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Orpheus Ascends, Transcends
For those of you who read only entertainment columsn of
newspapers, Orpheus was a character in ancient Greek mythology
,vho played the lovliest of mortal music on his lyre. He wedded
Eurydice, and loved her devoutly- so much that, when she died, he
journeyed to the Underworld to bring her back. His music so
charmed Pluto that the god of the Underworld granted Orpheus his
wish with the stipulation that he not look back to see if Eurydice
was following. Foolish mortal that Orpheus was, he glanced over his
shoulder, and Eurydice disappeared. Orpheus’ figure is one of
tragedy.
Now to the point. Orpheus has another meaning. It is a rock group
of the first caliber, and the new album, ORPHEUS ASCENDING, is
proof positive. Eric Gallikson of Orpheus ends his poetic message on
the cover with -
We who are Orpheus
whose souls are pressed on vmy
inked on paper
salute you
our Eurydice
This time
Orpheus
shall not look back
“I’ll Fly” and “Just Got Back” speak or, rather, sing of
communication and sharing a serious, meaningful existence. “Mine’s '
Yours” is performed in a fine tenor which drifts into a quiet falsetto
in a cascading, melodic recollection of fond memories. “Don’t Be So
Serious” tells of the merits of the lighter side of life and the value of |
a fun-type love. Orpheus’ version of “She’s Not There” is one of the
best on the current scene. “Nobody told me about her. What could I
do?” “Borneo” is a novelty fun song written by Orpheus in the style
of the “gay nineties” with a banjo follow-up. Back on the more
serious side, “Just a Little Bit” mikes a plea on the part of a lover
who feels that he’s been put down a little at a time to the point that
his relationship with his girl has become meaningless. But don’t
single out the vocalist for pity. It’s a common ailment. “Walk Away
Renee” is also well done on the M-G-M LP and “Roses” is a quiet
ballad of a man whose life has slipped away. The final track is a
fantasy story of a past love entitled “Magic Air”,
and Orpheus played
as the sun rose
and harmony spread gently over the earth
and now
Orpheus ascends
transcends.
Toilkien^s Trilogy
David McWilliams
Artiste Supreme
David McWilliams is another poet-songsi.r who was raised on
poverty and hardship and has come back to haunt the society that
abused him. The twenty-three-year-old Irishman sings of tenament
living, racial injustice, and escape into fantasy in his first LP DAYS
OF PEARLY SPENCER-WHO KILLED EZRA BR-YMAY. “Pearly
Spencer” tells it like it is in a bleakly impressionistic manner. The
escapism of “Can I Get There By Candlelight” capture the
imagination with it’s charming baroque exoticism”. “Is there time to
really get there? Is there time to stay? Is there very much to see
there? How much do I pay?” McWilliams displays fine form in the
quiet ballad “For Josephine”, the tale of a lad who promises to
brave all perils for his Josephine. McWilliams also asks the eternal
question “How Can I Be Free” when “walls are closing in on me”
He catalogues the problems of a young man alone in the world. The
Irish folk singer concludes the first side with two love songs,
“Marlena” and for a Dttle Girl”. The flip side includes the
accusation of “Who Killed Ezra Brymay”. The answer is a shocking
“we killed Ezra Brymay. We did, you and me.” And why? “Names,
they don’t matter much, only the color of your skin”. “Lady Helen
of the Laughing Eyes” is another venture into the deep caverns of
the imagination. “She’s a diamond-studded gypsy. She’s a fallen
star.” McWilliams’ smooth tenor blends pleasantly with the musical
arran^ent of Mike Leander in “Time Will Not Wait”. The
Questioning lyrics of “What’s the Matter With Me?” are immediately
reminescent of Paul Simon’s style, and the beat of “There’s No Lock
Upon My Door” reminds the listener of no one but David
McWilliams, and that’s good enough. From all indications derived
from PEARLY SPENCER-EZRA BRYMAY, David McWilliams has
served his notice to the world on a single Kapp disc. Here is a new
talent to be reckoned with!
