Page 2-Tuesday, November 1, 1977-The Michigan Daily Local disc company flourishes So you want to The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, Nov buy astei By MARK BEYER Most Ann Arbor residents know of the Blind Pig as a quaint little saloon on First Street, that serves exotic coffees and tasty cheeses. Less people know of the "Resignation", a nightclub in the basement of the Blind Pig, that features local talent in the form or warm and human blues artists who play long into the smoke-filled night to appreciative and growing audiences. But even most of the locals do not know about a growing corporation on the top floor of the building. With visible assets including a phone, a stereo, and several floor plants, there exists Blind Pig Records, a four-year-old record production company locate in the cultural bosom of Ann Arbor. The artists who appear- on Blind Pig Records are obscure, by way of their music alone. Basic and laid- back Rhythm and Blues artists, (with emphasis on the blues) have no call for glittery silk plumage, house- sized amplifiers, and dazzling light shows. The blues artist has his mind, his life and his instrument to work with, along with a much more deeply rooted musif than rock would like to admit. Most of the music heard in the cellar of the Blind Pig is pre-Elvis, and the performers are often in their middle and elder years. Blind Pig Records is devoted to the expansion of the audiences of such artists as John Nicholas, Boogie Woogie Red, and a rockabilly blues band, The Silvertones. Blind Pig Records is,,the ambition achieved of a 28-year-old ex-taxi Rolling Stones' new 'Love You Live'hits By OWEN GLEIBERMAN The Rolling Stones have been among us so long that it's truly difficult to lament over the medioc- rity of their recent albums. If any band in rock has contributed enough to let us overlook a creative dry spell, then surely that band is the Stones. Nevertheless, I think it's been diffi- cult for even the most die-hard fans to disregard the band's quiet drift into the monotonous world of mid- seventies rock. The Stones have unfortunately been as guilty as many of merely "going through the mo- tins." Black and Blue may have had its share of fine moments, but it wqs at best, a likable pastiche, miles below their best work. At any rate, the Stones seem for the present to be biding their time, and they've chosen this moment to release Love You Live, a representa- tive account of their '75 tour. The importance of this album lies not in its, superiority to Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, though vastly superior it is, but in that it is the first album to genuine- ly capture the essence of a Stones performance. In spirit Love You Live most resembles Exile on Main Street (arguably their best album), exhibit- ing the same controlled but not-com- pletely-tame energy. Nothing here is out-of-the-ordinary; the album is simply pure live Stones, and it affirms that they can still play as well as ever. Frankly, I find that reassuring. The focus of this two-record pack- age is the post-Exile era, with enough older classics thrown in to keep everyone satisfied. The album is surprisingly free o, dead spots. A disappointingly restrained Tumbling Dice has Jagger inexplicably doing his pseudo-Jamaican accent (re- member Luxery?) and the song lacks the supreme power of the original. However the majority of the cuts gain an energetic imme- diacy over the studio versions, and the performances are amazingly consistent. Following the opening track, a straight, solid rendition of Honky Tonk Women, the band launches into a medley-of If You Can't Rock Me and Get Off My Cloud. The latter is one of the few songs to deviate significantly from the original, as the Stones seem to have updated it to suit their later, hard-edged style. The change pays off, and the song is one of the outstanding cuts on the album. Keith Richard delivers assured, spirited vocals on Happy, and the number comes off well despite an ex- tremely up-tempo pace. The version of Hot Stuff offered may have more raw energy than the one on Black and Blue, but I prefer the latter's con- trol and careful mix. In the live version the band manages to create a general mush of sound, swallowing much of Ron Wood's lead playing. In this particular instance, however, not much is missed, as Wood's adequately played leads are a poor substitute for the fiery smoothness Mick Taylor displayed on the '72 tour. Despite a nicely executed vocal arrangement. You Gotta Move doesn't approach the blues greatness of Love In Vain on Get Yer Ya-Ya's- Out, and this is due largely to Wood's lack of inspiration. Then of course there's Mick Jag- ger, who I suppose can afford to be arrogant in his old age. Still, his grossly over-affected slurring is a bit much, especially on Jumping Jack Flash, where it . sounds as if his tongue's been amputated. Fortunate- ly for all, he limits his journeys into the realm of non-pronunciation to relatively few numbers, and in songs like Star Star, comes off in top form. Jagger is spotlighted on a side of Blues oldies, recorded earlier this year at a Toronto nightclub. This side deviates from the Stones' usual fare but remains largely unexceptional, with only Around and Around ener- gized enough to merit much atten- tion. The final side is the genuine show- stopper, -containing four solid ver- sions of Stones classics. Brown Sugar proceeds a little too quickly for my tastes, but Jumping Jack Flash (vo- cals aside) and Sympathy 'for the Devil are both far superior to their. Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out counterparts. Love You Live covers the many periods of a long, awesome career,. and is by far the definitive live Stones album. It's hard to say exactly where the album stands in the context of the Stones' recent exploits, but they have for the moment left their fans with a reminder of the band's greatness. driver named Jerry Del Giudice. In 1972, he decided that he wanted to produce records, so he turned in his fare-meter, scraped up $4,000, moved to Ann Arbor and started a record company by producing his first album. The record is Boogie Woogie Red Live at the Blind Pig. It has the flaws of any "first" album, but one has to start somewhere. Five years and three records later, Jerry Del Giudice and Blind Pig Records continues to function, and the product is improving with age. The production quality is getting better and the records are being distributed in all parts of the United States. However, the record sales are restricted mostly to more rural areas as the city folks haven't yet slowed down enough to break the disco; rock, punk-glittery-blob habit of conven- tional AM (and Most of FM) radio air play. Blind Pig is an exception to the accepted stereotype of record pro- duction companies. Jerry Del Giudice and his partner in a Los Angeles office conduct their music factory with sincerity and aplomb. Del Giudice doesn't sit in an overstuffed chair skimming CREEM magazine or rush out to dress his bands in torn leather and safety pins. He just likes to relax and listen to the artists he records. He only records the music he likes, and Blind Pig is how he accomplishes this. His newest artist is John Nicholas, a multi-talented blues artist whose first records, Too Many Bad Habits, was recorded in Amarillo, Texas and made with the assistance of over half a dozen other notable blues artists. The album offers variety and relaxa- tion, and makes one wish for a bottle of beer and a cigarette. Jerry is happy with this effort and feels that it will be popular. After listening to it, I had to agree, for it is a fine album, with exception- al blues instrumentation, especially the blues harp playing. Another group, the Silvertones (whose name alone could be keeping sales down) is also very listenable and has many enjoyable cuts with a bouncy rocka- billy flavor. Jerry Del Giudice is a man of fundamental tastes, and the Silvertones are a fundamental four- man band, and are fairly well known to longtime residents of this city. The album suffers from a mild case of low-budget production but happily, the music supports itself. Though the Silvertones borrow their material, most listeners have never heard it before, so there is-no feeling of staleness. As for John Nicholas, the best numbers on the album are the ones he wrote. Still, the music is nostalgic, and takes a bit of listening before becoming accustomed to. Most of Blind Pig's records are, of* music written and played before Elvis Presley ever sung, before Bob Dylan began to strum, and before the Beatles ever started rocking out Little Richard tunes at The Cave in Mersey. Jerry Del Giudice is an historian, who looks past the obvious to examine the form. He quotes Plato, "Music is the perfection of the uni- verse." Del Giudice, like many others in growing numbers, is getting bored with today's mass produced tripe that floods the airwaves, and searches for the roots. The music that started the music industry snowball thirty-five years ago. In the cellar of the Blind Pig saloon he finds what he desires. Blues ,and rhythm, like you don't hear much any more, and are worse off for it. And Blind Pig Records is constantly engaged in putting these veteran talents on vinyl and getting the country to sit down, mellow out, and listen to the music. The company isn't what Jerry Del Giudice is knocking his brains out for. As he puts it, "The music is what makes the company, nothing else." So if you walk outside to escape the blare of a nearby stereo, blasting away into the night, take a walk down to 208S. First Street. Walk into the Blind Pig, perhaps snag a beer and make your way downstairs to the brick-walled Resig- nation. After you've found a seat, open your ears, let your eyes adjust to the dimness, and settle back for what may well be a musical exper- ience unlike any you've had before. Turn on to the blues and you'll be watching and listening until the stage is deserted. You can buy the