Thursday, April 10, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
co eron
culls
By GEORGE LOBSENZ
and ROBBIE GORDON
A tall, raw-boned figure, a goatee fram-
ing a mobile face, he projects a com-
manding, almost prophetic image. His
speech still retains traces of the street
dialect picked up on the corners and
playgrounds of Harlem. Only an occa-
sional expressive metaphor betrays the
poet within.
Gil Scott-Heron is 25-years-old, black,
and is of proven literary quality. In an
electrifying election cue performance at
the Union Ballroom, sponsored by the
Friends of the Ann Arbor Sun, he served
notice of his increasing prominence on
the contemporary music scene.
A prodigious and versatile literary tal-
ent, he penned short stories, novels and
several books of poetry which impressed
enough people to land him a job teach-
ing at Federal City College in Washing-
ton, D.C.
At the same time, he slowly developed
his musical sensibilities by way of the
piano. Eventually, these two abilities con-
verged, which is where we find Gil Scott-
Heron today.
He strongly espouses the cause of black
'for
solidarity. He continually emphas
concept to his pre-dominantly b
diences. "What we need is each
he says.
Scott-Heron's more general me
directed at a larger audience-p
Basically he calls for the estab
of a new order, not a particularl
view-point, but one that is articul,
driven home by his provocative,i
rive poetry.
Songs like "Essex" and the we
"The Revolution Will Not Be Te
and poems such as "We Beg Y
don, America" vividly illustrate i
laden lyrics his observations an
tives
In the end, his poetry has a d
pose. First, it is a personal decla
his belief in the possibility and r
social change. But perhaps more
antly, he attempts to educate, s
make people aware of the nee
change in society's fabric.
At the Union Ballroom; his ni
ber Midnight Band demonstra
ability to suddenly change technm
fying categorization. From thec
opening spiritual chant to the coo
changes
izes this and to unrestrained, energetic electro-
lack au- jazz, their music appealed to many tastes.
other," But whatever form it was, the band
never failed to satisfy the audience in
ssage is bringing their music's rhythmic tension
America. to a climax.
lishment Brian Jackson's very fast and funky
y unique solos on electric piano were jazz-oriented,
ated and but occasionally repetitive and simple.
imagina- Jackson composes most of the music,
and provides the impetus for Scott-Her-
ell-known on's lyrical interpretation.
devised"
our Par- Bilal Sunni Ali's sax had a rich, jaded
n image- tone. His solos were daring and creative,
d objec- though his harmonica-work clashed with
the music. Both Jackson and Ali played
lual pur- flute competently, though the instrument
ration of is grossly over-used by the band.
eality of The core of the music is the synco-
import- pated rhythms of the percussion section
imply to which is the best since Santana's.
d for a
Victor Brown's vocals are commerc-
ne-mem- ially superior to Scott-Heron's. But Gil
ted the attracted the audience's attention by sing-
ique, de- ing each word with feeling for its mean-
concert's ing, evidenced most powerfully in "Win-
)l school, ter in America."
PRESENTS
PATHER PANCHALI
Part I of Satyjit Ray's Apu Trilogy.
Made in India. Subtitled.
TONIGHT-Thurs., April 10
700&9:00
Aud. A, Angell Hall
$1.25
Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
Gil Scott-Heron
-cAnpu4 ticks
Oscar picks: Same
story, different twist
By JAMES VALK "
WITH THE 47TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS now behind
us, the 47th annual grumblings over the choices begin, with
millions of dissatisfied movie goers swearing never to watch
again, just as they did after the 46th Annual Academy Awards.
The most noticeable difference this year was the fact that
the Academy realized a year-long aesthetic debt owed to director
Francis Ford Coppola, and payed him back in sweeping fashion.
With the second installment of the Corleone saga even more
penetrating and literate than the first, Coppola was a virtual
hands-down winner, as his The Conversation was also nominated
for Best Picture along with Godfather 11.
By the time the night was over, and Coppola and crew (and
family) sported a handful of Oscars, the entire ceremony became
a tribute to the young director, and rightly so.
AND AS WITH EVERY YEAR, there are the give-aways. Art
Carney, although a fine gentleman and actor, loved by
millions, was no competition for Jack Nicholson's performance in
Chinatown. But Carney mustered the now infamous sentimental
vote that helped John Wayne and Jack Lemmon walk off with the
Sig one in recent years, leaving Nicholson screwed for the second
time in a row.
How Ellen Burstyn won over Gena Rowlands is undoubtedly
contingent on the fact that Burstyn was edged out for the same
award last year by_ a surprise winner, Glenda Jackson.
Ingrid Bergman, who was probably the worst of the entire
Orient Express crew, nabbed the Supporting Actress award for
her comeback rather than her performance, a fact that she
herself seemed embarrassed by upon receiving the statue.
