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Tb« Mercer Chuter, February 14,1977 — Peg* 7
Neil Diamond Back On Top
After Four Year Layoff
Neil Diamond admit* that
t during the four years of his
1 self-imposed seclusion, he often
[ wondered if his audience would
[ remain faithful and still be there
1 when he resurfaced.
The answer quite obviously ii
'‘Yes.'’ Diamond has resumed
| his public appearance, though
* has become more selective,
nth his tours less extensive —
f and less frequent — than those
| of yesteryear.
Diamond launched his return
l at a Las Vegas hotel, where he
I was the first act in a newly built
\ theater. He sold out there over
| the July 4th weekend, and his
| concerts in New York's Forest
I Hills and at the Greek Theater
in Los Angeles were equally
[ well attended.
On February 21, Neil will
[ appear on his first television
f special. The NBC show, which
will run from 9 • 10, has been in
the works for a year. Diamond
f had a previous TV deal with
Eastman-Kodak, but when they
! couldn’t agree on concept, he
| withdrew. Ndw he has Gary
Smith and Dwight Hernkm, the
Emmy-winning producer-direc-
f tor team, producing the special.
The show was taped during
■ the Greek Theater engagement
j before a special audience that
[ included Los Angeles Mayor
Tom Bradley Henry (Fonzie)
[ Winkler. Helea Reddy and
f Olivia Newton-John.
When Diamond went into a
} rousing rendition of “Song.
[ Sung Blue.*’ one of his biggest
; hits, he drew all of them — wth
; with the exception of Ms.
| Newton-John — up to the stage
\ for an "impromptu'’ songfest.
; They all seemed to know the
[ lyrics, and they put on a good
[ show, Winkler singing a la
“Fonzie.'’ and Mayor Bradley
I giving a victory gesture with
; both hands clasped over his
| head.
4 Bradley's appearr.ce may
[ present a problem. The,mayor
t is up for re-election this spring,
| and his opponents might
I consider his appearance a
[ campaign stop and demand
Lequal time. Thus there’s a
f chance the NBC may cut
l Bradley out of the show.)
■ Now that he has resurfaced.
L Diamond spoke about the things
[ he did and thought about during
his hiatus from public life.
Much of his time was devoted
[ to writing. "I felt my writing
[ began to grow," he revealed. "I
wrote longer pieces, like ’Jona
than Livingston Seagull. "
1 was on the road for six or
seven years. I began to yearn
for the things normal people do
-- like getting up in the
morning for breakfast, taking
my son to school, going to a
movie with my wife. I wanted to
establish friends again. I felt I
had to get to a point where I
wanted to com« back again.
"They were the best four
years of my life. I was not
exposed, but I wasn't retired. I
was quite busy; I just wasn't
touring. I didn't ‘like hotels or
traveling. When you’re on tour,
there’s no let-up. You have no
sabbaticals, you work weekends
and holidays. You can’t estab
lish friends. It all geta unrealis
tic and it leads to a madhouse."
Diamond derided to make the
detour before he wound up in
the "madhouse."
Timgs and attitudes have
changed iriN the intervening
years. Before his voluntary
hiatus, Diamond was a unique
figure in the contemporary
rbusic world, a rebel with a
cause. He opposed drugs, and
spoke out against theu> — in an
era when drugs were the “ in"
thing.
"The ’60s drug scene has
passed to God,” Diamond
observed. "God knows what’s
next.. .maybe hula hoops.
When he took his open stand
against drugs. Diamond incur
red the wrath of the underground
’press.
"It took seven or eight years
before Rolling Stone’ did
anything about me," Diamond
says. "Then several months
ago. they gave me the cover. I
don't regret the stand I took.
I’m glad 1 did it."
Diamond now sees alcohol as
the new ““thing” among young
people. Just as the music of the
“60s reflected the drug culture,
today's music mirrors the
alcohol^ syndrome.
"I don't think there’s any
thing wrong with* alcohol." he
said, "or with.pot,*if the people
who use them are mature
enough to handle it. I jyst don't
think 15-year-olds are."
