friday, december 12, 1975
daily nebraskan
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page 16
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Hot Licks: suggestions for varied musical tastes
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Photo courtesy MCA Records
Elton John's latest album, Rock of the Westies, continues his long line
of successes.
By Deb Gray
In the spirit of Christmas giving, and the
realization that most people have different
musical tastes than, mine, this suggestion
list is aimed at rock and jazz tastes.
John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas
MCAS6.98
Christmas is sentiment. So naturally any
Christmas album does not have real impact
on the art. The success of Christmas collec
tions relies on an ability to recapture a lost
innocence.
That John Denver would even attempt
to record such an album astounds me. He
doesn't have enough schmultz in his soul to
carry off old standards like 'The Christmas
Song". And others - like a bluegrass ver
sion of "Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer"
and "Oh Holy Night" - well, they have to
be heard to be believed. The question is
whether a joke is worth the $6.98 retail
price of this album.
Sly StoneHigh on YouEplc$6.9S
When the history of rock is written, Sly
Stone probably will be. one of its pivotal
figures. His impact on music may not be
completely understood for some time.
This album marks an important come
back for Sly. In his efforts that followed
Fresh, we were shown a confused mind
which the press partially blamed upon his
cocaine habit. High on You returns to the
incisive, chugging music of Sly's earlier
days. All cuts are good, appealing first to
the body, then the mind. After the sterility
of discotecque music, this is a definite
statement, proving dance music can be
great music.
Elton JohnRock of the WestiesRockti
There are two terrific rockers on this
album - "Yell Help" and "Street Kid." All
other cuts are entertaining diversions, with
Elton's music outclassing Bernie Taupin s
usually-uninspired lyrics.
But Elton John has released highly pro
fessional albums for a long time now. The
time has come for John to produce the
truly great album which he is capable of
one that makes a statement, that does
more than simply entertain, if he doesn't,
John will be to the rock era what Glen
Miller was to the jazz age - an enormous
commercial success, but in final analysis,
a person who contributed little to the
development of his art.
Keith ImtttlThe Kohn Concert jlEM
Records$6.98
Keith Jarrett's third release of the year
establishes him, in my estimation, as the
finest, most musical pianist now recording.
This record requires closer attention, work
ing best when the listener is in a mellow
mood. But time spent learning to appreci
age the nuances of Jarrett's style is well
worth the effort.
Jan-Luc PontylUpon the Wings of Music
Atlantic$6.98
This album is a real find. With his music,
Ponty brings the violin out of the orches
tral age. He proves the violin is also an
electrifying jazz instrument.
The AUman Brothers BandWin, Lose or
ZawCapricorn$6.98
Another fine album of driving rock. The
bank's strongest area is its cooking, rhythm
section, which keeps the pace fueled-up
when the extended solos' bog down.
TLHIE BEST
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By Deb Gray
. 1. By NumbersThe Who
2. Born to RunBruce Springsteen
3. orasPatti Smith
4. high on YouSly Stone
5. The Basement TapesBob Dylan and
the Band
6. John Fogerty I 'John Fogerty
7. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt
Cowboy Elton John
8 . One of These Nigh r.vEagles
9. Heart Like a WheelUnfa Ronstadt
10. Blow by blowj 'Jeff BeA
Comment:
Perhaps my optimism is premature, but
during the last half of this year, I sensed
that some of rock's old excitement had re
turned. True, vapidity still abounded-the
whole school spawned by the discotheque
craze stands out as the most musically
stupifying-although one of the most com
mercially successful-rock genres in recent
memory.
But hope lies in a year that discovered
Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Phoebe
Snow, Leon Redbone and Emmylou
Harris. What's more, the stalwarts contin
ued to create.
The Rolling St ones's Tour of the A meri
ca was the year's first important musical
event. Then The Who re-emerged, trium
phantly, with By Numbers. Bob Dylan
assembled a crew ranging from poet Allen
Ginsberg to Joan Baez for his Rolling
Thunder tour. And Elton John kept up his
souped-up pace.
Despite all this activity, my assignment
to compile a "10 best records of the year"
list was not easy. The word "best" hangs
me up-I associate it with greatness, with"
an album that grips you, knocks you out.
