‘Briefcase’

full of

good times blues

by Pico Brown

The Blues Brothers:
full of Blues

Produced by Bob Rischler for
Atlantic Records

This premiere album by the
Infamous “Saturday Night Live”
duo is a successful hybrid of
commercial gimmickry and
classic American art, While not
particularly a precious gem for the
hard-core blues person, it nonethe
less is tight, blues-based music.
It’s good clean fun to listen to.

Props and commercial frivolity
notwithstanding, Joliet Jake Blues
and Elwood Blues prove that they
can deliver the goods when
necessary. Jake's vocals are none-
tooreloquent, or even tonal, yet he
growls and snarls and yelps
enough to create a nasty penchant
for Jim Beam and Chesterfields in

Briefcase

crack you up) The blues tunes are
all very smooth and boppin‘ but
there is a strange homogeneity
about them which I think is due to
Tom Scott's horn arrangements,

INDEED. THOUGH. the hlgh
level of musicianship is probably,
along with the Brothers’ knack for
entertainment. the most enjoyable
trait of the album, ,The rhythm is
tight, the Solos kick for the most
part, and the arrangements are
good, though somewhat cliched.

The choice of material which
appears here is probably par for
the course as far as the brothers
are concerned. Profundlty is
deiinitely out the window “Hey
Bartender,” in which Jake relates
the high points of a night he spent
at the bar gettin' hammered, or
even “I Don't Know," Where he
slaps some sense into his uppity

Briefcase’ is tight, blues-based,

and good clean fun to listen to.

those who take in his back—alley
ballads regularly.

ELWOOD 0N BLUES harp
takes some shakin’ and stretchin’
breaks, but truthfully is not any-
thing splendiferous. But together.
their stage presence on this live
album is overwhelmingly even
through the grooves.

The cuts are almost exclusively
blues oriented, The exceptions are
“Soul Man” (their AM hit-not as
strong as the others). The Reggae
oriented “Groove Me” and
“Rubber Biscuit” (an old R5113
number in which Elwood’s chor-
tling and nonsensical rambling will

girlfriend, illustrate the con-
centration on the plastic side of life
which in its satire is about as
serious as they dare get.
Remember, they still have the
“Saturday Night Love" crowd to
wreak spasms of mirth from.

BRIEFCASE FULL of Blues,
then, is about as fun an album as
one can buy right now. There is
something about the blues which
excites unconscious. repressed.
primeval .. emotions The Blues
brothers might not bring these
feelings loaming to the surface, but
they might coax them to the fore a
bit, And a shot oi Jim Beam
wouldn't hurt, either.

 

has

No weekend surcharge.

the Atlantic.

You don’t
have to shop around.
Icelandic

You’ve heard a lot about fares to Europe, but none oi
them can compare with the one you've just found.

Icelandic 5 14745 day APEX fare from Chicago to
Luxembourg ISJust $295 roundtrip Tickets must be booked
and paid for 30 days In advance. Fare subject to change.

You'll get free wine with your dinner, free cognac
afterwards and excellent friendly service all the way across

We’ll take you to Luxembourg, right in die heart of
Europe, where you'll be just hours away by train or car from
. almost all of Europe’s most famous landmarks.

the

The Scarlet it Black, Fchl g 1919 page 5

 

. open space

Mideast views in lectures

by David Elatt and
Lori Anne Llewelyn / ,

The 1979 Rosenfield Lectures promise to be an
event of great interest and significance for the
campus community. The topic for this ywr‘s lec-
tures. “The Middle East After Camp David,” will
be discussed on February 15 and 16 by three
scholars distinguished in foreign policy and the
Middle East,

On Thursday night, Professor Amos Perlmutter,
formerly of Harvard and now editor of The Journal

of Strategic Studies and a professor of political
science and sociology at American University, will
speak at 8 pm. Perlmutter, who holds dual UlS.~
Israeli citizenship, will be followed by Professor
Fouad Ajami, a Lebanese Arab who is now teaching
political science at Princeton.

ON FRIDAY NIGHT professors Ajami and
Perlmutter will be joined by professor Richard
Ullman, who currently edits Foreign Policy and
plans to return to a teaching post at Princeton
University in the fall. Ulln-lan's introductory
remarks will be followed by rejoinders from Ajami
and Perlmutter and questions from the audience.

The debatediscussion format becomes especially
interesting because Ajami and Perlmutter have
different views. interests, and perspectives on
crucial Middle East' issues, Perlmutter .ls..more
oriented towards militaryrstrategic issues and the
role of power and diplomacy. Ajami’s specialty is
on the socioeconomic aspects of the situation.

Perlmutter, who has very close ties with the
leading figures in Israeli politics, has been skeptical
about the prospecm for a quick, overall peace

Scott McMurray

settlement. He notes that the Israelis are still
adamantly opposed to a Palestinian state and are
very suspicious of the Arabs’ peace initiatives.

He describes Prime Minister Begin and his chief
advisers as militantly dedicated to Israel’s
security; he says, “The Prime Minister’s precon-
ceptions were iormed four decades ago, For nearly
40 years, M achem egin has not changed his
asential pos ion, mod ied his beliefs. or wavered
in his commitment and dedication to the cause of
‘Eretz Yisrael‘ (land of lsraell.”

