Brooks Lear: Marat/Sada'
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PAGyE 6 TUESDAY,NOVEMBER 30,-1971 TMA Cd·TIIE TECH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - - -- -- -- I- --- remods .alscene. B Elton John i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Faces and RTS A Nod Is As Good As A to him. Whatever, the energy is Wink... To A Blind Horse there without resorting- to actual is The Faces (Warner Brothers) live tapes "such as those that- i 1971 wili have to go down as failed and marred Long Player oa Rod Stewart's year. Finally he to the infinite all-hell-breaking .' has gotten the widespread recog- loose ending which tends to the_amoa~ same1F4B I nition he has deserved for so grate, typical of "It's.AlA Over long, thanks to-Every Picture Now." i Tells A Story and "Maggie May" All told, an excellent album, ! playing on AM. Whether or Stewart is great, which is to be not it's worth becoming a -"pop" expected. Wood is a fine gui- star by going that route is ques- . tarist, shining-on the slide guitar tionable; nevertheless," Rod in "That's All You Need" (pos- Stewart has made it. It's a shame sibly the high point of the. rec- XE it took the listening public over ord), and Lane and Jones com- t~ie six albums and numerous prise a fine rhythm section. And i amazing concerts to realize just finally, McLagan's keyboards are what a genius Mr. Stewart is. more than just audible. There's a E! And so, we now have-A Nod lot of fine music on A Nod Is As Is As Good As A · Wink... To A Good As A Wink .. .To' A Blind E Blind Horse. It seems he alter- Horse, and it seems people will nates between "solo" records realize that the Faces are not the iF and those with the Faces, even burden on Rod Stewart many though the . personnel changes would have you believe; they are _B only slightly between them. one of the best rock bands After leaving the Jeff Beck around. _ Group around 1968 or 1969, Stewart teamed up with ex- Madman A cross -The.Water. Elton members of the group, Rod John (Uni) Wood and Mickey Waller, and There's something very eva- other friends and produced The sive, yet fascinating, about Elton .E Rod Stewart Album. Soon after, John's fourth album, which 'film: Stewart and Wood joined the makes it hard to pin down exact- remaining members of the Small ly what makes it his best yet. His Faces, Ron Lane and Ian music is of a fairly predictable Brooks Lear: Marat/Sada' McLagan and Kenny Jones, and structure, never varying terribly back-up by Searls the film itself is' the editing- experimentalism - a idramatic created First Step. Then the from John's piano, By David tici presumably "solo" classic Gaso- assorted drummers, guitarists, According to the synopsis in Brook cuts quickly from-scene analogue of modern-al t, perhaps FM line Alley, was' released, fol- bassists, and singers, and Paul the advance publicity for Peter to scene, but within the scenes - were it not for the fact that lowed in the summer of 1971 by Buckmaster's strings. The show- Brook's film version of King of the play,.as Shakespeare de- Brook positively cheat:~sIsthaeten, audi- _. the Faces' L-ong Player (they had manship he demonstrates live is Lear, the-reason that Cordelia lineated them. He seems to make ence out of the fithal scene. dropped the 'Small'). Every Pic- obviously not involved; even on does not profess her love for her a game of throwing even single Again, the setting is bbeautifullyBeautifully -ture was released and, as they his live record, 11-17-70, it only father like her sycophantic sis- lines into the most clever con- barren, but Brook se.ems-ems obli- render thle dramaa say, the rest is history. comes.throug h slightly. And the ters is that she is at a temporary text he can find, even if they gated to he drama .g, A Nod, released just last music is not even close to the "loss for words." Happily, talke but a few seconds of screen Daliesque because of fit:it: Lear i week, comes through as quite exciting rock 'n' roll of Brook does not seem to have time. He succeeds only in dis- and the dead Cordelia; are seen iniin A surprising. Ron Lane, while writ- "'Honky-Tonk Women" and read this particular synopsis, as tracting. a jarring ballet of qudcknick takes,takes, ing a song or two, has never "Bum Down The Mission" off the film itself starts off on a Gradually, an atnios- and Cordelia is eve-..