When I lived in the Detroit area back in the late 1970s I used to hang out at
a place not far from the house called Dearborn Music. A third-generation
record store that had been passed down in a straight line from grandfather to
grandson, the store had never sent back any records that it ever bought during
its thirty-year history. This practice would make today’s retailers, with
their sorry philosophy of limited selection and “just-in-time” inventory,
wince and cry. But the result was a wonderfully dusty, crowded store that
offered everything from still-sealed Big Band albums to ‘60s psychedelica and
punk rock imports. Knowing my penchant for loud, high-octane Detroit rock ‘n’
roll, the grandson called me over one day and laid a 7” 45 rpm copy of “City
Slang” on me. It was the first release from Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, a
local “supergroup” made up of members from the MC5, the Stooges, and SRC and
named after guitarist extraordinaire Fred “Sonic” Smith.
Little
did I know at the time that this single would also be the last official
release from the band. Although a couple of live bootleg tapes have circulated
among the faithful during the past couple of decades, those of us thirsting
for more had to be satisfied with our rare copies of “City Slang.” Imagine my
surprise then when I opened up a copy of Mohair Sweets zine and saw an article
on Sonic’s Rendezvous Band and a listing of a web site. Although Smith died a
few years back, his wife – the talented Patti Smith – asked longtime associate
Freddie Brooks to look through the band’s collection of tapes with an eye
towards releasing some of the material. The first result of this jump into the
vaults is the “Sweet Nothing” CD, which captures the band alive and
scorching during a 1978 performance. Needless to say, I sent in my hard-earned
coin as soon as possible and grabbed a copy of this gem before it disappeared
on me.
Even though it had been twenty years since I saw the
band play live in Ann Arbor, “Sweet Nothing” immediately brought up
fond memories of that night. A solid hour-long set of raging “Motor City” rock
‘n’ roll, “Sweet Nothing” does not disappoint, even given my high
expectations. Sonic’s Rendezvous Band were a monster of a live band, with
Smith and fellow guitarist Scott Morgan dueling like sword fighters in a death
match, trading deadly, razor-sharp riffs with abandon. Ex-Stooges’ drummer
Scott “Rock Action” Asheton kept up a steady, often-times manic beat while
bass maestro Gary Rasmussen laid down a rhythmic groove that propelled the
music along like nitro in your gas tank.
With a sound that’s loud,
meaty, and muscular, booming out of your speakers like a metal stamping
machine in a Detroit auto plant, the songs on “Sweet Nothing” are almost
immaterial, given the heaviness of the performances. These are good, not great
songs, mostly originals by Smith or Morgan. Some are standard, guitar-driven
love songs, like the mesmerizing “Hearts,” the engaging title track or the
band’s drunkenly passionate cover of the Stones’ “Heart of Stone.” Other songs
– like “Asteroid B-612,” for instance – are more esoteric, blazing a musical
trail across territory that’s more akin to Sun Ra than to anything rock ‘n
roll was spitting out in the late ‘70s.
That legendary single,
“City Slang,” is presented here as an eight-minute, album-closing rave-up
that’s guaranteed to stand you on your head, leaving you with the certain
knowledge that Sonic’s Rendezvous Band were a great band. It’s a damn shame
that they never became huge stars, but then again, their cult status befits
them. After all, like Neil Young once said, “it’s better to burn out than to
fade away.” For a too-few brief years, Sonic Rendezvous were the underground
rock scene’s brightest burning stars, blazing their way through hundreds of
live shows. Lucky for us that somebody captured one of these special nights on
“Sweet Nothing”. (Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts, released 1999)
Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™
