6.16.2009

The Rationals: Unreleased Tracks + Singles (US, 60s)

Welly well, heres the deal, dig it!
aka The Rat`s
  • SCOTT MORGAN - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Flute, Harmonica
  • STEVE CORRELL - Vocals, Lead Guitar
  • TERRY TRABANDT - Bass, Backing Vocals
  • BILL FIGG - Drums, Backing Vocals




INTRO

Whether you're a garage fanatic, an R&B lunatic, or a Motor City maniac (I claim all of the above), Scott Morgan's got the goods to satisfy your particular jones.

When you think about sixties veterans with great R&B-inflected rock voices, the one
that stands the tallest, in terms of uncompromising integrity and overall quality of recorded work, has to be the estimable Mr. Morgan. Just look at the competition. Of his Detroit/Ann Arbor contemporaries, Mitch Ryder hasn't had it (IT being the confluence of talent, material, and band) since 1971's Detroit. Bob Seger started out like he might be the best of all (those songwriting chops!), but wound up spinning his pickup truck wheels in the morass of AOR pablum. Steve Marriott (RIP)? Paul Rodgers? Rod Stewart? All of 'em had the pipes, the tunes, the bands; all of 'em enjoyed more commercial success, but somewhere along the line, all of 'em lost the essential spark that made them great to begin with. (continue here)


Scott is the noble exception. He's been kicking out the righteous jams since 1962, starting out as a junior high school kid in Ann Arbor, Michigan, fronting soulful garage kings the Rationals; moving on in the seventies to hard-rocking Detroit "supergroup" Sonic's Rendezvous Band (with Fred "Sonic" Smith from the MC5, Scott "Rock Action" Asheton from the Stooges, and Gary Rasmussen from the Up); soldiering on into the eighties and nineties, well below the radar of public consciousness, with his own vehicles the Scott Morgan Band and Scots Pirates (often in tandem with the unbeatable rhythm team of Asheton and Rasmussen). And he's still sho 'nuff doin' it (but more about that later).

As garage bands go, the Rationals were almost too good to be true.

More info HERE!
Classic bands web.

In one of Nardwuar's oddball interviews from several years ago, Iggy Pop remembered his days as drummer for Ann Arbor's fabled Iguanas:

"Recently some Iguanas stuff has been re-released. Are you aware of that?"
Iggy: "Vaguely."

"Have you got one?"
Iggy: "I've ordered it."

"Who were the Iguanas' main rivals at that time? Who were you fighting against?"
Iggy: "The Rationals were our main rivals."



SCOTT MORGAN INTERVIEW
(complete and very interesting!!!)
part 1 - part 2
More stuff from the Rats here.

Of all the Michigan talent that flirted with stardom but never got invited to the party, there is probably no other band of the era so beloved and still so mourned as Ann Arbor's The Rationals. Certainly, here was a group that deserved fame and fortune but, incredibly, failed to get the notice and air-play that should have landed them among the best recording acts of all time. They were that good.
(Michigan 60s bands & more)


BOOM!


26 comments:

anyonesdaughter said...

wow, im the first to thank you for this damn great post! i dig the rationals, yeah!

Weekend Hippie said...

Let me also say thanks in advance!

Of the unreleased tunes on this new comp "Smokestack Lighting" was played in the early years, while "(Gotta find me) A Part time love" is just great!

The "Think Rational" title comes from a promo button the band handed out at some of their gigs in 66-67. Additionally the band "The Thyme" who were under the same management had one titled "The Thyme is Now". Both bands also had a few postcards which were sent to you in reply if you had a question for Jeep Holland or The Rat's.

To add to this new UK release, a friend of mine in Detroit has told me that The Rationals have reunited for some gigs this month around the Detroit area.

It's sure to be special!

Anonymous said...

I canae wait.

Anonymous said...

GRACIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASS!!!

The_2000_Man said...

Very exciting indeed!

Unterberger's Urban Spacemen book detailed some excellent unreleased tracks from the mid 60's that weren't put on singles. Can't wait to see what's on this. It is mind boggling that this group's best music has remained out of print for so long. Thanks again.

The_2000_Man said...

Very exciting indeed!

