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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1995)
Hall Continued from Page 9 Francisco scene, mixing folk rock, blues and psychedelia on such hits as “Somebody to Love” and “White Rab bit.” Gladys Knight and the Pips had hits in 1967 with “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and in 1973 with “Midnight Train to Georgia.” Little Willie John, a soul and blues performer from the 1950s, co-wrote the song “Fever,” which became a hit for Peggy Lee. The Shirelles, a girl group founded in 1957, sang “I Met Him (Jn a Sunday in 1959 and Sol dier Boy” in 1962. The Velvet Underground’s hits in clude “Waiting for My Man” in 1967 and “Rock and Roll” in 1970. Seeger, 76, wrote or co-wrote such folk standards as “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “If I Had A Hammer.” His social activism has been as much an influ ence as his music. Donahue was an executive at KMPX and KSAN in San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s. He led a rebellion against Top 40 radio that continues today in the battle for dominance be tween rigidly formatted radio stations and college and alternative stations. American Heart h Associations,^^ Fighting Heart Disease and Stroke . Plug Into the ■ World with FREE ' Bigred Classes Now that you have your computer account on BIGRED, you can discover how to tap into the resources available to you on the internet. These classes are free and no reservations are required. Seats are available on a first come, first served basis. Call 472-9050 if you have any questions. Intro to E-Mail Tuesday, October 31 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. Bancroft Hall, 239 Wednesday, November 1 10:30 - 12:00 noon Bancroft Hall, 239 UNL Community: It’s time to help one of our own Chanel Jenkins-Todd, 11, has a rare form of cancer. Her parents, Tom and Lynda Todd, are UNL employees, and need help paying for a $250,000 bone marrow transplant. You can help! Send a check today to the Chanel Jenkins-Todd Foundation at any Cornhusker Bank branch. Sponsored by UAAD. k HEY PUMPKIN HEAD, ! COME SEE US FOR YOUR ^ HALLOWEEN THREADS! ! Second I Wind (fl ? Vintage Clothing and Costumes \ Now located in the St. George Antique Mall. ) 1023 "O" Street Downtown • 477-4400 r Music Revie - Barry Black “Barry Black" Alias Records Grade: A At a time when everyone in indie rock is, as Mary Lou Lord put it, “stuck on his four-track,” stripping the sound to its bare bones acousti cally, Eric Bachman from the Ar chers of Loaf is toying with his own solo project. Unlike the other frontmen, how ever, Bachman isn’t stealing “Icky Mettle” and turning it into a folk album, throwing off acoustic ver sions of “Floating Friends” or “Fat.” In contrast, he’s broadening his approach, utilizing a gamut of in fluences, and allowing himself to be taken over by a whole new per sona, that of Barry Black. It is, of course, an invented name, which is representative of a number of Bachman’s friends and himself under the production of Caleb Southern. The resulting effort is a definite delight, a perfect addition to the canons of independent rock, an instrumental album oozing with creativity. Though Bachman isn’t talking much, intuition seems to suggest that this album is a bit conceptual, sort of a tribute to men like Herb Alpert and Miles Davis, whose records are not full of toe-tapping sing-a-longs, but rather intense background music. Songs like “Vampire Lounge” and “Staticus von Carrborrus” are not the angry anthems of the Ar chers, but their lead singer’s at tempt at his own “Kind of Blue.” i ne cover an even runners me allu sion, arranged as simply and unglamorously as those of old. But it goes so much further than jazz. The psyche of Barry Black is indeed schizophrenic, soaked with surf riffs, dark moods, southern charisma, playful melodies, haunt ing beats, and instances of Eastern European influence previously no ticeable in “Underachievers March and Fight Song” on “Vee Vee.” In fact, that type of flavor actually permeates throughout the album, completely exposing itself in the nostalgic “Animals are for Eating.” The great diversity is the result of the high level of talent involved, the majority stemming from Bachman himself. Besides writing and arranging all 14 tracks, he also plays banjo, a water pot, the train whistle, guitar, drums, organ, clari net, baritone and alto sax, piano, bass and the flute. With the help of his chums come the additions of the violin, cello, upright bass, trom bone and the trumpet. It is from this pool of sounds that Barry Black emerges. And though his path is not as traditional as his contemporaries, Eric Bachman has created quite an impressive, slick alter ego, who does more than re gurgitate singles, but instead in vents new genres. And, therefore, how can you not agree that Barry Black is all that and a bag of chips? — Matt Kudlacz “Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen" Various Artists A&M Records Grade: A When one thinks of the greatest songwriters ever, several people come tomind: Dylan, Lennon, Reed ... and then there’s the underground genius of Leonard Cohen. Many people know very little of Leonard Cohen, but if you mention a song that’s his, many people may know a cover version of it. “Everybody Knows,” which many people think is a Concrete Blonde song, is a prime example. If you’ve ever seen “Pump Up The Volume,” Slater’s theme song is the Leonard Cohen version. So what happens when you tell the best of today’s artists that you are making a tribute to Leonard Cohen? Everyone wants to play on it, and that’s no