Wednesday, March 14, 1973
I'HE MICHIGAN DAILY
gage '1 tree
Wednesday, March 14, 1973 [HE MiCHIGAN DAILY Page Three
Death wish prevails
in world of dreams
By ROB HORWITZ
After an almost innocent-sound-
ing introduction, Galway Kinnell
unleashed his macabre, spell-
binding incantations upon his au-
dience yesterday in the UGLI.,
These incantations, sometimes
referred to as poetry, use the
x words of death set to the beat
of a lolling dirge.
Kinnell does not read his poet-
ry from the page, he recites
from the mind, intensifying the
power of his vision-a vision
which' bursts into being in death
and dream. Entering Kinnell's
mystical world stripped bare of
allusive action and description,
one tastes the blood, smells the
stench of death, and feels the
"sweat breaking from his tem-
ples" through a stunning stream
of images.
In Kinnell's poetry a violent
death-wish is often . related
through memory or dream:
He used to tell me,
"What good is the day?
On some hill of despair
the bonfire
His poems are almost always
of first person narration and col-
lectively form a coherent mysti-
cal vision. The narrator is con-
stantly wandering across a deso-
late landscape frighteningly sim-
ilar to the surrealist painting of
Yves Tanguy.
On the path,
by this wet site
of old fires-
black ashes, black stones,
where tramps
must have squatted down,
gnawing on stream water,
unhouseling themselves on
cursed bread,
failing to get warm at a twig-
fire-
Despite the frequent violence,
Kinnell's works sometimes lull
into deep, peaceful reflection:
I awaken I think. Marshlights
reappear, geese
come traveling again up the
flyway.
in her ravine under old snow
the dam-bear
lies, licking
lumps of smeared fur
and dizzy eyes into shapes
with her tongue.
His obsession with redemption
in death often leads to attempts
at purification of the s o u 1
through the evocation of spirits
in magic and ancient ritual. The
following passage also illustrates
Kinnell's bizarre sense of hu-
mor:
Take kettle
of blue water.
Boil over twigfire
of ashwood. Grind root.
Throw in. Let macerate. Re-
heat.
over ash ashes. Bottle.
Stopper with thumb
of dead man. Ripen
forty days in horse dung
in the wilderpess. Drink.
Sleep.
And when you rise-
if you do rise-it will be in
the sothic year
Have a flair for
artistic writing?
If you are interest-
ed in reviewing
poetry, and music,
drama, dance, film.
or writing feature
stories a b o u t the
arts: Contact Ars
Editor, Do The
Michigan Daily.
Kinnell's vision is most fully
accounted in The Book of Night-
mares, a blood-red covered book
in whichthewords crawl off the
page, into the reader's uncon-
scious. No other book of poetry
has better captured modern
man's spiritual torment or made
better argument against the in-
flection of human suffering. In
this poem of ten parts, Kinnell
brings together his striking im-
agery in a structure which leaves
one wondering just what is
dream or hallucination and what
is the narrator's reality.
Visions as powerful as Kin-
nell's are obviously the products
of a man of great internal emo-
tional strife. At one point in the
reading, Kinnell debated with
himself whether or not to read a
particularly scatching section of
his Book of Nightmares. He fin-
ally declined, saying "It takes
too much out of me when I read
it." It is plain to see why.
Aside from his latest, The
Book of Nightmares, Kinnell has
four other books of poetry and
one book of prose in print. His
reading will be broadcast over
WUOM (91.7 FM) on Sunday,
Mar. 18, at 4 p.m.
Alice
By MIKE HARPER
Well, it had to happen: Alice
Cooper, the epitome of Ameri-
can dress-up and decadence, has
finally released an album that
literally sounds of "effortless in-
volvement" on the part of said
".artistes." Ah yes, with their
sixth and most engaging release,
Billion Dollar Babies (Warner
Bros. BS 2686), Alice and h i s
motley crew prove just how well
they work their musical show,
with the result being a casual
but nonetheless vibrant forty
"odd" minutes of musically-caus-
tic Cooper magic . . .
Another concept album for
Alice, Billion Dollar Babies is
a tale of the trials and tribula-
tions of coming into money . . -
A strong and proud young man,
our simple soldier of life sudden-
ly comes into $$$, and he thus
becomes a whoremonger's dream
-a naive but ripe wad of bills
just waiting to be picked, that
is. With political and "living"
aspirations, our "billion dollar
C_,,UL TURE ,'AEINDAR
DRAMA-U Players present Shakespeare's King Lear at 8 in
Power Center.
