BIG RICH DORRIS

NUTHIN' but the TONES!

2011-04-02T17:50:00.029-04:00

April 1, 2011

The TONES, The WHOLETONES, and NUTHIN' but the TONES!

4 Young Guys hit the Road today. Ford Van pullin' a trailer jammed with Implements of destruction. Guitars, Banjo, Cello, Stand-Up Bass, Monster Drums and a Tattoo Gun.

I met 'em at the 7-11 to give up a tank of gas, and a little cash... them's my Boys.

TAYLOR FREYDBERG

ALEX DORRIS

The WHOLETONES, they're called.

FOLK-CORE they call themselves. Crashin'-Metal-Bluegrass I'd say. No stage show... those T-shirts and Blue Jeans give no hint of the explosion to come. Stand & Deliver, comes to mind.

Kid's LOVE 'm... old Peope too

The Band lives way back in the Woods, down on the edge of the Everglades in an old hunting lodge called "The Alamo". 15 acres... Spiders and Snakes and Bears.... Gators too.

Russ Depa, Poster Artist TOO!

OIL SPILL Blues... "LIVE @ The Little Bar in Goodland, Florida.

MAYO COATES

They stay Hungry, do what they want... and write a lot of songs. These Guys are KILLERS.

Bustin' out of south west Florida soon...

Take me with ya Boy's... I won't slow ya down.

BIG Rich

BIG RICH GLIDES THE GLADES!

2011-03-10T16:25:00.013-05:00

In Honor of DAYTONA'S 70th Annual Bike Week, I wanna tell ya' about my favorite ride.

There's only one road thru Big Cypress Swamp. Florida - US 41. 2 lane black top... 80 miles without a stop light. A Bikers dream, speed limit mostly ignored... not too many Cops.

Ride South on any day, thru the 10,000 Islands... smell the sweet Buttonwood smoke from the Indian Villages you pass along the way.

There ain't much to see... if you ain't lookin'. Royal Palms and Sabels... Cypress, Mangroves, Jack Pines, Live Oaks with Spanish Moss hangin' down like hair... Tall Saw Grass, far as you can see. Hundreds of birds...Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Ibis, Kigfishers... Buzzards galore.

My Lady calls out every time she spots a critter along the road... Gator, Gator, Gator. Sometimes a Hundred of 'em. Saw a Bobcat one day, and small Deer. Dry season, water level's fall and Aligators start bunchin' up in the deep spots... they don't like it much... rather be alone, out in the Glades. I try not to mess with 'em, too much.

We ride down past the Everglades City turn off... nice to stop at Joanies Blue Crab Cafe, an old "Florida Cracker" House at the side of the Road. Live Music on Weekends, the sign says... and Cold Beer.

Bikers Welcome. Gator on the Menu... Gator's out back.

Raiford Starke with the WHOLETONES @ Joanies

Raiford plays there quite a bit...and my Boys, The WHOLETONES... It's the ONLY place to grab a bite for quite a ways on this Lonesome Highway. Other time atmosphere. Drop in, if you get a chance.

We like to stop at Fakahatchee Seminole Store... trade up some Indian Beads, cash only. They might not trust us... fair enough.

Their flag is red, white, yellow and black...

Ride another 20 Miles or so,down to the Ranger Station called The Oasis, watch them Gators for a while.

2 Lane Black Top, all the way to Miami... or Key West.

Not much has changed here, last 10,000 years or so, when the first Humans came rollin' thru.

We like it.

BIG RICH: SNAPPAZ!

2010-12-18T21:47:00.009-05:00

Capt. Doug

For a City Boy, headin' out to Sea was the last Great Adventure. I'd gone as far as I could go. I learned right off from the Big Boys... got invited to bring my camera and go Offshore on the "ROCKIN' REBEL", a 31' Sport Fishin' Boat, with Capt. Doug... so I went...

ROCKIN REBEL 2
ROCKIN REBEL 3
ROCKIN REBEL 4

Capt. Rich

I had Fished a few times on Lake Michigan, but nothing compared to 60 or 70 miles out on the Gulf of Mexico. Sun Up to Sun Down... those guys are HARD CORE Fishermen. Over the years I've gone on many a trip with the Rebel Crew, hit 30 knots for an hour or two, Rock n' Roll just BLASTIN" from the speakers, and fish IN THE BOX... that's what WE talkin' about!

Up North, down South.... fresh water or salt. The story is the same. Go where they LIVE, offer 'em something they EAT, and HOLD ON!

SNAPPAZ

A lot goin' on out there in the Gulf of Mexico.... 1,000 Miles wide and 12,000 feet deep. Knowing the spots, the Wrecks, the Reefs, the Rocks... that's the secret to catchin' 'em. Oh yeah.. and LUCK.

3 Dorris

There are NO fences, it's said... and after a couple hundred trips, VERY little would surprise me. 7 foot Tiger Shark? OH yeah... It's the same Planet... but a whole 'nother World. There's an awful lot of water, some big waves and Hellacious TEETH out there!

CUDA

Trust your Captain, is my best advice... and Be Prepared. 'cause " FORTUNE FAVORS the BRAVE"... and the well armed...

WELL ARMED

TATTOO CRAZY-ITIS!

2010-10-17T12:14:00.010-04:00

Haylee Pin Up

Tattoo experience, Number One, down in the basement, 1966... gave my self a lucky "13" with a sewing needle and India ink, my Brother Ray was next, gonna put a swatsticker on his arm... one poke for him and it was over... he's still got that one dot on his arm...

Little Rich with Big Rich before Sicko

Not too much Tattoo goin' on around 1975. My Pal from Hell Creek Ranch had a nice one, Scott Asheton had that famous ROCK ACTION Tattoo by Lyle Tuttle... so I went to see Mel the Head, (RIP) to get some Ink, over on 9 Mile. Little bell rang when I walked in the place, no one home... then a voice hollered from somewhere "Be right with 'ya... HOLD STILL DAMMIT!" So I split... what the Heck. Another time.

My Brother Tony, we call 'em Nail, is full of good ideas and said if I got tattooed he'd pay HALF... or somethin' like that, 1988. So I did... little Puff the Magic Dragon kind a thing, I thought it was cool for awhile.

Well, SICKO showed up one rainy day... at the GHETTO RAGS booth, and said "I can FIX that for ya'"... the rest is history. If I woulda' sat still long enuff, I'd be lookin' like the Sunday Funnies... I swear.

Sicko, aka "Dirty" Kirt Hennings... ran an "Underground" Tattoo Studio in Detroit, early 90's... basement apartment over on 7 1/2 Mile & Wyoming, couple miles from where I grew up. HOME BOYS.

Nail and Sicko

I'd go there, Video, and late at night, get mine done... home 'bout 4, punch that factory clock at 7AM. BIG FUN... in fact, SICKO named his studio FUN HOUSE TATTOO'S, after I played the Stooges for 'em.

Sicko in Action

FIRST Motor City Tattoo Convention, 1996... was a BLAST! Old School, Super VHS, crowd surfin' BIG Video style. Original soundtrack recorded by Detroit's own, Bobby East. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so I'll let them tell the tale. Dig it.

Haylee Detroit Dewar

That's my story, and I'm stickin' too it. Like Mom said... "Tony, you better put some Cream on your Clown"...

Tony's clown

I Came across a Lady on-line lately, HAYLEE DETROIT. The name grabbed me right off, and this Sister has got STYLE! A Tattooed Model, Mother, Actress, Tattoo Magazine Cover Girl and Bartender at the HARD ROCK CAFE Downtown Detroit... ALL that! She REALLY has it goin'.

I dropped a line, to see if I could put her on my site, she said OK...just spell my name right... so here it is! Haylee Detroit Dewar. Find her on Face Book, I did, and Go to www.tattoo-girlz.com, you will be AMAZED!

Watch these at your own risk.....

Motorcity Tattoo Convention Part 2
MotorCity Tattoo Convention Part 3
MotorCity Tattoo Convention Part 4
MotorCity Tattoo Convention Part 5

KINGDOM OF COOL!

2010-08-07T11:14:00.008-04:00

Ray Sr. my Dad, Most Cool Cat

"COOL" by OUR standards, is a mental state, a way of being... controlled emotion, always "Cool"... always "Showin' Class". It's a natural thing.

People have it in all different ways... a "built in knowledge of what's right... and wrong. It's what keeps US separated from THEM. Always. Dig?

