I
Tuesday, April 18, 1972
Page Two
THE MICHIGAN-DAILY
Pacje Two THE MiCHiGAN' DAILY
music
Border
By ROB BIER
Kris Kristofferson is at his
best when he is basic. And Bor-
der Lord (Monument KZ 31302)
is Kristofferson at his basic best.
Here are none of the frills
and downright hocum which
cluttered his previous records.
Despite their merits, attempts at
social' comment such as "Blame
It .on the Stones" and "The Law
is for Protection of the People"
were distractingly out of the
Kristofferson mainstream. Mu-
sically, the lush violin backing
on "For, the Good Times" stuck
out like the proverbial sore
thumb,. while the Tijuana
Brass - like horns on "The Tak-
er" border on the obnoxious.
With Border Lord, though,
Kristofferson has managed to
steer clear of thematic cul-de-
sacs and arrangers' dead ends to
cruise on down the road of "liv-
Lord-Kristofferson's
basic
best
ing high and loving hard" which
is his special territory. And the
land he leads the listener
through is filled with darkness
and light; pain and joy; the fa-
miliar and the strange.
Perhaps the song which best
typifies the album is the title
cut, "Border Lord." As with vir-
tually all of Kristofferson's
songs, its strength lies not in the
melody nor in the performance,
but in the lyrics. Can anyone
hear lyrics like the following
without experiencing a rueful
jolt of recognition?
"Losing to the rising cost of
.14ving 'high and lovfng hard'-
And leavin' every yesterday
behind
Learning every bridge you
cross,. is burning down before
you're off and running
Like the devil just in time
Breakin' any ties before they
bind you
Taking any comfort you can
find
Running like you're running
out of time"
Even Richard Nixon should
be able to relate to a song
which speaks of such frantic
and desperate living. But it is
doubtful whether the President
would see any reason to play a
record by a scruffy Rhodes
scholar who turned his back on
a life of "promise" to try and
become a low-life writer of
songs about living, loving and
dying. After all, the Mad
Bomber has Billy Graham to
tend to his spiritual needs, while
those less fortunate must. de-
pend on people like Kris Kris-
tofferson.
Can he really save souls?
Well, if showing people how to
celebrate the good times and
!
how to fight the bad constitutes
salvation, then Kristofferson
has some of the power in him.
How well he manages to get
that out and onto plastic is the
question.
As noted, his two previous al-
bums were fraught with distrac-
tions. On Border Lord, though,
the instrumental backings are
relatively simple and more ap-
propriate to the peculiar brand
of country folk which Kristof-
ferson does. Acoustic guitars
take the lead, with keyboards,
drums, a harmonic and a nice
country fiddle mixing around
and making way, now and then,
for a usutlly distant chorus.
All that means that Kristof-
ferson r e m a i n s up front
throughout, his macho bass
voice rasping worse than ever.
It should be interesting to watch
him in concert this Friday at.
Till. and see how far he suc-
cumbs to the temptation to
scrape around the lower regis-
ter, searching, maybe, for some
of Rod Stewart's soulful ap-
peal.
His efforts would be better
spent in bringing a little more
music out of his largely unre-
markable melodies. The slower
Kristofferson goes, the less he
sings. And while ,talking is.no
crime, its predictability is, a de-
nial of the imagination which
shows in his lyrics, where there
is variety and life aplenty.
From the quiet acceptance of
death-.in. "Kiss the .Wov]d .Good-
bye" to the crazy, rocking of
"Gettin' By, High and Strange,"
Kristofferson shows a poet's
ability to take the familiar in
life and make it fresh. Or, to
take the vague and make it
clear.
A case of the latter is "Bur-
den of Freedom," which tells
in part what he meant by
"Freedom's just another word
for nothin' left to lose" in "Me
and Bobby McGee." It speaks of
loneliness, and of "the courage
to be what I can." Listening to
it, vague notions and nameliess
beliefs can find something to
fix upon, and thus begin to take
shape.
If you do not see a part of
yourself in that song, there are
nine other mirrors to check out.
While some are a bit hazy, they
are the best set yet from Kris
Kristofferson. With a direc-
tion like that, his concert this
Friday promises much, and his
next album, even more. But for
now, Border Lord will do fine.
the ann arbor film cooperative
Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson in Ingmar Bergman's classic masterpiece
1956
THE SEVENTH SEAL subtitled
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, International Jury Pride Winner (twice) 1956, 1957. THE SEVENTH
SEAL is Bergman's stunning allegory of man's search for meaning in life. A knight after returning
home from the Crusades, plans a game of chess with Death while The Plague ravages medieval Europe.
An exceptionally powerful film, it is a work of awesome scope and remarkable visual pleasures. ."Mr.
Bergman hits you with it, right between the eyes."-New York Times
TONIGHT! TUESDAY-April 18th-ONLY
auditorium a-angell hail
7 & 9:30 p.m.
still only,75c
COMING THURSDAY-The compleat ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE & FRACTURED FAIRY TALES
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Pro I VI US1C
By DONALD SOSIN
Nowadays .When heads of
state seek entertainment, or at
least our own' head of state,
they looknto the likes ofsthe
Ray Conniff Singers or the vast
spectrum of mindless television
shows. But at one time one
could find' diversion in the form
of real art, as the New York
Pro Musica demonstrated Sun-
day night in the Power Center.
The brilliant group re-created
an "Entertainment for Eliza-
beth," presenting a masque,
songs, and dances as they were
probably performed at court
four hundred years ago.
