Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, November 73, 1969 PageTwo THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, November 23, 1969 records SUBSCRIBE NOW! Everybody 's talkin about Fred Neil ... (who?) By BERT STRATTON Everybody's Talkin' the mu- sical theme from Midnight Cow- boy, is like one of those catchy Madison Avenue jingles -- it's almost impossible to get it off your mind. However, the fact is that not many people really want to get Everybodys Talkin' off their mind. Just look at the overwhelming popularity of the recording done by the s i n g e r Nilsson. One of the possible explana- tions for the considerable suc- cess might be that it is a great song. I think so. At least the Nilsson recording of the song was good enough reason for me to switch the radio back to CKLW with its rare but oc- casional spontaneity. Every- body's Talkin' is that kind of song, the kind that makes all those contact glass-lenses a n d computer-programmer commer- cials seem bearable. If the Nilsson recording af- fected you similarly then there's an excellent chance that you'd also be interested in a man named Fred Neil, because he's the person who wrote Every- body's Talkin' and furthermore he's the man who sings it best. I refer specifically to his re- cording of it which is on his second and latest album Every- body's Talkin'/Fred Neil (Cap- itol ST-294). Before going any further, it would be a good idea to ex- plain why you haven't h e a r d more about Fred Neil. There's a couple reasons for that, one of which is that in the past ten years he has only off and on played folk clubs in New York City, and secondly Neil, who is not particularly interested in fame or fortune, spends most of his time digging his gulf-side home in Florida. But if you are lucky enough to have heard of him before, then you're in good company, b e - cause so have Bob Dylan, T i m Hardin, and the Buffalo Spring- field (plus some other musicians who haven't yet gotten around to acknowledging Neil's influ- ence.) As I've said, Nilsson's record- ing of Everybody's Talkin' is en- joyable, but Neil's is better - it's compelling, not in the way that a clever melodic jingle is, but as poetry is. It is a pre- cise balance of rhythms a n d prose which when experienced by the listener registers a re- sponse of not just "music", but also as "meaning." It all has to do with the fact that after I listened to Nilsson's version on the radio for about a month, I was liking it and humming it, but it was hitting me in about the same manner that other good melodies li k e the Get Somebody with Clairol or the Winston Tastes Good tunes affect me. When listening to Neil sing Everybody's Talkin', the "everybody's talkin' at me," the frustration, the "going where the sun keeps shining", the search, and the "I won't let you leave .my love behind", the alienation, they all seemed to jump from out of the song. I just couldn't avoid it's impact- in both levels, as a "music" and as a "meaning". Why Neil can do this h a s mostly to do with his v o i c e, which is so credible. Neil is my father, that's how much I be- lieve him. Neil's been through it all and his experiences a r e marked in his voice. In fact be- fore I was told that he is only 30 years old, I was under the impression from listening to his record that he was around 50. Also, Neil's word phrasing, with its many variations make you want to listen to what he's saying. I wouldn't be at all sur- prised if Dylan didn't pick up a few pointers from Neil in this field, like when to hold a single word for two or three seconds and when to cut another word in half. With all his versatility, Fred Neil extends his poetry f a r beyond the single hit Every- body's Talkin'. It's just amaz- ing how many good songs he can fit into one record. There's also some other reasons besides Neil's brilliance for the songs being so good. For instance, he uses a- very competent group of back- up men of which Al Wilson on harp and Billy Mundi (of the Mothers) on drums, tambour- ine, etc. are most outstanding, But without Fred's voice t h e whole conglomeration of