PAGE FOUR
• Bloody Good Album
I was in the bathtub when the call came. "Dylan's new album
is out! Better go get it!" Right. I dried off and headed for the
store.
And, sure enough, Dylan's new album is out: a colection of
ten songs unlike any he has ever done, yet reminiscent of them
all. Blood on the Tracks has a little Highway 61 imagery, some
folkie-type tunes, a couple of blues numbers and a pervading
theme of bitter-sweet love.
"Tangled Up in Blue", which kicks off the record, tells the
story of an on-again off-again love affair against a backdrop of
the late Sixties. Though basically a happy, upbeat song, the
lyrics are laced with regret and recollection. It is one of the
album's strongest cuts.
The mood of looking back continues with "Simple Twist of
Fate" as Dylan muses what could have been. "You're a Big Girl
Now" - no relation to the old John Sebastian song - is the worst
4 minutes and 36 seconds on the album. Dylan's voice just
doesn't come across in leisurely love songs of this genre.
Fortunately the artist gets back on track with "Idiot Wind",
possibly the bitterest song Dylan has yet written, surpassing
even "Positively 4th Street". The song attacks anyone who
expects the poet to live his life according to their expectations.
At the end of the 7 minute and 45 second epic, Dylan mellows
and concedes that the Idiot Wind blows through us all.
"You're Gonne Make Me Lonesome When You Go" is ode to
the end of a relationship. It is a lively tune with some nice
harmonica and reflects the view of a mature person.
"Meet Me in the Morning" is a blues tune that could have
been lifted from "Bringing It All Back Home". "Lily, Rosemary
and the Jack of Hearts" comes next and is kind of a 9 minute
John Wesley Harding meets Desolation Row. Though it suffers -
as the whole album does - from some unimaginative organ
backup, the number comes across well.
"If You See Her, Say Hello" and "Shelter From the Storm"
are two pleasant love songs - not great but pleasant enough. A
Dave Bromberg style blues number, "Buckets of Rain" ends
the album.
While this album lacks the electricity and jump of vintage
Dylan, it is quite good. The songs, though dealing with some
regrets and might-have-beens, avoid maudlin sentiments. The
back-up is simple; at times you wish there was more of it. But
still it is definitely a fine Bob • Dylan album with all that entails.
Doug Gibboney
Parishioners Demand
"Purification Rites"
After Concert
[Earth News]-- Parishioners
of the Rheims Cathedral in
France are demanding that
the church be given a "pur
ification ceremony" following
a concert there by German
avant-garde band Tangerine
Dream. The church-goers
were upset by the smooch
ing, littering, dope-smoking,
and urinating that took place
during the concert in the
renowned 13th century Goth
ic cathedral.
Responding to complaints,
the Rev. Bernard Goureau,
cultural attache for the arch
diocese, explained, "It is true
that certain youths smoked
pot to communicate more
with the sound and the show.
It is also true that some
others, because of the cold
that prevailed in the cathedral
went to urinate against its
pillars. It is true that some
couples were seen folded in
each other's arms and kiss
ing. But it is also true that
some 5,000 youths--staying
three hours in the dark
stretched out on the cold
Doug Glaboney-resident Dylan freak
floor--could have caused
more serious damage and
behaved in a more disgrace
ful way."•
**
e,
l y e 1
Rock Music
To Warn Whales
[Earth News]-Live rock music
and even a moog synthesizer
will be used this spring by
whale conservation groups to
drive endangered whales
away from Soviet and Japan
ese fishing fleets. "Project
Jonah" and Canada's Green
peace Foundation are co
sponsoring the campaign, to
be called "Stop Ahab." As
many as five boats and ships
will sail out in front of whaling
fleets this spring, playing
rock music--much of it live--
to warn whales away before
they can be killed. A spokes
person for "Project Jonah"
notes, "Just like humans,
whales prefer live to recorded
music."
C.O "'-nDER
What s A Sp
What's a Splinter? A piece of wood or metal, or a disembodied
piece of anything? Well, in this case, you'd be almost right, but
not quite. The Splinter under consideration here is a rock group
being promoted by George Harrison, founder of Dark Horse
Records and producer of said rock group, Splinter.
In their first (as far as I know) rock effort, entitled The Place I
Love,Splinter tries to sell themselves as a bona-fide talent,
while their producer, methinks, tries to sell himself as being Just
as multi-talented now as in those halycon days of Beatle-yore.
Mr. Harrison does not just produce the album, he makes the
album. In the course of the LP's nine cuts, Harrison displays his
adeptness at playing such varied instruments as mandolin,
percussion, moog synthesizer, and all manners of guitar
besides his customary slide. Besides his own multi-faceted
abilities, Harrison has also enlisted those of other notable studio
musicians such as Klaus Voorman, Willie Weeks, and Billy
Preston.
But, to get back to the original question, just what is Splinter?
Well, to be quite specific, Splinter is (ostensibly, at least) the
conglomerated talents of Bill Elliot and Bob Purvis, who,
besides singing, also penned all the album's songs. Lest these
two become submerged in the flood of talent used to produce
their album, let it now be said that they are quite capable
songwriter-singers in their own right.
