The Coat Puller

    We must apologize for the gremlin who got in the numbers and set up the wrong dates for Ohnedaruth John Coltrane in our Vortex logo last issue. The genius of modern music was born September 23,1926, and passed from us on July I 7, 1967, although his music was so powerful it sure seems he was here until 1973 at least!. . . . Incidentally, our Ann Arbor readers may be interested to catch some of our 4-hour radio specials on the music of John Coltrane, broadcast on Sunday nights( 11-3:00) over WCBNFM (89.5), where your humble commentator serves as "guest scholar in residence" for the "History of Jazz" series. Three Coltrane programs have been laid so far (Early Trane," "The Atlantic Years," and "The Quartet: Part I"), with four or five to go over the next few months. They're mixed in with specials on other artists (Jackie McLean and Sun Ra coming up soon) and the occasional "Selected Works" shows, spotlighting assortments of great jazz music f rom the past 30 or 40 years. . . . lf you happened to hear our snaky SUN radio spots on WJZZ, WHNE. or WWWW last week you might want to know that they were scripted by Ron English and spoken by English and Jim Slayden; production by Bobby Bass at WJZZ-FM. A big SUN smile to all concerned. . . . CONGRATULATIONS to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who celebrated John's 35th birthday and the birth of .. their first child, Sean Ono Lennon, on October 9th. And Lennon's recent victory in his immigration hassle, which means he'll be able to live in the U.S.A. as he has tor most of the last five years, is grounds for yet another heady celebration. The poor guy didn't know what he was getting into when he came out to Ann Arbor in December of l971, but it looks like he's finally gotten out of it. Sorry 'bout that. . . .

   AROUND TOWN: Tribe is out, guitarist Earl Klugh is in at the Pretzel Bowl for a couple of weeks, until the Lyman Woodard Organization returns for another stay at the Highland Park showplace. . . Meanwhile. Secret Life (featuring the dynamite keyboards of Gary Christa) moves into the Wed-Sat slot at JJ's Lounge in the Shelby Hotel, downtown. . . Congrats to the hottest rock and roll band in town, RIOT, on opening the Isaac Hayes show ai Olympia last Sunday. . . The Chi-Iites open at Henry's, on the Fenkell Strip, as this paper hits the streets, and continue through Sunday night. . . Blues veteran Louisiana Red hits the Raven Gallery next week, Oct 21 -27. while Detroit's own Little Sonny (Willis) spent the weekend at Ethel's on the east side. The Mack Avenue blues spot also has the great Sam & Dave coming in before the month is over. . . Erma Franklin, best known for her original version of "Piece of My Heart" and her sister Aretha, will be heard singing again, in the chorus of Ron Milner's new play "Season's Reasons," opening at the brand-new Langston Hughes Theatre Thursday, October 17. The Theatre is located on Livernois just south of Davison. We hope to bring you a feature piece on Ron and the Langston Hughes Theatre next ish. . . Laff fans have some great live comedy to look forward to: George Carlin at Masonic, Oct.18; the magnificent Richard Pryor in the same temple, Oct. 26; Proctor & Bergman at Ann Arbor's hill Auditorium, Oct. 27; Martin Mull at the Showcase Theatre later this fall; and on Nov 1 1, dear friends, Detroit 's own Lily Tomlin returns! . . .

   ON THE ROAD: The Motor City drummer Johnny Bee (Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, DETROIT, the Rockets) headed for the west coast once again, this time to make a month's " worth of live gigs with one of our favorite musicians, the one and only Dr. John. The last time he was out there (to cut The Doctor's new LP, out next week on United Artists) the Bee worked a UA promo party with Dr. John's Rizum & Blues Revue in a band which also included saxophonists Leroy "Hog" Cooper, Ernie Watts, and Clifford Scott, trombonist Frank Rosolino, Ronnie Barron on keyboards, and the great Boudreaux on the other set of drums. Whew! BBC filmed the set and the inevitable "jam session" afterwards, which had this all-star aggregation joined by Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton. Steve Hunter (Bee's former stable mate in Mitch Ryder's DETROIT band), Minnie Riperton, and the ever-rocking Ringo Starr on second drums with the Bee. . . Former WABX-er Dave Dixon, until recently the repulsive host of an all-night TV movie program where in Florida, was seen in town last week with local producer Harvey Ovshinsky (founder of the old Fifth Estate), who's trying to get the old Night Tripper on the tube here in town somehow. From everything we've heard it'd be a boon to all concerned. . . Speaking of' the small X, rumor has it that longtime strong-man John Detz is out as station manager there. which means either that his superiors at Century Broadcasting Corp. need his services full-time at MOR/ rocker KWST in Los Angeles, or that someone finally realized that Detz ran out of vision five or six years ago and has just been winging it ever since. . . And also in L.A.. Detroit 's own Spanky Wilson, the Westbound 20th Century singing star whose home base is manager Cornelius Watt 's Club Mozambique, did a stand at the Parisian Room, opening to standing ovations. . . The Motor City's Metro Audio mobile unit motored over to Chicago again for three more days with WAR. recording material for their next album. WAR'll also hit Cobo Hall here, Sunday, Oct 26..., IN THE STUDIOS: Dynamite saxophonist Norma Bell cutting demos for A&M Records over at GM Studios with Ron English, Mahavishnu bassist Ralphe Armstrong, and more of the Motor City's fastest young musicians. . . The New McKinney's Cotton Pickers laid down their third self-produced and self-released LP at Jim Bruzzese's Pampa Studios on the northeast side last month. You can- and should!- catch this exciting big band at Cranbrook's second "Detroit's Jazz Today" showcase, in the Museum of Modern Art Sunday, Nov. 2. . Ace guitarist Dallas Hodge was back in the studio in August and September cutting new demos for Epic Records, at the new Cloudborn Studios out on Mack, on the far east side. . . Singer Betty Lavette, already an Epic artist, might have a hit on her hands with her new 45, -"Thank You For Loving Me." We sure hope so . . Super producer Don Davis and the Groovesville crew, centered at Don 's United Sound Studios on Second & Antoinette, have been entertaining some heavy visitors lately, with the Soul Children from Columbia Records, Jackie Wilson (Brunswick Records) cutting what may be his last dates, and Davis' long-time clients, Ron Banks & the Dramatics and The Dells, regularly in and out. . . .

   FINALLY, followers of the big dope bust in Ann Arbor last month might have noticed that the roster of heavy-duty criminals associated with "one of the major rings in the country" included at least half a dozen of the aiea's finest local musicians. Which would seem to point once again, dear readers, to the need for more live music, and in more jobs for musicians, if only to save them from a life of crime. . . The concerts not to miss this lime are James Brown ai Cobo Hall. Saturday the 18th; the People's Symphony at the Music Hall Theatre. Sunday Oct 19th at 3:30 pin; Rod Stewart & Faces at Cobo, Tuesday the 21st; Son Seals Blues Band at Lizard's in-East Lansing. Mon-Tuesday Oct 27-28; The Tubes at Masonic (a Showcase Production), Wed Oct 29, for lovers of the bizarre; and Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters plus Billy Cobham at Masonic, Halloween (Oct 31 ). Plus McCoy Tyner at Baker's Keyboard lounge, Oct 20-25, and Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Tavares al Masonic Tempie, Sunday, Oct 19th.