Awards
Please accept my gratitude to the staff and critics of STEREO REVIEW for including a great jazz record by a most deserving band in the 1976 Record of the Year awards (February). The Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band has an astounding consistency in re cording good arrangements and compositions with first-rate musicians. In the awards spread, however, though the album title ("Long Yellow Road") and the album number (RCA JPL1-1350) were correctly listed, the album cover shown was their second American release, "Tales of a Courtesan." I would like to assume that both were liked so well that you intended to include them both. I hope RCA can be influenced to release the other superb albums that Akiyoshi and Taback in have made which are available only in Europe and Japan.
JERRY L. ATKINS; Texarkana, Tex.
I would like to point out an error in your Best of the Year awards in the February is sue: Honorable Mention, Patti Smith ("Horses"). According to James Goodfriend, "The standards were and are those of genuine musical and technical excellence, of real contributions to the arts, not of commercial success." Ballet slippers, torn shirts, obscenities, and heavy promo do not create "genuine musical excellence," just dollars and a few mini-cults! I saw Patti Smith in concert and all I did was see; I didn't hear anything! I hope Linda Ronstadt and Paul Simon can recover from association with Patti Smith.
BOB STILIHO; Southbury, Conn.
Rock takes another step backward in the February issue when Patti Smith's "Horses" and the Rolling Stones' "Black and Blue" are given Honorable Mention awards. Couldn't you come up with anything better than that? There may still be hope since "No Reason to Cry" by Clapton et al. was designated a Re cording of Special Merit in the same issue.
However, the guitar work on Sign Language of that album belongs to Robbie Robertson of the Band and not to Eric Clapton.
L.O. KEELL; Woodlynne, N.J.
As I proceeded on my cover-to-coves romp through the February issue I noted a slight error in the Record of the Year awards.
Although the article lists Toshiko Akiyoshi/ Lew Tabackin Big Band: "Long Yellow Road," the album cover shown is from the same group's "Tales of a Courtesan." This would seem to prove even STEREO REVIEW is not infallible (though always interesting).
LARRY D. ARNOLD; Russellville, Ark.
Ah, how sharper than an eagle's eye . . . !
Boston Pops
I was shocked to read in the February is sue that the Boston Pops are without a recording contract. If no record company decides to make a contract with the Pops, can the Pops fans band together to form our own recording society? It'll probably take a lot to get it off the ground, but I, for one, would like to see Pops recordings on a regular basis encompassing its vast repertoire.
KENNETH Dzus; Dorchester, Mass.
Toy Trumpet
I enjoyed reading Irving Kolodin's "Fiedler, Builder of America's Musical Bridges" in February. But I'm puzzled by the attribution of Toy Trumpet to Leroy Anderson. My 78-rpm Victor disc (4456-A) shows Raymond Scott as the composer.
WILLIAM B. FURMAN; House Springs, Mo.
Music Editor, James Goodfriend replies: Mr. Furman is absolutely right. We apologize.
Rubber Ducky
It's about time a responsible voice in the audio field spoke up about the menace of CB (Ralph Hodges, "The Greater Good," January). Radio-frequency interference is not the audiophile's fault, and audiophiles should not have to pay the price of its elimination. RFI suppression devices cannot help but degrade audio quality. To solve RFI by putting a suppression device in audio equipment is akin to solving the problem of gun control by forcing everyone to wear bullet-proof vests.
The Goldwater-Vanick bill referred to in the column may have died in the last Congress, but it or something very similar is sure to be introduced again. It is very important that the serious audio fan write his congress man in opposition of such bills. The CB industry and its lobbyists are sure to put consider able pressure on Congress for such legislation; opposition from the audio field is simple self-defense. CB magazines and newspaper columns have urged CB'ers to write in sup port of Goldwater-Vanick, but I'm sure well-thought-out letters from serious audiophiles could balance out the letters expressing CB'er views.
Giving the FCC power to regulate the home entertainment industry is the last thing the industry needs. After all, the FCC created the CB mess and has been unable to clear it up.
The FCC appears to have little sympathy for the interests of the serious audiophile. I shudder at the thought of what they might do if given the power to regulate stereo equipment unrelated to broadcast operations.
G. GERRISH WILLIAMS, Maple Shade, N.J.
Hurrah! Ralph Hodges' January column, "The Greater Good," has struck a resounding chord of truth for audio listeners across the land. The CB radio-frequency interference onslaught is intensifying and ever widening into our homes. As I live close to a major interstate highway, the annoyance is especially acute for me and my stereo listening enjoyment. I hope Mr. Hodges' article and the forthcoming RFI feature in STEREO REVIEW will awaken enough readers to write Washing ton concerning this menace and have Congress act on it. Some types of silence are in deed golden!
MIKE OUBRE; Crowley, La.
Senator Goldwater and other hams should beware of making common cause with CB'ers in the matter of RFI in home audio systems unless they want to be lumped with those foolish players of Cops and Scofflaws and other childish games on our highways.
