If you were anywhere near the Michigan area, you knew the story of Fred and the MC5. Great review of his life. Much appreciated. Legends should never be forgotten
Dear Fred "Sonic" Smith. I am a huge fan of you and your art since I was 12 years old. You were changing my whole life, really...completely absolutely!!!! I still love MC5 and Sonic's Rendezvous Band, your talent is really great. Fred "Sonic" Smith is my hugest hero. Thank you for made the beautiful music. Rest In Peace, Fred.
The MC5 and the Fucking Stooges were the life blood of the Motor City. The Stooges played my High School in Windsor. There no wonder I turned out like I did :) Peace
@@jimiplayscobo5877 just recently listened to audio of MC5 in a New Jersey High School -- October 1969 th-cam.com/video/Xbg9OMJznJ4/w-d-xo.html Totally missed out on those 1965-70 years of just pure great live shows. Hopefully the 2020's will continue in spirit : ) hah! !
I really loved those guys, MC5. I used to go to the Grande Ballroom regularly with my friends in the late 60's. Them & Iggy & the Stooges. I went with some friends to John Sinclair's a number of times during that time. I first met them all years earlier when I was 15 at some teen music thing. I still have his autograph from that show.🥰
google lists the whole band as authors of 'kick out the jams'. that frustrates me, as I want to know who wrote what. ''it's a sound that abounds, and resounds, and rebounds off the ceiling'' .that's just one brilliant line .
keep in mind youngsters, that the song 'looking at you' at 1:58 here, was recorded in 1968. the MC5 weren't just a high energy Rock & Roll band, but had their own Metal song before there was such a term, or at least the same year STEPPENWOLF coined the term, sort of. if you won't refer to that as Metal (purists), it is certainly early badass.
In my opinion, there were only two bands playing what I would consider metal guitar riffs before Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and they were the MC5 and Blue Cheer--one from Detroit, and the other from San Francisco--but both AMERICAN! You can attribute a lot of that sound to having the latest, greatest amps at the time--they were both using stacks of Vox, Fenders, Marshalls, and even SUNNs to boost their sound
@@impalaman9707 I had a Sunn speaker cabinet. Man did that thing ever suck. The speaker kept loosening and falling off the frontboard into the cabinet. It had about 40 long screws holding on the back so it took forever to open it up and put the speaker back. Then you had to put all the screws back in.
@@tonym994 On 25 June 1968, you would have had a chance to see BOTH the MC5 and Blue Cheer, together with the Stooges in one of the loudest triple bill shows of the 60s at the historic Grande Ballroom in Detroit, with severe pain of the ear when you walked out!
@@impalaman9707 damn! at a legendary venue. there was a family in my old neighborhood, who were always on the cutting edge of R&R, and the older kids had an actual garage band in the early-mid '60's. one nite, Steve (rest his soul)was saying he was headed to an auditorium (we're in NE) to see the MC5. I hung out w/ his younger brother, Dave, who was already into them. played 'HIGH TIME' a lot. like the early WHO, they had a slightly dangerous reputation thru word of mouth. I saw somewhere on YT where they talked about a battle of the bands (or R&R rumble) where the 'Oo and the 5 practically tore down the Grande ball room. I'm sure it ended in a hometown decision. it is Detroit, after all. 'Back in the USA' is my favorite LP by them. Dennis Thompson is/was a BAD ASS drummer.
Yeah, and Sonics Rendezvous had so many great songs. They've could have easily have made three killer LP's with the material had. Songs that are (sadly) only available on live albums with rather shoddy sound now (except for the april 4th 1978 one - that on is killer).
@@felixfranzen7578 Should've had an independent label release them but in those days indie releases were beneath guys like him. It was a different World.
Fred Smith putting West Virginia on the rock and roll map, sort of reminds me of when Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam did the same for Montana. Who knew revolutionary rock could emerge from such unlikeliest of places?