AJAMI, RECENTLY returned from Cairo,
describes the domestic situation in Egypt as rapidly
deteriorating, in some ways paralleling the
situation in Iran, He is concerned with the domestic
difficulties of the Arab states and with their
relations with each other. He tends to see the Arab
states as less of a united bloc than does Perlmutter.

Both scholars emphasize the importance of the
United States' role in the Middle East peace
process. Also, they both stress the importance of
recognizing perceptual biases and ideological pre-
judices. As Ajami says, “Arabs and Israelis, we
must come to realize, cannot defeat one another for
the simple fact that they are, to a great extent, not
at war with one another. The Israelis are still
fighting the Nazis . ; Arabs are still at war with
the Crusaders, the Mongols, the Ottomans, the
British, the French . . . ."

THE FORMAT 0F these lectures and the
qualifications of the lecturers are uniquely suited to
deal with the issues oi the multi- aceted and com-
plex Middle East situation. The i_ action between
Profmsors Ajami and Perlmutter can vide new

- insights into why the peace négotiatiohs started at

Camp David have stalled so abruptly.

Is the setback related to the domestic climats in
Israel and Egypt, to outside forces, or to the per-
sonalities of the leaders? What effect has the tur-
moil in Iran and Lebanon had on the prospects for
peace in the Middle EastT‘Will this regional in
stability make President Sadat more desperate or
more cautious? In what ways does the United

\States trade in, oil and ,arms complicate the

situation” And, finally, what'should’ be. the.United
States policy towards the Israelis and the Arabs?
ttyou are interested in learning more about

' rotessors Ajami, Perlmutter, and Ullman and

their views on the Middle East situation, a selection
of their books and articles are on display in Burling
Library.

Death . . . and a new lifé‘l“

Two weeks ago I wrote a column
suggesting candidates to replace
President Turner. The column

1,500 Vietnamese “boat people”

into the state to settle. Both pro
and can were vehement.

were treating each other.
What he found was a different
story, The host countries were

 

L__—.____._—————_

Seats are limited. so don't
waste any more time hunting.
You've already found the
best bargain of them all.

Sec your travel agent or contact the Puffin nuarcsl on or write Dept
» (2'39 5, Icelandic Airlines, in s. Michigan Ave ‘hirupo, IL 60603.
Orcall300-555-1212furthclullrtrec numbtr In your area

Please send me more information on
El Low Cost Fares E] Eunipcan Tours El Alpine sktTours

NAME

ICELANBI

LS ybnisoikiwair tare. In t; Jpc

l‘ _¥

|
|

|

. __ |

ADDRESS l
l

l

|

l

p’
Ferraro...

 

__.._...1.,l.

was, I thought, light-hearted and
meant no harml

Nelson Rockefeller was listed as
the first male choice for the job.
The night the column appeared.
Rocky died i wasn't exactly
shocked, but i did think it was poor
timing. Anyway, it started a
morbid train of associations
concerning the power of voodoo,
name-dropping, the Press, and
death as representative of our
greying end oi the twentieth
century.

THE NEXT MORNING and the
letters section of the Des Moines
Register served as a tonic for my
depression. The letters were
almost all concerning the Emperor
of Iowa’s decision the is still called
Governor In the Press) to allow

The letters section of the
Register is generally a pretty good
indicator as to what ‘Middle
America is thinking, so I was
pleasantly surprised to see the pros
in the majority, Most of them
avoided the loaded question of
America’s debt to the people oi
Southeast Asia. Instead, they
argued that unless you were a

Native American iwhich the cons,

rather obviously were not), then
you came here on a boat, too, so
fair is fair.

TIIE EMPEROR MADE his
decision after watching a CBS
Special Report called “The Boat
People" Ed Bradley was CBS’s
alerrnerican reporter. clad in blue
Adidas and jeans as he set out to
find how those ruthless Asians

PUB CLUB

Monday-Thursday 1:00 p.ll|.\—l:l5 am.
Friday 4:00 pom—1:45 am.
Saturday 6:30 p.ln.—I:45 u m._

HAPPY HOUR
4 putt-6:30 pm.

(9

Patrons rh'usi be 18 yrs.~old before‘July 1. 197a

handling the difficult situation as
best they could Other countries
had already come and gone with
their quota of refugees. g

BUT IT WAS the U.s., dragging
its jogging shoeclad feet. that was
exacerbating the situation, The
program ended with Ed on Ellis
island, Statue of Liberty in the
background. i don't remember his
exact Words, since he tends to
mumble into his heard when being
dramatic, but the final image said
it all,

I watched the show, too, and was
flatteredthat I have the same taste
in programming as the future Vice-
President of the US. (He has no
male heirs, you see. so there is
nothing to be gained from
remaining Emperor much
longer) I was also glad that a man
in office would use his power
altruisticallyithere is no political
gain in liberal actions at the
moment or in the foreseeable
future—arid make the eilort to give
1,500 “boat people" a new liie,

To end this column on a lighter
note (honestly), I can’t resist in-
dulging in one last bit of name-
dropping. come what may. You
see, my previous column was
edited due to last minute space
limitations, or so the editor assures
me. My “last and least” suggestion
for college president didnit appear -
:; imheqzapemltwasﬁichatdblmn. . . r , . ., .. s-

 

