The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 19, 1968 Page: 3 of 10
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-I
gandolph and the invasion force
Grape jam
"We are witnessing the blossoming of what the media
calls 'progressive rock'—rock that stresses improvisation, ex-
tended solos and complexity in music, lyrics, and rhythm,"
says Jon Landau in Eye magazine. This statement is il-
lustrated well by the newest album of Moby Grape.
Actually, the Grape has released two albums at once
in a package deal. One is a more or less regular album, the
other is a collection of jam sessions featuring members of
the group plus several others, notably Mike Bloomfield and
A1 Kooper.
WOW, the first of the pair, presents a variety of dif-
ferent styles—country, progressive, blues, rock and least,
but not last, a foxtrot.
At least three songs are definitely in the tradition of
Country Joe and the Fish, that is, with lyrics specifically
designed as an antagonizing complaint against the "Estab-
lishment."
"Murder in my Heart," for example, is strongly slanted
against "... the big fat bald/ Representative of Justice."
"Bitter Wind," the next selection, belongs to a group
of songs done particularly well on this album. Meaningful
lyrics are not covered by the music; the music is secondary,
as it should be. Too often strong rock annihilates lyrics—
not so in this case.
Next, we have. . . a FOXTROT. What's going on here?
Yes, friends, "Just Like Gene Autry; A Foxtrot," featuring
Lew Waxman and his Orchestra and starring Arthur God-
carryover from Moby
"Miller's Blues," the
- Ken Strauss
I're.v. This number ("to be played at 78 rpm") lasts about
three and a half minutes—minutes better spent changing to
side two.
The other side includes "He," "Three-Four," and "Rose
Colored Eyes," in much the same style as "Bitter Wind."
c "Motorcycle Irene" can't be described. A few lines suf-
fice:
"There she sits a'-smokin,'
Reefer in her mouth,
Super-powered, deflowered
Over-eighteen Irene."
"Naked if I Want To" is a
Grape's first album. However,
song which precedes it, might be described as progressive
blues, and is indicative of what is to come in the other
album.
The collection of jam sessions which comprise the second
album proves beyond any doubt that Moby Grape are truly
capable musicians. On "Never" and "Boysenberry Jam," the
group really jams.
The music is quiet, yet forceful on these first two bands
of the record, and the excitement has just begun.
The next cut, "Black Currant Jam," features A1 Kooper
as a lead on piano. Kooper, who has played with the
Blues Project, Blood Sweat and Tears,^and Dylan, has been
called by Paul Nelson "a New York legend, an extraordinary
participating musician at many important recording ses-
sions." Kooper, Nelson goes on to say, has a, "superlative
command of just about every imaginable musical instrument."
It shows.
"Marmalade," running nearly fourteen minutes, is prob-
ably the best song on the album. Mike Bloomfield, who has
played with Dylan, the Butterfield Blues Band, and the Elec-
tric Flag, lends a helping hand. His piano comes, goes, and
comes again. Bloomfield is certainly one of the most out-
standing progressive rock musicians in the business.
Not to end on a bad note, but the last cut, "The Lake,"
apparently experienced some technical difficulties. Smothered
voices hang in the background, seemingly unintentionally.
The two albums come together and sell for little more
than the price of a single album. It's a bargain. —Frodo
(Coming: Cheap Thrills, Tom Wolfe, and Srvt. Pepper's Return.)
threshlng-H-out
Freeman cautions against thoughtless activism
To the Editor:
I have just read the Thresher
editorial entitled, "The Begin-
nings of Awareness," and I
feel that there are some things
that need to be said.
It would appear that there
is a popular conception abroad
in the land (i.e. on campuses)
that all activism is intrinsical-
ly good. I am inclined to doubt
this^Phere are, I believe, at
least two basic problems as-
sociated with activism per se:
9 Activism which starts as
a genuine concern arising from
sensitivity and compassion of-
ten turns quickly into a com-
petitive thing that becomes
driven more by mindless pas-
sion that may not only destroy
the original objectives, but may
lead the participants into frenz-
ied and prejudiced attitudes not
dissimilar to those they are
protesting.
% Human nature being what
it is, intense activism from one
faction always seems to be met
with counter activity from the
opposite corner. For example,
the rise in support for Wallace
in concert with the increase in
Black militancy, police brutality
in Chicago in anticipation of
extreme activism during the
convention, etc. In light of this
it is very difficult, if not im-
possible to judge the true value
of activism.
Like it or not, this country
appears to be moving towards
a more conservative future.
The polls of recent weeks show
Nixon and Wallace gaining
surprisingly in strength. I
cannot help but feel that this
may be due in important part
to a negative reaction by the
public to the general behavior
of activists and a willingness
to take the easy way to elimi-
nate this behavior.
The problem here is one of
lack of understanding of human
nature and the psychology of
human relationships on the part
of the activists and perhaps the
public. The results that have
been achieved have been the op-
posite of those desired.
Even more generally, the
great tragedy of our century
may not be that the social
sciences have failed to keep
pace with the physical sciences,
but that we turned deaf ears
on what the social sciences
taught us when we entered the
arena of politics and social
problems.
We must learn that solutions
to difficult social problems
come through scholarly analy-
sis and deliberate planning and
ultimately intelligent action at
appropriate civic, government,
or private levels; and we must
learn to understand our fellow
man and why he reacts the way
he does. What is really called
for here is a form of "creative"
activigm, not the destructive
activism common on campuses
today.
I am not saying that the con-
science of the public (if there
is such a thing) must not be
pricked. Rather, I am saying
that it will not likely be prick-
ed by a noisy minority but by
men like John F. Kennedy, Dag
Hammarskjold, Albert Schweit-
zer, Martin Luther King and
Denton Cooley, etc. The plea
then is for men who are willing
to dedicate themselves to the
scholarly and active pursuit
and implementation of solu-
tions to what ails us.
