THROWBACK THURSDAY: Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair!

Here's a little courtroom drama for you:

Judge you want to hear my plea 
Before you open up your court
But I don't want no sympathy
'Cause I done cut my good man's throat
I caught him with a trifling Jane
I warned him 'bout before
I had my knife and went insane
And the rest you ought to know

These, of course are the opening lines of "'Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," a black-humor ditty recorded in 1927 by The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith.

The song, credited to George Brooks -- which was a pseudonym for Fletcher Henderson, the influential bandleader and music director. This is one of many tunes he wrote for Bessie. But it's the most memorable.

The woman in the song is begging the judge to send her to the chair because she knows she has to reap what she's sown.

And if the judge was prone to having sympathy for the poor woman, it probably dissipated after she added  these details to her true confession:

I cut him with my Barlow 
I kicked him in the side
I stood here laughing o'er him
While he wallowed around and died

Yep, by that time he probably was ready to send her to the Devil down below, just like she requested.

Here's Bessie's original:



In 1958 Dinah Washington released an album called Dinah sings Bessie Smith. " 'Lectric Chair" was on it. Below is a TV performance by Washington. I don't know which show it is but it's sometime after her Bessie album was released.


Like a lot of folks my age, I came to this song through David Bromberg's version, which appeared on his 1974 album Wanted Dead or Alive. It's still a staple of his live shows. Playing the lead himself on acoustic guitar, Bromberg turned " 'Lectric  Chair" into a crazy Dixieland romp. He changed the lyrics slightly to make the narrator/killer into a man. (Instead of a "trifling Jane," his loved one was messing around with a "gambling Joe.")

One of my favorite touches is when Bromberg, when begging the judge, says, "Mr. Sirica, please ..." (This was recorded during the Watergate  era, remember.)

Here's a live 1977 performance.



And somehow this funny little song of crime and punishment led to a very short but very strange 2009 film of the same title directed by Guy Maddin and Isabella Rosselini. Actually the film doesn't seem to have much to do with the tune -- except the fact that a snippet of Bessie's song comes in briefly at the 1:31 mark.




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

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Some Satanic Tales from The Vinyl Wastelands

It's the Wacky Wednesday Halloween Countdown!

I recently scored not one but two CD volumes of the incredible Twisted Tales from the Vinyl Wastelands series for a good price. And that was just a few weeks after I purchased another volume from Norton Records, where all 15 volumes are now sold legally.

(And very soon, the wizards at Trailer Park Records will be releasing new vinyl versions of Twisted Tales. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more info.)

So I've been listening to a lot of Twisted Tales tunes lately, sometimes on shuffle mode. And sometimes I've heard THE DEVIL!

Here are three twisted Satanic tales from this wonderful series.

"When De Debbil Taps You On De Back" by Della Hicks) available on Vol. 9: Sorrow City Heebie Jeebies)



"The Devil, My Conscious and I " by Billy Barton (available on Volume 6: Strange Happenings at the Boonies.)



"The Devil Made Me Do It" by child singing sensation Duane Williams (available on Vol.1: Hog Tied & Country Fried)



And what the hell, maybe this devilish delight from my feckless youth will be one some future volume of Twisted Tales ...

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, October 11, 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
Judy in Disguise by Jello Biafra and the Raunch & Soul All-Stars
Big Black Witchcraft Rock by The Cramps
Stare into the Night by Cheetah Chrome
Eviler by The Grannies
Spin the Bottle by The A-Bones
C'mon a My House by The Satellites
Devil Smile by Nekromantix
Rosalyn by The Pretty Things
The Dozens by Eddie One-String Jones

Manny's Bones/ Oh Yeah by Los Lobos
People Who Died by The Jim Carrol Band
WPLJ by The Four Deuces
Wine-O Boogie by Don Ramone, Sr. y Su Orquestra
WPLJ by The Mothers of Invention
Gonna Feed My Baby Poison by The Rocketeers

1970 / Funhouse by The Stooges
The Departed by Iggy & The Stooges
Black Girls by The Violent Femmes
Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor

Crawdad by The Gories
Maybe Your Baby by The Dirtbombs
Ain't That a Bitch by Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Golden Rule by John the Conquerer
But I Forgive You Blues by Don Covay & J. Lemon Blues
This Train by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
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FOLK REMEDY PLAY LIST

8 a.m. to 10 am Sunday Mountain Time 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
Substitute Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's the playlist

Welcome Table and Prayer by Alice Wine
Witness for My Lord by Silver Leaf Quartet

