Sonic's Rendezvous - Sweet Nothing + City Slang (1998 + 1999) [Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts] RESTORED

In the Midwest during the 1970s, you would be hard-pressed to find a rock group with a more impressive pedigree than Sonic's Rendezvous Band, which brought together members of four key bands from the fabled Detroit/Ann Arbor rock scene of the late '60s – Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5, Scott Morgan of the Rationals, Gary Rasmussen of the Up, and Scott Asheton of the Stooges. Among fans of high-energy Michigan rock, Sonic's Rendezvous Band would – with the passage of time – become nearly as legendary as their forebears, but it would be years before listeners outside of the Midwest had much of a chance to hear their music; fate seemed to conspire against them while they were together, and one of the most talented and powerful acts of its day ended up releasing only a one-song single during its six-year lifespan.

The Sonic's Rendezvous Band story began after the MC5 broke up following a disastrous final show on New Year's Eve 1972. It wasn't long before Fred "Sonic" Smith began blocking out plans for a new band; Smith initially attempted to reunite with the MC5 rhythm section of Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson for a project called Ascension, but the new act didn't last more than two or three shows before stalling out. Meanwhile, singer and guitarist Scott Morgan was also eager to start making music again following the collapse of the Rationals, and through MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer he was introduced to Smith. Smith and Morgan struck up a friendship, and after Smith contributed lead guitar to Morgan's first solo single, they decided to form a group. They teamed up with Davis on bass and ex-Rationals Bill Figg and Terry Trabandt on drums and guitar; after a single gig, this lineup splintered following Davis' arrest on drug charges, as Trabandt moved over to bass while Jeff Vail was recruited to play drums. Following one show under the name the Orchids (sparsely attended thanks to a blizzard), the group officially became Sonic's Rendezvous Band after the arrival of new bassist Ron Cooke, formerly with Mitch Ryder's Detroit. Several drummers came and went before Scott Asheton was invited to join when he returned to Michigan after several years in California in the wake of the Stooges' final burnout. Cooke's enthusiasm for motorcycles became as issue when he pawned his bass to buy a new bike several days before a gig; Cooke was fired, and Gary Rasmussen came aboard, completing the definitive SRB lineup.

In 1975, Sonic's Rendezvous Band began playing around Michigan, with both Smith and Morgan writing outstanding original songs for the group and trading off on lead vocals. While SRB's history may have helped them draw an audience in Michigan, they declined to trade on their past, refusing to play any material by their former acts. The band steadily built a following, playing clubs and roadhouses around the state, but the major music industry was playing little attention to Michigan in the mid-'70s, and given the drug-fueled chaos of the MC5 and Stooges' final days, major record labels were not especially interested in signing an act featuring members of both groups. And though no one questioned Smith's talent, by many accounts the band's de facto leader wasn't always easy to work with; he was a man of few words and not strongly motivated to a heavy performing schedule, though he always delivered the goods once he hit the stage and was writing some of the best songs of his career.

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Sonic's Rendezvous - Sweet Nothing + City Slang (1998 + 1999) [Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts] RESTORED

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Despite the group's troubles, by 1978 things began looking up for SRB. They were regularly packing clubs in Detroit and Ann Arbor and opening for national touring acts, and had recorded two songs for a self-released single they hoped would attract label interest. However, due to growing tensions between Smith and Morgan, Morgan's song "Electrophonic Tonic" was pulled from the B-side, and instead the 45 featured stereo and mono mixes of Smith's masterpiece, "City Slang." Shortly before the record was to be released, the group accepted an invitation to tour Europe as Iggy Pop's backing band, but without Morgan; Morgan recorded some solo demos with friends while the band was away, and when Smith found out, it widened the gap between them. And in 1976 Smith had met punk poetess Patti Smith and they became romantically involved; once they moved in together in 1978, Fred gradually lost interest in touring, and SRB's momentum flagged. Following a series of benefit shows for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (which Morgan sat out), the band quietly came to a halt in 1980, the same year Patti and Fred were married. Fred's next major project didn't arrive until 1986; he collaborated with Patti on her album Dream of Life as a songwriter, guitarist, and producer. It proved to be one of Fred's last recordings; he died due to heart failure on November 4, 1994. Since SRB's breakup, Morgan has recorded and toured as a solo artist as well as with the bands Powertrane, Dodge Main, and the Hydromatics; Rasmussen remains busy with session work and live shows with his group GRR; and Asheton tours the world with the reunited version of the Stooges. SRB reunited for a one-off show in 1999 as the Rendezvous Band, with Deniz Tek of Radio Birdman sitting in for Smith; the concert was released on CD in 2000 as Gettin' There Is Half the Fun.

