Saturday, February 24, 1973
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
rage inree
Hall:
By WARREN ROSENBERG
Was that Woody Allen breaking
up the audience at the UGLI
multi-purpose room Thursday?
No, it was only Prof. Donald Hall
mixing poetry and personality in
a reading which exhibited clearly
that Hall is, poetically speaking,
beyond categorization. Hall, who
has been at the University since
1957, kept the audience entertain-
ed with a series of prose-poems
("When you find a new form you
can say things you've never
thought you had to say"), limer-
icks, surrealistic pieces, and what
he . termed his "golden oldies"
gleaned from his five books of
published poetry.
Let me immediately reveal a
bias. I don't particularly care for
surrealistic poetry. Surrealism
made brief appearances in Hall's
earlier work, but more recently
it has become his dominant mode.
Poetry and personality
It is to his credit that the ap-
proach works in a number of
poems ("Stories"), but I felt that
he lost control of the technique
in a poem like "The Brain Cell"
where the message seemed sub-
merged and strained by the over-
riding image.
Hall delighted the audience,
however, with a prose-poem he is
still in the process of writing
(He-informed us that he has been
known to work and re-work a
poem for as long as 17 years!),
about a poetry festival. The be-
ginning of the-poem "mocks the
debasement of our language by
statistics" as the poets are chos-
en by computer from the hun-.
dreds of poetry anthologies, few
of which print the same people.
For the festival itself, Hall bril-
liantly utilizes surrealistic imag-
ery to parody (and generally to
destroy) his contemporaries,
among them Bly, Robert Merwin
(a glacier), James Dickey (a
wrecking ball bent on destroying
his competitors), Richard Wilbur
(a foppish pair of identical
Chinese twins), and Hall himself
(a walking stomach who eats the
entire building).
Hall, who received his B.A.
from Harvard in 1951, concluded
his reading with some "golden
oldies," poems that I had been
waiting for from what many con-
sider his best book, A Roof of
Tiger Lilies, and from The Alliga-
tor Bride. "Skill is cheap," was
one of Hall's aphorisms during
the reading, but a careful reading
of his poetry reveals the kind of
craftsmanship that could not
come cheap. Poems like "The
Table" exemplify what I think
Hall does best-capture simply
and lyrically the sensations of his
youth:
Walking back to the farm from
the depot,
Riley slapped flies with his tail.
Twilight. Crickets scraped
in the green standing hay by
the road.
The voice of my grandfather
spoke through a motion of
gnats.
I held his hand. I entered
the sway of a horse..
The last line of this quotation,
"I entered/the sway of a horse,"
is the key to Hall's skill (with
apologies to him) as a poet. It
is the sense of rhythm, the care-
fully chosen line breaks, the
sense of expectancy and tension
multiplying from line to line,
that elevates Hall's best poems.
He, of course, can be very visual,
very sensual, but as he reveals in
a poem "The Three Movements"
C/w,'c/t k/v'4hiip_e*ice4
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FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, l
SCIENTIST
1833 Washtenaw Avenuel
SUNDAY: 10:30 a.m.: Worship
Services, Sunday School (2-20 yrs.).
Infants' room available Sunday and
Wednesday.'
Public Reading Room, 306 E. Li-
berty St.: Mon., 10-9; Tues.-Sat.,
10-5; Closed Sundays and Holi-
days.
For transportation, call 668-6427.
Church School.
* * *
UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN
CHAPEL (LCMS)
1511 Washtenaw Avenue
Alfred T. Scheips, Pastor
Sunday at 9:15 and 10:30 a.m-
Worship Services
Sunday at 9:15 a.m.-Bible Study.
Wednesday at 10 p.m.-Midweek
* * *
UNIVERSITY REFORMED
CHURCH
1001 E. Huron
9:30 a.m.-Discussion Classes.
10:30 a.m. - "Filled with the.
Spirit." Speaker: Calvin Malefyt.
5:30 p.m.-Students' Supper, 75c.
6:45 p.m. - "Christianity, Ecol-
ogy, and Industry." Speakers: Dr.
Tom Werkema and Dr. Bob Mo-
lenaar, Dow Chemical Co.
HURON HILLS BAPTIST
CHURCH: 3150 Glacier Way
Pastor: Charles Johnson
For information, transportation,
personalized help, etc., phone 769-
6299 or 761-6749.
Worship.
* * *
ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL
CHURCH, 306 N. Division
8:00 a.m.: Holy Eucharist.
10:00 a.m.: Holy Eucharist and
Sermon.
