■ ‘Slider’ Cleavant Derricks
shows versatility and potential
in hisalbum‘Beginnings’
By Aaron Shakra
forthe Emerald
When an established actor turns
to a career in music, there’s a certain
stigma attached to whatever he or
she creates. While Jennifer Lopez or
Keanu Reeves can use music as
leverage for their stardom, many
other “low-profile” actors’ attempts
at musicianship are usually per
ceived as overindulgent celebrity
tripe, then promptly laughed away
to the used CD bin faster than any
one can say Marky Mark.
Perhaps this is the reason that the
present-day Cleavant Derricks re
mains shrouded in such obscurity.
In late 1999, the “Sliders” star and
Tony-award winning actor turned to
a musical career and released his de
but album “Beginnings.” Now, near
ly two years after its release, the mu
sician and album remain largely
unknown and unheard.
Derricks’ role on “Sliders” pro
vides some interesting context for
his turn to music, because during his
five years on the series, he portrayed
a Motown soul singer named Rem
brandt “Crying Man” Brown. Rem
my’s song repertoire included
“Tears On My ’Fro” and “Cry Like A
Man, ” and it’s clear that some of his
influence has carried over into “Be
ginnings.”
That influence is not dominant,
however, On “Sliders,” Derricks
simply sang the songs, whereas
on “Beginnings” he is responsible
for both the music and lyrics
(along with the help of Aaron
“Vain” Jones, who collaborated
with Derricks on a few of the
tracks and contributed one of his
own). The result is music ground
ed in R&B and soul traditions.
Yet labels or genres shouldn’t de
termine the demographic of the lis
tener, because Derricks’ singing has
an inherent beauty transcending all
musical boundaries. His greatest
strength lies in his ability to reveal
his perspectives with honesty and
heart. Even in “Better Get Off Of Me”
—lyrically the most straightforward
track — the inflection of his voice
makes it an absolute joy to listen to,
especially toward the end of the cho
rus, when he warns “You better. ”
The album opens with “Cruisin’
L.A.,” which faithfully creates a bit
tersweet, sentimental mood for life’s
simpler moments, such as the seem
ingly endless freedom of driving
with no given destination while
one’s favorite music is on the stereo.
The listener can appreciate some
of the music’s underlying themes
without even having to hear the
songs. His portrait on the album cov
er is an expressive summation of
“Beginnings” intentions: Serious yet
humorous, sentimental yet relevant,
honest while remaining downright
bad-ass. The cover photo seems to
portray a natural Derricks expres
sion and is likely from a photo ses
sion that consisted of no more than
30 seconds of studio time.
The highlight of the album is
“Pain In the Walls,” in which Der
uigciiuy waus, v,augm in a
habit/Searching for truth/Price of
admission/The cost of your youth.”
Later, in a manner reminiscent of the
Brian Eno/David Byrne album “My
Life In The Bush Of Ghosts,” a pos
sessed Derricks yelps, “Help me
somebody!” — reflecting his desire
for listeners to hear his message that
it’s “allnot lost.”
Rather than including any “Slid
ers” staples (likely in high demand
from the fans of the series), Derricks
has wisely chosen to distance him
self from his signature role. Instead,
he speaks about Rembrandt Brown
from the third-person perspective in
the reflective “Remmy’s Slide.”
While these days it’s not unusual
to hear many popular songs consist
ing entirely of loops, sampling and
overdubs, such concepts aren’t in
herently bad. The production team
of Gail Johnson, Aaron “Vain” Jones
and Peter Love make use of such
techniques, giving the music a full,
emotional sound to support Der
ricks subtly, without overpowering
him. The sampling mostly consists
of live instruments; horn, wa-wa
guitar and bass abound. When
there’s a drum machine, it’s used
sparingly and tastefully.
Derricks’ Web site (www.cder
ricks.com) indicates that he em
braces all forms of music. Whether
“Beginnings” is (as the name in
tends) the first in a series of albums
from Derricks remains to be seen,
but a proclaimed willingness to ex
periment and expand beyond set
genres and divisions is probably one
of the most exciting things any new
musician could indicate. “Begin
nings” is a superb start, and Der
ricks’ mission as a musician has
seemingly limitless potential.
