'Thursday, April 5, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three Thursday,. IMII Api ,17 TEMCIA AIYPg he Follett's Put-On Shoppe featuring Personalized Imprinting on T-shirts, Sweat-shirts, Jerseys WHILE YOU WAIT & WATCH IT'S FUN AND IT'S AT FOLLETT'S New releases: From Free to Black Oak Arkansas By HARRY HAMMITT Black Oak Arkansas is a punk rock band who have appropriat- ed their name from a southern town. The title of their most re- cent release, Raunch 'N' Roll Live (Atco SD 7019), is an apt description of the music found within. Among shouts of high en- ergy, the band plays a collec- tion of forgettable tunes which have nothing to redeem them. None of the three guitarists in the band seem to have much talent, and lead singer Jim Dan- dy proves that he's no singer. Albums are recorded live to serve as collections of greatest hits or to capture energy and ex- citement that don't come out in the studio. This album serves neither function, being appar- ently only an attempt to make money. * * * Nils Iofgreni first came into the public eye when he played with Neil Young a few years ago. With this newly earned fame he was able toland a record con- tract for his own band, Grin. They have released several al- bums, and All Out (Spindizzy KZ 31701) is their most recent. All Out covers no new ground and as such it will probably remain in relative obscurity. There are some nice things about the album, nevertheless. Lofgren and his brother Tom pull off some fine, crisp guitar- work. None of the band mem- bers are particularly good vo- calists, but drummer Bob Ber- berich does have an interesting style that sounds like a muffled Alice Cooper. Guest Kathy McDonald turns in the finest vocal performance, but her two tunes unfortunately suffer from lack of melodic im- pact and weak group interplay. If she were added as a perma- nent member, perhaps the group's future efforts would have the energy and intensity that the present album lacks. * * * Linda Lewis is one of the newest English female singers on the scene. Coming from mix- ed English-West Indian heritage, she blends the two types of mu- sic. On her second album, Lark (Reprise MS 2120), Lewis plays guitar and piano, recruit- ing a number of reputable ses- sion musicians to back her up. She has an unusual soulful voice which is clear and wispy. Most of her music is pop oriented, but she sometimes blends a unique sense of rhythm with these pop themes to come up with some ra- ther unique music, particularly her tune "It's the Frame" where she plays some almost atonal acoustic guitar. Lewis also comes through with a strong live cut called "Little Indians." Based on a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, this chant is accompanied by a Carib- bean percussion instrument call- At Michigan's Crisier Arena Sat., April 7 8:00 p.m. Tickets on Sale at: MICH. ATHLETIC DEPT. 1000 S. STATE Prices $5, $4, $3, $2 ed a guito. Lewis' voice floats above the percussion, creating a nice simple statement. But Lewis indicates that she knows how to use the advantages of the stu- dio, particularly in her use of double - tracking. * * * One of the most respected white female vocalists in the blues - folk - rock - rhythm 'n' blues circuit is Tracy Nelson, formerly of Mother Earth. Her most recent contribution is called Poor Man's Paradise (Co- lumbia KC 31759) which does little to add to her reputation. The album is superbly produced, all the performances are more than competent, and Nelson again shows that she rightly de- serves her reputation. She has a strong, gutsy delivery which is crisp and clear. She never chokes or slurs any of her words like Joplin sometimes did. But the failure of the album lies totally with the compositions which may be slickly arranged, but lack any energy, depth and interest. * * * Contrary to other 'published re- ports,' Heartbreaker (Island SW- 9324) by Free does not indicate a strong comeback by that band. This album suffers in compari- son with Free Live which is pro- bably the best album by the or- iginal Free. Some of the trouble lies in the fact that Free has un- dergone some personnel changes. The only originals left are vocal- ist Paul Rodgers who also plays guitar here, and drummer Si- mon Kirke. The first cut "Wishing Well" is definitely a good tune featur- ing good strong jabbing guitar along with tough vocals, but nothing else on the album comes up to this quality. Both "Heart- breaker" and "Seven Angels" are songs which have uninterest- ing riffs stretched much further than can be warranted. Free has done good things in the past, so given a chance they may -do good things in the future. *' * * Pink Floyd has established a reputation for their apparently disconnected use of sound ef- fects, creating a music that has been termed as "space music. Here, on their latest release The Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest SMAS 11163), they have dropped any pretensions to space music and come back to the pop world. This album is a collection of tunes with certain resemblances to King Crimson, particularly in the effective use of saxo- phonist Dick Parry on "Money" and "Us and Them." Guitarist David Gilmour also gets a chance to open up with some searing solos on "Money". Bass- ist Roger Waters and Gilmour do all the vocals and their high pitch along with a certain echo quality gives them a unique tone. Richard Wright on keyboards never plays anything straight, but uses a lot of distortion de- vices which complement the tune. Rather nice straightforward songs which are superbly pro- duced. Perhaps not one of Pink Floyd's best albums, this re- cord, nevertheless, has many pleasant things to offer. * * * Finally we end on a nostalgic note. During the summer of 1964, there was a 45 on the radio, an uptempo boogie piano over which the singer crooned in a very unique high-pitched whine. The name of the song was "You Really Turn Me On" and the performer was Ian Whitcomb. Nothing has been heard of Whitcomb since, at least until now. The album that he recently released is called Under the Ragtime Moon (United Artists UAS 0598) which is produced by ex-Bonzo Neil Innes. This is a superior production but because of the type of music here there is probably not enough interest for this album to be successful. On the album Whitcomb plays piano and does low-key vocals, performing a fine collection of fifteen ragtime and vaudeville tunes including three that he wrote. With tunes like "I'm certainly Living a Ragtime Life," "Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula (Hawaiian Love Song)," "Robin- son Crusoe's Isle," and "We're Going to Celebrate the End of the War in Ragtime (Be Sure That Woodrow Wilson Leads the Band)," the album is a fine con- tribution to the understanding of ragtime for the modern listener, and should not be passed up. A passion By SARA RIMER Donald Hall speaks softly in the cultured tones of one who truly loves words. One would think that the melodious voice and carefully chosen words stem from his education at Philip Exeter Academy, Harvard, Ox- ford, and Stanford, but it goes deeper than mere schooling. The words flow from an intrinsic need to create, to play with words. This University professors ex- plains, "If I couldn't write, it would be my sentence to death." Only a man with Hall's passion ° for words would rise every morn- ing at 4:30 to begin writing when the only sound is, "the pen mak- ing little tiny mouse noises." Hall wrote his first poem at the age of 12, and plunged heav- ily into poetry at 14, deciding it would be his life's work. "The first thing I remember is a combined feeling of wanting to be terrific and feeling weird and alienated at 14 years. Poetry was perhaps a rationale for being set apart." He clearly recalls one fateful night when he was 14. At a Boy Scout meeting ("I was a terrible Boy Scout, always a tender- foot.") Hall fell to thinking and bragging with a 16 year old boy. He announced, "I wrote a poem in study hall today." However, this revelation did not create the expected effect since the boy astonished Hall by revealing that he had just quit school to write poetry. At this time Hall wanted to be a writer, an actor, "to be things important, but I had no direc- tion." His Boy Scout acquaint- ance became a "great romantic figure" who helped channel the boy, who already loved reading and words, into poetry. From this, Hall discovered T.S. Eliot and listened with the reverence one would give Socrates to the poetry discussions of a group of Yale freshmen. His first poems were great, long, free v e r s e dealing with blood, death, and other violent themes. Hall early began his DRAMA-Student Lab Theatre presents The Exorcist; Mro- zek's Enchanted Night at 4 in Frieze Arena; Gilbert and Sullivan Society produce Princess Ida at Mendelssohn at 8; RC Players present Chekhov's The Three Sisters at 8 in RC Aud.; UAC-Musket enact West Side Story at 8 in Power. FILM-AA Film Co-op presents Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black in Aud. A, Angell at 7, 9; Cinema Guild shows Welle's Citizen Kane at 7, 9:05 in Arch. Aud. MUSIC-SPECIAL-CAAS and Trotter House present Jazz Symposium at 8 at 1443 Washtenaw. POETRY-Don Hall reads at Pyramid Gallery at 7:30. Donald Hall... for poetry practice of revising, and con- tinues it today, often reworking a poem that he may have begun 15 years ago. Hall's first public recognition came, when, having decided that he was a socialist and an atheist, he nevertheless e n t e r e d an American Legion contest. His colorful, metaphor-filled speech in free verse, different from the other entries, won the town and the regional competition. Hall was unfortunately struck