Wonderful Girl by Jack Mack & The Heart Attack
Black Snake by Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales
You're the Dog by Irma Thomas
Second Cousin by Flamin' Groovies
Manny's Bones by Los Lobos
Love Your Money by Lolita #18
Shadow World by Undercover Bonobos
Hit Me by The Fleshtones
Hospitals by Acid Baby Jesus
Graveyard by Dead Moon
Voodoo Music by J.B. Lenoir
Suicide Chump / Jumbo / If Only She Woulda by Frank Zappa
Devil With the Blue Dress by Shorty Long
Medley: Buke E Kripe Ne Vater Tone/Kalaxhojne by 3 Mustaphas 3
Sea of Love by Iggy Pop
Let's Burn Down the Cornfield by John The Conqueror
My Ding a Ling by Dave Bartholomew
Come in the Morning by Moby Grape
Forty Dollars by Twilight Singers
Ballad of Dwight Fry by Alice Cooper
Wang Dang Doodle by P.J. Harvey
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, August 21, 2015 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
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Ringo by Lorne Greene
Wildwood Flower by Mike Ness
Everybody's Doing It by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
Jesse James by Van Morrison, Lonnie Donegan & Chris Barber
I've always found calypso music from the 1930s and '40s to be a real treat In these songs, by artists with names like Growling Tiger, Lord Executor, King Radio, Lord Invader etc., you'll hear songs of social protest, songs about news of the day, political commentary, songs insulting other calypso singers. And ever so often there are mini-bios of world leaders and celebrities of the day.
Below are some of my favorites.
Trinidad-born Lancelot Victor Edward Pinard (1902 – 2001) recorded under the name of Sir Lancelot. Roky Erikson fans should note that Sir Lancelot, who appeared in several American movies. including a 1943 classic called I Walked With a Zombie, in which he portrayed a calypso singer. His politics were left-leaning. Lancelot was a fan of Henry Wallace. But he also apparently as a fan of J. Edgar Hoover, who probably had the songer's phone tapped. Here's "G-Man Hoover."
You might have heard this song performed by Ry Cooder. Van Dyke Parks also recorded it on Discover America (which also had a cover of G-Man Hoover.) But "Roosevelt in Trinidad" was first performed by Raymond Quevedo (1892-1962) better known as Atilla the Hun. This song commemorates FDR's 1936 trip to Trinidad, "the land of the hummingbird."
Of course, not all calypso bios praise their subjects. Clifford Morris, aka The Mighty Destroyer in this 1941 hit had a few thoughts about Der Fuehrer. This is a cover, I believe from the 1990s, by a singer named Phillip Murray.
Except for the Hitler ditty, this post seems to have turned into "Songs Van Dyke Taught Us." The following, sung by "The Lion," also known as "Roaring Lion" aka Hubert Raphael Charles aka Raphael de Leon 1908-1999). Lion's most famous song is "Ugly Woman," which was turned into a hit called :If You Want to Be Happy" by Jimmy Soul in the 1960s.
Next Sunday, Aug. 23, marks the 89th anniversary of the death of Rudolph Valentino, perhaps the most popular silent film star the world has ever known.
Unfortunately I couldn't find
Eddie Cantor's version of "Sheik."
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of silent films. But today I'm going to honor Valentino not for his own achievements but for inspiring a wonderfully wacky American song: "The Sheik of Araby."
Trying to cash in on the wild popularity of Valentino's 1921 feature film The Sheik, Tin Pan Alley songwriters Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler wrote the lyrics to music by Ted Snyder. Snyder had written the melody of a similar tune called "That Night in Araby,"
But it was "The Sheik of Araby" that folks remember. It was one of those songs that made the '20s roar, that made the flappers flap. Even F. Scott Fitzgerald included some lyrics from the song in The Great Gatsby.
The Club Royal Orchestra, directed by Clyde Doerr, may have been the first to record it in 1921. But I prefer this version by a group called The California Ramblers recorded the same year. Like Doerr's it's an instrumental. But it's a little peppier (and the sound quality of the YouTube is better.)
Fast forward to 1936 and The Sheik's still shakin' Don Albert & His Orchestra has the distinction of being the first band to add the line "with no pants on" after every line in the verse.
