KANSAN REVIEWS RECORDS: Association's back
By MIKE SHEARER Arts & Reviews Editor
"And I can't recall the instances/That keep it in my thoughts." The Association's newest album is packed with instances that keep it in my thoughts.
First there is the opening "Look At Me, Look At You," a nostalgic look back into ourselves when "there was so much I didn't know," and the perceptive look at today when "I wonder as I look around."
"Love Affair" and "Are You Ready" stand out as two other side one hits.
But side two of this new album is what really keeps The Association in my thoughts. "Dubuque Blues" is a look back at the old hometown (Dubuque could be anywhere) through a megaphone, the best looking glass for really seeing the old hometown. Then comes "Under Branches," which is followed by a memorable and exciting song called "I am Up For Europe" which glorifies change, penetration and the gentle revolution.
You don't have to be vegetarian to fall in love with "Broccoli." "Broccoli—I really dig it steamed/Broccoli—just plain, with cheese or creamed..." And near the end, one of the singers says, "I don't know anything about Broccoli, but I do know what I like."
You don't have to know a thing about Broccoli to dig the new Association album.
- * *
"Last Summer" is the soundtrack from a new movie, a soundtrack composed of an assortment of musicians, from Aunt Mary's Transcendental Slip & Lurch Band to John Simon and from The Electric Meatball to Bad Kharma Dan & The Bicycle Brothers.
Variety is what this album can best boast of. A six-minute sitar piece by Colin Walcott on side two is especially good. John Simon (who scored You Are What You Eat and has worked with Big Brother & The Holding Company, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Mama Cass Elliot) has outdone himself with this score.
With the exception of "Midnight Cowboy" and "Easy Rider," I haven't heard a better score this year.
"Birthday Blues" by Bert Jansch is a pleasant surprise by Reprise. Jansch is no Jack Jones, and that's what makes him good listening. The record is a string of warm folk songs.
"Come Sing Me A Happy Song To Prove We Can All Get Along The Lumpy, Bumpy, Long and Dusty Road" is what Jansch sings and what he does. His pleasant voice is full of warmth and comfort, full of promise.
BOOKS: The rebel lives
By J. PAUL SHISLER Kansan Reviewer
LONG TIME COMING AND A LONG TIME GONE by Richard Farina (Random House $4.95).
The charismatic rebellious tig-
For those who thought Richard Farina's death in 1966 closed the book on his paragoric nightmare world, it may be a surprise to see his previously unprinted stories and poems recently collected by wife Mimi and sister-in-law, Joan Baez in, "Long Time Coming And A Long Time Gone."
BOOKS
WAKEFIELD'S COURSE, by Mazo de la Roche (Crest, 95 cents))-Another in that enjoyable group of books dealing with the Whitecoaks family of Jalna. A recitation of the plot is almost too much like soap opera, and the Jalna books are much better than that. But--this one deals with the ambition of Wakefield Whitecoaks to become an actor, and his love affair with a gal named Molly. Enough of that.
THE BIG BOUNCE, by Elmore Leonard (Gold Medal, 60 cents);
THE INTERLOPERS, by Donald Hamilton (Gold Medal, 75 cents);
THE RAVAGERS, by Donald Hamilton (Gold Medal, 60 cents);
SHOWDOWN IN SONORA, by Gordon D. Shirreffs (Gold Medal, 50 cents)—Some new light reading for the summer months. "The Big Bounce" you may have read, is a new movie about a trashy little broad and the tough guy she teams up with. "The Interlopers" and "The Ravagers" are Matt Helm adventures. Helm being America's answer to James Bond, except that there are even more dames around, helping Matt take care of the enemy. "Showdown in Sonora" is, naturally, a western, about a bounty hunter and a killer in Apache land.
KANSAN 5
ure of Gnossos Pappadoupolis from "Been Down So Long . . . " is revitalized with all-new names in Farina's tales of Irish and Cuban revolutionaries and other sundry "buck-authority" characters. Fighting his way through "jet-setters" of Manhattan Island and Birchers of Monterey, Farina also gives a first hand view of the American way and how to combat it with the least amount of bloodshed.
His poetry contains everything from "thistled kisses" to observations on the plastic man and kill-for-peace syndromes. He displays an often overly-developed supply of idealistic sensitivity, yet one can find it quite simple to be won over by such a lust for living.
If one can discard apathy long enough to overcome the idea of viewing the mind of an idealistic romantic, full of the violence of rebelliousness and the "homeliness" of Dylan Thomas-like pastorals, this collection is well worth the reading.