Cool 1966

Back in the day, like '66, my Sister Kitty took me to a "basement party", over on the West Side of Detroit, me only 15. It was my first look, guy with big gold earring, black beret... playin' bongo's with Motown 45's on the record machine. I wore my leather, drank a beer, dug all these "Cats & Big Hair Chicks". I was impressed. On the way out I said, "Let's do it again"... she replied, " Long as your not UNCOOL"... so I spent the next 44 years, trying to be COOL. Not an easy task. And I have Lost it, on more than one occasion.

Me Scott Rev. Ray 2010

Next gig was an eviction party, over by Livernois and 5 Mile... We got there as someone rode their NORTON up the front porch steps, right into the living room... didn't much matter, as the drywall had been kicked in by then, anyhow. Went for a "thrill ride" thru the neighborhood, on the back of that Norton 750 Commando... my first motorcycle ride. Cops never came... I couldn't believe it. After that, there was no turnin' back.

One night, way out by Tepoe Lake State Park, some guy had a brand new car, GTO I think... payments and all. He let this Cat they called Edgar take it. I remember standing there, drinkin' Bali Hai wine, in the dark distance we could all hear Edgar, JAMMIN' thru his gears... the guy was havin' a fit.

Pontiac GTO

Lost his Cool, for sure. He got in Ed's face when he finally brought the car back... for his trouble he got a sermon on life, something like, "When it's all over, and your DEAD, you DID it, you LIVED! You don't want NOTHIN' left but smoke..." and so on. We never saw that Cat again.

Bro. Tony (built the devil cycle!)

My shop class buddy, Marty came by one Friday Night on a bad-ass BSA Chopper with welded-chain-sissy bar, I put on my cut-off levi jacket and hopped on... into the night we went. He pulled up in front of a house party on 7 Mile & Hoover... the place was ROCKIN'.

Mike D. Navy (one of my twins)

''Go on in Man'', he said, "I gotta take this bike back, I stole it"... so I did. One step into the front door, someone socks me right back out onto the grass, then a swift kick in the ''nards''. They thought I was somebody, or another... anyway, no harm done. Kid handed me my Buddy Holly glasses... Cool, I said, and walked back home.

Scott my other twin

Marty Lubic... blond, short hair, crazy...cool. An Original. His Dad was a Detroit Cop too. He died in a motorcycle crash on Gratiot near 6 Mile in 1969. One of his Pals came to the house and told my Mom. He was the first of many.

Carolyn Striho Playin with Fire:

Big Rich FLA

BIG RICH; Split the Detroit Scene in the Summer of 1968

2010-06-29T14:55:00.007-04:00

I Split the Detroit Scene in the Summer of 1968, left town with my girlfriend in a ''63 Ford Sedan, AM Radio. Toronto was a Hippie Mecca back then, so we went. Hangin' out on Yonge Street, sleepin' in the car... nuthin' cookin' for us there.

Met some kids from The States and headed back to Chicago and the "FESTIVAL of LIGHT", as it was called. In Detroit is was being promoted as the place to be, MC-5, joint rolling contests... I planned on winning that one. When we got there it was a different story... ooooooh yeah. Somehow we fell in at a place right across the road from Lincoln Park, it was a Theatre of sorts with high red brick walls and a big gate they closed at night... that was a GOOD thing... Gimme Shelter, for sure.

It wasn't so bad at first, hung at the Park in the day, we walked all over... saw Allen Ginsberg doin' the OMM chant, tryin' to STOP THE WAR! The heat was on, so the weed scene was zero. Never saw a joint, much less a contest. Radical types were holding seminars on anti-cop moves, roll up a magazine for a weapon, Yeah... sure. One night we were over on Clark Street, the Bar/Club Hip Street. The Cops were everywhere, they had started gettin' heavy... "Up against the wall" they used to say. The "Boys" collared me that night too... when they saw I was only 17, they let me go... once again. Just lucky. I guess.

We showed up in Lincoln Park a little late one day... just in time to see the Cops pullin' the plug on the MC-5, and kick'n everyone's ass that didn't flee. Truly, I saw it happen. We were behind the Cops and all the action, so we just walked on over to the Childrens Zoo, where my Ford was parked. It was the ONLY one left... Cops were hangin' out, laughin' and all.

A couple of 'em were sittin' on the hood as we came up. I could hear the hissing of the air as all 4 tires went flat, they thought it was pretty funny, I guess... we split. I fixed the flats, $2 bucks apiece...and headed for the Shelter. I didn't go out at night after that.

It got much worse. Downtown one day... at the Convention Center. THOUSANDS of people... everywhere.The National Guard had jeeps lined up, far as I could see... each one had a 6' x 6' section of chain link fence on the front, with a .50 cal machine gun mounted in the back...made a WALL. It was a HEAVY scene. I understood. THEY didn't like US. My feet never stopped movin' while I was awake. I gave my YIPPIE! button to someone, he asked for it. Ya' know... Youth International Party, what the hell was that? All I knew was I wanted to have a good time... and didn't wanna go to Viet Nam.

Everyone said go to Grant Park... so we did. It was wild. People were climbing up on this big statue thing, carryin' Viet Cong flags and all... Cops came right up after 'em... Down they came... The hard way. The grand finale came at the Band Shell, HUGE crowd... Thousands of people.

Lots of speeches, Dick Gregory, Comedian/Activist, was up... they wanted a March down Michigan Ave. but didn't have a permit... Soooo, Dick invited everyone over to his place, somewhere... just about this time, we being pretty far back, on the edge of the crowd, I see Hundreds of Cops gathering. They formed a Flying V, like a football game, and charged into the crowd, swingin' these 3 foot long clubs, un-believable. They were maybe 20 or 30 feet away, people were goin' down... blood was flyin' and I started movin' FAST... Escaped without a scratch.

We had enough... went back home to Detroit. I think we won.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY 2010

2010-05-31T14:03:00.001-04:00

SONIC'S RENDEZVOUS AND THE ROMANTICS

2010-05-17T01:11:00.010-04:00

Big Rich at the SRB show

Back around '78 or ''79, I was hangin' out quite a bit with the SONIC'S RENDEZVOUS BAND.

I was pal'in' around with Scott Asheton, drinkin' lots of STROHS and runnin' around... all over town. We had a HELL of a lot of fun. ROCK ACTION! Sorta like the cheer leader.

Didn't really get in too much real trouble. The usual scene was, go to the show, hang around, party all night after... sometimes catch the sun rise, somewhere. We hit the Local Clubs, Detroit.. Ann Arbor... all over South East Michigan. Nuthin' like hangin' with the Baddest Band around!

One night the Sonic's played a show in Warren, The Round House on Van Dyke, it was round and it was a Bar/Motel... Cool place. We showed up early, they had a couple joining rooms off the stage area for the Bands. The opening act was some new guys, I heard 'em intro-in' themselves to Fred Smith, "We do harmonies and stuff, like the Beatles"...

The Romantics

It was the ROMANTIC'S, cool guys, sharp dressers... what's not to like? They rocked hard, we were dancin' and carryin' on as usual, but for some reason, or another, we ended up in their room, tryin' on sport coats and hair sprayin' and all, havin' a FINE time!

In comes the Romantics after their set, all sweaty... and were like "whoops, sorry Bros... they say, "Hey, just let us get our stuff out of here and you guys can HAVE this room". "Shit Howdy"! we say and off they go!

Well... after the SONIC'S blew the roof off, again, we were makin' good use of this opportunity. Everything was going well, there were Ladies from "Sin City" present, so we had the door shut between the rooms, tryin' to be cool.

Gary Rasmussen Fred Smith Scott Morgan Scott Asheton SRB

Someone on Fred's side was bouncin' beer bottles off the door, the sound of breaking glass caused the chicks to split and left us with nuthin' to do. The details are sketchy now, but as the hour grew late... "someone" suggested I clear the room. My Doberman was sleepin' outside in an early model Chevy Suburban, so I brought him in.

ARF! Screams... Pan-de-monium. It was ugly. Witness' reports have a fast exodus to the bathroom, with "Max" the Dobie in hot pursuit. Stanley T. Madhatter got the Fan Club and everybody inside and quick locked the door... a dark moment, not sure why. I swear.

Stanley told Kimmer they were all locked in that bathroom for a very long time freekin out and hoping someone would save them from the dog outside the door.