At the risk of sounding
soupy, I should say that this
is where the relevance to the
Rice education is seen. Any
educational institution that fails
to seek to instill in her stu-
dents determination, compas-
sion and sensitivity to human
needs as well as the technical
tools necessary to seek out and
apply these solutions has fail-
ed. Certainly Rice falls short of
the mark in this area as it does
in all areas to greater or lesser
extent.
But again, the re-creation
process must be constructive
and not destructive and must
take place within the frame-
work of the real world with
real (even though different
from yours) beliefs and pas-
sions.
Further, progress has been
made with no small effort and
risk on the pax-t of the adminis-
tration, viz., the charter amend-
ment to admit negroes.
As you point out, the student
body has a responsibility to
sensitize itself as well; how-
ever, the fatal flaw of logic
that you must be alert for is
that this is not synonymous
with making noise so everyone
will know you are alive.
You are right, apathy has
been a problem, but what has
the world or Rice gained if
Apathy gives way to irra-
tional impassioned action for
the sake of action ? This can
lead to unstable governments
and universities such as found
in many Latin American coun-
tries.
Finally, if you have summar-
ily dismissed all of this as a
neat rationalization of inaction,
you stand as an example of my
first point above. Indeed, this is
anything but. It is a challenge
far greater and more taxing,
because it demands maturity,
thoughtfulness, and your lives,
not just shocking adjectives
and arbitrary statements and
accusations.
JOHN W. FREEMAN
Department of
Space Science
Marsh denies Czech-Viet Parallel
To the editor:
Well, here we go again with
another year of mindless slop
from the Thresher. Considering
the high intellectual standards
set for admission to Rice, one
wonders where the editorial
staff comes from.
Consider the two articles
"Balance of Power" by Tran
Van Dinh and "Jeeps roll into
the loop" by Dennis Bahler, in
the Sept. 12 issue.
Dinh, a Vietnamese author,
tries to make an analogy be-
tween the U.S. intervention in
Vietnam and the Soviet inva-
ston of Czechoslovakia. He
made these parallels:
# The Soviets say they were
invited at the request of loyal
Czech officials, and the U.S.
excuse is just as flimsy. The
present Saigon government,
whatever its faults, does con-
trol about 70r/o of the people
and 50c/c of the land of South
Vietnam. It has an army of
750,000 men loyal to the gov-
ernment; It has had a very
democratic (by Southeast Asian
standards, remember) election
in which 55' \ of the populace
voted, (85f, r of the qualified
Social sci profs
express criticism
of Pitzer write up
To the Editor:
We feel compelled to write
you in regard to the article in
your September 12 issue, en-
titled "Pitzer goes to greener
pastures." The article evokes
in us mixed feeling of embar-
rassment, shame, and resent-
ment.
A good part of the article
may be described as neutral
description, but its general tone
is adverse criticism. The article
contains no statements what-
ever in appreciation of the ef-
forts and successes of Kenneth
Pitzer.
He gave to this university
seven years of very hard and
extremely useful service. If
this article constitutes a mes-
sage of farewell to him, let us
state that we regard it as
shamefully unfair.
Perhaps the most remarkable
attribute of the article is that
it can find so very little about
which to complain.
EDWARD NORBECIv
MARY ELLEN GOODMAN
Department of
Anthropology and Sociology
voters participating. There are
nationalistic opposition parties
in the South Vietnamese par-
liament. To compare this to
the Czech situation is nothing
short of ridiculous.
9 Dinh says that the U.S.
argument of fulfilling SEATO
pact alliances is just as poor
as Soviet argument for War-
saw pact obligations. Both these
alliances are only good for for-
eign invasion. The U.S. says
that North Vietnam has invaded
South Vietnam, with a current
rate of infiltration of 12,000
men per month, approximately.
There are eight howitzers and
rockets, of the regular North
Vietnamese army currently in
South Vietnam. The Soviet
argument utilizing the Warsaw-
pact is not one of internal sub-
version, but of invasion by the
West German army, which it
said was about to invade the
Sudetan again.
^ Dinh says that parallel
arguments about domino theories
in both East Europe and South-
east Asia are both incorrect.
Because of having to guard the
Ho Chi Minh trail, there are
currently -1 divisions of the
North Vietnamese arm;, in
Laos. How many Czech di ■{■■
sions were trying to guard the
Polish Corridor to the Baltic?
9 Dinh predicts that both
promises of the Superpowers'
armies to pull back once the
threat is gone are lies. Here
he is correct. For instance, the
U.S. still maintains two divi-
sions in South Korea, where,
you will recall, we recently had
an incident involving a naval
vessel on the high seas, and
ROK president Park was nearly
assassinated by a team of crack
commandos of the North Korean
army.
We probably will not with-
draw completely from South
Vietnam any time in the next
thirty years, but then neither
will the North Vietnamese.
Dinh says that the level of
support among the Czechs i>
equivalent to support for Amer-
icans among South Vietnamese
natives. Statistical data prove
Dinh to be completely wrong,
but I think Dinh was going by
the maxim, "The bigger the lie.
the more it will lie believed."
I got my data from Herman
Kahn, head of the Hudson Ins-
titute, which did a r a t h e r
thorough analysis of this situ-
ation in Vietnam.
0 Finally, Dinh states tl\at
the U.S. is trying to maintain
l See MARSH on pntre li
the rice thresher, September 19, 1968—page 3
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Bahler, Dennis. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 19, 1968, newspaper, September 19, 1968; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245035/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.