Oregon daily emerald., October 13, 1969, Page 8, Image 8

Rainier Pop Festival:
A crate
of Crackerjacks
A really educational exercise in contrast was performed Friday
night on the Mac Court stage, as the Rainier Pop Festival—a program
as full of surprises as a crate of Crackerjacks—unravelled with vary
ing degees of success before approximately 6,000 rowdy, restive
students.
The concert (which is what it was, Mad Ave euphemisms aside)
combined some moments of real delight with some distinct disap
pointments. F’rinstance:
Comedian Murray Roman, a former gag man for the now-defunct
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, presented a stale, stumbling mono
logue which embarrassed both performer and audience. But the many
technical difficulties which punctuated the evening—primarily dur
ing the performance of the Three Dog Night—provided a Theatre of
the Absurd type of comedy on some occasions.
Hout Axton, a remarkable folk singer best known for his rendition
of “The Pusher” in the film “Easy Rider,” earned a relatively cool
reception, augmented by heckling, during his brief stage appearance.
Later on, the audience positively flipped over Three Dog Night, a
decidely second-rate rock group.
The factor which appeared chiefly responsible for the program’s
shortcomings was that of timing. Roman was the first to come out,
and his topical hour was reasonably successful to begin with. But an
audience which was anxious to see the Ike and Tina Turner revue
cooled noticeably after the first few minutes, so that even the com
petent, easy-going artistry of Axton, high-lighted by the chilling
“Pusher,” to which his buzz-saw voice is perfectly suited, seemed
largely wasted.
A delay in the appearance of the Turners forced Roman back to
the stage, where he rapidly ran through the remainder of his material,
resorting to weak improvisation during a painful closing five minutes.
Fortunately, the arrival of the Turners turned out to be the eve
ning’s highlight. Backed by the rich, sophisticated syncopation of
brass and the tight supplemental harmonics of the curvaceous Ikettes,
Tina Turner’s hoarse, plaintive treatment of “Respect,” “River Deep,
Mountain High” and similar hits earned the audience’s undivided
attention for the whole of her performance.
The subtle emotional shading of this great lady vocalist were beau
tifully complemented by the eloquent, sinuous guitar playing of hus
band Ike, and by much exuberant, exacting choreography by Tina
and the Ikettes. Small wonder that the remarkable sexual honesty and
heart-felt expressiveness of Tina’s rich-timbred vocals and the con
summate musicianship of the Turner troupe combine to form a monu
ment in contemporary Black culture.
The Three Dog Night, as has been previously indicated, are another
trip entirely. It appears that the six members of this successful rock
group are selling little more than the fact that they can harmonize.
This is not, to my mind, anything to brag about, particularly when
the group’s all too obvious vocal and instrumental limitations (then
fine drummer excluded) produce no more variation than was evi
denced Friday. . . .. . „ ..
Were it not for a good choice of selections and the strong the
atrical element provided by the group’s three exuberant vocalists, the
Three Dog Night’s brand of music would have been pretty wearing.
And these are certainly the wrong reasons for enjoying an act which
is little more than a moderately entertaining sham. It may be that
the lack of discrimination which has shot the Three Dog Night to
the top of the nation’s record charts may ultimately contribute to
the much-forecast demise of rock.
McCall postpones cuts
in construction projects
Gov. Tom McCall has decided
to postpone cutbacks of Oregon
construction projects to see what
President Nixon does to federal
construction projects.
McCall addressed the State
Emergency Board Thursday and
released state agencies from a
two week agreement to hold up
letting of bids for projects ap
proved by the 1969 legislature.
He told the board Oregon is wil
ing to cooperate once federal off!
cials “get their facts in line.”
However, he speculated that
the proposed Nixon cutbacks
which would effect 75 per cent
of federally financed construe
tion projects, may not material
ize.
McCall said that if President
Nixon later follows through with
Larges* Selection
of PIPES and TOBACCOS
in the Northwest
MATTOX PIPE SHOP
135 East Broadway
the cuts, he will be forced to fol
low suit with state projects. If
McCall then chose not to cut
state projects, he told the board
Nixon could take away federal
funds and devastate state high
way construction projects.
Also released from the tempo
rary freeze of construction proj
ects is almost $1.4 million in
higher education projects.
McCall’s announcement stems
from President Nixon’s statement
of Sept. 4 to hold back 75 per
cent of federally financed con
struction projects. After a gov
ernor’s White House conference
McCall decided Oregon would fol
low Nixon’s plan by cutting state
projects by over 20 per cent.
Later his legal authority to
postpone legislature approved
projects was questioned by state
Senator Edward Fadeley (D
Eugene). Shortly before McCall’s
statement to the Emergency
Board, state Attorney General
Lee Johnson upheld McCall's au
thority to make such cutbacks or
postponements.
(German buco Semite
VOLKSWAGEN
Mercedes & Porsche
"Factory trained experts"
Guenter Schoener Across from Joe Romania
Ph. 343-2912 on Franklin Blvd.
Professor receives
award for dissertation
James Levine, assistant profes
sor of political science, has been
named the recipient of one of
the top awards of the American
Political Science Association.
Levine was cited for writing
the best doctoral dissertation of
1968. The award is given only
during those years when the as
sociation feels that an outstand
ing dissertation has been writ
ten.
His topic, researched while he
was a doctoral student at North
western University, was “The
Book Seller and the Law of Ob
scenity.”
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