cashbox talenton stag^ Stephen Stills & Neil Young Patti Smith THE ROXY. L A — In the beginning The street consciousness continued Poco Flo & Eddie there was the word. The means of ex- as her between song rap turned quickly pression. The tool of the poet. The vocal into a poetic duel with the audience. It way of the wise man and the fool. Then was being cute and barbed; spitting on - The came the mixing of media as the ele- the stage and drinking from a patron’s PAULEY PAVILION, UCLA home "the first car I ever had, and my last old of sight the scotch. theatrical naturalness. Planned of the UCLA Bruins basketball team lady” called "Long May You Run "; ments and sound and word A became the home of the almost-extinct Stephen did some quick-pickin' on was important but not quite as before. but not quite so. three-act-for-five dollars concert last Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" before But the word as prime mover came full A strong factor in favor of Patti's poetry Sunday night; the show started at ap- playing Fred Neil's "Everybody's circle last week at the Roxy as Patti approach to music came out in the pro- light " forth with jection of lyrics their of proximately 8:15 p.m. and lasted until Talkin'. After commenting that he Smith gave the best argument her as speed in for the ten flow for instant comprehension nearly 2 a m. The house was packed to wished he'd written the song, he played the world thousand words allowed fully being worth more than a picture. as instantly formed tales took the near its 10.000 seat capacity and with so much feeling the result was as if Patti Smith's very being is rock and roll spotlight only to be nudged aside in 95% of the audience (average age ap- he actually had written it. in the most poetic sense. During the favor of the next. It was as if mass com- proximately 20) stayed glued to their Stephen Stills was lambasted a few course of her set she force-fed a steady munication had been instantly reduced seats for the musical marathon. Ten years ago for singing social and political stream of savage rock sound and street to a one on one level. years ago Flo and Eddie were Turtles, protest songs belong the sixties by conscious lyrical runs that drove home a Every once in awhile you get a feeling and later Mothers. Stephen Stills was critics who believed that contemporary lifestyle weaned on the consciousnessof about a performer and their chance for less than a year away from joining with music's social consciousness was re- Kerouac and the fire of Hendrix. success. It's the vibes or a chill at the Young, Furay, Messina and Dewey stricted to that decade: indeed we need Quickly evident in her performance base of your spine. In the case of Patti Martin to form Topanga's historic Buffalo it more in the complacent seventies than was a mid-sixties mentality and stance Smith it was a feeling of the past meeting Springfield. And a few years later we did then. In keeping with that. Stills that relied on the harshness and simplici- the present and auguring for the future. Messina and Furay joined with Rusty rededicated "Word Game" to presiden- ty of basic rock as a springboard for her For as Patti Smith left the stage a vis- Young and George Grantham to form tial aspirant Ronald Reagan (when writ- lyrical assault. Typical of this approach ion of influences made itself felt. It was Poco. Ten years later, today, the present ten it was dedicated to Spiro); "Can you was her interpretation of "Gloria" and the vestiges of Morrison and Hendrix incarnations of three of the finest groups imagine that turkey being president?" "Land Of Thousand Dances " as a driv- and Kerouac. They were looking down to emerge from the local canyons are, Another very short break preceded A ing ground gave way to desperate on The Roxy stage and smiling. with best apologies to Paul Simon, "still the last electric set, which Stills started snatches of thought. To Patti Smith it was This bitch poet was doing it right, creatin' after all these years." off with about two minutes of fed-back intensity. Express yourself or perish. m.s. It must be stated, however, that the guitar soloing, and with the advent of p.a. system s quality was also circa 1965; Jimi's birthday last week the solo was Iron Butterfly little bottom, muddled midranges, and probably an impromptu tribute to the im- too much treble made the vocals hard to mortal energy and spirit of Jimi Hendrix; Baby follow at times, except during the "Old Times. Good Times" live on every THE STARWOOD, L A. - Over the portive, but strong adjunct to the