Concerts

People's Symphony

At Music Hall Sunday Oct. 19

     The members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra--fast becoming known as the "People's Symphony"--produced and promoted their own concert October 19th at historic Music Hall downtown, making good on their promise to provide the people of Detroit with excellent European symphony music even during their protracted strike against the Orchestra's management (see our last issue).

     The rebel production generated an emotional undercurrent which charged both the Orchestra and the audience throughout the afternoon, creating a very soulful setting for some highly spirited playing by the crack 96-piece ensemble.  The appearance of the legendary Walter Poole a member of the DSO tor 43 years until his retirement in 1970, and its Associate Conductor and leader starting in 1952--at the head of the Orchestra for a vigorous conducting performance pushed the love and feeling level in the beautiful hall even higher.  Rising out of such a perfect setting, the music could hardly be less than majestic in its execution and impact, and the almost completely full house had the intense pleasure of a stunning musical experience.  It was this jaded observer's first symphony concert in life, thus my impressions are strictly those of one who merely "knows what he likes in music"; but I'm a sucker for feeling, and this performance fairly glowed with it.  And the thrill of the music was delightfully heightened by one's continual rushes of glee at the sight of this magnificent collection of "inside" musicians doing such a totally outside thing as mounting their own full-scale symphony concert production, on their own initiative, time and money--and just plain doing it to death, in the popular phrase of another idiom.

     I must confess that the playing of Mssrs. Gordon Staples on lead violin and Italo Babini on lead cello--featured in the Brahms Concerto in A Minor for Violin and Cello, and under the inspired baton of Bro. Poole--constituted an especial treat; their virtuosity, and the energy of their approach, were truly exhilarating.  It was also a gas to dig the Orchestra catch a kind of creaky Germanic groove in sections of the Brahms work.  Staples and Babini came back for an encore--unaccompanied duet--before the intermission and cooked like crazy on their own.  Bravo, gentlemen, bravo!

     The second half of the concert featured the lovely Nocturnes by Debussy, in which the playing of Ms. Treva Womble on English horn was particularly outstanding and Les Preludes of Liszt, who is played by Roger Daltry of The Who in the new Ken Russell movie, Liszt-o-Mania.  In concert Liszt was as exciting as the rest of the performance had been, and the crowd would not let the concert end without a couple of encores.  Maestro Walter Poole made an impassioned plea from the stage for support of the DSO, stating, "It would be scandalous to let this magnificent orchestra go by the boards. . . I worked 20 years to help make this orchestra what it is today, and I take [the lock-out by management] as a personal affront."  As indeed, so should music-loving citizens of our fair city.  An excellent production, and congratulations and best wishes all around.                       --JS

The Chi-Lites and Al Hudson

     Henry's Cocktail Lounge, a large, well-managed nightclub in the classic tradition located in the Fenkell Avenue entertainment strip on Detroit 's West Side, has scored heavily in the past few months by bringing popular singing acts like the Dells to solidly packed houses.  October's double booking of the Chi-Lites with Detroit's own Al Hudson & the Soul Partners for successive weekends was another smashing success at the ticket office, and the music was extremely tasty as well.

     Chicago 's finest foursome opened sans singer Marshall Thompson and half the horn section, all three of whom were out with fatigue and the flu after six grueling weeks touring England.  (They landed in the U.S. Tuesday and opened at Henry's the next day.)  The Dynamic Sound Orchestra ("better known as the DSO"), the Chi-Lites' crack backing unit, suffered somewhat as a result of the missing saxophone and trumpet, but their extra efforts in the pinch combined with the super-smooth showmanship of the three remaining front men to give new life to the old adage, "the show must go on."

     A veteran performing outfit specializing in the elegant, soulfully silky sound, the Chi-Lites slid through their graceful routines without a visible hitch despite Thompson's unexpected absence, a catastrophe which would have forced a less skillful group to cancel the whole trip.  The SRO crowd sent out kind of an uneasy vibe, only natural after laying out the $7.00 per person cover charge, but the indomitable Chi-Lites managed to overcome it with their impeccable readings of their favorites, "Have You Seen Her," "You Got to Be the One," "Undercover," "You Got Me Going Out of My Mind," and their current Brunswick/Dakar 45, "It's Time."

     Al Hudson & the Soul Partners opened beautifully with short but stirring sets.  Al's red three-piece outfit matched his hot attack on "Bad Luck," Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long," and a gospel-based testimonial to the Power of Love which brought into play guitarist Dave Robinson's sexual relationship with his amplifier and his double-necked guitar, much to the amusement of the crowd.

