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Red pots lead wood-laden crews
By John Bramblett
Battalion Reporter
"The burning desire to beat
the hell out of t.u." is in the
hearts of all who love Texas
A&M University. It is especially
strong during football season
and is symbolized by the Aggie
bonfire. But who takes this ener
gy and turns it into the work
force that builds this Aggie insti
tution?
Six men, called redpots, har
ness this energy. A redpot is a
red hard hat or helment used to
distinguish these leaders from
the rest of the workers.
"There is the head stack, two
floating redpots that can go to
anybody in the Corps, an L-2
pot and a F-2 pot, and a civilian
redpot," head stack Art Free, a
senior from Brenham, said.
They, along with the senior
truck and senior head civilian,
supervise bonfire's construc
tion, he said. Senior truck is in
charge getting the trucks that
transports the wood. Senior
head civilian oversees work
done by civilian students. All
eight have hand-picked juniors
working under them.
There are two civilian coordi
nators and three Corps coordi
nators. Outfits in the Corps are
led by their commanding offic
ers and first sergeants. Dorms
are led by yellowpots and crew
chiefs.
Nobody really knows when
the redpots began running bon
fire.
"The head yell leader used to
be head stack and the yell lead
ers ran the cutting sight," Free
said.
As the University grew, the
yell leaders' other responsibili
ties followed suit so umcis were
needed to be in charge. The last
yell leader who was also head
stack was Les Harvey in 1975,
Free said.
Redpots, like most things at
Texas A&M, have a tradition-
filled history. But there is very
little written history on them.
"Everything is passed down
by mouth and remembered by
each class," Free said.
The redpots are called "dad"
by the junior redpots they pick
ed and in turn call them "son."
The redpots treat their sons like
freshman in the Corps, Free
said.
They toss axe handles to pick
which redpot has the privilege
of riding the outhouse to the top
of the stack. Tossing axe handles
is similar to grabbing a baseball
with an opponent, trying to
have the last hand on the bat.
The redpots' pliers are
attached to the top of the center
polebefore it is raised. When the
pliers are on top of the center
pole, the head stack has to go up
the pole to get to the pliers down
so they can wire the initial wrap
of logs around the center pole.
"It (making the head stack
climb the stack) started with the
class of '78, and I guess they did
it to mess the head stack
around," Free said.
The idea of former students
lends itself to former redpots,
deadpots.
"They are the only people we
can turn to if we have a problem.
There will be a reunion of red
pots the Friday following bon
fire ... it'll be a cirrus " bp said
Elvis Costello turns cowboy
with ear-pleasing album
By Vic Sylvia
Battalion Reporter
Elvis Costello—AImost Blue
Elvis Costello is fat. He's also
into country-and-western music
now.
I'm not suggesting that there
is a correlation between these
two observations. However,
they are true.
Recently, Elvis Costello
appeared on a television special
honoring the near-legendary
C&W artist George Jones. I was
amazed to discover that E. Cos
tello was one of George's
friends. In fact, I found it in
teresting ibaUhey even knew of
each other.
New Wave and country
music are, for the most part,
miles apart. However some
times out of the blue a crossover
occurs as in the cases of Nick
Lowe and Joe Ely.
Nick, a post-punk artist and
producer, married Carlene Car
ter, a singer from the inner circle
of C&W music. Joe Ely, a Texas
rockabilly star with country
roots, recently toured with the
Clash.
So, it appears that music in
general is congealing into a uni
fied form that defies categoriza
tion.
But what does all this have to
do with Elvis Costello's new
album, Almost Blue?
Costello has temporarily, I
assume, abandoned his more
familiar punkesque style to
adopt a more sedate country
sound. Even though diehard
new wave enthusiasts may not
readily admit it. Almost Blue is a
very good album.
Elvis Costello can do C&W,
and do it very well. His selection
of country songs include some
famous numbers by such great
artists as Merle Haggard, Don
Gibson, Charlie Rich, George
Jones and Hank Williams.
It's quite refreshing to hear
some of the old songs done with
a new vigor with no loss of the
emotional impact found in the
originals. Costello must really
enjoy country music, as is evi
dent in the intense feeling he
brings to such tearjerkers as "A
Good Year for the Roses" and
"Brown to Blue."
He also reveals his inner hon-
ky tonk personality in the rous
ing versions of "Honey Hush"
and Hank William's famous
"Why Don't You Love Me Like
You Used To Do?"
Anyone who follows Costel
lo's music should realize that
Elvis has been singing songs ab
out rejection and depression for
some time now. So his progre
ssion into the country music are
na is a natural move.
So what if the songs are not as
sophisticated as "The Angels
Want to Wear My Red Shoes" or
"The Imposter," they still get
their points across just the same.
Even though my favorite Costel
lo album is his first. My Aim is
True, I can see that Elvis is be
coming more sure of himself
and wants to be a contender for
the gravy train of commercial
success.
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What motivates someone to
spend all their free time on a
project for which they get no
University recognition only to
see it burn up in a fraction ot the
time it took to build it?
"The football team is out their
busting their butt getting ready
for t.u., and if I'm over here
busting my butt on bonfire I feel
I'm doing my part to beat t.u.,"
Free said.
"Personal satisfaction of
knowing you're one of six peo
ple chosen to lead the University
in the building of this thing,"
redpot James Birdwell from De
wey ville said.
"I just love bonfire," Free
added.
With a country album he can
cover more bases simultaneous
ly increase his popularity. Nice
going, Elvis!
Perhaps if you saw the
aforementioned George Jones
special you'll recall that Costello
did a number called "Tonight
the Bottle Let Me Down." Well,
it is included here and it doesn't
sound alien at all.
It is as if Elvis Costello had
been singing country songs all
his life. One thing's for sure,
he's been around longer than
many of his new wave col
leagues and seems to have no
intention of fading away any
time soon.
However, time has changed
Elvis Costello from the frail
spastic boy singing "Watching
the Detectives" on "Saturday
Night Live" to the calm yet
paunchy stranger singing duets
with George Jones. No matter
who he is now, he's still making
superlative albums. If you even
remotely like E. Costello or
country music, you'll be
pleasantly pleased by Almost
Blue because it's an exceptional
blend of both worlds.
Vic Sylvia is a graduate student
in the Vet School.
913 Harvey Rd.
College Station
693-4423
P ossible Monday holiday: ¥
Texas A&M President Frank
Vandiver has declared Monday
a holiday if we beat t.u. This
gives you extra added incentive
to cheer on the football team.
4^
s
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