Mystical Harumi- Too Mystical
HARUMI, child of East and West. The album-form cover of the
two-record set is artistic enough in design. The Eastern art and
Mange-blossom poetry, added to the story of Harumi’s origin (from
peneath a cabbage leaf under the red sun), give a very mystical
impression. Harumi is more than mystical. He’s “so confused” He
ays so himself on the first track of the first side of the first record,
the hstener is not long in joining him. The sounds are billed as
Eastern Music. Eastern noise is a more appropriate description of
much of It. Harumi chants of love and beauty, live and death, this
world and past worlds. His style is unusual; perhaps, even unique
In his own words;
Three Rings for the
Eleven-kings under the sky.
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in
their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men,
doomed to die.
One for the Dark Lord on
I his dark throne
I In the land of Mordor where
the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all.
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all
and in the darkness bind
them
In the Land of Mordor where
the Shadows lie.
Truly a curious rhyme! And
there’s more, several hundred
pages more, to be honest. This
Elven riddle is the key to one of
the most fascinating and unique
subjects ever treated in literature -
J.R.R. Tolkien’s enchanting tale
of the Quest of the Ring, told in
the finest tradition of the heroic
quest in THE HOBBIT and the
astonishing trilogy THE LORD
OF THE RINGS. In THE
HOBBIT (or THERE AND BACK
AGAIN) Tolkien relates the tale
of Bilbo Baggins, hobbit
extrodinaire, and his dwarf
companions - how they came to
the Lonely Mountain to free the
Iron Hills from the tyranny of the
dragon Smaug and how Bilbo
discovered the One Ring in the
orc-cave (An ore is a goblin with
long arms and an evil mind.). The
journey of that strange company
of hobbit, dwarves, and wizzard
(the famed Gandalf the Grey)
across the deserts, mountains, and
perilous forests of Middle Earth is
told in a style so charming, so
fast-paced that only the most
skillful wizard and lore-master
could escape its spell. To read the
first chapter is to complete the
trilogy, for its ensnarement is of
the inescapable mold. However
this is one of the most pleasant
forms of slavery ever contrived by
the minds of men.
The Trilogy
If this introduction has
appealed to the literary curiousity
of the reader at all, then he must
be saying, “What is a hobbit? And
where is Middle Earth? Wizards?
And ores?” It’s really not
mysterious at all. South of the
Gray Mountains and the Ice Bay
of Forochel, but north of
Haradwaith; west of Mordor, but
east of the great Sea- is where
Middle Earth can be found. As
P.S. Beagle says, “These are th^
boundaries of Middle Earth, and
this is the world that J.R.R.
Tolkien has explored and
chronicled in THE LORD OF
THE RINGS. I do not say
“created”, for it was always
there.” As for hobbits, they are
small, contented people (shorter
than dwarves) who can creep
through the quietest forest on
their furry feet without making a
sound and who enjoy nothing
better than gardening, smoking
pipeweed, eating six meals a day,
singing songs, telling complicated
tales, watching fireworks
(expecially those of GandolO> and
drinking beer. Really, not unlike
many college students!
Unfortunately, hobbits have one
outstanding curse. They are lazy
and inclined to display a huge
measure of indifference towards
the outside world and its
bothersome problems. THE
LORD OF THE RINGS is the tale
of hobbits who accidentally get
involved. The quest of the One
Ring begins when Gandolf
discovers that the magic ring that
Bdbo found in the orccave in the
Misty Mountains, kept as a
souvenir of the adventure, and
then gave to his newphew, Frodo
(whew) is the One Ring of the
Rhyme, forged in ancient times
by Sauron to lure the other rings
of Middle Earth to him for evil
purposes. The only way to save
Middle Earth from Sauron’s
wicked designs is to destroy the
Ring by casting it back into the
inferno at the bottom of Mount
Doorn, where it was forged. The
Fellowship of the Ring is formeNj
by representatives of the threee
types of non-evil peoples of
Middle Earth- Elves, Men, and
Swarves. Frodo and Sam Gamgee,
accompanied by the other
members of the fellowship, travel
over strange lands, find unusual
and unexpected allies, and fight
with trolls, ores, “oliphants”,
shadowy night riders, and powers
of sorcery until they reach the
dark land of Mordor, where the
Ring-bearer must fulfill his
Mission or meet his own doom.
