First published December 2007
A welcome re-release on CD for a record that makes more sense now than when it first came out in 1988. Thunders’ first solo record ‘So Alone’ had received good reviews and lousy sales – it’s successor ‘Que Sera Sera’ just managed the lousy sales. So by third LP ‘Copy Cats’ Thunders was under pressure to deliver some professional product that would sell. His response was a covers collection, in the vein (sorry) of John Lennon’s 1975 collection ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
Crucial to the success of ‘Copy Cats’ were long-term Thunders associates Patti Palladin (ex-Snatch) and John Perry (ex-Only Ones). Patti helped select the songs, shared the vocals and acted as producer. The arrival of John Perry some weeks into the sessions salvaged the project, as he assumed the role of musical director as well as contributing extensive guitar and synth strings and brass.
The resultant record is a triumph, a loving recreation of the soundtrack to Johnny and Patti’s teenage years. Thunders trademark overdriven guitar is absent here, and his vocals are carefully underpinned by others, including Patti and Chrissie Hynde (the latter guesting on a sensuous version of the Shirelles ‘Baby It’s You’). Only a shrill take on Screaming Jay Hawkins ‘Alligator Wine’ fails to convince. Covering less obvious songs had me combing second-hand record shops for the original versions of ‘Can’t Seem To Make You Mine’ (Seeds) and ‘He Cried’ (Shangri La’s).
Reviews were positive – Sounds called it the best Thunders project to date, NME gave it 9/10 and even John Peel described ‘Copy Cats’ as “one of those rare albums of covers where the versions are actually better than the originals”. The record ended up wildly over budget, didn’t sell and that was the end of Thunders studio career. However the love and respect that infuses the music throughout ‘Copy Cats’ shows that there was much more to Thunders than his wild-man-of-rock schtick and for that it is a welcome addition to his canon.
First published October 2009
Rhino Handmade 2CD Expanded Version
Much hoo-ha recently about Big Star as a result of the release of the box set. Many of the reviews (including ours) were keen to share credit between main-men Alex Chilton and the less well-known Chris Bell. Chris never released a full LP in his short life but in 1978 Chris Stamey’s Car Records released a single of his two best known tracks, I Am The Cosmos b/w You and Your Sister. Then in 1992 Ryko released a selection of tracks compiled by Chris’ brother David. This new release from Rhino Handmade adds further songs to give 27 tracks across 2 CDs, remastered and in superior sound.
The Handmade collection suggests an erratic but impressive talent. For me Chris Stamey got it right – the two tracks on the now very scarce Car single are the absolute pick of Bell’s songs. Both tracks are on CD1 with out-takes on CD2: a longer version of Cosmos with Clapton/Harrison guitar at the end and two versions of Sister, one acoustic and one where a mellotron replaces the original elegant string arrangement. There are other good songs –I Got Kinda Lost, Though I Know She Lies – but no real stunners. Of the out-takes and previously unreleased material some is manifestly inferior to what we’ve heard before, such as the remake of I Don’t Know. The only superior alternate version is The Speed Of Sound, where the original rather intrusive synthesiser solo is replaced by a guitar part that fits the song much better. Also worth hearing is the faux-British accent at the end ‘Clacton Rag’ – how on earth did a good ol’ boy from Memphis end up in Clacton ?
Anybody who doesn’t have I Am the Cosmos and You and Your Sister in their record collection is plainly nuts. And if you ain’t got ‘em this is a good place to get ‘em as there are other fine tunes included. However it is hard to avoid the conclusion that had Bell stayed with Chilton they could have collectively surpassed all but the very best songs here. Another rock’n’roll ‘What If…?”
First published February 2008
Ian Clayton
Once upon a time record companies tried to make it easier for shops by printing ‘File Under…’ on the back sleeve ( my favourite was ‘File Under… Powertrash’ on the Replacements first LP). What would you write on the back of this charming but genre-straddling volume? It is variously a memoir, a critique of a bewildering variety of music, an appreciation of what it means to be a collector and, in the final chapter, a sad lament. The power of the book is the deft way in which Ian Clayton blends these ingredients together so that they co-exist in harmony rather than glaring crossly at each other. No wonder the Foreword is written by Robert Wyatt.