It was an hour and a half of
pure delight that began when
the stage was transformed into
a sixteenth century court, with
tapestries h a n g i n g upstage,
flanked by tall wrought-iron
candelabras, and a group of
Renaissance instruments off to
one side. Two pages began light-
ing. candles, the musicians tun-
ed up, and a man entered, rich-
ly and dazzingly dressed in a
multi-colored outfit,. complete
with glittering cape and mask,
and announced himself as Va-
riety. He explained, in verse,
the nature of the entertain-
ment: a masque, a sort of pa-
geant, presenting an allegorical
theme which would also serve to
praise the virtues of the attend-
ant queen.. The latter, in a
gracefl off-white dress with
full hoop skirt and trimmed
with 'elegance and dignity, en-
tered from the rear of the audi-
torium, as the musicians played
a stately processional. When
she and her courtiers had ar-
rived onstage, the group sang a
madrigal in honor of the queen,
and began the masque.
It concerned Terpsichore, who
governed all Motion. She ap-
peared in chains that, she ex-
plained, had° grown from bran-
ches in a darl 'forest. Until she
could free herself, Motion
would be, chaotic. The represen-
a 7stine pageantry
tatives thereof, seven figures Meanwhile, the music contin-
named Up, Down, Left, Right, ued, impeccably performed by
Back, Forth and Around came the singers and six musicians,
in and tried to dance, but were who doubled (like jazz players)
like unstrung marionettes. Fin- on a large assortment of instru-
ally, an appeal was made to ments, including viol, lute,.harp-
Elizabeth, who rose and magic- sichord, organs and other key-
ally broke the chains. Variety board instruments, crummhorn,
was unmasked as the culprit recorders and bagpipes. One
Chance, who wished only dis- has to appreciate not only the
organization and disharmony. event itself, but the careful re-
As political cabaret it was mild, search that went into all of its
but made its point. The seven facets. Paul Maynard, the di-
Motions were then revealed as rector, deserves many thanks,
the Sun, Moon and planets, as well as John Reeves White,
each in an elaborate, breath- who conceived the idea, and the
taking costume. All joined in University Musical Society,
dances of the period, such as the which closed its season with this
branle, La Volta, and the gal- performance (except for the
liard. These were chosen from May Festival, which runs May
the numerous collections of mu- 4 until May 7).
sic and detailed books on danc- They could not have found a
ing published at the time. finer way to end it: a combina-
Four of the men performed tion music - dance - fashion
a sword dance that had them show and social history lesson,
clashing blades in time with the all infused with grace and
music, turning to face new beauty that gave one the feeling
combinations of opponents with that the artists had enjoyed
every step. themselves every bit as much as
The planets retired and re- the sellout crowd.
emerged as courtiers, and the
rest of the evening consisted of
solo songs, madrigals and dan-
ces. There was a kissing game BEST PICTU
in which one person would
stand in the center of the circle, OF THE YEAR!
and plop a pillow down in -National Board of Review
front of the partner of his FEATURE TODAY AT
choice, saying that the dance FAUR 6:YA
could not continue until he/she :45 6:15
had kissed her/him - a great 845
sport for all concerned. U
A couple sang the familiar "It
Was a over and His Lass" with
incidental flirting which ranged ±omanP
from sultry looks to outright
kissing, which the queen quick-
ly halted.
But she was actually no
prude,, and joined in the merri-
ment, dancing "Lu' Volta," in
which she 'was whirled around DIAL 668-6416
high in the air by her partner,
causing a fhiri'y of Ooh's and
Aah's from the courtiers. At one
point she even left with one of
her partners, which triggered a
more buzzing than before.
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I
Academy Award Winner
"BEST
FOREIGN
FILM"
"De Sica Returns To Greatness"
Wolf, Cue Magazine
StarT
announced'
to tie
\directed byPRNE ft
7orba, Cotflny)
school for te'
Show Ol prvate e)
Eugeneylgel'
Star
tbe eanounced
1ddler, E~llies. 'Cbaret,
from:'~ Ring pou sc nd
s, The liostagS, R You
1
"The hand of genius is
once again evident."
-Judith Crist, New York Magazine
2
'1 , I
Reaches
heights
artistic and human
of 'Bicycle Thief'."
-Archer Winsten, N.Y. Post
i
A FISCHER-DIESKAU PREMIERE
The long-awaited appearance in Ann Arbor of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau will provide
a rare treat for music-lovers attending the opening concert in the p9th annual May
Festival. The superb musical artistry of this German baritone will be shared with his
Hill Auditorium audience in Gustav Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder," together with the
great Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Ormandy. The orchestra will
also perform the Symphony No. 3 by Roy Harris, and the "Fantastic" Symphony by
Berlioz.
Performances in Hill Auditorium, May 4, 8 : 30-tickets from $3.50 to $8.50
OTHER MAY FESTIVAL CONCERTS:
MAY 5: Music by Mozart, Wallace Berry, and Schumann; featuring Susan Starr,
pianist, and the Festival Chorus.
MAY 6: All-Brahms program; featuring Mayumi Fujikawa, violinist.
MAY 7: (aft.) Music by Mozart, Szymanowski, and Weber; featuring Mal
colm Frager, pianist, and the Festival Chorus.
MAY 7: Music by Bach, Rossini, and Wagner; featuring Marilyn Horne, soprano.
.at
A*
SSool far Scandal
WIWI"
to be chosen
Lower Depths
the.Mon, l
Lo~eIri
h'.
ill
,' 11
MIA
state~'
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