Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, February 22, 1976 Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, February 22, 1976 BOO KS Gretii Marcus' Mystery Train provides unique perspective on rock 'n' roll's past Blown Figures: Some brilliant passages, but generally tedious By JEFF SORENSEN spective on rock and how it has affected the lives of so ROCK MUSIC has always many people with such extraor- been a celebration of the dinary force, as well as how present. The best folk artists rock is related to other po- don't look back - they distrust litical, literary, and social analysis of their work. At its changes. best, their music is filled with In his book Mystery Train: self-confidence, a lack of pre- Images of America in Rock 'n' tension, and, usually, youthful Roll, Greil Marcus attempts to vitality. Some of these musi- do just that, and, by and large, cians, like Bob Dylan, even re- he succeeds in bringing out fuse to discuss their personal more of this complex story than backgrounds, instead they in- any other rock critic before vent fanciful myths about them- him. selves. Writing about rock 'n' roll has IT IS A strange, inexplicable always been difficult. Very few medley of feelings that as- authors have succeeded in cap- sails Marcus, and by implica- turing this elusive folk art in tion every rock fan, as he talks print, and most of these books about the work of a few out- have been rock histories (like standing singers (Robert John- Charles Gillet's Sound of the son, Sly Stone, Randy New- City) or collections of record man, Elvis Presley, the Band,, reviews and interviews (like and Harmonica Frank) and at- Paul Williams' Outlaw Blues tempts to relate their work to or Jon Landau's It's Too Late the whole of the American folk' to Stop Now). But these books, tradition. even though they offer some Unlike other books about rock interesting profiles and insight 'n' roll's past, Mystery Train' into a few works, have never at- is not a nostalgic tract; Marcus tempted a broader view, a per- is writing about a living art, Dislinctive U ,777 Mexican CH07A Cuisine Huron St. at Division 663-21758 - M i.-Thur. 10 a.m.-7 pDm. Managed by Fri. & Sat.10 a.m.-8 p.m. ORA NAVARRO > o o > o o o o instead of golden oldies and dusty library shelves. There's no feeling that Marcus is teaching a history lesson. The reader can't help but be impressed with his understand- ing of the experience of grow- ing up with rock music over, the past 20 years. As an avid fan for two decades and as a former record review editor for Rolling Stone magazine, Marcus surveys this period from a knowledgeable vantage point. He recalls the joys of listening to fifties and sixties rock with striking clarity. He remembers the days when young listeners drank in the latest songs from Elvis, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, cess in the popular music world with other areas of American life and are - the movies, poli- tics, and fiction - and the same "desire of the artist to remake America on his or her own terms. This impulse pow- ers the strongest popular artists as it powers pop culture itself. It is an urge to novelty and necessity; it exhausts most tal- ents with terrific speed and goes on to something else." -lMARCUS is aware of this de- structive side to popular culture, but he accepts it. In fact, Marcus argues that even though this pernicious force wastes so huch talent, it is also the impetus behind the best f BLOWN FIGURES by Aud- rey Thomas. Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y., 227 pp., $7.95. By KEVIN COUNIHAN and advertisements from news- Between the two of them, one papers. Though her experiment is able to piece together a little fails, the effort is worthy of von more of their respective lives sideration. and to learn that Delilah is re- tN HER FAMOUS address to ITEEPING TRUE to the con- the Cambridge undergrad- temporary emphasis on uates of 1924, Virginia Woolf the individual, Thomas introduc- declared: "On or about Decem- es us to Isobel, a woman in man is "the man who does not like what he sees, but is wildly attracted to it anyway, a man who keeps his sanity by ren- dering contradictions other peo- ple struggle to avoid." Although Newman has been neglected by ber, 1910 human nature chang- ed." Woolf did not choose that date arbitrarily, for it was at that time that the first London exhibition of Post-Impressionist paintings took place and a maj- or artistic movement called Ex-! pressionism came to maturity. The force of Expressionism was both great and shocking. It represented a complete shift and the Rolling Stones as if most of the public, Marcus per- from the Naturalistic influence those performers could give Ofr American folk traditions. ceives his role as every bit as by placing emphasis on the in- them magic, wisdom, freedom, Presley's later failures, necessary as Presley's. dividual and the individual sen- and ternl yoth.Marcus writes, His ambition, and eternal youth. source of so much of the in- Mystery Train also comes to sibility and reaction. ts f tensity and emotion he p i terms with yet another side to Like the other arts, literntiureI MARCUS' discussion of Elvis tensity put into the American dilemna reflect- was involved in a process of Presley serves to sum up his early music, plainly out- ed in the blues sons