Unterberger's Urban Spacemen book detailed some excellent unreleased tracks from the mid 60's that weren't put on singles. Can't wait to see what's on this. It is mind boggling that this group's best music has remained out of print for so long. Thanks again.

Ryan Shepard said...

Really looking forward to hearing this - thanks for getting it all put together in one place!

vincent the soul chef said...

Thanks for helping me to further my education in fuzz... :)

Outstanding blog this one. Keep on fighting the good fight.

Peace and blessings

The Bomber said...

PASSWORD:
mza-garage.blogspot.com

Robert Charbonnier said...

Very good stuff. I already knew it, but it's good to hear it again. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for a wonderful post.

Anonymous said...

thank you thank you thank you ! ! !

you are so big Mr Bomber !!!

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to hearing this Iggy Pop rivals :D Great post, thanks.
Zeno

Anonymous said...

Excellent! Innit!

Anonymous said...

The Rationals and The Iguanas are from Ann Arbor Michigan, not Detroit. Big difference. A mod girl I dated told me she thought Aretha ruined Respect! Scott Morgan very soulful cat...

Unknown said...

fantastic stuff, thank you for sharing and helping keep the Rationals out there!

Anonymous said...

Part Time Love has to be one of my favorite tracks! has anyone else preformed this song before? wow, ive had it on repeat for the last 3 days.

Anonymous said...

Un Grand Merci!
Keep the Fuzzzzzzzzzzz'

The_2000_Man said...

Unbelievable, I just discovered another Rationals track. It seems that they did a different version of "Leavin' Here." It's on the Mindrocker Vol. 11 CD. The version begins in a different key with more prominent organ. The tempo is faster, and the backing vocals are different. There is also a particularly vicious guitar solo. Did you know about this?

The Bomber said...

Hi there ! !
yeahh ! good point you are making, I ll check, but cant remember if its the Rationals or another band, i ll check my lps

Anonymous said...

The Rat's played "(Gotta find me) A Part time love" regularly during the 68-69 years. It was their blues number of the set. Hearing it again, just a great song and performance!

At the time I thought it was a cover of someone else's song. If anybody has the new "Think Rational" cd, check the songwriter credits.

By the way, anybody gotta link to the "Think Rational" cd?

Weekend Hippie

The Bomber said...

Hi there buddy! its been some time ah!?
Thanks for sharing the info and experience...always a joy!

Here you have the linx for the cd of the Rat`s
cd1
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CRJCZUVV
cd2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BZNLYTKE
Passw:
dh1684oioyrt63zcv51814d4o.blogspot

(served by our dear beloved: roadrunner)

Weekend Hippie said...

Many thanks Bomber buddy! If I can add any insight to your future posting, I'll do so.

And as always thanks for your great blog, and all your hard work!

The Bomber said...

Yeah ! !
stay in tune !
=)

Me in MI said...

Did you ever post the live set? Never got that one, except on an old tape trade in the '80s, presumably same show. Morgan gets high regards from me, I spent a day interviewing him once, great guy. By the way, the Rats' live set may be "official", but members and family members related to MC5 alleged that some or most of the Total Energy-type releases were "bootlegs" and released without permission of the musicians. Unless the royalty situation was normalized since then (10 yrs ago), this may explain why they aren't as readily available now, and why much of the audio quality was indeed bootleg-like. Still, if Sinclair or Gibb have more live MC5, Stooges, Rationals, and Sun Ra shows in their collections, we'd love to hear them.

The Bomber said...

Dear Me in MI:
yes i d posted this one, here you have:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VKIRNL72


It would be great to read that one day interview with good ol Scott!

I think this one its a boot, cause its quality, non official but from cassettes from a private collector..thats written in the cover of the compilation.

Ohhuuu certainly it would be great to listen all those gigs or recordings from MC5, Stooges and the Rat`s !

Check for more here
http://mza-garage.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Rationals

also some info from the surface

http://home.att.net/%7Es.m.geer/bands.htm#Rationals

http://www.richieunterberger.com/morgan1.html

http://www.richieunterberger.com/morgan2.html

***
Also in the comments section in the posts of this blog, theres a guy who meet em back in the days...good tales there.

Leets keep in touch my friend..
& if you can/want/like to share that tape you have, lots will appreciate that!!!
Especially meeeeeeee!!!


Pablo

debombr.