December 1975
CREEM
Brothers: Due to rumors floating around because of letters by two members of my old group, the Archies, I would like to tell my side of the story. Much of what Archie said was true. There was a lot of jealousy, but that’s not what hurt the group the most.
THE CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
I’ve got to admit, it’s getting better. I still feel like I’m walking around with an earhorn looking for an A record — no way there’ll be 30 by year’s end, which is my time-honored test — but at least the B plusses are starting to appear with some regularity.
ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS
Early reports had Led Zeppelin with a fully-recuperated Robert Plant playing the Rose Bowl on January 24. Swan Song, at last word, is denying this and says that only until Plant feels that he is recovered from his summer car accident will any Led Zep tour dates be firmed up.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Jeff Burger
Bob Dylan almost spat the words out in the studio of Chicago public television WTTW before a sleepy crowd of less than 200 at 2 a.m. on a Thursday morning. The song was a new one, fresh from the sessions for his new album. The band, which backed Dylan on the album, was also a new one: Rob Rothstein, bass; Howard Wyeth, drums; Donna Shea, fiddle.
LAST EXIT FROM LAKE CITY: THE OUTLAWS LAST RIDE
KENNY WEISSBERG
“Nothing against Macon, but we are not a Macon band,” stressed Henry Paul, rhythm guitarist of the Outlaws.
DOOBIE BROS: The Reward Of Facelessness
Wayne Robins
Who were they? Just a bunch of street people who “looked like bikers and said they wanted to be rock ‘n’ roll stars” — with precious little indication that they had the chops to back up that fantasy.
FLASHBACKS TO THE STONES TOUR: ON THE ROAD TO BUFFALO
Lisa Robinson
“There’s a lot of difference between being in the studio, or sitting around your hotel room and sweating it out onstage every night for two hours,” Keith said.
Cadillac Woodstock
Robert Duncan
We — I mean Frankie and me — stumble blinkingly into a not very bright daylight. A guy with a watch tells us it’s seven. (We don’t wear watches because we don’t really want to know when last call may be coming up, the bar closing, the party over.) Seven.
Features
DAVID BOWIE: SPACED OUT IN THE DESERT
STEVE SHROYER
Close-up: Face-the-face as inscrutable as that of the Sphinx and just as far removed from humanity.
Features
TO BEAT THE DEVIL: The Allman Brothers Comin’ Round Again
Jaan Uhelszki
The Allman Brothers Band is no stranger to misfortune, but they were never devastated by fate.
Extension Chords
The CREEM Synthesizer Lesson, Part II
Robert Duncan
Here is part two of the CREEM Synthesizer Lesson begun in October.
Creemedia
Boobs Alot: THE NEW TV SEASON
Robot A. Hull
In television, vintage years occur only once in a blue moon (1957, 1958 1961, 1964-66), and this ain’t one of ’em.
Stars Cars
Peter Criss
CREEM DREEM
PAUL RODGERS
Confessions of a FILM FOX
More overbite? Paul Morrissey has decided to get in the swim of things — shooting a new fractured flicker on location at the Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla and off the coast of Japan. Working title: Andy Warhol’s Jaws. The plot concerns a methadone crazed shark which takes a strategic bite out of Joe Dallesandro...
(FOR ONCE) CREEM DRAWS A BLANK
Now you can get it all off your chest. Once again, it’s time for the annual CREEM Reader's Poll for 1975. We want you to tell us and them who you love, who you hate, and who you feel ambivalent towards or whatever. The rules are as simple as ever.
Records
Pete Townshend’s LAST DETAIL
Lester Bangs
The Who may be painfully aware of their elder statesmanship, but they are aging gracefully and they ain't sold out yet.
Records
Elegy For The Living
Michael Davis
Ah lads, so you’ve tasted success and found that you don’t care for it? More’s the pity.
Records
ELTON: The Horse’s Pajamas
Robert Duncan
This set is straight-ahead rock 'n’ roll that stops for barely a moment.
ROCK • A • RAMA
ALVIN LEE - Pump Iron (Columbia) :: Once upon a time World’s Fastest Guitarist, Alvin Lee today displays all the agility of a barrel of snails. In place of the once blazing guitar, inaudible mumblings — shabby imitations of soulful vocals — are offered.
Creem Profiles
THE TUBES
(Pronounced “Boy Howdy!”)