THE MICHIGAN DAILY
S I E NtIE 'u'"sic in ' ev w Thursday, January 29, 1976 Page Five
Rock
makes strong showing in 1975
By JEFF SORENSEN tious optimism, at the very
least. For the first time in years,
jN THE 20 years since Elvis rock afficianados have some-
Presley's "Heartbreak Ho- thing to get excited about. 1975
tel" added a new twist to popu- witnessed the re-emergence of
lar music, rock has achieved Bob Dylan as a prime force in
mass acceptance and commer-' popular music, the arrival of
cial success beyond the wildest! Bruce Springsteen as the first
dreams of its founding fathers. genuine superstar in years, and
But the past few years have; an auspicious debut album from
been particularly uneventful for I Patti Smith.
the generation of fans who grew I These people, and a host of!
up with rock'n'roll in the '50's' others, offer ample evidence
and '60's. Since 1968, very few that, despite everything-the
new artists have surfaced, while venemous, dollar-hungary record
the established musicians seem companies; the fickle, uncritical
to have less and less to say. No audience; the lack of new talent
one has emerged in the 70's of in the business-there is still
comparable stature to Chuck some life left in the rock music
Berry, Presley, the Beatles, the world.
Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan. Bruce Sprinsteen's Born to
NEVERTHELESS, the musical Run LP was launched with a
events of the past year provide floodtide of national advertising
listeners with grounds for cau- as well as Sprtngsteen's first}
real nationwide tour, a cam- album haS lost none of its mittedly limited.
paign which finally secured him I wer a s it featuressomeof!
the popularity which his music,
so richly deserved.
THE ALBUM also established
Springsteen as a masterful com-
poser of rock music and a con-
summate artist in the recording
studio. He seems to be one of
the few artists around today
who is capable of using all the
resources of modern studios and
multi-track recording to theirI
fullest extent.
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the best backup musicianship .Neil Young released two of
and vocal work on any Dylan Zuhismnest works to date last
record to date. year, Zuma and Tonight's the
On Horses, Patti Smith suc- Night. In particular, Zuma rep-
ceeded in blending her substan- resents his most carefully-
tial poetic talents with rock crafted selection of songs since
music. Smith and her producer Everybody Knows This is No-
John Cale somehow brought to- where in 1971. An encouraging
zether suchf diverse ms ,Ad note for young fans is the fact
like Jimmy Cliff, seem to be
moving towards the mainstream
of American pop music in an
attempt to increase record
sales. In contrast, the best
reggae record of 1975 was
Funky Kingston by Toots and
the Maytals, a group who re-
fuses to compromise their raw,
uncommercial music.
literary influences as Dylan, that he has decided to work Another group to watch in
Baudlaire, Rimbaud and 'la', with members of the Crazy 1976 may well turn out to be
rouk'n're Rimbau.This Horse band again. the Jefferson Starship ne Jef-
rock'n'roll on one album. This ferson Airplane. With the re-
debut LP and her current tour SEVERAL of Jamaica's reg- turn of Marty Bal i to his
certainly mark her as a major gae artists continued to exciteformer songwriting role on Red
talent to be watched this year. American audiences across the Octopus, they may once again
country. Unfortunately, several regain their position as one of
steen and Smith's work clearly of the most popular musicians, America's top rock bands.
Dylan's Blood on the Tracks
(see "Pop Record of the Year")
was a stunning tour de force.
Although Dylan's backup band
occasionally failed to realize
the full potential of some of'
his numbers on the album, the
very best songs, like "Tangled
Up in Blue" and "Buckets of
Rain," stand up to a compari-
r
POP RECORD OF THE YEAR
Dylan's Blood'
By KURT HARJU I with his wife Sara, withint
context of a chaotic society a
A YEAR AGO this month, the prospect of his crumbli
Boy Dylan created a sen- career. There is uncertainty a
sation in the record world with involvement here - he is
the release of an immensely sure how or why he fits in
powerful collection of new songs, the scheme of things anymo
changing his public image and and that vulnerability is se
placing him once again at theI in the intentional ambiguity
forefront of contemporary mu- the titles - "Tangled up
sic. With Blood on the Tracks, Blue," "Shelter from the Storn
it became evident that Dylan and "Simple Twist of Fate.'