Stanley T. Madhatter and Niagara (she wasn't in the bathroom :))

Woke up next day, no covers... cold... there was Fred crashed out out on the other bed. No one else. Can't remember how I got home, and Max (Red, long earred) the Dobbie lived on the lower east side to a ripe old age w/ my ex-bro-in-law. His Bark was worse than his bite. Some people shouldn't drink!

LOST IN THE OZONE AGAIN....

2010-05-08T16:31:00.010-04:00

Somewhere between the GRANDE and BOOKIES was a place called "The OZONE"... I'm talkin' '71-'78... All that "High" Livin' had opened up a few "other" possibilities. People had moved out of Wayne State's "Downtown" Hippie-ville...

Gallup Park Free Concert Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor was the Golden West to us City Slickers. Detroit was Freeways and Factories and Heavy Rock N' Roll vibes... A2 was another world, for sure.... Laid back Health Food Freaks, Radical Hippies, Concerts in the Parks, Earth Shoes and a $5 Pot Law... Trans-Love was already there, what's not to like?

The SUN Newspaper had a Win a Pound of Columbian Weed promo. Those were different times.

The Front Man for this phase was Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. A Band, named after a 50's TV Show,with a joyous mix of All American-High-Energy, Good Time, Country, Rock N' Roll, Rhythm and Blues! "Lost in the Ozone, again"!

Ozone Homecoming parade art by Chris Frayne

They had a crazy lead singer, Billy C. Farlow... look on the old Posters for BILLY C and the SUNSHINE. Lance Dickerson, their Drummer was from Clawson, Michigan. Electric guitars, fiddle, sax... They put on a HELL of a show! George Frayne (see video) became the lead singer and they named George Frayne Commander Cody. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

My Pal Kenny did a show and I did the poster to put on the gig at the GRANDE BALLROOM. Commander Cody... 1971. I drew a little poster, it never got printed, too bad... SHIT HOWDY! I would'a hadda Grande Card!

The Commander played, They put me at the front door, takin' tickets, short crowd... everybody got in FREE. Billy C said, "That's OK, I had a good time once and there wasn't but TWO of us." They Rocked Out anyway! That's the way they were.

Sittin' upstairs at Grimshaw's place, over the Blind Pig, one day, 'bout '73... as usual staring out the window. I saw an old white Volvo pull up. It's hood was painted with a huge blue-face-cowboy smokin' a joint. I recognized this icon instantly as Commander Cody's Logo.

Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen

Downstairs, to my joy, I discovered it was Chris Frayne, the Commander's Brother and creator of much Art. On top of the car was a bunch of long poles with a Teepee, an Indian style tent, folded up on top and ropes all over holding it down. We talked a minute, then he split... Headin' for the OZONE, no doubt. RIP Chris.

Stayed tuned all the time......BR

BIG RICH VIDEO BEGINNINGS

2010-04-26T00:11:00.010-04:00

Big Rich shooting a show

An OBSESSION, that's what it was! I remember how it started... Spring of '87... We went on a Run with a couple hundred Harleys, way out in the country... People were throwin' beer cans at the guys in the 'Vette shootin' video.... I can do that... (shoot video), I figured... so I did.

Big Rich and BIG camcorder!

The next Run, my Brother Tony packed me and the Video Cam on the back of his Hog and off we rode. The Bikers LOVED it, all kinda scoots and chicks and fun and games.... They didn't throw cans, I'm here to say. Tony had a bumper sticker from Daytona Bike Week on the back of his helmet, it said, "SHIT HAPPENS"... Yes, it does.

Big and brother Tony

I just started shootin' every thing goin' on... It truly became an Obsession.The power to grab these crazy events and KEEP them was mind-blowing! No one I knew really took pictures, earlier it was Leni Sinclair... and then Sue Rynski, in the Sonics days.

It was like Art, but completely REAL, if you can dig that... At first I was usin' Mom's VHS camcorder, early on, tapin' my Rock N' Roll Babies and all, but I upgraded pretty quick. My strategy was simple, weakness=strength, no crew, just me and the box. I could go almost anywhere.

So... we were makin' these biker videos and needed soundtracks... the first one had a boombox off camera playin' STOOGES "Down on the Street"... most primitive. A BAD-ASS Guitarist named Bobby East, was playin' at a Club House Party in Roseville.

That was the first Show... shot a bunch of the band and bikers dancin' all day. Scott Morgan was good with the idea too, so they let me use their song "DETROIT"... it became our theme song. People would ask me to tape Gig's and everything just popped. Unbelievable to me now, looking back.

Ron Asheton was a "SHIT HAPPENS" Fan, he called it GUERILLA VIDEO, I liked that.

Ron Asheton

My partner, "Dangerous" Dan Hehr worked at a Big Time Video Production Company and we would go in after shows and hook-up the final tapes, stay up all night, then go right to work in the factory... Bands, Tattoo Conventions... anything. The Grimshaw Tapes were made there too. We used motion cameras to record the posters and stuff... I call that High Cotton...

Real Cool Time.

People were so Damn Cool. Like I said, I could go almost anywhere and tape, talkin' my way thru...I was like an embedded journalist or something... backstage, ON stage. Bands told me, " DO WHAT EVER YOU WANT"! So I did. Man... I shot a LOT of tape... all OVER Town... down in the pit at KID ROCK!

Hardly ever had any trouble... to speak of. Only had the Cam seized once, we worked that out... but that pistol scene after STANDFAST'S Show at Finneys marked the end of BIG VIDEO in DETROIT. Hope you Enjoy.

BOOKIES, BOOTSEY X AND MORE....

2010-04-21T02:42:00.017-04:00

In the early '70's the Detroit Teen Club and Ballroom Scene fell apart. The Big Festivals were BANNED after Goose Lake, and everybody was coming down from the Trip's. Grande and Eastown were history... people were scattering... our world was changing.

But the Rock N' Roll Army was regrouping in every part of town, local boys, and girls!, were forming their own bands in true Detroit fashion, building a fan base and Kickin' out the JAMS at a neighborhood bar near YOU! For a couple bucks you could Rock it almost every night! The Big Guns were still around, playing in various band configurations and keepin' it ALIVE!

Big Rich and Phil "Greasy" Carlisi

On 6 Mile road, just West of Woodward Ave, was one of the coolest joints I EVER hung out at... a Thursday Night Hot-Spot... square brick building with a simple neon sign in the window, "AORTA BAR''. Around '74 -'75 they were lined up down the street to get inside, in ANY kinda' weather! NO Band, NO Cover! DJ spinnin' our kind of music, Motown, James Brown, GET DOWN! Stooges... everything! People from ALL over came to party and dance their ASS off... REAL friendly... It was the place-to-be. Skipped out on the Night Shift regular to make that scene!

Iggy Fan club Handbill

A couple years later, I heard about a New Music Bar from Janet... our MC5 days friend, called BOOKIES CLUB 870, a VERY cool place over on 6 and Woodward.It was right down the street from the AORTA, my old hang-out, so I went.

BOOKIES CLUB 870

Quite a scene goin' on there, no doubt... skinny tie and leather guys... girls bathroom down stairs was often times, the place to be. Fell right in with a band called 27, hung out with Mark Norton, their Iggied all to hell singer.

I had seen 'em before, wrapped up in black trash bags and duct tape... out in Ypsilanti, at some hall party gig, still the "Ramrods" then...with Bootsie X. There were cases of beer stacked up in the middle of the room, Destroy All Monsters was playin' that night too... they had me sittin' on the Stroh's, so it wouldn't walk away.

Iggy Grimshaw Bookies Poster

The hippie hate'n thing was on, these were the new kid's on the scene. We're PUNKS, they said, made me laugh, I was a little too old for that... they threw each other around, weird way to go, I thought. Bookies was a lot of fun tho', Detroit Punk's were not the meanest in the land... I've been in hotter fires. They asked me to be the Bouncer, but I didn't swing that way.

Ben Waugh of the Sillies

We did our thing, saw a ton of bands... Monsters, Sillies, 27, Boners, our very own Sonic's Rendezvous, John Cale... Mutants... Wayne Kramer and Johnny Thunders with Gang War... We were barred during Iggy's week long gig... some kinda fight or something... wasn't me, Man.

Hiawatha Bailey

The Cult Heroes Hiawatha Bailey smuggled me in the back door when the Police played. Just for fun... Thanks Hi. The BIG deal was the GUEST LIST.... it wasn't about 3 Bucks to get in.... it was STATUS, Man! When all was said and done... Last stop, White Castle... on 8 Mile and Woodward.

