ARTS The Michigan Daily Friday, February 20, 1981 Page 7 Ry sounds pretty but lacks style Subscribe Now to the 10 764-0558 By KENNETH FELDMAN Ry Cooder is an accomplished musician; that is apparent from both the session work he has done (for the Rolling Stones, Randy Newman, and *Little Feat) and on his own solo albums. In both cases, he has displayed, an en- cyclopedic knowledge of American guitar aftd vocal styles. So it was no surprise that his Wed- nesday night performance at the Power Center was a scholarly lesson in coun- try=blues and gospel. The sell-out crowd enthusiastically cheered Cooder, who long ago inspired Duane Allman'S slide playing and taught Keith Richard the open tuning style he has used for a decade. BUT WHILE the concert was at times exciting, the 90-minute set illustrated a problem that Cooder has toward his music - he seems too distanced from the styles he admires to be believable. For example, the 33- year-old musician opened his set with "Little Sister", the first in a series of old blues standards that, in their original forms, were moving examples of the raw emotionalism of the genre. ooder's technically inventive ver- sions, however, pale in comparison. Perhaps Cooder actually believes in these songs, but his testifying and raving ("yo lucky yo shoes don't talk IT'S PARTLY TRUE that Cooder's cover versions aren't meant to be com- pared with the originals on an emotional or artistic level, but simply constitute the preservation of certain technical styles. After all, the originals are not around anymore, and it's nice to have someone who can at least recreate the fun of these vital American forms. On a purely technical level the con- cert could hardly be faulted. The band was as versatile as any in the R&B vein. They easily followed Cooder from Tex-Mex to country to more modern rock styles, remaining tightly restrained during several of Cooder's slide guitar instrumentals. Throughout these latter moments, Cooder main- tained an open tuning for a "thick" and expressive sound. At least as a guitarist, Cooder has integrated his in- fluences into an exotic but coherent mix. The individual members of the band were similarly distinguished at various times throughout the performance. Rhythm guitarist, John Hiatt, has released two underrated solo albums, but he possesses a voice that is more convincing than Cooder's. Hiatt added blistering harmony and even a lead vocal (a great version of "Guilty Of Love"). Cooder also whipped up some playful arrangements for his two other harmony singers (a falsetto and a bass profundo), whose dancing, a la the Tem- ptations, nearly stole the show. AMONG OTHER things, Cooder makes sure he has good material. In addition to obvious classics like "Little Sister" and "Chain Gang", he throws in obscure but delightful gems like "That's the Way the Girls are From Texas" or "Married Man's a Fool". The composers he has covered range from Wilson Pickett to Burt Bacharach, and if you can't write your own stuff, that is certainly the next best thing. And that's the bottom line with Cooder: He is entertaining, but he is the next best thing to other performers who have the same love for American idioms molded into personal styles (Dire Straits, Rockpile, for example). While Wednesday night was fun, it wasn't engaging the way rock music can be. Why? Because a rich musical background is no substitute for having something to say. As long as Cooder continues to peddle strictly second- hand goods, he will remain a second- rate diversion. American Cancer Society This space ccntObueo by the publisher HAPPY BIRTHAY ALI Daily Photo by DAVID HARRIS Ry Cooder (above) showed how good he is at performing other people's songs in his Wednesday night concert at the Power Center. Although Cooder gave a technically proficient performance, our Daily critic didn't thinK much of his stage presence - his most outstanding aspect was the tacky Hawaiian shirt. else they'd tell me where you was") sound ridiculous coming from a native Californian in a Hawaiian print shirt. The gap widens even more when one realizes that at least 90 percent of Cooder's material was written by other musicians, most of whom wrote their songs decades ago. Elvis C. earns some 'Trust' By FRED SCHILL Elvis Costello naming an album Trust is a little like Anita Bryant naming one Make Mine Gay. It's a helluva cheeky title coming from the world's leading misogynist. But I should have known. Applying any modicum of insight surely would have made it evident that Elvis inten- ded to sing about the abuse of trust, the lack of trust, the unwilling extension of *trust, or anything at all rather than trust-in any positive humanitarian sen- se. Let's not break with tradition here. WHICH ISN'T quite a fair thing to say, since Trust is Elvis' finest album since This Year's Model. That isn't because of the lyrical content, though; Costello still can't love a woman without wishing he had better sense, nor can he watch any given social sham without letting us know he sees through it all.: No one else in rock 'n' roll could get by with this much indignation or grudging romantic angst and still be listened to. It's a privilege earned by genius, unimpeachable evidence of the man's artistic power. The greater the artist, the larger his margin of safety; the greater his skill, the more personal be can become without seeming so, and the more he can dress up his own per- ceptions with enough sartorial splendor to make everybody still want to watch 1 the show. This time Costello has draped his acerbic commentary with a whole new stock of arresting textures and sleek cuts that bound about whimsically in the demilitarized zone between chic and cheek. The crowning accomplish- ment of Trust is that there is a pure joy in listening to the man work, apart from all of the wit and pith of the lyrics, aside even from their impact or insight. 