of Robert evolution. n increasing amount much of what he sees as com- stripped itself. Two years after Johnson. In the thirties John- of foreign literature was being pelling and gruesome about pop- making his first record, he had son sang an intense drama- translated into English, inglud- ular music. He offers an almost won more than anyone else tic music, accompanied on ing the works of Joyce, W ntongh , exact portrait of Presley, who knew was there, he had achiev- thisc muiaccompaie on Lawrence and Proust With the was blessed with immense tal- ed a status that trivalized strug- A rguitar."No failure exception of Lawrence, each of ent, but who threw away his gle and made will obsolescent.'' America s is ever simple," thesepwriters contributed to a gifts soon after h achieved Marcus' essay on Elvis is one says Marcus, so "within that teewiescnrbtdt he failure is a very different Amer- narrative style, commonly re- mass popularity. Now Elvis is of the most insightful pieces of ica an America of desolation ferred to as "stream of consci- nothing but a parody of his for- rock criticism to date, but his desolate because it is felt to ousness" writing. mer self. comments on less popular fig- be out of place and it is here Audrey Thomas, in har new Most of today's rock listeners ures are almost as revealing. that Robert Johnson looked for book, Blown Figures, utlFzes have probably never heard He sees songwriter / singer his images and found them." this "consciousness" narrative. Presley's best material, which Randy Newman as the flip side hso as afoundsthem. She further attempts to expand was recorded for Sun Records of Presley's persona. Newman's Johnson was a powerful sing- the reading experience by in- in 1954-55 before his switch work is "laconic, funny, grim, er, an effective guitar player, cluding articles, advice-columns to RCA and his eventual super and solitary." The heroes of but he uses lyrics to conveytrast stardom, but Marcus remem- his songs are often pathetic, thissdarkery sidennrastre to bers this material vividly, and loathsome figures. almsteryohrfge in uses Presley's career to show In sharp contrast to Presley, "Robert Jazohnson'larmuis, T he B lo c us how the music industry can Newman is not greeted by proof that beauty can be be both a destructive and a mobs of screaming fans where- wrung from . . . terror itself," creative force. ever he goes; his records have Marcus then parallels this barely sold enough copies to Marcus explaisTo drive for popularity and suc- break even. For Marcus, New- ALL IN ALL, the portraits and analysis in Mystery her early thirties who is bur- dened by the guilt of a mis- carriage. Recently separated from her husband and two child- ren and abandoned by her boy- friend Richard ("... the Rich- ards of this world always walk away from the Isobels"), Iso- bel is sailing to Africa (where, she suffered the miscarriag several years earlier) in an at- tempt to exorcise the "demons" of her guilt. Isobel's guilt becomes !ne sub- ject of the novel and the reader. is pretty much forced to go along for the ride. The trip to the dark continent is turbulent and made ever more so by the unexpected sojourns to Isobel's past relationships and sexual encounters. These remembran- ces constitute the most well- written material in the book but become almost unavoidably tedious. DURING THE long trip to Af- rica, the reader is intrn- duced to a sexual dynanio and veteran of four abortions nam- ed Delilah Rosenberg who acts as a kind of alter-ego to Isobel. turning to Africa to seek out the man responsible for her lat- est abortion. Upon arrival, De- lilah somewhat mysteriously vanishes after her aoe ation and Isobel slowly subsides into a guilt-derived madness of nurs- ery rhymes, songs, and memor- ies. The book would be easily dis- missable is not for Thomas' random spots of quality prose. Before leaving, Isobel almost tells Jason, "You can keep the children' . . . as one might say in gratitude, 'You can keep the children' . . . as one might say in gratitude, 'You can keep the change.' " During her abortion, Delilah "gratefully and almost cheerfully was being clhansed of her unwanted but not unwonted souvenir of a quick fuck." The essential problem with the novel is that Thomas does not create a character worthy of a complete book. Isobel is hardly a Leopold Bloom and even the Joyce-inspired narraive devic- es cannot hold the work togeth- er. Blown Figures is a creative failure but its author has imag- ination and the ability to pro- duce first-rate art. Kevin Counihan is a night editor on the Arts Page. ds: Helping singles glop self-confidence THIS WEEK AT: 0 0-0 Ann Arbor's Premium Rock and Roll Night Club LIVE MUSIC AND DANCING EVERY NIGHT SUNDAY Featuring: BRAINSTORM -PLUS- PITCHER NIGHT (Special Discount Prices on Pitchers) SEE EUROPE OUR WAY! TIRED OF THE LONDON, PARIS, ROME ITINERARY? Seen too many Churches? Spent to many hours backpack- inq through streets in search of pension accommodations. THEN COME WITH US TO: Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Tur- key. Bulgaria, Hungary 8 Countries, 4 Weeks $1,195.00 July 12 Aug. 10 FLY 747 TO FRANKFURT Call me for further information at 777-4157 or write to Alan Borelli, 16321 Ten Mile Road, East Detroit, Michigan 48021 Train 1are superb. +jMarcus' choice to limit theinvestigation to a few artists enables him to{ broaden the scope of his dis- cussion, to include territory us- ually absent from most writing about rock 'n' roll. My only re- servation with the book is Mar- cus' unfortunate tendency to. praisesome artists to excess (Presley and Little Richard, in particular), but it must be re- membered that Marcus is writ- ing about his boyhood idols. Marcus' work is so superior to the vast majority of what! passes for rock writing today 'that most criticisms of Mystery Train are just nit-picking. We really couldn't ask for more - the life and times of rock music in one book, a portrait of rock 'n roll that has almost as much to say as the music itself. 