The Holy Spirit by Rev. Lonnie Farris

A Little Talk With Jesus by Ernest Phipps & His Holiness Singers

I'm a Royal Child by Reverend Kelsey

I've Got a Home by Holy Wonders

A Sinner's Plea by The Jubilee Hummingbirds

I Know I Got Religion by Andy Mosely

Don't Forget the Bridge by The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi

I'll Lead a Christian Life by Elder Golden P. Harris

Hell Bound Express Train by Reverend J.M. Gates

Do You Call That Religion? by Rev. A. Johnson

I Prayed All Night by Pressers of Christ

God is Alright by Sons of South

I'll Fly Away by Joe Lastie

Just Beyond the River / Christian Automobile by Bright Light Quartet

Get Ready, I'm Going to Move in the Room Upstairs by Rev. Louis Overstreet

It AIn't Nobody's Biz'ness What I Do by Hoosier Hot Shots

How You Want It Done by Big Bill Broonzy

I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate by Ray Miller & His Hotel Gibson Orchestra

Jimbo Jambo Land by Shorty Godwin

Low Down Rambler Blues by Peg Leg Howell

Old Rub Alcohol Blues by Dock Boggs

Canned Heat Blues by Tommy Johnson

The Devil's Great Grandson by Roy Rogers

Pussy by Harry Roy & His Bat Club Boys

Casey Bill by Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band

She's Hum Dum Dinger by Jimmie Davis

Dying Crapshooter's Blues by Blind Willie McTell
Minglewood Blues by Cannon's Jug Stompers

On the Road Again by Memphis Jug Band

That'll Never Happen No More by Howard Armstrong

Chicken Don't Roost Too High by Georgia Pot Lickers

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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, October 9, 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
Jibber Jabber by The Supersuckers
Kiss and Tell Baby by Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars
Battle with the Bottle by Linda Gail Lewis
Banana Puddin' by Southern Culture on the Skids
Old Chunk of Coal by Billy Joe Shaver
Under the Jail by Mose McCormack
Heaven Buy and Buy by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
I Gotta Go Get My Baby by The Maddox Brothers & Rose
Rubber Hits the Road by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy

The Girl Who Danced Oklahoma / I'm Not That Kat Anymore by Terry Allen
Knoxville Girl by Brett Sparks
Big Lotsa Love by The Bottle Rockets
Hey Baby by Country Blues Review
If I Go Crazy by Peter Case

Night on the Town by Joe West
How Far Down Can I Go? by T. Tex Edwards & The Swingin' Korn Flake Killers
The Dog was Dead by Billy Bob Thornton with Legendary Shack Shakers
Down to the Bone by Legendary Shack Shakers
Sweet Singin' Daddy by Jimmy and Johnny
One Time One Night by Los Lobos
If I Had Three Wishes by Buck Owens
Half Broken Horse by Eilen Jewell
Bloodstains On The Wall by Honeyboy

Together Again by Chris Hillman & Herb Pederson
Small Town Radio by Jim Terr
Streets of Laredo by Webb Wilder
That's the Way Love Goes by The Harmony Sisters
It's All in the Movies by Merle Haggard
Goodnight Irene by Wayne & Gina Hancock
I'll See You In My Dreams by Asylum Street Spankers
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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THROWBACK THURSDAY: Go to Bed, Already, Irene!

On his new solo album, Crosseyed Heart, Keith Richards (he's a member of some band whose name I'm trying to remember ...) takes a stab at a true American classic, Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene." And it's a good stab indeed, as you'll hear below:



And below, Keith talks about why he recorded "Irene." For one thing, he says the lyrics referring to morphine (as he sings it, "Well I love Irene, god knows I do. I'll love her till the seas run dry. And if Irene ever turned me down,  I'll take morphine and die") were "right up my alley."



Indeed, "Irene," though a lot of people think of it almost like a sweet lullaby, is a pretty dark tune. Before the lyrics even get to the morphine, the singer, who has just been left by his young wife, has already declared, "Sometimes I get the great notion to jump in the river and drown."

Richards' cover actually is the second new release in which Irene raised her sleepy head,Just recently, Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs, on their new album Coulda Shoulda Woulda, did a song called "Jump in the River," which has obvious roots in "Goodnight Irene." In it, Lawyer Dave sings, "Sometimes I get the big idea, I'm gonna jump in the river and drown." Notice, this wasn't a "great notion," just a "big idea."  (Sorry, I can't find this song on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud or anywhere. You can hear it on my latest Big Enchilada podcast though.)

