MAIL

MAIL

Dear Creem:

I have to admit I was in for a surprise when instead of picking up Rolling Stone (as I am in a habit of doing [among other things]), I happened to buy CREEM! The last issue I can remember reading was back in the Winter. What a upsurge in great reading. Yes guys, your potential is being put to the test and it looks damn promising. Keep up the good work and we will keep up the good reading.

Ginger Baker Birmingham, Michigan

Dear CREEM:

Re Dave Marsh and Larry LiMata notwithstanding: Good God. Maggie M’Gill, in spite of you all, went down, indeed, to Tangie Town (pronounced Tanjy.) Next time listen.

Patricia Kennely JAZZ & POP NEW YORK

Dear CREEM

Excuse my absence. I noticed the ink of my name in the staff box growing thinner and thinner — so I figured I’d get on my ass, get out an article and get rid of some guilt. Of course, that isn’t the only motive why I’m writing — in fact, it isn’t even a motive - it just nags.

Excuses or, more accurately, reasons for my impromptu sabbatical -

After having a low-key New Year’s with Jimi Hendrix (vol.2 no. 9), the low key continued with — of all people — Ravi Shankar, who played the Fillmore on a Sunday night at the end of January. You walked into the theatre and were immediately hit with a blast of hot air — the house had decided to turn up the heat in order to give a groovier livingroom type of atmosphere. Students — groovy cool students — sat around on the stage without their shoes on. (More livingroom). One might say the feeling was very Donovan. Naturally Shankar brought the house down when he walked out — he, his wife on tambura and Ali Raka’s son on guess what (excellent, but seemingly more artisan than artist) started with a very lively evening raga. Next a solo percussive-vocal-percussive number by Raka. Up until then everything was nice and tight. (Ieven succeeded in disregarding the heat half the time). Shankar became the only figure on stage; he tuned and eventually began to speak, introducing his next number softly. Twenty seconds into it, laughter broke out in the balcony. It could not have possibly been at anything he said because of its tone and where it broke in — which was, in the sense of what Shankar was saying — nowhere. Its tone was stoned-frivolous. Shankar froze — looking up. My stomach turned.* The master patiently waited for it to stop, and then simply suggested to the audience to sit back and close its eyes for his morning raga. He spent forty-five minutes weaving it magnificently. The audience spent the time trying to keep awake. Ironically, I think Ravi neglected to consider what an overheated theatre can do to an audience with its eyes closed. When it was over, a good fifth of the audience got up and left — another fifth was probably still asleep. My sympathy lies with the victimized Shankar - the Fillmore can be really assinine when it tries hard enough.

My biggest abortion this year was a taped two-hour interview with Joshua White of the light show and its crew. My deepest apologies to Joshua and Co. In the middle of whipping it together on paper, the country’s biggest abortion in history happened. (The summer acted as a mild sedative, but this place just ain’t gonna be the same ever again. I’m afraid Woodstock was a finale). So now, rather than draw up the entire interview about a no longer existent company (not completely true - a good part of the crew has stayed on at the Fillmore), 1 will reprint here a few keynotes within the interview which I feel are certainly worth repeating.

“.. . people have prejudices against light shows and almost all of those prejudices are very well-founded . . . Before you can be a dancer, you have to be a certain kind of acrobat. You have to exercise, and the process for us has been one of exercise ... I think its beginning to become an art form ... It hasn’t always been pretty to look at; that’s what’s been concerning us so much. I don’t think it’s an art form on the level of painting - or serious music composition. But they’ve had a couple thousand years more than we have.”

(And to soothe wounds recently inflicted by Ralph J. Gleason).

“How do you operate with Bill Graham?”

“We work with him. He’s not a bad man — he treated us fairly. He’s a very important part in the development of this form (rock theatre) that exists ... he does not interfere with the content of our show in any way ..,. When 1 (Joshua) disagree with him, I tell him so, but in most cases he’s absolutely right about what makes a good evening with the light show as an essential part . . . .Also, Bill Graham, as long as you deliver, trusts you a great deal. He has a great deal of discretion down the line. You don’t get very many failures. He has to have great faith in it. He is definitely a patron.” (Muckraking doesn’t become you Ralph).

