Sunday, October 29, 1972
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
THE MICHIGAN DAiLY Page Three
By HARRY HAMMITT
Commander Cody and the Lost
Planet Airmen came to town
Friday night and practically de-
cimated their audience.
By the time the concert was
over, singer Billy Farlow h a d
almost destroyed every micro-
phone at Hill; the band was more
aggressive and energetic than
ever, hitting the audience with
wave after wave of energy, and
the audience loved it.
Things had gotten off to an in-
teresting start that afternoon
with the first annual Ozone Par-
ade, which set the stage for the
evening's concert, billed as the
Ozone Revue.
Master of Ceremonies John Sin-
clair stepped up to the mike a
little bit after the concert was
scheduled to begin, and didn't
waste too much time in the in-
troduction of the first .band, Mojo
Boogie Band. Mojo Boogie didn't
play a bad set, but it wasn't
great either. They could stand
a bit of improvement and they
will probably continue to get bet-
Truckin' with Cody
and Ozone Review
ter; for now, their best player
by far is saxist Steve McKay.
The next band, Asleep at t h e
Wheel, was one that many were
looking forward to hearing, since
coming from Berkley, they are
supposedly inspired by Command-
er Cody. Although they do show
some of the Cody influence, they
are totally their own band. They'
don't have the flash of Cody as
yet, but they have their licks
down pretty well and play some
fine country music - pure coun-
try and western with only a rare
rock 'n' roll song.
Asleep At The Wheel plays.
more solid Nashville country than
dose Cody. The Nashville style
was firmly established in the
songs sung by rhythm guitarist
HE
SUNDAY AND
TUESDAY:
Te . ceze
SHE
MONDAY:
QUARTER NIGHTS
(Beer and Wine)
HALLOWEEN PARTY
341 S. MAIN-769-5960
Chris O'Connell who really warm-
ed to the occasion; she has an
excellent voice for this type of
song. When the guitarist a n -
nounced that they were going tc
play "Truck Drivin' Man," a
Cody favorite, the audience was
won over to their side as they
played a fine rendition of it.
After a short intermission, the
stage was taken by Ann Arbor's
Boogie Brothers, with Boogie
Red on piano. The band start-
ed out in a rather slow mood, in-
troducing Boogie Woogie R e d
along the way.
Things started moving when
the band did one of their favor-
ite songs about a prisoner's last
request. They then ran through
some more up-tempo numbers,
ending with a good rendition of
"Dust My Broom." They t h e n
finished off with two numbers,
an instrumental called "After
Hours" which featured some
really inventive and exciting
piano from Boogie Woogie Red
and "Shake Your Moneymaker"
which moved pretty well, but is
pretty conventional. The band
was superb at all times; they
continue to get tighter as they
go along. Both Boogie Woogie
Red and the harmonica player
are exciting and excellent solo-
ists.
By this time the audience was
getting restless; it seemed t h a t
they had already been so satur-
ated with music that even Cody
might have trouble getting much
of a responsefrom them.
As soon as the Lost Pl1a n et
Airmen took the stage, however,
they had the audience with them
all the way. Opening up with a
new instrumental for them, "Te-
quila," Cody continuously amaz-
ed the audience. They unveiled
some new material, including
part two of the Ozone Brass who
were first introduced at Hill in
April, 1971. This time the brass
section included Bill Kirchen on
trombone, Andy Stein on soprona
sax, and Bill on cornet. The new
brass selection is "Milk C o w
Blues."
drained that they were just too in-
capacitated to respond. Billy
kept it going, most of the song
spotlighted by the impromptu
choreography of the Ozone Home-
coming Queen.
Billy managed to work the aud-
ience into a frenzy, albeit a re-
strained one. He ended the song,
and the band swung into a de-
vastating version of "Jailhouse
Rock." The band literally attack-
ed the song and rose to yet new
levels of energy. Billy was swing-
ing microphones around his
shoulder, putting them out of
commission and regularly steal-
ing the mike that Stein was us-
ing for his sax. The audience
went wild as Cody ripped t h e
roof off Hill. The song finally
came to its conclusion, the band
walked offstage, but the aud-
ience, tired as it was, was so up
that they demanded more, and
got it. Cody emerged one more
time to finish off the audience
with "I Got a Woman," a rock
'n' roll tune much in the vein
of "Blue Suede Shoes." T h e
crowd would probably have asked
more more, but they were just
too exhausted.