'BILL NACYis NAMED & IFUNNY... /0s t' 'ed by CINE MAlIGN iNDUSTRiES] SHOWTIMES: MON.-SAT. 7:00 & 9:00 SUNDAY 5:00-7:00-9:00 Jeff Sorensen is the Arts Entertainment Editor. and (Continued from Page 3) Bloods told us. "Be specific, bef persistant." And each time we{ were, and each time it worked.r When Susan, an elementary school teacher, called the mant she had met at a party the£ previous week to invite him, skiing, he was elated and will- ingly accepted her invitation. And when Johne, a 43-year-old divorcee, explained what needst a male friend of hers was over- I looking, her partner Lenny lis- tened attentively and then of-j fered to mend his ways. "Willt you tell him those things whent you see him?" Bob asked Johne. "No," she answered. "He'd; never understand. You men (in the workshop) have spoiled us." QATURDAY evening marked, o as it did in all of the Blood'st workshops, what Bob had so fleetingly referred to as "caring massage" in my previous meet- ing with the Bloods. We had been set in a tran-. quil mood following dinner by the playing of the Moody Blue's Days of Future Past album while we sat in front of a glow- ing fire. Bob appeared impa- tient for the album to finish, and turned the stereo off as soon as side one was completed. Instructing us to join hands as' we seated ourselves in a circle, he began explaining, in calm,' exacting terms, the reasoning behind the massage. "This is a valuable exercise in the singles workshop because it gives people a chance to ne- gotiate issues concerning their own bodies," he told us. "It will give us all a chance to definer exactly what it is we want and don't want."1 SHE NERVOUS anxiety which had characterized the open- 1 ing of the workshop now return-'i ed as Bob explained the process of choosing partners for mas- sage. We wereto place one hand on the head of our, first: choice and another on theI shoulder of- our second choice.i Although several of the group members expressed disappoint- ment with their partners, Bob reminded us that the purposej of the exercise was to engage, in a "healthy negotiation of terms," and that receiving our first choice as a partner %as of secondary importance. "Thel only restriction I would like to place on this exercise is that you don't massage the genital, areas," Bob requested. Margaret retrieved six bottles of oil from the kitchen and' handed them to the couples, I many of w'hom had changed into leotards or bathing suits at the' suggestion of the Bloods. Like nervos freshmen at a high school sock-hop, we talked brief- ly of the exercise with our part- ners before commencing with, the massage. I wasn't sure how the others were interpreting the encounter. but I felt strangely uneasy. Although Paul, a carnet salesman, had been my first choice for the exercise, I felt no intimate attachment to him and1 receiving an hour-long massage; from him felt somewhat foreign.! QOME OF THE anxiety of! Saturday night had carried into Sunday's breakfast. No one offered a comment on the mas- sage until Bob requested it, and even then people spoke of it in a reserved fashion. I was pleased, however, to find that some had thoroughly enjoyed the encounter. "The end of the massage for me," said Richard, "was like the end of summer." Sensing the quickly approach- ing end of the workshop, we struggled clumsily to say those things to people which we had neglected to communicate all weekend. Because Bob had In- structed us to exchange some positive reaction with each of the members in the group we complimented each other. How- ever, many of our comments seemed somewhat contrived and half-hearted. Partly to force us to think in positive terms about the week- end, and partly to gain some feedback, Bob asked us each to exolain what we were taking with us from the workshop. "What are you going to do when you leave the front door and en- ter the real world again?" he asked. JOST OF THE answers were predictable. We all agreed to be more assertive, and more expressive of our needs, and each time one of us promised this Bob and Margaret nodded their heads in approval. But Richard, hoping to bury his less desirable traits, gave the Bloods a promise they had not heard before. "I've got a shovel in my ga- rage, and when I go home I'm going to take it out and dig o long deep hole in the snow in my backyard," he said. "And after I've dug the hole, I'm going to lie down in it for a long time. When I get out, I'm going to fill the hole again, and hone that a fresh snow has com- pletely covered it by morning." I wondered how long it would be before Richard's new blan- ket of snow would melt. 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