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Ronstadt I would like to thank Noel Coppage for the revealing and extremely interesting cover story on Linda Ronstadt (November). She is one of the few artists today who can transfer the experiences of life into song and transmit every nuance of the pain or pleasure of them to her audiences; this is what makes her so special. I am pleased to see that someone has at last managed to capture the mind that makes her music instead of the body that complements it. She is more than worth traveling hundreds of miles to see, and after hearing her latest album there are very few places I wouldn't go to see her. Linda Ronstadt and her music are something very, very special. KARL J. ZUK; Queens Village, N.Y. I have just finished reading your article on Linda Ronstadt (November), and I must say that Noel Coppage is one great writer. I know Linda Ronstadt's father very well, and have played with him a few times nonprofessionally. I've said to him many times how much his daughter is like him. She has taken her father's style and her own talents and become a beautiful lady. JOHN PHELON GREEN II; Tucson, Ariz. I enjoyed the fantastic November issue thoroughly from beginning to end, but I was especially pleased with the Linda Ronstadt interview. I agree wholeheartedly with Noel Coppage on his review of her latest album, "Hasten Down the Wind." Buddy Holly's That'll Be the Day is a good song, but it isn't one of her best displays of meaningful emotion. Her real image is best brought out in the emphatic way she sings Lose Again, Give One Heart, and Try Me Again. I'm glad Linda Ronstadt is finally being taken seriously. CRAIG STREMKE; Milwaukee, Wis. Vocal Impressions Picky, picky, picky! Tell Noel Coppage to leave reviews of the Steve Miller Band and Orleans to Joel Vance. From the reviews in your November issue, you'd never know these albums offer straight -ahead, basic rock 'n' roll with a good beat. On the other hand, I can appreciate Joel Vance's not liking a whole Aerosmith album. Still, these kids do know where a tune's "hook" is, so lighten up. Joel stepped in it in the same issue by incorrectly crediting George Benson's vocal phrasing to Stevie Wonder. In fact, Benson's whole voice came off Donnie Hathaway. Wonder owes Donny too, of course; Donny sang like that ten years ago when he was with the Ric Powell Trio. RICH LEE; St. Petersburg, Fla. No Redeeming Value I have had it. Your critics are simply too impudent, incompetent, and unintelligent to deserve one more second of my attention. Without going into specifics (I know I'll only catch some wise rhetorical reply proclaiming the inherent element of subjectivity in music criticism and the latent superiority of STEREO REVIEW'S critics), I request that you do one of two things: fire Noel Coppage and Joel Vance immediately or cancel my subscription with haste. Vance's Nixonian narrow-mindedness as shamelessly exhibited in his comments on Jeff Beck's "Wired" album and Coppage's ad absurdum remarks concerning Gordon Lightfoot were positively the last straws. Lest you cease letting these two hacks assault their audience's sensibilities with utter nonsense, I fear your otherwise excellent magazine will be labeled obscene--i.e., having no socially redeeming value. TONY Rocco; Austin, Tex. Tone-deafness I am writing because of the statement in the November editorial to the effect that some people "grew to contented, tone-deaf adult hood in households filled with music." My question is this: Can a tone-deaf person de rive any enjoyment from music? The reason I ask is that a teacher in college told me that I was tone-deaf, but I do love music and do spend the major portion of my leisure -time budget on records and the improvement of my audio system. Whatever the answer, I will continue to do the same, but I am interested in this subject and would appreciate your comments. I can pick out, very slowly, a few simple tunes on the guitar and harmonica but my musical ability is almost nil. RANDALL PETERS; Ringgold, Ga. The Editor replies: I must apologize to Mr. Peters and other tone-deaf readers for a care less phrase; my reference, of course, was not to those who are literally tone-deaf but those who are (or appear to be) untouched by music's charms. Can the tone-deaf enjoy music? Absolutely. There is, first of all, more to music than tone alone; a friend of mine, for example, totally deaf since childhood, is an enthusiastic and accomplished dancer who picks up the rhythm from the dance floor through his feet. Beyond that, there is the nature of tone-deaf ness itself, which has to do principally with the ability to duplicate with the voice the frequency of sounds that impinge on the ear. This is a motor skill, and in my experience it appears, like other motor talents, to different degrees in different individuals and over a range running from the fantastic to the minuscule. But this ability to duplicate tones physically is not connected (again, in my experience) to aesthetic appreciation either positively or negatively. I have known those who were able to carry a tune perfectly but were quite indifferent to music; I have known others who could not, as the old tag has it, "carry a tune in a basket" but who delighted in music nonetheless, who were further perfectly capable of detecting a fault of intonation in a singer, an out-of-tune violin, or a wrong note on the piano. (Those who are not to the many gradations of tone-deafness they can hear around them at community sings, in church congregations, or at symphony-hall and ball-game attacks on The Star-Spangled Banner; in most cases, the loudest, most enthusiastic voices are farthest off the tune.) The exact nature of music and of the musical response are profound mysteries that have thus far eluded--thank God!