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CSN & Simels I subscribe to STEREO REVIEW primarily for information on audio hardware, but I can not resist a reply to Steve Simels' September review of "CSN" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Using the city of Los Angeles as a time-delay detonator (most all of the album was recorded in studios in Miami, Florida), Simels blows up and out over the fact that CSN actually use session musicians, as if that were something akin to corporate callous ness. He then faults a collective writing genius that has produced two gold records by comparing Helplessly Hoping with See the Changes. Grabbing for a few more straws (after all, who cares if it was Winchester or Notre Dame?), he interprets Cathedral as "a clumsy swipe at organized religion" that has no heart in it. (The way I heard it, Nash was writing about tripping while inside a cathedral. But I guess that does leave it open to interpretation.) Finally, with a snide, tongue-in cheek "thank you," he dismisses CSN for not meeting his expectations, thus dismissing hour upon hour of pure listening pleasure and himself as a critic. C. L. MORRISON; Panama City, Fla. Like hell the songs on Crosby, Stills, and Nash's new album are "hardly worth discussing," as Steve Simels put it in his review in the September issue. "CSN" may not be one of the year's best albums, but it is worth discussing. Sure they've lost what they once had, but their musicianship is topnotch and their harmonies are still very powerful. In an age when we have garbage-can bands such as Kiss and Aerosmith and guys like Peter Frampton, I find CSN very much worth discussing. Mr. Sitnels showed me just one thing: his poor taste. S. L. DIFAzto; Greenwood, Ind. Gambling on Records Putting aside questions about disc quality, I think that records are hardly the bargain the president of Golden Crest Records claimed they are in the July "Letters." All too often the record buyer wastes his money because there is rarely a chance to hear an entire LP (or sometimes any of it at all) before buying it. STEREO REVIEW helps some, but in the end it is up to the buyer alone to decide if he is pleased or displeased by his purchase. Unfortunately, if he is not pleased, there is little he can do to recoup the loss once the record has been taken home, opened, and played. Your local record store is thus a haven for legalized gambling. CHRISTOPHER COLLINS; Newport Beach, Calif. Yes, and so is your local book store. Hard cover books these days mostly seem to cost in the $10 to $15 range-and they won't even let you read them at the counter! Upgrading Radio A lot of people have been talking about the coming of stereo AM and quad FM, but as I read William Anderson's September "Editorially Speaking," I couldn't help but wonder if these will have any value beyond their snob appeal. Having worked in radio broadcasting for many years, I can tell you that people just don't sit with their ears fixed before the loudspeaker(s) of their radios the same way that they sit bug-eyed in front of their television sets. While the radio industry seems to have its heart set on introducing something that needs to be attentively listened to, radio broadcasters are increasingly presenting "background" programming. Automated "jukebox" stations seem to be spreading across the country like air pollution in a stiff breeze. The remaining semi-live, somewhat conversational stations-such as the 50,000-watt, clear-channel KFI in Los Angeles-are switching to a more mindless sound with "time 'n' temp" DJ chatter sparingly sprinkled between the seemingly endless cycle of their thirty pulp pop songs. If stereo AM and quad FM are to be valuable contributions to our society, programming is going to have to become more worth while and listeners are going to have to sit down, turn up the volume a little, and listen. It can be done, and it is being done already to a limited extent; especially noteworthy are the CBS radio network's two regular drama pro-grams and occasional specials and the excel lent National Public Radio offerings. NPR's Earplay is a good example of how stereo FM can bring another dimension to radio drama, and there have also been some experiments with live concerts and other types of "fore ground" programming. Stereo AM? Quad FM? Sooner or later they will find their way into our homes, but if we continue to listen as most people listen to radio now-at a level just below consciousness--it might as well be mono or the roar of a vacuum cleaner. KEN SLAUGHTER; San Bernardino, Calif. Cartoon Connoisseur Let me applaud your man with the unique sense of humor and way of expressing it: I'm speaking, of course, of the person who draws the cartoons appearing in STEREO REVIEW each month, Charles Rodrigues. His irony and wit are truly amusing. I wish more space could be devoted to his work. JOSEPH L. SCHERER; Washington, Mo. Mr. Rodrigues' cartoon strip Casey is syndicated nationally. In the New York area it appears in the Daily News. Emanuel Ax I want to thank STEREO REVIEW for introducing me to the young pianist Emanuel Ax. I bought his first record (the Chopin recital) after reading Richard Freed's review of it in the October 1976 issue; Ax fully justifies the splendid review and it has become my favorite disc. Since then, I have made sure that my record store apprises me of each new recording Ax makes, and I am happy to say that I have them all, including the latest, with the Cleveland Quartet. Although my preference is for Ax as a soloist, the Dvorak quintet (re viewed in the September 1977 issue) is indeed a splendid performance. The recommendations of STEREO REVIEW'S classical music re viewers have been my guide since I became a subscriber and they have yet to disappoint me. By the way, when I was in Britain recently I compared RCA's English pressing of Ax's first record with the one