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The RationalsTemptation 'Bout To Get MeTotal Energy RecordA live recording from '68 thatcan only be viewed as a historicaldocument. TheRationals were a midasMichigan band whichachieved some regional fameearly in their careers. Theirorientation was the "pop''single and they released anumber of them prior to theonset of "album" rock. On thedate captured via a squndboard tape The Rationalsattempt to change their styleto compete with more up andcoming bands. They are openingfor The MC5. Taken incontext Temptation 'Bout ToGet Me is a "true" trip back intime to 1968. Only two originalRational's songs are present.The remainder areextended jamming cover versionsof R&B standards."Fever," "I Put A Spell OnYou" and "Wang DangDoodle" are garaged up andas raw as anyone could everdesire. Of possibly moreinterest than the actual musicare the announcements concludingthe disc. Buddy Guyis supposedly going to open .for the Moody Blues at theGrande Ballmom in twoweeks. The MC5 are about torecord their first record andthe disc closes with Rob-er calling out to his"brothers and sisters" asWayne Kramer tunes up.Tab Benoit.Standing On The Bank .Justice Records. The swamp guy who (accord-fig to the last press materialsI received) would rather notacknowledge his roots evenas he pictures the above ,water images of them on thecoverof his latest CD. Anextraordinaryguitar slingerwho lost it sdmewhat on hissophomore release returnswith the third in the series.He's a familiar site here inSalt Lake City at the ZephyrClub. The outsf-towners andlocal clueless wanher into theplace after dodging illegalswith their parcels of lowgrade "chiva" and "coca" toview him without the slightestinkling as to who he is.He% worked hard to dropthat Acadian accent fromthevocals. I always found theslight hint to Louisiana to beone of the most engaging ele-' ments of a Benoit disc.Listening to this one I'm wonkdering if he has finallyacknowledged the upbringingbecause of the cover, the titlesong and the one precedingit, "Downtown," a tune aboutNew Orleans? As I've alreadyreported Willie Nelson is currentlya member of the Justiceroster. He joins Benoit on guitarand vocals for a cover ofhis own song, "Rainy DayBlues." Willie always was agreat songwriter' a fact the -present h& relegated to theback pages. Is it possible thatBenoit is coming into his ownas a mature player? From thesound of Standing On TheBank I'd say the answer is aresounding yes! He's alreadyproved that he has the chops.On the latest the chops take aback seat to actual feeling inthe playing!'-Eating SmegWalt MinkEl PmductoAtlanticYou all remember Walt MinkI'm sure. They releasedBareback Ride a few years agoand followed it up with ashow at the Bar & Grill. Therelease, the band's second,was on Caroline. Surprise ofsurprises. I never expected tosee Walt Mink make the leap60 the majors but they have.Atlantic didn't receive manypositive words from me lastmonth due to,the poorquality of the advancecassettes they sent. I stillbelieve that an advancecassette is about as valuableaS a Canadiai dime insertedin a public library copymachine.What the hell the major labelis going to do with these guysescapes me. They're a geekrock band with a hero onguitar who sings like Alvinthe Chipmunk or something.El Producto moves right alongthrough the hard/progressiverock psych to acaustic folkpsych to Plant/Page worldbeat psych. Flip the thingover and find "Little Sister"which is some kind ofthrash/h&d-core psych. Asusual the combination ofadvahce cassetteI $3headphones and $15Walkman make the listeningexperience akin to snorkelingI in the murky waters of theJordan River. The power oftlie trio shines through.Instead of ushg his fearfultalents to jam on and on intothe night. John Kimbroughcontinues his search for theperfect lick by keeping thesongs short. The songs rangefm swiding dervishes topeeling skin from bone powerto pretty folk. If this is whatpeople call retro rock orprogressive rock (both termsapplied to Walt Mink in thepast) I'll take it over a wholestack of "God damned hippie - -bands" or Queewryche,Rush, Into Another bootlegtapes any time. Viit the"chain" store on January 23,the scheduled release date,and make the "clerk" open acopy. Listen for fr& and ifyou like' buy at theindependents.William S. Burroughs & GilVan SantThe Elms Of LettersTi Kerr RecordsIt is extremely relaxing to sitback and find comfort in thevoice and words ofWilliam S. Burroughs. He'sbeen doing these spokenword recordings for longerthan a lot of people readingthis paper have be& alive.On this release he seems to bemore interested in the syllablethan complete words. .Hisspeech is broken, as the titleto the first piece,"Burroughs Break," mightsuggest. Gil Van Sant'sbacking music is your usualhipster' blues/jazz. The CDcould stand on its own as aninstrumentalrecording - minus track - ifBurrough's words wereremoved. For my bucks thebest piece is "Millions OfImages" where Burroughsdescribes the images ofhimself filling his mind. Heshits out the words. Theclosest he gets to telling astory is "The Hipster Be-BopJunkie." Of course the story isonly three sentences long."The hipster be-bop junkiesnever shoived at 103rd Street.They all look like junk.There's a junkie gesture.. .."The hes are repeated overand over with various vocaltreatments added while VanSant gets a little dub thinggeg. The EP length isperfect for investigating themodem world of an old beat.Kind of an introduction toW&am S. Burroughs that.might cause someone tosearch out more of the oldvinyl works or full-lengthCDs.-Riley PuckettuContinued on Page 42