-n shown=~shown done as much as on this album. the live recording. rather more motivated and es- phere descends on the play that standing, ghostlike, allIIof of whichwhnich e He wrote and sings three songs - It comes down to being sim- thetically auspicious note. is perhaps meant to reflect results in the total ddisembodi-lisemnbodi- i "You're So Rude,"' 'Last ply that everything fits in better Paul Scofield, the Man for A ll Lear's-madness - all the charac- ment of reality. The effect isis Orders, Please," and "Debris" - than before, and comes off as a Seasons, turns in a portrayal of ters become withdrawn, remote, fascinating, but it denliesiies allalil the~hnaiythe I all of which are in the humorous whole comprised of words, Lear that is at the same time and what they say, becomes not compassion, all the humanity.I l auto-biographical vein that has music, and presentation all as Wellesian and subtle - a syn- so important as how they say it, Were the audience m(oreo.e firmly come to characterize Wood- integral parts. In this sense, then, thesis.that is brilliance. In addi- and even appearance seems to ensconced in Lear's demented - the effect of all the pieces is a Stewart's work. The songs are tion, even the least of the sup- struggle through a delerium. But head, it might work: LSitISit is, it isis good, and tend .to lend cre- multiplied and strengthened. porting actors are more than -this is self-defeating, for Lear, only dismal. dence to Stewart's belief that all Bernie Taupin's lyrics seem bet- adequate. But, amazingly too, is far-away, and we can The film is satisfyi ing, as art, of' the Faces are equals and ter than ever, and Elton John's enough (for Shakespeare), top never believe' we are seeing but not as drama. Wh tat(at worked deserve a fair shot. He may be a music is little short of perfect billing for this performance must things through his eyes. The for Brook in'Marat/Saade simply i little off on that count, but as counterpoint. Several cuts off be shared by the setting: Brook result is not-exactly boredom, doesn't in Shakespear re, if itit isis 9 long as the music is good, who Madman are excellent, and one chooses to place the imaginary but a rather more feverisli still to be called by the samne is can complain? With the excep- is a masterpiece. "Rotten King Lear in barbarian times, tedium, name. tion of the ballad, "Love Lived Peaches," replete with syn- and, with stone, wood, leather, All this might be forgiven as -A t the Cinema KeJnmore Sq. e Here," (sort of like "Reason to thesizer, and "Levon" are pow- some crudely-formed metal, and I_ Believe") the rest of the album is erfully written and sung. "Indian barren, snow-swept plains, he full of rocking, good-time songs, Sunset" is easily the best thing succeeds admirably. including the one cover song, Taupin and John have done. The Yet, with its Elizabethan lan- "Memphis." "Miss Judy's intensity of the music and lyrics guage, not to mention philo- Farm," "Stay With Me," "Too all give a graphic picture of a sophy, the play juxtaposes civili- Bad," and "That's - All You young Indian growing up amidst zation with barbarianism, and Need" round things out, and it death and destruction. This song that is the source of genius in wK seems Rod Stewart and the alone would be worth the price both · play and film. Lear's Faces have come the closest yet of the record,- and with several knights; who are given to day- e to duplicating the live excite- other very good cuts, it makces long, frenzied hunts over the ment of the band in the studio. Madman Across The Water the tundra on horseback, have no- best Elton fohn has done. Glyn Johns produced A Nod, so thing resembling chivalry, but II_ perhaps much of the credit goes -Neal VTitale the idea of loyalty to the aged 0 _ King seems strong. The concept Lwa of hospitality, which is so in- choate and tenuous in the play, eI- M-- sensitive in the =m is made more la0 P EC film- by the barrenness of the 0l c landscape and the living condi- a tions that are not long out of the Le F. Stone Age. The overcast sky and M snow throughout the film give a s sense of oppression, but, at the m curious same time, there is a a freshness, and a mood like the verge of spring. All this is height- a E ened by the choice of black & a white film, and a grainy one at a that - even the static scenes M coruscate on the screen, with a startling effect. Unfortunately, all that is a good about the film version m seems to'be undermined as the play progresses.