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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1971)
..-.-If.-. zi r r. Take two explosively talented groups, give them a near sell-out crowd, mix liberally and you will have the concoction which shook Pershing Municipal Auditorium Thursday night when Black Oak Arkansas and Grand Funk Railroad hit town. Opening the show was the six-member Black Oak Arkansas who dealt out down-home nitty-gritty rock and roll with a country revival flavor. LEAD SINGER Jim Mangrum stole the show with his gyrations and sexual gestures while moving around the stage. The sad part is that Black Oak is a good enough group not to need all of these obviously planned and choreographed movements by Mangrum. Black Oak worked the audience into a frenzy with songs like "The Hills of Arkansas," "Hot and Nasty" and "Lord Have Mercy on My Soul". At the end of their set the audience demanded an encore which, unfortunately, they didn't get. WHEN GRAND FUNK hit the stage the audience was primed i for them. Running the gamut from new songs to o)d hits, the . group put on an exciting show. Guitarist and lead singer Mark Farner succeeded in drawing any audience reaction he wished. Drummer Don Brewer was no slouch either-especially on his extended solo, a large amount of which was played by banging his head against the drum head. Bombarding the audience with sound and movement for an hour and a half, Grand Funk worked them to an even higher pitch than Black Oak, which was quite an accomplishment. ANOTHER PLUS of the evening was the recorded music before and after the concert and during the break between sets. The Grand Funk-Black Oak concert was the best over-all rock concert that Pershing has had for a while. Let's hope for more. The Bob Hope Show, sponsored by the Corn Cobs, will be Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Coliseum. Tickets are now on sale in the Nebraska Union. The Green Hornet returns to the airwaves! Britt Reid, daring young publisher, and his faithful valet Kato will once again ride toward thrilling adventures when KRNU Radio (90.3 FM) presents 13 programs of the Green Hornet beginning Tuesday, Nov. 9 at 10 p.m. He has no fat cat money behind hm He refuses to compromise. He speaks out on Issues bng before they become popular. He cant be bought How can a guy like that become President? Carol Kinr.berlin Kevin Puderbaugh Steve Tiwald Keith Scarborough Andrew Cunningham Wayne Blankenbiller Bill Fuller Hugh Luke Mary Kris Jensen Bill Lock Edgar Pearlstein John Humlicek Patti Humlicek Tyler Flasnick paid for by UNL Students Charles Stephen J. David Howlett Suzy Prenger Lis Lewis Jerry Slominski Susan Carlson John Simon Garry Garrison Rich Moriak Gail Darling Kelly Killion Pud Friskopp Dennis Mullia NAME ADDRESS- PHONE Mail to: for McGovern Mary Kris Jensen Students for McGovern 333 N. 14 St. Lincoln, Nebraska 68508 Mark Farner . . . vocalist for Grand Funk Railroad, night's concert at Pershing Auditorium. Grab your board . . Review by Bart Becker Alright, all you who've been casting your "hipper-than-thou" looks anytime the Beach Boys are mentioned-grab your board. The tide's been out a long time but everybody's favorite surfers are coming in on a new wave. (Forgive the puns, they're almost inescapable in a review like this.) It's OK to like the Beach Boys again. They've got long hair and beards so don't worry about the social stigma of digging what they do. Anybody with the guts to release an album titled "Surf's I'm willing to work for the election of Senator George McGovern. I I I haven't made up my mind; please send me more information about Senator McGovern. SVj Up" in 1971 deserves to be listened to.There are a few songs on the new album that would have been better left to flow under the bridge, but for the most part it's well-done. THE RECORD OPENS up with "Don't Go Near the Water", and I like it. It's a snappy little number (get that) with a lot of commercial potential-both for the arrangement and the lyrics which are pro-ecology. "Long Promised Road" starts out gently and rocks a little on the way through. The iyrics are fine and a top-notch horn arrangement bolsters the tune. Incidentally, a ten-man horn section is now appearing with the Beach Boys for their live performances. The third tune on the album, "Take a Load Off Your Feet", deflates a lot of the expectations the first two build up. It's embarrassingly over-produced and the "cute" lyrics are disappointing. AH, BUT surprise of surprises, they win me right back with "Disney Girls (1957)". It's nostalgia with none of the crap that usually accompanies the emotion. "Lovc.Hi Rick and DaveHi Pop...Well good morning MomLove.. .get up and guess What I'm in love with a girl I found She's really swellBecause she likesChurch, bingo chances and old time dances"Wheww! I'm not sure when they're putting on. It's a great song in any event. Side One is wrapped up with "Student Demostration Time", which is the Coaster's old hit "Riot in Cell Block No. 9" with a new set of lyrics by Mike Love. It's not worth anything but I'll bet it knocks 'em dead when it's done live. SIDE TWO opens with "Fell Flow" and wow! It sounds like the Beach Boys. The next two songs, "Looking at Tomorrow" and "A Day in the Life of a Tree", Now Playing the "GROUND FLOOR 2 Dance Floors belts out a song in Thursday . Surf's Up are more listenable after the first time through the album because you know what's coming up. The former is simply trite and the latter is another of the ecology songs. It's great that the Beach Boys are for clean earth but they fill the song with all sorts of hype. " TIL I DIE" is an average tune, but, again, the group turns it into something really enjoyable. The album closes it's doors with "Surf's Up". Maybe I should say it opens them, because the song is entirely too much. It's the legendary tune written in 1967 by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks and purportedly performed only once. Looking at the song objectively, the production is too cluttered, the lyrics are too poetic for rock, the arrangement, itself, is too involved, the vocal ranges required are too diverse for anyone. And it's a gas. The Beach Boys are the only rock people who could have done it. "Surfs Up", the song, is right up there with "Good Vibrations" and, remembering that 1967 wasthe year of "Sgt. Pepper", it can probably stand up as one of the finer tunes written that year. TO REMIND YOU just how unique the Beach Boys are-whsther you like them or not-nobivjy else tries to record their songs. They make hits, but nobody dares to try and do them better than the Beach Boys themselves. "Surfs upAboard a tidal waveCome about hard and joinThe young and often spring you gave 1 heard the worldWonderful thingA children's songThe child is the father of the man." You can trust the Beach Boys to give you more good songs than average songs. "Surfs up" extends the tradition. PAGE 8 . , . THE ,D Al LY JNJ E B R ASKAN MONpAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1971