What I took from the book are the themes that underpin the many and varied anecdotes. There is a very strong sense of Ian’s native Featherstone at all times, and his sense of strong geographical and cultural roots. This informs a second strong theme, travelling and coming home (physically and emotionally). But the most prominent theme here is Ian’s love for his fellow man – not in a hippy-dippy watch-out-for-the-brown-acid sense but based on a true sense of being decent to ones fellow man and treating them with all due respect (except for US marines who lob ice cubes at you in BB Kings bar, and even this turns out OK).
I bought this book for the musical content only to discover that our tastes don’t really coincide, with the exception of the Stones doing Love In Vain on Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. However this didn’t inhibit my enjoyment of the book one little bit. Reading Ian’s account of seeing Roy Herrington playing his seminal nine minute guitar virtuoso piece ‘Born In West Yorkshire’ works even without knowing the music. However a companion soundtrack CD featuring the breadth of music featured here would make for an entertaining listen – how about it Route?
First published March 2010
Brijitte used to lead the successful New York band punk band NY Loose. Relocating to London this solo CD finds her playing to her strengths. She has a vocal style which combines sass with a hint of vulnerability in the way of prime Chrissie Hynde. She writes concise songs which are carefully arranged to bring out the hooks. Her backing musicians do everything required of them – a solid rhythm section, short solos and very effective backing vocals. A taut production by Brijitte and Mark Bhalla achieves the Powertrash sound of peak period Replacements. There are echoes too of Westerberg in the songwriting, especially noticeable in should-be-a-single ‘All Roads Lead To You’. I also like the way that opening track ‘Hard To Believe’ sounds like walking into a party that’s already going full-tilt.
Further kudos here for keeping the number of songs down to ten, resulting in a dynamic 35 minutes rather than the enervating hour-long marathon so endemic these days. Hearts are worn on sleeves with a dedication to Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny. ‘Walk Out’ is almost a Heartbreakers homage, all ‘ Chinese Rocks’ vocals and Thunders guitars.
Reservations? I have two. Firstly whilst ‘Bitter And Twisted’ provides a welcome change of pace more textural variation would also be a good idea. The classic two guitar/bass/drums line-up is deployed well here but would benefit from some leavening – maybe some piano or some accoustic guitar to broaden the sonic palette.
Secondly the cover undersells the music. A distressed image of a scantily-clad Brijitte in the bath reeks of OD-chic. Far better is the vibrant image on the back of the CD which sees a feisty Brijitte surrounded by the young turks in her band. And printing the lyrics only emphasises Mick Jagger’s point that it is more fun to work them out for yourself.
Still, Courtney Love should make a record this convincing. These tracks will undoubtedly come to life onstage and I recommend attendance at the Dublin Castle on March 27th where I have no doubt Brijitte and her band will be both Desparate and Hopeful.
First published March 2011
Ambassadors Theatre, London (second set)
The memory of Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart was honoured by a brace of shows organised by pianist Ben Waters. After an introduction by fellow-Scot Ian Rankin the diminutive stage at Ambassadors theatre managed to house three boogie woogie pianists in Ben, Axel Zwingenberger and Jools Holland. A warm welcome greeted the definitive Stones rhythm section of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman who backed a surprisingly appropriate Mick Hucknall in understated Drown in My Own Tears. The demon guitar duo of Mick Taylor and his Stones replacement Ronnie Wood were to the fore on Worried Life Blues, a song Ronnie has been singing since the New Barbarians tour of ‘78 and it sounded fantastic. Then Bill sang You Never Can Tell, everyone joined in on Shake Rattle and Roll, Shakin’ Stevens came on for Don’t Lie to Me, Mick H again convinced on a call-and-response Bring It On Home To Me followed by a Little Queenie that really swung (have Watts, Wyman and Taylor played this together since 1971 ?) then a vintage Down The Road Apiece and an encore of Can I Get a Witness. Just as I was thinking that the riff in Witness sounded just like High Heel Sneakers the same thought occurred to someone onstage and an impromptu version was delivered. The entire group, by now a dozen strong, gathered for a group bow which Charlie almost missed because he was so busy talking to Bill. The audience loved it, the band loved it and Ian Stewart would have loved it.