Sirius Trixon and the Motor City Bad Boy and Machinegun

East Side, was The Red Carpet, right down the street from Sister Ellie's house, on Warren. I saw a shit-load of Bands there,Sirius Trixon and the Motor City Bad Boys with Dennis Machinegun Thompson...

Rob Tyner at the Red Carpet

The Sonic's, with about 10 people in the house. CRAZY LOUD! Rob Tyner's Band played there too. There was I-ROCK and TRAXX, off Gratiot and 6 Mile, Paychecks and Lili's over in Hamtramck, a city within the city... The West Siders had Siverbird, Token Lounge, Key West and a shit load I can't remember.

Ann Arbor had Star Bar, and Primo's, where the Rockets and Lightning played all the time... It was going on EVERYWHERE! Seemed so natural, Rock N' Roll, Rhythm and Blues!

Downtown, on Cass Ave. was The New Miami and Alvins, Dark Carnival played there one night...dig my videos from that era... STOOGE Brothers Ron and Scott Asheton TOGETHER, with Greasy Carlise and Bootsey X doing a KILLER version of the Stooges TV EYE... This video has NEVER seen daylight and I'm puttin' it out NOW!

Times had changed, but Detroit people made the best of it. The CUBES became Rough Cut... their first gig was at my wedding, Cops raided the Union Hall out on Van Dyke... Sorry Fred.

Like any scene... in the beginning it's the "new IN thing", Cool... word spreads, lots of people start commin' from all over, the vibe begins to change. Then it goes to Hell.
Time to start something new.

CAPTAIN RICH DORRIS: FISH BLOG

2010-04-16T08:00:00.011-04:00

Mike and Pops

We moved to Florida back in '98, after we got out of the family car parts factory in Detroit... I learned the boat biz from the bottom up, ended up as a Charter Boat Captain, had a lot of fun, went all over, caught a lot of fish... ran 90 miles South, to Key West, quite a few times... ANYTHING is possible out on the big water, nothing would surprise me.

Big Barracuda

Very LARGE animals live there, this I know! Mostly now I teach others navigation, give out free fishin' tips and spend as much time as possible playing with my friends, the locals, Bottle Nose Dolphins... they are smart, fun-lovin' and all-over-the-place, down here. They ARE the Hippies of the Sea.

Dancing dolphins

Early one Sunday at my inside job, I traded e mails from Afghanistan with a young Army Captain... he wanted to book a boat trip so he could take his Lady to a remote beach and "Pop" the question.

Cpt J and fiance

I replied that in South West Florida we take part in OPERATION OPEN ARMS. A deal where Marinas and Fishermen hook-up American Military People with FREE FUN on the water! Well, we hooked him UP, she said YES, and he's now on his way back to Kabul... Heading EAST, he call's it. Best Wishes and God Speed to Capt. JP and his Bride to be! I was honored to be in his presence.

Ring couple

We HATE WAR, but we LOVE our Warriors.

Squid and Taylor

Capt. Doug, "The Rockin' Rebel" is, in my life, to Fishing, what Gary Grimshaw is to Art! The Man has taught me just about everything I know on the subject. Yeah BUDDY ! His sidekick and First Mate, Capt Josh, alias ''The Squid'' is the best fisherman I have had the pleasure of working with.

Alex and Doug

We tried to start a fishing show but it just didn't pan out. We made a LOT of offshore trips.... 50-60 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico... Shot ton's of video and pix and now I'm gonna share 'em with you-all! The music is all homegrown too. Just like the old days.

In our own version of Operation Open Arms. Capt. Doug took my Son Alex' Band, The Wholetones, my Son Mike and I Offshore yesterday... in honor of Mike's up coming deployment to the Persian Gulf with the US NAVY.

Tonite we had Capt. Rich's Coconut Snapper Surprise... The main ingredient, other than various Snapper Fish, is Pinia Colada Mix and Chohula Lime-Pepper Powder, give it a shot!

Hard to beat. Tomorrow it's snapper taco's... I have indeed been blessed. Like Iggy said... " I never thought it would come to this, baby..."

Capt Big Rich Dorris

ROBIN SOMMERS INFO

2010-04-09T21:02:00.005-04:00

MIXED MEDIA was a "Head Shop", down on Cass Avenue, in Detroit. I used to go there and buy stuff... cigarette papers, records, posters... stuff any good hipster needs. Robin Sommers was the guy behind the counter, who ran the place. Barry Kramer of CREEM Magazine fame, was the owner.

Mr. Natural by R. Crumb

I was actually at Kramer's house one time with Peter "The Witch" Canfield... huge Circus cartoon cut-outs by R. Crumb, (Mr. Natural) the Underground Comic Book Artist, decorated the kid's room... Ring Master, lion tamer, animals, like that... truly awesome to this would-be-cartoonist. Anyway, Robin was always in the shop... pretty cool guy, a little older, like the MC5 and Trans-Love people, than us street freek kids. Always a serious air of "Cool" around him.

Robin did the Light Show at the Grande for quite a while, with a whole slew of Trans Love people. I met him in the early '90's with Gary Grimshaw and invited him to check out some vintage posters from my collection... he agreed to meet me at the Cass Cafe near Forrest, down in the old Hippie Ghetto near Wayne State University. Right across the street was the first Unitarian Church... some very early MC5 events were held there, in the lower level. That area is also known as the Culture center of Detroit, Main Library, Art & Historical Museums and all that.

I brought noted Grande Guy, Charles Green... his collection, and my MC5 days Partner, Bob Grey, for 2 sessions of beer sippin', flash-backin' to the Glory Days of Old. Robin drew the Red/White Blue MC5 Grande Card with Brother JC Crawford on it. VERY nice!

Robin Sommers poster

I hope you all enjoy... Robin has some tales to tell!

Big Rich... Down on the Beach.

GARY GRIMSHAW'S ART

2010-04-09T20:55:00.017-04:00

Gary and Rich

Gary Grimshaw has influenced me more than just about anyone I've ever known. THIS is the guy who IS who I WANT to be. ART, you do it alone... not a Band... usually not a team... not much glory... it's in your head and ya' gotta put it on paper. R. Crumb (Mr. Natural)said it's 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration!

Gary in his office in San Francisco

I started drawing in '66 or so, maybe 15 years old. Stanley Mouse was at the State Fair, airbrush painting hats & t-shirts and all... Biker stuff & WILD Hot Rod Monsters... BIG news back then. Pretty COOL. I copied those images, sittin' at the kitchen table, then later in Art Class, using pen & ink.

The psychedelic thing happened and my drawings got a LOT more crazy, for sure. Kids were passing out Grande Ballroom Postcards at my school in Detroit... come to a ROCK N" ROLL Dance/Concert! Unbelievable craziness drawn with such precision, and COLORS! ULTIMATE cool.

Pop's wanted me to take Shop Math... not to be. He used to tear up my comic books, which made them all-the-more-desire-able. I have HUNDREDS of 'em now. You know how that works. I was drawing some real crazy stuff to amuse and amaze my friends... the chicks too, trying to get more far-out as I went along. A couple of large collections of this madness was seized and destroyed, just as well I guess. The Cops have a pretty nice collection of "Kilo" wrappers I painted... Such was life. Never made any cash, till I met Grimshaw.

He walked thru the door and I was stunned. After 4 years of staring at his artworks, I think my image of Gary was a "lightnin'-flashin'-neon-strobe'n WILD haired CRAZY MAN"... maybe some WING'S growin' out his head! I don't know... anyway,

There was the Man, he was BEAUTIFUL! Quiet, smilin', just back from San Francisco... long straight hair, regular clothes, BROWN shoes.

I was dumbfounded, he put me to work on the spot. That was 1510 Hill Street, the old White Panther/MC5 House in Ann Arbor. They produced the SUN newspaper there. Gary was crankin' out some TRULY awesome work all thru those years. Pete Andrews as DAYSTAR put on major events for U of M and Gary produced KILLER posters for all the shows.

I followed him to RAINBOW GRAPHICS when he moved on... upstairs from the Blind Pig, a Blues Bar in town. I worked there in the day and slept on the couch at night, truly wonder-ous times.