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Sonic's Rendezvous - Sweet Nothing + City Slang (1998 + 1999) [Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts] RESTORED

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As the rise of punk rock spawned a new interest in the Detroit rock scene of the '60s that did so much to inspire the raucous new music, Sonic's Rendezvous Band began developing an international reputation among forward-thinking rock fans who refused to fade away with the breakup of the group. In the '80s, several bootlegs of SRB demos and live concerts surfaced, as did a pirate re-pressing of the "City Slang" single. In 1998, an independent label in Detroit, Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts, released the first authorized Sonic's Rendezvous Band album, Sweet Nothing, drawn from a soundboard tape of a 1978 Ann Arbor concert. A second album from Mack Aborn, City Slang followed in 1999, which paired the rare 1978 single with a collection of live tracks. In 2006, the U.K. label Easy Action issued an ambitious six-disc box set that gathered a sampling of demos, rehearsal recordings, and studio material along with four full SRB concerts, pushing interest in the group to an all-time high. A series of archival live recordings, some drawn from the box set, followed over the next several years.

~ Mark Deming, all media guide

They rarely played outside the Detroit area, and they released one rare single, the searing "City Slang". But Sonic's Rendezvous Band – the high-energy supercombo led by former MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith in the late 1970s and featuring ex-members of the Stooges (drummer Scott Asheton), the Up (bassist Gary Rasmussen) and the Rationals (singer-guitarist Scott Morgan) – was arguably the killer live band of the Seventies: Midwestern legends who left punks and metalheads alike drooling in their beers.
Two decades later – and four years after Smith's death, in November 1994 – The Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts label in Detroit has released the first-ever Sonic's Rendezvous album, "Sweet Nothing", recorded at a gig in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in April 1978. The album features roaring Rendezvous originals like "Dangerous", "Asteroid B-612" and, of course, "City Slang", and was produced by the band's manager, Freddie Brooks, with the blessing of Smith's widow, Patti Smith, and the assistance of their son Jackson. "This is a missing part of Michigan Rock history", says Brooks. "A lot of people know about the band, but nobody's heard them. I wanted to get Fred some belated recognition".

Although the late-'70s punk supergroup Sonic's Rendezvous is remembered as a band with great potential that broke up too soon, few have actually heard any of their music (besides playing live, only one single was issued while they were a band, with several lo-fi bootlegs surfacing since then). The band featured legendary MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith on guitar and vocals, Stooges drummer Scott Asheton, and two other members prominent on the 1970s Detroit music scene (bassist Gary Rasmussen and second guitarist/vocalist Scott Morgan), and in 1998, their first fully authorized album was finally released. Sweet Nothing is a crystal-clear soundboard recording of an explosive ten-song live set, recorded at the Second Chance in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 4, 1978. By combining the amphetamine-fueled rush of the MC5 with the Stooges' hard-hitting assault, Sonic's Rendezvous is easily one of the most fiercely rocking outfits not only of the punk era, but of all time. "Asteroid B-612" combines soulful vocals with frantic ensemble playing, "Getting There (Is Half The Fun)" is a glorious merger of punk and early Ted Nugent, while the attitude-laden "City Slang" out-sneers any of the punk bands blasting away at the time. Sweet Nothing is a must-have album not only for fans of the MC5 and Stooges, but also for those who appreciate good old-fashioned, high-energy, positively electric Rock & Roll. [The CD contains an unlisted bonus track, as well as a 12-page booklet].

