ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Tuesday, March 25, 1986
Page 7
'Living the blues: Guitarist Buddy Guy
By Alan Paul
B uddy Guy is almost too good to be
true. The 50 year-old guitarist
has been playing the blues since he
was a small child growing up on a
Louisiana farm. His manic style is
legendary among rock and blues
guitarists.
"Buddy Guy epitomized for me the
artistry of electric blues guitar,"
English guitar hero Jeff Beck said.
"It was the simplicity, the stabbing
manic phrases that he came out with.
It was me, that sound."
Unfortunately, Guy's acclaim
barely reaches beyond the inner
musicians circle. He has no recording
contract. The fact that he directly in-
spired Beck, Eric Clapton, and Keith
Richards, all millionaires several
times over, as well as the late Jimi
Hendrix, yet continues to play small
clubs can't help but hurt. Yet the ar-
ticulate Guy is not resentful.
"I don't resent them at all," Guy
said, his southern drawl still noticable
after three decades of living in
Chicago. "The artists don't have a
thing to do with it. In fact, they
spread my name. They're all friends
of mine. Eric (Clapton) and the
Stones have done me great favors.
Who can we blame? If you own a
great thoroughbred, he still can't win
if he's not even entered in the race."
"No matter how well I play, I need
exposure," Guy continued. "Other
people play two or three of my licks
and they're stars. They pick up a
guitar and people run to them.
Everything I got, I did myself. I had
to play my way into places."
It is virtually impossible for a pure
blues player to achieve commercial
success. B.B. King, after 20 odd years
of playing the "citlin circuit" 300
nights a year, incorporated strings
and recorded some more poppy num-
bers. He has since had several top
selling albums and now plays Atlantic
CIty and Las Vega.
"You can't blame B.B. for making a
decent living," Guy said. "There
seems to be a lid on pure blues.
People seem to have something
against the music. It's just blues; it
speaks about the facts of life. Maybe
people don't want to hear it."
"I'm surprised I haven't gone
commercial, but I just love the music
so much I keep coming back to it. It's
in my blood," Guy said with a laugh.
"I do what I hav e to do and I'll die
with it. The music's treated me well.
I maynot be rich butI'mcomfortable
and I'm happy. How many people can
say that they really love their jobs?"
Young blacks don't listen to blues
much anymore. The music gets
almost no airplay on "black" radio
stations. This fact would seem hard
to swallow for a man such as Guy,
who has devoted his life to the art
form.
"There's no blues for them to listen
to. They're not flashing mine or
B.B.'s picture across the television,"
Guy commented. "Kids can see that
bluesmen aren't really going
anywhere. I just wish to hell I could
stay with a record company and in-
fluence some people. Kids have a lot
of freedom, a lot of options today. The
blues were all we had."
That being the case, is there a
future for the blues?
Dazzling dance
Blues guitarist Buddy Guy appears tonight at 10:00 at Rick's American Cafe.
'Books
Jealousies
Justine Harlowe
453 pp.
$3.95
Bantam Books
One is innocently good. The other is
cunningly evil. They both want the
same man. No, this isn't
"Dynasty"-although it comes very
close. Jealousies by Justine Harlowe
is about two beautiful sisters whose
ambitious dreams of fame and for-
tune unfold in a captivating novel of
love, envy and high society glamour.
Shannon and Kerry Faloon are
raised in poverty by a strict Irish
father in the Australian Outback.
Their deprived childhood encourage
them to seek a better life among
England's high society. Their sum-
mer is made more exciting, however,
with the arrival of Lord Zan Fitzher-
bert, a distinguished Englishman, to
the Outback. Both sisters fall in love
with him, but Zan only desires one of
them. When Zan's visit ends he leaves
Koonwarra to continue his role as one
of London's wealty elites, but he can-
See BOOKS, Page 8
By Malia Frey
"An American Tribute," performed
by Dance Department students and
faculty, was a show that no one should
have missed. The show opener was a
light piece choreographed by Bill
DeYoung, and performed by nine
dancers to DeYoung's clever and
sometimes humorous choreography,
accompanied by the songs of Kay
Swift. Soprano Joan Morris sung
tunes like, "Nobody Breaks My
Heart," and "Can't We Be Friends"
with piano accompaniment by
William Balcolm. Audiences were
kept on their toes with DeYoung's
unexpected choreography, for instan-
ce, when three of his dancers "fell"
off the stage.
A cast of eighteen dancers perfor-
med Vera Embree's "Changes" to the
music of DAvid Swaim. In contrast to
"A Little Piece," "Changes" was a
more serious piece about
human roles. Trios, duels, and
solo pieces by student dancers
focused on the role of housewife-
mother, a romantic, and the working
man, among others.
Jessica Fogel 's piece, "Vermeer
Variations" was a modern inter-
pretation of 17th century paintings by
Jan Vermeer.
Designer Doug Miller created a
fascinating set, based on two of Ver-
meer's works. "Woman Reading a
Letter at an Open Window," and
"Maidservant Pouring Milk." While
the cast danced, slides of Vermeer's
work were flashed on a screen behind
them. Fogel's choreography was also
intriguing-dancers constumed in
17th-century garb moved around the
stage with letters, as in Vermeer 's
work, while in contrast, others danced
with telephones, creating intricate
patterns with the phone cords.
The recreation of Doris Hum-
phrey's "Day on Earth" was excep-
tional due to the smooth-muscled,
energetic performance of Peter
Sparling. Sparling danced with ease
with his stage wife, danced by Beth
Corning and child, Tarra Dionne,
creating a natural sense of family
throughout the piece.
The final and most exciting piece
was Sparling's own, "Modern Life."
With new wave set design by U of M
architect Robert Cole, and trendy
costumes by Patricia Bove, the piece
focused on today's youth culture.
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