And to round out my ‘interview’:

“A San Francisco light show can be absolutely brilliant and nobody will see it. We can be absolutely brilliant and everybody sees it and that’s very important. It makes you work harder, too, because you know that people are looking at the screen every moment. You have a greater responsibility to the audience. You can’t be sloppy. If you’re going to experiment on the audience’s time, you’d better have a very clear idea of what the "relationship of that experiment will be to the music, and the machinery you are working with.”

After the interview, I had the pleasure of watching them operate during a Santana show. They were so good, I couldn’t even get in their way. A rather complicated and accomplished art. form — to which 1 have done very

little justice.

I talked with Joshua a week or so after he left the company. He assured me that the split was on good terms — he just wants to spread his own wings for a while.

One last comment on the country’s abortion: I caught the Jefferson Airplane immediately following the Kent massacre. When performers take the lives of their young audience into their hands, the air buzzes a bit uncomfortably for me. Grace Slick, Marty Balin and Paul Kantner encouraged the cheering troops to draw blood in Washington that Saturday. Do Slick, Balin and Kantner realize that if any of their troops had been fatally hurt that Saturday, they might have had to answer for it at least in conscience? My guns go with Gleason on this topic. The easist. way to find yourself completely suppressed under a police state is to encourage any sort of violence for any sort of cause. AVe do have a police state? Not while we have our music like this -MUSIC - not unschooled and immature rhetoric,

A light side would be nice for a close. A few weeks before Kent, I had the opportunity of getting stoned with Hot Tuna between shows at Fordham University. You can’t help but feel calm and comfortable with them. Just as you almost can’t help but die from electrical shock, standing behind their amps when they perform.(The album and the group, as of then, were two completely different concepts). After, the show, Kaukonen and Casady sat in the stands and entertained for a while - exhausted, smiling entirely unpretentious in their zeal. A little later on, pressured to make a plane for the next town, the duo found one of the tires on their rented car slashed -a sigh and a joke - the rest of the group on their way to the airport. I stood in a late winter soft cold drizzle, watching Casady and Kaukonen badger and kid each other while they changed the tire. They left me smiling.

John M. Woodruff

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Dear Creem:

Dylan’s new album, Self Portrait, has been criticized sharply in the latest edition of Creem Magazine (Vol. 2, No. 14) by two reviewers claiming to be old (ex?) Bob Dylan fans and/or authorities. While it was made clear that the editors of Creem did not approve, at least, of one of the reviews., we are still lacking, I believe, a review of Self Portrait, and, perhaps, a more objective view of Bob Dylan.

It’s obvious Dylan has made some sort of transition, but I don’t think it’s fair or honest to simply announce he’s lost his mind and his talents as both reviewers seemed to indicate. What seems to have happened is that often Bob Dylan was being reviewed and not an album. Whatever Dylan’s ‘bag’ is now is really a psychological or philosophical question, certainly open to debate, but not a true attest to his qualifications as a musician or song-writer. To respond to these criticisms of Dylan’s new ‘bag’, I will say, perhaps oversimplifying, that the most noticeable trait changes are the absences of bitterness, mistrust, and hatred. 1 consider this less than sinful.

I think Dylan has mellowed. There’s a certain calm and openness in Self Portrait that makes me think Dylan was driven by fear, frustration, and perhaps madness in some of his earlier albums. His songs are less poignant and sharp, but at the same time, more melodic and rounded. The biggest disappointments in the album occur when Dylan tries to do his old songs. With his new style these songs, “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Quinn the Eskimo,” and “She Belongs to Me” come off very badly. His voice is strained, the

accents on words seem unnatural, and he often appears to be unacquainted with the material. It seems strange that Dylan put these songs on the album at all, unless he wanted to, or was forced to, for their commercial value.

Dylan has lost his audience at least twice before. Once, when he abandoned the political and anti-war movement, and later, when he went amplified. Yet there was always something new that went unnoticed until the fans’ resentment was forgotten. I believe Dylan is exploring still another level of life and must again wait for his audience.

