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Critic I sin9s w blues J By Tom Shealey IKT Anyone who has listened to music for any length of time has, at prvrr* rv ? ? ? J A ouiuc puuu in ins hic, yearned 10 B write reviews. It usually occurs S after he has read a unfavorable V review of his favorite record. Some are fool-hardy enough to take the big plunge and actually ?* submit their feelings and opinions Vj for publication. To these people, ^ mv svmnnthioo ^ ^ i mm? |?%?vas*vw | W I41V/OC who desire to work for some form of the media in the area of record reviews I offer a warning: don't. The drawbacks to the review game are many. The second the reader spots the word "review" he arms himself for the kill, scouring the article for any minute point to pruvt; uie crmc wrong. The reviewer automatically becomes the target for anyone who reads his work. He must learn to live with the idea that there are people who are going to despise him because of his opinions. They will have no idea what he looks like out of ways or what Irinrl r?f a nnt?en? l>? i- e * "* _ .u..u v. u jjvi juji nc ia, iur He will tire they do not care. The mere sight of so common his name in the by-line breeds beat, slow-1 anger and rage. They hope for the based, day when they comer him in a He will b< secluded alcove. his arch ne If the critic manages to over- have a limi come the attacks on his character which to list ne men must face other pitfalls. Even if he d His personal enjoyment for the in 10 or 12 c music will disappear. Through mood, fran continuous analyzing and repeated problems, c listenings he will become or the straii pessimistic, bored, disenchanted, affect the cynical, annoyed and depressed. Drodurt He will have a hard time Unless th< remaining fair and unbiased. This all areas of i is mainly because the music of classical, et today is not aimed at the 23-year- the confines old college student but at the 13- with which and 14-year old kids who do not practice dr remember the group's older public that h classic recordings. he creeps in The critic is forced to employ ignorance i iiuoicciuiug iaueis in nis articles for mediately, 2 the close-minded readers who are of the revie1 unable to grasp any sort of general Berman. description of the music. When Reviews using these tags the writer will important 1 soon find there are some types of public. Th music that defy any label. provide one After a while the critic will run particular r II I Thraaf ?rr%aa halt Sfills-Y< i ^1 - I ? to describe the music, music and mainly, to alert thi of the cliches that are reader to the record's existence i: heavy, mellow, up- They should also educate, makinj empo, rock and jazz- him aware of other types of musii At A - * mai are avauaDie. jcome acquainted with But there are people who tak< tmesis, Time. He will the recommendations an< ted amount of time in denunciations of the critic! en and judge a record, seriously and base their buying oes manage to squeeze practices on his opinion. Thest omplete listenings, his weak-willed people seek someoni le of mind, personal else to do their bidding for them :onditions around him they need someone to blame if tht n of the deadline may purchase turns out to be a dud. A _ P it tone 01 me nmshed No matter how they are looket at, reviews are a powerful beast ; critic is an expert in The public should realize there is music (folk, rock, jazz, more to these creatures thai c.) he must stay within merely writing down one'j of the particular area thoughts concerning a particulai he is familiar. This subject.They require time aws cries from the preparation, thought and carefu le is narrow-minded. If research to be sure the opinion^ to some other area, his and f?oi;?rto ? * ?4 ' , u..u .vviingo ca^icsscu maicr will be detected im- those of the writer. It is very easj is is the case with most for the idea to become lost ir ws by local target Pat transit from mind to paper. My only concern is whether this are, unfortunately, impenetrable shell I have to the record-buying developed from doing reviews will ey are intended to ever dissolve, leaving me exposed person's opinion on a to the insults and abuse so common ecord, to describe the in this game. From Rolling Stone A month after it had begun, tl Young band tour was over. The rc malady, something he had had si AlthruirtVi fVm 1 .Uv..uugn vuc nirtiiu^crs ana pr< "postponed," rather than "canc< rescheduled. Stills will play out fjjj_ If remaining in the first leg, bravely Jm| 3 (Bk Cj home state. "It's the least I can && a salvage the tour." Regardless ol perform throughout the summer. Young canceled a tour with Cra; same reason. Shortly afterward, 1 removal of a growth. His first subs 5 SJ Bg surprise guitarist for a Stills conc< w S B July of that year. At