THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Friday, March 21, 1969

THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, March 21, 1969



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Back to where the music's at.

Yes yes

By LITTLE SUZY FUNN
A Country Girl Again ,
Roots. Everybody's got roots.
And all of a sudden everybody's
got a roots album out. So let's
take it from the. top:
The Byrds are fast becoming
the most prolific group since the
New Christy Minstrels. As of
right now there are at least
four groups that claim ex-Byrds
as members. There's Gene Clark
who's working with one of the
Dillards, there's David Crosby
who's recording with Graham
Nash and Stephan Stills.
There's the Byrds, of course,
and there's the brand-new Fly-
ing Burrito Brothers.
The Burrito Brothers 'feature
Chris Hillman, bassist for the
original Byrds, and Gram Par-
sons, late of the Byrds and the
International Submarine Band.
Together they do most of the
writing and all of the singing on
their new first album, The Gild-
ed Palace of Sin (A&M SP
4175).
Hillman wrote some of the best
of the Byrds material (as did
Parsons, if you count "Hickory
Wind") but his main contribu-
tion to the- group was his beau-
tiful bass-playing. Suffice it to
say he was superb - he knew
exactly when to come to the
fore and when to blend in with
the rhythm - very expressive,
and nice.
Unfortunately, and inexplic-
ably, he plays rhythm with the
new group and it just ain't as
good. Chris Etheridge, who used
to play for Judy Collins, takes
up the bass in the group, and he
just isn't as good as Hillman.
His bass lines are sometimes
sketchy, sometimes strained,
only sometimes just right.
But wait. Have I said this
is a very good album? FThe
songs, some of them, are beau-
tiful ("Wheels," "Hot Burrito
No. 1 and No. 2"1).
The playing isn't quite up to
*the mark set by the Byrds (with
Hillman and Parsons) on Sweet-
heart of the Rodeo, but then,
some people don't have the taste
for that wonderful album. And
then again, not much is up to
its standard.

Speaking of nod being up to
that standard, the Byrds new
album, Dr. Byrds and Mr., Hyde
(Columbia CS 9755) isn't either.
The group has lost a lot in Hill-
man and Parsons and doesn't
seem to be quite back together
again.
If you've ever dug the Byrds,
though, this might be your
chance. They've started to drift
from their sound a bit and for
the first time there are cuts
that I couldn't identify as t h e
Byrds without looking. If you've
never heard the Byrds, try one
of last years albums (Sweetheart
or The Notorious Byrds Broth-
ers).
Again, though, don't get me
wrong. There are a few cuts on
the album that rank with the
best of the Byrds ("Old Blue,"
"Your Gentle Way of Loving
Me").
Speaking of riot being up to
that standard, an album came
out a few months ago that de-
finitely is. It's one of the best
albums of the past year. Not very
surprisingly, it's called R o o t s
(Warner Bros. WS 1752) and
surprisingly, it's by the Everly
Brothers.
The Everly Brothers have been
lost to American audiences for

years, which is because t h e i r
manager books them in Canada
and England and Australia
where they're still stars. All of
a sudden they've come back, and
I'm glad they did.
The songs are all beautiful,
written by people like Merle
Haggard and (yes) Glen Camp-
bell and performed with that
close Everly Brothers harmony
that half of the people in rock
have been trying to imitate
since 1956.
Ron Elliott worked with them
on the close, Nashville West gui-
tar arrangements and wrote two
of the songs. Before I forget
it, Elliott is half of the Beau
Brummels whose latest album,
Bradley's Barn (WS 1760), is
also superb. It was produced by
the same man, Lenny Waronker,
who has a. kind of genius for
balance,. and features the same
basic sound, with the difference
that the vocals arendone by
deep, rich Sale Valentino (re-
member "Laugh Laugh?").
The cycle is coming back to
country music - it's a return
to simplicity, to the quiet. As
Parsons says, "There are many
screwed-up young people today.
The Burrito Brothers' music is
simply saying, 'Find a way to
love and get out of your rut.'"
The Everly Brothers' music is

saying the same thing, and say-
ing it better. Listen to the Bur-
rito Brothers, buy the Everly
Brothers.
III
If a return to simplicity is a
return to roots, then Moby
Grape is back to roots in Moby
Grape '69 (CS 9696). The group
has lost Skip Spence and they
have lost their ego tripping and
their hypes.
The album may not be as good
as, their first, but it's sure better
than their second, and well
worth a listen. The arrangement
of "Ooh Mama Ooh" is classic.
The bass on "Seeing" is incred-
ible. Yes.
Paul McCartney once said that
the Beatles would "love to come
up with something as good,
honest, natural and exciting as
'Great Balls of Fire'." All at
once people seem to be getting
his message, turning away from
the massive orchestration a n d
sloppy playing of psychedelic
rock and getting back to where
the music's at, back at the roots.
Yes.
University of Michigan
DANCE CONCERT
DANCE STUDIO
BARBOUR GYMNASIUM
Fri., March 21--8 P.M.
St.i, March 22-2:30 & 8 P.M.
Sur., March 23-2:30 P.M.
Eves. $2.00, Mat. $1.50
TICKETS AT GYM, 1-4 P.M.
or Reserve by mail:
Mr. Adamson, Barbour Gym, U.M.