As for his music, Diamond
finds that he’s often scorned by
rock critics because of their
inability to clearly' define his
music and style.
"They put me down,"
Diamond declared, "because
they’re still not sure if I’m folk,
pop, or rock. That pleases me,
because it indicates I can do
anything, and there are not
solid lines. I consider what I do
to be music."
Labels irritate Diamond, but
the music stores, he contends,
demand them.
"They need the labels for
their racks. To them, rock is
anything that has electric
guitars, is loud, screaming kids
and unintelligible lyrics. County
music is anything sung through
the nose. Pop is intelligible,
clear vibrattos — with bland
lyrics. Ja.:z? Well, jazz is jazz. ’ ’
How would he define a rock
critic?
"A rock critic is someone who
never learned how to play a
guitar, ’' Diamond answers with
a straight face.
Copyright, 1977. United Fea
ture Syndicate. Inc.
Continued from page 2
WHERE ARE
ft.
good will within the community.. .all in one breath.,
Have our teachers stopped learning? Are they caught up in the
materialistic world that they are trying to teach us not to worship?
Education is a wonderful thing...no college director should be
without. Take advantage of your economics, use your legal
background, don't teach minority suffering in sociology and then
not practice the remedies you preach, and finally don’t forget the
basic Christian philoeophy of Mercer, and strive to help your fellow
man...be a good aamaratan Mercer.
Now is the Ume to do something about increasing your business
Mercer, so up your enrollment by accepting the total two years
credit of graduating students from Macon Jr. Why should a student
lose a years time or even a quarters time if he has graduated with a
degree and why .should you Mercer, rest on your laurels and not
strive to get Macon students into a Macon University thereby
increasing your income. You teach us not to procrastinate you do
the same, then our community, your community can be better
educated and more prosperous.
Education is a wonderful thing but don’t let the educational
process stop with age, and don’t let yourself be guilty of both the
two oldest .professions in the world. Give something back to the
customers that have supported you, up your enrollment.
f
RESURFACED DIAMOND — Four years ago, Neil Diamond left
his punishing road touring schedule to think about his mnsic, the
contemporary scene and his public life. Now, Du.mood's back, and
better than ever — with an upcoming TV special scheduled for Feb.
21 on NBC.
Review
Feiffer’s People
The play is actually 80
separate sketches, each of
which is based on a cartoon by
Jules Feiffer, popular cartoonist
of the “60’s, These sketches
form a somber, satirical comedy
on the mechanics of human
existence.
The play was well executed
by the entire cast: Kay
McClelland. Mpnie Dobbs, ^>ail
Fessenden, Robin Ervin, Bj
Isbell. Chuck Hall, James
Gaston, and Carlton Stephens.
It would be unfair to single out
any one member; they were all
excellent. ^
Each skit was a vivid
comment on existence, in which
one could easily see himself or
people they have known.
Several characters had recur
ring roles throughout the
evening. Most memorable a-
mong these were Isbell's
insecure Bernard - solo or
teamed with Hall’s "super
cool" Huey - and McClelland s
dancer. By mid-way in the
performance, the appearance-of
Isbell in his Bernard glasses
aroused great sympathy from
the audience. And McClelland
had only to walk on stage in her
pony-tail and leotard to bring
spurts of hilarity from the
crowd.
Nonetheless, these recurring
characters were not the favo
rites of the audiences. The
single appearance of Superman,
(Hall) and the Little Girl
(jDohbs), indeed stole the shot*
oor Superman just couldn^
quite convince McCelland’s
character that he was indeed
the hero he claimed. Ego and
body bent in pain. Superman
deserts his lady in distress.
Dobb's child animatedly des
cribes a meeting with a female
bubble-gum promoter - who
unfortunately gets the raw end
of the encounter.
Denise Warner, senior Thea
ter Drama major and director of
Feiffer’s People, has done an
excellent job. The three-night
run of the play obviously was
not attended by all of the
Mercer community. However,
these who did not go, deprived
themselves of a moat memor
able experience