Comparatively few albums in my collection
do that. So this list is what I call "the Most
Important Records of 1975"-albums that
are musically very good and vital in under
standing a particular artist's development.
bernstein on v;sfds
up & sffiii(fiiu
Dictionary favors ketchup;
manufacturers like catsup
By Theodore M. Bernstein
Ketchup with this word. There ire three
versions of the word for that thick, spicy,
tomato sauce: ketchup, catchup and catsup.
But oddly enough, though dictionaries
often bow to common usage, they are just
about unanimous in listing ketchup as the
proper word despite the fact many people
and most manufacturers of the stuff seem
to go for catsup.
The word derives from the Malayan
Kechap, meaning a fish sauce, and that in
turn came from the Chinese ketsiap.
Those facts answer the question of
origin raised by Robert W. Motz of Levit
town, Pa., but they don't answer the ques
tion of why so many people like catsup
better than the two other words.
A guess is that ketchup and catchup
sounded to some as if they were slightly
ruhzx pronunciations of the prissier, more
refined-soundins catsup, which therefore
was judged to be the right word.
It's an error. The heading of an ad in a
newspaper read like this: "CBS has it's eye
on Perry tonight." It's (with an apostrophe)
is a contraction of it is or it has and
nothing else. The possessive pronoun,
which is what was wanted in the ad, is its.
This was not always true.
Beginning in the early 17th century the
possessive pronoun was written it's, but
since the early 19th century it has been
written without the apostrophe. Maybe the
writer of that ad is older than we think.
Word oddities. We all know what skin
ny normally means: extreme thinness. But
in the world of women's fashions it is used
in a slightly different way to mean lacking
in any bulk, close-fitting or clinging. Thus,
though most of us would speak of a skinny
boy with skinny hands, the fashion folk
don't hesitate to speak of a skinny silk
dress.-
UIWS Tfcaod'ow . Bwnitnln , '
Even though UNL niay close down for
semester break, arts and entertainment on
CwTipus will continue for these who visit or
stay in Lincoln. To whet your cultural ap
petite, here is a list of events occurring
through finals week and over break.
Film
Tempest (Dec. 12 and 13, Sheldon Film
Theater, 3, 7 and 9 pjn.) The story of an
enlisted sergeant of dragoons in the Imper
ial Army of Czar Nicholas the Second.
Starring John Barrymore.
I.F. Stone 's Weekly, USA and San Fran
cisco Good Times (Dec. 16, 17 and 18,
Sheldon Film Theater, 7 psn.)LF. Stone'i
Weekly is about America's best journalist.
His thesis in political reporting is that
every government is run by liars, and
nothing they say should be believed, but a
government reveals a good deal if you take
the trouble to study what it says.
San Francisco Good Times was the
city's underground newspaper. It mixes the
politics of Stone'i Weekly with the
interests and energy of the hippies.
Art
Dec. 12-Jan. 13-Floyd Hoover-photographic
portraits-Nebraska Union Main
Lounge.
Jan. 6-Feb. 1-Bob Starck-photographs-Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery.
Jan. 6-Feb. 1-Val Christensen-prints-
Sheldon.
Jan. 6-Feb. 1 Old Market Craftsmen
Guild of Omsha-ShHdoo.
Music
Dec. 12-University laboratory bands
8 pm.-Kiniball Recital Hall.
Dec. 14-University Singers-4 pjn
Kimball Recital Hall.
The University singers will present a tra
ditional Christmas concert directed by Earl
Jenkins.
Susan Fritz, a senior piano major from
Lincoln, will accompany the singers.
Soloists will be: sopranos, Suzan Covo
lik and Marl Anne Wilson; tenor, Richard
Drews; baritones, Vaughn Fritts and
William Wolfe. Instrumentalists will be
Robert Emile and Carls Koehler, violas;
Brenda Manuel and Stuart Furman, violins;
Jennifer Epler, violoncello; John Richards,
bass; George Ritchie, organ and Susan
Fritz, harpsichord.
The concert is free and open to the
public.
Drama
The Crucible (Dec. 12 and 13, Howell
Theatre, 8 pjn.V chaos of superstition
and hysteria-con vrived by some, enjoyed
by some, endured by some-is fuelled by
the climate of repression which shadows ail
of life in the Salem of 1690.
That Championship Season (Dec. 12,13
and 14, Howell Theater, 8 pjm.).