Page 8-The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 26, 1991
Poet lives dangerously 4
by Christine Slovey
Peter Davison is a difficult person
to capture on paper. An accom-
plished writer, editor and publisher,
with much respect and adoration for
the art of writing, Davison himself
attributes his success simply to
"hard work" and "few vacations."
As editor of "Peter Davison
Books," Davison has worked with a
seemingly endless list of talented
contemporary writers, including
Margaret Atwood, C.G. Jung, Mary
Oliver and Stanley Kunitz. He has
been the poetry editor of the
Atlantic Monthly since 1974, and
has edited for the Houghton Mif-
flin Co. as well.
Davison has also written nine
volumes of poetry, as well as an au-
tobiography and a recently-pub-
lished book of essays entitled One
of the Dangerous Trades. Seen "as a
poet by editors and an editor by po-
ets," Davison considers how one re-
lationship affects the other. The
book on a whole examines the mod-
ern poet's need to earn a living and
lead a "normal" life while remain-
ing true to his/her art.
Davison's comments are spoken
in the voice of a man who has real-
ized his dreams. He reveals in One of
the Dangerous Trades, "I always
felt in my heart that writing was
the most rewarding thing in the
world to do." Davison speaks with
awe of the magic of writing, even
though he himself is one of the ma-
gicians. In his book, he describes the
feeling of accomplishment upon
completing a poem: "To glance at
the flower in my hand is proof
enough that I passed through
Paradise."
Davison's poetry is full of natu-
ralistic imagery that is very simple
on the surface, but very moving in
its depths. The poems are written in
an understandable and beautiful
form, resounding with sadness at
humanity's competition with na-
ture. Some of Davison's poetry is
reminiscent of Robert Frost's; al-
though Davison seems to disagree
with this description, he says that he
knew Frost quite well and consid-
ered him a mentor.
At the time of our interview,
Davison hadn't decided on the mate-
rial for his reading today at
Rackham Auditorium. He will
probably offer a sample of the po-
etry from his latest collection of
poems, The Great Ledge, and may
not discuss any of the issues re-
vealed in Trades. Davison preferred
not to set anything in stone, saying,
"What I tend to do... is give a
general selection of poems, then see
what the audience looks like and
change it at the last minute." So if
you're going to the reading and
hoping to hear something special, I
suggest you sit near the front and
try to look like the poem you want
to hear.
PETER DAVISON will read today at
5:00 in the Rackham Amphitheatre.
There is no admission fee.
DUET
Continued from page 5
stiff. And though she was usually
extremely cruel, Stephanie's gou-
gings weren't always taken to their
most effective extreme. Her as-
sertion, for example, that she was
"sure that most of (Dr. Feldman's)
patients kill themselves," could
have been a breathtaking line, but
never lived up to it's potential.
Overall, the production was very
good. Director Simon Ha and his ta-
lented crew tackled a text with such
depth that many possibilities went
unrealized, but the good moments
far outweighed the bad, and for a
script with the richness of this one,
that made for many good moments
indeed.
Duet for One (which is double
cast) will be playing Thursdays
through Saturdays at 8 p.m. until
October 5.
The MICHIGAN DAILY
needsao.. 4-.552
Lucy Brown is (from left to right) Luis Peraza, Chris Newberg, Gene Hawkins, and Scott Llewellyn. Aren't they a
funky group? That sullen look must be a reflection of the joy they derive from the creation of music.
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Lucy Brown
Lucy Brown
Megaforce/Atlantic
There was a sticker on the out-
side of the disc box which read, "A
twisted amalgam of funk, thrash
and metal," so I was expecting
something lame like Faith No
More. Saying you're funky is like
saying you're pregnant - either you
are or you aren't. Only a few bands
have successfully mixed funk with
rock, including the Meters, the
Neville Brothers and even Led
Zeppelin. The funkiest band around
today is Fishbone, while the music
of Faith No More and the Chili
Peppers doesn't have enough silence
between beats to truly be called
funk. Lucy Brown, although they do
mix in a bit of metal, definitely
know how to be funky.
This integrated four-piece band
from D.C. must have learned the ba-
sic tenet of funk music: "less is
more." When there is too much
stuff going on, like in a Flea bass
line, the noise just gets in the way of
the groove. But Lucy Brown's tunes
really swing with a great feel.
Bassist Scott Llewellyn and drum-
mer Chris Neuberg know how to
create innovative grooves without
overextending themselves. Vocalist
Gene Hawkins doesn't have Corey
Glover's range, but he has enough
soul to match the backing tracks,
while guitarist Luis Peraza knows
how to be funky without putting
too much mileage on his wah-wah
pedal.
It's obvious that the group has
spent a great deal of time listening
to old funk and soul records, along-
side Zep and Hendrix. "Mold the
Truth" is undeniably a metal tune,
but with a great hook during the
verses that sounds like something
off of a Meters record. And the bass
line of "Colorblind" makes the
tune sound the way the Bullet Boys
should have played when they cov-
ered "For the Love of Money."
-Andrew J. Cahn
Randy Travis
High Lonesome
Warner Brothers
If you're ever in Nashville, one
of the first things you'll notice is
that just about every major country
music star has his or her own gift
shop/ theme park/ T-shirt empo-
rium. There's Twitty City and Bar-
bara Mandrell Country, and Dolly-
wood's not far off, either. But
maybe the best place of all is Randy
Travis' version of the Shrine and
Souvenir Haus, smack dab in the
middle of Music Row. Randy's
Ranch, or whatever it's called, is a
Mecca for fans of C&W's answer to
George Michael, with pilgrims wai-
ting in line to sign Mr. T.'s tour bus
instead of kneeling to Allah.
