May, 1969 LEON'S EYE § Page Three THE COMMUNITY: First row, left to right, Joe Renzetti, Joe Ferry. Second row Gary Cuirlino, Vince Evangelista, Lou DeMais, Joe Barbuto and Nick Fantazzi. Seven Guys Seek New Sound As “Community” Gathers Steam New musical groups are numer- ous around the country today. But one local group has particu- larly caught the Lion’s eye and ear. They call themselves “The ~ Community” and three of their members — Nick Fantazzi, Joe Renzetti and Joe Barbuto-— are - Delaware County Campus students while one member attends the Ogontz Campus. Recently Arts KEditor Yvonne Butler was granted an interview which resulted in a lively and informative rap. EYE: Let’s get the basics out of the way. : COM: There are seven in the group: Nick Fantazzi plays trum- pet, Joe Renzetti on drums, Joe ‘Barbuto on bass guitar, Lou DeMeis on organ, Joe Ferry on sax, Gary Cuirlino on rhythm guitar and Vince Evangelista plays lead. EYE: How did you meet? COM: We all attended Bishop Neumann and Southern High Schools. EYE: Why did you pick “The Community” as a name? COM: We were looking for a name that’ meant “everybody.” Everyone participating and con- tributing and not just one person. EYE: You sound a lot like the Rascals. Do you have any other influences? : COM: Blood, Sweat and Tears, Electric Flag, mostly and Mary Wells! We might play like them, but we don’t sing like them. We sing like “The Community.” ~~ EYE: Do you write your own music? COM: Not yet, but we're in the process. We've written a few things, but we play a lot of clubs and people don’t dig it. So we sing other groups’ songs like BS&T’s “I Can’t Quit Her.” But we're trying to develop our own sound. EYE: How are you developing ‘that sound? COM: Our most important fac- tor is excitement. EYE: How do you create that excitement? COM: Well, we stand on our heads. Seriously, we do our own arrangements. That’s the excite- ment production. If you come and see us and we do a fast number, you should really get into us. If you don’t it scares us. We're always excited about playing and this is really what makes us play our best. EYE: How would you describe your sound? COM: It’s our own thing and very hard to describe. It’s really a combination of BS&T, Sly and the Family Stone and the Electric Flag, plus a five or six part har- mony. It’s something new. EYE: So it’s a mixture of elec- tric, soul i... , COM: Right. Progressive rock, blues and jazz. EYE: What other songs do you use besides the one already men- tioned? " COM: We use a couple Three Dog Night numbers, a Bee Gee song, “To Love Somebody,” and there’s a totally different version of “Sunny.” We also added horns to Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” EYE: How did you manage that? COM: It was tricky, but our horns aren’t real brassy. Instead, we use them in the back. EYE: Similar to a band or the way Al Kooper used BS&T in the first album? COM: Right. EYE: Who does most of the arranging? COM: We all do. EYE: But is there one person who is known as the leader? COM: We try to get away from that. But there has to be one person, sometimes, so it varies. One person will take charge and everybody else will listen to him. The main thing is to listen. EYE: Do you improvise? COM: Well, it’s hard to impro- vise with seven guys. And with horns, you have to be very or- ganized, if not you can run into a mess. We have our arrange- ments and we know what we want to do, but many times we change on the spot. It’s not really improvising though, but you could call it that. : EYE: You said earlier that you played many clubs. So you con- sider yourself a club group? COM: Not really. Club groups are a dime a dozen. They buy top 40 records and learn ten songs a week. If we learned ten songs a week we would be dead. It took us seven hours to arrange the Bee Gee number. EYE: Would you rather be a concert group? COM: Definitely. We'd love to do a freedom concert. We want to show black people that we dig their kind of music. Now, white groups are starting to give atten- tion to black music. Basically, all drummers are styled to that type of music as far as beats go, and so, it’s really always been there. It’s just more of an open thing. We're interested in being accepted by everybody, and no matter how open everyone is, people just don’t accept you in clubs. A black person can’t really dance with a white person, or vice versa — unless he wants to start trouble. This is our main complaint against clubs. We want a wide range of audience. EYE: Have you played many concerts? COM: No. We've only together for two months. EYE: Are you planning any concerts in the near future? COM: We'll be playing May 10 at Valley Forge. And were sup- posed to give a concert with The Bubble Puppy at Ogontz. And we’ll be playing down the shore for the summer. : EYE: care for? COM: Bubble Gum groups. . But if a person has musical talents, he has earned our respect. What right does another musician have to put down one of his own kind? If that’s his thing, fine. EYE: Would you ever sing it? COM: Chewey, Chewey with horns? Uh-uh. been What groups don’t you EYE: Would you consider rock as art? (Continued on page 4) By Mike Weintraub “Iron — symbolic of something ‘heavy,’ as in music or sound.” Butterfly light, appealing and versatile . . . an object that can ‘be used freely in the imagina- tion.” (Liner