2COSTELLO SINGS better than ever on "New Lace Sleeves," "Watch Your Step," "Pretty Words," and "From a Whisper to a Scream." At times he positively croons, sending his voice on an extended tour of vocal range and in- flection. The carefully-enunciated assurance of "Watch Your Step," cooly ominous in its delivery, loads enough credibility into your-time-will-come lyrics to keep them from being eloquen- tly hollow. "New Lace Sleeves" is as charismatic as anything Costello has conjured, with Bruce Thomas filling Step," and concocting ingenuously melodramatic funeral parlor music for "Shot With His Own Gun." Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas create whatever mood Elvis demands with unaffected ease. The moods are mostly custom-fit for the lyrics, which are blessed with the usual Costello -command of language. One by one, Costello trashes snooty highbrows ("Clubland"), writers ("Pretty Words," where he is actually heard to say, "Pretty words don't mean much anymore / I don't mean to be mean much anymore"), patriotic in- doctrination British Empire-style ("New Lace Sleeves"), marital brutality ("White Knuckles"), and emotional transience ("Fish 'n' Chip Paper"). Almost all of the lyrics decry the abuse of trust-in romantic relation- ships, in social institutions, even in oneself when it is abandoned in lieu of emotional transports and stop-gap quickie supplies of fake romance glossed over with pretension in the desperate search for self-respect. BUT TRUST IS not as uncom- promisingly judgmental as Costello's previous efforts, and for that reason it is his most admirable album. He is still cynical enough to make Kafka seem an optimist, but there are periodic suggestions of compassion and even empathy. "White Knuckles" is the album's finest tune because Elvis doesn't treat the brutality as just a nasty old atrocity to be criticized and abandoned. The issue isn't that shallow, nor is the adultery in "Different Finger" or the emotional pretense in "Big Sister's Clothes," but they would have been treated shallowly (if wittily) on previous albums. Elvis Costello is still not a loveable human being, but he has learned that valuing moral integrity and despising lack of it is not enough. I think he is taking a few tentative steps towards trying to understand. He is growing, and for an artist already so talented, what more can we ask? holes with rumbling, nervous brasswork and Costello sending out quavering guitar vibes over heavy backbeat drumming. Elvis' vocals shine like Grandma's brass spittoon, slithering deliciously around the lyrics, ending phrases with upturned flourishes, measuring smooth deliberation into each syllable and note. "From a Whisper to a Scream" is even more delightful, as Elvjs duets with Glenn Tilbrook in a vocal hang- gliding contest that excels even "Oliver's Army" for sheer sensual charisma. "Different Finger" finds Costello going country with a voice that sounds like Buddy Holly grafted onto Merle Haggard. MUSICALLY, THE album is impec- cable. Steve Nieve outdoes himself on keyboards, pounding home glittering piano accompaniments in rockers like "You'll Never Be a man;" oozing out soaring organ airs in "Watch Your ~rI CINEMA I presents FRIDAY FEB. 20 AUD. A, ANGELL BUGS BUNNY NITE Program A-7:00 & 10:00 Program B-8:40 only Tonight we have two (count em, two) completely different selections of Warner Brothers cartoons for those of you too lazy to get up early on Saturday mornings and laugh. Guaranteed appearances by Bugs, Foghorn, Dawg, Daf- fy Duck, and Yosemite Sam with more wisecracks than you can shake a stick at. Featuring the work of director Tex Avery. SAT. FEB. 21 AUD. A, ANGELL THE BLUE DAHLIA (George Marshall, 1946) ALAN LADD stars in this 1940's thriller about a war hero who returns home, only to be accused of his errant wife's murder. VERONICA LAKE plays the mysterious woman who helps him prove his innocence. Original screenplay by Raymond Chandler. (99 mm.) 7:00 only. THE BIG HEAT (FRITZ LANG, 1953) When ex-cop GLENN FORD'S idyllic home life is literally blown apart, he goes on the hunt to find the culprits and avenge the deed. His journey leads him down to the underworld and up to the top of city politics. LEE MARVIN and GLORIA GRAHAME throw scalding coffee at each other, and director Lang out "noirs" film noir itself. (90 min.) 9:00 only. SUN. FEB. 22 7:00 & 9:00 AUD. A, ANGELL