@@stephenkane2464 I got to meet Deniz several times when he'd return to Ann Arbor every few years mid 90's through mid 2000's. There'd always be a one off gig with Ron & Scott Asheton, Scott Morgan (Rationals, Sonics Ren.) and a few other notables from that era locals. There's a cd "Ann Arbor Rock & Roll Revival" of a 2002 show out there. I was always hoping Iggy would show up but he never did. Those shows seemed to have stopped when Ron passed in 2006 and I left A2 for good in 2008.
@@stephenkane2464 here's another interesting related story. When I moved away from Ann Arbor I had to get a new doctor. Read the new docs bio, he was in the Navy early 70's, was stationed at Naval Air Station in Pensacola FL, he's about Deniz's age. So on a whim I ask him if ever knew a guy named Deniz Tek.... He says "yes! I used to go fishing with him when we were both stationed in Hawaii!" I got him up to speed on Deniz, he's an underground rock and roll innovator known and respected worldwide. Told doc to look him up online when he has a moment. Small world eh?
You didn’t mention Deniz Tek in Sonic’s Rendezvous Band - Turkish American ER doctor who was also a naval flight Surgeon and pilot for a fighter squadron with the call sign Iceman and yes, was interviewed by producers of the original Top Gun movie who clearly took “Iceman” from him. Deniz went on to found Radio Birdman in Australia. Very confused the first time I heard this Australian band’s song “I-94” about Detroit 😂 Deniz still tours
Danny Fields didn't suggest The Doors to Elektra, Elektra asigned Danny Fields to work with The Doors when they signed them. Danny Fields yes he suggested to sign MC5 and The Stooges. Three bands that define a lot of sides of wild and ferocious Rock and Roll. Young and brillant music at the time.
Patti retired from performing so she could live the married life with Fred. I suppose he was the only person she could do that for. They were/are the epitome of cool ✌🏻🇺🇸
There's one TH-cam clip.... Sonic Smith's Ascension Summer Cannibals live 1973 . . . the site that had the full show appears to be gone, which is a shame. It also had an audience recording of the Rob Tyner tribute show
That is definitely John Sinclair, the music journalist, political activist and manager of (and occasional sax player on stage with) the MC5. He's very easy to identify. Besides, Bun E. Carlos was still playing in high school bands in Illinois at this point - it seems very unlikely that he would have been hanging out with everyone from the Ann Arbor scene right then. (I just edited this, because I'd misnamed Bun' home state, lol)
@@martinrodzzz5329 Thank you for the info. I do know there is an audio recording on TH-cam of Fred Sonic Smith playing with Cheap Trick, which is why I thought it was Bun E.
@UCtfsDoEDqSxIDqStEH5Pt_w sorry bro!!those are sunn amps!!!take a look again!they used to do those "battle of the bands" around detroit with the biggest vox amps (i think they were called "super beatle")after that they got sunn amps and after that they begun to use Marshall amps sometimes with sunn cabinets
Mutant Music Store from interview with Wayne Kramer. “We met a guy who wanted to manage the band and we convinced him we needed equipment, so he took out a bank loan for us. The first wave of the British invasion had just hit and we discovered these Vox amps the Beatles played. Before that, Fender was the state-of-the-art. When we purchased these Voxes, it was like the MC5 took a quantum leap from being this ragtag gang from Lincoln Park to being a professional band. Fred Smith and I got 100-watt Vox Super Beatle amplifiers. Before the Beatles they were just called AC-100s. They were really great; nothing in America had 100 watts. The biggest amps were Fender Dual Showmans at 65 watts with two 15″ speakers. The Super Beatles were 100 watts with four 12″ speakers and two high-frequency horns mounted in a tubed frame cabinet you could tilt back. It was a huge piece of machinery and very intimidating because it was black. We had two of them; a T60, the transistor bass amplifier with a 15″ and 12″ speaker and two Vox columns for our PA system with six or eight 10″ speakers mounted on chrome stands that went on each side of the stage. In those days, that was the state-of-the-art PA system; there was no such thing as monitors or side-fills.”