As the travelers journey across
perilous territory, never knowing
v/hat is to be found in the next
forest or behind the next hill,
always under the watchful Eye of
Sauron, Tolkien reveals the many
individual characters of the
Fellowship and renders them
believable with a style that seems
more like the gospel of the
historians than fiction. As Beagle
says, Tolkien does not attejpt to
reveal all about a character, for
that can only be done with one
who does not exist in reality, and
not with one who is ever changing
and growing. Perhaps the most
intriguing character in the entire
epic is Gandalf the Grey, called by
some “Mithrander the
Magnificent”, whose knowledge
of ancient lore is unsurpassed and
unchallanged. Gandalf, who can
appear as an old withered man
with the weight of the world on
his shoulders, full of old stories of
older times and skillful with
fireworks, bearer of ill tidings and
meddler of the first magnitude. Or
GANDALF, enemy of Sauron,
captain of the armies of the West,
advisor to kings, fire-hurler,
wizard of the Wliite Council,
defender of honest folk
everywhere, champion of the
bridge at Khazad-Dum, quester of
the Ring, timeless, invincible.
Tolkien skillfully weaves
together the plots and subplots,
making unbelievable characters
believable and spicing up the tale
with Elven songs and legends from
the almost forgotten lore of
Middle Earth. Poetry and rhyme
seems to be Tolkien’s most
effective form of digression, and
by the time the travellers arive
home once again, all of the
characters have told their fair
share of stories, all full of charm
and wit as only a true master can
display them.
Tolkien’s success in capturing
tire imagination of his reader lies
in one remarkably simple
formula: Tolkien really believes in
Middle Earth. He has travelled
there and fought the ores. He has
wandered without food or drink
over the Misty Mountains. He has
spent sleepless nights in the
forests of Mirkwood, afraid to
doze. He has fallen victim to the
spell of the Ring, yearned for its
power, suffered from its weight.
And he, too, has known the
triumph of victory, the thrill of
battle, the spectacle of Aragorn
and the Sword that was Broken
and Reforged, the fear of the Eye,
the hope of Sam, the pride of
Legolas, the stubbornness of
The Fellowship
Gimli, the joy of Tom Bombadil,
and the misery of Frodo, Bilbo,
Gollum, and all the other Ring
Bearers of this world and others.
W. H. Auden has called THE
LORD OF THE RINGS one of
the few true works of genius of
our time. Auden is a wise man,
but perhaps a little given to
understatement.
^‘Politicos —’68’
William G. (Gary) Allen is
a senior political science
major at The University of
North Carolina at Chapel
Hill He is one of the
co-authors of a book
describing the progress of the
1968 national elections. The
book, titled ELECTION
‘ 6 8 - M Y T H S A N D
REALITIES, will appear
later thisyear and will be
illustrated by Pulitzer Prize
winning cartoonist Eugene
Payne. THE JOURNAL will
I continue to run an editorial
\ from Mr. Allen’s book each
week until the election.
\ Readers are invited to
I compse and submit letters
commenting on Mr. Allen’s
articles.
THE PHENOMENAL MR.
NIXON and editorial by William
G. Allen
For nearly a decade, Richard M.
Nixon has sought to be the
President of the United States.
Eight years ago. Vice President
Nixon trod that treacherous path
to the White House on a sure
mark for victory. His story is
somewhat like that of the “Hare
and The Tortoise”. Nixon did not
actively seek to build national
support until the election year
arrived. He went into the election
unaware that JFK, who had been
laying intricate groundwork
throughout the nation for four
years, was to be his opposition.
He had no conception of the
highly organized and financed
Kennedy blitz that was about to
appear on the American political
scene. Nixon had such a vantage
point that few men doubted that
he would be elected. Yet, to his
dismay, and the astonishment of
the nation, JFK sprinted into the
winner’s circle, leaving Nixon just
one step short. Nixon was
defeated by only one-tenth of one
percent of the popular vote,
though the electoral vote was
more aistinci.
Two years later, Nixon ran in
his home state for the
governorship of California against
Pat Brown. Here again, he was
favored to win. But disaster and
lightning both struck in the same
(Continued on Page 8)