I grew up partly in Texas, partly in the South, and partly in Chicago. Yes, that includes where Jake and Elwood grew up, and I'll tell you no lie: I've hung out in both Rock Island and Calumet City.
All told, this means I can claim Lightnin' Hopkins, Z.Z. Hill, Pinetop Perkins, Jake and Elwood Blues, Albert and B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Billy Gibbons, Gregg & Duane Allman, Carla & Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, and Steve Cropper & Duck Dunn as my own. So all I'm asking is this:
Where was music that good ever made?
Self-explanatory as it may seem, I recently came across some fool named Ara Rubyan who claimed to be from Detroit. And I said to myself: "Detroit? Detroit? Who the hell ever heard of Detroit? Ain't shit never come out of Detroit."
So tell me my friend: did any music worthy of Barney the Dinosaur ever come out of De-troit? Go on I dare ya: tell me all about it!
I think there might have been a decent song or two out of Motown Records. Plus, Hank Jr. did a live album up at Cobo Hall in 1969.
Oh, jeez, I thought this was going to be another one of your rants about Stax Records. Whew.
Well...lessee. In no particular order...
I can't believe Motown doesn't cut it for you? Didn't you see Standing in the Shadows of Motown? Haven't you ever heard of Aretha Franklin?
Like rock music instead? How about Iggy and the Stooges, the MC-5, Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger? Not to mention Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes?
If you don't care for old school about the White Stripes?
Like hip-hop? How about Eminem and Kid Rock?
Like Techno? House? Rave? Of course you'll stipulate that the words "Detroit" and "Electronica" are pretty much synonomous.
And don't forget the press...there was so much stuff happening here in the late Sixties and early Seventies that a magazine called Creem was launched to keep track of it. Ever heard of Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh and the legendary Lester Bangs?
I could go on but I think you get the picture.
One name: John Lee Hooker
Yeah. What Ara said.
Yeah, but Jennifer Granholm's from Wayne County too. (Well originally Canada). She's like our own personal Hillary... and she's the governor. Shudder.
Ara: I bought a copy of Standing... as soon as it came out on DVD (only $16 too!). Excellent stuff.
But... :) How dare you desecrate the mighty name of Motown by mentioning their name in the same paragraph along side hacks like Michael Meyer? Jeez, I thought you had better taste than that. [g]
Tim:
Music! We're talkin about music.
Don't make me come over there and do to you what Pete Townsend did to Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock.
How dare you desecrate the mighty name of Motown by mentioning their name in the same paragraph along side hacks like Michael Meyer?
I presume you mean Marshall Mathers, yes?
Hey, I like Eminem -- I ain't gonna apologize for that.
BTW, if you've seen 8 Mile then you've seen my old stompin grounds. They shot it on location where I grew up, went to school and where I used to work, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
All The Lonely People
Alice Cooper
Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent)
Apostles
Stuart Avery Assemblege (Robyn Robbins)
Benny & The Jets
Billy "C" and the Sunshine(Billy C Farlow)
Bouys
Brownsville Station (Cub Koda)
Buddies In The Saddle (Lorna Hernandez, John Farlow)
Cactus
Camel Drivers
Carnal Kitchen
Caste
Charging Rhino of Soul
Our Mother's Children (Phil Edholm, Dave Morgan)
Chosen Few (Scot Richardson) (Ron Asheton)
Clear Blue Sky
Clockwork Orange
Commander Cody& His Lost Planet Airmen
Del-Tino's
Detroit (Mitch Ryder) (Rusty Day)
Dharma (Buck Dharma?)