~ Greg Prato, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Dangerous
02. Getting There (Is Half The Fun)
03. Let's Do It Again
04. Hearts
05. Love & Learn
06. Heart Of Stone
07. Sweet Nothing
08. Asteroid B-612
09. Song L
10. City Slang #

# - include hidden track "China Fields"


Live recording from the Second Chance, Ann Arbor, on April 4, 1978
Produced by Freddie Brooks. Recorded by TC & Ed Learned
Mixed by Terry Crane. Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk.

• Fred "Sonic" Smith - vocals, guitar
• Scott Morgan - vocals, guitar
• Gary Rassmussen - bass, backing vocals
• Scott "Rock Action" Asheton - drums

Release Date: June 8, 1998
Format: Original recording reissued
Label: Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts
Catalog No.: MA 9878




Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts is pleased to announce the long awaited City Slang album release is fast approaching! Easily as fierce as Sweet Nothing, SRBs' previous release, this second authorized disc vividly illustrates the raw, explosive power of Fred "Sonic" Smith and his Sonic's Rendezvous Band and will further establish this legendary group as one of Detroit's all-time great Rock & Roll outfits. This intense 74 minute, 13-song collection was culled from various multi-track recordings and master tapes in the vaults of producer Freddie Brooks.

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During the late '70s, various members of the MC5, the Stooges, and other influential rock groups from the southeastern Michigan area teamed up to form a number of short-lived but legendary bands. The best known of these would be Sonic's Rendezvous formed by MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith. The group also included singer/guitarist Scott Morgan, formerly of the Rationals, drummer Scott "Rock Action" Asheton of the Stooges, and former Up bassist Gary Rasmussen. Sadly they only released one single, 1978's "City Slang," before breaking up the following year. Twenty-one years later, Detroit label Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts released a CD of the same name, containing two mixes of the single as well as a number of songs recorded at shows all over Michigan. Many of these songs have only been previously available on badly recorded bootlegs that don't do the songs the justice that City Slang delivers. Tracks like "Heaven" and "Gone With the Dogs come off as raw and as intense as they originally sounded when they were first delivered with the deafeningly explosive power that Sonic's Rendezvous was known for. Their combined experience and talents were gracefully demonstrated by their ability to write simply and honestly without having to resort to clichés. City Slang is the proof that they had the ability to create some of the most raw and uncompromising Rock & Roll that the Motor City has ever hosted.

~ John Griffin, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. City Slang (1999 Mix)
02. So Sincerely Yours (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
03. Step By Step (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
04. Clock With No Hands (Palace Theater, Cleveland 6/23/79)
05. Heaven (Palace Theater, Cleveland 6/23/79)
06. Goin' By (Second Chance, Ann Arbor 10/23/79)
07. You're So Great (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
08. Earthy (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
09. Thrill (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
10. Detroit Tango (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
11. Gone With The Dogs (Second Chance, Ann Arbor 10/23/79)
12. Sweet Little Sixteen (Second Chance, Ann Arbor, Date Unknown)
13. City Slang (Original 1978 Mix) #

# - include hidden track


Produced by Freddie Brooks for Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts, Detroit MI.
Tracks "1, 13" Recorded at Artie Field Studio, Detroit Nov. 1977 - Sept. 1978


• Fred "Sonic" Smith - vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Scott Morgan - vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Gary Rassmussen - bass, backing vocals
• Scott "Rock Action" Asheton - drums

Vinyl Single Release Date: 1978
CD Release Date: December 7, 1999
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts
Catalog No.: MA 7003