MUSIC SCHOOL-Lois Guse, piano doctoral at Recital Hall
at 5.
FILM-Cinema Guild presents the 11th Annual Ann Arbor
Film Festival in the Arch. Aud. at 7, 9 and 11 p.m.
LECTURES-Ctr. for the Coordination of Ancient and Mod-
ern Studies sponsors John Stambaugh, classics, William
College, speaking on "Three Views of Ancient Athens"
at 2 in the UGLI Multi-purpose room;' OSSP and Re-
ligious Affairs presents Sylvia Wynter, prof. of literature,
U of W. Indies, Jamaica, speaking on "Rastafarians in
Jamaica: Religious Community and Political Action' in
Aud. 3, MLB at 3 p.m.; Wynter also speaks on "Dualism:
Theory as Ideology or Critical Consciousness in the Com-
modity Form Society" at 8 p.m. in 2235 Angell; Philosophy
' and Undergrad Philo. Assoc. presents Prof. C. L. Steven-
son lecturing on "The Emotive Theory of Ethics: An Out-
line and Some Applications" in Green Lounge, E. Quad
at 7:30.
UPCOMING CONCERT TIPS-Tickets are still available for
Bette Midler performing at Hill, Mar. 31 at 8; Paul But-
terfield and Better Days play Ford Aud. in Detroit on
Mar. 23, 7:30; Wishbone Ash and Vinegar Joe appear at
Ford on Apr. 6 at 7:30.
baby" grows more and more
confused, and finally "they" get
a hold of him, and then it's no
more mister nice guy. As the
evil sets in, the imagery grows
somewhat sick and diseased,
ending with a longingly uneasy
feeling of pending malevolence,
that leaves our hero - and the
album - unresolved.
Though side one is the weaker
on the two, it is by no means
less enjoyable.
. . . Starting things off is
Alice's current single, Rolf
Kempf's delightful "Hello Hoor-
ay," the band's best 45 rpm re-
lease since their teen anthem
"Eighteen." "Hello" finds singer
Alice crooning sweetly above the
guitars and strings, while t h e
band eases its way through the
once-Judy Collins show-stopper.
. " . Last fall's single, "Elect-
ed," bites back though, taking
on any and all comers with its
fresh and alive sense of being,
further incited by a "politically"
furious Alice. Our singer "cam-
paigns" in his most ' sincerely
vicious voice, as the guitars
charge rock steady before a loud
horn arrangement and the drums
and bass, which underlie to cer-
tain perfection.
. . . Drummer Neal Smith be-
gins uncertainly, guitarist Glen
Buxton joins him, and then ano-
ther guitar and the bass . ..just
in time for' Alice to slither in
with the title cut. "Billion Dol-
lar Babies" carries on in a
most slippery fashion,.with guest-
stinting Donovan trading vocals
with Alice, the band doing i t s
share by keeping the sound eag-
er and ugly.
Side two rocks a little less,
but the songs on the whole are
better, with a stronger sense of
flow and self-urgency to thank
for this feeling.
Opening the side is a hap-
py-go-lucky rocker in "No More
Mister Nice Guy," the probable
sweet-toothed extension of Sparks
/Halfnelson's sock-hopper of the
same title. Alice's vocals are
spot-less-ly clean, the chorus
swings ever so politely and the
band glides soothingly along,
with the guitars playing elegant,
echoing chords in contrast to
D~ennis Dunaway's ragged, chug-
ging bass.
.. . Alice is decidedly gritty
before his "filing" band in "Gen-
eration Landslide," as singer and
song seem content with each oth-
er. Spitting words at an almost-
rabid clip, Alice switches to harp,
and his playing "bites" smartly
t before Smith's diligent rat-a-tat-
tatting. Weary but in control,
Buxton butts in with his crisp
notes, changing the pace from
slightly uneven to quickened, and
then back to "slow" again as he
leads the band into a musical
"death" of sorts in "Sick
Things." Dragging mercilessly
on, "Sick" sees Alice exaggerate
every word, with each sounding
like a vocal sneer. Leading the
unresolved chorus onward, he
then trades moments with t h e
guitar, and then finally our Alice
loses the limelight to a chunky
piano that lullabies in . ..
Possibly played by guest-stint-
er Harry Nilsson, the p i a n o
makes its way into a slightly odd
"love song" called "Mary-Ann."