In 1972 Gary moved again, over on Liberty, John Sinclair and Pete Andrews were puttin' on The Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. They hired me as a sign painter... gave me 7 Bucks an hour and a 3 day, backstage pass... cash bar. Rented a room, a summer sublet... This is what I call "High Cotton"... "and the livin' was easy".

Grimshaw told me he was leavin' one day, next thing, I'm headin' down 1-94... back to Detroit. He called this one MOTOR CITY GRAPHICS, had a studio up on the 4th floor at Music Hall, right Downtown. We had a lot of fun... but I was pretty crazy then, unreliable... disappear for days on end... shit like that.

Around 1974,The Hilton Hotel was being operated by a young member of that famous family... John Sinclair and his Brother Dave opened The RAINBOW ROOM... in the lower level. They hired me to drive to metro Airport and pick-up band equipment... I had a van then and we would fill it with gear and instruments. SUN RA had TWO van full's of Conga Drums and all kinda crazy stuff. THOSE guys thought WE were far-out! I lived up in one of the rooms, Gary had a suite as studio/residence, life was good.

I knew Gary pretty well by then. What a guy! He IS the COOLEST Head I have EVER met! He told me once, as a kid he would climb up on his Dad's drafting table and trace his blueprints for fun... Cars, oh yeah! PERFECT lettering, as you can see. His Uncle ran Crown Press in Dearborn, they did a lot of the GRANDE posters, so Gary had the inside hook-up on how to put all these crazy ideas into a workable package. I was VERY impressed.

One night, around '75-'76, The Friends Roadshow came thru, they were an International Traveling Circus. I instantly fell in with these characters. A 5 piece band with a huge group of performers...kinda like The TUBES... fronted by D'Jango, a larger-than-life, fire-breathing, joke telling MADMAN! They invited me to run away to Amsterdam, to The FESTIVAL of FOOLS... so I did.

I never worked for Gary after that, we did some stuff... he hooked up with my Brother Kris, who ran The GHETTO PRESS in Detroit, they did posters and T-shirts, Art Shows, Concerts and ALL kinds of stuff. I shot a LOT of video at Ghetto Rags, over in Russell Industrial center... life was GOOD.

GARY GRIMSHAW'S BENEFIT IS TODAY

2010-03-31T23:39:00.003-04:00

Don Bailey:
The response has been truly amazing. People from around the world have asked how to donate money and or buy the show poster for the Gary Grimshaw Benefit on April 1, 2010. Come see us this Thursday from 6pm till 9pm. Grand Trunk Pub 612 Woodward, Detroit, MI

News from Laura Grimshaw is Gary is recovering well, talking, 'tho as always, he is a Man of few, well chosen words. AND! Gary will NOT need an additional surgery to assist his breathing. Keep sending the GGOD! He says he can FEEL IT! Gary will remain at VA Hospital for now. Bottom line is that Gary is holding out but expected to be in SICU for a very, very long time. When he begins to speak we will put up another update.

Laura Grimshaw: I won't miss Thursday with everyone! Love on You All! Laura

Be Gary's Facebook Fan HERE

Gary's friend Rich Dorris on Gary Grimshaw's behalf has set up this fan page. Gary started doing art in 1966 with the First Grande Ballroom Posters of the The MC5. He spent years living in San Francisco and the Bay area and currently calls Motown home.

BIG RICH'S POST ON GARY IS HERE

GRIMSHAW drew this logo for me, there a 2-3 versions.

Biggity Rich

LAND OF A 1000 DANCES

2010-03-30T10:53:00.003-04:00

Saint Gregory's, 1964, Dexter and Fenkell, Detroit... couple miles from the GRANDE BALLROOM. 300 kids in the whole High School. In the Gym, up on the stage where we had the Christmas Play... now the boys and girls were READY to ROCK! The Band wearin' matchin' Blue Sharkskin Sport Coats with Velvet Collars, skinny ties. Sax player wailin'... down on his knees bent WAY back. Singer screamin' "Do ya' know how to PONY?"

The "LAND of a THOUSAND DANCES "... my first LIVE BAND music... must have been Home Coming. 9th Grade...We hit the floor runnin'! I didn't know HOW to dance, Mom said... "Don't worry, some little Chik-a-dee will show you!" ...and they did. Sock Hop, take of your shoes and run around...

DJ spinnin' "BABY LOVE"... no line dance, more of a circle. Grimshaw says the Lincoln Park way was to try and stomp your feet thru the floor... The "UBANGI STOMP"! You know... "Cannibal Style"! Roger Miller singin' "Chug-A-Lug", if only them Nuns knew what's next... some Hip Kids went on Robin Seymour's Dance Show that year, "SWINGIN' TIME"... not me, Man.

Osborn High School on 7 Mile, East Side, 4,000 students... Home Coming '66 was a whole 'nother story. A sea of Frat Boys & Girls packin' the gym. Paul Revere & The Raiders singin' "KICKS"... Greaser's on the edge, hangin' outside... smokin' Luckie's, huffin' helium from the balloons to talk like a duck. BIG hair and leathers vs. Madras and penny loafers... I split and never looked back.

A few Hippie's started poppin' up, growin' long hair, passin' out Grande Cards in the Hall... once that clicked, I was GONE. Got burnt for smokin' that joint in the Boy's Room. Threw my bag out the window, told Mom goodbye and headed out into the night, no plan... Wayne State livin', High School kick-out... Street Freek. Down on Prentis and Cass. Winter of 1967.

BIG RICH: FLEETWOOD MAC STORY

2010-03-28T01:29:00.007-04:00

Got a call one day, 1971...still livin' down in the Wayne State Ghetto, a wild woman I know had met Peter Green at the Filmore East in NYC.. Fleetwood Mac was sittin' at the Ramada Inn by Detroit Metro Airport with nuthin' to do, could they come over?

Anyway, they sure did... Peter, Mick Fleetwood...the whole band, this was before Stevie Nicks and all. Unbelievable... My Lady cooked 'em a bad-ass Hippie-Whole-Wheat-Pizza with Miso-Tahini Sauce and carrots instead of pepperoni, loaf of bread for the road.

They loved it... MOST cool people, hung out, asked us if we "Wanna go to the show tonight"... so we did. Alley behind the Eastown was dark, black security guards with rifles run us off, so I asked John McVie, "Where'd you guys park last time?"... he replied, " We left that in the hands of others". I usually step on my d*ck when I meet my heroes, right Wayne? OH WELL.

Inside, Black Sabbath was playin', so crowded we couldn't leave backstage.. I stood in the wings next to a guy with a machine gun bullet belt and a clear plastic guitar, I didn't know shit about those guys... Iron Man and all.

Fleetwood took the stage, most awesome... Mick had two big round bells hangin' from his belt, dig? He had kids from the crowd up, beatin' on his drums. A VERY rowdy crowd hung at the Eastown Theatre... this I know.

Photo: Sean Doerr

Still can't believe... they took us with 'em next night to the Palladium, another music place out in Birmingham... walked in the front door with Fleetwood Mac, one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE BANDS! Thanks Pete.

GUEST POST FROM JUDI

2010-03-27T23:16:00.010-04:00

Thanks for sharing all of this history .....
I lived in Ann Arbor in the day and owned Make Waves. I was there during the days of the Hill House and was good friends with Hiawatha (Bailey). I have a poster from Gang Wars playing at Second Chance and lots of other artwork from those times. We used to go to the Diag and trip out....

Judi

IT started in Ypsilanti in a commune and we did a newspaper called the Second Coming not about Jesus but about freedom..our house was raided by the Ypsi police because we were no good hippies .

i went to see John Lennon and have the hand-out Yoko gave out with her trippy poetry...many a good time was had at the T shirt gallery and fantasy fashions in A2.

Thanks BIG RICH and hope to meet you someday in person to share our tales to tell. I saw Niagara and the Colonel last summer when i was passing thru the big D...will be back soon to the motor.

Also have the video of a wedding in the Arb )Arboretum) from 1971 and lots of dancing in the streets. In 1972 moved out to Grass lake and had a t shirt business, called Dancing in the street enterprises, we made t shirts for some of the blues fests, psychedelic rangers, my partner was ken brown....

later we set up shop on state street, Recently went to check it out and Ann Arbor progress meant the building is gone, but the dust never will settle, lots of partying done in that little store on state street, on liberty there was fantasy fashions where I met Ronnie and Ni back in the day...

too much to dream peace and love, judi

BIG RICH: ROAD WARRIORS!