J. GOMEZ; Southampton, N.Y.
Over the past few years ham and CB transmissions have been coming in over my stereo system, TV, and even our church public-address system (during Mass it's not at all good to hear these people). I spoke to some local hi-fi manufacturers about what seems to me to be a strange FCC response to RFI problems. The manufacturers claim they are individually too small to do anything about the problems. Perhaps STEREO REVIEW can rally the audio manufacturers together and go after the FCC. I fear, though, that nothing will really be done because of the small percentage of people who have serious r.f. interference.
Our church is in a congested area; the ham operator was 150 feet away, and the CB operator (80 feet away) comes in so clear one would think we had run a microphone line into his home. The ham operator tuned him self out of the church PA with a huge filter he placed on his antenna wire, but within three months he was back in again. He came through my stereo even after the manufacturer "fixed" my receiver for it. The problem was finally solved when the gentleman electrocuted himself, but we await another ham in the area with fear.
The CB'er put a filter on his antenna which did little-very little. The manufacturer of my PA amplifier recommended some changes, but we found them already built in. PA installers have told us they would charge over $18 per hour to find the place of RFI entry, but with no guarantee except that the bill would be over $150.
Hi-fi and PA manufacturers blame the FCC. They say their products are designed correctly and it's the poor design of ham/CB equipment that is at fault. The local FCC blames the hi-fi and PA manufacturers for not putting in anti-RFI circuits which they say will not degrade fidelity. In any case, we are not alone. People call in frequently to local station WBUR's hi-fi shop-talk program complaining about RFI.
FR. KEN RIDGEWAY; Our Lady of the Assumption; Chelsea, Mass.
Technical Editor Larry Klein replies: It is rare that a legally operating ham or CB'er can do anything substantial to his rig-or his antenna system-to minimize its potential for creating interference. A ham can redirect his antenna and/or cut down his radiated power, neither of which he can legally be forced to do no matter how much interference he creates. In some cases it may be harmonics of his radiated signal that are causing the trouble, but usually (if he is obeying the existing FCC rules) these harmonics are few and weak. And, in any case, filtering out harmonics will be helpful only when there is interference with FM and TV. In short, I don't see how any sort of filter at a transmitter would help keep an r.f. signal out of an audio amplifier.
In truth, audio manufacturers have not taken all reasonable steps available to minimize their equipment's r.f. sensitivity. During the initial product planning, circuits should be de signed, the chassis constructed, and the ferrite beads installed with a view toward minimizing the effects of r.f. fields. But when the impinging signal is strong enough, nothing short of a major (and expensive) redesign of the entire installation will be of any help.
Although anti-RFI circuits need not necessarily degrade fidelity, I would hate to leave it up to the FCC to make the design decisions as to which do and which don't. And in no case will such fixes be totally effective against a nearby ham who puts out a kilowatt of r.f. power.
To my way of thinking, the question of RFI is not totally susceptible to a technical solution but requires an ethical approach. Ralph Hodges made this point beautifully in his reply to a reader last month. At present, hams and CB'ers are legally entitled to do their thing. And the fact that they are doing it all over our Joni Mitchell, Mozart, or even Musak is not any concern of the law. I'm told that in the near future a Higher Authority is going to take a hand in the matter: sunspots, which strongly affect radio transmission and reception, will be with us starting some time in 1978 and per haps peaking in 1981. There's a good chance that they may act to make much of the CB band unusable.
++ I enjoyed Ralph Hodges' article about RFI and CB users in January, especially the point about RFI being a form of invasion of privacy. But the Goldwater-Vanick bill is not my idea of a solution. If RFI is to be suppressed, it should be done at the source, in this case, CB radios. It is my decision as a free person to determine if I want to use a stereo that is immune to RFI, not the government's, and it is up to component manufacturers, not the government, to decide whether to offer equipment that is immune to RFI at the risk of impaired performance.
Maybe if the CB'ers had a taste of their own medicine they'd be a little more consider ate. If electronics companies can manufacture CB radios for the illegal purpose of avoiding speed traps, why can't they also manufacture jamming devices that would scramble offending CB transmissions?
FRANCIS PIVAR; New Kensington, Pa.
Ralph Hodges replies: Any attempt at jamming will get you into the biggest jam imaginable with the FCC. However, perhaps you can take some comfort from the fact that, in populous regions, the CB'ers seem to be doing a good job of jamming each other.
Ralph Hodges' discussion of the RFI controversy struck a nerve amid the ranks of the many sufferers facing mounting waves of rubber ducks. With federal intervention presently tenuous at best, there is little long-term consolation offered by Walter Mitty pipe dreams of electronic countermeasures. Be cause a congressional majority may not be tuned in to these pages, I'd suggest the audiophile write a persuasive, informative letter to Washington, perhaps enclosing a copy of the "Audio Basics" column.
BRIAN G. FETTE; Jackson, Mich.
++ We at Advent Corporation would like to add a comment to Ralph Hodges' January column on radio-frequency interference (RFI) and the pending legislation intended to deal with it. In our study of phonograph preamplifiers we were unable to design a circuit which was utterly effective in curing RFI problems without interacting with the cartridge source impedance so as to produce an audible frequency-response error. Legislation which dictates the susceptibility of phono preamps to RFI will have to take into account this apparent fact of life. Good practices such as shielded metal containers and good grounding and shielding are about all one can do to prevent RFI without audible consequences.
