The Rationals - Think Rational!

Stand up for this one please.
Advice: All meat - no fat!

Want some more???yeah?ah okydokey.
1 bomb
2 b
3 b

Several Notes about tunes:
I gotta go now - killer tune, catchy.
had you told it like... - great title for a soul garagiiierrr tune.
Knock on wood - uff you remember right?? no words. Amanzingvly.
Leaving here - great cover, raw, nice.
Poor dog - perhaps one of the punk-iest tunes. Great lyrics.
Temptations bout to... - soul one, great vocals.
I need you - bluesy feeling.
you got it made - remainds me to Moby Grape.
Ha Ha - hahahah great tune/vocals.
Sunset - nice, fast, raw, punk.
Time to a blues jam part, part time love 1, great harm-guitar.
Well... I leave the others to you...no more writing, im done.
(aaaa yes, dedicated to my friend Weekend Hippie)

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!

The Rationals: Singles and more... (Us, 60s Superb Garage Rock from Detroit)

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

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 alltime. They were that good.

Blessed with a sterling vocalist, a brilliant guitarist who could more than hold his own as a singer, an inventive bass player and a propulsive drummer, The Rationals infused their stratified, garage-rock with rich vocalizing and harmonies, making local hit records out of a series of rhythm & blues nuggets such as "Leavin' Here", "Hold on Baby", and Otis Redding's "Respect" (their 45 pre-dating the Vagrants version and providing the inspiration for Aretha's) as well as an incredibly soulful take on Goffin-King's "I Need You" — which may be the finest version of that song ever waxed. The Rationals also had a fierce stage act that was the cornerstone of their fan following around Detroit and environs. One of the highlights of their live performances during the height of their popularity was a stunning soul-song medley built around Tony Clarke's "The Entertainer" that was truly a show-stopper, unleashing every element in their talent arsenal.

As local heroes, they are legend but The Rationals never caught that big break which would have let them cash in and grab the prominence of their contemporaries and friends like Bob Seger (who contributed singing and arranging on some of their singles) and the MC5. By most accounts, it appears that the same management that helped lead them from their early Kinks/Beatles influenced stylings ("Little Girls Cry", "Feelin' Lost") toward the harder rhythm and blues that became their trademark also, probably inadvertently, kept them just shy of the payoff: Instead of freeing the band to work with other producers, their manager Hugh "Jeep" Holland (A-Square Productions) apparently couldn't let go when the recording opportunities came and squandered several chances for the group to land a major label deal.

More singles of this amazing band...from the same place were giants saw the light...SRC and Mc5 among others... yeah... dig it ! ! ! A must ! ! !

LINK: BOUT TO GET ME ! ! !

The Rationals: Anthology (1964-70, US Garage)

BAND INFO

Out of Ann Arbor, this was one of Michigan's top sixties bands. Essentially an R&B outfit, they often covered popular songs and Respect was actually a minor U.S. hit in late 1966 after it was leased to Cameo Parkway for nationwide distribution. They signed to the Crewe label for an album, which may become a minor collectors' item before long.

When serious collectors compose lists of the top shoulda-been-bigger bands of the '60s, the Rationals are often among them. Coming out of the same Ann Arbor, MI scene that gave birth to the MC5 and the Stooges, the group's forte was a sort of garageish take on blue-eyed soul, built around the fine R&B-hued vocals of frontman Scott Morgan. Their mid-'60s singles, however, didn't break in many areas outside of Michigan (where they had some big local hits), and by the time they got to record an album, they had long passed their peak.

The Rationals actually predated the MC5/Stooges by quite some time, both chronologically and stylistically. When they began recording for the local A2 label in 1965, they were, like many garage bands, heavily influenced by the British Invasion, although they gave their material a more soulful flavor than most similar units.

The Rationals broke up in the summer of 1970. Morgan continued to build his cult credentials over the next 25 years on sporadic recordings with Sonic's Rendezvous Band (which also featured the MC5's Fred Smith), the Scott Morgan Band, and Scot's Pirates.

A 21 compilation of this frat-garage band, one of the most complete recordings ever released of this band. Coming from Michigan, they were partner of MC5 and the Stooges, they broke up in 1970. There was a reissue of a live album of the band, but never this ofiacilly a compilation, so here you have it. Dig it. Some modern-garage sounds of 68/69/70 period, great instrumentation using some wind instruments and great background sounds.
A lot of mix here! for example you´ll find a soft balad like "ha-ha" and in the other hand you have the wild "turn on (Danbys)", "leaving here", and the rare-good cover of Aretha F. "respect" ! . Also the Kinks song "I need you" (alt. take), also... an obscure cover of "Gloria". Something quite odd for a garage band, the "sing" song with some girls vocals, (also in "cut in the street"). Yeah...something to sleep/dream too, "Deep Red", "glowing" and "handbags and..."
For those rare-garage-hunters this will blow your heads off.

Buy their live album (Tempation 'bout to Get Me)

LINK: HA-HA