October 1973
CREEM
DEAR CREEM Thank you, Vince Aletti. It’s about time somebody finally put it in plain black and white. Stevie Wonder recorded the two best albums of 1972! Altogether, it was the most pleasing Top Ten list I’ve read anywhere. Cookies, and candy, and the woofer for Mr. Aletti.
BARNEY & MIKE
Bolwilson
THE CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Robert Christgau
A man came up to me the other day and said, “Did you know you had a banana in your ear?" “I can't hear you,” I responded. “I’m trying to find an A record.” The Atlanta Rhythm Section: “Back Up Against the Wall” (Decca). A rather ordinary white Southern boogie band, if that’s ordinary these days, except that this one has so much studio experience it tends to be tight and slick, a small boon.
ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS
As of this minute, the next Rolling Stones album is to be called Goat's Head Soup. It's big number is reported to be “Dancing with Mr. D,” which stands for exactly what you hope it doesn’t. Insiders are currently taking bets as to how long Focus will remain together, citing the solo activity of Thijs Van Leer and Jan Akkerman, as well as reported dickering at recent recording sessions in London.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Alan Niester
Possibly the most disarming experience I’ve had in the past few months was the moment in which I accidentally peered into the bottom of my half-empty can of 7 Up, and discovered the bulbous face of Guess Who drummer Gary Peterson staring back at me through the bubbles.
Alice Cooper’s School Daze
Remember, O brudders, those good old days in high school when you dreamed that someday you’d be in a longhaired rock 'n' roll band just like the Beatles and the girls’d be drooling all over you?
Rewire Yourself
Cassettes That Cud Blow The Roof Off
Richard Robinson
Two distinct varieties of audio cassette recorders have developed since cassettes were first introduced in the mid-Sixties.
Features
Van Morrison Talks Back
Cameron Crowe
Although Van Morrison is not noted for his overwhelming generosity in granting interviews, he chose to discuss his current state of affairs with CREEM on the eve of two highly successful sold-out shows at the Santa Monica.
Features
The New York Dolls Greatest Hits Volume 1
Ben Edmonds
“Get the glitter out of your asses and play” barks Todd Rundgren, firmly strapped into his pilot’s seat behind the board in Studio B of the Record Plant in New York City.
Features
LIFE WITH THE LIONS: Diary of a Faces Roadie
John Pidgeon
Features
Are Pink Floyd Made of Green Cheese?
Conner McKnight
No, but they still like to shoot the moon now and then.
Syd Barrett: The Genius Who Almost Was
Nick Kent
It was only a few months back that a friend told me he’d seen Syd Barrett drifting down Charing Cross Road, looking in guitar shops. His hair was long again, and he was back to wearing his old snakeskin boots. Such a revelation may not mean much to a lot of you, but to hard-core Pink Floyd fanatics, even the possibility of his return is cause enough for celebration.
Go Ape For A Day
Paul Varjack
"They’re the movies of the century," said Spencer Karagiannis, who goes to East Meadow Junior High.
CONFESSIONS OF A FILM FOX
Feeling as Foxy as me this month? There’s lots of exciting sneak preview news and you’re the very first to hear it all... The Poseidon Adventure turned rightside up financially as the biggest block-buster in ’73 so far with a fat $90,731,642...
SHORT TAKES
Tim Jurgens
BLUME IN LOVE (Warner Bros.) — Is that supposed to make you think of Bloom in Love? These stories about Modern people dealing with broken relationships are getting pretty predictable, especially since that pensive guy walking around trying to figure things out is always George Segal (Loving, The Owl and the Pussycat, Where's Poppa).
BOOKS
Dave Marsh
Buried Alive is more than a biography; it is an act of passion. No one could have failed to recognize the posthumous pathos of Janis Joplin, but at least two other writers (David Dalton, with the sloppy Janis and Peggy Caserta, who was apparently one of Janis" lovers and shooting partners, in the despicably filthy rip-off, Going Down With Janis) have tried and failed to make us believe that Janis" unhappiness was anything more than a whim the particular Sunday morning on which she died.
OFF THE WALL
GOING DOWN WITH JANIS by Peggy Caserta as told to Don Knapp (Lyle Stuart). Proof once more that the dead cannot be libelled. If you buy this steamy hunk of filth, you have less pride that you've given yourself credit for. O CONGRESS by Donald Riegle (Popular Library).
Eleganza
Childstar's Answer to the Re-cycling Blues
Lisa Robinson
"I'm amazed at how many kids don't realize how they're being exploited by t-shirts that snag, wraparound patchwork dresses made of "old" material that fall apart, and especially jewelry where the elastic stretches out in no time at all," exclaimed Michael Sklar, the man behind "Childstar," a jewelry business that is justifiably thriving.
Mott: Triumph of the Dudes
Lester Bangs
MOTT THE HOOPLE Mott (Columbia) Mott the Hoople have been threatening to pull a masterpiece on us ever since their first album, a strong slow tide of outtakes from the headwaters of Blonde on Blonde. Later they proved they had mania to burn too; the wildest of Brain Capers was as fettle a spew of rage as we've known.
Juke Box Jury
GREG SHAW
There's good rockin" this month, with five decent songs in the Top Ten as I write, and plenty of other good stuff around. We've got Stories, the Osmonds, Cody, Alice ("Billion Dollar Babies"), and even the Sweet are rising fast with "Blockbuster" (Bell 45-361) although you still hear "Little Willy" more often.
Creem takes an instrumental break
Electric guitars are the very essence of rock and roll, existing as a totally artificial reality. They're media fiction. Nothing more than fairly unsophisticated future toys. Electric guitars, their amplifiers, and other related equipment are one more application of electronics to life, just like color tv's, radio broadcasts, and electric can openers.
Guitars
A company-by-company evaluation of what's available: Ampeg (The Ampeg Company, P.O. Box 310, Elkhart, Indiana, 46514). After phasing out their see-through guitars, Ampeg has developed a new line of electric guitars and electric basses under the "Stud' tradename.
Amplifiers
The electric amplifier that amplifies the electric guitar is the main bit of electric wizardry you have to contend with when making rock music. Amps come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and designs and, unlike the guitar, their faults are not obvious.
Sound Systems
The rumors that Jesus used a Shure p.a. system for the sermon on the mount are probably not true, but the point is well taken. Whenever there are more than ten people in any one place and they're all trying to hear what one person is saying, the problem of sound-noise over people-noise arises.
Keyboard and Synthesizers
"Actual sounds are running out," says, Rick Wakeman, Yes keyboards player and solo album star. Rick feels that traditional instruments like the piano have just about had their day; they've been played to death. He thinks he can find the lost chord and that his new $20,000 custom Moog synthesizer is what he'll play it on once he finds it.
Special Effects
Electronic gadgets and gimmicks are a standard part of the rock equipment catalog, established during the last six or seven years as an integral part of the rock sound. The initial novelty of a volume control pedal which the guitarist could pump rapidly with his foot to attain a wah-wah-wahing sound quickly became an accepted part of the act, used by giants like Hendrix and Sly Stone to make new sound.