Category Archive

By Max Conroy

The state of Michigan has produced countless big names in every genera of music. We all know that. For every person that you’ve heard of that came from this wonderful state, there are about a dozen great musicians that were just as good. If you live here, particularly on the Southeast side of the state you’ve probably passed some of them on the street, sat next to them at the bar or wished them dead for cutting you off on the highway–everyone here drives like a jerk. Most of these people have had to adapt to the harsh reality of life and have faded into the ether, if not entirely, at least musically. Some of them knock the dust off every once-and-awhile and perform reunion shows. Very few of them have been at it all along, refusing to compromise their dream for a ‘normal’ life. One example of this rare breed is Scott Morgan.

He’s been continually performing in this part of the world for over forty-five years. His first band, The Rationals, started putting out records in 1965 when he was only fifteen years old. They recorded for the A2 (A-Square) label and were exposed to Soul and British Invasion 45’s by the label’s founder Jeep Holland. They predated most of the well known bands of the day, the MC5 and the Stooges, and were wildly popular in Michigan. They were essentially a blue-eyed soul garage-psyche band. What set them apart from a lot of other acts at the time were Morgan’s vocals, which were incredibly heavy and soulful, especially for someone hardly old enough to drive. Their recording of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ was their biggest hit and even predated Aretha’s version. At the time, singles were king and the Rationals released a slew of great ones, but they were slow to get a deal for a long player and by the time they did, the band had grown apart. They put out a great, but still mediocre when considering their singles, full length record on Crewe in 1970 and disbanded. Somewhere in there, Scott Morgan turned down an offer to sing for Blood Sweat & Tears.

After the Rationals, Morgan played for several bands, with limited output. The single by his band Lightnin’, documented here, is kind of a missing link for Scott Morgan music; a transition from a teenage garage band to one of the most legendary cult rock bands of the era, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band.

I first heard the Sonic’s Rendezvous Band my freshman year of college when the Sweet Nuthin’ album was released by Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts label. I read a small blurb by David Fricke in Rolling Stone about it and was surprised to see it at Flat Black and Circular in East Lansing. This isn’t the place to expound upon the glory of this record, a book should be written about it. But a minute into the album, I’m sitting in my dorm hardly able to fathom the sounds coming from my speaker, it was like hearing rock music or the electric guitar for the first time. I saw a friend walk by my open door and dragged him into my room. He was more into Stereolab than the Stones and looked at me like I was crazy as I emphatically pointed to the speaker. He quickly left.

Sonic’s Rendezvous Band was comprised of Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith of the MC5 on lead guitar and vocals, Gary Rasmussen from the Up on bass, Scott Asheton of the Stooges on drums, and Morgan on rhythm guitar and vocals. Atomic Chuck Berry is the best phrase that I can think of to describe their sound. To me, it is a definitive rock sound, like the Jimmy Miller era Stones or the Dolls. The band’s final line up formed in 1975, played live a bunch, recorded a single, ‘City Slang,’ in 1978 before breaking up soon after. They are widely regarded as a band that should have been huge.

Scott Morgan kept chooglin’ through the 80’s and 90’s, playing around Southeast Michigan with various bands. After the release of Sweet Nuthin’ he discovered a band from Sweden was covering SRB songs, the Hellacopters. He contacted them and eventually formed a band to give him the opportunity that he never had with SRB, to record these amazing songs in a proper studio. They recorded under the name the Hydromatics and released several fantastic albums. This relationship eventually blossomed into The Solution, a soul review.

Over the last few years, Morgan has been playing with Powertrane, comprised of Detroit veteran guitarist Robert Gillespie, bassist Chris ‘Box’ Taylor, and in classic Spinal Tap fashion, a revolving drummer. They play SRB songs, new songs, ‘Respect’, and ‘Highjackin’ Love’ (on the Lightnin’ disc up for grabs here). They and Scott Morgan are a testament to what the classic Detroit High Energy sound is all about.

Most recently, a badass SRB box set was released, leading to a handful of live recordings thereafter. The Rationals music has been in a vault for the last forty years due to a licensing issue: ‘You ever hear of Allen Kline?’ Scott Morgan once asked me. Well, Mr. Kline is gone and the Rationals music has been officially rereleased on Ace Records. The Rationals (Scott and several crack-shot Garage Rock Revivalists) have played several shows recently that were fantastic.

Scott Morgan’s impact on Detroit Rock and Roll cannot be overstated. His career has been blessed or cursed, depending how you look at it: he made some sublime music with two bands that could have been, should have been, so much more. One thing is for sure, he’s the only one out there that has been playing this music night in, night out all along.

He’ll be at the Blind Pig on December 18th.