05 The Michigan Daily-Thursday, February 12, 1981 -Page 7 Hammond's blues But when the bird dies... .. By FRED SCHILL John Hammond is ninety percent perspiration and ten percent in- spiration. His two sets at Rick's Anterican Cafe Tuesday night were strenuously accurate forays into blues history, measuring the depth and breadth of the music with perspicuity and without embellishment. Enjoying 'Hammond's shows, however, required a vigilant ap- ppreciation of his skill, a quality woefully lacking in altogether too large a portion of Tuesday's audience. HAMMOND IS A tall, lean, knobby *fellow whose body fis all angles and planes. He looks nothing at all like a one-man blues. band. He has no par- ticular eccentricities and little char- risma, does not hold spirited conve- sations with the crowd, and refrains from rampaging abandonedly about the stage. In fact, he sits rather peacefully on a stool. In short, Hammond isnot exciting. He has, fortunately, enough versatility and pure adoration for the blues to make his shows consistently delightful. Hammond's vocals are delicate and loving, but often border on the som- nolent. He alternately sounds like a very soft Bruce Springsteen and an im- personation of the thin, abbreviated vocal style of early blues singers but only an impersonation of them. He has the phrasing and timing down, but his voice (perhaps because he is white) fails to quite recreate the tonality and feeling of the earlier masters. MUSICALLY, HIS performance was impeccable. Promoted as one of the best interpreters of blues giants Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon, and Arthur Crudup, Hammond earns his bread and butter on' the strength of his remarkable musical ability.. Adding a little percussion by poun- ding the fingers of his picking hand on the guitar strings, Hammond plucked intricate guitat arrangements with nimble forcefulness. Using a variety of guitars for sounds ranging from old- fashioned, tentatively tinny wistfulness in songs like "It Huirts Me Too" to pum- ping, energetic rhythm in "Georgia Rag," Hammond ran the gamut of the best of acoustical blues. His harmonica work was not as per- fect, but Hammond accomplished the difficult feat of interweaving full, often harsh harmonica solos and more delicate, sedentary guitar work without contrivance or discomfort. Support the March of Dimes BIRTH DEFECiS FOUNDATION John Hammond explored the history and form of blues music in two intricate sets at Rick's American Cafe Tuesday night. Hammond was more performer than entertainer, basing his show on sheer breadth or talent rather than theatrics. By JAMES SCHEEL As if in a dream, a thick fog billows across the screen. It swirls and dances, and parts occasionally, shadowing reality. So begins Private Eyes, but it is not long before the dream turns into a nightmare. In the wave of movies currently rushing out of Hollywood, this one attempts to revitalize some old familiar faces. If it sounds like Urban Renewal tso you, it is. Tim Conway stars as Dr. Tart with Don Knotts as Inspector Winship, in this parody of Sherlock Holmes. They are called in to solve the murder of Lord Morley, a man who reputedly could not do anything right. As the moyie progresses, one wonders if they are not all blood relatives. At times we get the impression that we have encountered a run-away made- for-TV movie. Fans of the Tim Con- way Show will be advised to stay home unless their television set is on the fritz, for Conway presents no new surprises. Is it comedy, mystery, or suspense? At times it is all of them,and at times neither. With so many objectives flung about, it is not astonishing that some of them are dropped. The true mystery is who killed the jokes. The plot does develop a double edge when it is discovered that Lord Morley wrote the note demanding the resolution of his murder. This appears not to bother our sleuths, but it will nag you until the end. While searching for clues, our two heroes (a la Star Wars) stumble down a shaft into an over-sized trash compac- tor. As they emerge from a block of A t times we get the im- pression that we have en- countered a run-away made-for- TV movie.' paper, Conway..says to Kpotts, "You stink !" I am tempted to agree, but let's have respect for the man, who gave us Barney Feif and brought The In- credible Mr. Limpett to life. Attempting to establish the whereabouts of the manor staff at the time of the slaying, leaves Winship and Tart pondering the lack of evidence. In the true heart of the Spanish Inquisition, after each interrogation the person is killed. The best death scene, however, is played by a carrier pigeon. With a double-handed toss, Mr. Tart throws the bird through the window. Smash! There is a pigeon size hole in the glass; someone forgot to open the window. The bird staggers drunkenly among the shards of glass, before expiring. In its own drunken stumble, Private Eyes strains to be a comedy and a mur- der-mystery. But the laugh are too few and far between and the plot is cliche. What is left is a mediocre murder- mystery that is good clean fun. The highlight of the evening was his duets with those of pianist Mark Braun, who opened both sets. Braun, also known as Mr. B. in his role as pianist for Steve Nardella, joined his churning, insistent rhythms with Hammond's more mellow approach for several stirring tunes in the second set. HAMMOND'S MUSICAL talent is all it's cracked up to be and then some he has too little stage charisma to carry off the one-man band routine as effec- tively as his talent permits. A solo show demands either establishing intimacy with the audience or overpowering them with sheer presence or impact. Hammond could do none of these, and the audience responded by talking and socializing far too audibly throughout most of the evening. Hammond would be awesome, I think, in a small hall or any other venue in which the patrons would be willing to shut up and just listen. It took him a long time to win that kind of support and attention from the bar crowd at Rick's, and that's a damn shame, for he is an intricate and variously talented blues performer. He simply isn't a showman. p 1116 -, -- - a play by r 1' SAM SHEPARD Feb.13 & 14 at 8:OOpm. moatinee Feb.15 at 4:00p.m. Schorting Aud.,,School of Ed. $2.5Q & $3.50 -68 8480 A Dratman Theatre, Co presentation 9. I: k ter; ": ikia A THE FRENCH CONNECTION Dir. William Friedkin. GENE HACKMAN, ROY SCHIEDER. This searing por- trait of brutal narcotics detective Popeye Doyle won five Oscars. Based on the exploits of Cop Eddie Egan who cracked a $32 million heroin exchange and famous for its car/train chase. 7:00 only at LORCH THE CHASE Dir. 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