THE REAL STORY, THOUGH, is in the lesser publicized
awards, in which the true reflection of the academy's in-
competence shines through, ultimately revealing the obvious:
that the voting members either haven't seen all the films or
simply don't know what the criteria is for the technical awards.
They always latch onto the obvious-Robert Towne for
Chinatown's screenplay, The Great Gatsby's costumes and
Earthquake's noise. But how The Towering Inferno won over
Bruce Surtee's excellent cinematography for Lenny or John
Alonzo's stunning work in Chinatown is beyond me. Perhaps it
just isn't polite to ignore a movie so big that it took two major
studios to produce.
However, the Academy has operated this way for years, and
there is no indication that there are any startling changes in
sight. Occasionally a year will come along where the true
cinematic accomplishments will win out (as this year with
Godfather II, but generally the voting doesn't lean too heavily
n quality.
0 OFTEN MITIGATING FACTORS enter into the process,
with past performances bearing more influence than the
current standards. Many times the voters simply haven't seen
all the films that have received nominations, thus eliminating
minor films from genuine competition, reducing their listing to a
mere token representative,
Undoubtedly, the awards have their place in the motion
picture industry, serving as a gigantic 2 hour advertisement to
generate enthusiasm over current produce. And in that capacity,
the awards serve a legitimate function-but as a forum for
choosing excellence, the entire concept is a joke.
The procedure that makes up the awards system simply
has too many flaws to be corrected. The Academy Awards are
responsible to the motion picture industry as a whole, and to
present a film of limited interest a major award would be a
slap-in-the-face to the thousands of Hollywood filmmakers and
craftsmen responsible for the Towering Infernos and Orient
Expresses.
THUS, THE 1974 ACADEMY AWARDS ARE, as would be
expected, typically Hollywood, with an occasional Woman
Under the Influence or Conversation thrown in to make the
whole thing look intelligent. It is to no one's surprise that this
"intellectual spice" never wins; it just serves as a complement
of diversity in the Academy's window.
As for next year, watch the charts in Variety for an indica-
ion of where the bulk of the nominations will fall, and check
back in past film history to see who will ultimately be repaid.
Admittedly, it's not a very accurate method of prediction, but
then, accuracy has nothing to do with it.
BAR NOTE
Dr.
S:
Bop revives golden age
By ROBBIE GORDON to the jitterbug. Playing the ping Buddy Holly, they consid-
The 50's revival has reached songs accurately is less import- er preserving an era to be an
different peaks recently, but ant to the headliner than creat- art form.
Dr. Bop and the Headliners ing the image of a 50's band. "It was courageous to play
proved that Ann Arbor fans So for effect, guitarist Spee- rock and roll in the 50's," noted
can't get enough of it. Featur- do poured beer on his instru- White Raven backstage, while
ing White Raven as lead vocal- ment. And as the band was signing an autobiography. "It
ist, the band had Chances Are playing "Peggy Sue," White was so new, even Ed Sullivan'
hopping and bopping to the Raven jumped from the stage didn't understand it."
golden oldies last weekend. to the balcony, spilling beer Their dressing room was
Each set provided a solid over his head and onto the dan- draped with antique tuxedos,
combination of the era's stand- cers below. | glittering argyle socks, hair
ard hits. The act has the feel- The headliners take their rock spray, and shoes painted silver
ing of "hop," drawing even the and roll seriously. Having and gold.
most avant-garde dancers back grown up in the 50's worship- The Headliners mostly tour,
4Air wliaves: McCartney'S
latest, Iowcie, and 'ommy
Big Ten schools, and claim that
Ann Arbor crowds are among
the most receptive. But the
band must consider how long
their act will survive. White
Raven, an ex-school teacher,
states that 50s' music isn't go-
ing downhill. But when his high-
ly dramatic career ends, he will
accept it honorably in the 50's
tradition, because:
"My rock and roll shoes have
served me well."
DANCE BANDS have a ten-
dency to play easy, predictable
rock music that does little else
but keep your feet moving. But
Rabbits, playing at Bimbo's this
week approach rock with a
sense of integrity.,
The baind performs complex
funk and jazz tunes that other
local groups wouldn't attempt.
Where you might expect to hear
"Smoke on the Water" from a
tvnical bar band, Rabbits plays
the music of Jimi Hendrix and
Carlos Santana.
The group's 3-man lead vocal-
ist section adds depth to the
tight sound of the music. Gui-
tarist Duncan Soule appeared
entranced while developing his
creative leads.
The group plans to add a the-
atrical dimension to their act,
along the lines of Frank Zap-
pa's Mothers.