* * *
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL
On the Campus at the corner of
State and William Sts.
Rev. Terry N. Smith, Sr. Minister
Rev. Ronald C. Phillips, Assistant
* * *
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
1432 Washtenaw Avenue
Services of Worship at 9:00 and
10:30 a.m.-Sermon: "A Matter of
Walking." Preaching: Robert E.
Sanders.
COLLEGE PROGRAM
Bible Study-Tuesdays 12:00 to
1:00.
Holy Communion - Wednesdays
5:15 to 5:45.
Supper Program - Wednesdays
6:00.
BETHLEHEM UNITED CHURCH
OF CHRIST
423 S. Fourth Ave. Ph. 665-6149
Ministers: T. L. Trost, Jr.; R. E.
Simonson.
Associate Ministers: Dennis R.
Brophy and Howard F. Gebhart.
9 a.m.: Morning Prayer.
10, a.m.: Worship Service and
Church School.
* * *
PACKARD ROAD BAPTIST
2580 Packard Road, 971-0773
Tom Bloxam, Pastor, 971-3152
Sunday School, 9:45 a.m.
Worship: 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Training Hour: 6 p.m.
* * *
CAMPUS CHAPEL
1236 Washtenaw
Rev. Peter Paulsen
Services-:
10:00 a.m.-Morning Worship.
6:00 p.m.-Evening Service.
* * *
LORD OF LIGHT LUTHERAN
CHURCH (ALC, LCA) (formerly
Lutheran Student Chapel)
801 S. Forest (Corner of Hill St.)
Donald G. Zill, Pastor
Sunday Folk Mass-10:30 a.m.
Sunday School-9:15 a.m.
Sunday Supper-6:15 p.m.
Program-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday Eucharist-5:15 p.m.
* * *
FIRST UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH and WESLEY FOUNDA-
TION - State at Huron and Wash.
9:30 and 11:00 a.m. - Worship
Services. Sermon by Dr. Donald
B. Strobe: "Jesus: Radical or Con-
servative?"
Broadcast on WNRS 1290 AM,
WNRZ 103! FM, 11 a.m.-noon.
WESLEY FOUNDATION
Sunday, Feb. 25:
1:45 p.m.-Meet to go to Detroit
for experience with prisoners in a
Halfway House; return by 6:00
p.m.
Thursday, March 1:
6:00 p.m.-Grad Community Din-
ner Dnt n,neinn
nor the various paints and
edges
of scenery.
It is, he says,
familiar when come upon,
glimpsed
as in a mirror
unpredicted,
and it appears
to understand. It is
like himself, only visible.
This is poetry that appeals to the
inner ear. Somehow, as a result
of the careful placement of words
like "not," or the clipped phras-
ing, or the balancing of words
that end in "-ed," we feel in-
side us what Hall is trying to say.
It is truly knowledge that is
"glimpsed."
Hall uses many forms in his
poems, rhymed couplets, sestinas,
free verse, iambic pentameter,
and a number of themes recur,
building and destroying, trans-
formations (of land and people),
and man and nature. His very
best poems unify strong rhythms
with clear visual images and ges-
tures ("In The Kitchen of the
Old House," "The Man in the
Dead Machine," "Digging"). His
weaker ones either drown the
reader in abstract words coupled
with a slackening of form ("The
Scream"), or prosaically and im-
potently strike out at society
("Crew-cuts") in the mode of
Ferlinghetti's later poetic mis-
takes. But Hall's mistakes are
few, and in a poem like "Gold,"
which he read to conclude the
reading, we are told what is, in
the final analysis, of the greatest
significance:
Pale gold of the walls, gold
of the centers of daisies, yellow
roses
pressing from a clear bowl. All
day
we lay on the huge bed, my
hand
stroking the deep
gold of your thighs and your
back....
We made in those days
tiny identical rooms inside
our bodies
which the men who uncover
our graves
will find in a thousand years
shining and whole.
I-
Sonny and Brownie
piay gospel-blues
By LORRE WEIDLICH
Sonny Terry and Brownie Mc-
Ghee come to Detroit's Raven
Gallery several times a year,
and several people I know make
a point of going to hear them
every time they pass through.
People into blues recognize them
as two of the most important ar-
tists in the field. Their album,
Sonny and Brownie (A&M SP
4379), will probably be eagerly
picked up by blues freaks in Ann
Arbor.
The album is a mixture of
some really fine cuts, some aver-
age cuts, and a few that a r e
merely filler. It's far from the
country blues Brownie and Sonny
started out with 33 years ago
when they began their act: the
g,!est musicians inclide Arlo
Guthrie and the songs range from
their own material to R a n d y
Newman's "Sail Away."
