(The following is a letter we received from Skip Taube, White Panther Minister of the Interior, presently serving a five year federal sentence for harboring Pun Putmondon. Right on Brother Skip!)

Brother Dave —

I got your letter Monday — the first letter in my transfer from beautiful Marquette. It sure felt good to get a letter so soon after arrival. News is the main energy source for me in jail— all I get daily is on the radio; and that’s almost as hollow as the pablum they pass off as music. (The same songs that were popular three months ago when 1 first came are still strong — Pavlov would be in his glory in Amerika Top 40 land in conducting experiments in cultural conditioning. I’m afraid if he put electrodes on me while I had to be forced to listen to Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, Rubber Ducky ad nause'um, that I’d sizzle his transistors in ~ rage: 1 find my nonniusicai self hearing lots of good old r’n-’r inside my head, and doing a constrained shuffle In my cell when the 1 in 100 decent song comes on.)

By now you know Jack and I got.an indeterminate 5 year sentence (eligible for parole any'time, though ( expect we’ll be lucky to sieve less than 2).

We really have to force those insane laws off the boqks forever. I understand John’s appeal "Will" be decided on very shortly — no matter what the decision, people will inr u I >1 free marihuana ; program. If Johtfgefs'put, liis voice-and organizing ability will help die struggle; if he doesn’t thei^the’ rage of the people will confront 'tlidSe^makes. We can’t lojse, and l^\h;k Oppressed people always say, “We wpfpot hesitate, to kjjl.or.,. be killed to-gain-owafreedom.”.. .....

I just heard that Uncle Tim Leary is working in Algiers with Eldridge and the International B.P.P. Power to that holy brother for finding a way to implement his vision of “Live and Let Live.” I can still feel his smile and his vibes — they keep my spirit high.

Organize some more of those prison R & R concerts. The brothers need that music, and it would be killer for more bands to check that scene out. Prison reform can only happen in the context of social liberation and bands seem to be finally realizing their leadership responsibility in our culture in some areas like drugs, the war and now chauvinism.

If you write me here again, be sure to guarantee return postage so the letter does not get lost in my shuffle. I may not get to write you again since Federal Prison correspondence rules arewery restricted and you probably won’t be able to write me. So till we meet again, don’t hesitate — kick out the jams & seize the time!

FREE JOHN BOBBY ALL THE PANTHERS AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

LONG LIVE ROCK’n’ROLL! REVOLUTION IS THE WAY TO LIFE - I BELIEVE IT TO MY SOUL! VENCEREMOS

SKIP TAUBE

Dear CREEM:

Dig this... 1 subscribe to your ’•'VfflMgazitfe mainly because of its: superlative reviews of jazz records,, particularly by Richard Walls.. TheV -"TrtFftpor^C reviews on Miles Davis, Leo.n ■ . Thomas and Horae! Tapscott were far'Trjofe perceptive than'thQsaJdund ilv the., ■^s-so-called. jazz magazines. As Mr._Wa)ls ^states;, ‘the latter two records, tlrough j.Tryped as far out, really are not.

For some far-out jazz, records,.whieh really do riot receive any hype Whatever,'

I would ljke to refer Mr: Walls :to the .. rjeeards., of the,j;Association :,for,, .the/ .... Advancement of. Creative .Musicians (AACM), originally out of the Chicago (not New York!) ghetto. Lester Bowie’s Number 1 and 2 and Roscoe Mitchell’s Congliptious on the Nessa label are mind bending, and seem to have as their conceptual basis the reality of one’s constantly shifting states of mood and feeling, rather than the song form. And for a new approach to vocals, hear George Hines on Maurice McIntyre’s Humility on the Delmark label.

It would be beautiful if your magazine could bring attention to these albums (available from Jazz Record Mart, 7 West Grand, Chicago, Illinois 60610). But, by all means, continue your jazz coverage.

Steven Moffic

Yale Medical School

Hamden, Connecticut

(Other AACM releases worth mentioning include Roscoe Mitchell’s Sound, Joseph Jarman's-§®ng F.or and As If It Were The Seasons, Richard Abrams’ Levels and Degrees of. Light and An thmny Braxton’s. Three , Compositions-,i all bf thenf released on Delmark. A

Delmark (Aits* a few other jazz, recordings ■ om special,note - Archie Shepp with tithe': N.Y. Contemporary Five, a couplibf Sun.RdSaturn reissues . (most notably^Sun So;j'g^/ wbrk which zwilftbar an^, contemporary big band .effbft'to^pieces)*gnd:one by the Bud Powell Trio. Bob Kites thr’s label also has YeJtdrdings), by’ Luther '. Allisbn, MagicJ Sam, Junior.Wells (his best, Hoodoo and^a .^ymber of other contemporary bluesmerr. Delmark’s address is thexame as jthe AACM’s.)

Dear brothers and sisters,

our lovely little paper “panggg” wich we send you herewith is the first German exponent of the “International Underground Press”. It has been published by the UPN-Tribe, a family of several creative “new people”. With our life in the tribe we have the possibility in common creative work to show the way to the young generation, conducting them nearer to life. To give our work more effectiveness here in Germany (the country of the old and new fascists) we feel obliged to be in close communication with our foreign brothers and sisters. For this reason we will send you our paper “panggg” from now on regular.