2010-03-23T20:39:00.016-04:00

Summer of 1972 we held a BIG Bash at our place in Wixom, Michigan...25 acres, house and barn... destined to become another Suburban Development... meanwhile we invited every body out for a PARTY!

The Band

The IRON HORSE EXCHANGE was our band then, powerful loco-motion for sure, everyone was there, Billy G, Gerber Baby, Bert and a shit-load of 'em I never saw before... don't print fliers if you don't want a crowd.

The Crowd

Lots of fun and Rock n' Roll and naked hippies in the fields... the barn was rockin' so hard it felt like an earthquake! The band brought Cops and KEGS of Heineken Beer, my "other" brand, never saw that again 'till a show in Ypsilanti..

NEW ORDER with Ron Asheton and Dennis Machinegun Thompson, a few years later.

New Order

There comes a time in each man's life when he must "hit that road", for one reason... or another. After my disastrous failure as an herb merchant and short stay in OC Jail, I headed west.. hitchhiking across America is a time honored tradition... so we went.

Lenny was a Botany Major at U of M, he knew where the mushrooms grew. We got dropped off, the other side of the Mississippi River... first ride took us all the way, over the mountains and thru the desert... next stop LA. Lenny's Brother lived in a motel with some Senorita, on Route 66... we turned down his plan to boost a VW bus and trade it for Kilos in Mexico, then swim back... no thanks.

I went solo, thumbed up the Pacific Coast Highway, US1, from San Diego to San Francisco, camped in Big Sur , stayed a few days with a commune up in the mountains... had to move on, camped out in the desert and up in the Rockies near Aspen, nobody wants a wanderer hangin' around... had a court date, so I headed home...

Big Sur

That Deputy leanin' on the Bus Stop, readin' Wonder Woman Comic Book at 2 am, in Sterling, Colorado, was eyeballin' us vagrant hippies for a 30 day vacation, so I panhandled a ticket out o' town... then stuck out my thumb, first ride went from Denver to Toledo, what do ya' think of THAT? Back in Ann Arbor,

I was upstairs at the Hill House, looked out the window and there was my Girl... she said meet me back at the Ranch...so I did.

BIG RICH: NY DOLLS GANG WAR!

2010-03-23T18:26:00.012-04:00

The New York Dolls

I boosted John Sinclair's copy of The NY Doll's first album when I worked for Rainbow, about 1970 somethin'...

John Rob and .....

Didn't think he'd miss it. Lot of people ripped on me for diggin' the New York Dolls but I didn't give a F*ck, something about 'em hooked me AND my brothers... like a dressed up mixture of the 5 and Stooges... somehow.

Fat Boy

I never saw 'em play, but a couple of my biker Bros, Fat Boy & the Rhino, were bodyguards for 'em when they did an extended run at a place called the TRADING POST on Gratiot. Never heard of any trouble then...Ya never know where you'll find a Doll's Fan.

The Rhino

Ain't life funny......

Gang War Wayne Kramer Johnny T and Ron Cooke

Sometime later, like '78?... Gang War came on the scene. One night we decided to drop some acid, for reasons which escape me at this point, and go see 'em at the Pretzel Bowl, a bar on Woodward in Detroit... Wayne had recently returned from the Fed's and a ROCKIN' good time was had by all... Detroit Bass Player Ron Cooke and Johnny Morgan joined in the mayhem too.

I got best dancer prize from Johnny Thunders... a memorable night to say the least.

Trippin at the Pretzel Bowl

Seva had shows downstairs now a Comedy Club

The SEVA club wouldn't let 'em play one night in Ann Arbor unless we did stage security, as Thunders had been acting up... usual stupid shit, anyway, he was F'n with Wayne, who kicked him square in the chest, into the amps...

Johnny split up the back stairs, we chased him... just what he wanted, and found him hidin' in a van with fans of the female type... the show went on, everyone had a fine time and it wasn't too far in the future they were chasin' me up them same stairs. I said before, a lot of shit happens when everybody's high.

Born to Lose Johnny Thunders RIP

Read more about Gang War History HERE

BIG RICH: MC5/ SRC/ DEADBOYS!

2010-03-22T21:57:00.012-04:00

Grimshaw Poster

I put a SPELL on you! I believe it to my SOUL! The MC5 delivered a most JOYOUS message of CELEBRATION each and every time they played!

Comments included on video

No DOUBT as to their intentions...COME TOGETHER! America, your children were certainly not safe in their arms. Besides all the "trouble'' and Cops and bad dope... it was the "Dance of Romance"... Brothers and Sisters, and it was ALL TRUE!

Iggy in front of SRC photo: Leni Sinclair

EQUALLY as powerful, in their own way, as Brother Bands, Stooges and the Mighty MC5... was The SRC... their very names had a mysterious ring, QUACKENBUSH (Gary guitar and Glenn keyboards)... all wizardly, like GRIMSHAW, know what I mean?

SRC 1968 photo: Leni Sinclair

Anyway, these Quackenbush Brothers, Steve Lyman, Al Wilmot and lead singer Scott Richardson introduced us teen-age music lovers to a completely different view of the world, filled with Gnomes and Dwarfs and Angels and searing, soaring... psychedelic versions of classical opera like we "ain't NEVER heard before"! I recall sittin' on the floor of the Paladium, a suburban version of the GRANDE, trippin' my BRAINS out, watchin' mushrooms and vines and elves and all kinds of happy shit sproutin' and runnin' all OVER the place.

So fine, so clean... Their standard closing number, BOLERO/HALL of the MOUNTAIN KING, would, much like BLACK to COMM, in a different place.... leave us awestruck and astounded, and havin' to come back to earth, to face another day.

Dig this, my Harley Mechanic's name is Ray... Quackenbush, now what's the chances of that?

Stiv Bators and The Dead Boys

Multiple Realities Timothy Leary called it, for sure... 'round about 1978 things were different, of all the PUNKS, the DEAD BOYS was our favorite, an all American Band from Cleveland, just across the lake from Detroit. We were DOWN with the DB's right off. They played BOOKIES...

Norton, of the 27, tried to unite me with Lydia Lunch of "I need lunch" fame (she stole the Dead Boys Lunch).... she was havin' NONE of it.

Lydia Lunch

I traded my MC5 colors to their drummer for some kind of sleeveless Hot-Rod Monster t-shirt, it was the LEAST I could do. Great show, HIGH Energy, small club... best way to see your band, face to face.

A little later, they played the Second Chance in Ann Arbor. They had been around long enough to get a Rep... the show ended in a rain of glass from the balcony... ala' Metallic KO.

The roadies were using tables for umbrellas to clear the stage... unbelievable. Before the show, I got Stiv Bators autograph, it read, "DOWN to KILL , To the DETROIT DOGS. I still have it, somewhere.

BIG RICH: IT SCREAMED DETROIT!

2010-03-16T12:22:00.009-04:00

Rich and Sister Ellie

Me and Mitch Ryder went to the same high school at different times together. As an alternative to gettin' shipped off to Viet Nam, in fall of '68, I decided to go back and finish my senior year. The family had relocated out to 15 mile and Ryan, a cornfield infested wilderness to me. The Principal was worried if I had picked up any bad habits on the road... "Nah", I told 'em... "I don't even smoke... cigarettes." Just a little Lysergic Acid (LSD). So I proceeded to plunge back into reality.

Big Rich

Warren High was a mite backwards, you could say... although a fair amount of bell bottomed chicks and Art class made it seem worthwhile. Football players on the other hand, had a serious hippie hate'n thing going on. This was still the time of GRANDE' and the EAST TOWN was commin' on, we were lookin' pretty weird... hair gettin' long, beads, round glasses, occasional dog collar... "far-out" we used to say.

Had left my leather, somewhere, so we bought some of them suede fringed jackets at the Plum Pit, over on Gratiot and 11 Mile... we were lookin' cool... my buddy, Donnie Jones and me. His was red, mine was brown... Some bikers at a burger joint on the west side said, "Look at them queer cowboys"... but they let us go, again. It was always somethin'.

Lots of "shit" goes down in "Boys Rooms", ya' know. I was lurkin' and havin' a toke one day when a big foot baller named Moe walked in... me smilin' about an unrelated issue pissed him off, so he socked me into the sink. "Any time... anytime you wanna' fight!" Oh well, No harm done, I met him later at a party in Birmingham... all stoned out and smilin', just sittin' on the steps. I won.