made in the U.S. The former is decidedly inferior. R. V. ALLEN; Willowdale, Ontario Music Editor James Goodfriend replies: Mr. Allen will probably be delighted to know that the Chopin recital he refers to was not Ax's first record but was preceded by another. That first disc included the Chopin B Minor Sonata, four Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs, and two Liszt virtuoso pieces, and it was reviewed in the "Best of the Month" section in the October 1975 issue of STEREO REVIEW. Giving Credit The song Willin' by Little Feat does in deed appear on "Sailin' Shoes," their second album, as Paulette Weiss said in her reply to a letter in the September issue. But that was not the original recording of it, as the group did an earlier version on their first album, for Warner Bros., which was simply titled "Little Feat." Also in the September issue, in his re view of "Barry Manilow Live" Peter Reilly says Manilow wrote Mandy and A Weekend in New England. The former was written by Scott English and Richard Kerr (after which Clive Davis changed it around a little) and the latter by Randy Edelman. BILLY MIGICOVSKY; Montreal, Quebec Dust Blower Recently I came up with a brilliant idea I thought I should write and tell you about. Two months ago I had just finished up a bottle of Pearl Drops tooth polish and was about to dispose of the container when the idea came to me. I proceeded to rinse the bottle out with water and put it on the counter for three days to dry it out. Now I am totally dependent on this bottle to squeeze air onto my phonograph stylus to clean it off and also to blow dust off my records. I saved $3, which is what an instrument specially designed for this purpose costs, and I also think my piece of equipment is more efficient than any that can be bought. ROBERT MATHIES; Mountain View, Calif. Technical Director Larry Klein replies: Not a bad idea-with one caveat: there may be dirt adhering to a stylus (and certainly in record grooves) that a little puff of air won't remove, in which case one needs to resort to more elaborate (and non-homemade) remedies. "Young Pianists" In "All the Young Pianists" (September), James Goodfriend states that he excluded those pianists he had "not heard sufficiently to make a judgment about." He then proceeds to evaluate Christian Zacharias and Krystian Zimerman on the basis, in each case, of a single recording devoted to music of a single composer-hardly enough evidence on which to form any kind of verdict. In addition, I would like to know how Mr. Goodfriend would defend his omission of Bruno-Leonardo Gelber and Victoria Postnikova, both of whom have performed a number of times in this country. Surely Gelber's Brahms recordings and Postnikova's stunning Schumann Kreisleriana and Scriabin Fifth Sonata (Russian Melodiya C 02621/2 and C 03983/4, respectively) rank with the efforts of the pianists who were included, and surpass many of them. Finally, two corrections: Columbia has never issued a Nelson Freire recording of Schumann ' s Kinderszenen (perhaps Mr. Goodfriend meant the Carnaval once available on MS 7307?), and the competition in which Robert Silverman was a winner is named after Jose Vianna da Mota, not "Viana da Mota" as in the article. DONALD MANILDI; St. Cloud, Minn. Mr. Goodfriend replies: No matter how many times one reiterates (and I reiterated it plenty!) that the opinions given are highly persona!, as was the experience on which they are based, one is still accused of distortion, as if what was being dealt with was fact rather than opinion. Mr. Manildi to the contrary, it is relatively easy to make judgments on some pianists playing some repertoire on the basis of a single record-though one should add (as I did) the caution that the opinion has been based on just that one record. On the other hand, it is sometimes very difficult to make judgments about other pianists on the basis even of several records. The difference lies in the repertoire-what opportunities it offers for judgment-and in the pianistic personality involved. Did anyone have to wait for additional evidence when Horowitz made his American debut in 1928? He played only one piece, but that was quite enough for most people to know what to think of him. I omitted Postnikova because I have never heard her and she has no records on domestic labels. I omitted Gelber because many of his records were made nearly a decade ago and, in any case, the totality of them did not provoke in me a judgment sure enough to put into print. Sorry, but it happens that way sometimes. There were other worthy and interesting pianists who were omitted for similar reasons, as I made clear in my introduction. As for the factual matters, Mr. Manildi is right on the first point: it was the recording and concert performance of Carnaval I had in mind. On the second, authorities differ, but Grove's Dictionary gives it as "Viana da Mota" and that is the way I gave it. James Goodfriend's character studies of the young pianists (September) are highly in formative and provide a welcome insight into the future of pianism. However, Chopin, Liszt, and other musical giants of earlier times are the past of music. A piano teacher of mine once remarked that "good pianists are a dime a dozen." The future of music lies not in the hands of today's pianists, but in the compositional art of the present. Perhaps Mr. Goodfriend should oblige the struggling young composers in some future issue of STEREO REVIEW. R.M. RITCHIE; Portsmouth, N.H. Arf-less Annie In his August review of the original-cast recording of Annie, Peter Reilly states that Sandy, the dog, " ... unfortunately, does make an appearance here vocally." I have played the album many times but have not heard so much as an "arf," growl, or whine. Exactly what track does Sandy appear on? Or does he appear only on certain pressings? Please answer; it will help me sleep