Leadbelly recorded several versions of his song, Here is one of them:



But the song wouldn't break nationally until shortly after Leadbelly died. That was in 1950 when a folk group called The Weavers (which included Pete Seeger) did a safe, soft and sanitized version that was a major hit. You won't find any morphine here:



This big hit probably helped bring The Weavers to the attention of the Red-baiters during the McCarthy era. They were blacklisted, Seeger being found guilty of contempt of Congress when he refused to answer questions from  House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1955. (His conviction was later overturned.)

But that didn't stop Irene from sweeping the country. The Weavers' hit unleashed a wave of covers by pop, folk, country, and later rock 'n' roll acts.

Country singer Hank Thompson poked fun at the phenomenon of Irene-mania in his song "Wake Up, Irene."




And here is a Spotify list that shows Thompson was right. Here you'll find covers ranging from Sinatra to Little Richard; Ernest Tubb to Brian Wilson; Gene Autry to Little Richard. Enjoy!





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

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Got Plenty of Lemon, Got Plenty of Wine

Well, it's a good good wine,
 It really make you feel so fine

Today I'm going to salute, and hopefully turn a few people on to one of my favorite lesser-known, under-rated and unsung (actually, it was sung) Frank Zappa songs of all time:

"WPLJ" -- (That's White Port and Lemon Juice for all you squares) -- which was the opening track on The Mother of Invention's 1970 album Burnt Weenie Sandwich.

I was a student at Santa Fe High School when Burnt Weenie first came out and WPLJ immediately became part of the jukebox of my mind the first time I heard it.

It's one of Zappa's over-the-top doo-wop extravaganzas. I almost wonder whether this was an outtake from Cruising with Ruben & The Jets, released just a couple of years before. Burnt Weenie Sandwich ends with another Rubenesque number called "Valerie" (originally recorded by Jackie & The Starlites.)

Let's take a listen, shall we:



Like I say, I loved "WPLJ," from the start. The sheer absurdity of going on and on in praising this low-rent drink always made me laugh. But what really made the tune was the finish, that  crazy Spanish rap by Mother Roy Estrada at the end of the song:

  “The modern-day pachuco refuses to die.”
Ruben Sano:

Por qué no consigues tu . . . tu carnal que nos compre some wine ese, ándale, pinche bato, puto, hombre, no te hagas nalga, hombre . . . (chale!) no seas tan denso, hombre (chale!), ándale, dile, porque no merecer, ándale, pinche vino, más sua . . . más suave es, más . . . más lindo que la chingada, hombre, ándale, pinche bato, hombre, quiere tu carnal, hombre, tu carnal ese, tú, tú sabes, tú sabes esto de la movida, tú sabes la movida, ese, tú sabes cómo es, tú sabes, pinche vino, puta, ándale, pinche bato, cabrón, ándale ... (Transcription from  Zappa Wiki Jawaka) 

To me it sounded like Santa Fe in 1970! I had tons of friends who talked just like that.

By the way, I ran this through Google Translate and came up with the English version:

Why not get your. . . your carnal buy us some wine that, go ahead, click bato, fucking, man, do not get your butt, man. . . (chale!) Do not be so dense, man (chale!), go ahead, tell, because they deserve, go ahead, click wine, more sua. . . softer, more. . . cuter than a bitch, man, go ahead, click bato man wants your carnal man your carnal that, you, you know, you know this from the move, the move you know, that, you know how it is, you you know, fucking wine, whore, go ahead, click bato, bastard, go ahead

I'm sure that's 100 percent correct.

But "WPLJ" was not a Zappa original. He was covering an obscure Salinas, California doo-wop group called The 4 Deuces, who recorded as a B-side in 1956. The song was used in an ad for for Italian Swiss Colony, a company that produced white port.

Here's how that sounded:



But notice, the Deuces don't include the magical Spanish spoken-word performance at the end. I always wondered what inspired Zappa to do that.

Then in 2002, Arhoolie Records released a bitchen compilation called Pachuco Boogie full of Mexican-American hipster jazz between 1948 and 1950, mainly in Los Angeles. A big chunk of the selections, including the title song were by one  Edmundo Martínez Tostado, an El Paso native better known by his stage name: Don Tosti.

Tosti and his group also recorded under the names Don Ramone Sr. y su Orquesta and Cuarteto de Ramon Martinez.

Whatever he called his band, these two songs make me thirsty for some white port and lemon juice and hungry for a burnt weenie sandwich.

I'd say mystery solved.