University of Virginia Library

Rapier Lauded For Art,
Layout, Music Reviews

By Tom Adams

The most noticeable thing about
the December issue of Rapier is its
new layout. Beyond its Pop art
cover, which is so bad that it is
almost good, the reader will find
changes that are very good indeed.
Split pages, new type styles, and
different weights of paper add to
the slickness and sophistication for
which the magazine is noted.

Peter Kempson and Bruce
Minton have outdone themselves on
the inside artwork. The inside drawings
are easily the best of any issue
of Rapier this year. But the best
feature in the December Rapier is
its music section. Three reviews
deal with the new Hendrix album, a
relatively unknown pair of
musicians, and a popular group that
dies from overindulgence.

"Electric Ladyland," a two-record
album by Jimi Hendrix, is
the subject of a short review by
Don Smith. He decided that two
records is one too many, and that
the success and popularity that
Hendrix is enjoying did not leave
him enough time to create "the
most musically advanced recording"
it was billed as.

Thomas Bitt's review of Jacke
Cain and Roy Kral's album
"Grass," is longer than Mr. Smith's
review. It has to be because while
much has been written about the
style and skill of Jimi Hendrix, very
little has been said about the Krals.
Mr. Britt is obviously one of their
earliest fans, and he conveys with
success his reasons for appreciating
their talent.

Paul Larsen's "Those Were the
Days," is quite a contrast to the
other two music reviews in Rapier.
It deals with "The Cream," a group
that achieved immense success by
staying high and going higher. It
couldn't last for long. In his last
performances the group's drummer,
Ginger Baker, who many said was
the "world's best," had the insides
of an eighty-year-old man.

Mr. Larsen says that "'The
Cream' were easily poisoned by us.
We praised them raucously, supported
them lucratively, and fed
them great amounts of our system,
which today includes dropping out,
freaking out, and stringing out."

He concludes with these words:
"For 'The Cream' the trip to the
stars was easy. It was short,
relatively painless. They took their
music where they felt it needed to
be taken. They did what they could
for they did it all. No one approached
them. But still, we weary
easily of greatness. Perhaps we
aren't really accustomed to it, and
when it appears in the form of
three long-haired musicians who
could give a damn, we will accept it
on face value, but it must be proven
over and over again. 'The Cream'
proved it to themselves. They've
been in and out, up and down.
They've been all around, they've
found it all out. Now they've gone.
Being the best is a one-way trip."

One reason why Rapier is the
best magazine published on the
Grounds is its editor, David Greer.
His main contribution of the
December issue is his story "The
Day Dorothy Parker Died." Miss
Parker buts into the private life of
the story's hero even in her death.

Mr. Greer describes a bit of New
York City in his story, an
interesting bit, and the story is easy
reading.

Not so easy to read, is an article
preceding it, "Gut Vidal." Although
Mr. Vidal (Gore that is) deserves
Thomas Brilt's satirical study,
readers of Rapier, expecting sophistication
from the magazine, will
be rewarded only with preciousness.
It gets to be too much after a
while.

John McVeigh's fable, "The
Bear Who Kept Shop," is proof of
the author's originality. One of
these days he may even publish his
collected fables in a book and
become famous. Students can then
brag that they read the fables way
back when they were published
individually in their college magazine.
At any rate, "The Bear Who
Kept Shop" should be read.

Frank Berube's article on "The
Bugs," is weird. I only hope he
didn't intend for it to be funny, for
it is not.

Cecil Benthonic's (sounds like
the pen name of someone in the
Geology Department) "conjecture
into the plastic world of a Playboyesque
yule" is somewhat humorous.
But Hugh Hefner is such an easy
target that after reading so many
similar articles this type of satire
becomes tiresome.

Victor Bernstein discusses six
films that have been to
Charlottesville recently in his movie
review. Mr. Bernstein knows the
cinema well-enough to make even a
review on films that were in town a
month ago well worth reading.

This month's Spectator, a collection
of anecdotes, is much the
same as last month's. It seems as if
all of the jokes that were omitted
from the September Rapier for
being unfunny found their way into
this and the last issue of the magazine.
By now they must have run
out of even these. Perhaps the
January issue will be better.

Finally, there is "The Pedant's
Primer," a do-it yourself discourse
into the applied art of criticism,"
by Teddy Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn,
when he is not getting mugged and
beaten by Washington thus, is
sometimes a critic.

He gives a short course in condescension
when reviewing novels,
films, music, and poetry. He concludes
by saying that "the critic is
about as aptly qualified to pass
judgment of the world as Pooh-Bah
was to be Lord High Executioner."
That's fairly obvious I should think.
In spite of that, he says that he will
continue to write reviews.

Rapier is getting stronger, instead
of weaker, as the year goes
on, it seems after reading this issue.
The editors seem to have a talent
for finding new writers on the
Grounds where many believed none
to exist. For that alone they deserve
some sort of award. To present
the works of these budding
artists in such an attractive formal
is another valuable service.