better. R. JAMES OST; Boonton, N.J. Mr. Reilly informs us that his typewriter unaccountably balked at inserting a "not" into that sentence, and that Mr. Ost is perfectly correct: not a word from Sandy, not even a single "arf," more's the pity. Pleasant dreams. Kinks Still Kicking How dare you, Paulette Weiss! How could you possibly neglect the Kinks in your September column, "Everything Old Is New Again"? Mick Avory, John Dalton, and the Davies brothers are still making music in my neighborhood. I'm beginning to feel like the Great Lost Kinks Fan. God save the Kinks! BARBRA BRADY; Winter Park, Fla. Star Wars Let me congratulate Steve Simels for his enthusiastic, accurate, and exemplary review of the soundtrack to Star Wars in the September issue. Not often is the poor, jaded, under privileged movie-going public treated to a film of this stature. How many directors have the courage, foresight, and genius to make a film based on forty years of worn-out clichés? Who would think that anybody would want to watch the Battle of Britain over again? Who would have imagined that a shoot-out in a western bar had any more dramatic impact left in it? What a treat it is again to see a film without recognizable people in it, where the thankfully stock characters are motivated only by necessities of the plot and not by any discernible logic or emotion. What a joy it is to watch one shoot-em-up after another with the bad guys falling left and right. George Lucas has given a starved movie public exactly what it wanted: a film one can sit through without once having to think. Although Mr. Simels failed to mention it, I'm sure he was also gloriously astonished at how this film trumpets the triumphant return of a long-neglected literary genre, science fiction. Star Wars puts to rest that old bogey that this form of literature can deal with human emotions and problems in any significant and entertaining way; once again, it shows that science fiction is just cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, good guys and bad guys shooting it up in outer space. Well done! And, of course, the soundtrack is a perfect match for the rest of the film. It's loud, filled with ancient clichés, slick, gloriously mindless--and by golly, it sure is fun. Why, I'd go around all day long humming parts of the score, if I could remember any of it. PAUL J. HOMCHICK; Woodland Hills, Calif. Obviously Mr. Simels was wrong when he said there are people out there with no sense of humor--but just a little lighter on the irony stop, please! I would like to thank Steve Simels for his appraisal of John Williams' original-sound track recording of Star Wars in the September issue. I feel that the Star Wars soundtrack and Barry Gray's music for the ITC Television series Space: 1999 (RCA ABL1-1422) are two of the most outstanding musical scores ever created for science-fiction movies and television. ALLEN JONES; Port Arthur, Tex. Bleak Prospects Lester Bangs, like most of STEREO REVIEW'S regular and irregular critics, has a definite way with words. But I do wish he'd do his homework before putting pen (or typewriter) to paper. In his August review of Peter Gabriel's LP he not only ludicrously compares Gabriel's former band, Genesis, with Yes and Queen by saying that they all play "loud, heavily ornamented rock" (perhaps in the same manner as Ravel, Varese, and Stravinsky wrote "heavily ornamented" classical music-can one really compare apples, oranges, and grapes?), he also refers to Gene sis' "bleak prospects" after Gabriel's departure. If Bangs ever bothered to read Billboard or the like, he might have noticed that both of Genesis' post-Gabriel LP's, "Trick of the Tail" and "Wind and Wuthering," sold much better than any of their earlier albums and that the group's 1977 tour included stops at large, well-filled arenas they had never played before (such as L.A.'s Forum). Bangs also mentions "drummer" Jozef Chirowski as part of Bob Ezrin's studio entourage. If he had bothered to read the liner notes on the Gabriel album, he would have seen that Chirowski plays keyboards; Allan Schwartzberg is the drummer. Can I have Lester's check this time around? LEE KUNTZ; Santa Monica, Calif. Mr. Bangs informs us that the "bleak prospects" he was referring to were the artistic ones. Also, he's sorry about the drums and has spent the check. Technophobia? I found two statements by Chris Albertson in the July issue disturbing. One was when he called the Dave Brubeck Quartet reunion al bum "a wonderful reminder of what jazz was before musicians became electronic engineers" and the other was when he said that "Water Babies" by Miles Davis "will be relevant long after [his] more recent efforts, the Headhunters, Weather Report, and Return to Forever all short-circuit." Does he truly believe that advancement in musical technology will soil the image of jazz as he sees it or is his concern (like the orthodox Freudians who resisted the advance of scientific psychology) with keeping the study pure? LOUIS BERNARDI; Kent, Ohio Mr. Albertson replies: I do not advocate the scrapping of synthesizers or wah-wahs any more than I suggest that writers return to the quill pen. But I am strongly opposed to synthesizer operators who seek to imitate acoustic instruments and to the use of electronic attachments that rob traditional instruments of their character and horn players of their distinguishing tone. Disc Entropy What an absolutely marvelous editorial in the August issue! Unfortunately, to the patient record buyer waxing cynical because of the decline in quality of today's recordings, Haeckel's aphorism ("The ontogeny recapitulates the phylogeny") simply implies that the brave, new, expensive digital disc will rapidly devolve into something sonically resembling today's analog dodo-discs. JOHN W. Cox; Columbia, S.C. --- Also see: SAE |
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