gui- tars, basses, and harps collap- ses as it does in the only medio- cre song on the album, which is unfortunately a seven minute raga. Anyhow that's not exactly Neil's field. He's a bluesman - not in the formal 12-bar sense of the word, but with his percep- tion and his mood, he epitomiz- es the very nature of the blues. In the song The Dolphins, he speaks as effectively as he does in Everybody's Talkin'. In it however, he is not going "where the sun keeps shining" but is going "searching for the dol- phins in the sea." In That's the Bag I'm In (also done by Richie Havens) his blues are succinctly expressed by the opening: I burned my fingers on the coffee pot Toast was cold and the orange juice was hot. That's pretty hard to beat for when it comes down to pinpoint- ing what the blues is about. 'Fred Neil is pretty hard to beat too. 5 GREAT PLAYS! 2 Performances Each ,AUTRMIP- BEST PLAY --e s s, TU5SJ1i. IO. I2425 AIITLUn Nl 'OUP "t Ci$UfUL SrT ofVL rOw I~a ,U~A .. AS moollmI I~~~ "CoOAY , DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN The Daily Official Bulletin is an official publication of The Univer- sity of Michigan. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to 3528 LSA before 2 p.m. of the day preceding publication and by 2 p.m. Friday for Saturday and Sun- day. Items may appear only once. Student organization notices a r e not accepted for publication. For information, phone 764-9270. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 Day Calendar Degree Recital: Pamela Swartz, cello: School of Music Recital Hall, 4:30 p.m. International Center Film Series: Hunger inAmerica: International Cen- ter, 7:30 p.m. Degree Recital: Harry Dyer, trombone: School of Music Recital Hall, 8:00 .m. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24 Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies and Museum of Anthro- pology - Chester F. Gorman, Dept.rof (Continued on Page 3) 'I DEFINITELY LAST 3 DAYS R '"r ,, "A zoo of weird charac- ters. Total insanity that provokes uncontrolled aughlter." -GABLER, Mich. Daily "A film for the young and hip." -NEWSDAY Continuous Today from 1 P.M. dRmm DIAL 8-6416 "PUTNEY SWOPE" Neil, Neil and Neil PIPT H eRPoruNl GUILD HOUSE 802 Monroe MONDAY, NOV. 24 NOON LUNCHEON 25c Prof. Johnothan Bulkley, Natural Resources: "Politics, Plan- ning and the Environment" TUESDAY, NOV. 25 NOON LUNCHEON Robert Huber, EducationNSpecialist Institute of Derontology, "Decision Making Proces in Higher Education" SUNDAY, NOV. 23--7 P.M. Meeting of Student Religious Liberals, discussion of faith with Craig Hammond CANTERBURY HOUSE Subscribe To THE MICHIGAN DAILY I PLUS BONUS FEATURE A Film Classic * Shows at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 P.M- ~ffITff~13 DIAL 5-6290 m-IN-r The generation gap is more than just long hair, loud music, or a misunderstanding of ideals between father and son. It is a void from which a new force must emerge, a new hero!.., COLOR DeLuxe * ..AND...- NEW YORK TIMES "'Stolen Kisses' is a movie I'll cherish for a very long time. One of Truffaut's best-strong, sweet, explosively funny. Delphine Seyrig seduces Leaud in one of the most erotic, nonsex scenes I've ever seen in a movie." "ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO" "Highly Recommended" -Cue "Cheered and honored at the Cannes Festival, it deserves its accolades." -N.Y. Times TODAY: "Potato," 5, 8-"Putney," 6:30, 9:30-MON.: "Potato," 8, "Putney," 6:30, 9:30 i i "THE LIBERTINE" - starts Wednesday Join The Daily Today- Mkcael Douglas#Teresa Wright andArthur Kennedy Daily Classifieds Get Results I THE SONS OF CHAMPLIN HAVE CHANGED THEIR NAME TO THE SONS. Th e forms which we create caress our minds And they'll take us past this place which lives by time And the forms we are creating today Are the forms which we will be some day And the good games are the flowers of our minds Forever I love you RECORDS TAPES * ;m"Wma ... mmmaw iimm s m m mm m m1inn m VOID AFTER NOVEMBER 26 * U THIS COUPON GOOD FOR EACH AND EVERY RECORD OR STEREO TAPE PURCHASED AT OF * I UNIVERSITY STORE FIRST FLOOR, MICHIGAN UNION * I m -;Yi;;>