P o ^ e Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, February 22, 1972 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, February 22, 1972 'U Seeger shines with fine fiddle and banjo $1-3 PREVIEWS TUES. & WED. By PAULA THOMAS Mike Seeger strolled into the Ark Friday night and proceeded to amaze and astound his audi- ence with his versatility and per- fection in performing. Although perhaps best known for his ap- pearances with the New Lost City Ramblers, Mike Seeger is also an incredible solo performer. He presented innumerable fiddle and banjo tunes as well as such old standards as "Little Birdie," "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" and "Chilly Winds." Drawing from mountain and country styles, and sounds that typify such old masters as Clar- ence Ashley, Doc Boggs, Wade Ward and Rosco Holcomb (to mention too few), Seeger per- fectly demonstrated the continu- ing folk-process and brought tra- ditional music back to life for those who happened to be at the Ark that night. "Little Birdie" was done in a combination frailing, finger-pick- ing style; and in an obscure tun- ing which is almost exclusively used in esoteric versions on old seventy-eights. T h e s e factors alone have made Mike Seeger one of the most sought-after per- formers; and consequently he has been described as a "live, performing historian of tradi- tional and string-band music." Besides singing here last week- end, Mike Seeger will be back in town next month to perform (en masse) with the New Lost City Ramblers - who are, un- doubtedly the most copied string- band in existence today. If, by some freak accident, you missed Mike Seeger last weekend, be sure to see the Ramblers who will be performing at Lydia Mendelssohn on the 16th of March. lunch non-profit cooperative conspiracy coffeehouse-theater 330 Maynard Street UM Film Society -Associated Press Billy Preston - - flashy'rock and roll Delaney, Bonnie bomb By HERB BOWIE and SUZY SILVERMAN Saturday night a crowd that only'about half-filled Hill Audi- torium saw a concert that frus- tratingly -peaked out before it was half over. TIe evenilig started with Iris Bell,.a singer and pianist backed by .bass and drums. The group performed'a number of songs by Bell as well as such favorites as "Take Me to the Pilot," "Get Back" and "Proud Mary." De- spite the fact that Bell's music seems more suited for a night- club than a concert hall, the set woild have been quite enjoyable had theFbass not sounded out of tune. Tie high point of their set cane when Bell played keyboard bass as well as piano, leaving the bass player free to play guitar. Unfortunately, this switch didn't occur until the last song was in progress. The star of the show was Billy Preston. After about the third nuniber he started collecting standing ovations after every song. The act was all flash (I'd never buy arecording of it), but what's- rock 'n roll all about, after all? It may seem silly for a reviewer to spend a paragraph describing the appearance of a group, but that's what I'm going to do:- God- damn, it was excit- ingr First,-APreston's back-up musi- cians take the stage, al ldressed in a 'sort of funky-dandy style: imperIal-looking afros, brightly colored suits, andso forth. Then, after the band starts playing a rociIng'instrumental, enter Billy Presaon, stage right (dancing): he's, wearing a, leather suit with multi- colored tassels dangling from his jacket and pants and swinging them with all the ex- pertise of- a practiced stripper. He dances over to the organ and 'helps-. his band finish up the song: Visually, the rest of the act consists of more dancing and the general appearance of intense enjoyment. The audible half of the show was equally exciting. No }tuning up between songs, just one tight, professionally played number af- ter another. Preston's slick organ and versatile vocals were the highlights, of course, but the back-up band, consisting of drums, bass, piano and guitar, was cookinng along right behind him. The set included "Hey, Joe,'"' "Summertime" and "My! Sweet Lord" as well as Pres- ton's own "The Bus," "That's the Way God Planned It," and the great "I Wrote a Simple Song." I wish I could pretend the concert ended there, but the headliners were yet to come. The way Delaney and Bonnie and Friends were playing Saturday night they would have sounded poor after any act, but after Billy Preston they sounded-and looked-especially pathetic. Bon- nie relayed her intense excite- ment to the crowd through a perfunctory performance of the arteriosclerosis boogie, w h i c h consisted of bending her knees slightly every so often, while Delaney ignored the crowd and watched Bonnie most of the time. As if to emphasize just how little these performers looked like stars, Fate decreed not only that one of Delaney's guitar strings should snap, but that Bonnie's zipper should break. All this would have been ig- nored, of. course, had the music not ben so dismal. The band consisted of an organ, piano, drums congos, bass, sax trum- pet and trombone, with Delaney on electric guitar. This line-up would've been o.k. if not for two problems: Delaney persisted in playing lead guitar, when what the group needed was a solid rhythm instrument to give the songs a basic structure; second, the mix was horrible-organ/ piano, congos, bass and drums sort of blended into a single, monotonous drone. Add to these problems Delaney's extensive im- provisation and the insufficient volume of the vocals and you have the reasons why all the songs sounded exactly alike. The climax of this mess came when the sole instruments being played were two sets of moracas, two cowbells, congos and a tambou- rine, and everyone could diddle around just as they pleased with- out worrying about playing a particular song. The irony is that a couple of years ago Eric Clapton, one of the progenitors of 'high-energy" rock, turned hisback on that kind of music and joined De- laney and Bonnie because he liked the traditional blues, rock- abilly, and gospel music that D & Bplayed. And todaytwe find Delaney and Bonnie selling out to the rock culture and try- ing to play "high-energy" music, with guitar solos and drum .;olos ad nauseum. How the mighty have fallen! Order Your Subscription Today 764-0558 6th WEEK NOW! At State and Liberty Program Information 662-6264 i ......- a.... I OPEN 1 p.m SHOWS AT 1:15-3:10-5-7-9 P.M. Feature Starts 5 min. later I i The Inimitable LU BITSCH TOUCH begins THURSDAY with our Festival week of the films of Ernest Lubitsch at CINEMA GUILD "IT'S A SIZZLER" -Detroit News "ONE OF THE YEAR'S TEN BEST" -Time "The best American movie of the last six months." "Come on like gangbust- ers . . . I doubt if you'll se e anything q u it e as devastating." -Michigan Daily DIRTY HARRY I ST' } fi d^ i4 ::"i{hSY. t" his ,us 3,g};xjy f wo {%xr i{j splash patterns, diamond designs. Permanent press polyester/cotton and Avril rayon/cotton fabrics. . .a great buy at this low price. Sizes SM,L,XL. SHOP TONIGHT UNTIL 5:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY 9:30 A.M. 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