@@countfive1511 That explains why the early version of "Looking at You" has that kind of late-Yardbird, early-Led Zeppelin crunch, because I think Jimmy Page was using Vox/AC amps around 1968 before he got into Marshalls
This is so very sad. Why is Fred's first wife Sigrid Dobat erased from history? She was with him for 10 years! And during the most difficult times for the band. Jesus, people. They had a child together! It's probably because Patti Smith and Fred had an affair during his marriage to Sigrid and we all know how skilled Patti is at re-writing history. Beginning with the song she "wrote" with Bruce. She contributed very little per Jimmy Iovine's own interviews but still -- she has no shame. So embarrassing with that welping she calls singing. Seriously, she is just awful awful awful both personally and artistically.
![Patti Smith & Fred "Sonic" Smith - People Have the Power [Live 3-16-90]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yEX_f4_5Yio/mqdefault.jpg)
City Slang is one of the best rock songs of the last 50 years
If you were anywhere near the Michigan area, you knew the story of Fred and the MC5. Great review of his life. Much appreciated. Legends should never be forgotten
"Sonic Youth" took there name from him that's how much they admired these guys.
I didn't know that!
Frederico Smithelini R.I.P.
Mille Grazie per tutto.
I had the honor of playing Fred's Sonics Rendezvous Band songs in the Hydromatics with Scott Morgan. It means a lot.
Wow man now that's beyond COOL 😎 👌 👏
Dear Fred "Sonic" Smith. I am a huge fan of you and your art since I was 12 years old. You were changing my whole life, really...completely absolutely!!!! I still love MC5 and Sonic's Rendezvous Band, your talent is really great.
Fred "Sonic" Smith is my hugest hero. Thank you for made the beautiful music. Rest In Peace, Fred.
I know Im pretty randomly asking but do anybody know of a good place to watch new series online ?
Rest In Peace, what a legend
They were too fast to last 😔
I just love hearing that legendary guitarists were actually trying to replicate sounds like cars, guns, factory machinery. So cool
Ps… Fred and Dennis back in the day…. Hubba hubba 😍
My wife babysat for Fred and Patti in the 80s!
Thank you WV, from Detroit. Keeping the legend of Sonic alive.
have you seen SRB
The Harts Creek area is a.tough neighborhood.
An American musician, hero Fred "Sonic" Smith
He was so cool looking on stage. Dude had it.
Thank you whoever uploaded this. A fan of the MC5 and also Sonic’s Rendezvous Band! Testify!
Absolutely!😊🙏🌻🏵Om Nama Shivaya. Fred is a treasure.
It's hall of fame time VOTE!!!!!
one of the best rock n roll bands ever .
Underappreciated but Detroiters will always celebrate his legacy. Rest easy, Fred.
The MC5 and the Fucking Stooges were the life blood of the Motor City. The Stooges played my High School in Windsor. There no wonder I turned out like I did :) Peace
@@jimiplayscobo5877 man can you imagine -- these garage rock bands playing high schools in the 60's ... how have things changed!!!!!
@@stephenkane2464 Most of the Detroit bands played the high schools in Windsor Ontario. The only one that didn't was the MC5 :-)
@@jimiplayscobo5877 just recently listened to audio of MC5 in a New Jersey High School -- October 1969
th-cam.com/video/Xbg9OMJznJ4/w-d-xo.html
Totally missed out on those 1965-70 years of just pure great live shows. Hopefully the 2020's will continue in spirit : ) hah! !
@@stephenkane2464 The Stooges were as raunchy as the MC5 ever were trust me :-)
fred "sonic" smith forever !!!
Fred Smith and Wayne Kramer were 2 great guitar players
Wayne Kramer still is...
Fred 'Sonic' Smith has always will be 🎸
the coolest of the cool....my 9-14 Virgo brother man!
wish you were still here....playing with MC50.....& keepin' Patti company.
I really loved those guys, MC5. I used to go to the Grande Ballroom regularly with my friends in the late 60's. Them & Iggy & the Stooges. I went with some friends to John Sinclair's a number of times during that time. I first met them all years earlier when I was 15 at some teen music thing. I still have his autograph from that show.🥰
Fred waz great player and creator..l only wished l had seen him live..Rip man.