down by the German measles before the state contest. Once he began writing, he never stopped except for a tor- mented two-year period in which: "I couldn't write. I had no quiet- ness, just all war." In alluding to those years in his 30's, Hall's relaxed, contented face briefly reveals a flash of pain. One un- derstands that Hall is not a man who has shielded himself from life's suffering. With the help of psychotherapy, he began to write again. Hall discussed his poems in therapy the way others dis- cuss their dreams. Although he admits that the illness of Sylvia Plath produced good poetry, he does not believe that one loses one's creativity along with the loss of neurosis. He likes Plath's poetry, but de- scribes it as "one, shrill, pain- ful note. Without neurosis, one can come forward, and lose dis- tortion." He is trying to work on the problem of health and suf- fering with prose. "Suffering and frustration are necessary, but how do you handle it? I do be- lieve one can live so as to avoid self-destruction." Hall is presently experimenting with automatic writing; that is, writing without sense or steering. He views it "as an exercise and an opening up of the mind." He plays with words hoping to find something to talk. "When you find a new noise, you find your- self able to say new things you didn't know you had in you." He compares his fooling with words to fingerpainting, only de- ploring that unlike painting "you can't get your body into it." He asserts that in poetry, "It is the fingerpainters that go on and develop." Hall feels it is impor- tant for an artist to turn to the primary thought of a child in whose world metaphors are mag- ical. To Hall, "A lyric poem seems to say again and again, 'Get loose, get loose.'" Hall the poet, has another identity as Donald Hall, the pro- fessor of English at the Univer- sity since 1957, and as traveling poetry reader. Teaching, not as essential to his living as is writ- ing, is more like a hobby that he finds relaxing: He enjoys the contact with students. The young boy who once wanted to be an actor surfaces in Hall, the poetry reader. His nervousness some- timesleads to wild improvisa- tions, and the audience is usually entertained as well as moved by his poetry. Echoing a statement he once made that "skill is cheap," "Hall declares that "talent is com mon." But talent is no longer common when, as in the case of Donald Hall, "you really love poetry and love yourself writing it. Writing is an enormous pleas- ure, and the only thing is to try to make it as good as it can be." Have a flair for artistic writing? If you are interes;- ed in revieh ing poetry, and music, drama, dance, film, or writing feature stories a b o U t the Iarts: Contact Arti Editor, c/o The Michigan Daily. _a_-@ aft-mom FLAMENCO FREAKS Internationally known Flamenco guitarist Juan Serrano will be taking appointments for private instruction this week. Call:, Ann Arbor Music Mart 7Te ie e Daily Photo by JOHN UPTON Hall (MATZOR) with YAACOV AGMON, G LA ALMAGOR 9:30-9:00 MON.-SAT. 769-4980 336 S. State St. F-. "/ . . Best Israeli film . It --DAVAR 7l &9, SAT.-SUN., AprI 7-8 at ILLEL,1429 Hill Admission $1.00 SERIES NOW ON SALE! t.v. tonight, 6:00 2 4 7 News 9 Courtship of Eddie's Father 50 Flintstones 56 Operation Second Chance 6:30 CBS News 4 NBC. News 7 ABC News 9 I Dream of Jeannie 50 Gilligan's Island 56 Classroom Meetings 7:00 2 Truth or Consequences 4 News 7 To Tell the Truth 9 Beverly Hillbillies 50 I Love Lucy 56 Course of Our Times 7:30 2 what's My Line? 4 Circus! 7 Michigan Outdoors 9 Movie "Tarzan Triumphs" (1943) 50 Hogan's Heroes 56 Behind the Lines 8:00 2 The Waltons 4 Flip wilson 7 Jacques Cousteau 56 Advocates 500Dragnet 8:30 50 Merv Griffin 9:00 2 Movie "Don't Make Waves" (1967) 4 Ironside 7 Kung Fu 9 News 56 An American Family ... and Reality 9:30 9 Happy Though Married 10:00 4 Dean Martin 7 Streets of San Francisco 9 Adieu Alouette 50 Perry Mason, 56 Masterpiece Theatre 10:30 9 Countrytime 11:00 2 4 7 News 9 CBC News 50 One Step oyBend 11:20 9 News 11:30 2 Movie "Lizzie" (1957) 4 Johnny Carson 7 Jack Paar Tonite 50 Movie "Doorway to Hell" (1930) 12:00 9 Movie "Blockheads" (1948) 1:00 4 7 News 1:10 2 Names of the Game 1:30 9 Movie. "Swiss Miss." (1938) 2:40 2 TV High School 3:10 2 News wcbn 89.5 fm 9 The Morning After Show 12 Progressive Rock 4 Folk 7 Talk Back 8 Jazz 11 Progressive Rock cable tv channel 3 3:30 Pixanne-children 4:00 Today's woman - Dr. Eva Jesse, from the original "Porgy and Bess" 4:30 Something Else 5:00 Stratosphere Playhouse 5:30 Local News 6:00 Love and the Law 6:30 NCAA Super Sports 7:00 Community Dialogue 8:00 School Board Meeting MUSKET '73 WEST SIDE STORY April 5, 8:00p.m. April 6, 8:00 p.m. April 7, 2:00 p.m.and 8:00 p.m. April 8, 3:00 p.m. TICKETS AVAILABLE in the DOWF CFNTEP ROY OFFICF IF IT'S A REALLY GOOD .. ,..: