TERRY ALLEN + THE PANHANDLE MYSTERY BAND
PEDAL STEAL + FOUR CORNERS (PoB-045)
Happy New Year! We have lots of heavy-duty news to share today: our third archival project with Terry Allen; a reprint of our infamous Terry Allen “Today’s Rainbow Is Tomorrow’s Tamale” shirts; and Allen’s upcoming Howlin’ from the Houdini Hole concert in Austin.
First, American Songwriter has premiered “Pedal Steal: Chapter 1,” the first installment of our biggest, longest, and most involved Terry Allen reissue to date, Pedal Steal + Four Corners.
Pre-order Pedal Steal + Four Corners
$14.00 – $34.00
Or support via: Bandcamp (Blue or Black LP+3CD+book/digital) | Other Options (physical/digital/international)
[youtube https://youtu.be/uIdcm-Xtl38]
Album Info
Legendary Texan artist Terry Allen occupies a unique position straddling the frontiers of country music and conceptual art; he has worked with everyone from Guy Clark to David Byrne to Lucinda Williams, and his artwork resides in museums worldwide. Pedal Steal + Four Corners collects, for the first time, Allen’s radio plays and long-form narrative audio works—two and a half hours of cinematic songs, stories, and country-concrète sound collage—in a deluxe gatefold edition, including one LP, three CDs, a DL code, and an exhaustive 28pp. color booklet boasting the first in-depth essay to explore this singular body of work; dozens of images of Allen’s related visual art; and full scripts and credits for all five pieces (a total of 33k words). Pedal Steal (1985), originally composed as a soundtrack to a dance performance, appears on vinyl for the first time, as well as on CD. Torso Hell (1986), Bleeder (1990), Reunion (a return to Juarez) (1992), and Dugout (1993) comprise the Four Corners suite, radio plays broadcast on NPR and never before released, now spanning two CDs. All audio has been meticulously remastered from the original tapes. Fans of Allen’s violent masterpiece Juarez will find much to love in these haunting Southwestern desert dramas, which feature Jo Harvey Allen, Lloyd Maines, Butch Hancock, Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, and many others. Roger Corman tried to option the film rights; Jesse Helms tried to ban them; now you can own them!
Pre-order Details
Please note that this release is available in a limited desert-dusk blue colored vinyl edition in addition to regular black vinyl. Both editions are otherwise identical LP+3CD+book sets, featuring a 145g virgin vinyl LP; heavy-duty board gatefold jacket; printed inner LP sleeve; custom 3CD portfolio; high-res Bandcamp download code; and an exhaustive 28pp. color booklet. Read on here.
Contingent on manufacturing schedules, we will ship your pre-ordered album approximately a week in advance of the March 22, 2019 worldwide release date. All pre-orders include an immediate 320k MP3 download of lead single “Pedal Steal: Chapter 1,” as premiered by American Songwriter.
For digital-only preorders, please visit Bandcamp (which also offers uncompressed, high-resolution audio files) or your favorite digital marketplace.
“That night at the Wigwam Motel, blasted on acid and drinking mezcal, in bed with the Dog Girl from Animas, broken glass twinklin’ like rhinestones on the sheets, looking at PTL, fighting over who gets the worm . . .”
Acclaim for Terry Allen and Pedal Steal
Navajo chants blend into fuzzed-up steel guitar; dirty-realist narratives succumb to skeletal ballads; B-movie dialogue blossoms over a plaintive violin. Pedal Steal represents roots rock’s rarely encountered experimental fringe. – The Times
Think Sam Shepard with steel guitar, and you’ll get the idea. – The Independent
Allen takes no prisoners, pulls no punches. – Rolling Stone
Allen’s songs extract strangeness from the known world and use it as a means of acquiring greater knowledge. – The New Yorker
He’s pretty close to a master lyricist. – The NY Times
Riveting. – NPR
Stunning poetry. The lines themselves quiver with a raw vision rarely heard. – Pitchfork
I love Terry. He’s a funny son of a bitch. – Guy Clark
People tell me it’s country music, and I ask, “Which country?” – Terry Allen
Terry Allen’s Tomorrow’s Tamale T-Shirts Back in Stock
White: front. Slate: front. 
White: front detail. Slate: back detail.
Shirts are available exclusively on PoB’s website. More details here.
$25.00
Terry Allen’s Juarez & Lubbock
Do you own these masterpieces?
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Howlin’ from the Houdini Hole, Jan. 19 in Austin
Cross the Razor: Terry Allen’s Border Burn
In 2006 Terry Allen sent us a mixtape of some of his favorite songs of the US-Mexico frontera. Here it is, as relevant as ever, with a few of our own additions. As Terry jokes, it’s ALL border: “If they’re gonna build a wall, they should build it high enough to keep the birds out too…” His 1994 piece Cross the Razor/Cruzar la navaja positioned two vans on either side of the border for musicians to play across the artificial divide, momentarily breaching the fence.