By RICHARD GLATZER
It is 1863. Jake Rumsey (Jeff
Bridges), Drew Dixon (Barry
Brown), and their band of ado-
lescent rednecks are tired of
dodging recruiting Army offic-
ers, tired of stealing purses from
old ladies and pennies from
school children. They pick up
and head out to Virginia City,
Nevada, out West, out to the
Frontier. The gang is about to
ford a small lonely river. Jake
(the dominant personality of the
bunch), in his gruffly affable
way, turns back towards the
others and tells them to say
goodbye to the United States of
America.
It's a small, relatively unin-
portant scene, but one of several
in Bad Company that convey the
Bad
Company
i e
interstin
. " .
sense of adventure, sense of po-
tential, sense of vulnerability
and openness that characterized
the American legend of the Fron-
tier.
Screenwriter - director Robert
Benton and co-screenwriter Da-
vid Newman are very much
aware of the weighty subject
they are treating in Bad Com-
pany. Drew, a well brought up
Methodist, heads west to avoid
the Army and to strike it rich in
Nevada's silver mines. Several
members of Jake's tribe of petty
thieves are wanted by the Army
too; that, combined with the call
of adventure, pulls them in the
Inevitable Direction also.
What Jake, Drew, and'the rest
find, though, is a thoroughly dif-
ferent matter. Miles and miles
of prairie. (Gordon Willis' mut-
ed, strangely flat photography
makes it all look something like
a cross between an Andrew Wy-
eth painting and a Matthew Bra-
dy photograph). Dull, muddy
shanty towns. Single stage-
coaches travelling an unpopulat-
ed landscape. Not a sign of the
half-dreaded, half-wished for In-
dian; the only people encoun-
tered are unhappy Easterners,
disillusioned with the West.
What it does provide, though,
is an environment that strips
away all pretensions and artifice
of civilization. Why? Because
the prairie is lawless: a gang of
nonchalant, bungling thieves run
rampant, only to be illegally
caught and hung by a sheriff
who is no more law abiding
than they, but who is, rather, on
the right side. Veneers lacquer-
ed on by Eastern culture don't
wear well out here.
Gradually during 'the course
of the film, Drew's layer of
middle class "morality" is com-
pletely sanded away by the pri-
mitiveness of his new environ-
ment. "I will always keep to the
straight and narrow," he swears
early in the film. Yet his preten-
sions to morality are obviously
superficial right from the begin-
ning. He flees from the draft,
not out of any deep religious or
moral conviction, but simply be-
cause he'd rather remain alive.
His primary guiding principle is
money - lust; he wrecks the kit-
en of a charitable old woman in
order to regain several dollars
stolen from him earlier. And aft-
er joining up with Jake and his
gang, Drew allows his friends to
go hungry while he has a wad of
bills inside his boot.
Nevertheless, Drew's Metho-
dist upbringing has led him to
see himself as more moral than
his thieving, whoring friend
Jake. Drew refuses to screw a
prairie whore, insisting, "I was
raised to honor a woman." Once
Drew encounters desert bandits,
though, once he loses a cherish-
ed memento, once he sees a
member of his gang shot down in
cold blood, his true colors begin
to show. He eventually helps
slaughter a gang of thieves to re-
gain that memento without a
pang of remorse, and by the end
of the film, he and Jake are
more or less equals.
The strange thing about Bad
Company is that Benton and
Newman seem actually to con-
done this supposed return to
Man's original state. There is no
moral referent in the movie
whatsoever. And none of the
murders are ever seen as tragic
or pathetic. In fact, during one
scene, Harvey Schmidt's pretty,
jarringly inappropriate piano
score is heard happily tinkling
away while people are being
slaughtered by our two heroes.
All of which makes Bad Com-
pany seem like one of the most
amoral movies I've seen in quite
a while.
I say 'seem' because, while
continuously interesting and pro-
vocative, the film is neverthe-
less unclearly, hazily directed.
Most of the thematic aspects
I've discussed are tremendously
underdeveloped, pushed so far3
to the background of the film as
almost to seem nonexistent.
And the relationship between
Jake and Drew - obviously in-
tended as the focal point of the
movie - is no more clearly de-
picted. The stages of their
friendship are never clearly
shown, no progression (or re-
gression) is really clearly mark-
ed, events just lazily, almost
pointlessly drift a c r o s s the
screen.
All of which makes Bad Com-
pany often seem more like the
outline of a film than an actual
movie. There are many good
touches, potent themes here; yet
there are an equal number of
possibilities latent in the sub-
ject unexplored or merely hint-
ed it.