records* upstairs at the bar, when you leave, and likely plan to return. If you've reached the age of 18, 19, or 20 without being able to turn up a long lost rich uncle to finance your fondest dreams ofnstereo listening, it may be time-you quit hoping and started plan- ning how to buy a stereo system your- self. The jungle of stereo store shopping is not an easy one to traverse, however, and as guides we don't rank with Tar-ti zan. But perhaps we can set you on your way with a few suggestions for good buys. With a little help from Cnsumer Re- ports magazine, here is a sampling of some good equipment that can be found in the Ann Arbor-Detroit area. We know you aren't about to shell out $2,500 for a system made in the sky, but neither are you willing to settle for your little brother's Panasonic special, the turn- table of which has become permanently affixed to the sticky side of Sean Cas- sidy's latest 45. So we chose a handful of components that are not incredibly expensive but still maintain a reputation fbr quality. The combination of components, of course, is up to the buyer to decide, with advice from a dealer. At any rate: SPEAKERS Make sure you buy speakers that can 'MOR' Ronstadt again By AUSTIN VANCE ,Linda "M.O.R." Ronstadt has struck again, giving us an album that has AM station managers across the country drooling in anticipation. Simple Dreams (Asylum 6E-104), displays Linda's true roots: pop. Poor, pitiful Linda. Complete with a "I'm a Rock and Roll Star" photo of her on the inside, this record should go over well with the ten to fifteen year old crowd. Linda is the Farrah Fawcett- Majors of rock. Farrah's trademark is her hair; Linda has the big eyes. Question: Farrah has Lee, but who does Linda have? Answer: Warren Zevon, who writes those simple country-flavored songs that put the grits (or, more likely, filet mignon) on her table, which is probably covered with a cute red and white checkered tablecloth. The selections on this album are very strange. Whatever Linda is, she certainly is not a Rolling Stone. Tumbling Dice sounds absurd on this record. Seriously, now: "My my my I'm the lone crap- shooter playing the field every night" You would never catch Mick Jagger pronouncing th words so that they're understandable. Can anyone imagine Ronstadt as a junkie? Hearing methadone blues being sung in a voice that oozes sweetness on Carmelita makes me think that we're being put on, which is exactly the case. Also included is a traditional song, Old Paint; I can't understand why anyone would be moved to record it. Of course, everyone has head It's So Easy by now, and it will continue to be pounded into the ears of top 40 listeners everywhere until Decem- her_ r((I i Connoisseur Society ar Quintessence Classics get the most out of whatever receiver you decide upon. Too many systems waste speaker equipment because of in- adequate receiver output. An important measure of a speaker's performance is its accuracy, or in other words, how well the speaker converts the electronic impulses sent by an am- plifier into sound. Accuracy can be ex- pressed as a percentage, with 100 per cent accuracy being that of a non- existent "perfect" speaker. Most listen- ers can't distinguish between a dif- ference of less than eight per cent. You might want to check out the Jan- szen Z412HP, which sell for $300 per pair. Accuracy: 90 per cent. A notch down in price, at about the same accuracy level, are the Pioneer CS63DX$270, 83 per cent accuracy) and the JBL Century L100 ($273, 88 per cent accuracy). Another notch down in price is the Fisher ST530, $250, with 67 per cent ac- curacy. RECEIVERS Again, don't buy a receiver that's too powerful for the speakers you choose. Also, you can pay a great deal of money for a receiver that looks like the inside of Apollo 11, but you'll find you may never need all the fancy knobs and gauges. Four good receivers that don't cost the moon and the sky are: the Scott R31s, $200; t Pioneer SX4' S7110, also $2 TI You can s either of two Dual 1228, w the Realisti< hinged dustc ced that a $2 making eith New York P in your living look at the G $140 is still e you feel ma lously so. Ha i r I HORENSTEIN Brahms/Symphony No. 1 The London Symphony Orchestra 1 these featured Lp's nlow sale priced at. CHOPIN PRELUDES OPUS 28 Ivan Moravec 1 3.9 I I ALEXIS WEISSENB LISZT Sonata in B r SCHUMANN Fantasia in the entire catalog of 698 series 798 series at a Connoisseur special sale and 1 Society price of 3_A4 NGHT ONBALD OUNTI Music from Khovantchina Russian Ea ter Overture Russian Sailor's Dance JOHANNES BRAHMS In The Stepes of central Asia pian9 concerto no. 1 in D minor. Earl Wild/Jascha Hore RACHMANINOI Pia C Ph on 1sal(e for 235 S. UNIVERSITY 300 S. S 668-9866 665-36 HOURS:I10-9 Mon. -Sat; 12-6Sun. 2.99 e 540 E. Liberty-Libe (on corner of Liberty ondMaynard) 662-5623 fTATE 579 The Silvertones, featured on. one of Blind Pig's first discs, got an early boqst from Blind Pig co-owner Jerry Del Giudice. M-Th 10-10; F& S10-12 Midnight;