He DEFINITELY wrote the best songs for The 5 and they were ALL kick ass
google lists the whole band as authors of 'kick out the jams'. that frustrates me, as I want to know who wrote what. ''it's a sound that abounds, and resounds, and rebounds off the ceiling'' .that's just one brilliant line .
Yeah he wrote some of the greats but my favorite was Miss X ( Wayne Kramer) that's an epic flame thrower...
@@tonym994 that might be some of Rob Tyner's great writing! They were all very interested in writing, John Sinclair being a poet himself....
RIPeace sonic..allways be remembered as legend.
Greatest band to have ever existed
Nice tribute for a good man
City Slang forever!!!
Hell yea!!!
I love Sonic!!!! He was so damn cool!
The coolest!
Fred invented most of the music I listen to.
I agree, He's a true pioneer...
What a legend band!!! Fred sonic Smith!!! Mc5
The MC5 live album gives a great feel for them . High energy
One of the most amazing live documents of the 60's, I'm sure it's a testament -- shall i say a TESTIMONIAL !!!!!!!!
@@stephenkane2464 yes "I give you a testimonial the MC5 "
@ fantastic can I hear that one more time??? Rockin from philly
@ !!!!!!!! you can feel the electricity in the room ....
@@stephenkane2464 ha ha . Yeah man . The Motor City Five were on fire that night
Thank you so much!!!
they were so underrated by the media =(
great clip...love how he used that Rickenbacker pretty much thru his career. That last pic is AWESOME!
Rickenbacker with a humbucker pickup.
Great Artist.
ROCK EM BACK SONIC!
Great. Thanks for posting.
keep in mind youngsters, that the song 'looking at you' at 1:58 here, was recorded in 1968. the MC5 weren't just a high energy Rock & Roll band, but had their own Metal song before there was such a term, or at least the same year STEPPENWOLF coined the term, sort of. if you won't refer to that as Metal (purists), it is certainly early badass.
In my opinion, there were only two bands playing what I would consider metal guitar riffs before Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and they were the MC5 and Blue Cheer--one from Detroit, and the other from San Francisco--but both AMERICAN! You can attribute a lot of that sound to having the latest, greatest amps at the time--they were both using stacks of Vox, Fenders, Marshalls, and even SUNNs to boost their sound
@@impalaman9707 here, here.saw ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE. wish I saw the 5 and BLUE CHEER.
@@impalaman9707 I had a Sunn speaker cabinet. Man did that thing ever suck. The speaker kept loosening and falling off the frontboard into the cabinet. It had about 40 long screws holding on the back so it took forever to open it up and put the speaker back. Then you had to put all the screws back in.
@@tonym994 On 25 June 1968, you would have had a chance to see BOTH the MC5 and Blue Cheer, together with the Stooges in one of the loudest triple bill shows of the 60s at the historic Grande Ballroom in Detroit, with severe pain of the ear when you walked out!
@@impalaman9707 damn! at a legendary venue. there was a family in my old neighborhood, who were always on the cutting edge of R&R, and the older kids had an actual garage band in the early-mid '60's. one nite, Steve (rest his soul)was saying he was headed to an auditorium (we're in NE) to see the MC5. I hung out w/ his younger brother, Dave, who was already into them. played 'HIGH TIME' a lot. like the early WHO, they had a slightly dangerous reputation thru word of mouth. I saw somewhere on YT where they talked about a battle of the bands (or R&R rumble) where the 'Oo and the 5 practically tore down the Grande ball room. I'm sure it ended in a hometown decision. it is Detroit, after all. 'Back in the USA' is my favorite LP by them. Dennis Thompson is/was a BAD ASS drummer.
That was so fucken awesome✌😎
very touching....
ciao "SONIC", rest in peace (with ROB and MICHAEL)... with sadness from an italian MC5 fan...
Musiciens, dont j'ai apprécié votre musique, soyez en paix , merci.💐💐💐💐🙋💐💐💐💐✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Way too cool!