Aaron Shakra is a freelance reporter
forthe Oregon Daily Emerald.
Resolution
continued from page 1
The resolutions, and the ideolo
gies behind them, seem to be gain
ing momentum nationwide as leg
islative appropriations shrink.
Schools in the Atlantic Coast Con
ference and the Western Athletic
Conference are considering compa
rable proposals.
Backers of the resolutions, like
University of Oregon English pro
fessor James Earl, are quick to
point out they are not “just a
bunch of nerds who don’t like
football.” Rather, Earl said, they
are interested in slowing the rap
id growth of athletic programs be
cause the programs are detracting
from the educational mission of
higher education.
“The path that we are now fol
lowing ... already has lead to a
growing sense among members of
the public — and even members of
the community — that athletic suc
cess is the main goal of too many
institutions of higher learning,”
Myles Brand, Indiana University
president, said in a speech to the
National Press Club. “We must get
off that path. We must make certain
that academic concerns are first
and foremost. To do that, we don’t
have to turn off the game. We just
have to turn down the volume.”
One way to turn down the vol
ume is to limit corporate exposure
in college sports by reducing the
number of pauses in games for
commercials and by scaling back
the number of logos displayed by
athletes and coaches, resolution
backers say.
But University of Oregon Athlet
ic Director Bill Moos said reducing
corporate revenue for college teams
would trim funding that athletic
departments depend on.
“Institutions have continued to
lessen their degree of funding for
intercollegiate athletics programs,”
Moos said. “That has forced us to
be innovative in finding ways to
fund our programs. (Corporate
sponsorships) have become a major
portion of the funding model for in
tercollegiate athletics.”
Another demand of the resolu
tion is for universities to rescind
. athletic subsidies in order to con
trol the “arms race” of athletic facil
ity building on college campuses —
and thereby force athletic depart
ments to live within their means.
The University of Oregon Senate
recently agreed to such an arrange
ment with intercollegiate athletics.
“Faculty everywhere are of a sin
gle mind on this issue,” said Earl,
an original planner of the Pac-10
joint resolution. “The most impor
tant thing I’d like to make clear to
the public — including students
and fans — is that they understand
faculty are not opposed to college
athletics, per se. We just want to
slow the growth in the future. ”
Earl said there is a growing di
chotomy between athletics and aca
demics that must be bridged, begin
ning with students and student
athletes. The resolutions also sug
gest that academic support systems
for athletes, such as tuition waivers
and tutors, be integrated into
schoolwide efforts.
“I don’t agree with that,” Moos
said. “Student athletes have a lot
more demands on their time than
normal students. There are excep
tions — there are students that
work and non-traditional students
— but with plans and practice time
and other parts, a student athlete’s
life is different than that of the ordi
nary student.”
Jon Sanders, a policy analyst for
The Pope Center for Higher Educa
tion Policy in Raleigh, N.C., said
many groups — including “aca
demic purists” and “feminists” —
have pushed athletic reform ideas
for years. But that probably doesn’t
mean much to athletic conferences
near the southeastern comer of the
country, he said.
“I think it would face an extraordi
narily tough road,” Sanders said.
“There are so many people out there
not involved in a university—alum
ni, supporters — who enjoy the
games and don’t care to be bothered
with the issues behind them. That’s
not just to blame them. College athlet
ics drives a lot of revenue for colleges,
especially successful ones.”
Pac-10 presidents examined the
athletics resolution and have said
that while they believe in the via
bility of the athletic system, they
also said the problem of the “arms
race” would be addressed.
Earl said reforming athletics poli
cies will take a substantial amount
of time, but after talking with Uni
versity of Oregon President Dave
Frohnmayer, he said the resolution
is high on Frohnmayer’s list of pri
orities.
“We’re in the middle of a big
campaign for a stadium and have a
team on the way to one bowl or an
other,” Earl said. “It’s not the time
for expressing these differences of
opinion.”
Eric Martin is a higher education reporterfor
the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at ericmartin@dailyemerald.com.
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