Customer Reviews

Temptation 'bout to Get Me - Live at the Grande Ballroom Nov. 27, 1968

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

What a shame that this is one of the few Rationals discs available on the market. I've seen an 'Anthology' purported to be an import selling on ebay, but you have to wonder if this isn't an unauthorized release since, as John Sinclair states in the liner notes for this disc, "Neither the Rationals A-Square and Cameo-Parkway singles nor their one totally obscure album have been reissued in the modern era". This is a shame because, as anyone who grew up in the greater Detroit area in the 1960's can tell you, the Rationals were one of the sweetest blue-eyed soul groups around.

The Detroit music scene of the 1960's was, of course, dominated by Motown. But there were also some white performers laying down great tracks. Among them were The Stooges, the MC5, Bob Seger, and Ted Nugent and his Amboy Dukes. The music these up-and-coming artists produced is heralded today as forerunners of hard-rock and punk, and in the case of Ted Nugent, some of the best psychedelia available. But back in those days, the recording studio time and vinyl releases were hard to come by. The Rationals barely got a chance to put their best foot forward, although hits like Otis Redding's 'Respect', which the Rationals covered and released on a single the year PRIOR to Aretha Franklin's #1 version (check it out on http://www.therationals.com/audio/audio.html for a real taste of this bands capability), and especially the wooing ballad 'I Need You' (which sat at number one on the local Detroit charts for what seemed like a month of Sundays in 1967) should have signaled their raw talent like a flare gun at midnight.

The disc under review here was released by John Sinclair (immortalized in John Lennon's 'John Sinclair' from the 'Sometime In New York City' disc) in 1995 to remedy the dearth of Rationals music on the shelf. The quality is the equivilent of a very good bootleg recording from a soundboard, and we can rest assured that there isn't a better copy available since Sinclair used the original 7" master reels and digital transfers to produce this disc. The recording was made at a benefit for Michigan state Senator Roger Craig (who would pass away two years after this disc was recorded) at the famed Grande Ballroom in Detroit, site of other live recordings by the MC5, The Frost, and even Janis Joplin. It was recorded either October or November 27th (the liner notes and cover contradict one another on this) in 1968 as the band sought to re-tool their image, unwisely seeking to mimic the MC5, one of the most scorching rock bands the US of A has ever produced. It simply wasn't the Rationals style.

The title track is the best song on this seven track disc, being the number most reminiscent of the bands earlier blue-eyed soul motif. Several excursions into harder rock, such as 'Fever' and 'I Put a Spell On You' not only skirt the bands forte, but also strain the limits of the available recording technology. The louder they play, the more distorted the recording becomes. The final track, a cover of Willie Dixon's 'Wang Dang Doodle', features some interesting flute from lead singer Scott Morgan, and even the obligatory drum solo from Bill Figg.

'Temptation 'bout to get me' doesn't exist as a testament to who the Rationals were. It's more of a historic document, giving us a snapshot of what the band had become as they neared their demise. Perhaps someday, someone with a keen entrepreneurial spirit, or just a love for great, lost music, will resurrect the better tracks the Rationals once laid down. When they do, we'll once again have respect both from and for this great Detroit band. Someone do it before I die.

After checking out all the other reviews I had to add that as far as I know this is the ONLY Rationals CD available. Their great Crewe album with "Barefootin'", "Temptation 'Bout to Get Me" and "Handbags & Gladrags" has never been released on CD (I don't think). Someone please release the good, soulful stuff!

I saw your review on CDNow concerning the Rationals and thought as a devotee (and mimic-er of their songs and style via my Grand Blanc garage band "Pneuma" circa '68-69) I thought you might be interested. I went to a classic vinyl store via the internet located in Chicago and got 45's of the Rationals recordings, "Leavin' Here", "I Need You", "Sing" (both versions) "Respect" and "Hold On Baby". I also picked up The Packs version of "Harlem Shuffle" from the album that had "Leavin' Here." I had the songs recorded over to a CD at a professional sound studio. If you're interested, I can make a CD to CD version and send it to you. Or, if I can figure out how to copy it to a digital file and email to you, I might be able to handle it. Let me know.