Very nice set of photos in here.
American Hero!!!
I always regret he only published one single in 7-8 years of artistic plenitude. Too bad, but city slang remains as one of the best songs ever made!
Yeah, and Sonics Rendezvous had so many great songs. They've could have easily have made three killer LP's with the material had. Songs that are (sadly) only available on live albums with rather shoddy sound now (except for the april 4th 1978 one - that on is killer).
@@felixfranzen7578 Should've had an independent label release them but in those days indie releases were beneath guys like him. It was a different World.
Coolest haircut in rock period.
A great West Virginia !!!!
Fred Smith putting West Virginia on the rock and roll map, sort of reminds me of when Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam did the same for Montana. Who knew revolutionary rock could emerge from such unlikeliest of places?
And now Deniz Tek plays his guitar
love to see it someday, and meet Deniz of course. I'm sure he has some great stories.
Rickenbacker 450. Amazing guitar. Getting kinda rare nowadays.
@@stephenkane2464 I got to meet Deniz several times when he'd return to Ann Arbor every few years mid 90's through mid 2000's. There'd always be a one off gig with Ron & Scott Asheton, Scott Morgan (Rationals, Sonics Ren.) and a few other notables from that era locals. There's a cd "Ann Arbor Rock & Roll Revival" of a 2002 show out there. I was always hoping Iggy would show up but he never did. Those shows seemed to have stopped when Ron passed in 2006 and I left A2 for good in 2008.
@@ColfaxJones that's incredible!! I love Deniz's story. Going to australia and bringing detroit rock with him and starting a band!
@@stephenkane2464 here's another interesting related story. When I moved away from Ann Arbor I had to get a new doctor. Read the new docs bio, he was in the Navy early 70's, was stationed at Naval Air Station in Pensacola FL, he's about Deniz's age. So on a whim I ask him if ever knew a guy named Deniz Tek.... He says "yes! I used to go fishing with him when we were both stationed in Hawaii!" I got him up to speed on Deniz, he's an underground rock and roll innovator known and respected worldwide. Told doc to look him up online when he has a moment. Small world eh?
Sonic ! ⚡️🙏
You didn’t mention Deniz Tek in Sonic’s Rendezvous Band - Turkish American ER doctor who was also a naval flight Surgeon and pilot for a fighter squadron with the call sign Iceman and yes, was interviewed by producers of the original Top Gun movie who clearly took “Iceman” from him. Deniz went on to found Radio Birdman in Australia. Very confused the first time I heard this Australian band’s song “I-94” about Detroit 😂 Deniz still tours
una banda comprometida e indispensable
Thanks for the walk down memory lane. However, it was “Detroit Dragway“ not the Detroit dragstrip.
I went to same hs
fantastic still in michigan?
epici e unici ,,,,,,,,,, y e a h ,,,
Peace my Mountaineer brother!
Thank good he decided too play music instead pro ball
GOAT! 💙
Sonic's Rendezvous Band
None better.
Danny Fields didn't suggest The Doors to Elektra, Elektra asigned Danny Fields to work with The Doors when they signed them. Danny Fields yes he suggested to sign MC5 and The Stooges. Three bands that define a lot of sides of wild and ferocious Rock and Roll. Young and brillant music at the time.
Patti Smith's husband??
I saw the MC5 in NY 1968 with Iggy stooge.
Patti retired from performing so she could live the married life with Fred. I suppose he was the only person she could do that for. They were/are the epitome of cool ✌🏻🇺🇸
You witnessed history. Im jealous
I went to lphs
who is the voiceover guy, they were the MC5
SRB should have been huge if i was in charge, the nr of bands influenced by them is underrated
I wonder if there is any Ascension demos !!