notes—‘“In-A-Godda- Da-Vida.”) Since their appearance on the music scene not too long ago, there’s been a great deal of talk about the Iron Butterfly. Some of the talk has been favorable; some of it has been very critical. All of it has been interesting. The group consists of Erik Keith Brann (lead guitar, and voungest member of the group), l.ee Dorman (bass guitar), Ron Bushy (drums), and Doug Ingle (organist, arranger, and spokes- man for the group). I don’t think there’s any other group quite like the Iron Butter- fly. And, after hearing their last two albums (“In-A-Godda-Da- Vida,” the album that started it all and “Ball” their latest record), I've come to the conclusion that they have a distinct pattern and style which they practice through- out their songs. For example, “Godda” (the song, not the album) begins with scale performed by the organist; a unique bass rhythm is then added and finally the lead guitar and the drums follow. In all of their albums, this pattern is used for many of their songs. All the songs on both albums are written by the members of the group (mainly Doug Ingle). But the style and the way in which the songs are sung make understanding the words an al- most futile effort. It’s frustrating for a listener and bad for the group since many times, the group Butterfly Improves With Age; Nears Ultimate in Electronics has something of significance to say. The song “In the Days of Our Lives” (“Ball”) for instance, is an optimistic outlook on peo- ple’s feelings and perceptions and a sort of summation of the differ- ent kinds of sounds that are heard and feelings that are felt in a lifetime: ~ And to us they are real, And for us they are ideal. So, here’s to us 5 Without a doubt, they are real. Although they simply use amps and electric guitars, the Iron But- terfly have a uniquely effective way with their electronic devices. A manipulation of the lead guitar, near the middle of the song “In-A-Godda-Da-Vida,” will create a high pitched screeching sound similar to that of a piece of chalk on a blackboard. In a certain spot of the song “Soul Experience” (“Ball”) an xylophone-like instru- ment used in conjunction with the lead guitar will give a relaxed and floating free impression. This guitar is dubbed in twice and will give a sensation of flying at high speeds. The Butterfly seem to be -culti- vating a much better sound with time. One hears a more experi- enced, more confident, and more polished musical group on their most recent album, “Ball” and if the Butterfly continue to improve at this rate, their next album will be close to the ultimate in elec- tronic music. If you plan to listen to the albums of the Butterfly, I suggest you darken all the lights and sub- stitute one or two colored blink- ing lights. Then with the flashing colors, play the records at a vol- ume of your choice, and have yourself a musical experience. By Yvonne Butler “You Are What You Eat” has got to be one of the biggest put- ons ever to be filmed. “Y.A.W. Y.E.,” the brain child of Michael Butler, the producer of Broad- way’s “Hair,” and Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, Mary), is another one of those color dripping, music blaring, psychedelicly oriented flicks, supposedly indicative of today’s hip generation. It is a little better than most, but not very much. You don’t exactly know whether to laugh at it, to sleep through it, or to get up and leave the theater. “Y.AW.Y.E.” boasts such “now” cast members as Peter Yarrow, Father Malcolm Boyd, Paul But- terfield, David (Byrds) Crosby, Barry McGuire, Frank Zappa (Mothers of Invention), the Bea- tles, and Mr. Wonderful himself, Tiny Tim. But the scenes (if you want to call them that) change in such an insane, aimless way that you aren’t quite sure who or what you're seeing from one sec- ond to the next. I couldn’t find more than half the people listed on the program. I wish you luck in your search. Quite frankly, “Y.A'W.Y.E.” is about as exciting and innovating as a 1957 Doris Day epic. There aren't many good things one can say about a poorly done film (especially when a film leaves you so depressingly hostile as “Y.AW.Y.E.” does). The few re- deeming qualities of the film seem to be the photography (I’ve seen most of the shooting techniques Shades of Twenty-Three Skidoo — You Are What You Film, Baby on TV, but it’s a change to see them done in color), and the music, written by John Simon and Peter Yarrow. If you dig mindless, inane, irri- ‘tatingly ridiculous films that flash colors: and employ half-baked quips (“See the U.S.A. wear your plastic Nazi helmet”), “You Are What You Eat” is for you. But if you don’t, welcome—we’'re a small minority. Y.AF. CHAIRMAN | SUBMITS REQUESTS (Continued from page 1) have to fill out the same card more than once a year unless the information is changed (such as the address card—to be filled out once a year unless address is changed). 7) That basic courses such as Econ 2, Econ 4, Soc 1, PI Sc 2 and Psy 2 be offered a minimum of two terms yearly so that stu- dents will not again witness the overcrowding witnessed with Econ 4 and Soc 1 this term. 8) That a student referendum be called to judge the above re- quests. They are to be judged individually. YOUNG AMERICANS FOR FREEDOM Joseph Bacanskas Acting Chairman ATTEND the SPRING THING
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