Dhobi's Itch
Ellie Pop (Bill Long)
Everlon Nevermore
Flaming Ember(s)
Glenn Frey (Mushrooms)
Frijid Pink
Frost (Dick Wagner &) (Bossmen)
Früt of the Loom (Früt)
Gang (Steve Farmer)
Grand Funk Railroad
Guardian Angel
Haymarket Riot
Bob "Catfish" Hodge
Horny Toads (Ted Lucas)
Index
Jagged Edge
Julia (Blue Miller)
Lightnin'
Lourds (Ted Nugent)
Maxx
Rusty Day & The Midnighters
Mighty Quick
Mojo Boogie Band
Scott Morgan
MC5
Mugsy
Mutzie
New Heavenly Blue ("Madcat" Ruth)
Ormandy (Tom Cartmell, a.k.a. Alto Reed)
Pack (Terry Knight &) (Fabulous Pack)
Parliament - Funkadelic and P-Funk
Passing Clouds
Pink Peech Mob (Johnny Angelos)
Plain Brown Wrapper
Pleasure Seekers (Cradle) (Suzi Quatro)
Popcorn Blizzard (Meat Loaf)
POW [Pride of Women]
Prime Movers (Jim "Iggy" Osterberg)
Psychedelic Stooges (Stooges) (Iggy Pop)
Mike Quatro (Jam Band)
? and the Mysterians
Rare Earth (Sunliners)
Rationals
Red, White & Blues Band
Mitch Ryder (Detroit Wheels) (Detroit)
Salem Witchcraft
Savage Grace
Bob Seger (Last Heard) (System)
Seventh Seal (Bill Kirchen)
The Shy Guys
Sky (Doug Feiger)
Southbound Freeway
Spikedrivers (Ted Lucas)
Springwell
SRC (Scot Richard Case) (Fugitives) (Blue Scepter)
Stix & Stoned
Sunday Funnies
Sweet Cherry
Talismen (Mike Lutz)
Teegarden & Van Winkle
Third Power (Drew Abbott)
Thyme
Tidal Waves
Underdogs
Underground Wall
Unrelated Segments
Up
Uprising (Rasmussen Bros.)
Urban Roots
Virgin Dawn
The Wha?
The What Four
Whiz Kids
Wilson Mower Pursuit
Lyman Woodard (Trio / Ensemble)
Woolies
Yorkshires
Let us not forget:
Aaliyah
Madonna
George Benson
Anita Baker
Stevie Wonder
Smokey Robinson
Diana Ross
Jake and Elwood Blues?
Ain't one of them brothers actually Canadian?
I lived in Cal. City for a while during my Ill. years. I was in Rock Island too but only for two days and then they shipped my off to Bolingbrook.
Okay you geezers, don't forget about Detroit's 2 next big things, Electric Six and the Detroit Cobras, plus Ann Arbor's Andrew W.K. and songwriter/producer extrodonaire Gregg Alexander(New Radicals)from Grosse Pointe. Plus Eminem's side project D12.
Rose:
Thanks for reminding me about Grand Funk, Madonna and my favorite -- Alice Cooper.
Who is the asshat posting as Rose!? Or does Rosemary now have a Yahoo address of "buttgrape?"
Ara: yep, ya got me! All those goobers look alike to me late at night. :) Marshal Blathers (er) Mathers, it is.
I forgive you on the grounds of your old stomping grounds... :)
At least you don't like the country group "Alabama." Thank God they're retired.... Heh.
Maybe you need to explain to Dean how the Funk Brothers backed more #1 hits than Elvis, the Beatles, and the Stones combined, eh?
P.S. Joan Osborne is definitely a babe!
Is someone seriously claiming Detroit's hip-hop scene as superior to Chicago's? Ok, I'll grant you Eminem, Binary star and the athletic mic league (please no mention of kid rock in civilized discussions). Now stack them up against Common, JUICE, Molemen, and typical cats just to name four. It's not even a contest. However, I do think the two cities are about even in musical production in general. I'll take chicago blues over motown, but detroit produced better rock.
Casey,
My email address has ALWAYS been buttgrape@yahoo.com
Dude, where have you been? Now, about that asshat remark...
Glad to see someone mentioned Electric Six. But the group I would love to see Barney dance and sing along too would be The Stooges. C'mon Barney... roll around in some broken glass...