It seemed like they left me alone after a while... turns out there was this guy... big, long haired, karate guy... he told 'em to leave me be, so they did. We got tight, I called him Bert. He dosed me once and took me out on the I-75 Freeway during rush hour... at a high rate of speed.

He thought that shit was funny. The car was a '68 Chevelle Super Sport, Black with mags and a peace sign in the rear window... it screamed DETROIT!

I took Bert to the Hill House in Ann Arbor, once... a hot bed of radical types. They were smokin' Hash and playin' John Coltrane, usual radical stuff. Bert invited the best lookin', blond, most radical feminist in the place to... "

Blow this pop-stand and go some place hip"... she smiled and said... "Where would you like to go?" We split, she stayed. I am still amazed.

We ran off to Toronto, to see some Hippies I knew... the Open City Commune, saw Howlin' Wolf at The Colonial Club... what a bad-ass. We turned around and drove right back, he didn't dig the scene. I told him to ditch the joints that night, commin' over the Bridge... "Nah, were cool", he said. The US Border Guards did a personal-flashlight-inspection, found the pot, seized the car... and let us go.

His old man had to go get it... title was in his name.

Carl Lobert (BERT) didn't make it, the Qualude-747's took him, in 1976, at the tender age of 25.

BIG RICH: BLAME IT ON THE GATOR!

2010-03-16T08:52:00.010-04:00

If you wanna know how all this got started, just blame it on the Gator'... and LIFE Magazine. In the early '60's things was jumpin'! Beatles, Beatniks, Bikers and Bikini's were changin' my view of the world...

LIFE and Ed Sullivan were my source of information. My family had a pop-up camper, like a covered wagon... another Pal of mine, Rich, had a Grandpa in Florida, they borrowed me and my camper and off we went. South-bound, 1966, before the Interstate was built... took 3 days.

Daytona Beach was a dream come true... we swam in the Ocean all day and hit the boardwalk every night. Genuine crazy bikers wearin' german helmets, chicks galore... Tommy James blastin' "Hanky Panky"...

I had a white t-shirt air brushed with a giant "Maltesse Cross"... Daytona Cop drove next to me one night as I was walkin' home... "If you were my kid, I'd kick your ass..." he said out the window... they didn't dig my style I guess.

This might be a good time to talk about this German stuff... medals and all. We are Patriots, of the Highest order! All that stuff is left over from WWII. I have an album cover with Bing Crosby wearin' one of those helmets, a war trophy... ya' gotta kill em' to take their lid. Get the picture?

It became a symbol of rebellion, just to freak out the citizens. Truth is Ron Asheton wore it well... he had quite a collection. I asked him once what he thought of it all... Nazi's and stuff. "Nah", he said, "those guys are assholes, it's all about style". "Seems like I'm always rootin' for the other side... Indians, Rebels, you know." "Me too", I said. Yeah, Rebels.

I rolled back into Detroit that summer, head full of wild ideas, confederate flag beach towel and that plastic German helmet that almost got me beat... pretty soon my Gator came in the mail, all alone in a little cardboard box. Back in Florida I saw the sign, $5 LIVE BABY ALLIGATORS... 15 years old and I was in... Mom says I was never the same after that. That Gator didn't make it.

IGGY POP; Motor City Roller Rink Show in 1979

2010-03-14T22:32:00.010-04:00

To our amazement... IGGY played the Motor City Roller Rink. On the corner on Van Dyke & 9 Mile in Warren Michigan. What the hell, we thought, so we went. This was during the time of "Dog Food, 1970 something....

a crew of misguided fans brought metal cans of real DOG FOOD and were throwin' 'em at The IG' ala "Metallic KO... they threw a Stroh's"... Iggy don't dig this and makes it known.

Tough Love I'd call it. Ron Asheton says when they played in Europe the crowd would spit at 'em... like rain.

Rock says in Finland they would buy a big old fish and bring 'em to heave at the band, very strange customs...

STOOGES bring out the worst in some people.

Anyway... Show goes on and my brother Tony managed to snap these pix and everyone has the Real Cool Time, deep in the heart of Warren, it ain't that far from Detroit, after all.

These pix by my Brother Tony "The Nail" Dorris at the Motor City Roller Rink Show in 1979 Gary Grimshaw did the sticker, from "instinct" Album Art.

We went and survived,
BIG

SEND GARY LOVE AND WELL WISHES

2010-03-14T16:17:00.001-04:00

If Gary Grimshaw hadn't been the poster artist for the counterculture, he could have been its poster child." --The Detroit Free Press, December 12, 1999 Michigan's 100 Greatest Artists and Entertainers of the Twentieth Century.

Please forward cards and letters of well wishing to Gary at his address below

Gary Grimshaw
P.O. box 2028
Royal Oak MI 48068

Send him some LOVE !

From Big Rich Video

DARK CARNIVAL: RON AND NIAGARA

2010-03-14T13:20:00.010-04:00

DARK CARNIVAL-RON ASHETON & NIAGARA LIVE at Various Shows, by BIG RICH DORRIS BIG VIDEO......

I saw Destroy All Monsters alot... partied at their Farm House, outside of Ann Arbor.... a frequent visitor with a welcome case of Stroh's, late '70's... incredible still, it seems... Mike Davis, Ron Asheton and Niagara... what a gal. She's got a lotta style.

Dark Carnival evolved from the Monsters after that... I never shot video till later, got married and all in '80, started BIG Video'n around '88... tuck the boys in bed and go... a LOT of shit was goin' down! I was blessed with the chance to hang out and party and make these tapes... and friends, I was NEVER bored.

LIVE IN ANN ARBOR ROCK ACTION!!!

2010-03-14T12:57:00.003-04:00

"What's wrong with you, Rich.".. Rock Action asked me one night... I brought a shit load of people to their motel room after the Sonics played at Bookies, seemed like a good idea at the bar... I was capable of doin' stuff like that... but mostly we had a f*ckin' GOOD time, drinkn' STROH'S, shootin' guns and runnin' wild...

Man, I'm the president of the Rock Action Fan Club! I seen the Sonic's almost everytime they played. He told me once what he missed about the STOOGES most was the energy... when Iggy went into the crowd...

Last time I saw Scott and his Ladies, we went on my boat, out on the Gulf of mexico, I started showin' off ... threw a beer bottle in the water... he looked me in the eye and said... "Whats wrong with you, Rich?!?

Big

SCOTT MORGAN: SCOT'S PIRATES

2010-03-14T12:53:00.007-04:00

Take a BIG bite of Scott Morgan SOUL, pour on the ROCK ACTION- Rock N' ROLL, shake it and bake it with some Gary Rasmussen BASS, dash of Brian Delaney GUITAR and a whole lotta HOT SAUCE from Kathy Deschane and you got SCOTT MORGAN BAND aka Scot's Pirates.

These guys TORE IT UP! Their song DETROIT Testify's to EVERY body who EVER made music happen in the MOTOR CITY! I DO believe!

I was lucky enough to run the streets and bars with these guy... partyin' and shootin' video... they played all over after the Sonics Rendezvous Band broke up... after Fred Smith left.. so we just KEPT ON ROCKIN'! I LOVE THESE GUYS!

BIG Rich, on the island, 2010

BILLY G, MC5 AND THE STOOGES

2010-03-14T09:49:00.008-04:00

Billy G Dove (RIP)

Billy G was one of a kind. A real WILD man with a fiery personality... he played a Gibson "Dove" Guitar and wore a Marlon Brando leather... He dug John Lee Hooker at Bakers Keyboard Lounge on 8 Mile. His runnin' buddy... was the "Gerber Baby". Gerb came from Boston when he was a kid, and they all lived in the town of Clawson, just north of Detroit... The MC5 came along and turned their little world on it's ear. My sister Kitty met a bunch of these characters in '69 during a 5 Show at the local Hideout teen club.

Original MC5 Logo not used

This opened a whole new chapter in the BIG story. We went all over SE Michigan... goin' to clubs and concerts... we saw every band that came to town. I was drivin' a black VW beetle, with a "moon roof"... picture that! We got around. At the Grande, me and Billy G would stand up, smoke a joint and slap "fives'' till our hands throbbed then stick our heads in those Voice of the Theatre monitors when the 5 were playin'.. This was what we called the HIGH SOCIETY, brothers and sisters! I'm here to Testify!