By WABX and
ROY NASCHTRA
Paul McCartney's new album,
recorded in New Orleans, will
be titled Venus and Mars are
All Right Tonight . . . Ringo
Starr has reportedly turned
down a large cross country tour
of the U. S. because he didn't
want anything to interfere with
his film career.
Mad magazine is suing United
Artist Records over the cover
of a newly released Man album,
Slow Motion. The cover depicts
a man holding a fish by the
gills. The man's jaw resembles
Alfred E. Neuman, the Mad
cover character.
Man's manager, Barry Mar-
shall, says, "What's really
amazing when you think about
it is that Mad makes its busi-
ness spoofing people, and now
United Artists is being sued
for spoofing them."
Former baseball shortstop
(New York Mets, Los Angeles
Dodgers) turned rock czar, Bart
Shirley, claims that his new act
Tomorrow's Sea Wolves can
"blow the pants off any other
heavy metal rock group now
playing," in Shirley's own
words. Their first album is
entitled Eat It Before It Bites
Back, the "it" admittedly rath-
er vague in its identity.,
Ralph Bakshi, the producer of
Fritz the Cat and Heavy Traf-
fic, is going to do another film.
This one will be about war in
a futuristic society, called War
Wizards.
A federal judge in Dallas has
scheduled a hearing to decide if
persons under 17 will be per-
mitted to see the movie Tom-
my. Dallas officials, after
viewing the movie, ruled that
it was unfit to be seen by teen-
agers. The city's classification
board objected to the sex and
Sdrug implications of the film.
Auditory Memory recorded by
Jerry Cammarta has sold more
than 12,000 copies in the past
eight months. This is usual
when you realize that Auditory
Memory is 52 minutes of re-
corded silence. Cammarta be-,
lieves that part of the album'sj
success is that it sells for half
the price of most albums.
Rock czar Bart Shirley has
signed another new act for hisI
recently formed Bela Records.I
It's a former small-time bar
band called Hep-Huggers, and
despite the fact that they "can
kick 'em out even heavier than
Deep Purple or the funky Moody
Blues," says Shirley, "we're
going to have to change that
name anyhow."
Richard Nixon records are
hitting it big. A Chattanooga op-
tician has released a ballad
praising Nixon set to the "Battle
Hymn of the Republic." Within
r -__-----
its first three days on the mar-
ket, it became the hottest re-
cord in Chattanooga.
David Bowie is promising to
stage the biggest rock show
ever. Bowie says his next con-
cert will feature five different
stages with simultaneous acts
on each stage. He adds that
he'll be jumping around from
stage to stage to keep things
lively.
Rock czar Bart Shirley, the
man who included cans of tuna
fish with each of his Bela Re-
cords as a promotional gim-
mick, finds the lyrics to Carl
Douglas's "Kung Fu Fighting"
demeaning to Chinese people.
"If I were Chinese, I certain-
ly wouldn't tolerate it."
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THE CENTER FOR RUSSIAN
and EAST EUROPEAN
STUDIES is sponsorinq a
PUBLIC LECTURE by
Professor
Slavko MilosoYlevski
on "Revolution and
Anti-Revolution"
APRIL 10-4 P.M.
East Conference Room
RACKHAM
THE
GOOD WOMAN
OF SETZUAN
by BERTOLT BRECHT
Thurs.-Sun., April 10-13-8:00 p.m.
East Quad Auditorium $1.25
FOR ADVANCE TICKET RESERVATIONS
CALL 763-1172-5-6 P.M. MON.-FRI.
An RC PLAYERS PRODUCTION
o KIMGUIDOR'S 1928
THE CROWD
) (AT 7)
A social silent full of small details that combine to make a
portrait of one person whose very individuality makes him
the mirror of us all.
JOHN HUSTON'S 1952
) MOULIN ROUGE
(AT 9:05)
Jose Ferrer as Comnte. Heri De Toulouse-Lau Trec, the
brilliant but tortured French artist. An exquisite explora-
lion of the color and squalor of the 90's Parisian night life
with a fine musical score by Geoizqes Auric.
Cinema Guild BOTH SHOWS OLD ARCH.
FOR $1.50 AUD.
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE-
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
a... incredibly powerful
and inspiring ...
University Theatre Prog~rams
ffIT"'S A COM CD K IT'S5 A MUSIc.4L1
ITS I91rORIANEs.'
A'~i'%& AI UW~I~ ~ J I~ '" ~ 9
tbhere'
thru
Classified
POETRY READING
with
RUSS GREGORY
Reading from his works
April 10-7:30 p.m.
GUILD HOUSE-802 Monroe
CDlIDlITIIAI £fKA AIIkIP I ~T C F II
"Strong stuff."
--John Barbour, NBC-TV
Bob Thomas, Assoc. Press
"Should be seen by
every American."
Cha,-res Chmrain. L.A.Timesz
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