had abandoned the image of The painful loss of his lov
contented family man and had seems to close one cycle inh
returned to that of the trouba- life and he is forced to lo
dor. I at himself - and the world
Fans and critics alike . differently now that he's onr
responded enthusiastically to I own. While he mourns his m
this major development in his riage in beautiful and mel
constantly-evolving career; they I choly love songs, he slash
took it for a sign that he had out at his fate with lines lI
ended his self-seclusion and re-
turned to the mainstream of I've been double crossed
American culture. For the very last time
Unlike Planet Waves, where And now I'm finally free
Dhlm avn&c% tntaad 'mp'
changes
the THIS LP CHANGED all that.
nd The impassioned vocals are the
ing driving force of every song,
nd from the winding narrative of
n't "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack
into of Hearts" and the soft-spoken'
re, plea "If You See Her, Say Hel-
een lo," to the happy-go-lucky
of "You're Going To Make Me
in Lonesome When You Go."
i" The back-up band occasionally'
' fails to match his energetic de-
ver livery. "Idiot Wind," clearly
his j one of Dylan's thematic master-
ook pieces, doesn't come across as
his I
ar- IOIK
an Syiotiak pF
hess
in new
By CHRIS KOCHMANSKI
i soniwith tthe best of Dylan's
work on Mghway 61 Revisited
and Blonde on Blonde.-
Dylan was also responsible1
for two of the most significant~
The Rolling 'thunder Revue and,
the release of The Basementl
powerfully as the material de- Tapes album.
mands.j
Unrealized though it may l THE REVUE, which featured'
sometimes appear, Blood on the such notables as Joan Baez,i
Tracks features Dylan in one Joni Mitchell,, Roger McGuinn,
stand out from most of the
mediocrity so prevalent in the
rock marketplace, several other
artists managed to produce al-
bums worthy of notice.
Multi-talented producer/vio-
list/solo artist John Cale was in-
volved in much of the year's
best offerings. In addition to
his work on Horses, he produc-
ed Nico's The End, appeared~
on a live album, June 1, 1974,
and released two solo works,
Fear and Slow Dazzle. Fear
was the best of the lot,, featur-
ing engaging melodies and ex-
quisite musicianship, although
Cale's vocal talents are ad-
IF YOU'VE WONDERED
ABOUT MILEAGE SIGNS
I SAN FRANCISCO (,) - The
signs posted alongside the high-
way that give the motorist the
distance to a nearby town or
city, says the National Actomo-
bile Club, actually measure the
number of miles from the sign
to the City Hall of the next
town.
of his best musical moments.
The melodies are uncommonly
rich and lovely, the rhythyms
infectious, and the performances
have a fine cutting edge. By so
poignantly expressing his deep-
est feelings and attitudes, Dylan
spoke directly and frankly to
individuals about matters of uni-
versal importance.
Allen Ginsberg and many
others, provided a sharp con-
trast with most rock tours (in-4
cluding (Dylan's own in 1974)1
that feature massive advertis-
ing campaigns, huge concert{
halls and over-priced tickets.
The Basement Tapes, long1
available on several bootleg
tapes, was the icing on the cake.
Although recorded in 1967, the!
uyan expresses love ant
Blood on the Tracks ex
feelings of hate and f
well. With these new 1
he hit a vital chord
heart of his audience.1
music had become im
again.
THE ALBUM itself is
legry of Dylan's sep
Bernas
insighi
By KEVIN COUNIH
TrEE FASCINATION
Gustav Mahler ist
tively recent phenomenon
Bruno Walter's devote
motion of the composer
concert hall and eventu
record in the early 1950's
ler's awesome sym
works (which must inclu
Lied von der Erde) hav
continually challenging t
ductors and orchestras w
sire to expand their rep
without overextending th
dience.
For many years, Walte
published a small but ins
biogr'aphy of Mahler) est
ed the standard for pe
ance with his pioneering
On Columbia (since tran
to the budget Odyssey I
A decade later, Leonar
stein began to record1
presses from "nAVID SYROTIAK, whose
ear as One aIdio W ind."taward-winning Art of The;
hemes, reiveaspect of this reordwao Puppeteer playshtonight at the
in the! ree qivjti fibleopaisewask. Mendelssohn Theatre, warns
Dylan's th ality s vocs ork.adults not to bet'scared off by
Dylan has always used his voice tewr ppe.
portant like an electrified instrument"
lk aneetiidisrmnbut it seemed that the better i puppetry," says Syrotiak,
an al- the quality of his vocalsb h "is a very pureaartform and
aration less he had to say. the director's dream. You build
and control your actors and
sets and do what other artists
" might do with drama or dance.
Puppetry is, in fact, one of the1
purest forms of theatre."
Syrotiak's production is, he
ti/ 11warns, "primarily intended for
M a h ler I adults and very sophisticated."
