Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060092
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDY BAUERS KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ANGELOU ON TAPE: REGAL WORDS
If Maya Angelou's voice were a shape, it would be a sphere. If it were a fruit, it would be ripe near to bursting.These are no idle comparisons. To say that her voice has weight and volume is more than mere metaphor.
Her diction is purposeful and, yes, regal. Vibrant and deep-toned, Angelou's voice wells up from somewhere deep inside her like the purring of a great lioness or vibrato on a vintage cello.
How fortunate she has done several recordings for all to savor.
By now - or certainly within the week - bookstores should be putting out the "authorized" and "commemorative" audio edition of "On the Pulse of the Morning," Angelou's inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton.
Clearly, the recording was a rush job. Published by Random House, it lasts a mere 12 minutes. Most of the $5 cost doubtless goes for the plastic cassette and the cardboard packaging. Recordings lasting 15 times as long cost only three times as much. Why couldn't they let her talk just a little while longer?
Nevertheless, I must admit that five bucks is a bargain for a piece of history. In addition to the poem that kept a nation riveted, Angelou talks about her inspiration to write it and does "a cappella" renditions of spirituals that have inspired her verses. If her normal mode of speaking is hymn-like, you can imagine the strength of her singing. Spectacular.
Random House also has a three-hour abridgment of the first volume of Angelou's autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," selling for $16. Angelou reads this vivid, electrifying account with ample feeling.
Again, though, I fret churlishly and whine: Why can't we have the whole thing? The paperback is only 246 pages. Why do we have to listen to Mr. No-name Narrator (okay, it's William Fowler, whoever "that" is) summarize portions of this powerful story instead of getting the full version straight from Angelou?
Never mind. Brevity is the recording's only flaw. Combined with any one of the interview tapes available - or better still, all three, since there is only occasional overlap - listeners can get the full gist of what a national treasure Angelou is.
Here she is on the Tapes for Readers recording - it's 30 minutes, yet costs an ample $13.95 (telephone 202-362-4585) - telling Stephen Banker how she was a "voluntary mute" after being raped at the age of 7. It was her love of poetry, she says, and the necessity of speaking it aloud, of feeling the words caress the tongue and move across the teeth, that prompted her to begin speaking after five years of silence.
Here she is on the Audio Forum tape (1 hour, $10.95, telephone 203-453-9794) chatting with Heywood Hale Broun about how she initially refused to write her autobiography. Then her editor, after badgering her repeatedly, finally said she was right, it was too difficult to write an autobiography as literature. And she shot back: "I'll do it."
Here she is on a New Dimensions radio recording (1 hour, $9.95, telephone 415-563-8899) talking about her work with both Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
In the fall, Random House plans to publish the audio version of Angelou's next book, "Lessons in Living," simultaneously with the hardback.
Here's hoping the company breaks its tiresome mold and does the work in full. Ditto for the remaining three volumes of Angelou's autobiography, which are surely being eyed for recording, if we're lucky.
Listeners shouldn't be denied a single word.