PAGE 12

THE SCARLET AND BLACK

Cocker, Moodies Disappointing

by Ron Medvin

At the beginning of lastsum~
mer, Joe Cooker got himself
a group numbering about fifty
people and came to the U.S. to
tour the country. They mlled
themselves the Mad Dogs St
Englishmen and they decided
to make a live album at the
Filmore East in New York.
(What group hasn’t made a
live album in 19707) And they
called the album: Joe Cocker
Mad Dogs &Englishmen. Wow.
For Joe'Cocker fans, this al-
bum (actually, a double-
aibum) is a must. For others,
the album has its ups and
downs.

One “up" is that Leon Rus-
sell and Chris Stainton are
featured throughout the album.
Other than being a great gui-
tarist, Russell writes much of
Cocker’s material, such as
”Delta lady" and "Give
Peace a Chance." These two
songs are among the best in
the album. “Cry Mea River",
"Space Captain", “The Lets
ter", and “She Came in Thr»

ough the Bathroom Window"
also show Cooker singing at
his powerful best. Cocker pro-
bably has the most powerful
and dynamic voice in rock to-
day. (His rasping interpretat-
ion of ”Little Help From My
Friends"~- not on this album
--is no doubt his best song
and is the one that made him
a star in the U.S.)

The rest of this album, how-
ever, does not come across,
and if you expect to be over-
whelmed, you will be disap~
pointed. Too many ofthe songs
sound the same, and Cocker
fails to put forth his best. He
is better live than in a studio,
but he just does not make it
through the entire four sides
of this record. In fact, this
album could be great if they
had left out sides two and
three. One and four are 100%
Cocker. A suggestion would
be to see the movie that was
made of this tour, and if you
like it, then get the album.
Otherwise, borrow sides one
and four from a friend.

The Moody Blues is one of
the few groups that seems to

Weekend Music Performances

The chorus and Collegium
Musicum will present their
Christmas Concert in Herrick
Chapel tonight at 8:00 p.m.
The choir, under the direction
of James Fudge, will doapro-
cessional and recessional of
Medieval English carols, and
will be joinedbythe Collegium
under Jeremy Montagu in sin-
gle pieces by Marenzio, Jos-
quin du Pres, Billings, and
Jammerschmidt. The
concert will close with the

full choir singing a work by
.l.S. Bach.

Speaks

by Mary Pfistsr
and Marty Sachs

Last week the director of
placement for the American
Educational Theatre Associa-
tion (AETA), Barbara Ridout,
visited with Grinnell students
interested in studying and
working in ‘the theatre during
the summer vacations or af-
ter graduation.

At an early meeting with the
theatre majors Ridout ans-
wered general questionsabout
theatre opportunities for stud-

There will be a Francesco
Trio concert Saturday nightat
8:00 p.m. in Roberts Theater
featuring the vocal duet of
Mrs. Russ Jones and James
Fudge, accompanied by the
Trio in several works by Beet-
hoven.

The last musical event of
the semester will be a per-
formance at the Forum Ch—
ristmas Party Saturday night
at 10:15 by the Francesco
Trio, the vocal duet, and the
choir.

get worse withage. Their first
real album, In Search of the
Lost Chord was great. Their
new album. A Question ofBal-
ance. is not great. It is notev-
en very good. In fact . . .

Ever since Lost Chord, the
Moodies have been into
"heavy" lyrics and “super-
group" music. In Question...
they are so phony as to make
even Moody Blues' fans sick.
How about: “I've been search»
ing for my dream/ A hundred

times today/ Ibuild them up,

you knock them down./ Like'

they were made of Clay."
Greatl There’s a lot more of
that, but you get the idea.

But ah] the Moodies’ music.
The mystics of the melletronl
The music on this album is so
boring that even the most die-
hard Moody Blues fan will want
to sell the album for half-
price. (Anyone care to buy
mine?)

It's not fair to not mention
the good moments of the al-
bum. There are three. Justin
Hayward has written three
songs on the album, including
the title song, “Question"
Both his music and his lyrics
are worth listening to: he
seems to be the only talented
writer in the group. In fact,
he has written all the Mood-
ies' great songs. “Tuesday
Afternoon", ”Nights in White
Satin" being two examples.
However, this album is not
worth buying; better you sh-
ould buy their older and bet-
ter stuffl On the picture in-
side the cover, the Moody
Blues look troubles. They she
ould. They ought to know by
now that they should let Hay-
ward write their music, then
maybe they would smile.