The album opens a Curtis May-
field song, "People Get Ready,"
one of the less exciting cuts on
the album, despite its up-beat
tempo. The arrangement is poor,
and a lot of potential goes to
waste, including Sugarcane Har-
ris' fiddling. The song establish-
es one of the thematic trends
of the album - a gospel sound,
taken up with more success by
by several songs on the second
side of the record, "Big Wind"
and "Jesus Gonna Make it Al-
right."
"Big Wind" has the same up-
tempo feel as "People Get Rea-
dy," but a far more effective ar-
rangement, from the more subtle
and mellow background vocals to
the harmonica, which isn't just
there, as in "People Get Ready,"
but actively contributes to the
song. "Jesus Gonna Make It Al-
right" is one of the most taste-
fnl bands on the record, a mel-
low sound with dobro and piano
adding some nice sounds.
The host of back-up musicians
play everything from Moog syn-
thesizer to banjo. At one point
the extra instrumentation seems
to detract more than add to the
album - the thumb piano on
"Sail Away" is gimmicky,
thrown in for unusual effect ra-
ther than incorporated into the
total arrangement of the song.
Some of the back-up musicians
are worth noting: Besides Sugar-
cane Harris and Arlo Guthrie,
John Hammond and John May-
all both add some nice touches.
Hammond's slide guitar stands
out on "Walkin' My Blues
Away," a McGhee-Terry compo-
sition with more or less typical
blues lyrics, and Mayall's piano
on the same cut and !harp-play-
ing on "Sonny's Thing," an
otherwise undistinguished instru-
mental, and several other cuts,
are really fine.
At least two other songs de-
serve mention. Sam Cooke's
"Bring it on Home" includes the
best examples on the album of
Brownie's guitar and Sonny's
harmonica-playing, plus some
noteworthy fiddling by Sugar-
cane Harris. "White Boy" is an
amusing account of someone do-
ing him damnedest to be bluesy
and ending up chained to his ear-
phones and feeling mean and con-
fused after listening to Sonny's
harp-playing. The harp-playing,
Brownie's electric guitar, and the
piano accompaniment combine
to make this one of the high-
points of the album.
The album closes with "On the
Road Again," a personal remin-
iscense: "Do you know actually
how long me and you, been to-
gether?" "Yeah, pretty close
around thirty-three years."
"Mighty long time to be with a
man, ain't it?" Sonny's recollec-
tion of working a week to earn
the quarter to buy his f i r s t
harmonica, the story of the ser-
vice station attendant who
wouldn't "fill no black gas," re-
membering Bill Bill, Lightin'
Hopkins, and the other musicians
they've played with - casual,
off-the-cuff stories are sand-
wiched between choruses of "On
the Road Again." It's a nice
account of a long partnership.
Hall
from his first book of poetry
Exiles and Marriages, it is move-
ment that is the essence of poetry
and of life:
Yet perhaps, he thinks,
I speak
With knowledge, but perhaps
forgetting the movement
that intrigues
all thinking. It is
the movement which works
through,,
which discovers itself.
in alleys, in
sleep, not
expected and not
in the books of words and
phrases
Have a flair for
artistic writing?
If you are interest-
ed in r evie wing
poetry, and music,
drama, dance, film.
or writing feature
stories a b o u t the
arts: Contact Arts
Editor c/a The
Michigan Daily.
Daily Photo by TOM GOTTLIEB
From Mozart to 'Boulez
Claudio Arrau, Chilean master of the piano, made his third Ann
Arbor appearance last night at Hill Aud. See review in tomorrow's
Daily.
0
i
ner an i scussionU, -. L
SAMARIA LUTHERAN, LCA
272 Hewitt Rd., Ypsilanti
Rev. Dean Tyson, Pastor!
Family Worship and Nursery at
11:00 a.m. Faculty and Students
welcome.
