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By Max Conroy
Living in Ann Arbor, it’s strange to have to purchase a European import that compiles a bunch of records recorded here, but I’m glad it’s available at all. The name of the label, A-Square, is a nickname for the city of Ann Arbor. It was created by Jeep Holland, a compulsive music and comic collector, DJ, manager, promoter, and manager of Discount Records, the store that Iggy Pop worked at as a teenager. Holland would stock import records that no other stores would carry, British Invasion records, and get a feel for what area kids would respond to in the store and while DJ-ing events. He met local musicians at Discount and eventually started promoting some of them. In 1965 he began producing records exclusively as promotional material to get gigs for acts that he was promoting and put them out on his A-Square imprint.
In five years, he put out records by approximately a dozen bands, including the MC5, the Rationals, the Scot Richard Case (SRC), the Up, and the Frost; all Detroit legends. By 1970, for a myriad of reasons, including his domineering personality, poor business acumen, lack of payment from distributers, and changing times, he left Ann Arbor for Boston, leaving behind A-Square records and a wake of debt. A lot of these records are very hard to find now, 40 plus years later, and the 45s have been the only way to hear most of these great bands.
A-Square (Of Course) was released this past May on Big Beat Records, distributed and marketed by the mega-reissue label Ace Records out of the UK. The title comes from a button issued by the label that read A-Square (Of Course). There are definitely some issues with this package, but the good greatly outweighs the bad. First off, there are no Rationals tracks on it, which seems odd since they were the biggest act on A-Square and the label’s flagship act, but Ace intends on releasing a compilation of their work on A-Square soon, to be named Think Rational! (again from a button). According to Scott Morgan of the Rationals, they’re still working on obtaining the rights to the masters. Secondly, this is by no means an exhaustive collection of A-Square’s catalogue, which would require a multiple-disc release. This collection contains 25 tracks by ten bands, 8 tracks by the Thyme and 5 by the Scot Richard Case. More than half of the compilation is music that was never released originally, which is great if you’re looking for really rare stuff, but not if you’re looking to have high fidelity copies of the famous records that were actually released on the label. Also, there are several bands that recorded for A-Square whose masters cannot be located and are not represented here; the Jagged Edge, the Children and the Gang most notably.
The bottom line, however, is that this anthology is filled with a ton of highlights and is most definitely worth the $19. It contains an early MC5 single, Looking at You/Borderline, which has been released a ton and isn’t that rare, but is great to have in this context with fantastic documentation in the liner notes. Apparently, Holland and John Sinclair didn’t get along that well for a variety of reasons, even though Sinclair managed the group and Holland was in charge of booking them. According to the liner notes:
Jeep: Sinclair went into United Sound and recorded that record with Danny Dallas, then just decided to use my label name. He designed his own A-Square label, designed his own package and just put it out. He finally got around to informing me as the record was coming out: ‘Oh, by the way, I put the record out on A-Square.’…My label was a success, and John thought it would get his record more attention… Danny Dallas told me some wonderful stories about that session. He said they immediately turned their amps up as loud as they could go. Danny kept trying to tell them, ‘You don’t have to do that. Get a good sound and I’ll boost it in here.’ But no, John Sinclair came into the control room, looked at the board and went like this [sweeping arm motion] pushing every one of the faders up all the way. Then he ate a big chunk of hash or something and lay down on the floor while the band played.
Let’s just say that it’s not the 5’s best moment sonically, but well worth hearing and a great addition to this collection. Also featured here is a rare live recording of the Prime Movers. The Movers were a highly respected blues outfit in the Ann Arbor area at the time that never released anything. The band included Michael Erlewine, the brain behind the All Music Guide, on vocals and harmonica and a young Iggy Pop on drums. The track here is a cover of the Yardbird’s version of I’m a Man that was used as a tape that Holland took to New York probably around ‘66 to promote the band. It actually features Iggy on vocals instead of Erlewine and might possibly be the earliest recording of Iggy singing. The Up’s Just Like an Aborigine is a raw-as-hell protopunk gem and another massive highlight on this disc. Everything else not mentioned here is good if not great, making this a must have for anyone even remotely interested in psyche, garage rock, the Detroit high energy sound, or Southeast Michigan culture.
The Up’s Just Like an Aborigine:
This week’s selection of cool liner notes is from the back of Marvin Holmes and The Uptights 1969 Uni LP, Ooh Oooh The Dragon And Other Monsters:
I always said if I ever had the chance to write liner notes for an artist-I would have a ball doing it-I have read a lot of album backs and it seems there is always something interesting to say and use the most in descriptive words from?-funk-and I’d say yeah! Well now it’s my turn and I do have someone I can testify for-Marv & The Uptights, able to raise a suave, sophisticated, mellow gathering to a high fever pitch-rocking with much Boss Soul-not being sacrilegious, but for those who missed church, this album will take you-giving you that head nodding, toe tappin’, hip shakin’, finger poppin’, soulful feeling-just let yourself go-Marv & The Uptights is mighty funky and how do you really decribe that. It’s like when you, well you how it is when-uhhhhh-coming up on the-let’s see-I know what it is but I just can’t uhhh, how about funky as barrels of hot asphalt-I think you get the picture-check ‘em out-Marv & The Uptights-and you’ll dig much Infinity.
-Bob White KDIA Oakland, Calif.