BTW: I found the other Rationals "I Need You" (the Kinks song, nothing like the soul song) on a compilation CD from Rhino Records. Scott Morgan's voice is still unmistakable and worthy of purchase. It's just not in their soul mode that we all followed them for.

I have been a fan from the mid sixties, and have seen them many times in the small clubs around Detroit and Ann Arbor. This album is not up to the real thing, but then nothing ever is. Hope they come out with another album, with I Need You, Respect, Sing and all the other GREAT soulful singing that I know they can do.

Great liner notes, but disappointing music. I've been looking for a single or album with their version of Respect for decades.

What about about all the hits-Respect, I Need You and Gladrags (might not be the title, it's an old Rod Stewart tune) They were an excellent band from Ann Arbor with a huge local following and hopefully a greatest hits from old studio recordings is coming soon

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION THE REVIEWS OF THIS CD ARE NOT WORTHY...AND
PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN. IT IS BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF RATIONALS
MUSIC AVAILABLE THAT THIS WAS RELEASED BY JOHN SINCLAIR'S LABEL.
JUST LIKE WITH THE MC5 STUFF THIS IS FOR COMPLETISTS AND HARD-CORE FANS LIKE MYSELF. ALSO AT THIS STAGE IN THE BANDS CAREER
THEY WERE MOVING TOWARDS A HEAVIER SOUND. SO UNTIL THE OWNERS OF THE OLD STUFF CAN COME TO SOME LEGAL AGREEMENT THIS IS ALL THAT'S AVAILABLE. FANS OF MR. MORGAN ALREADY KNOW THAT HIS SOLO STUFF HAS SOME OF THAT RATIONALS MAGIC...ALTHOUGH IN MUCH MORE HARD ROCK VEIN. LET ME SUGGEST THE CD "MEDIUM RARE" WHICH HAS SOME UNRELEASED RATIONAL STUFF AND WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA ABOUT WHAT SCOTT MORGAN HAS BEEN DOING SINCE 1969. IF YOU LONG FOR THE OLD R&B INFLUENCED STUFF CHECK OUT HIS NEW PROJECT THE SOLUTION WITH NICK ROYALE FROM THE HELLICOPTERS AND THE HYDROMATICS (ANOTHER HARD ROCKING MORGAN PROJECT). HAVING SAID ALL THE ABOVE..."TEMPTATION..." IS A GOOD LIVE DOCUMENT OF THE TIMES WITH SOME BONUS STAGE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND THE GUITAR TUNINGS OF THE FEATURED BAND OF THE EVENING THE MC5. A GREAT DOCUMENT OF THE GRANDE DAYS. SO IN CONCLUSION, TO JUDGE THIS ALBUM LIKE A
PROFFESIONALLY RECORDED LIVE ALBUM IS NOT FAIR. I WOULD GIVE
IT FIVE STARS BUT I GAVE IT FOUR BECAUSE OF THE POOR RECORDING...
CERTAINLY NOT THE FAULT OF THE BAND. SO STOP CRYING ABOUT THIS
ALBUM AND BUY SOME OF SCOTT'S NEW STUFF. ROCK ON WITH THE DETROIT
SOUND! DEAN KUSCHELL, TRAVERSE CITY, MI

Jeep Holland was the manager, A2 Recordings in Ann Arbor. Anyone with the ability to get them to record a CD with all of the great songs? They include to those listed in the emails here: Leavin' here, I need you, Hold on baby and others

Decent live album offering from the late '60's garage / soul band. Tracks that I thought made this archive live recording worth checking out were "Fever", the jamming "I Get Evil", "Ha-Ha" and their ten-minute cover of Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle". I thought that 'Live At The Grande Ballroom' served the purpose of maybe having like a souvenir-like (sort of) bootleg-ish live recording of this long-gone group. Another cool band to come to us direct from Detroit. Should appeal to fans of Mitch Ryder, Frijid Pink, MC5 and early Bob Seger.

their older music, re: respect, sing, i need you, ect., was much better. very dissapointed, their a much better band than this effort shows.