October 27, 1969
The N. C. Essay
Page 5
MUSIC PLAYING IN MY HEA D
"You had me on your trip right
from the start" - I Knew I'd Want
lou/Byrds
A young lady I'm quite fond of
(and whose opinions concerning
rock I hold in high esteem) con
siders the Byrds to be the finest
group in rock. She came to this con
clusion this past summer after
immersing herself in all eight Byrd
LP's and seeing the group give two
superb concerts within a month. I
don't know that I'm ready to declare
the Byrds the best in rock. I
don't think that way, but I will
agree that they certainly are (and
have been) one of the finest and
most consistent bands around. I
know that there is rarely a time
when I'm not in the mood for the
Byrds and their version of Mr.
Tambourine Man still puts me back
together whenever I'm strung-out.
If you're not a believer, in
spect the history of the group.
Five years ago they came out of Los
Angeles singing their electrified
riff of Dylan's classic folk-rock
poem, the first to grace the stag
nated airwaves. They helped to
begin the American rock renai
ssance, as they were the first U.S.
group to make an impact after the
Beatles and the first to inject
"meaningful" lyrics (i.e., which
concerned something more than the
typical boy-girl teenage love la-
by Dav-id Wood
"When I wanted to know what it
was like to be sahizophrenio^ I spent
a lot of time with sahizophrenias".
Why not do the same with terminal
patients to discover what happens to
a human being who faces death? Dr.
Kubler-Ross, a psychiatrist from
Chicago, writes about this amazing
"experiment" in her book. On Death
and Dying (Macmillan; 6.95)
Through detailed interviews with
150 terminal patients Dr. Kubler-Ross
has determined that a person facing
death goes through 5 stages: Denial,
Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and
Acceptances. (In that order.)
The patients, themselves, were
perfectly willing to talk to inter
viewers as they lay dying. Resis
tance came from the patients' doc
tors, sometimes in forms of overt
hostility. But once the breach was
made, the interviews went smoothly
and proved greatly beneficial to the
entire project.
One observation: "It is not
death they fear, but dying, a pro
cess almost as painful to see as to
endure, and one on which society - and
even medicine - so readily turns its
back".
ments) into the Top Forty. (To
the occasional amusement and argu
ment of friends. I've always in
sisted that the Byrds' first LP
was a superior product to the Beatles'
first). Just think back to the
first time you turned on to the Byrds'
trip. There was a lot of innocence
and goo vibrations filling the air
those days and a sense of expectancy
which has passed. Things have
changed since the Byrds first sang
Mr. Tambovcrine Man and Ticrn Turn
Turn. Those were the days, my
friend.
Of course, the Byrds have
changed too. Nowadays, they are in
to country rock, which is proper be
cause they always were explorers,
having initiated experiments with sev
eral previously "non-rock" styles, such
as electronics, ragas, etc.; and
country music has always flitted
around Byrds music. There were five
originally. The lady I spoke of
earlie saw only one of the original
Byrds on stage this summer. Five
years ago was a long time. Back then
it was Roger (nee Jim) McGuinn, Gene
Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman,
and Mike Clarke. Those names should
sound familar even today. Clark is
one half of the Dillard and Clark
Expedition; Crosby has just joined
with Stills3 Nash and Young; Hillman
and Clarke are Flying Burrito
Brothers(along with Gram Parsons, who
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, De
pression and finally Acceptance.
Funny, it seems to me that the North
Carolina School of the Arts is going
through the same stages. There may
be consolation in the fact that theatre
is the "fabulous invalid", dying each
night the curtains close only to be
reborn the following night. Even if
this was true, how often can one die
and be revived without beginning to
show signs of the nearness of death?
A part of those emotions, or
rather stages, was Anger. That is
the savior, I believe, if there is
enough of it in a constructive form
here at NCSA, we've got a chance.
Anger that a magnificent potential
is not being reached is a justified
anger. Perhaps if, and when it be
comes fury, things will begin to
happen.
Until that time, content your
self with one of the following: De
nial, Bargaining, Depression or
Acceptance. The more I look at these
choices, the more I tend toward Anger,
and the more I tend toward Anger, the
more it builds to fury. The more we
build to fury, the better are the
chances NCSA will survive.
put in six months as a Byrd and
was a main inspiration behind
their Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Li>). I can't think of another
group who has produced as much talent.
And Paul Williams once wrote in
Crawdaddy: "Once a Byrd, always a
(Cont. on page 6)
Note: Although it is not my
general policy or practice to defent
what I write, I feel compelled to
say something about the reviews I
wrote of A Streetaar Names Desire
and Mr. Roberts, which appeared
in the October 21 issue of the
Essay.
Unfortunately, in writing
these reviews, I allowed myself to
get sucked into the axiom that any
thing and everything we do here is
great. It is not and in my reviews
I failed to react to my responsibility
as a critic..And thus, the reviews
fail the school, the productions
themselves, and myself. This is not
to say the plays were without merit.
To the contrary, both productions that
I reviewed provided several fine mo
ments. However, as I chose to ne
gate the lesser aspects of the pro
ductions and concentrate on its merits,
both reviews ended up by being only
condescending and patronizing bull
shit.
This kind of writing serves no
purpose and utterly fails the very
nature of the art. There were reasons
why this happened, but they are too
detailed to list here. Besides I
should know better. May I conclude
that in the future I would hope that I
(or whoever reviews such productions)
can review plays with the honesty and
integrity that is their due and the
critic's responsibility.
Mike Ferguson
to change something, such as a war or
a system, we are going to have to be
prepared to make sacrifices. We must
be willing to run the risk which acc
ompanies our actions; we must be aware
of the consequences. In order for an
event such as the Moratorium to be
effective, it should be carried out.
Which means wearing black arm bands
every day. It means being constantly
aware - and constantly making others
aware - of the horror and stupidity of
this and all war. It means a fulltime
involvement, which also may mean risk
ing our own personal comfort. Being
opposed to this war can no longer mean
just rapping down Nixon in our rooms,
it's become a life-style.
Perhaps we can find the necessary
strength together and perhaps we can,
in our own way, make our lives a daily
commitment. But think about it, it's
a lot more serious than we ever cared
to imagine. We can end this war, 'but
it's going to take you and me - each
and every one of us - doing our part
every day. Not just October 15th.