Tuesday, June 17, 1975

THE MICHIGAN GAILY

Page Five

Paul McCartney's 'Venus and Hayes hits plays

Mars:' Where did the

By DANIEL BRIDGES
Record review: Paul Mc-
Cartney's "Venus and Mars"
It's been more than half a
decade now since the breakup
of the Beatles and the same
question that was in many peo-
ple's minds is still unanswered
today: can the Beatles continue
their musical magic as solo ar-
tists?
At the time, it appeared as if
Ms cCartney would be the best
bet to record effectively alone.
His versatility as a singer and
writer and his leadership in the
studio gave him the edge over
the other Beatles.
t1 0 W E V E R, here we are
fi e years and six McCartney
albums later, and the question
stilt remains as to where all
his talent has disappeared to.
Of his first five albums, only
Band on the Run displayed the
artistry he was known for with
the Beatles. McCartney aban-
dssed the rudimentary ap-
proach he had taken on his ear-
lier solo works and began to
produce again, using horns and
synthesizer effectively.
Ie also stayed away from
his exaggerated harsh singing
and instead provided his lis-
teners with the best singing
thev had heard since "Let it
Be."
ALL OF which leads up to his
new album, Venus and Mars,
which is a major disappoint-
ment after his last endeavor.
While this disk does not regress
to the mediocrity of his earlier
solo work, it musically falls
substantially short of Band
on the Run,
Paul seems to parody his
own style on many of the songs
on this album but can't even
pull this off. A good example of
this is "You Gave Me the Ans-
wer," a nice tune in the vein
of "Honey Pie" but lacking the
melodic beauty and credibility
of the earlier song.
McCartney doing a slipshod
imitation of one of his own par-
odies of a Twenties tune is a

bit too much to swallow.
"LETTING GO" and "Call
Me Back Again remind one of
"Oh, Darling" and "Let Me
Roll It" with mean guitar and
horns accentuated by blues vo-
cals. But Paul is not a blues-
man and these two songs,
though performed with essential
tightness and polish, are not
good songs and don't deliver
the punch McCartney intends
them to.
This can be seen as the trou-
ble with this entire album. The
playing, arranging, and produc-
ing are excellent but the songs
themselves are not very good.
Paul constructs Venus and
Mars in a way that leads one
to believe there is a concept
to it and indeed, there is. As
he did on Band on the Run,
McCartney is looking intro-
spectively at his group and his
life, concentrating on his love
for his wife.
T H E manifestation of his
love through music is central
throughout this album. "Love
in Song" is his anthem and his
message is on the back cover,
"Rock on lovers everywhere, be-
cause that's basically it."
There are some good mo-
ments on this album, beginning
with the intro. "Venus and
Mars" is a nice, mellow tune
and the synthesizer imitating
flute is just the right touch. The
break into "Rock Show" is one
of the highlights of the album

talent go.
as is the entire song.
Good nasty guitar from Jim-
my McCulloch, former Grease
Band member, flowing bass-
lines from McCartney and top-
notch piano from writer and
producer Allen Toussaint make
this song move. Paul paints the
picture of a concert goer
adeptly:
The lights go down -
they're back in town, O.K.
Behind the stacks you
glimpse an axe
The tension mounts you
score an ounce Ole!
Temperatures rise as you
see_ the whites of their
eyes!
THE MOST embarrassing
song on the album is "Mag-
netto and Titanium Man" where
McCartney gives us a little dit-
ty that lacks in substance,
melody, and represent the kind
of music that was prevalent in
his first four solo efforts.
The last two songs on the al-
bum are the best melodies
present on Venus and Mars.
"Listen to What the Man Said"
features nice sax work by Tom
Scott of the L.A. Express.
"Treat Her Gently" is a mov-
ing piece, describing the plight
of Paul and Linda when they
become older and "nobody ask-
ed us to play" It is marred by
overproduction and some atro-
cious yeah, yeahs that break up
the gentle character of the
song.

the RETURN **
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UPI) day at Florida Statt Univer-
-Helen Hayes, long recog- sity's commencement cere-
nized as the first lady of the monies, where she was award-
American theater, says plays ed honorary doctorate of hu-
written by the modern era of mane letters.
"liberated playwrights" have
helped make audiences "the "AN audience simply cannot
most abused element in today's go on reacting indefinitely to
theater." a play that doesn't know where
"The nonstructured play, of it's going."
which we see so many these Hayes said America's thea-
days, dissipates the emotions, ter - goers would "run to the
leaves the audience empty and box office" if they were given
distracted," Hayes said Satur- a "great play with form." She
cited "Streetcar Named Desi-
Cop pola honored re," "Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf" and "That Champion-
LOS ANGELES (UPI) - ship Season" as in that cate-
Francis Ford Coppola, director gory.
of the movie "The Godfather," She said classic theater "is
received the 1975 UCLA Alum-
nus of the Year Award at an instrument of civilization, a
ceremonies on the Westwood means to educate the human
campus. soul."
Film producer Michael Fran------- -
kovich, who was so honored in
1972, presented the Edward Happiness is
Dickson Award to Coppola Sat-
urday. making you
UCLA officials said Coppola, ook great
who received a master's degree
in fine arts from the univer- -liUM Systs
sity's theater arts department u-
in 1967, directed a motion
picture for Warners -Brothers at the UN ION
Studios for his master's thesis.
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Emanuel L Wolf presents
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