At first the piano sentiment with <
the use of some echo, but it soon
begins to softly cascade for
Alice, as he sings his vaguely-af-
fecting lyrics to the simple but
somewhat plaintive tune of Mich-
ael Bruce's music. After ending
Images
Cooper:*
Vibrant
on a subtle, twisted note, "Mary-
Ann" vanishes, and the piano
strikes up a thirties swing num-
ber as a sort of peace offering.
to all.'
Alice returns, the reminiscing
piano grows awkward, the rest of
the band joins in, and it's off on
a "death trip" with the humor-
ously sick concluding movement,
"I Love the Dead." "Dead"
pulls itself along, as the feeling
alters between ugly, bittersweet
and naive, creating a dulling
ache in its offhandedly "quaint"
grotesqueies that neither "bite"
nor "bark," I'm afraid. No mat-
ter though, for Alice is happily
disquietly and in control all the
way, doing his "old soft shoe
shuffle down" down the pleasant
paths of melodious Memory
Lane, backed by the utterly can-
cerous but never comal caco-
phonies of the Cooper Orchestra
and, ah yes, "all" going rather
well .
... A few pleasant squeals, an
abrupt, gloriously "dead" end-
ing, and America's favorite rock
n' roll band can - and does -
call it quits for another album.
Though perhaps not their best,
Billion Dollar Babies presents
an Alice Cooper that has by no
means lost their "magic" - in-
deed, if anything, the band is
more infectious and conceptually
more clever than ever before.
And whether this album is the
result of effortless involvement
as once claimed, or perhaps an
overly-pampered product, as
some might contend, Babies is
certainly worthy of its "fathers,"
and thus, it rightfully carries
the names of Messrs. Alice Coop-
er.
Kinnell
you kindle can light the great
sky-
though it's true, of course, to
make it burn
.You have to throw yourself
in "
A .0
NiGe$2.002a
Wh1vr You N AA i'nt...
Photograph by DAVID M. MARGOLICK
~O t
toI
tonight
6:00 2 4 7 News
50 Flinstones
56 Operation Second Chance
6:30 2 CBS News
4 NBC News
7 ABC News
9 I Dream of Jeannie
50 Gilligan's Island
7:00 2 Truth or Consequences
4 News
7 To Tell the Truth
9 Beverly Hillbillies
50 I Love Lucy
56 Zoom
7:30 2 What's My Line
4 Festival of Family Classics
7 wild Kingdom
9 Irish Rovers
50 Hogan's Heroes
56 Consumer Game
__ _._
i
A career in law
i 10
without law school.
When you becomee a Lawyer's Assistant,
you'll do work traditionally done by lawyers
- work which is challenging, responsible
and intellectually stimuating. Lawyer's
Assistants are now so critically needed that
The Institute for Paralegal Training can
offer you a position in the city of your
choice - and a higher starting salary than
you'd expect as a recent collegee graduate.
Here is a career as a professional with fi-
nancial rewards that increase with your de-
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If you are a student of high academic
standing and are interested in a legal
career, come speak with our representative.
Contact the Placement Office.
A representative of The Institute
will visit your campus on:
%"CnFqdCIr% AV CCRQDI I A D 12
8:00 2 Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
4 Adam-12
7 Paul Lynde
9 To The Wild Country
50 Dragnet
56 America '73
8:30 4 Movie
"Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside"
7 Movie
"Class of '63."
50 Merv Griffin
9:00 2 Medical Center
9 News
56 Eye to Eye
9:30 9 Images of Canada
56 Naturalists
10:00 2 Cannon
4 Search
7 Owen Marshall
50 Perry Mason
56 Soul!
10:30 9 This Land
11:00 2 4 7 News
9 CBC News
50 One Step Beyond
11:20 9 News
11:30 2 Movie
"Waterhole No. 3" (1967)
4 Johnny Carson
7 Comedy News
50 Movie
"Malaya", (1949)
12:00 9 Movie
"Taggart" (1965)
1:00 4 7 News
1:30 2 Movie
"Don't Knock the Twist."
(1962)
3:00 2 TV High School
3:30 2 News
cable tv
channel 3
3:30 Pixanne
4:00 Today's Woman
4:30 Something Else (rock)
5:00 Stratasphere Playhouse
5:30 Local news and events
6:00 Consumer Forum
6:30 NCAA Sports
7:00 Community Dialogue
E1 w qLW AF-
s -m -. u,. r