     The fare may be heavy, at $7.00 per, but the intimacy and the excitement of major entertainers in a nightclub setting makes gigs like these a better musical and entertainment bet than shelling out the same bucks for a concert ticket to Cobo or Olympia.  Plus you can get a taste from the bar while you're digging the music, which is often very pleasant indeed.  Henry runs an excellent major-league club, and he is to be commended for his adventurous booking policy.  Keep 'em coming!                      --JS

Sam & Dave

At Ethel's Lounge Oct. 24-26

     Soul shouters Sam & Dave are back on the scene with their rhythm & blues machine, and if their weekend stand at Ethel's Lounge, the popular eastside blues palace, is any indication, the dynamic duo is headed straight back to the top of the deck.

     Backed by Chapter 8, an exceptionally tight and hard-rocking seven-piece Detroit unit, Sam & Dave socked out numbers old and new in a fast-paced, beautifully performed set which had the whole room--particularly the young women--shouting and screaming their approval.  The male-chauvinist anthem "I Take What I Want (And I Want You)" was convincingly delivered, and the emotional ballad "Something Is Wrong With My Baby" received a particularly effective reading by each of the powerful vocalists in turn.

     The Memphis soul partners developed their hard-hitting two-headed act over a decade ago and rode it to top-of-the-line fame behind a string of hit recordings for Stax Records.  Produced by Isaac Hayes & David Porter, Sam & Dave's high-energy smash singles included the r&b masterpieces "(I'm A) Soul Man" and the incomparable "Hold On I'm Coming," both featured to excellent advantage in their current show.  The musical freshness and the continuing emotional vitality of these works is a joy to behold as the very up-to-date Sam & Dave make them sound like they're coming out on record next week rather than ten years ago.

     At the height of their first success as one of Stax Records' roster of soul stuper-stars in the middle and late 60's, Sam & Dave made the unfortunate decision to split up and try it on their own.  This course of action leading only downhill, the two came together again some four years ago ("I remember it was just before King Curtis got killed, because he kind of helped put us back together at that time," Dave recalled), and they've been on the comeback trail ever since.  Now recording for United Artists (their new LP, just released, is called Back at Cha) and working out in clubs and concerts from New York to California, Sam & Dave have stiII got what it takes to turn an audience upside down, and it was certainly a treat to get to hear and see them in the spacious, well-appointed showcase that is Ethel's.  M.C. Gip "Sandman" Roberts was his usual frolicsome self, cracking up the crowd between sets, and another word must be said in behalf of the excellent backing provided S & D) by the Chapter 8 band, which is made up of Rick Means (vocal), Mike Powell (guitar) Tommy Hites (keyboards), David Washington (bass), Derek Dirkson (drums), Tim Allison (trumpet), and the dangerous "D.D." on alto saxophone.  Means was outstanding in the band's feature spots, and drummer Dirkson kicked like crazy all through the show.  All in all, an exceptional evening's entertainment.        --JS

Rod Stewart & The Faces

At Cobo Hall Oct. 21-22

     They strutted on stage to a tape of "The Stripper," said their hellos, and slammed into a perfectly raucous version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee."  From the first minute until the very last, Rod Stewart and The Faces rocked like a band with something left to prove.  Three or four tunes into the show, Rod looked out over the sea of faces that nearly filled Cobo Hall and explained, "We're one of the last rock 'n roll bands.  We have to work harder."  And work they did, with large measures of power, raunch, and elegance.  Detroit got its money's worth Wednesday night.

     First of all, there are the Faces themselves, an absolutely impeccable band whose strongest members are drummer Kenny Jones, boogie pianist lan McLagan, and fresh back from his tour with the Rolling Stones, lead guitarist Ron Wood, a rhythmic player in the utilitarian and effective Chuck Berry tradition.

     Additional thrills came our way from the Tower of Power horn section, who added precise horn punch, and from fifteen members of what seemed to be the Detroit Symphony Orchestra violin section who lent that touch of satin to "Sweet Angel" and a wonderful Sam Cooke medley, "Bring It On Home To Me"/"You Send Me."

     My only reservations concern why a band with the taste and unashamed roots of The Faces would allow a monstrocity like "U.F.O." to open for them instead of any of the numerous, capable, local bands who play out of the same tradition that they (The Faces) do; and why Rod and the boys, supposedly the very soul of geniality, refused to acknowledge the Detroit energy that fed them that night and do more than their one encore.  People were on their seats and in the aisles dying for more, but this band finally lacked the class to give a crumb more than was professionally required.  A sad, graceless finish to what was otherwise a transcendent rock celebration.

                               --Bill Adler