We want to ask you doing the same with your paper. Please put our address on your exchange-mailing list!

We want come together with you! NOW!

The time has come, when in -Germany an Underground-Movement has to evolve, too. “panggg” is the first step, doing this. Now there are more and more people, thinking and feeling in another, way as their parents. Help them to make it better. Together we are .strong. (it’s. our community, which lift the world out of their hinges. Our community,; has more power than an A-Bomb. Here we are!!!

The Underground Press is the revolution in all its applications.

The '“German Underground Press” loves you! .

Come together

much armed 16ve -

UPNTribe

Mail, continued.on page 46

Continued from page 2.

dear friends from creem;

were from la barba, the rock newspaper of puerto rico and the carribean. we write to you, up to in our next issue to come out in november we plan to do an article on joe cocker, personaly i’m a fan of him, and we realR£wafrt to do alot on him. well we fot^jfs^Jssuegot only a few pictures of joe iri thpwoodst.ock festival, given to us from the local Warner bros. office, on your issue number 12; vol. II you got explendic pictures of him. also that articles on him are wonderful, we ask you if we can re-produce the pictures, not all, only a few ones, sure given proper credit and thanks to creem magazine and to the photographer, richard d. siege 1. please we hop you acept. the article is all ready made and we need pictures to make the paste-up in a few weeks from now. our article is of my own, but we need pictures, si ... please we hope you can reply soon, telling we can use it. you will save us if you do it. please we expect your contributions, as well as the same time we expect to exchange supscriptions with you, as well material and ideas, we hope you acept in all manners, please answer us soon in case you acept the whole pit. we send you a copy of our first issue since seven months, in on our second volume, well dear creemers we expect answer from you soon; thanks alot for help us.

yours trying good, brother of rock, clancy

editor/publisher

b2/c;

LA BARBA, INC.

Calle Asomante, No 1736 Summit Hills, Rio Piedras, P.R.

Dear CREEM;

I just read a letter in your latest issue by Ken Victor, agreeing with Ken Dabish, whoever he is; 1 completely disagree. Detroit’s bands aren’t trying to put down anything new, it’s their own kind of music.

No other city in the country of Amerika has as much going for it in rock as Detroit does today. I have quite a few albums by Detroit bands and that’s how I classify it — Detroit.

Of all the bands, the Frost, Bob Seger System, Frijid Pink, and my favorite, the SRC, all have something going for them. The Pink are the only weak link but still have a lot going.

I don’t think anybody should knock these bands unless they have all their albums and still don’t like it.

Detroit bands are not “stereotypes” and trying to be something else. They are playing their kind of music.

Hurray for Detroit and its bands! The Liverpool/San Francisco of the ’70s.

Bill Krohn

Kalamazoo, Mich.

Dear CREEM,

I would like to say a few things to that Confederate jack-ass, The Mad Florida Grapefroot; just who the hell do you think you’re puttin down! Listen,

man, we couldn’t help it that you lost some of the best groups there are! I mean, the MC5 aren’t even from the U.S.! If you ask me, you sound like some way out country-cornflake who's in bad need of a good shrink!! I agree you do have some pretty good Southern bands and singers — in fact, I think two of your best, in the north as well as the south, are Johnny Winter and Doug Kershaw. I happen to think they are great! But, as for your one statement, nothing your^ fucked-up music could produce could put IGGY and the STOOGES to shame! 1’bet your flannel underwear they could drive your bands ten feet under!! So, cut the bullshit about Amerika’s best and go plow a field!

Jefferson Kraudulat

Muskegon, Michigan

To the Editor:

I live, in not to uncomfortable circumstances, in the south of Spain. It was brought to my attention, by my house servant, Noel, that your underound, rock’n roll, news and music magazine existed, the word is underground, as in beef, not underround as I spelled it, boy, did Noel ever laugh, ha ha ha ha. Well, let’s see, a , I was very impressed with your paper and or magazine. The article by Dave Mash, I found extremely enlightening and formative. In spite of the fact that you are a drug oriented paper I find your articles both humorous and funny. It is with this, Noel will you quit that, I’m sorry, it is with this in mind that I request a free years subscription to your paper. Here in Spain, it is very difficult to obtain reading matter and to start fires, so, with your co-operation, I remain, dammit Noel, I remain,

Steven LoCausta,

Villa El Pedresa!

Perdigon

Nerja (Malaga), Spain Dear CREEM:

I just want to say, first of all, I really dig your magazine. It is one of the few music papers I have read which doesn’t criticize everything. Second, nobody in Detroit should be knocking the Detroit bands until they try and dig some of the New England bands. Also, I would like to know if Dave Dixon, Miller and Dennis Frawley are still at good ole ABX, or if they are at WKNR? Or maybe XYZ?

Anyhow, I really miss Detroit, and CREEM keeps me goin’. Thanx.

Bill Dance

Exeter, N.H.

(Dixon, Frawley and Miller are all still at WABX, in direct defiance of the oft-stated rumor that “99!6 just won’t do. ” - Ed.)