D. H. LAWRENCE, by Mark Schorer (Dell Laurel, 95 cents)—A biography pointed mainly to young readers but certainly of value to others, who are more likely to be reading Lawrence. One of the most able of modern British critics, D. H. Lawrence also was poet, essayist, short story writer, and the novelist who wrote such notable books as "Sons and Lovers," "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "The Rainbow."
BOOKS
THE ALMOST REVOLUTION, FRANCE—1968, by Allan Priaux and Sanford J. Ungar (Dell, 75 cents); OVERLIVE: POWER, POVERTY, AND THE UNIVERSITY, by William M. Birenbaum (Delta, $1.95); SOUL ON ICE, by Eldridge Cleaver (Delta, $1.95)—Three contemporary works that say much about the student-black-social revolution in the world today. "The Almost Revolution" is one of a number of volumes that treat the violent upheaval that struct Paris only a year ago. This book is a detailed description, including interviews with major participants, of what happened when student power almost sank the De Gaulle regime. "Overlive" is a look at the modern university by an educator who was dismissed from his position a year ago in a controversy that stirred a nine-day strike by supporting students. Many students know "Soul on Ice," which is the highly personal document by the Black Panther minister of information whose whereabouts are not at the moment known. The book documents the black revolution in America and has been a top seller since publication.
*****
THE ABSORBENT MIND by Maria Montessori (Delta, $2.25)
—An analysis by a pioneering educator of the physical and psychological aspects of a child's growth in early years. This is a book of likely interest to many young people in education and psychology.
***
RALPH WALDO EMERSON: A PROFILE, edited by Carl Bode; WILLIAM JENNINGS BRANY; A PROFILE, edited by Paul W. Glad (American Century, $1.75 each)—Two new volumes in the American Profiles series, a group of volumes that present portraits of famous persons through essays written about them by a variety of authorities. Among those treating Emerson are his biographer, Ralph L. Rusk, his contemporary, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the literary historian Van Wyck Brooks. Bryan is considered by Thomas A. Bailey, Richard Hofstadter, Merle Curti, Ray Ginger, Henry Steele Commager, and even John T. Scopes. These volumes, like their predecessors, should be of great value to both teacher and student.
A CELEBRATION WITH JAZZ
at
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH with THE GASLIGHT GANG
This Sunday, November 2 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.
Sermon
"What is life?"
Ron Sunbye, Preaching
Die Fledermaus opens tomorrow
By GENELLE RICHARDS Kansan Staff Writer
"Die Fledermaus" breaks into KU theatre Friday as the first production this year on the main stage in University Theatre.
Tom Rea, assistant professor of speech and drama, directs the acting and stage aspects of "Die Fleddermaus" by Johann Strauss, opening Friday. The operetta runs Nov. 1, 2, 6 and 7.
"It is a very enjoyable piece; the music is very melodic and the story is light, bright and fun," Rea said.
A very popular operetta, "Die Fledermaus" opposes the bulk of opera by being brighter and having more spoken dialogue. It is light instead of heavy as in opera, said Rea.
"At this point I feel like for the past five weeks we have worked together. I have a strong cast of singers." Rea said.
OLD STUFF
DETROIT (UPI) — Warnings that cigarette smoking may be harmful to your health aren't anything new.
According to "5000 Facts and Fancies" published by Gale Research Co. of Detroit, King James I of England penned this blast against smoking back in the early 1600s:
"It is a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black . . fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygeian smoke of the pit that is bottomless."
The entire production is very theatrical. It is not a piece of realistic theatre, Rea said.
When "Die Fledermaus" was first presented in 1874, it made a strong statement about its society at that time. It condemned superficiality and leading a gay, high life.
Chez Haehl, associate professor of speech and drama, designed the costumes. Women wear gowns, men tails. Haehl has designed the costumes with all the authenticity of the middle 19th Century, Rea said.
James W. Hawes, associate professor of speech and drama, designed the "exquisite" sets. Hawes constructed a complete set for each of the three acts—the interior of a summer villa, a ballroom in the place of the prince and the jail.
An unusual aspect of the operetta comes from the part of Prince Orlasky who is portrayed by Audrey Cohen, Overland Park sophomore. The role is traditionally played by a woman in all performances of the operetta, because it was written for a soprano.
"We make no attempt to fool the audience. It is simply done this way," Rae said.
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