I've been reading John Waters' latest book, Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder, which is, as are all things Waters, hilarious. But this Throwback Thursday was inspired by one particular chapter called "I've Got Rhythm," in which Waters expounds upon his wide-ranging musical tastes -- including hillbilly music."
A lot of people today claim country-western music ain't what it used to be, and I kind of agreed until I started listening to the Outlaw Country radio station on Sirius in my car. God, there were so many beyond-cool hillbilly musical gems before and after Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams and Ferlin Huskey that I had never known before. Sure I had hung around redneck bars all my life, but now I felt the weight of my faux-cracker musical ignorance. Suddenly I realized I was an old Caucasian listener who needed to stick his citified ears through the twanging glory hole of country music to have them rearoused.
Waters suggests making an 8-track tape (!) of several hillbilly songs he suggests to beef up your appreciation of hillbilly music old and new "... then play them over and over so they are drilled in your mind like the Catholic catechism."
I don't have the equipment to make an 8-track tape, so I'll just put 'em all in a blog post.
(So no, this is not your typical Throwback Thursday where most the music I babble about is several decades old. But as my favorite filth elder wrote in this chapter, "...retro is a state of mind,not a year."
He starts with this song, "Firebug" by J.D. McPherson. Says Waters, " `Burn it up, burn it down,' J.D. sings, and you can bet if there's a horndog arsonist listening anywhere nearby, he'll come sliding down your pole and ignite on contact."
Waters also suggested one of my favorite tunes by one of my favorite artists, Ray Wylie Hubbard, which he calls "a real mating call for the ill-bred."
This song by Kevin Fowler, "If I Could Make a Livin' Drinkin'," Waters says, "would be the perfect pickup song if you were looking for a date either in the welfare or unemployment office."
Turning now to some older stuff, Waters admires Hank Thompson's "Hangover Tavern." Says the author, "I told you a hangover can sing if you'll just let it."
Finally here's song Waters calls the "saddest, most heartbreaking, most ridiculous but touching down-home narration ...": Hawkshaw Hawkins' "Lonesome 7-7203."
Sunday, September 8, 2019 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist:
(substitute) OPENING THEME: The Holygram's Song (Back from the Shadows Again) by Firesign Theatre
I Wanna Die in New Orleans by Dinola
Whatever by Ty Segall
Wild Honey by Weird Omen
My Life to Live by The Flesh Eaters
Driftwood-40-23 by Hickoids
Wild America by Iggy Pop
Jock-a-Moe (Iko Iko) by Kermot Ruffins & The Barbecue Swingers
Jimmy Jones / Space Brother by Alien Space Kitchen
Questions by The Toy Trucks
White Lily by Ghost Wolves
Snack Crack by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire
Evil Eye by Dead Moon
Raw Meat by Black Lips
Smooth Commander by Left Lane Cruiser
Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo by Jesse Hill
Bad Neighborhood by Daddy Long Legs
One and the Same by The War & Treaty
Dog by The Bottle Rockets
Feel So Good by Shirley & Lee
Dirty Love by Frank Zappa & The Mothers
Rathole Guest by Rattanson
Plant the Seed by Imperial Wax
Big New Prinz by The Fall
Teenage Warning by Kazik & Zdunek Ensemble
Stole Away by REQ'D
You Cared Enough to Lie by Eilen Jewell
Dream Killer by Jack Oblivian & The Dream Killers
Cry On by Irma Thomas
I Wish I Was in New Orleans by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Aug. 30, 2019
So you kids like the rock ’n’ roll? I sure do. Here are several albums that have been making me happy in recent weeks.
* Lost Weekend byJack Oblivian & The Dream Killers (Black & Wyatt): The man born Jack Yarber was a member of the iconic 1990s garage-punk trio out of Memphis known as The Oblivians. They split up about 20 years ago (though they reunite every so often, and in 2013, released a fantastic album called Desperation).
This album is a collection of tracks that, according to the record company, are mainstays in Jack’s live shows. Most of the songs were recorded in his home studio, which means the sound lacks a polished sheen but is rich in immediacy.
