Rock tribute albums have proliferated over the past few decades, a phenomenon that allows musical artists to honor their influences while cashing in on music fans' nostalgia.
Some are inspired, but as with anything that gets overdone, the majority fall into the ho-hum category. Many feature a middling collection of artists perked up by one or two big names, and just as often, it's a head scratcher whether some of the selected artists really feel much affinity for the material they're covering.
And then there's Call Me Animal: A Tribute to the MC5, recently released by San Antonio's Saustex Records. The double album rates as one the most star-studded tribute rock records ever assembled, full stop. Not to mention, it's abundantly clear that the artists who contributed owe a serious debt to the punk pioneers at its center.
Here's a quick rundown of the appearances: Alice Cooper, Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, OFF!), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Cherie Currie (The Runaways), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, The Stooges), J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Lydia Lunch. Beyond that, the sessions included members of The Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Motorhead, Anthrax, W.A.S.P., Concrete Blonde, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Nashville Pussy, Faith No More.
For crying out loud, the album even features Micky Raphael, Willie Nelson's harmonica player, not to mention Wayne Kramer, one of two surviving members of the MC5 until his death on Feb. 2. Fifteen percent of the album's proceeds will go to Jail Guitar Doors USA, a nonprofit co-founded by the Kramer to provide musical instruments to help rehabilitate prisoners.
"It's a dream guest list," said Saustex honcho Jeff Smith, also a member of pioneering cowpony group Hickoids. "And a testament to the MC5, an important band, not only musically in the development of punk and hard rock but also their political convictions, for which they suffered greatly."
The MC5 emerged from the fecund musical ground of 1960s Detroit, where the clang of factories and roar of car engines made their way into the city's trademarked take-no-prisoners, no-bullshit rock'n'roll. It was working folks' music for a working class town, not unlike San Antonio.
Racial integration was crucial as well, since the city's Motown artists and hard rockers drew inspiration from one another. That maelstrom gave birth not just to the MC5, but also the Stooges, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes and Bob Seger, to name a few.
The MC5 — an abbreviated moniker for the Motor City Five — not only inspired with its full-throttle guitar rock but also its bold politics, laying the foundation for punk's frantic mix of the two. The group served as house band for the White Panther Party, performing at the '68 Democratic National Convention and delivering a musical middle finger to straight society.
Among those inspired by the MC5 was Alice Cooper, who relocated to Detroit after a failed stint in LA.
"Playing with Iggy and MC5 was great for us," Cooper told Uncut Magazine. "The MC5 were just pure Detroit. They were a little bit R&B, they were hard rock, they were politically charged and they were all such good musicians."
Though released by the Alamo City's Saustex, the album is the brainchild of Joey Killingsworth and Dik Ledoux of the Memphis band Joecephus and the George Jonestown Massacre.
The Current spoke with Killingsworth via phone about the project.
How did this come about?
We got to open for [MC5 tribute act] the MC50 in Nashville. We hit it off with [member] Kim Thayil, and I thought, "If I do a tribute to the MC5, I could probably get Kim." Brandon from Fugazi, he was drumming for the MC50, and he got me in touch, and off we went. With these wacky ideas I get, once I get the first guest, I know I've got something. Once Kim was on board, I knew it would help getting some of the other harder-to-get guests.
Alice Cooper!
He got on board! It's weird. We were originally trying to do "Rambling Rose" with him, but he wanted "Shakin' Street." We said, whatever Alice wants! My whole musician wishlist got on board. It's crazy.
MC5 is one of those bands.
I had a lot of troubles when I did a tribute to Black Oak Arkansas. Not a lot of Black Oak fans, I found. Like Jeff Smith said, sometimes folks love the guests more than who you're tributing. But with the MC5, everybody who's into hard rock was immediately on board.
Was there any back and forth with it?
Not really. Everybody was stoked. We're buddies with Nashville Pussy now, so I talk with Ruyter and Jeff Clayton from Antiseen, and now I book them. I'm also a booker, so it's worked out amazingly.
What does MC5 mean to you?
They're the template. They did it all. Anything you can think of, they did it. The cussing on the record, the controversy, Sonic Smith and Wayne Kramer with their guitar solos, they just killed it. And the freeform jams.
They were bringing the most radical elements of the '60s into rock 'n' roll.
Yeah, with the whole Sun Ra element and Wayne Kramer's love of free jazz. That's a big part of it. A lot of folks forget that element, but it's there. Our tribute has Wayne Kramer on a track with Jello Biafra! What the hell? We got Wayne on board, he's helping promote it. It's the first tribute we've done where the folks we're tributing have really gotten on board.
With all these hard rockers, you managed to include Mickey Raphael, Willie Nelson's harmonica player.
Black Oak Arkansas used to play with Willie, so he was on that tribute. He was game for this one too.
He's slumming with us! He's played with Ray Charles but he's doing stuff with us. It's crazy.
You're worked with Jeff Smith on the release.
Jeff's great, he knocked it out of the park on his track! We're doing some shows with the Hickoids on this run in March. That whole scene down in Texas is great, so nice. I love all those folks.
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