--either explanation or justification, leaving us a universal, un-circumscribed latitude in which to take our pleasure without let, hindrance, or inhibition of tone-deafness or anything else. I, for one, hope it stays that way. Billy Joel Thank you for the article interview (October) with Billy Joel, a man with excellent key board and writing talents. He doesn't seem to be one of those artists who play games; he just puts himself in front of an audience and gets better as the night progresses. I saw him in concert, and in a short time he had every one (all age levels) on their feet cheering. DON BARESE; Hamden, Conn. Caruso Dubbings Concerning Larry Klein's November Audio News column on Caruso dubbings: the current problem seems to be not in equalization so much as wow and flutter added by the dubbing turntable. RCA, Seraphim, and others should choose a turntable for improved speed stability and design an adequate vari able speed control if it doesn't have one (the Gale and Fons machines do). Wow and flutter are very low on 78-rpm originals. If a scientific approach to equalization is wanted, why not run lab tests on examples of the original recording equipment, ideally in the original studios? One could measure frequency curves, distortion, wow and flutter, and so forth by playing test tones into the horn, recording them on shellac via the metal masters, and playing the record back (on a low-flutter turntable!). GORDON GETTY; San Francisco, Calif. Larry Klein replies: I simply can't believe that modern studio playback turntables have a speed stability that is inferior to the recording turntables used by Caruso. The problem I heard was in short-term, not long-term, speed variation, and a variable speed control won't help that. Mr. Getty's suggestion about making a reference recording in the original studio is technically a good idea. But even if the physical structures still existed, how could one know if they were acoustically unchanged or-more important-what specific recording equipment was used at any particular session? Mahler Thank you for the article on the Mahler symphonies by Irving Kolodin in the October issue. I wish STEREO REVIEW would do all the great composers this way. It was so good to read his comments on why he chose the ones he did, for one can no longer go in and pre view the records one wants to buy, and this is the next best thing. In the regular reviews, too, the reviewers should give their choices and why at the end of their reviews. BOB YARYAN; Oakland, Calif. Decoders In his October Audio Basics column, Ralph Hodges states that the CBS SQL-200 decoder is "not commercially available." I was recently advised by Benjamin Bauer of CBS Technology Center that the SQL-200 and the advanced SQL-400 with more powerful logic are available in kit form from the Photolume Company, 118 East 28th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016. JACK FROST; Sumas, Wash. Ralph Hodges replies: Exactly right, although we might point out that Photolume came into the picture some time after the column was written. Reportedly the SQL-400 is not yet available, although it may well be by the time you read this. The SQL-200 is, however, and it is priced at about $75 for the kit. Carpenters I have resigned myself to being one of your few female readers-a thirteen -year -old one at that! In the year or so that I've been reading STEREO REVIEW, the few times you've mentioned the Carpenters you've never had a good thing to say. "Mush." "Preparation H." What next?! So what if ballads are considered "mush," or if they come out with an "oldie"? If you enjoy songs like Goofus they are ageless, and some people (like me) do like oatmeal. LAURIE HARP; Berea, Ohio Jane Olivor James Goodfriend described Jane Olivor's performance very well in his November re view of "First Night.- She's got a good voice and a good personality, though she's got to do something about her outfits. But the problems of new entertainers are sometimes what makes them famous; I think she will make it and become an M.O.R. star. "She's just too good" to be wasted. GEORGE ROIG Miami, Fla. Roots The editor's "Musical Roots" column in November nicely complemented E. D. Hoag -Ian's letter on Nelson Eddy. Belonging as I do to an older generation, I received great satisfaction from the letter and the column since I too was nurtured on the "pop" music of earlier times. The thoughtful comments of those who reviewed the albums mentioned in the editorial were gratifying to me for the dignity they gave to that part of our musical heritage. VINCENT ELWORTHY; St. Louis, Mo. Elcaset I presently have one tape deck and three portable cassette recorders, but after reading Larry Klein's excellent presentation of the elcaset in the October issue, I will certainly buy an elcaset recorder or deck when it becomes available next year. This new format offers film makers as well as audiophiles a more readily edited and potentially higher -fidelity sound capability. A. GALE BORDEN; Port Washington, N.Y. AM Tuners I see now, after having read September's account of the Chicago hi-fi show, that the majority of new receivers for 1977 will still contain AM tuner sections. How many audiophiles actually listen to poor -quality AM on their $500 or $5,000 music systems? Why don't the manufacturers leave out the AM tuner sections and bring down the prices? MARK SCHMIDT; Little Silver, N.J. Larry Klein replies: The answer is that leaving out the AM tuner section would not bring down the price, since the AM tuner represents so little in cost and effort-and that is the source of the problem in the first place. Erratum In the November report on the Nakamichi 600 cassette deck, the wrong model number was shown on the frequency -response curves. The curves shown on page 40 were for the Nakamichi 600; the 500 designation was in error. Also see: AUDIO QUESTIONS and ANSWERS: Advice on readers' technical problems, by LARRY KLEIN EQUIPMENT TEST REPORTS: Hirsch-Houck Laboratory test results on the: JVC JR-S600 AM/FM stereo receiver, Marantz Model 1250 integrated stereo amplifier, KLH Model 354 speaker system, and Micro Seiki DDX-1000 turntable and MA-505 tonearm Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine) |
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