Arts editor's note: Due to time and
space limitations, this entire review
was neither written nor printed.
Some local classi~cs
DOUGLAS HARVEY
FRED POSTILL
HAROLD OWINGS
Candidates for
Washlenaw County Sheriff
will speak on
"TALKBACK"
A Live Interview Program
on
WCBN-FM 89.5
Monday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.
PHONE FOR QUESTIONS-761-3500
By DONALD SOSIN
Three centuries of American
music are represented on new
recordings by local University
faculty and students.
The U-M Chamber Choir, di-
rected by Thomas Hilbish, goes
back to the 18th century for its
program of hymns, songs, an-
thems and fuging tunes. Pro-
duced by the William L. Clements
Library, the album is available
from choir members.
The first side features Karen
Hunt, soprano, and Penny Craw-
ford, harpsichord, in songs of
Francis Hopkinson, in an imi-
tation of European early classi-
cal style. Hunt and Crawford
p e r f o r in three unpretentious
songs, and a dirge for General
Washington. The sound is bright
and has almost too much pres-
ence with not enough reverbera-
tion. Hunt's voice is pleasantly
light and gracefully accompanied.
The choirhasthekother side
to itself, with works by New
---- i
ARTS
baritone and member of the
faculty here; and Jan De Gae-
tani, mezzo-soprano. Piano and
melodeon accompaniments are
by Gilbert Kalish, with Robert
Sheldon and Sonya Monosoff pro-
viding an occasional line on flute
and violin.
Hearing some of the songs for
the first time, I was struck by
the simplicity of the melodies,
and the accompaniments, which
are from the original sheet
music; yet there is no question
that the songs are genuinely ar-
tistic. They are greatly aided by
sensitive, intelligent interpreta-
tions. Guinn sings robustly about
the "good time coming" when
"war in all men's eyes shall be
a monster of inequity," then
tones down for "Gentle Annie,"
a tender remembrance of a de-
parted love.
About De Gaetani's voice, all
I can say is that I could listen
to it all day. Widely known as
an outstanding interpreter of con-
temporary music, she reveals
here another side of her abili-
ties, with exquisite renditions of
"Jeanie" and "Ah, May the Red
Rose Live Away" as well as
comic lyrics-"If You've Only
Got a Moustache." Light and
airy, her voice elevates each
song to a very high plane.
The album includes several
duets: the familiar "Some Folks
Do," and a saga of henpecking,
"Mr. and Mrs. Brown." The Fos-
ter repertoire includes some 10
songs, ranging from comic to
Civil War ballads. One hopes
Nonesuch will follow up this
smash with further samplings of
his talent, and that of Guinn and
De Gaetani.
Finally, a new CRI disc (SD
282) features works of local Uni-
versity composer and theorist
Wallace Berry: String Quartet
No. 2, Canto Lirico, for viola and
piano, -and Duo, for flute and
piano.
The quartet is an appealing
work, stemming from the Euro-
pean tradition, with roots in
Bartok. A slow, searching open-
ing gives way to a scherzo with
continual r h y t h m'i c interplay
among the instruments. The
opening statement returns, and
the quartet finishes in a sudden
burst of energy.
Berry's musical language is a
tonal one, although this is not
always easy to hear. What is
apparent is his care and logic in
developing ideas. Such quailties
also infuse the two other works
on the album. U-M faculty mem-
bers Keith Bryan and Karen
Keys perform the Duo with zest
and exactness, and create some
stunning moments with brilliant
flourishes in both instruments.
Guild shows Jansco's The
Arch. Aud., 7, 9:05;
It's a new Blood,!
Sweat and Tears
i
CULToURkE CALEI'WDAR
STRING MUSIC-The Guarneri String Quartet will give the
first concert in the Chamber Arts Series under the
auspices of the University Musical Society this afternoon
at 2:30 in Rackham.
In- their second appearance here, the group will
present the following program: Quartet in A Major Op.
18, No. 5, Quartet in E Minor Op. 59, No. 2, and Quartet
in F. Major Op. 135, all by Beethoven.
FILMS-Cinema II shows Fuller's Shock Corridor tonight at
7 and Polanski's Repulsion tonight at 9 in Aud. A; Cinema
cI
"Reminiscent of 'Butch Cassidy an
the Sundance Kid ,"
-MICHIGAN DAILY
Red and the White tonight in
"IT'S A
OF ITS
CLASSIC
KIND!