overestimate, be cause if you haven’t heard of these artists, then you don’t listen to mu sic. Here ’ s the rundown of who plays on it: Don Henley (fromthe Eagles, when they were still a band), Elton John, Billy Joel, Bono, Tori Amos, Sting & The Chieftains, Trisha Yearwood, Martin Gore (of Depeche Mode), Peter Gabriel, Aaron Neville, Suzanne Vega, Willie Nelson and Jann Arden. The last Cohen tribute included artists like R.E.M., the Pixies, John Cale, James and others. That was a while ago, however, and it focused too much on the bands showing themselves off instead of Cohen’s work, which kept the disc from be ing greai instead or jusi an ngni. Cohen’s masterstrokes lie in his lyrics. Tori Amos’ cover of “Fa mous Blue Raincoat” is told as a letter, including the signature. “Sin cerely, L. Cohen” reads the last line ofthe song. Amos’ piano work over lays the words gorgeously, simply her and her instrument. It’s a lovely performance. On the other side of the coin, Bono’s performance of Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is all about the words with next to no background music. His voice soars through it, the beats in the background somewhere be tween U2 tracks “Numb” and “Lemon.” Again, a marvelous per formance. During “Suzanne,” which is very clearly Peter Gabriel, the focus is still on the words. Amid all the powerful sounds, the shakers, the drums, the bass and the xylophone, you still hear the words, and Gabriel’s voice clearly is perfect in the feel. Ironically, the album has 13 tracks, since fans of Cohen have been waiting for the better part of a year for this tribute, and it was well worth the wait. No matter what your style of music, there’s something here for you... and somethingto think about, if you pay attention to the words, as well you should. — Cliff A. Hicks “Ring Them Bells” Joan Baez (with a lot of guests) Guardian Grade: A Joan Baez. There’s a name that hasn’t been heard in a long time. She makes a triumphant return to the folk music scene with “Ring Them Bells,” and she’s brought some friends this time. “RingThem Bells” isa live show, recorded in one take. That being said, it leaves one with this ques tion: “How did she do all this mar velous stuff at one show and how come she never slips?” Well, al most never. Only two songs on the album are actually Baez songs, “Sweet Sir Gallahad” and “Diamonds & Rust There are also two additional tracks she arranged, “The Lily ofthe West” and “Willie Moore.” Other songs include two Dylan songs, “Ring Them Bells” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” as well as.a song by Amy Ray (of the Indigo Girls), “Welcome Me,” Leonard Cohen’s classic “Suzanne,” Janis Ian’s “Jesse,” Dar Williams’ “You’re Aging Well,” Eric Bogle’s masterpiece of a war song, “And The Band Played Waltz ing Matilda” as well as a few oth ers. Her friends help out a lot on this record. They include the following: the Indigo Girls, Mary Chapin Car penter, Mary Black, Mimi Farina, the McGarrigles, Tish Hinojosa, Dar Williams and Janis Ian. Although she makes a few mis takes with the words on “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda,” the song still comes across well. It doesn’t have quite the desperation of Bogle’s original, or the drowned drunken sorrows of the Pogues’ cover, but it has its own nice touch, an original take on the old ballad. Highlights ofthe concert include “Swallow Song,” the Richard Fa rina song which Baez performs with Mimi Farina, “Ring Them Bells” on which Baez and Black simply sing a duet while Pat Crowley plays piano, Baez’s cover of “Welcome Me” and the almost acoustical jam feel when the Indigo Girls play and sing “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” with Baez. The most stunning moment in the concert, and perhaps the reason to buy the CD is “Diamonds & Rust.” Baez’s most compelling song, the duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter couldn’t have gone bet ter. It’s enthralling, hypnotic and absol utely entrancing. The song also ends di fferently in the concert. Not to spoil it, the origi nal way the song ends is: “And if you’re offering me diamonds and rust/I’ve already paid ...” You can hear the new ending yourself. “Ring Them Bells” is a marvel ous return for one of the original folk masters. Baez and Dylan both seem to have gotten a resurgence of popularity as of late, and this con cert proves why every record sold is merited. — Cliff A. Hicks Powder Continued from Page 9 captivates with his performance as Powder. His work here is nothing short of breathtaking. Partially because of Flanery’s bril liance in this role, the other actors don’t seem quite as prominent, but each shows a great deal of talent. Mary Steenburgen (“What’s Eat ing Gilbert Grape,” “Philadelphia”) portrays Jessi Caldwell, the head of a school for troubled youths. Her per formance, while not at the same level as Flanery’s, is still quite compelling. Also making a good showing is Lance Henriksen (“Aliens”) as Sheriff Bamum who is a cold yet somehow compassionate man to the problems that Powder is facing. As always, Jeff Goldblum (“Juras sic Park”) plays the slightly off-bal ance scientific guy, but there’s a good screen magic between Goldblum and Flanery that projects well to the audi ence. With eye-catching special effects, a well-written script and fantastic act ing, “Powder” is worth seeing, if for nothing else than to see Flanery cap ture your heart, but it’s probably a good idea to leave the theater when Goldblum, Steenburgen and Flanery are standing on the porch. Whatever ending you can come up with is probably going to be better than this one.