Spike Jones kept his pants on, but he did a wild version with a nice 'n' crazy video ... I mean "soundie."
Louis Prima & Keely Smith did a wonderful medley of "Sheik of Araby" and "When You're Smilin'. They also keep their pants on in the "Sheik" section, instead singing "With no turban on."
UPDATED 5-8-16
The Fats Domino and Beatles videos I originally embedded has been removed from YouTube, but now they're at the top of my Spotify list below, where you'll find more Sheiks than you can shake a stick at.
Sunday, August 16, 2015 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 Here's the playlist OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
The Claw by Barrence Whitfield
Nightclub by Andre Williams & The Goldstars
Misunderstood by Sons of Hercules
Double O Bum by Gas Huffer
Rimbaud Diddley by Churchwood
I Found Out by Nathaniel Mayer
Fall on You by The Plimsouls
Lucy Baines by The A-Bones
Bittersweet Candy by The Barbarellatones
Vegetables by The Beach Boys
Me and Mr. Jones by Amy Winehouse
Miss Beehive by Howard Tate
No No No by Die Zorros
Blindness by The Fall
The Hink-a-Dink by Chuck E. Weiss
Strobe Light by The B-52s
South Street by The Orlons
Shake Me by Motobunny
It's a Gas by Alfred E. Neuman
Conjuring the King
Heartbreak Hotel by The Cramps
Marie's the Name by Elvis Presley
En El Barrio by El Vez
One Night of Sin by Simon Stokes
Baby Let's Play House by Elvis Presley
Trouble by Danzig
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet by Lisa Marie Presley
Rockabilly Rebel by Orion
Promised Land by Elvis Presley
Queenie Wahine's Papaya by Elvis Presley
Mystery Train by The Band
Jailhouse Rock by Patti Smith
Suspicious Minds by Dwight Yoakam
Little Sister by Elvis Presley
Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton
Crying in the Chapel by Elvis Presley CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page
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Friday, Aug. 14, 2015 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org Here's my playlist : OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Gettin' High for Jesus by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Keep on Truckin' by Hot Tuna
Meat Man by D.M. Bob & The Deficits
Yes Ma'am, He Found Me in a Honky Tonk by Miss Leslie
Have You Heard the Gossip by Charlie Brown Jr.
Banana Puddin' by Southern Culture on the Skids
Knock Off Your Naggin' by Stonewall Jackson
Dixie Flyer by Mose McCormack
Robot Drone by Holly Wood
Losing Faith/ Hey Warden/ Bound for Glory by Audrey Auld
Rock-a-bye Baby Rock by Connie Dycus
My Old Man Boogie by The Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
Let's Get Wild by Rudy Grayzell
Owls by The Handsome Family
The Other Side of Nowhere by John Prine & Mac Wiseman
$2,000 Navajo Rug by Joe West & The Sinners
The Cat Never Sleeps by Mama Rosin with Hipbone Slim & The Knee-Tremblers
Mr. Garfield by Johnny Cash
White House Blues by Merle Travis
White House Blues by Jadoo
Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare
Monkey on a String by Charlie Poole
Still I'm Travelin' On by The Mississippi Sheiks
LSD by T. Tex Edwards
A Death in the Family by The Malpass Brothers
I Need Somebody Bad Tonight by Rhonda Vincent
My Reasons Why by Blaze Foley
Sin City by Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen
Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues by Elvis Presley
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican August 14, 2015 A few years ago, when rock ’n’ soul shouter Barrence Whitfield first reunited with guitarist Peter Greenberg and bassman Phil Lenker — all original members of The Savages, who tore up the East Coast back in the mid-1980s — my biggest concern was that their excellent comeback album, Savage Kings, might be a one-shot deal.
But since then, Whitfield and his Savages have faithfully released an album every two years, Dig Thy Savage Soul (2013) and now Under a Savage Sky (official release date Aug. 21).
Once again, Whitfield and crew have laid down a record full of high-charged, hopped-up, rough, rowdy and raw tunes that should make you remember why you loved rock ’n’ roll in the first place.
