THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, March 3, 1970 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, March 3, 1970 U in verse By JOHN ALLEN Robert Bly doesn't read his poems, he performs them. His readings become a kind of dance with narration, and at times it is difficult to tell which is the accompaniment and which the song. In the course of an evening they become one, and it ceases to mat- ter, and some kind of union of the voice and the body creates a third entity that is not simply the sum of its parts. Perhaps that is why it is somehow more satisfying to hear him than to read him. The voice that gives shape to his poetry is not altogether present on the printed page. There is another advantage to hearing him read rather than simply reading him. It is the advantage of motion picture over a segence of slides. His images are not necessarily enhanced by be- ing dwelt upon overlong, defining as they do a curve of energy rather -than a series of independent points. When reading him it is a temptation to settle upon single visions, either to relish them or quarrel with them: to fix on images that are either too strong, too weak, or too private when approached statically. Hearing them read, however, removes the temptation by making it impossible. The flow of the voice provides the necessary wings There are at least two further advantages to hearing the poet: it fixes in the mind the tonalities and inflections of the poet's speech; and - certainly in the case of Bly - the experience may be rich with the fringe benefits of his offhand observations and general patter The fringe benefits of hearing Bly read are manifold: tales told about other poets - some of them friends, some of them quite obviously the opposite; offhand remarks, sometimes bordering on the vicious, regarding English faculties - individually and col- lectively; and the flashes of philosophy and anecdote that round out the image of the poet as poet, as citizen, as thinking and feel- ing human being. What emerges from an evening of hearing the poet is a per- spective not readily accessible to the reading eye divorced from the hearing ear, a perspective that is particularly valuable in coming to grips with a poet like Bly who sets great store in the voice be- hind the words - not just the persona of the speaker but the ris- ing and falling of his speech, the intonations that are not just a signature capable of being copied but a fingerprint fixed in the solid body. Mr. Bly divided his program into poems on the darker side and poems on the lighter side - a distinction not between serious and unserious poems but between poems of protest and poems of affirmation. Since the program was made up largely of unpublish- ed works it is virtually impossible to quote from them with the ac- curacy that poetry deserves. Hearing "The Teeth Mother Naked At Last," however, seemed to me the best part of the evening; and the reading of selections from an equally long, as yet unfinished, poem at the close of the program was perhaps the least satisfying: partly because the readings were understandably fragmentary, partly be- cause the poet was more fixed to the printed page in front of him, and partly because the hour took some of the energy from the at- tention the poem deserved. DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN The Daily Official Bulletin is an official publication of the Univer- sity of Michigan. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN f o r m to Room 3528 L. S. A B I d g., before 2 p.m., of the day preceding pub- lication and by 2 p.m. Friday for Saturday and Sunday. Items ap- pear once only. Student organiza- tion notices a r e not accepted for publication. F o r more informa- tion, phone 764-4270. TUESDAY, MARCH 3 Day Calendar Dept. of Geol. and Mineralogy and Inst. of Science and Tech.: Dr. D. C. Tozer, U. of Toronto, "The Thermal History of the Earth", Physics and Astronomy Mui. 4:00 p.m. Physics Seminar: N. B'ulltimore, "The Pomeranchuk Theorem", P&A Colloq. Rm., 4:15 p.m. Student Assembly Mtg.: All LSA stu- dents welcome, 1017 Angell Hall, 7:30 p.m. FOREIGN VISITORS The following individuals can be reached through Foreign Visitor Divi- sion of Visitor and Guest Relations Of- fice, Rooms 22-24, Mich. Union. Mr. M. Telem; Head of Registry, Tel- Aviv Univ., Israel. Mar. 3-6. Mr. Zingerevice; Senior System Anal- yst, Tel-Aviv Univ., Israel. Mar. 3-6. (Continued on Page 6) -M" I BARBER BILLIARDS BOWL!ING STAND p. MICHIGAN UNION WILL BE OPEN AT REGULAR HOURS DURING SPRING BREAK MARCH 4-8 L a TV RIENTALS $10 per nmouth FREE Service and Delivery ---NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED--- CALL: Nejac TV IocntaIs' 662-5671 SERVING BIG 10SCHOOLS SINCE 1961 Joan Baez: One step behind THE SONY 252-D STEREO TAPE DECK IS THE PERFECT 3RD ROOMMATE HI-Fl BUYS Ann Arbor-East Lansin 618 S. Main 769-4700 "Quality Sound Through I f--_ DIAL 5-6290 New York Post -Trp E~. Cpf A FRANKOVICH PRODUCTION TECHNICOLOAS TODAY AT 1-35-7-9 p.m. Joan Baez holds a mirror up to, the music of the folk, cap- tur'ing the present in reflec- thrs of things past. Listening 'to -her latest album, One Day at a Time, you won't discover any- thing that will alter music