On Drama Careers

ents, how toapply for positions
in theatres, and the availabil‘
ity of permanent jobs in thea-
tre. She talked about AETA
which is an association which
tries to give help to those in-
terested in eduu-itlonaltheatre
bv distributing general and
specific information about th-
eatres. As for job opportuni-
ties, the outlook is not opti-
mistic for actors or directors
but she held out more hope
for technical personnel who
are males. Theatre does have
its prejudices.

BARBARA RIDOUT, speaking to students considering
theater careers, was pessimistic about job opportuni-

ties in acting and directing.

(Photo by Marty Sachs)

One important question pis-
ced to her by Don Boros ofthe
Theatre Department waswhe—
ther a student should become
a theatre major if he or she
was uncertain about being
totally committed to it. Be
cause dedication to the pros
fession and a professional at-
titude are a must, she said
that she would not recommend
it as a major but endorsed the
idea of students being invol-
ved in productions, even ifthey

'are not tneatre majors.

At the general meeting, open
to the public, Barbara Ridout
answered, again, the quest-
ions about acting opportunit-
ies and tried to answer some
questions about Actors’ Equ-
ity. She seemed to be of the
opinion that as young actors,
students should postpone get-
ting Equity cards until they
have more experience because
joining Equity does not as‘
sure people of jobs and may,
in fact, hinder them.

In general, she gave the stu-
dents the true picture ofopene
ings in professional theatre
as a career. Anyone interest-
ed in information about AETA
summer theatres should con-
tact Jim Reeder, Rosemarie
Bank, or Don Boros of the
Theatre Department.

After getting over the facts
about future acting opportun-
ities, the Acting and Direct»
ing Class will still be having
their readings tonightandSat-
urday at 8 p.m. in the Arena.
And next week they shall val-
iantly perform their manyand
varied scenes for those not
studying for their finals on
Wednesday and Thursday ev-
enings at 8 p.m. in the Hallie
Flanagan Davis Theatre
(Arena).

MISSISSIPPI

December 4, 1970

FRED McDowell, an Old’tlme blues

singer, played to enthusiastic overflow crowds in the
South Lounge of the forum Saturday, November 29.

(Photo by John Pepper)

Laughing Jag Told

(continued from page 9)

of administrative light, Ric
McDowell appeared, wiping
the sleep from his eyes, and
screaming invectives to the
crowd. Finally placated by
Dave’s assurances that the
culprits had disappeared, Ric
(the omniscient)explained that
the source of the disturbance
had to be Herrick Chapel. The
B&G man led the officer, Ric,
and the crowd (Mannheimer
cursing all the while) through
the main doors of the chapel.
After a frantic search for the
tape recorder, and a decision
that it could not be in the locked
room, McDowell, in his infin-
ite wisdom, flicked the master
switch which was contained in
casing of the organ. (the fore-
skin7).

Tim’s sweet voice, after 40
minutes of laughing,faded into
the snowy evening. The crowd
gave its harness bellsa shake,
to ask if there was somemis-
take . . . for indeed the laughs
ter had subsided. HE WHO
LAUGHS LAST, LAUGHS
BEST . .. It's 7:00 A.M. . . .
We’re still laughing . . .

respectfully submitted
november 23, 1970
David Landecker
Robert Frost

Faul Appleby

Chris Decker is solicit-
ing contributions for a lits
erary supplement to be
published Friday, Decemr
ber ll. Deadline is Sunday,
December 6. Flaceallcon-
tributions in his mailbox.

Experimental College Advances

(continued from page 9)

The Revolutionary Forces
dissolved into small hands and
slipped away into the jungle
after the meeting. They were
last seen discussing personal
ideas and plans with great en‘
thusiasm. It is believed that
another offensive is soon to
be launched. Popular support
for the insurgents seems to
be mounting and the Grinnell
Experience is preparingitseif
for another onslaught. Com~
rades Scheff and Brandmill
made an impassioned appeal
for volunteers to aid the lib-
eration forces. They are con*
fident of victory and claim to
have had Visions of lights at
the ends of dark tunnels.

In all seriousness, though,

the idea of the Experimen-
tal College is motivationally
realistic and looks like it is
going to work. It might be a
good idea to hop on the boat
and lend a hand in picking
subject matter for the cour-
ses, since only a limited num*
her will be tried at first. In
order to get some decent top~
ics, people should get in while
they‘re still planning.

As a special favor, Henry
and Toni have agreed not to
bite people who call them to
ask what they are doing.

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