First published May 2011
Test Pressing edition (Omnivore OVLP-1)
“Lenny Waronker said ‘I don’t have to listen to that again do I?’. Jerry Wexler told me ‘This record makes me feel very uncomfortable’. Karin Berg at Elektra accused me of destroying Alex’s career” Producer Jim Dickinson
Sadly, we were subsequently to discover that Alex was perfectly capable of doing that all by himself. Notwithstanding, two thousand copies of Big Star III have been released to celebrate 2011 Record Store Day – a vinyl only exact reproduction of the test pressing touted around major labels so unsuccessfully by Dickinson back in 1975.
Thirty-six years after recording the dust has settled to reveal harmony and dissonance in equal measures. Light and beauty can be found in Take Care, For You, Femme Fatale, Jesus Christ: the darkness descends in Downs, Holocaust, Kangaroo. But it’s never boring and this 14 track selection feels tighter and more to the point than the Ryko 19 track CD from the same sessions that came out in 1992 (but where is the Leesa Aldridge sung version of Til The End Of The Day? )
The packaging is brilliant. A great slab of vinyl is housed in a box that mimics the original 15ips master tape with tracking sheets and other ephemera faithfully reproduced. The record has been cut by original engineer Larry Nix and the sound is stunning – this eccentric selection has never sounded better, a testament to engineer John Fry at the top of his game.
Now that the post-Record Store Day feeding frenzy has died down you can pick up a copy of this release for the cost of a good dinner. I suggest you treat yourself.
First published July 2009
This years Serpentine Sessions has been an innovative and successful attempt to provide something new to London’s gig-goers. Inside a pink tent in the middle of Hyde Park around 2000 people have seen on successive nights Regina Spektor, Bon Iver and now Tindersticks supported by Big Star.
A glorious warm evening and a stroll through the park provides the perfect pre-amble to a compact but satisfying set from Big Star. With only 55 minutes onstage they are forced to play to their strengths with the result that the set-pacing problems exhibited at the Shepherds Bush gig last August are absent tonight. From the traditional opener “In the Street” to the equally traditional closer “Thank You Friends” a great vibe emanated from the stage, with even the normally taciturn Alex Chilton grinning throughout – he must have been thinking about the size of his fee for tonight’s one-off performance. The sound tonight is crisp and well-balanced – everything audible and at sensible volume. Drummer Jody Stephens gets his chance to sing on “Way Out West” and “For You”, Posies Jon and Ken sing a reverent “I Am the Cosmos” to Chris Bell’s brother David, present in the crowd tonight. Also present are a relatively large number of young women – usually Big Star audiences are composed of indie fanboys muttering “seminal, seminal” so it makes a nice change to see ordinary music-lovers at a gig. Covers tonight are restricted to an authentically raunchy “Til The End Of the Day” plus “Patti Girl” and “Mine Exclusively”, where none of the band can remember who cut the original.
The band leave to warm applause and could definitely have played an encore. Instead Nick West and I talk to John Fry, a crucial figure in the Big Star story and here in London to do “tourist stuff”. John is very positive about the Big Star box-set due in September (contents here www.uncut.co.uk/news/big_star/news/13149) and admits he has even mixed some of the previously-unreleased tracks. John confirms it is also planned to issue a 2CD expanded version of the I Am The Cosmos to tie in with the release of the box set.
The ever-amenable Jody comes over to say hello to Kent Benjamin (on his hols from Austin, Texas) but then heads off for an early night since he has to be up at 430 for the plane back to Memphis. Jon and Ken are nowhere to be seen but lo and behold Alex is hanging out in the outdoor bar, Diet Coke and smokes in a holder.
So we sit down for a chat and Alex belies his reputation by being excellent company. He says he only heard about the box set 2 weeks ago so it has been assembled without any input from him. He is really pissed off with Bruce Eton’s new book on Radio City ( www.bigstarbook.blogspot.com ) and claims that Bruce included personal stuff that they had agreed was off-limits. Alex has no plans to write or record new material, feeling with the record industry in the state it ‘s in at present there’s not much point, plus he only really writes songs when has a deadline. A discussion on royalties revealed that Alex does now get money from sales of the three Big Star records, but that this is dwarfed by royalties earnt by the use of ”In The Street” as the theme for That Seventies Show in the US. Alex confessed that what he is really into at present is baroque and that he would like to do some composing, possibly for a film soundtrack.