It is comic, it is tragic,i
close to the spirit of M
Twain."
-Ann Arbor
written and directed by thec
tors of "BONNIE & CLYDE"
d
it is
Aark
News
crea-
Particular favorites were "Semi
Truck," the much requested
"Seeds and Stems," "Looking at
the World Through a Windshield,"
"Mama Hated Diesels," "Sea
Cruise," "Beat Me Daddy Eight
To The Bar," and the much re-
quested "Hot Rod Lincoln."
But the Commander did some
other good things like 'Smoke
That Cigarette," and two new
rockers, "Everybody's Doin' It,"
and "Sister Sue." Billy moved
out with an interminable version
of his "Watch My .38." T h e
song started off normally enough,
but then Billy turned it into a
revival as he roused the audience
to testify. The audience was so
England composers, William Bill-
ings, Supply Belcher, two of the
more recognizable names. The
pieces are generally quite brief,
and serve to do simple justice to
the texts. The choir sounds ex-
cellent, with far less blend prob-
lem than tends to creep up in
its live performances.
Moving ahead some fifty years
we encounter the songs of Steph-
en Foster, known for many lyri-
cal ballads - "Beautiful Dream-
er," "Jeanie with the Light
Brown Hair," to name only two.
These and twelve other wonder-
ful \Foster tunes appear on a
new Nonesuch release (H-71268).
The artists are Leslie Guinn,
By HARRY HAMMITT
About five years ago, there was
an album that came out called
Child is Father to the Man which
was done by a group under the
direction of Al Kooper. The al-
bum was well-received critically,
but not very popular.
The band was a new one with
its roots in the old Blues Project.
A little while after the album,
Kooper left the group;the next
time they surfaced they were be-
ing led by a dynamic Canadian
singer named David Clayton
Thomas.
On the strength of solid musi-
cianship and such commercially
palatable songs as "You've Made
Me So Very Happy" and "Spin-
ning Wheel" the band, Blood,
Sweat & Tears, sold a million
copies of their second album,
and quickly became a major
American band.
They were the firstaband to in-
tegrate horns into a jazz-rock
fusion and gain public recogni-
tion for it. There were many at
this time who thought that a lit-
tle known group called Chicago
Transit Authority who had much
the same instrumentation, were
superior to Blood, Sweat & Tears
and deserved to be recognized as
such. Now that the positions
have been reversed and Chicago
is very popular, many of these
same people criticize Chicago.
What is the explanation for the
demise of Blood, Sweat & Tears?
Part of the blame lies with Clay-
ton Thomas. He may be a fine
singer, but he is also something
of a dogmatist. Partially because
of him and possibly also because
of sudden fame, the band then
did s"-e disastrous numbers,
partic larly their butchering of
"Sympathy for the Devil". The
band never totally recovered
from these setbacks so they de-
cided it was time for some
changes.
They brougt in trombonist-
tubist Dave Bargeron, but whom
they got rid of was muchymore
impressive. Out went Clayton
Thomas, Fred Lipsius, and Dick
Halligan, all of whom were
among the most prominent mem-
bers., The band has regrouped
and as such the title of their new
album is very straightforward; it
is called New Blood (Columbia
KC 31780).
The band is rebuilding so there
is no reason to expect anything
sensational as yet. Probably the
biggest asset of the album is its
variety. The material is admir-
ably varied, but nothing is very
new or exciting.
The album starts off well with
Dylan's "Down in the Flood,"
but the remainder of the songs
never reach the energetic stage
reached in the opener.
There are some new things in
terms of the band; there is less
soloing than previously and the
band members seem more aware
of being a unit. The band has
gotten a pretty reliable jazz gui-
tarist in Georg Wadenius.
Instrumentally the band is im-
peccable, but they never gener-
ate much excitement. They don't
use horns to their best advantage
in the arrangements since the ar-
rangements seem to be pseudo-
big band and the horns seem
somewhat cumbersome and clut-
ter the song rather than support
it. The album is still moderately
good; there is no question as to
the musical excellence of the
band, the only question is: Can,
they come up with something
that is either melodically suc-
cessful or dynamically and en-
ergetically potent?
"BA
COMPANY"
stirring
JEFF BRIDGES
BARRY BROWN
SNEAK'
PREVIEW
at 10:30 only - a complete
feature-length showing of a
new R-rated film. Come at
9:00 and see TWO movies.