pro- acoustic songs. day. Immediately following was "The years the brute force aspect of rock and gressive goings on. Aside from the lack of vocal clarity, the Loner " from Young's first post-Spring- metal has been magnified as the major The long savored Iron Butterfly fallout concert ranks among the very best of the field solo album; Neil's fiercely intense appeal of the music to audiences. You and rock rain was presented in the driv- year, Stephen Stills headlined with his but tasteful leads were so high that past know the trip; volume plus seventy story ing antics of drummer Ron Bushy. backup band and special unannounced songs of junk and death were completely riffs over self-indulgent feedback equals Bushy's animated thumpings mirrored guest Neil Young took the stage with the left behind. "Turn Back The Pages" instant acceptance. In their "In A Gada the sweat stained persona of the rock group amidst tumultuous ovations; they followed and was introduced by Stills, as Da Vida" and "Unconscious Power" days drummer in its finest sense while provid- " opened with "Love The One You're "the single that nobody bought, The Iron Butterfly were often accused of ing a riveting net from which the music With " and followed immediately with Stephen Stills' beautifully paced con- such lava spewing but, at their recent played "; Iron Butterfly at "Johnny's Garden ". , , it's clean and it's cert closed with Flo and Eddie assisting Starwood gig, the latest incarnation The The Starwood ." that it is for to . possible a band quiet/only trouble was I had to buy it. with vocal harmonies on "Suite: Judy showed that there's always been a was proof The band sounded tighter and more Blue Eyes" as the first encore, and as the method behind the madness. look musically backward and forward at coherently energetic than the Manassas never-say-die audience swayed under The Butterfly (an MCA spawn) relied, the same time. band a few years back and was excellent- the weight of 2 am. eyelids. Stills. this night, on a strong mixture of blast Proving a non-stop show opener were ly complemented by Young; though he Young, Flo and Eddie were joined by the furnace riffing and alternafing keyboard rock and roll's answer to hit and run. was not fully rehearsed, to say the least band for an acapella "Find The Cost Of runs to turn in a set that ran down pro- Baby. Baby (a Mercury carnivore) laid Neil was quite familiar with the music, Freedom.” gressive alleyways while maneuvering in down an aggressive rock assault as the results riffs colliding "This is the new Buffalo Springfield!" Opening tor Stills was Poco, which some classic power stances. better of were much Stills exclaimed as he and Young after a few personnel changes since The backbone of the band's rock in evidence. A solid base of Texas blues solid for a continuous ex- launched an electric version of "Wooden formation in early 1969 has maintained musculature centered around the in- was mortar teraction between lead guitarist Erik ercise in glass shattering raunch. Baby: Ships." We have heard it was there that and improved upon the high-quality Bill De the byproduct of being raised on rock Stills (playing a Gibson Firebird), Young vocal harmonics developed in those Braunn and keyboard man and roll. and Donny Dacus (both playing Gibson days; original member Rusty Young con- Martines, Both factions took turns at lead leapfrogging to a sup- m.s. Les Pauls) crystallized some of the best tinues to show why he is one of the very passages before guitar interplay we've heard since best - and one of the very first — pedal easy to take this night as an easy au- "Southern Man" from the Crosby, Stills, steel players in rock and roll. Tim Schmit Joe Stampley dience patter and some barbed ex- Nash and Young tour album " Four Way plays bass and his lead vocals and top- " changes with his band opened up some Street, end harmonizations are signature Poco. THE PALOMINO, L A - The more non-self-indulgent holes in the crowd’s Stills' backup band this time around Original Poco drummer George Grant- creative elements of country music have reception. was manned by Tubby Zeigleron drums, ham and Paul Gotten, who joined the gotten that way by incorporating a whole Joe Stampley at The Palomino showed Joe Lala on congas, timbales and percus- band in 1970, layer their backup with lot of foreign influences into the genre off the true potential of being creative sion. and George Perry on bass; both technical Poco excellence and the entire while maintaining a firm grip on all the and entertaining at the same time.