He’s dry, he’s wry, he’s urbane – the Jimmy Stewart of Rock’n’Roll. But Alex Chilton, he’s still a mover.
First published May 2010
Spring 2010 has seen the simultaneous re-release of Exile On Main Street by the Rolling Stones and Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges, originally released in May 1972 and June 1973 respectively. The Stones generated instant sales, a hit single and a sell-out US tour. By contrast this line up of the Stooges achieved no chart placings and managed just two gigs before losing their management and record deal. Over three decades later both records are widely recognised as classic recordings that continue to exert a significant influence on contemporary music and popular culture.
Someone who knew both the Stones and the Stooges intimately during the early 70’s was then-NME writer Nick Kent, whose recent memoir Apathy For The Devil offers excellent insights into both groups. “Exile on Main Street Street and Raw Power were both dark records, recorded in exile by two groups trying to deal with alien cultures.” The Stones were in tax-exile in the South of France, the Stooges transplanted from gritty Detroit to sleepy Maida Vale. “Both records bear the mark of hard drug useage – Raw Power prior to recording, Exile more as part of the creative process.”
“Both records are linked to the blues. Raw Power is a more poetic version of John Lee Hooker, so something like Serves You Right To Suffer becomes ‘I’m dying in a story I only live in to sing this song’ (I Need Somebody) – that’s the Stooges whole career in a single sentence right there. This is what white folks should be doing when they sing the blues – focus on the economy and tell the story. Plus there is incredible foresight in Death Trip – ‘We’re going down in history…’ Iggy is saying I’ll have to kill myself before I get any exposure for this music”
Nick describes Exile songs like Soul Survivor as “mysterious, dark but still tongue-in-cheek: ‘shit happens but we’re going to get out of this somehow’ The lyrics reflect the environment in which the songs were created – the sunbaked French Riviera in the company of the burnt-out idle rich. Hanging out with Paul Getty gave Mick Jagger something to write about. In ’68 he was a Street Fighting Man, by Exile it’s all about the wealthy and pampered.”
“Jagger’s lyrics reveal his concern for what was happening to those he was closest to – Keith Richards, Anita Pallenburg, Marianne Faithful. Although Jagger took heroin at this point he was not addicted like the other three. But I don’t really know what the Exile lyrics are about – Jaggers vocals are so low in the mix they almost become part of the rhythm track, like say Michael Jackson. It’s the last time he did this – from Goats Heads Soup onwards Jagger’s voice has been much higher in the mix. The ‘hidden’ sound of the lyrics on Exile reflect the lifestyle from which it was created.” The Only Ones’ John Perry points out “Exile is the Stones last record as Englishmen. After this they become rootless, stateless, international, and any real sense of Englishness is gone from the records.”
Is Exile still Nick’s favourite Stones record? ” For some years I thought it was, but now I think it’s Sticky Fingers where every song is 10/10, really well sequenced and not exclusively dark like Exile. Exile has the Stones ‘dream team’ firing on all cylinders. In addition to founding members Jagger, Richards, Wyman and Watts there was a fully-integrated Mick Taylor on guitar, Nicky Hopkins their best ever keyboard player who brought colour to the tracks and crucially producer Jimmy Miller. What Jimmy Miller brought to the group was groove – find a good groove, get Keith Richards to add a great riff and Mick Jagger to find an interesting lyrical topic beyond who he was fucking. Jimmy Miller started off as a drummer and was used to working with US black musicians. Plus they really knew how to use the horn section of Jim Price and Bobby Keyes to add rhythm, like the Memphis Horns were used on Stax records. Don’t play much, accentuate the riff. Remember Exile came out at the time that rock bands like Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears were using horns to play bad jazz”.