"Bad Company"-7:15, 9:00
Box Office Closes at 9:15
SNEAK PREVIEW - 10:30
Japan Arcade presents
Sat. and Sun .Only
Double Feature starts 1 p.m.
TOSHIRO MIFUNE
"Under The Banner
of SAMURAI"
and
"LITTLE JUDO KING"
Japanese Dialogue
English Subtitles
between shows live
karate demonstration
*** CINEMA II PRESENTS ***
SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER
TWO PSYCHOLOGICAL SHOCKERS!
7:00 SHOCK CORRIDOR
Samuel Fuller
A newspaperman is committed to a mental hospital in order to
solve a murder, but the strain grows too great.
9:00: REPULSION
Roman Polonski
Catherine Deneuve. A Beautifully But Sexually Repressed Woman,
flips out "into the dark and murky chambers of the, Brain."
AUDITORIUM A, ANGELL HALL 7 & 9 $1.00
0
0
toni ght
6:00 2 60 Minutes
7 Movie
"Coast of skeletons."
9 U.F.O.
50 Star Trek
56 World Press
6:30 56 Consumer Game
7:00 2 TV 2 Reports
4 George Pierrot
9 Tom Jones
50 Lawrence Welk
56 A Public Affair/Election '72
7:30 2 Peanuts Cartoon
4 World of Disney
56 Just Generation
8:00 2 Movie
"Yellow Submarine"
7 FBI
9 Muppet Musicians of Bremen
50 Canterville Ghost
56 International Performance
8:30 Hec Ramsey
9:00 7 Movie
"What Ever Happened to Aunt
Alice?"
9 Sunday at Nine
56 Masterpiece Theatre
59 Detroit Show
9:30 2 Mannix
50 Nitty Gritty
10:00 4 Night Gallery
9 Weekend
56Firing Line
50 Lou Gordon
10:30 2 Evil Touch
4 Profiles in Black
11:00 2 4 7 9 News, Weather, Sports
11:15 9 Religious Scope
11:30 2 Name of the Game
4 Wild Wild West
7 Movie
"Daughter of the M in d."
(1969) Espionage blends with
the occult.
9 Movie
"Song Without End." (1960)
Story of Franz Liszt.
50 For My People
12:00550 Man in a Suitcase
12:30 4 News
1:00 2 Grambling Football
1:30 7 News
2:00 2 Golden Gospel
2:30 2 News
Monday
6:00 2 4 7 News, Weather, Sports
9 Eddie's Father
50 Flintstones
16 Course of Our Times
6:30 2 4 7 News
9 Jeannie
50 Gilligan's Island
56 All About Welfare
7:00 2 Truth or Consequences
4 News, Weather, Sports
7 To Tell the Truth
9 Canadian Election Coverage
50 I1 Love Lucy
56 Speaking Freely
7:30 2 What's My Line?
4 Mouse Factory
7 Let's Make A Deal
50 Hogan's Heroes
8:00 2 Gunsmoke
4 Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in
7 Rookies
50 Dragnet
56 Till the Butcher Cuts
Him Down-Jazz
8:30 50 Merv Griffin
9:00 2 Here's Lucy
4 Movie
Elvis Presley in "Change of Ha-
bit" (1969)
7 Pro Football
56 Boboquivari
9:30 2 Doris Day
56 Book Beat
10:00 2 Bill Cosby
9 Canadian Election Coverage
Continues
50 Perry Mason
56 NET Journel
11:00 2 4 News, Weather, sports
50 Johnny Cann's Stand Up and
Cheer
11:30 2 Movie
"The Steel Trap." (1952)
4 Johnny Crson
50 Movie
12:00 7 9 News, Weather, Sports
12:15 9 Canadian Election
Wrap-up
12:30 7 Movie
"The Terror." (1963)
9 Nightbeat
1:00 4 News
9 Movie
"The Other Man." (1970)
1:30 2 Movie
"Hellfire." (1949)
2:30 7 News
3:00 2 News
r I~TH PDruIy1
-- I
I761-9700I
BEGINNING WEDNESDAY
"Don't miss 'FAREWELL, UNCLE TOM'.
It is a must viewing, a graphic, moving and nerve-
paralyzing .... Eyeball-to-Eyeball ... confrontation
with stark reality!"
-Jim Ingrahm, Michigan Chronicle
"EXTRAORDINARILY JOYFUL
AND MOVE."
. . . BOUND TO STIMULATE
-Boyum, Wall Street Journal
From the
best-seller
that really knew
a generation.
IN 2 NUTTY
FEATURES!
--V4