There’s no mistaking this album for anything but a Barrence Whitfield record. It’s got your basic rocking guitar, screaming sax, and soulful shouts from Whitfield. There are musical nods to Little Richard, The Sonics (the immortal Washington state garage giants, with whom Barrence & The Savages toured earlier this year) and soulsters like Don Covay and Otis Redding.
But while the album retains all those elements that Whitfield fans expect, Under the Savage Sky has a harder edge — faster rhythms, louder drums, crunchier guitar — than the group’s previous efforts. As a band, The Savages are still extremely tight. Here they just seem more ferocious.
Barrence live in Santa Fe a few years ago
The core of the album consists of tunes written by Greenberg and fellow New Mexico resident Michael Mooney. (The two played together in a Taos garage band called Manby’s Head, which I haven’t seen in a couple of years.)
Among these are “Angry Hands,” which has a melody similar to Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen” and — like “Willie Meehan” on Savage Kings — is about a washed-up boxer; “Incarceration Casserole,” which is about a guy whose wife is locked up in jail — causing him to obsess over who’s going to fix his dinner; and “Adjunct Street,” a slow, minor-key blues that Whitfield sings the hell out of.
Then there’s “Katy Didn’t,” written by Greenberg, Mooney, and Whitfield himself. Starting off with a guitar hook that reminds me of “Kicks” by Paul Revere & The Raiders, the song begins, “She had a hollow leg/Knew how to make me beg/She drank me under the table.”
As usual, Whitfield includes some inspired covers from deep in the bowels of Greenberg’s fabled record collection. “I’m a Full Grown Man,” which was originally called “I’m a Man” when soulman Timmy Willis recorded it decades ago, has sweet echoes of the Stax/Volt sound; “The Wolf Pack” goes all the way back to Kid Thomas (Louis Thomas Watts), who recorded it in 1955; and “I’m a Good Man,” an Eddie Snow song from the ’50s, which sounds like a rewrite of “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”
Under the Savage Sky ends with “Full Moon in the Daylight Sky,” an intense minor-key workout written by Whitfield and Lenker. It is scheduled for release on Aug. 21 but is ready for pre-order on all your favorite online shops.
Also recommended:
* Jamie Was a Boozer: Special Edition by Joe West & The Sinners. Back in 1998, Joe West was living in Austin. I hadn’t met the guy at the time, but I was starting to get familiar with his music. He’d sent me his first album, Trip to Roswell, N.M., which had some good songs on it. But I didn’t officially become a West fan until he sent me his second album, Jamie Was a Boozer.
Backed by a snappy little saloon band called The Sinners (and on some cuts, former True Believer Jon Dee Graham on lap steel), Jamie Was a Boozer was no sophomore slump. The album has been out of print for years, but last month a company called Baby Black Panda released a new version, featuring all 15 of the original songs, plus three previously unreleased live tunes.
I looked up my old review of the original version, which was in a column about several local releases. Enjoy some recycling: OK, officially Joe lives and works in Austin but his Santa Fe ties are legit. His dad, artist Jerry West lives here. And Joe frequently pays tribute to Santa Fe in song, such as “$2000 Navajo Rug,” a sarcastic toast (with an authentic Santa Fe $5 cerveza) to the ricos who keep our cost of living so high.
Jpe West in Santa Fe Railyard Plaza a few weeks ago
Joe has a knack for writing funny tunes — Jim Terr would have killed to have written “Trailer Park Liberal” — but the main strength of this album is a core of songs, some funny, some not, related to alcohol and the abuse thereof. The title song is an unflinching tribute to a friend who drowned in liquor. “The Ballad of Terri McGovern,” about a woman who got drunk and froze to death, is even more startling. “Rehab Girl,” about a guy with a crush on a lady who works at a rehab center, is lighter but it’s got an edge.
I’ll stand by what I wrote, adding that the songs have passed the proverbial test of time.
Well, maybe some of those Santa Fe places that sold “$5 cervezas” are no longer so cheap. Otherwise it doesn’t sound dated at all. And the live bonus tunes, while not on the same level as “Rehab Girl,” fit in well.
So even if you haven’t heard the original album — and in fact, if you’ve never heard Joe West, my advice is to dive in.
Video time!
Here's an Barrence set recorded last November at the Jazz Cafe in London