the time, he c written notes. The two later booked recorded an album, Long May Yoi 1976 solo tours in favor of a joint one After several weeks spent shuff tour had just begun to peak. Their - ' * vaiviiiia, emu wits wen received several sources, Neil's throat begai the next concert, in Atlanta three d illness. He immediately flew to Ix>s is now recuperating at his northei 1 'Swashbuckl with no sur\ By Chuck Cromer "Swftshhllpkl^r" is withnnt a /Int.K* / .. IN/ TVBVIIVUV U UUUMl V unimaginative movies I have ever seer characteristic necessary for the products a minor budget, poor acting, trite dialog absolutely no consideration for the audien tedious ninety-minute showing time. Essentially, "Swashbuckler" is a po adventure films made famous by such Flynn, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and Tyrom the modern swashbuckling films of "T "The Four Musketeers." "Swashbucklei nast JinH nrpcont nnmilnriJu nf I ?|? wva? pupuiui UJ l/l 11113 auvci flat on its face. The plot of "Swashbuckler" is nearly n Lynch (Robert Shaw) and Nick Debrett leaders of a band of pirates who either a pirate ship, the Blarney Cock, or wa Jamaica, circa 1718, getting drunk, la soldiers. Voluptuous Jane Barnet (Genevieve E pirates to free her father from the clutchc the island Lord Durant (Peter Boyle;, an dictatorship over the island's inhabitants, '..here is as the goals of the pirates are , believable fashion. I guess what struck me most about the f i lack of action and the pitiful miscasting role. June 01 me mainstays of pirate pictures i cheek drama usually consisting of naval I hand fighting and other such exciting nor b robs us of this excitement by using only o What is worse, that frigate only trades lie* I that is unable to defend itself. Is this heroic c All of the acting is atrocious, but it's everyone was iriiscast or saddled with bla b Shaw is the most obvious victim of be j dicapped by such hokey lines about his a s tleman, I'm an Irishman," and "No my Lc 5 man." ; As if anticipating negative reviews, Sha 2 a professional actor and I'm doing the be* ; available at the moment, and I hope and 5 better. Half of what's going on in my pictui "Swashbuckler" is obviously a low bud i "Captain Blood," "The Crimson Pirate" i buckling films that we revere as cli s imagination and creativity to compensa t and still produced a dignified product. 5 "Swashbuckler" lacks any ingenuity th? r in the proceedings and literally subjects i after another. It sinks from the weight of 1 manipulating its dollars in their most ef j [ The Gamei i Intertaii i ^? * \e 11-week-long Stephen Stills-Neil tason was Young's recurring throat irgery to relieve just last summer. H9HH )moters preferred to use the term eled," the tour has not yet been the three outdoor Florida shows Hmh following Lynyrd Skynyrd in their do," he said in Jacksonville, "to HBB f his partner, Stills will probably |HSB ty Horse in the spring of '75 for the lis thmat ui'ii- ? ' ?... VWV T* MO dicu on ior ine equent public appearance was as a BP/ J 3rt in Berkeley's Greek Theatre in WL A ould communicate only with hand- WlL I time at Criteria Sound Studios and -? i Hun, then canceled their summer ling songs and arrangements, the am last show was in Columbia, South jjSl? in ihe local media. According to Ky j i acting up during that show and by H||j4K ays later, Young had yielded to the rwB^3| Angeles for medical treatment and rn California ranch. or* sinks rivors >ne of the dullest and most i. It possesses every major >n of an unmemorable flick? ;ue, no plot, little action and ices who must sit through the ui" imuaiion 01 me rousing Hollywood legends as Errol ne Power, and more recently ^ he Three Musketeers" and r" thus seeks to exploit the lture genre but instead falls onexistenL Captain Red Ned (james Earl Jones) are the imlessly float about on their nder around the island of id or assaulted by British iujold) hires Lynch and his ib the ruthless governor of 0 s end Durant's sadistic Tnat's just about all the plot accomplished in a most un- ? ilm was the almost complete of Robert Shaw in the title S the auick nar<*H tnnano-ir? . r ? ?O?' battles, broadsides, hand-toisense. Yet "Swashbuckler" ne frigato in the entire film, ts with a cai ncnless fortress :? only natural since nearly tan?l<r t ? ' vuuiij vi nc uidiuguc. ru '^en >th setbacks. Shaw is han- m incestry as "I m not a gen>rd, I'm no fool, I'm an Irishw said in an interview, "I'm ?t I can with material that's pray that the material gets *es is not my fault." get production. Yet so were ind many other past swashassies. They incorporated te for the scarcity of funds it might enliven our interest is to one monotonous scene its own complacency by not a. ficient capacities. 1 ;ock men! ?> & J Photo by Deb Howard I ?