HELD OVER 3rd BIG WEEK
"AN OVERGROUND
SEX-PROTEST FILM!"
-Archer Wnsten New York Post
it is right on target with some keen potshots
at Viet Nam, smut peddling, nymphomania,
underground newspapers, pop art and sex
and the single hot-blooded young man!"
-Bob Salmaygi. WINS Radio

4

14

At

By BRUCE HENSTELL
Greetings, now at the Vth Forum,!has all the infectious charm
of a terminal ease of bubonic plague. What saves the evening is
the sure knowledge that beneath this ersatz there is only a beneign
stupidity rather than any malevolent intent.
Insofar as Greetings is about anything, it is about a .group of
three hippy friends, the hief of which, Paul, has just been called
for a 'Physical. While 'we never find ,out if he goes, we suspect he
does if only because he looks over thirty to begin with. The other
two friends met kinder ends: one maybe gets shot for absolutely
nothing he knows about the Kennedy assassination, and the other
ends up in Vietnam.
If this summation is sketchy it is only because you never quite
understand where the hell the film is. It starts with the camera
following Paul as a rock group sings far enough behind the titles
to escape .beingsued by the Lovin' Spoonful. After the credits, Paul
walks into,,a' Negro bar and asks if any of those present are man
enough to take him on, whereupon he is promptly beat up. The
idea was to break his leg ip preparation for his physical: he doesn't
have to provoke a fight, any passerby will comply.
The movie which has now fallen flat upon its face never quite
recovers. For instance, Paul goes to bed with three chicks: one a
nice chick (with the standard R and R background noise) and two
other matched with him by computer. Neither incident is more
than just boring. The same is true for about everything that hap-
pens to our other two heroes: one banters on and on about the
Kennedy assassination and the other exercises his peeping-tomism
by photographing his date with a hidden camera. (The chick has a
nice bod.)
The film belongs to the You're A Big Boy Now school of post-
Antonioni. and post-Leary film making. Beads, boys and bras are in
man. Hollywood knows of this trend, but its perceptions are not al-
ways clear. The major studios are dead and dying, and in their
death throws lash out wildly to grasp onto something which might
capture the blown minds of today's film viewer. We can expect,
in the future, loads of dishonesty, maybe a mildly engaging see-it-
once flick like Big Boy. But most of all, more of these Really With
It attempts as Greetings.
Presents
by Yoko Ono
TWO VIRGINS
by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
PLUS
Mr. Lennon requests that the
audience bring their own In-
struments to create the sound
for No. 5.
TUES., March 25 75c ARCHITECTURE
7, 8 and 9 P.M. 662-8871 AUDITORIUM

the emu players series presents
AN,
ITALIAN
STRAW
HAT
madcap french farce with music

emu's quirk
auditorium
march 26-30 TiX $1.75
FOR RESERVATIONS: 482-3453
(Weekdays 12:45-4:30 P.M.)

40 1

SCREENPLAY BY CHARLES HIRSCH AND URMAN O PALM I'trc,* un r
DIRECTED BY BRIAN OE PALMA PRODUCED BY CHARLES HIRSCH iRw dlt~
A WEST END FILMS PRODUCTION 'A =SIGMA IN RELEASE -IN COLOR
"X"-no one under 18 will be admitted
FRIDAY-6:30, 8:05, 9:40, 11:15
SATURDAY-2:00, 3:30, 5:00, 6;30, 8:05, 9:40, 11 ;15

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-presents
a spring celebration-experience
with
DAVID ACKLES
FRI.
SAT. 8:00 P.M. free food, yes admission: $1.75
SU.($1.25 after 2nd set)

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Saturday, March 29, 8:38 at Hill
The Michigan Men's Glee Club W hite Ti an T il

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THE ALTERNATIVE
2%2 Hours of Film NAT
FRI7 & SAT.
7:30 and 10:00 P.M.

presents

SCI. AUDITORIUM
Only One Dollar

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THE COMEDY GREATS-Program 1
W.C. FIELDS-"The Pharmacist"
MARX BROS.-" Incredible Jewel Robbery"-pantomihe
LAUREL AND HARDY-"Big Business"-one of their really great ones and one of
the wildest comic destruction scenes ever filmed. "It will drive you mad,"
"THE GREAT CHASE"-Uproarious! 60 years of great movie chases. Featuring
Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, Perils of Pauline, 30 minutes of Buster
Keaton's greatest comedy epic THE GENERAL.
"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY"-Highly creative, experimental French comedy-Aca-
demy Award, winner of Oberhausen Film Festival, 1963.

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8-6416

presents
FESTIVAL THEATRE OF CANADA

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