for the next decade. She does not possess the creative genius of Bob Dylan 'or John Lennon-Paul McCartney. You have heard many of her songs before. Some, like "No Expectations" (Rolling Stones) and "Long Black Veil" The Band)', are still on the market. But even though Joan's songs are seldom original and often already well-known, her voice and, interpretations make her. one of the most cogent of fe- male folk singers. Judy Collins offers a close second, but some- how Judy neve-r seems to re- "move herself from the concert" hall and recording studio. Joan Baez is an activist; she possess-, es her music and exploits. it for' her. own ends. She uses her voice to express her beliefs, and its strength lies more in its deeply emotional rather than professional qualities. In this new album, especially, the.songs contain undercurrents of the Revolution she and her imprisoned husband David Har- ris support. As she summarizes in her let- ter to David on the inside cover of the album, "Your spirit is strong. here on Struggle Moun- tai. It seems that keeping us apart is much trickier than Uncle Sam ever counted on. The Arizona sky breathes over your head, exhaling 'a calm that stretches all the way to Struggle Mountain. You are fine. We are healthy in the sun. I even think I see the' birth of a real revolu- tion, if our weapon remains the power of love . .. and if we keep, doing it one day at a time." Two songs that contain such 'an obvious message are "The Ghetto" and "Joe Hill." The last ' stanza of "The Ghetto" states: Well, if there's such a thing as revolution,1 And there will be if we rise to the call, When we build a new Jerusalem, There won't be no ghetto at all. While the music of this song and the poetry are rooted in black spirituals, the story has a contemporary punch line. Like- wise, "Joe Hill" is about a miner who is killed while fighting for workers' 'rights but whose spirit returns to encourage those who remain. While other singers document the ideology of the times, very few of them have balance of poetry that Joan consciously includes in her albums. "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "A Song for David," her two original compo- sitions, are bits of imagination that brighten any revolution. However, despite these at- tempts at spiritual uplift, the overwhelming mood of the al- bum conveys a sense of collapse. Even the love songs despair in their plea for better days. At times the pace is so painfully slow that it seems as if she has reached a state of ennui from which there is no return. And when she sings "No Expecta- tions," the words act as an im- portant commentary on the times (Anyone who listened to the words when the Rolling Stones sang it, please stand up.): Your heart is like a diamond, You throw your pearls to swine, And as I watch you leaving me, You pack my peace of mind. So, take me to the airport And put me on a plane, I got no expectations To pass through here again. Not only does Joan present songs with which she can stronglyj identify, she also acts like a musicologist, carefully organizing each to fit a pattern of style, accompaniment and content. Her earliest albums contain many ballads from England and colonial America. Appropriately, they are accom- panied by herself on the guitar. Now she has moved to a new interest, the music of the South and especially the Nashville Sound that Dylan recently pop- ularized. (In fact, the album itself was recordedat Bradley's Barn in Mt. Julietn Tenn.) Seventeen musicians contribute to the accompaniment, includ- ing electric and steel guitars, fiddle, viola, harmonica, piano, organ and drums. Additionally Joan partakes of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazel- wool -- Johnny Cash/June Carter tradition and sings sev- eral songs with still unidentified Jeffrey Shurtleff. One arrange- ment that the male vocalist es- 4 pecially enhances is "Seven Bridges Road," which allows Joan to make use of her soprano range. The end product of this blend of traditional ballads, electric sound, social relevancies and popular tunes is peculiarly Joan Baez. However, One Day at a Time fails in one respect. Some- how you never quite understand why Joan chooses songs of the South to express the Revolution. The Nashville Sound has been a little overused. To be really great is to adjust to changes, but Joan Baez hasn't kept pace lately. Perhaps Dylan will give her a little ad- vance notice in the future. The Michigan Daily, edited and man- aged by students at the University of Michigan. News phone: 764-0552. Second Class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues- day through Sunday morning Univer- sity year. Subscription rates: $10 by carier, $10 by mail. Summer Session published Tuesday through Saturday morning. Subscrip- tion rates: $3.00 by carrier, $3.00 by mail. A h Quality Equipment" Nonetheless, it was somehow right to ing int6 being, a poem full of the future. end on a poem still com- ------- ........ I DOUBLE FEATURE "Best Picture of the Year!" -Judith Crist, N.Y. Magazine -Wanda Hale, N.Y. Daily News "A Major Creative Movie Work!" -Cue "OH WHAT A LOWELY WA R" -AND-- "ONE OF THE YEAR'S 10 BEST" -Mich. 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