He asks parents not to bring
small children because the show
AN and became the first conductor will go over the heads of most
to record the complete nine pre-teens.
with symphonies. Everything is expressed
a re E-RN music and mime by,
. Since BERNSTEIN clearly showed amazingly anatomically realistic
d pro- a unique perspicacity and sym- marionettes, with only a few
in the pathy for Mahler from the start short voice-over interludes.
ally on and this perception culminated SYROTIAK AND DUNNING{
, Mah- in his unsurpassable perform- have structured their work into:
Aphonic ances on symphonies 6 ("Tra- four segments. The first is en- t
de Das ! gic"), 9, and, most recently, titled "Progogue," and in 17"
e been his re-recording of No. 2 ("Re- minutes a single marionettet
to con- surrection") with the London quite remarkably introducesI
vho de- Symphony. one to puppetry's fantastic pos-1
ays comedy
up eteer'
The second segment, a tightly
choreographed ballet for marion-
ettes, reveals the puppeteer's
craft at its best.
A third segment follows in-
termission and is highlighted by
Blanche ahippopotamusstrip-
per. Syrotiak says this act has
provoked outrage among Wom-!
en's Lib devotees,sbut he stress-
es that Blanche satirizes what
he terms the "ludicrous art of
stripping," and is not sexist.
The show's "Epilogue" deline-
ates the relationship between
the puppeteer and his puppets.
Syrotiak notes that, backstage
after the show, well-wishers are
often "freaked out" when they
see the limp, lifeless puppets
hanging on the wall, so real is
the illusion of life onstage.
Marionettos a r e not
just for kids.
David Syrotiak has trans-
formed this traditionally chil-
dren's art form into a mature,
sophisticated presentation de-
sianed especially for an adult
audience. Color, light, music,
dance, and mime combine into
a beautiful display of "the art
of the puppeteer." Don't miss
this rare chance to view a true
master of a unique field.
1
-- -- -----------
ATTENTION!
"'I
x :S
-A
I.
The National Marionette Theater
THURS., JAN. 29-8 P.M.-MENDELSSOHN
THIS IS THE third year Syro-
tiak and Dunning have taken
Puppeteer on the road, and in
this time, they have steadily
built a reputation for excellence.
Syrotiak and Dunning stress
that puppetry is a form of
theatre, and that if you like
theatre, you'll enjoy Puppeteer.
They predict that puppetry, with
the increasing interest of col-
lege theatre students, will be
recognized in the next ten years
Tickets 2.50 Adults
1.25 Children under 12
Available at Mendelssohn Box Office and Hill Aud.
CHILDREN'S SHOW Wed. 1 p.m. Tickets available at the
door.
For more info, call 763-1107 UAC/ETC.
YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT!
-- _-
ertoire
eir au-
r (whoy
sightful
tablish-:
erform-
g disks
sferred
label).
d Bern-
MahlerI
te ann ar.or
TONIGHT-Th
YOJI
(AKlIA KURC
AUD A-
An outroaeous take-off ont
free lance professional qunm
Samurai and ends up killing
cuard. "The first shagav-m
Kael. Japanese with subtitles.
Starring TOSH
AUD. A, AN
$1.25 ad
FRI..: Dwarf Doi
It was with anxious appre- ____ --- ------asa mayor artiur4T.
hension that the musical com-
munity awaited his reading of
the incomplete Symphony No.
10 (Adagio). The recording has VERA CHYTILOVA'S 1963
finally been released (Colum-
bia M 33532) and it reaffirms!SOMETHING
Bernstein as the most profound
interpreter of Mahler of the
DIFFERENT
century.
See BERNSTEIN, Page 10 Two women, one a housewife and the other a gymnast,
j both (under continual demands from their robs) face a
crisis. Theresolution of their differing conflicts reveals
* they share something in common-a responsibility for
S. pa *their lives An amazing Czech film.
FAMILY NIGHT
ursday, Jan. 29 FRI.: Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
m oG Tonight at OLD ARCH.
SAWA, 1961) Cinema Gudy7:00 & 9:05 A 1.
-7 & 9 Am 12
the American Western The
an becomes the unemployed a
i the bodies he is hired to
nan movie . . "-Pauline
IRO MITANE!
IGELL HALL
dmission
able Bill in MLB
UAC Presents (1 nightonly!)
Rw
&IheaSILVER BULLET BAND
CRISLER ARENA Wed., Feb.11 8pm
TICKETS- $6.00 &$5.00 (RESERVE SEATING ONLY)
Tickets available at the Michigan Union, Huckleberry Party Store,
I Pr ~ 0 w' L "-" tA ~.nt I