Nick is optimistic that both groups could make another record that compares well to these seminal works. “The Stones have the opportunity to make a really good record as ‘old guys’, facing the real prospect of death. Death is right in their faces now, and the blues is all about that. They need to rethink their performing and recording agenda and ask themselves the question ‘Why do we need to make new album?’. Take a leaf out of Bob Dylan’s book when he did Time Out Of Mind. Do the old blues and r’n’b songs. Use that as a touchstone then write your songs from that. No power ballads, no contemporary stuff. Recently Jagger has given the impression that when he writes a song he is only thinking about how the video is going to look. You need a producer who is going to do more than referee between Keith and Mick. Don Was says that producing the band in the studio is great for the 30% of the time when the band are playing. But the other 70% of the time is spent negotiating with Keith and Mick as they slag off each others new songs. But I’m never going to count out the Stones from making a great final record.”
“Iggy could do another strong record with James Williamson. Both the groups are good live. The market is there – all it needs is the right material. The Stones could copy the Stooges and do some gigs where they play Exile all the way through.” It is rumoured that Jagger – never a big fan of Exile – rejected this idea when it was suggested by Universal Records.
By contrast the Stooges spent May 2 and 3 playing the whole of Raw Power to ecstatic audiences at a sold-out Hammersmith Apollo. The attraction for long-term Stooges fans was the return on guitar of James Williamson and a song selection to match.” James had unfinished business, now he’s finishing it – he’s a better foil to Iggy than either Ron Asheton or David Bowie ever was.” In addition to the eight songs from Raw Power the sets included five songs from follow-up Kill City and even songs never adequately recorded in ’73 such as the irrepressible Cock In My Pocket and the reflective Open Up and Bleed. Veteran Stooges fans such as Bill Allerton and Phil Shoenfelt were hugely impressed, commenting “stupendous – one of the best gigs I’ve been to” and “one of the most apocalyptic shows I’ve seen in a long time – truly amazing, a brutal, dark slaughterhouse of a gig. What a performance, what nerve, what courage, what heroism.”
In an interesting online interview James Williamson confirms he has now remastered Kill City, the follow-up to Raw Power and a criminally underrated record that shows Pop and Williamson at their most Stones-like. “I’m telling you, the end result is just fantastic. I mean, we finally reached the full potential of that album. We’re gonna re-release that some time this year” (more at www.clashmusic.com/feature/the-stooges-james-williamson-interview). Also later this year there is finally an official DVD release of ‘Ladies And Gentlemen The Rolling Stones’, documenting the 1972 STP American tour to great effect.
So Nick which is the better record today – Exile or Raw Power? ” Raw Power is the greatest rock’n’roll album ever. It actually describes what it is talking about. Songs about rock’n’roll are usually corny but Raw Power gets it. Raw Power is the bridge between prime Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard and the Sex Pistols. Kurt Cobain and Metallica. But unlike the Stones this is not copying Chuck Berry. This is the blueprint for how rock (not rock’n’roll) was going to be. In comparison Exile was almost a blueprint for what rock’n’roll had been up to 1972. Two real milestone records. There are never going to be greater rock’n’roll records made.”
Recorded Evidence
Electric Circus
The Stooges
Easy Action LP
This low-fi recording documents one of the rare live gigs featuring the twin guitar line-up of Ron Asheton and James Williamson. Recorded at the Electric Circus, New York in May 1971, none of the songs were to feature on Raw Power so with the exception of I Got A Right this material was effectively lost until now. Easy Action are to be congratulated for enabling die-hard Stooges fans to hear this short-lived line-up playing such rare material. Iggy’s solo rendition of The Shadow Of Your Smile is a nice touch. Pressed on bright orange vinyl so as to resemble a pumpkin.
James Williamson and the Careless Hearts
Easy Action Double LP/DVD
Prior to the high-profile Raw Power gigs James regained match fitness by rehearsing and gigging with San Jose’s Careless Hearts. This record was made when they played the Blank Club in September 2009, joined by original Stooges sax player Steve MacKay who featured at the Hammersmith gigs,. The selection of material also corresponds largely to the London gigs and James is in impressive form throughout. I have a problem with anyone other than Iggy singing ‘I’m a street-walking cheetah with a heartful of napalm” but singer Paul Kimball does his best here. The vinyl sounds flat to me and I preferred the simply shot DVD of the gig. Pressed on translucent red vinyl to look like giant Cherry-flavour Tunes.
