Viva Al Hurricane!

El Godfather in action

The Godfather of New Mexico music, Alberto Sanchez, better known as Al Hurricane, is hanging it up. At the age of 79, he's near the end of his "Farewell Tour." What's being billed as his last show will be Saturday, Sept. 5, during the Fiesta de Santa Fe’s Mariachi Extravaganza at the Fort Marcy Ballpark.

I was saddened to learn that Al is suffering from Stage 4 prostate cancer.

My New Mexican colleague Staci Matlock just wrote a wonderful profile of Hurricane's life and career in today's paper. You can find that HERE. You also should check out some more videos of Al's interviews, shot by Natalie Guillen, HERE.

And if you've really come down with Hurricane mania, you can even check out the 1998 profile I did.  I tacked it on a political column from a few years ago in which I'd mentioned Al. CLICK HERE (and scroll down for the profile.)

New Mexico loves you, Al!

Enjoy some of his music below.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FMEmail me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens

Look at That Moon by Carl Mann

Mud by Legendary Shack Shakers

Riot in Cell Block # 9 by Wanda Jackson

New Deal of Love by Hank Thompson

Guacamole by Freddie Fender with Augie Meyers

He'll Have to Go by Ry Cooder

Cowboy in Flames by The Waco Brothers

Liquored Up by Southern Culture on the Skids

Pappa's on the House Top by Dave & Phil Alvin

Stealth Cowboy by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy

 

Wreck of the Old 97 by Johnny Cash

Timebomb by The Old 97s

I'm Through Hurtin' by Dale Watson

The Ballad of Charles Whitman by Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys

White Dress by Anthony Leon & The Chain

If You Take Drugs You're Gonna Die by The Beaumonts

Old Chunk of Coal by Billy Joe Shaver

Small Ya'll by George Jones

Tight Like That by Asylum Street Spankers

 

 

Am I Still Country by Jim Ed Brown

Judas Iscariot by Joe West & The Sinners

I Can't Stop Loving You Now by Skeeter Davis & NRBQ

Ice Water by Peter Case

Wheels by Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen

Which One is to Blame by The Malpass Brothers

May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose by Little Jimmy Dickens

Darling Cora by Corbin Hayslett

Singing in the Bathtub by R. Crumb & The Cheap Suit Serenaders

 

Sittin' and Thinkin' by Charlie Rich

Poor Joe by Audrey Auld

Hallelujah Anyway by Slim Cessna's Auto Club

Touch Taven Elizabeth LaPrelle & Jadoo

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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THROWBACK THURSDAY: Happy Birthday Carter Stanley

Ralph (with banjo) and Carter Stanley (with guitar)

Carter Stanley, half of the seminal bluegrass band The Stanley Brothers, would have been 90 years old today.

He didn't make. Although his younger brother Ralph still is touring, the hard-drinking Carter died of cirrhosis more than 50 years ago.

As pointed out painfully in a 2004 article by Eddie Dean in The Washington Post, ever since the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? Ralph Stanley has won all sorts of accolades and respect and generally is considered the grand living patriarch of bluegrass. But Carter, outside of bluegrass and folk circles, has been all but forgotten.

Few would argue that [Ralph] Stanley has long since earned every penny of his career-capping cash-in, which a few years ago seemed as likely as his winning the Virginia Lottery. Yet there is a nagging sense that this Appalachian fairy tale is missing its crucial character, if not the leading man.  ... Without Carter, there would have been no Stanley Brothers, perhaps the most revered brother act in country music history. Carter was the founding member and the driving force, while kid brother Ralph, at least in the early years, mostly tagged along for the ride.

So today on his birthday we celebrate Carter Stanley with some of the music he left behind.

First, here's an audio clip of Carter sharing the stage with bluegrass originator Bill Monroe. The Stanley Brothers broke up for a couple of years in the early '50s. During part of that time, Carter joined Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. Check out the dis of Flatt & Scruggs in this song's introduction.



Here the Stanleys, with their band The Clinch Mountain Boys perform on Pete Seeger's mid-60s television show.



I'm including this simply because it's my favorite Stanley Brothers song of all time.



And here, the Stanleys cover a Hank song. Not Hank Williams, Hank Ballard! Some bluegrass purists hate this! I like it, even though it would have been far more bitchen had they done "Work With Me Annie" instead.



Happy birthday. Carter

WACKY WEDNESDAY: An Ode to Trailer Trash

from Alpha's Flickr page

Here are a bunch of tunes that just kind of tickle me -- except one, which you'll see below. They all appeal to my inner Okie redneck.

I just stumbled across this stupid tune by a singer named Colt Ford and immediately liked it. You'll see why. Or not.



I knew there had to be more like this, so I searched Youtube for "Trailer Trash" and up popped this one from a band called  Powder Mill.



Of course, I couldn't leave out Southern Culture on the Skids and this early tune of theirs. I like this fan-produced video:



All the above songs were written and sung in good fun. This next one wasn't. (Don't let the "cover photo" fool you.)




 This one, uploaded in 2013, was "written after idiot judge limited the amount of time I could have with my sons and hooked me up for half my income for child support while they all lived with my ex's meth head boyfriend."

Man, as the veteran of two divorces,both of which induced some pretty bitter moments, I can feel this guy's pain. I left him a note saying "It gets better," because if you can eventually rise above the bitterness, it will get better. I just pray this guy and his sons are doing much better.

But let's not leave Wacky Wednesday on a downer note. Here's another silly "Trailer Trash" tune -- and a fan-made video -- from a group called Rebel Son.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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

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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

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

Dog by The Bottle Rockets

Cowboy No. 77 by Charlie Pickett

Hogs on the Highway by Bad Livers

Are You Still My Girl by Joe West & The Sinners

Fuck Off by Audrey Auld

 

Sheik of Araby by Martin, Bogan & The Armstrongs

When I Was a Cowboy by Jim Kweskin Jug Band

Double A Daddy by Wayne Hancock

Big Time by The Howlin' Brothers

San Antonio Romeo Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band

Who Shot Sam by George Jones

Tiger Man by John Schooley

The Way of the Fallen by Ray Wylie Hubbard

You've Got Some Cheating To Do by Rex Hobart And The Misery Boys

 

Good Ship Venus by Loudon Wainwright III

Ruby Are You Mad at Your Man by Carolina Chocolate Drops

Trucks, Tractors and Trains by The Dirt Daubers

Shake It and Break It by Devil in a Woodpile

Put Down the Gun by Joe Ely

A Death in the Family by The Malpass Brothers

Greasy Love by Pearls Mahone

Dance Me to Death by The Hi-Liters

My Heart's Been Cheatin' on Me by James Hand

 

The Car Hank Died In by The Austin Lounge Lizards

A World of Blue by Dwight Yoakam

Payphone by Eric Hisaw

Moanin' at the Midnight Train by Butch Hancock

I Forgot More Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs

8:05 by Moby Grape

Iowa City by Eleni Mandell

A Girl Named Johnny Cash by Harry Hayward

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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THROWBACK THURSDAY: Calypso Biographical Sketches

Sir Lancelot Sings for The Zombie

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.

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Sheik Out!

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.

Happy tent-creeping.


For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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
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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

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

Bury Me at Walmart by Audrey Auld

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

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