Danny Smith Detroit, Michigan

Dear CREEM:

So the Rationals have finally broken up? But the question is, was it their fault? The answer is ' “no”. Other people brought the Rats to a surprising end. The Rationals gave Michigan “killer” music for seven years and what do they get in return? Nothing, that’s what. After “I Need You” Capitol wanted another song just like it so the Rats came up with “Temptation’s ‘Bout To Get Me” and Capitol refuses it. Incredible!!! Larry Feldman, the Rats Manager said that he’d put the jams out even if he had to put them on his own label. While all of this goes on the Rationals continue to knock the crowds dead with “Temptation”. So months later Feldman puts out “Guitar Army” and “Sunset”, but still no “Temptation”. Why, I’ll never know. “Temptation” would have been an automatic number one hit compared to “Guitar Army” which received air play only on WABX and WKNR-FM. It failed to receive any air play on AM stations.

The Rats continue to play their gigs for a mere $500-$600 compared to the Stooges $1000.00. Meanwhile the A2 boys keep promising the people that an album is coming out. As the months go by, still no album. At last, an album. A killer, killer album at that. Finally, “Temptation” is on wax. The album fooled a lot of people and it really fooled me because “Part Time Love” wasn’t on it. A dynamite blues tune done by the Rationals and they leave it off their first and only album. After the release of the album a cut is taken from it'to be made into a 45 . So what cuts do they use? “Handbags to Gladrags” and “Guitar Army”. Why not “Glowin’ ” “HA-HA” or “Temptation”, I’ll never know. The fate of the Rationals continue on. Sure the album is out and the FM stations are playing the hell out of it and it’s receiving good reviews but does Crewe Records promote it? Absolutely not. Bob Crewe has a killer album out, and not one bit of promotion. How Stupid!! So the fine album fades away hardly even to be noticed. So the Rationals got tired of getting screwed and broke up. I would have too.

Alfred E. Neuman

Detroit, Michigan

Dear Sirs:

Will you be so kind as to send me a complete brochure of your books, magazines and films. I am a customer of the Old Town Book Store located at 426 W. Armitage Ave. here in Chicago. Also a very good friend of Joe Russo, the manager. 1 am very interested in purchasing a quantity of quality material so please send me your brochure. Particularly anything like Color Climax, Orgy, Weekend Sex and things like that. I thank you, and you will be getting my order as soon as I recieve your brochure.

Mr. L.E. Harris

Chicago, Ill.

Dear CREEM,

I’d like to inform you of what’s been goin’ down on some of our fellow brothers. The Dictators, a motor cycle club in Detroit, have been the victims of a set-up arrest by a small town trying to gain notice. These brothers have been arrested on the charge of attempt to kidnap. Kidnap is not the case in reality, but only holding a guy while beating him. I never knew this was kidnap. And not all members did this, but all members were arrested. Anyone near by was arrested as I hear it, but a man and a woman were arrested too \feo were not with a jacket or colors on but still were arrested for being with a member, What is this? The judge is a lady who thinks she controls all say in the county. She listens to testimony of the people who say and show evidence to certain guys innocence, but she refused to let anyone go. How can 26 guys kidnap a kid they only beat up, only 2 members did this because of being provoked, a common fight between guys, and why were the pigs so on hand to see this if they really weren’t actually looking for someone to make an issue of for their own reasons. It sounds like a conspiracy of the law there to make an issue of this so that they will be recognized because of the elections coming up soon. This isn’t big enough to have such a high bond on each of them of $25,000. They haven’t all committed this crime or deserve to be punished so severely and be held tor weeks too. I’m asking for help and for some of our people to take notice of this and please look into it. This small town thinks it can get with «• can the^or wil1 we let thcm? 0nly one lawyer is heiPin* and >r>'inS to see how this iud8e ,hinks she can «et wi,h «• 0ne man alone is not Piease helP these brothers their frecdom back whlch deserveAnd *hey cal1 this JUSTICE?

Dolores Manriquez Detroit, Michigan