There is a recording (good quality) of them playing a show at a bowling alley. It used to be downloadable
I gotta hear that link anybody
There's one TH-cam clip.... Sonic Smith's Ascension Summer Cannibals live 1973 . . . the site that had the full show appears to be gone, which is a shame. It also had an audience recording of the Rob Tyner tribute show
Stephen Kane I was thinking the same👍👍
@@Mrx-ux4nu THANK YOU yes it sound amazing -- I think it's recorded at a bowling alley or something
Holy smoke, I'm pretty sure at 4:13, guy 3rd from left real bushy looking dude with glasses is Bun E Carlos who became the Drummer for Cheap Trick.
That is definitely John Sinclair, the music journalist, political activist and manager of (and occasional sax player on stage with) the MC5. He's very easy to identify.
Besides, Bun E. Carlos was still playing in high school bands in Illinois at this point - it seems very unlikely that he would have been hanging out with everyone from the Ann Arbor scene right then.
(I just edited this, because I'd misnamed Bun' home state, lol)
John Sinclair - you get a good look at him at 2.52
@@martinrodzzz5329 Thank you for the info. I do know there is an audio recording on TH-cam of Fred Sonic Smith playing with Cheap Trick, which is why I thought it was Bun E.
@@hruodvan7081 wow - I never heard of that. I'll need to look for that recording, thank you for your info!
what took so long? don't leave out any details and counting
he was soooooo hot
🙌
Grandi
Montani Semper Liberi
Haha greasers didn't have long hair. They had Brylcreemed ducktails and pompadours. Longhairs were their sworn enemies.
Fred called himself a greaser in late 50s early 60s. Pre Beatles.
How come he died at only 46? Ffs!
He looks kinda like Gram Parsons in the opening clip. Just as wasted though.
the 5 did NOT use vox amps....sunn amps & then marshalls....wtFFFF...?...
Yeah man!!they had vox amps before sunn and marshalls,there's pics everywhere!!
@UCtfsDoEDqSxIDqStEH5Pt_w sorry bro!!those are sunn amps!!!take a look again!they used to do those "battle of the bands" around detroit with the biggest vox amps (i think they were called "super beatle")after that they got sunn amps and after that they begun to use Marshall amps sometimes with sunn cabinets
Mutant Music Store from interview with Wayne Kramer.
“We met a guy who wanted to manage the band and we convinced him we needed equipment, so he took out a bank loan for us. The first wave of the British invasion had just hit and we discovered these Vox amps the Beatles played. Before that, Fender was the state-of-the-art. When we purchased these Voxes, it was like the MC5 took a quantum leap from being this ragtag gang from Lincoln Park to being a professional band.
Fred Smith and I got 100-watt Vox Super Beatle amplifiers. Before the Beatles they were just called AC-100s. They were really great; nothing in America had 100 watts. The biggest amps were Fender Dual Showmans at 65 watts with two 15″ speakers. The Super Beatles were 100 watts with four 12″ speakers and two high-frequency horns mounted in a tubed frame cabinet you could tilt back. It was a huge piece of machinery and very intimidating because it was black. We had two of them; a T60, the transistor bass amplifier with a 15″ and 12″ speaker and two Vox columns for our PA system with six or eight 10″ speakers mounted on chrome stands that went on each side of the stage. In those days, that was the state-of-the-art PA system; there was no such thing as monitors or side-fills.”
@@countfive1511 and Thankx for that kick ASS show in Lincoln park Chicago .to help start the RIOTS..FOREVER GRATEFULLY
@@countfive1511 That explains why the early version of "Looking at You" has that kind of late-Yardbird, early-Led Zeppelin crunch, because I think Jimmy Page was using Vox/AC amps around 1968 before he got into Marshalls
She also drove him to drink himself to death.
This is so very sad. Why is Fred's first wife Sigrid Dobat erased from history? She was with him for 10 years! And during the most difficult times for the band. Jesus, people. They had a child together! It's probably because Patti Smith and Fred had an affair during his marriage to Sigrid and we all know how skilled Patti is at re-writing history. Beginning with the song she "wrote" with Bruce. She contributed very little per Jimmy Iovine's own interviews but still -- she has no shame. So embarrassing with that welping she calls singing. Seriously, she is just awful awful awful both personally and artistically.
Michigan Communists 5
GENIUS