Portland Observer Thursday. December 21, 1978 Page 5 £nitotíain/nent Gúdz by A lla n Jones RETROSPECT - JOAN ARMATRADING I l comes as a surprise to m any Black people that the Joan A rm a tra d in g they hear on the ra d io and read about is indeed Black. P art o f the problem is that A rm a tra d in g doesn't fit the standard r& b female singer m o ld . W h ile she's been com pared vocally to B illie H o llid a y and N ina Sim one, other w riters have likened her to Joni M itc h e ll and E lto n John. The s itu a tio n gets even m ore laughable when one notes th a t, as a g u ita ris t, she’ s been com pared to R ichie Havens and Jim i H e n d rix, because Joan A r ­ m a trading is one w om an w ho doesn't pose w ith a g u ita r; she p lays it as well as any m usician — B lack, w hite, male o r fem ale — aro u n d today. W h o is th is p ro u d and p riva te Black English w om an w ho has earned such c ritic a l praise at such a young age? H is to ric a lly . Joan A rm a tra d in g was b o rn December 9, 1950 in St. K itts in the West Indies. She and her five brothers and sisters moved to England when she was seven. H er earliest ch ild h o o d m em ory is “ seeing snow fa ll fo r the firs t tim e .” H er fa th e r d id not encourage her m usically. In fact, he even went to the lengths o f h id in g his g u ita r. She adm its that "m a y b e that was w hy I got so in ­ terested in m usic, a lth o u g h I was o rig in a lly interested in studying la w .” W hen her m other bought a piano she was assigned the task o f cleaning it. It w asn't long before she taught herself how to play it as well. W hen her m other traded in tw o o ld baby carriages fo r a g u ita r, earlier thoughts o f going in to law were dispelled forever and she made the decision to try m usic as a career. It is interesting that her firs t influences w eren’ t The Beatles o r The R o llin g Stones. Instead, she th rive d on Nat K in g Cole and Jim Reeves. (W hen one o f her old e r brothers heard her songs and persuaded her to sing at the local school, she q u ic k ly learned one Bob D ylan and one Paul Sim on song. " I ’ d never heard any o f th e ir music before th a t.” ) W hen a frie n d a u d ition e d fo r the L o n d o n C om pany o f " H a i r , ” she went along as a la rk. The frie n d d id n 't ge> hired but Joan did and she toured in the show fo r eighteen m onths. (She also composed on the pit piano when no one was a ro u n d .) She w rote songs fo r a year after the to u r ended, and, when she met Pam Nestor, the tw o decided to w rite together. In 1973, Joan recorded "W h a te v c r's F or U s” on E n g la n d ’ s C ube label. (A & M released it in the U .S .) It was an exciting firs t L P and the presence o f Gus Dugeon (E lto n Jo h n ’ s then-producer) served to draw a tte n tio n to what was already pro m isin g w o rk ; however, problem s w ith Cube resulted in no m ore records fo r eighteen months. The d iffic u ltie s ended when A rm a tra d in g met M ichael Stone, her manager. F o rm e rly associated w ith J im i H e n d rix and K andy N ew m an as a m usic publisher, Stone negotiated a release fro m Cube and a new contract was signed w ith A & M . Her record album “ Back T o The N ig h t” released in 1975 earned her a single h it (the title cut) and her firs t c ritica l recognition. It also marked the end o f w ritin g w ith N estor, though the tw o rem ain frie n d ly . The album made the to p ten list o f several English c ritic s and big things began to be expected o f Joan A rm a tra d in g . As her p e rfo rm in g grew m ore self-assured, her songs got better and her resolve to have her songs heard grew even stronger. The in te rp la y between talent and practice cu lm inated in " J o a n A rm a tra d in g ” w hich went gold in A u s tra lia , C anada, New Zealand and England. “ Sounds,” the B ritish pop m agazine, called it the best a lb u m o f 1976. A year la te r, "S h o w Some E m o tio n ” earned sim ila r p la u dits w o rld w id e . U n d e rta k in g her firs t in te r­ national to u r as a headliner, Joan played to 200.000 people in fo rty concerts, playing eight countries over a five -m o n th period. In recognition o f her accom plishm ents on stage, "P e rfo rm a n c e ” magazine named her I977's M ost P rom ising Female V ocalist. H er playing hasn't gone unnoticed e ithei. She's also w ritte n her firs t m ovie theme fo r the $18,000,000 film " T h e W ild Geese” and recently played to over 100,000 people supporting Bob D ylan at a L o n d o n concert. Success has m ade ve ry lit tle change in the basic Joan A rm a tra d in g . " B lo o m in ’ ’ is s till the extent o f her cursing. She doesn’ t smoke o r d rin k and has never taken drugs. O n stage, stieet clothes are s till the order o f the day and " je w e lr y ” is confined to the housckey that dangles fro m her neck. She is still fiercely protective o f her privacy. C om m enting on this p o in t, George A rth u r w rote in the Seattle P ost-lntelligencer, " I f privacy is w h a t's needed fo r her ar tis try to flo u ris h , i t ’ s a sm all price to p a y.” In her H a m p to n W ick home, she is content to " b e boring like everybody else at ho m e .” She likes to draw cartoons, collects antique autos and clocks, an cient B ritish com ic books and is cu rre n tly on an A gatha C h ristie kick She also finds tim e to expand m usically and is cu rre n tly studying both the clarinet and m a n d o lin . As always she writes songs. Despite critica l acclaim , record sales and bankable box o ffic e , Joan Ar m atrading remains unimpressed w ith herself. Some sample quotes . . . " I w rite a song. I listen to it. I f I d o n 't cringe, I keep i t ” . . . " I haven’ t much to say when it comes to w ritin g songs. I ’ m not te llin g anybody what to do o r how to run th e ir lives” . . . " I w rite about silly things and hope the lyrics d o n ’ t sound too ru b b is h y .” F o rtu n a te ly, others are less hard on Joan A rm a tra d in g than Joan A rm a tra d in g herself. M ost critics fin d her fo rm s o f m usical expression both d e lig h tfu l and p ith y . Sum m ing up an A rm a tra d in g evening, Rob Patter son o f " C irc u s ” declared, “ A fte r the spotlight is o u t, i t ’ s all been sa id .” '& U and 'Ticca S A F E W A Y by R u th Spencer M rs. Bernadette P lu m m e r and her daughter M rs. O lga Talley, returned December 8th fro m an exciting, in ­ te re s tin g and e d u c a tio n a l t r ip to M o s c o w a n d L e n in g r a d , R u ssia . They visited m any h isto rica l sites in ­ cluding the K re m lin . The to u r was sponsored by P o rt­ land State U n ive rsity. Russia is the la rg e st c o u n tr y in th e w o r ld . It covers m ore than h a lf o f Europe and nearly tw o -fifth s o f Asia. T om T urke vs T angerines Crisp Celery M r . C h a rle s P a tte rs o n (P a t), A u d ito r, D epartm ent o f Estates and Trusts, State Revenue D epartm ent is re tirin g December 28th a fte r 23 years o f service. Medium Size Sweet Celery. Wonderful Stuffed with Cream Cheese Sweet Algerian Zipper Skinned fruit. Favorite Stocking Staffer /-JL . . (Whita H w r ta it) © Poultry Stuff ¡ng «£. Fryer Gizzards rs s © C ooked Salad Shrimp © Fresh W hole Crabs © G ranny Smith Apples 4 9 ‘ Christmas P o in s e ttia s /* © Grapefruit ItMMu .2 9 * or M u m s ^ ^ © L a rg e Avocados s x 3 J 1 © -n ?» ©Lem ons or Limes 49‘ fancy Decorated ‘5 . 9 8 ^ 1 © Y e llo w Onions ©Brussels Sprouts T - © R e d Emperor Grapes © Baking Yams ancake Mix Butter Packed Fresh to Order Give a Gift of Fresh Fruit. Make your selection from 3 different size baskets, and we will pack it fresh far you. Shady lo n e Quarters JW Fkp. I (Kitchen Craft First 1-lb.Ctn. UT M a k e Your Own • • • tlfl (Additional at raguler price) mita M ix . . 3-lb. 7 9') \ z w z ia r/o /v i HGHTFR A c c o rd in g to th e U .S . C ensus Bureau, Black p o p u la tio n g ro w th in th e s u b u rb s in 1977 re a c h e d , 5,596,000 up 349?» since 1970. The t o t a l p o p u la tio n g ro w th in the suburbs reached 83,114,000 up I29?o since 1970. ha* * b « k a t kin in 3 lists ready far yaw ta make op yaar awn gif? pack. Jast Add Frail. , ^ M t* a n b e r r y Sauce umpkin Pie Tawn House Mrs. W right's Ir a w n A Serve IJ - o i . Pkg. ,* |< 16.01. Cans w (Tea >.»11« ©NiHa W afers © S o ft S affola R 11-ei *e 14k- Tut 69* 89* ©Cocktail Juice © F ru it Cocktail 49* ©Egg Hog © P ie Shells s2 ” *6” 69* 39* * Coconut ’" « S E T © M arshm allows ©Snack Crackers S X © N utm eg i.r-M. ’ 1” 39* 59* 89* © F ru it M ix 09 59« «»Napkins * Paper Towels l-RySStoHli 5 5 ‘ 4x79* «»Bath Tissue 1 Crew« C«l««y The genuine fluted Filters ta fit yaur Mr. Coffee Maker. $ Î if a Q Magicubes Sytroota • • 1 *•«* 48 SX 7 0 Film Itwwttt M u r Frtat Uta. »5” Flip Ftasb II P«4l E xtra Absorbant Crest cosi« Filters 0 1 ___ 1Ouuruntau» j <«0 SO- pr With Coupon Unit 8 Fr. U ..M , I ,Q 1 1 ) •1 4 S Board o f D irectors o f the C o lu m b ia - W illa m e tte Y M C A , to co m p lete the term o f E llis Casson. Sykes was a m e m b e r o f th e U r b a n S e rv ic e s C o m m itte e fo r o n e -a n d -a -h a lf years. A ,^re S W 9 8 Id«. 1 .4 1 R on Sykes, Sports E d ito r o f the O bserver, has been n am ed to the „ — at 8 »