Page 14-Tuesday, November 1, 1977-The Michigan Daily Top tunes or The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, Nov paltry prices By MICHAEL BAADKE. Something for everyone. That's the catchword behind the cut-out racks found in nearly every local record store. Cut-out racks, (or bargain- bins, as they are sometimes called), contain high-quality record albums at reduced prices, usually $1.99 or $2.99. The reason for the reduced prices is that the LP's are either manufacturers' overstocks or have gone out of print due to declining sales. Even though the albums might be considered "rejects" in some re- spects, it is often possible to find the likes of Elton John, Boz Scaggs, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan in the cut-out racks. What some people consider unworthy of purchase is pure trea- sure to others, and the treasure is there for those who look. In the field of rock music, the list of artists represented in the cut-out racks is virtually endless. True,. much of it is trash, but if you skip over copies of Bobby Sherman's Christmas Album, almost any taste in music can be appeased. For the fan of rock guitar, it is possible to obtain Eric Clapton's live album EC Was Here, or his studio LP There's One In Every Crowd, either one for under three dollars. Edgar Winter's Jasmine Nightdreams and Entrance can both be found for the same low price. His critically acclaimed LP Edgar Winter Group - With Rick Derringer also graces the cut-out bins. Brother Johnny Winter is there too, with his album John Dawson Winter III available for only $2.99. Some prominent British rock groups have albums in the discount racks, high quality music that listed at $6.98 just a few years back. Four albums by the now-defunct King Crimson are available at reduced prices, including their master work, Larks' Tongues in Aspic. Surprising- ly, one of Mott the Hoople's best al- bums, The Hoople, is also available, featuring the semi-hit single "Roll Away The Stone." The avid record collector may find a few scarce LP's in the cut-out racks to fill in the gaps in his collection. One incredible find is the album Michael Franks on Brut records. Franks currently has two other albums on the market, but his first LP is obtainable for the paltry sum of $1.99. Bill Joel's first album, Cold Spring Harbor, can be found with a little bit of dedicated searching; the album contains some good material from the artist who released Piano Man, although the production is mediocre. Elton John's soundtrack LP to the movie "Friends" can be found in the bargain bins, and is worth the $1.99 price tag. Although much of the album is devoted to Paul Buckmas- ter's orchestration, the Elton John- Bernie Taupin compositions are rep- resentative of their earlier quality material. For $2.99 one can find copies of James Taylor's One Man Dog, Steely Dan's Katy Lied, and Simon and Garfunkel's first Colum- bia LP, Wednesday Morning 3 a.m. Almost half of Harry Nilsson's recorded works are now selling at lower-than-list prices, including the John Lennon produced Pussycats. From Jefferson Airplane to Cap- tain Beefheart and The Magic Band, an incredible variety of artists and recordings is available to all who peruse the cut-out bins. Jazz, folk and classical LP's, as well as rock, can be found at a price that won't introduce abject poverty. The cut-out racks are overflowing with quality music, just waiting for someone to flip through. Who's behind the remarkal DQ1O speaker? Stars don't mesh on new Nicholas album Join the Daily's Arts Deportmen t Phone 764-0552 INSTRUMENTS * NEW & USED * EXPERT REPAIR * RESTORATIONS REPAIR Z Z a N E MO _ tz z AYSA - - wANDoL D).0EoRDEp * DuCU0CU 'fs- Z MANOLI ytFIDLE t RCORER k DLCIER ET. *CUSOM AD By NANCY BENT The music of a good blues band picks the listener up and transports the passenger to destinations within the players' personal experiences. It's easy to identify this intimate rapport between musicians and audi- ence. It's an intuitive feeling. A far more difficult question to answer is, why? It could be due to the exception- al skills of the harmonica player, or to the impeccable timing of the base player, but more than likely the magic created is a result of the group of performers trusting each other and sharing an enthusiasm for- the music they're producing. Their love for the blues is bound to be conta- gious. John Nicholas got together some musician friends and made a sincere effort to capture this same love for the blues on an album called Too Many Bad Habits. While it has some successful moments the overall at- tempt fails, because that mutual trust between group members is missing. Although many of the musi- cians played for Asleep at the Wheel at one time, this reuniting project re- mains loose. The album was pro- duced on Ann Arbor's own Blind Pig label, but different tracks were recorded in locations as diverse as Austin, Texas and Farmington, Michigan. Perhaps this adds to the hodgepodge inconsistency of the quality of music. Side A begins with a swing number, Mandolin Boogie. Bill Mabry's fiddle playing stands out as capable, but the sound of the song is no different and not even as good as that of Asleep at the Wheel. Another mandolin and fiddle number, the traditional Sittin' On Top of the World, is enhanced by Link Davis, Jr.'s lamenting saxo- phone, but Nicholas's forced, unnat- ural voice detracts from the music. The better moments on the album happen when John Nicholas gives his friends a break and takes over the music by himself. In Rock My Blues Away he does all vocals and plays all the instruments - piano and all guitars - leaving only Martin Gross on the drums. This cut is clearly superior to the ones that go before it, because Nicholas is in total control of the timing and interaction of the in- struments. His solo performance of Don't You Mind People Grinnin' in Your Face, an original effort, also stands out as a cut above the pre- vailing mediocrity of Side A because he sings it a capella, and instead of doing his blues singer imitation, he offers an honest rendition of the song with a much clearer, truer voice. The idea behind his lyrics also appears sincere as he philosophizes, Bear this in mind,/A true friend is hard to find./Don't you mind people grinnin' in your face. Much of Side B is devoted to cuts featuring Nicholas with harmonica player Big Walter Horton. Their years of collaboration makes itself apparent in these numbers as the music of this album finally comes close to what can be labeled good blues. In Careless Love, a traditional blues ballad, Horton's harmonica gently mocks Nicholas's vocal, effec- tively capturing the bitter'mood of the lyricist's angry attack on care- less love. You caused my mother to steady grind./You caused my broth- er to lose his mind./God damn you, I'm going to shoot you/And shoot you four five times./I'm going to stand over you/Til I'm sure you die. This is also the first cut that Nicholas's guitar can be distinctly heard and appreciated. The best song on the album is another Nicholas/Horton duet. Nich- olas's guitar becomes a background for some fancy harp playing by Horton in the instrumental, Gettin' Out of Town. Big Walter's harmonica becomes a train and sets the listener in rocking motion as he moves the music down the track. This is the only cut on the record that can be dubbed a first-rate blues experience. John Nicholas and his friends had a good idea and the result of their reun- ion on Too Many Bad Habits .has some high points, buhliey la&'that continuity that results.from a group of musicians who have been playing and developing together for years and-years. The potential for good blues is there, but the magic is missing. Some of the most rem men in audio like Jon Dal Saul Marantz. There's hardly an and anywhere who doesn't krm state-of-the-art equipmen Mr. Marantz produced. T such classics as the model 10B tuner, and model 9 ar amplifiers. Today this equ demands many times its o Then there's our brill engineering head Jon Dah contribution on the lunar module involved vibratio: analysis. This eventually 1 more earthly projects such speaker waveform behavic search was applied to the u acoustical concepts that ai rated in-the DQ-10 Phased speaker system. For the first time a sir speaker system accurately time delay, phase shift, an effects. This advanced spec has caused quite a stir in tl industry. Critical listeners edgeable reviewers throug world have praised the DC superb definition, its 3 dir spaciousness, the ultra sm coherency over the entire r its correct stereo imaging. It doesn't take long to these qualities for yourself your most challenging recc to your nearest ABSOLUT dealer ao312 S. Sta (UPS 1 62. p . .. j ' - ., .