My favorites are the sweaty, urgent minor-key rockers like “Lone Ranger of Love” and “Scarla,” the latter driven by a slithering slide guitar. Then there’s “Boy in a Bubble,” (no, not the Paul Simon song), which starts out, “I was born on the 15th floor/New Year’s Eve in the Psycho Ward …”
I also like the sleazo, jazzy “Guido Goes to Memphis.” Starting out with a soulful electric piano part (which reminds me of the old Hugh Masekela hit “Grazing in the Grass”), the tune just screams “Memphis!”
* First Taste by Ty Segall (Drag City): It seems like only yesterday — actually it was early June — Fudge Sandwich, which consisted of wild covers of songs by the likes of John Lennon, Neil Young, Funkadelic, The Grateful Dead, War, and various obscure punk groups.
when I wrote about the prolific Segall’s album.
The ink was barely dry when he released this new one. (And actually, I recently learned that he released a live record, Deforming Lobes, sometime between Fudge City and this one). The kid’s barely over 30, and he’s driven.
Like Segall’s best work, most the songs on First Taste are fuzzed-out guitar attacks. But he also embellishes his sound with tasteful electronics that never overwhelm the rock, a horn section on the five-minute “Self Esteem,” and on at least a couple of songs, mandolin.
Standouts here include the frantic-paced tune called “The Fall” — funny, The Fall never recorded a song called “Ty Segall” — that includes an actual drum solo; the upbeat “I Sing Them,” where you hear that mandolin as well as what sounds like a crazy flute (though I suspect might actually be some electronically altered sound); and the hard-edged “I Worship the Dog,” a profound statement of religious faith.
* Surrealistic Feast by Weird Omen(Dirty Water): I was trying to figure out what made this hopped-up psychedelic French trio sound so unique. Then I learned that instead of a bass, Weird Omen has a baritone sax player — Fred Rollercoaster — who used to play with King Khan & The Shrines. Along with guitarist-singer Sister Ray (thank you, Lou Reed) and drummer Remi Pablo, Weird O is an aural treat.
The accurately titled “Earworm” is a 100-mile-an-hour blast, as is the hypnotic but muscular “Trouble in My Head.” But the fast-and-loud aesthetic isn’t the only trick Weird Omen knows. “The Goat” starts out slinky and bluesy but soon transmutates into some kind of audio Godzilla stomping on your city.
And in the last song, “I Will Write You Poetry,” the band mines the rich vein of doo-wop in their own peculiar way. I take that as an omen for more weirdness to come from this inventive band.
* Lowdown Ways by Daddy Long Legs (Yep Roc): Here’s a blues-stomping trio who rose from the The Vampire, the one they did with R&B maniac T. Valentine) before moving to their current label.
swamps of backwoods Brooklyn, New York, to create an addictive kind-of-rootsy, kind-of punky sound. Led by a long, tall, full-throated singer, guitarist, and harmonica honker named Brian Hurd (originally from St. Louis), DLL recorded three albums on the venerated Norton Records (four if you include
I was afraid that leaving Norton might detract from Daddy Long Legs’ magic.
Naw. They sound as strong as ever.
Like the best lowdown blues, nothing on this album will make you feel low down. Just about every track here is a delight. I never thought I’d hear a blues tune called “Pink Lemonade,” but there’s one on Lowdown Blues, made especially memorable by Murat Aktürk’s tremolo-heavy guitar licks. Other favorites include “Glad Rag Ball” (in which Hurd invites someone “to meet me in the bathroom stall”); and “Célaphine,” in which Hurd’s harmonica sounds like a zydeco accordion.
* Night Beats Play The Sonics’ ‘Boom’by Night Beats (Heavenly): I was happy to see this new album by this garage/psychedelic band from Seattle — mainly because they released an album earlier this year called Myth of a Man that was disappointing. It probably was Dan Auerbach’s pop-heavy production, or maybe it was the fact that two of the three members of the band had quit, leaving singer Danny Lee Blackwell alone with a bunch of studio musicians.
So this tribute to the fabled Washington State band from the ’60s was a nice step back to the Night Beats’ roots.
