Wednesday, November E, 1 974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Wednesday, November 6, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five
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Records in review
STREETLIGHTS, Bonnie Rait's newest, (Warner Bros. BS 2818)
is a smooth time and a disappointment. Not a single cut is
her own and one too mniv slip into the Joni Mitchell elan of
sweet-rollin' folk. Desnite Raitt's own talent for song-writing,
Mitchell and James Taylor penned a cut each on this album.
Yet still, the Raitt voice is rich and unpropped; a listening salve
for ear's tired of over-produced, under-talented releases.
For stolid Raitt fans, this album's first spin may be a let
down. No Jackson Browne, no Mose Allison, no Bonnie Rait or
Randy Newman are listed in this record's cardboard center
circle. This music is nothing like the raucus callidope of "Let
Me In" off Takin' my time. Nothing comes close to the wallop
of "Giiiirrrlll, You've Been in Love Too Long" or the soul-
stretching Raitt song, "Nothing Seems to Matter Anymore" from
Give It Up.
While Streetlights doesn't cut much new ground for Raitt,
"Everything that Touches You" and John Prine's "Angel from
Montgomery" bring some fine arranging and some fine writing
to the Raitt style of song. That style is not sexy, or folksy or
unusually versatile; it's more the sensation close to stretching out
in uncut grass on a sinfully warm day. It's smooth, kind and
sometimes, lusciously rich. Streetlights, by Bill Payne, is a good
showcase song for this sound. It's too bad that more of the album
didn't have this fudge-like richness.
Three new releases by pianist Andre Watts provide a broad
insight into that musician's considerable talent, illuminating both
his strong points and shortcomings. Watts is consistently at his
best in lighter, less cerebral music-when faced with more com-
plex pieces, he fails to produce
a sense of involvement compar-
able to that which he pulls off
in flashier music.
The Tchaikovsky Piano Con-
certo (Columbia M33071) under
Leonard Bernstein is a success
for Watts, who plays excellently
throughout, and is hampered
only by indifferent conducting
by Bernstein.
The Franck Symphonic Varia-
tions and the Liszt Todtentanz
(Columbia M33072), with Erich
Leinsdorf and the London Sym-
phony, has no such conducting
problems. Some imprecisions
,.>and careless inattention to de-
tail by Watts do emerge in the
Franck, one of the better late-
19th-century virtuoso show-
pieces. The Liszt piece, a series
Andre Wats of variations on the Dies irae, is
an unqualified success, however
(assuming you like the piece, which I do).
Solo piano music by Beethoven (Columbia M 33074) is not
as well done. The Variations in C minor is nowhere near the
order of complexity of the Diabelli or even the Eroica sets-
Watts seems comfortable treating it as no more than a catalogue
of variation techniques applied to an always recognizable theme.
The D major Sonata (Op. 10, No. 3) never really gets going,
however-it is hampered throughout by rhythmic quirks and
mannerisms.
-Charles Smith
THE BLUES have settled down in Ann Arbor, and as now, the
main place to hear them is the Blind Pig. The Blind Pig
has gotten together their own local label, and their first record
is, aptly enough, Boogie Woogle Red Live at the Blind Pig
(Blind Pig Records No. 1).
Red, a pianist out of Detroit who once played with John
Lee Hooker, has settled in Ann Arbor, playing weekly at the Pig.
He is a deft blues artist, and this performance is fine in both
its music and its typicalness.
This is laid back blues at its best, no strain between musi-
cians, just easygoing blues jams. Red's singing is basically
incoherent, but his piano-playing is sure and to the point. John
Nicholas plays great simple guitar and is a terrific blues singer.
Both drums and bass are content to provide a simple back-
ground.
There are some fine piano instrumentals, "After Hours,"
"Relaxin'," "Break Song," and particularly, "Red's Boogie."
These contrast with slow vocals on "Sisterly Love," and uptempo
ones on "Got to Find My Baby."
This is an auspicious start for a small, speciality label. If
you like blues, pick this one up; or even better, check out Red
at the Pig.
-Harry Hammitt
food
By MICHEL PUJOL
BORDEAUX (Reuter) - The
French wine industry, claiming!
a loss of prestige around the
world, yesterday demanded
more than four million francs
(almost one million dollars) in
damages from 18 industry lead-1
ers accused of mixing cheap
wine with quality Bordeaux red
to boost profits.
At the fraud trial of the 18,
lawyers representing various
sectors of the industry accusedi
the defendants of cupidity, blind-
ness and profiteering from the
labor of France's small grape-
growers.
Frenchmen have lubbed the
scandal "Winegate."
AP Photo A lawyer for grapegrowers in
Lmi} tinic faits southern France, whose humble
Noted Russian-American pianist Vladimir Hor uwitz greets admirers at New York's Lincoln wine was allegedly mixed with
Center Monday night, as the fans patiently w it to purchase tickets at noon Tuesday for dahis cirdeau redathered pthe
Horowitz's upcoming recital. Horowitz wiil be tiv first pianist to perform solo in the Metro- grapes of wrath."
politan Opera House. "It is the wrath of small
winegrowers who have learned:
that certain cheats rode on their
backs to gain more than four
million francs in the space of
three months," the lawyer said.
This is the sum that wine
broker Pierre Bert, one of the
accused, has admitted gaining
by illicit operations during a
three-month period last year.
The defendants are charged
with doctoring or mislabeling
some three million liters (al-
most 900,000 gallons) of wine
so as to boost profits.
Jean Boitard, a lawyer rep-
resenting the national body that
oversees the quality of French
wine, asked the three-judge
to make sure their verdict dem-
onstrated to the world that fraud
would not be tolerated in the
French wine industry.
"It will be several years be-
fore the prestige of French wine
is reestablished abroad," he
said. "We must win back the
positions we have lost and the
respect for the quality of French
wine."
On behalf of the National
lnstitute of Certificates of
Origin, he demanded 2,000,000
francs in damages from the
Cruse Wine Company, whose
directors, Lionel and Yvan
Cr'use, are the best known of
the accused, and the same
amount from three other wine
houses allegedly involved in the
fraud.
Lawyers for the southern
France grapegrowers asked for
over 300,000 francs in damages,
while the Bordeaux wine asso-
ciation requested a symbolic one
franc, noting that the defendants
themselves could measure the
grief they had caused the in-
dustry.
'he trial continues today.
Have a flair for
artistic writinq?
If you are interest-
edtin reviewing
poetry, and mush.
or writing feature
stories about the
drama, dance, film
arts: Contact Arts
Editor. c/o The
Michigan Daily.
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