The album's first side consists of four cuts, all performed at
least adequately well. The best of this side, however, are the
last two. The first of these is entitled "China Light", a love
ballad to some dreamy geisha queen. On the song, their
producer gave it the royal treatment very reminiscent of Ringo's
"Photograph" and Badfinger's "Day After Day". The second of
these is "Somebody's City", a story of depressin in today's
average urban scene. The nice thing about this one is it sounds
very good, without sounding like something Harrison has
produced before.
The most immediately noticeable thing about Elliot & Purvis
are their uncanny vocal resemblance to producer Harrison.
Actually, they sound more like a cross between Harrison and
Gilbert O'Sullivan. The effect, though, is pleasing on most of
their songs. However, I suspect that if they try to branch out in
their subject matter and style, the results may be much less
satisfying.
Anyway,to finish with the album: side two is much like the
first, but I like it better because it has consistently better music.
The best cut is "Elly-May", whose theme is the old
travelin'-man and girl-back-home anthem. The high point here
is a fine synthesizer break played by P. Roducer (tricky, eh?)
Another notable cut is "Situation Vacant", which sounds and
feels eerily like some old Beatle song, but it's hard to pinpoint
just which one it is. Finally, the last cut on the album-" Haven't
Got Time"-is Splinter's attempt at "boogying", and with
Harrison's help, they sound like watered down imitators of
someone who's trying desperately to sound like John Lennon.
C'est la vie.
My final note on this group is that they obviously have some
talent, but it's going to be hard to figure out how much until and
unless they break with their benefactor(who,l'd swear, also
sings on a few of the cuts himself). If they are good, they're
eventually going to want to be set free from the established
talents who made up the bulk of this album. If they aren't good,
n4 then they most certainly will never bother us again.
Jim Bollinger
Enrollment
Of Penn State's 56,926
students, 93.3 percent are
from Pennsylvania, 5.1 per
cent are from other states,
and 1.6 percent come from
other countries. Most of
these from abroad are grad
uate students. New York,
New Jersey and Maryland
lead the out-of-state cat
egory. Allegheny, Centre and
Philadelphia counties togeth
er provide 13,229 of the
in-state enrollees.
inter
"JOY OF SEX' FOR
CHILDREN
[Earth News]--What may turn
out to be the most controver
sial book of 1975 is a child
ren's book called "Show
Me." Its editor Paul De
Angelis of St. Martin's Press,
describes it as a sort of "Joy
of Sex" for children.
JANUARY 31, 1975
Women's
Free Press
Know, Inc. is a non
profit, tax-exempt corpora
tion founded in the fall of
1969 by Pittsburgh NOW
members who believed that
you can't have a revolution
without a press--and bought
one. The original intention
was to produce a newsletter,
but several others began a
bout that time and were
successfully filling the need.
In the meantime, the press
was being used to reprint
feminist articles for free dis
tribution at local NOW meet
ings. These articles were so
hungrily sought after we de
cided we could support our
press by reprinting and sell
ing such articles at only
slightly over the cost of the
materials. KNOW, I nc. ,
housed in a member's garage
and later in a basement,
began to fourish, supported
by volunteer labor, donated
supplies and money, good
faith and growing sales. We
quickly added many original
articles, several longer works
and books. Each step in our
development brought us
closer to the status of femin
ist publisher.
We now carry a wide range
of topics, including our Fe
male STudies Series-collec
tions of course designs (I, 11,
III) and essays related to the
Female Studies field (IV, V).
We have published one full
length paperback book
(American Women and A
merican Studies!, by Betty E.
Chmaj) with its sequel due
mid-spring, and one hard
back (I'm Running Away
From Home But I'm Not
Allowed To Cross The Street,
by Gabrielle Burton) released
with great pride on August
26, 1972.
While the publishing bus
iness grew, we had not given
up the idea of an information
network news service. We
wanted a way to disseminate
news to feminists, feminist
publications and groups,
without the rigid confines of a
regular publication. Our in
creased volume of mail
brought privileged informa
tion, announcements of job
openings, conferences and
feminist products and pro
jects, whch we felt should be
communicated to persons in
volved in the women's
movement. We began by
printing single item news
bulletins and enclosing them
in all outgoing mail. On
August 17, 1970, we an
nounced KNOW NEWS,a
bulletin issued approximately
10 times a year, going to
feminist publications, report
ers you can trust, and to sub
scribers who paid $4 per
year. Another change in
status for our bulletin was
announced in Jan. 1973.
KNOW NEWSis now free to
members of Know, Inc. the
yearly, tax-deductible mem
bership fee is $4 per year for
individuals, $8 for institutions
$6 for Canada and $8 for
overseas.
There are other facets of
KNOW: We publish a list of
"Reporters You Can Trust"
and a list of feminist period
icals and special publishing
projects. For two years we
have compiled a bibliography
titled "Books of Interest To
Feminists". All are period
continued on pg. 7,