UAC-DAYSTAR presents
HERBIE HANCOCK
septet
and
FREDDIE HUBBARD
and his bond
TON IGHT'
$4.50, 4.00, 3.50, 2.50 reserved seats
Tickets today at the Union 11 :00-5:00 & at the door from 6 p.m. on
tonight
6:00 2 4 News
9 This is Your Life
50 star Trek
56 Thirty Minutes With
6:30 2 CBS News
4 NBC News
7 Reasoner Report
9 Fishin' Hole
56 Consumer Game
7:00 2 Truth or Consequences
4 George Pierrot
7 News
9 Untamed World
50 Hee Haw
56 Industrial Film Festival
7:30 2 Young Dr. Kildare
4 Adventurer
7 Town Meeting
9 Beachcombers
56 E ye to E ye a m y
8:00 2 All in the Family
4 Emergency
7 Here We Go Again
9 NHL Hockey
56 Movie
"The Rules of the Game." (39)
50 NHL Hockey
8:30 2 Bridget Loves Bernie
7 A Touch of Grace
9:00 2 Mary Tyler Moore
4 Movie
"I Walk the Line"
(1970)
7 Julie Andrews
9:30 2 Bob Newhart
10:00 2 Carol Burnett
7 Jigsaw
56 Mysterious Mr. Eliot
NEW WORLD MEDIA presents
10:30 9 Document
50 Lou Gordon
11:00 2 4 7 9 News
56 Bolero
11:15 7 ABC News
9 Provincial Affairs
11:20 9 News
11:30 2 Movie
"God's Little Acre" (1958)
4 Johnny Carson
7 Movie
"Tony Rome." (1967)
9 Movie
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
(1962)
12:00 50 Movie
"Frankenstein-1970." (1958)
1:00 4 News
1:30 2 Movie
"The Whipping"
7 Movie
"The Fat Man." (1951)
3:00 2 7 News
wcbn
89.5 fm
9-12 Maranatha Music
12-4 Radio Prison
4-8 Jazz
8-11 Progressive Rock
11-3 The Potato Show
CULTURE CALENDAR
DANCE-Turkish dance workshop in Barbour Gym from
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; 2-5 p.m.; dance with "Lightning"
and "Locomobile" in Couzens Hall cafeteria at 8:30; Her-
Self newspaper and Gawk co-sponsor a Women's Dance
at 8:30 in U of M Women's Athletic Bldg; UM Dancers
in Concert at Power at 2:30, 8.
FILM-Cinema Guild presents Kozintsev's Hamlet at 7, 9:05
in Arch. Aud;. Cinema II shows Mankiewicz' Guys, and
Dolls in Aud. A, Angell at 7, 9:30; New Morning Films
presents New York Erotic Film Festival II at 7, 9 in Aud.
3, MLB; UAC-Mediatrics show Shaft in Nat. Sc. Aud. at
7, 9:30.
DRAMA-Residential College Players present Williams'
Something Unspoken; Ionesco's The Lesson at 8 in RC
Aud.; Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presents Thieves' Carni-
val at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre at 8.
UAC-BLACK AFFAIRS-Take 3; show and dance in Bursley
at 9:30.
MUSIC-Herbit Hancock and Freddie Hubbard in concert at
8 at Hill.
WEEKEND BARS AND MUSIC-Ark, Joe Hickerson (Fri.,
Sat.) admission; Blind Pig, Okra (Fri.,* Sat.) cover, Clas-
sical Music (Sun.) no cover; Golden Falcon, Oz Nova
(Fri., Sat.) cover; Mackinac Jack's, Detroit (Fri., Sat.,
Sun.)- cover; Mr. Flood's Party, Cadillac Cowboys (Fri.,
Sat.) cover, Diesel Smoke and Dangerous Curves (Sun., 3
p.m.) cover; Bimbo's on the Hill, Cricket Smith (Fri.,
Sat.) cover; Del Rio, Jazz Music (Sun.) no cover; Rubai-
yat, Irish Bell Adventure (Fri., Sat., Sun.) no cover; Bim-
bo's, Gaslighters (Fri., Sat., Sun.) cover; Pretzel Bell,
RFD Boys (Fri., Sat.) cover; Odyssey, Brooklyn Blues-
busters (Fri., Sat.) cover, Okra (Sun.) cover.
STurkish Foikdance, Workshop
BORA OZKOK
of Adana, Turkey
iwill teach Turkish dancing:
Fri., Feb. 23-8-11 pm
Sat., Feb. 24-9:45 am-12 pm; 2:15-5 pm
a R ARMIHTRf .VM
PLEASE STAND BY'
"In the very near future a band of radical
freaks will take control of a communica-
tion satellite and broadcast bizarre mes-
sages to a captive world T.V. audience."
MUSIC BY-
JOHN LENNON and YOKO ONO
DAVID PEEL and the LOWER EAST SIDE
TEENAGE LUST & 1984
NEW RELEASE
A film by JACK & JOANNE MITON
coming soon-Sponsored by New World Film Coop
665-6734
SUNDAY NITE
POETRY
READING
with
Lemuel Johnston
Linda Silverman
Simone Press
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