Now, you might be thinking to
yourself, "Yeah, so what's your
"OUTSTANDING...ONE OF
THE YEAR'S BEST FILMS.
WITTY, WISE AND TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE."
-Jeffrey Lyons, SNEAK PREVIEWS
AN ASTONISHING
COMEDY.
A BOLD, UNIQUE AND
EXHILARATING
CINEMATIC TRIP."
-Bruce Williamson, PLAYBOY
"A 10! A STUNNING
FA TASY ::
BY MASTER FILMMAKERS AND z
PERFORMERS."
-Gary Franklin, KABC-TV
"ELECTRICALLY
CHARGED
COMEDY..
TOUR-DE-FORCE OSCAR
NOMINATABLE PERFORMANCES
FROM JEFF BRIDGES AND
ROBIN WILLIAMS"
- Daphne Davis, AMERICAN WOMAN
ROBIN WILL IAMS
"BRILLIANT AND
INSPIRED.
THIS IS TERRY GILLIAM'S
MOST SATISFYING FILM."
: -Joan Buck, VOGUE
Travis
point?" In fact, as a progressive col-
lege student, you might even believe
that you're just too damn hip for
country music. "Yeah, I'll listen to
a little bit of everything - except
country!" But this unfashionable
music of hicks, truck drivers, red-
necks, white trash, et al. is also a
ridiculously popular music, the
number one radio format in the
United States. And just as there is a
time and a place for listening to
George Michael and Wham! (while
making out at a high school dance),.
defy anyone to find a more appropri{
ate album than High Lonesome 1
listen to late at night, alone, drivingO
on the interstate.
And, unlike Georgie-boy, whq
for some reason wants critics te
recognize the genius that his fm
have always known, Travis, on thj
his seventh album, still aii
ashamed of them catchy tunes aLt
dumb lyrics. From traditional lova
songs like "Let Me Try" (featurin
Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano) i
traditional stompers like "Bette
Class of Losers" and "Allergic to
the Blues," yigh Lonesome runs the
gamut of hokey-tonk. And it's just
as much fun as "Wake Me Up Be-
fore You Go-Go," maybe even more
fun, since you probably don't often
get to hear fiddles 'n' steel guitars.
Even the infamous "Point p,
Light," which does sound ob9
noxiously reactionary ("There is a
point/ When you cannot walk away~C
When you have to stand up straight,
and tall/ And mean the words yon,
say..."), is undercut by Travis,
down-to-carthness and sincerity.
And all right, even if you still ins!*~
on rejecting the music of the masss,
you've gotta admit that there';k
something sublimely surreal abo'd&
a song like the album's a cappella
closer, "I'm Gonna Have A Littl@
Talk," which starts off with Rangly
singing, "I'm gonna have a littd;
talk with Jesus tonight when I get
home," while Take 6 do-wops in t*e
background - something that no!
smugly sarcastic British alterna-
band could ever hope to capture. _
-Mark Binelki
Rush
Roll the Bones
Atlantic
Much of the lyrical content 9
Rush's latest album, Roll the Bones,
focuses on the rewards of being bold
and taking risks, and thankfully, the
group has decided to heed their ow
message. The once great band has
emerged from a period during which
some older fans were beginning uO
question their future, and whiUJ
Rush may not be as heavy as th@
once were, they're certainly st4
respectable.
Geddy Lee's bass is prominent j4
the mix, and his performance is i
credible. In "Neurotica," his souig
is deep and heavy, and the albun'
title track contains his funkiest bass
riff since "Spirit of the Radio.
Alex Lifeson's rhythm guitar work
is also very hip. Instead of just
mashing away at power chords, he
finds interesting ways to vary them
wtih arpeggios, as in "Bravado,",Of
funky ways to strum the chords, 4
in "Where's My Thing?" Howeve4
Lifeson's guitar solos don't reaUy
add to the songs, and aren't that
memorable. As always, Neil Pear
drumming is impressive, especiali
when he pairs interesting rhythmic
ideas with technically astounding
drum fills.
One very nice surprise on this ab
bum is the aforementioned
"Where's My Thing?," the band2s
first instrumental in a very long
time. It's a fun song to listen to due
to its funky groove, and there is a
section in the middle where Lee aWi
Peart trade off solos. "Ghost of a
Chance" is another interesting tun
because of the contrast between the
ominous music of the verses and ft
melodious easv-listening chorus.
"WILD,
WONDERFUL
AND CRAZY!"
- Pia Lindstrom, WNBC-TV/LIVE AT FIVE
"ROBIN WILLIAMS
DESERVES
ANOTHER
OSCAR
NOMINATION.
'THE FISHER KING' WILL
TOUCH YOUR HEART...
A CAPTIVATING FILM."
-Jeff Craig, SIXTY SECOND PREVIEW
I
Are lawyers the best hope ofjustice for the weak, or the
overpaid servants of the powerful?Judge for yourself
as you meet a cross section of the law and its critics-
practicing lawyers, law
students and ex-lawyers- / °,
speaking frankly about the
rewards and penalties, the 2
prospects and the pitfalls,
of a legal career.
"With profiles
of attorneys at' t ,
varying levels of
accomplishment >/>
...Richard Moll
thoughtfully
humanizes the>
image of
lawyers."r
-Booklist /
I
11E i
JEFF BRIDGES