ROCK-N-RAMA

ROCK N RAMA

PATTI SMITH—Radio Ethiopia (Arista):: Horses was almost too skeletal; Ethiopia is almost too meaty. I personally have never listened to an Aerosmith album beyond a few bars, but this guy Jack Douglas sure knows how to get a drum sound. Too bad Patti gets treated like another instrument in the mix... is that why she nearly delivers a lyric sheet with this LP? Picturing Harry Crosby's opium pipe could be looked at either as a departure (from Crosby's self-destruct coy posturing), or as an indulgence (in the worst sense of Crosby's "legacy"). Given the 14-odd minutes of "Ethiopia/Abyssinia", the latter would seem to be the sad fact...redeemed, with too-brief, glory, but the all-out BLAST of the rockers that lead off sides one and t\yo; nothing has kicked me in the teeth so hard since "Search and Destroy." Patti's got the notion and the capability (and the band) to draw blood from stones; when she takes full rein of it, you're gonna swim or drown, believe me. Maybe third time out. P.L.

CRACK THE SKY-Animal Notes (Lifesong):^ promising band who continue to promise more than they deliver. While beyond stealing Dan riffs, their best stuff uses the Fagan-Becker chainsaw to the chin technique, substituting ag-f gressive intelligence for the usual emotional contact. But too often they hedge their bets or push poor ideas too far; it'll take more consistency for these guys to crack the charts, much less thesky. M.D.

BEE GEES-Gold (RSO)::The Brothers Gibb have as many hits as teeth between them, and this LP features a dozen of them (tunes, not choppers). The songs, all Gibb grown, are a time capsule of their late "60s-early "70s chirps, but the wonder brothers do improve with age. It's a crime to sound as good as they look, but I'll be the last to call the cops. L.

SONNY FORTUNE-Waves of Dreams (Horizon) ::Despite the presence of mini-moog and electric piano on some cuts Sonny's heart still beats with the modern mainstream of acoustic jazz. Solid, uncompromising, deep, and accessible. Sonny's concept of scoring for jazz quintets is developing into the freshest I've heard since the early Jazz Messengers and if I hesitate to go off deep-endedly praising his alto and flute work it's because I'm still assimilating it. Prime. R.C.W.

PHIL WOODSFloresta Canto (RCA) :: When you get past the liner notes which detail what a grueling session this was and how much heartfelt work was put into it (which I don't doubt) and such declamation as "This is a daring album," what you have is "Phil Woods With Strings Plays Bosa Nova." The kicker is that Woods is a lyrical, passionate altoist and the album is an uneasy melding of the corny and the hip. Worth your attention if not your time .R.C.W.

CHET ATKINS & LES PAUL-Chester & Lester (RCA) ::RALPH TOWNER AND JOHN ABERCROMBIE-Sargasso Sea (ECM)::If tyer as bored by the lack of new approaches to rock guitar playing as I am, ya might want to check these out. Atkins and Paul are old pros who've avoided fogeydom by openness and dedication; here they lay down hot licks a" plenty in a Nashville setting. Towner land Abercrombie counter with some spacey jazz jams, mixing acoustic and electric axes in various radical recipies. Rock survives partly because of its unholy melting pot personality; start stirring these in, riff rippers. M.D.

CHARLES BUKOWSKI - Poems & Insults! (City Lights) ::In which the greatest living American writer gets drunk, in front of an enthusiastic audience. Sort of a disappointment if you've read his stuff and mythologized the guy to the degree that is possible, but it's a good illustration of how this country (and especially its young people) try to literally EAT the artist alive. In Buk's case, he's already dispensed with the possibility. Available from your local bookstore. P.L.

This month's Rock-a-ramas were written by Michael Davis, Peter Laugh ner, Lina, and Richard C. Walls.