TOMLINSON HOLMAN; Research and Development Advent Corporation Cambridge; Mass.
Villainous Hisses
In his February review of Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat," Peter Reilly mentioned something about Stewart's hissing of his "s's." This situation has been driving me up the walls. I noticed it on his previous LP, "Modern Times," too, and I think I've pinned the cause down to two possibilities either the way the record is produced and engineered in the studio or the way it is pressed. I tend to go for the second, but then it could be my equipment. I'm still not sure-maybe you have some ideas.
ARTHUR G. NIEHAUS; Jersey City, N.J.
Could be that Al Stewart hisses.
Musical Landmarks
The January issue of STEREO REVIEW with William Livingstone's terrific story on musical landmarks has been preserved for posterity. It was chemically treated and sealed in a time capsule installed at the Kennedy Center on December 31, 1976--to be opened in January 2076. The capsule contains highlights of Bicentennial arts activities associated with the Kennedy Center, and we felt nothing better commemorated the Nation al Historic Music Landmark portion of the Bicentennial Parade than Mr. Livingstone's clear, concise journalism and the attractive layout of the article.
MARTI JONES; Bicentennial Parade of American Music New York, N.Y.
The Guitar
I very much enjoyed Stephanie von Buchau's "Music for Classical Guitar" (January). I was especially intrigued by the section in which she leaned on critics who accuse classical guitar music of having "no guts." The question occurs to me, however, of whether it is the technical style of play or the context in which the instrument is played that annoys detractors more. For those in the second category, I can think of at least one current popular acoustic guitarist who success fully uses a classically inspired contrapuntal technique to color both his group and solo accompaniment styles: Bert Jansch. No one has ever accused his material (through nearly twenty recordings as both a solo performer and a group leader of the now defunct Pentangle) of lacking guts. Perhaps more exposure to such "gap-bridgers" as Jansch could turn on a few primarily classical listeners to some new contexts, and a primarily popular enthusiast or two to the possibilities of use of classical technique in this remarkably flexible instrument.
CHARLES H. SMITH; New Hartford, Conn.
Erroll Garner
The jazz world recently lost yet another "great" as a result of the untimely death of pianist Erroll Garner. He will always be re membered as a superb pianist, a delightful entertainer, and, most important, a remarkable human being. Erroll Garner will be missed but never forgotten.
D. R. HENDLEY; Milwaukee, Wis.
Bee Gees
Few things infuriate me more than reading a review like that by Noel Coppage of the latest Bee Gees album (January). His self-appointed authority on the workings of the mind of Western man comes across sounding like one of those pseudo-intellectuals trying desperately to compensate for the fact that he simply cannot dance. The ridiculous pap about Marshall McLuhan and brain hemispheres is so irrelevant to the subject of the al bum being reviewed that I wonder if Coppage is more concerned about expounding his own trivial ideas than trying to say something about the creative work of a group of musicians. Personally, Mr. Coppage, I think you should be dancing.
EDWARD M. GRANT; Boston, Mass.
I would just like to say that for once I agree with the pseudo-intellectual blitherings of Noel Coppage. I am referring to the January review of the Bee Gees' "Children of the World." The Bee Gees have dumped not only a very unique and successful sound but a sound that was much more--it was good. I long to hear the old Bee Gees with their musically sophisticated melodies, soft sounds, and fantastic harmonies. But, most of all, I miss their presence as producers of great make-out music.
WILLIAM D. THRUSH; Valparaiso, Fla.
Hawaiian Music
I think Steve Simels should pull his head out of the sand-it has affected his hearing. Don Ho ("The Pop Beat," January) represents Hawa iian music as much as Mice Cooper represents the girl next door. In the last five years there have been a rejuvenation of and an exploration into the roots of Hawaiian mu sic. The young Hawa iians who disliked what "Tiny Bubbles" did to one of the few original art forms in the U.S. began melding the old styles with a new consciousness and came up with incredibly pure and startlingly rich musical forms.
JONATHAN MOSER; Honolulu, Hawaii
Mr. Simels replies: Good Lord, Moser, that was supposed to be funny!
Salsa
Joel Vance's December review of the Fania All Stars album "Delicate and Jumpy" was great. It's about time somebody told Fania what salsa music is all about. I hope Fania get their act together and stop trying to be like everybody else.
C. VALENTIN; Fajardo, P.R.
Simels
Steve Simels gone? He was a rock critic who lent an air of rock respectability and balance to STEREO REVIEW. I feel some of the criticism directed at him was unwarranted.
His reviews of the Springsteen, Smith, and Zevon albums were dead center. I will miss exploring "The Pop Beat" with him.
STANLEY B. Dow Altus, Okla.
Well, not quite gone; see this month's popular review section.
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Also see:
AUDIO QUESTIONS and ANSWERS--Advice on readers' technical problems, LARRY KLEIN