Raw Power Box Set
Iggy and the Stooges
Sony Legacy 3CD/DVD/7″ single
There are cheaper and simpler versions but this box-set has significant advantages. CD1 is the original David Bowie production, remastered and sounding terrific, although the absence of the complete “violent” Iggy remix from 1996 is a missed opportunity (it would have fitted snugly onto CD1). CD2 is a multi-track recording of a live gig from Atlanta Georgia in October 1973 marred only by some guitar problems – when James Williamson’s guitar finally starts functioning just before the end of Head On it feels like the arrival of the US Cavalry. The live Gimme Danger showcases Ron Asheton’s bass playing, his interplay with Williamson worthy of Entwistle / Townshend or Fraser / Kossoff. I Need Somebody optimises the five-piece live Stooges, pianist Scott Thurston channelling Nicky Hopkins The rest of CD2 and CD3 collate studio out-takes and new mixes such as the Yardbirdsy I’m Sick Of You in best-ever sound. The DVD is an excellent ‘making-of’ documentary which only suffers from a lack of live footage – just Shake Appeal from the Sao Paolo festival of November 2009 . Plus five groovy postcards, a repro of the impossibly rare Japanese Raw Power vinyl single with priceless lyric translation on the pc sleeve (it starts “Dance to the beat of Nelly’s dead”…) and a 48-page colour leaflet stuffed full of juicy Mick Rock pics and informative anecdotes. A nice touch is that the box itself looks like a well-worn copy of the original LP. A box set put together for fans, by fans.
Exile On Main Street
The Rolling Stones
Universal Records 2CD set
Like Raw Power this re-release comes in a bewildering variety of formats from single CD to box-set-multiple-vinyl-free-DVD-plus-T-shirt-give-us-all-your-money-limited-edition. This 2CD version pairs the eighteen songs from the original 1972 release with a second CD of ten further songs recorded there or thereabouts (rumours of extensive contemporary re-recording persist).
Virgin did a good Bob Ludwig remaster of the original release in 1994 and by comparison CD1 here sounds pretty much the same only louder. Of the ‘new’ tracks on CD2 some are mere curiosities to play once such as the instrumental Title 5, an early version of Soul Survivor where a half-hearted Keith Richards vocal degenerates into “Etcetera, Etcetera” and a slovenly out-take of Loving Cup. Good Time Woman realises belatedly that it wants to turn into Tumbling Dice the way a caterpillar wants to turn into a glittering dragonfly. The Japanese release will additionally feature an unrefined early version of All Down The Line.
More successful are the songs not officially released before. I’m Not Signifying is a relaxed and effective blues built around Nicky Hopkins bar-room piano and Jaggers’ mouth-harp. Despite being the most unlimited limited-release in vinyl history Plundered My Soul swaggers in all the right places and highlights some fabulous Mick Taylor fills and cool Jagger lyrics, whilst being oddly reminiscent of Ooh La La-era Faces. Pass The Wine plonks a recently-recorded Jagger vocal over a 1971 instrumental called Sophia Loren to create a latiny groove that goes nowhere at some length, thus saying “Mick Jagger solo LP”. Original Stone Ian Stewart playing piano on Dancing In The Light (aka Four And In) is a nice surprise and a further 60’s reference is the resemblance between So Divine and Paint it, Black. A final highlight is Following The River, the most convincing ballad here with more delicious Nicky Hopkins piano and a lovelorn Jagger.
Jagger has made it clear that any further excavation of the Stones capacious vaults depends upon this release being a commercial success. So on that basis I hope it sells. But three successes out of ten tracks is a poor strike-rate. Where is Fast Talking Slow Walking, Key To The Highway, 32-20 Blues, When You Got A Good Friend, the acoustic All Down The Line, even the ‘drunken’ Loving Cup or Exile On Main Street Blues? Compare this to Raw Power and weep.
First published November 2007
“City City City City City City City City…City Slang!” – the last great record to come out of the whole MC5/Stooges Detroit scene, and the only studio recording ever released by Sonic’s Rendezvous Band. The SRB were formed by ex-MC5 guitarist extraordinaire Fred ”Sonic” Smith with Scott Morgan (vocals and guitar, ex-Rationals), ably backed by Gary Rasmussen (bass, ex-Up) and Scott Asheton (drums, ex-Stooges). So a Detroit ‘supergroup’ who played live extensively from 1975 through to 1981, a killer single in ‘City Slang’ and …nothing. Whilst Detroit label Mack Aborn Rythmic Arts posthumously put out the ‘Sweet Nothing” and “City Slang’ mostly-live CDs no-one has tried to tell the full SRB story until now. The launch of a new eponymous SRB six CD box-set from Easy Action (EARS009) makes it an opportune time to reappraise one of Detroits most underappreciated bands.
The box-set is a real Easy Action labour of love, similar to recent sets from the Stooges and MC5. Each CD comes in a different picture sleeve whilst the accompanying booklet contains some great photographs from Bob Matheu plus extensive sleeve notes from MC5’s Michael Davis and band historian Ken Shimamoto. Only a handful of the 66 tracks are studio recordings, so the bulk are from the bands extensive live repertoire. Inevitably this means a variation in sound quality but most tracks are reasonable and some are good. No Stooges or MC5 material – this was a new band devoted to new material and determined not to live on past glories. The connection to the past comes through covers such as the Stones Heart Of Stone and Flight 505, Dylans Like A Rolling Stones and first generation rockers Promised Land and Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry), I Believe To My Soul (Ray Charles) and Let The Kids Dance (Bo Diddley).
Sadly Fred died in 1994, so it was down to Scott Morgan to fill in the gaps around the SRB. Why would a London label issue 6CDs by a band who never made it out of the Mid-West ? “ Bob Matheu (ex-Creem Magazine and photographer to the stars) had done some liaison work with Carlton Sandercock at Easy Action on the MC5 box, and he also received the coveted Slap On the Head / Thump On The Chest / Poke In the Eye award for the Stooges ‘Heavy Liquid’ set. When Carlton approached us about doing an SRB box-set my friends the Hurley Brothers had some tapes and there were plenty of boots floating about to chose from. Bob had also made some recordings in the 1970’s.”
Very few studio tracks were ever recorded by the SRB. “The version of Sweet Nothin’ on the final CD was recorded at Artie Fields studio down in Detroit, where we also cut the single version of City Slang and (the projected B-side) Electrophonic Tonic . Succeed, Highjackin’ Love, Mystically Yours, Take A Look and Electrophonic Tonic on CD5 were recorded in my parents basement by a friend of my brother Johnny called Dave Klinger. Dave strung microphone cables down the laundry chute from the top floor of our house and mixed us on a small reel-to reel recorder..”
City Slang came out on Orchide Records in 1978. “We never had a record label other than Orchide Records, which was basically us. We had one or two offers that we declined for one reason or another. We had the material, just not the record distributor. I believe there will be a reissue next year of the 7” single City Slang, backed with the originally-intended B-side Electrophonic Tonic. The first 1000 copies of City Slang were numbered, there were one or two reprintings after that but anything released after 1980 is a bootleg.”
So why didn’t the SRB make it ? Scott again: “We weren’t cut out for multi-platinum, arena-rockin’, fashion-platin’, publicity-hound success. Fred was Sonic Smith by night but he was mild-mannered Fred by day. I was not a shining star when it came to the music biz. And we came along at an awkward transitional period in the music business – we weren’t corporate material.” Just before the release of City Slang the entire SRB (minus Scott) were recruited by Iggy Pop as his backing band to tour Europe, but Scott claims that this was not a problem. “Fred wasn’t sure about going to Europe with Iggy. I kind of encouraged him . It may have been a mistake but I don’t think that’s what changed things for us. When they came back we put out City Slang and everything was back on track.”
Looking back on the SRB today Scott is philosophical. “In the end Fred started it and Fred ended it. I guess he decided he’d had enough for a while and would like to get out of the rat race. He got married (to Patti Smith) and had family and lived happily ever after or something like that. As you can hear from the box we could rock with the best. To us that was the point. None of the other stuff seemed to matter – except maybe the aftershow party!”