Blackwell succeeded in taking the older group’s sound and giving it his own twist. This especially is obvious on “Don’t You Just Know It.” This is a funky old New Orleans R&B classic originally recorded by Huey “Piano” Smith & The Clowns in 1958. Night Beats mutates it into a mysterioso, minor-key slow-burner.
I’m not claiming this record puts Night Beats in the same stratosphere as The Sonics — who played what I consider to be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll show I’ve ever seen at the Ponderosa Stomp a few years ago. But I have to admire Blackwell for even attempting this.
Howdy, friends and neighbors, I come to bring peace to the barnyard with another fine Big Enchilada hillbilly episode including some fire-blazin'. footstompin', goodtime country, bluegrass, western swing, rockabilly and cowpunk sounds. We've fixed the barn up all fancy because the cows are coming home and the chickens are coming to roost.
And remember, The Big Enchilada is officially listed in the iTunes store. So go subscribe, if you haven't already (and gimme a good rating and review if you're so inclined.) Thanks.
Sunday, August 25, 2019 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Good Time Bad Girl by Jack Oblivian & The Dream Killers
Cinderella by Night Beats
Chippewa by Benjamin Booker
Monkey David Wine by Scott H. Biram & Jesse Dayton
Human Lawn Dart by James Leg
I'll Get Lucky by The Plimsouls
V's Cocktail by Fire Bad!
Good Family by REQ'D
It Was I by Skip & Flip
It Ain't the Meat by The Swallows
Hurt Me by Thee Headcoatees
You Can't Buy a Gun by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Thanks to You by Margaret Burke
Bless You by Devil Dogs
You Got the Goods on You by Bobby Rush
Come and Have a Go If You Think You're Hard Enough by The Mekons
I Put a Spell on You by Creedence Clearwater Revival LOUISIANA SET
Rosa, Tomorrow is Sunday by Dennis McGee
In the Summertime by Buckwheat Zydeco
Slow Horses and Fast Women by Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas
You'd Be Thinking of Me by Lee & Shirley
Bottom of the Boot by Horace Trehan
All These Things by Art Neville
Judy in Disguise with Glasses by Jello Biafra & The Raunch 'n' Soul Allstars
Eyeball in the Bottom of the Well by Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys
Don't You Just Know It by Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns
You're Gonna Look Just Like a Monkey by Boozoo Chavis
Call the Police by The Oblivians
Annie Mae's Cafe by Stephanie McDee
Cajun Stripper by Doug Kershaw
Goin' Back to New Orleans by Dr. John with The Neville Brothers, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain and more
Lucky Day by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
The Coen brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) is one of my favorite movies of all time and contains one of my favorite soundtracks of all times. And one of the most moving songs in that incredible soundtrack is Allison Krauss' version of "Down to the River to Pray," an a capella hymn on which she was backed by the First Baptist Church Choir of Whitehouse, Tennessee and several other singers who were involved in the film.
"River to Pray" was used in the funny, yet moving, baptism scene in O Brother in which Delamar (Tim Blake Nelson) finds redemption "The preacher says all my sins is warshed away, including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo."
So where did this song come from?
The first evidence of the hymn is in a book, published in 1867 called Slave Songs Of The United States, in which it's included under the title "The Good Old Way,"
One little problem: Though it was recorded many times in the 20th Century, I can't find any version before O Brother -- including the lyrics in the 1867 book -- that mentions "the river." It seems that before Alison Krauss, everyone was going down to the VALLEY to pray.
The first known recording of the song was in 1927 by the Price Family Sacred Singers on Okeh Records. I couldn't find a version of that on YouTube or anywhere else.
However, I did find "Moaner Let's Go Down in the Valley" by The Delta Big Four, a gospel group that included Mississippi blues pioneer Charlie Patton, recorded in 1929.
Eleven years later, Lead Belly got his hands on it.
Here's live version of Doc Watson's version from the 1960s
Arlo Guthrie did a goopy folk-rock version in the mid 1970s
But it was Alison Krauss who took us to the river in O Brother Where Art Thou.