If you would like to know more about the SRB www.i94bar.com is highly recommended on all matters Detroit, and here you can read an expanded version of Robert Matheu’s sleeve notes, whilst www.sonicsrendezvous.com gives you an alternative view.
First published August 2011
My first musical memory is Rod and the Faces, playing football and miming (badly) to Maggie May on Top Of The Tops. I was hooked. My teen years were spent frantically devouring the NME until an encounter with the pre-fame Sex Pistols gave me the confidence to have a go myself. I was the vocalist with Trash who released two blink-and-you-missed-them singles on Polydor in 1977 and 1978. These are included on the compilation This Is Complete Trash!, just released by Only Fit For The Bin Records (detour-records.co.uk/trashinfopage.htm).
Following Trash’s demise I began writing for rock’n’roll magazine Bucketfull of Brains where since 1983 I have interviewed many cool people including John Cale, Ian McLagan, the Pink Fairies, Nick Kent, Paul Westerberg, Epic Soundtracks, Alex Chilton, Wayne Kramer, Peter Perrett and John Perry (bucketfullofbrains.com). My favourite groups are the Who, the Stones, the New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, the Only Ones and Big Star.
My other great interest is sustainable food, and I have now helped to launch three ethical chocolate brands – Green & Black’s, Divine and most recently GO*DO (godochoc.com)
THE COLLECTOR QUESTIONS
What do you collect, and why?
7” vinyl singles – rock’n’roll, psyche and punk. I used to collect LPs as well until I read This Is Uncool by Gary Mulholland and realised that all my favourite songs are singles. I only buy records that I really, really like – most bands are capable of one classic track but a surprising number cannot manage a second…
How big is your collection?
Just under 1000 singles – a bit like an iPod that’s eight feet long! I use my singles when I DJ as Only Rock’n’Roll (myspace.com/simonjcwright). Recent gigs have included Shepherds Bush Empire, Koko, The Band On The Wall, Epsom Racecourse and upstairs at my local.
What do you think it is worth?
About 35 years of my life
How and where do you store it?
Next to my record player. Where else?
What’s the rarest/most unusual/most valuable item you have?
My most expensive purchases were UK psyche classics like the Soft Machine (Love Makes Sweet Music), the Pink Floyd (Apples and Oranges), Dantalion’s Chariot (Madman Running Through the Fields) and Family (Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens). Getting very hard to find is the withdrawn Decca version of Something Better / Sister Morphine by Marianne Faithful – a wonderful record.
What elusive gem are you still looking for?
Ian McLagan’s single La De La with Truly on the B-side, The Heroes 7 Day Weekend and the live Free single Mr Big / I’ll Be Creeping. Anyone got a copy?
What’s given you the biggest thrill?
Introducing the Only Ones at their ‘reunion’ gig on June 9th 2007 – being included on the DVD of the gig was the icing on the cake. I just wish they’d given me more than two minutes notice so I could have come up with something more original than “Ladies and Gentlemen…The Only Ones!”. John Perry suggested “The Latest Rock’n’Roll Band In The World” which would have been good.
How do you track stuff down?
eBay, GEMM and the occasional visit abroad whilst allegedly working
What’s your favourite record shop?
It used to be The Two Bills, otherwise known as Minus Zero/Stand Out, just off the Portobello Road. Since they shut I favour upstairs at Notting Hill Record and Tape Exchange (hi Jay!)
How often do you listen to the stuff in your collection?
Constantly
Is there a visual side to collecting for you?
Most of my singles have picture sleeves, which for the pre-punk era means seeking out luscious French or German releases.
How will you eventually dispose of your collection?
When I interviewed Kim Fowley he told me he that he was so infused with rock’n’roll that he would live forever and I fully intend to follow his example
What’s your all-time favourite record, regardless of value or rarity?
I am constantly revising my top eight Desert Island Discs as I wait in vain for Radio 4 to get in touch. Today my favourite record of all time is the original release of I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell on Car Records – a perfect record of heartbreaking intensity.
Only Rock 'n' Roll 