Brother Jesse

There was a gig in Flint... Delta College it was... usual bands and mayhem... Iggy and the Stooges came on... Ron in his uniform... Pop went into the crowd... a thousand kids sittin' on the floor... white spots like "searchlights" shinin' back and forth over the crowd... Iggy doin' his stare at them, they stare back routine... he dropped into the crowd and came up with some chick across his shoulders... they went down in a heap, turns out she was the DEAN'S Daughter and the Stooges had to make their getaway... I think Rock said, later, they went to England.

IGGY crowd stare

Clawson,MI we called it the Monterey of the Midwest, Sin City USA... One night after another MC5 show at the Hideout, with the usual heavy cop scene as they didn't want 'em sayin' MF'er , so they did... we all went to a house party... the whole MC5 crew showed up, roadies and all, in all their glory... drinkin' beer (STROHS) and carryin' on.

Hideout show poster

We hung in the front room and tried to look cool... us 18, remember, while the band partied on... JC Crawford started cookin' up some breakfast... Anyway things were goin' fine, till late... Janet's Dad came home... there was people jumpin' out of windows and so on...makin' their get-a-way... as "Bad Bill", just commin' from a wedding and feelin' pretty good, stood there and hollered'... "Where's every body goin'?"

Billy G driving Truck

I ended up roomies with Billy... me top bunk... him bottom. One day I wrote "get a job Bill" with a magic marker, so he would see it when he layed down... pretty funny. Bill jumped up and grabbed me... threw my ass on the floor, right off the top. We were tight... we split for Texas one day with 5 cases of long neck Stroh's beer in the back of my GMC truck... we hit Nashville... ended up in Tallahasse... and met a lot of Lassies.

Gerber didn't pass the acid test... he OD'd on his 21st birthday in 1973. Bill went a little later on.

\

RIP Billy G

The FAITHEALERS was a KICK-ASS Band!

2010-03-12T22:38:00.006-05:00

I followed 'em around Detroit and Ann Arbor...
Shot some video's, had a blast! Rockin' and Rollin'!

The line up in these days was:

Front Woman/leopard skin guitar player Wendy Case,

Ex Scott Morgan guitarist Brian Delaney,

Bassist Rob Devore

Drummer Rob King of Destroy All Monsters fame

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HOW I MET THE BOYS IN THE BANDS

2010-03-12T06:57:00.014-05:00

It was during the time I worked for Grimshaw at Rainbow Graphics that I first met some STOOGES. Gary had moved out of Hill Street and started his own thing. I slept on a couch at Rainbow, upstairs from the BLIND PIG on Liberty Street. Sorcerers Apprentice I'd say. At night I would prowl the area for food and fun... Del Rio, the Cracked Crab, which was a Seafood joint.

Fleetwood Diner and most importantly of ALL... the PRIMO Showbar. Dollar to get in. Every body and their uncle played there.

Lightning with Scott Morgan, Detroit, a lot of bands made up of players from earlier bands, 'ya know. This was about 1972 or 3... Pretty cool gig for a kid from Motown.

Del Rio photo Jim Rees

One night at the someone introduced me to a couple guys... Ron Asheton and Dave Alexander. They knew I was a STOOGES Fan, so they hooked us up. Now Dave was also a cartoonist, my basic line of work, we talked about doin' some stuff, but nothin' came of it. Ron was looking COOL.. Black metallic shirt, Colonel Klink cigarette holder... his usual attire. I think I bought 'em a drink shot and the shit a while... he gave me two STOOGES tickets for a show in St. Clair Shores... couldn't make the scene, cops had towed my car from out in front of the Pig... expired tags... still got them tickets, somewhere.

Early Stooges

Now some time later,maybe '74... I was workin' at a Health Food Company... outside of town, at a big warehouse... I hung some Stooges posters on the wall and a guy that we call Roy-Boy saw 'em ... he said "ya' wanna' meet those guys?"

Sure I did.... so he took me home one night. Ron and Scott, we call 'em ROCK ACTION, Asheton and some other guys came over. They had a pit dug with a grill over it and Bar-B-Qued some chicken... drinkin' beer... just like that. I ran around with Rock for quite awhile after that, partied, went to a lot of shows when he was in SONICS RENDEZVOUS and what-not... I was sorta' like a cheerleader for 'em in those days, made a lot of noise, RONN- DAY-VUUUUUU! he's a Real Cool guy, outdoor type and all that. Ron was a little more laid back. "We shot the shit a while, Ron bought me a drink... said I was a workin' man, and wouldn't let me pay! I liked their style.

Back around 1975 a Band called DESTROY ALL MONSTERS had a Farm House out on Plymouth Road...Ron Asheton's Band... I walked in one night with my usual case of long-neck, 16 ounce STROH'S and there was Hiawatha Bailey and Michael Davis... playin' "BLACK to COMM" on a reel to reel tape machine! Hell yeah! So I began to Testify....like, "The BIG NOISE!" and "The ROOM CLEARER!"... like they called it back in the day... Michael said "How you know all that?" So I told 'em...."Brother, I was THERE!" I hung around a lot with those guys... in those days.

I met FRED SMITH thru Rock... 'playin' in the SONIC'S. One night at Second Chance... the BEST place to see the band... there was a fifth of Jack center piece in the deli-tray,backstage...

After the show we brought it along. I ended up on the front lawn of someone's house in A2, me and Fred Smith, drinkin' that Jack Daniels and Testifyin' to the Glory of the MC5 and all. Someone called the Law, no big deal... it got squared away and the Cop's said "take a hike".

Witness's say I walked away, got to the corner, grabbed a stop sign pole, did a 180 and walked right back and laid down on the grass...next to the cop's. It was startin' to get light, I guess they had better things to do... they dropped me off nearby, let me go. The Police Report describes a Person known only as Big Rich... we know.

The Friends Road Show

2010-03-11T23:44:00.002-05:00

The Friends Road Show was a traveling International Troupe of crazy's, I met 'em at the Rainbow Room, a club in Downtown Detroit where my Bro the Bird and I worked hauling band gear to and from Metro Airport, I ran off with the Circus... cause it was the only thing left to do!

BIG RICH DORRIS: NYC IN1976

2010-03-11T23:14:00.003-05:00

This pic from NYC in 1976, I was on the way to Amsterdam to Rendezvous with the Friends Road Show at the FESTIVAL of FOOLS. we stopped at the candy store on St. Marks to pose where the DOLLS first album cover was shot. Pat the Bird, BIG Rich and mystery girl.

Pat "the Bird" drove the van to NYC and dropped us off at the airport. We stopped off at Greenwich Village at the News stand where the NY Dolls first album cover was shot.

TESTIFY!!!

2010-03-10T22:24:00.007-05:00

Retro:Kimmer
photo: Lesley Maki

I just wanna' TESTIFY, Brothers and Sisters, to a Young Lady from Ypsilanti Michigan! Kimmer is her name and spreadin' RIGHTEOUS INFORMATION is her game! I call her the QUEEN! You all know her as RETRO: KIMMER for her '60's blog... all music and fashion and history, from then right up to NOW!

Retro: Kimmer

We have followed each other's story's for awhile now on Face Book and all, and when I suggested a piece on GARY GRIMSHAW and the book he's puttin' out, KIMMER jumped on it and in a matter of DAYS this whole thing exploded! I want to thank her for guiding me, an internet vidiot, via late nite phone calls, to create a way for Gary's Fans to follow his developments, and a place for me to tell, with pix and flix, my eyewitness accounts of DEE-TROIT Rock N' Roll! HELL YEAH!

Photograph by Scott Dedenbach
fosbodass@aol.com

HOWLING DIABLOS PLAY FOR GARY GRIMSHAW

2010-03-08T19:25:00.002-05:00

The Howling Diablos LIVE @ The Concert for Gary Grimshaw at The Magic Bag Theatre. ART collection of Ben Edmonds & BIGVIDEO/BIG RichDorris Produced by Rich Dorris & Dan Hehr

PART TWO

IT'S ALL ABOUT GRIMSHAW!

2010-03-06T19:20:00.004-05:00

Gary Grimshaw

People ask me, "Why do you worship this Gary Grimshaw guy?" I always answer, "If you were a kid with a toy guitar... and Eric Clapton let you play with him... how would YOU feel?" That's how I feel about Gary. I asked him once, "What's this GRIMSHAW name about?" He told me in old England, GRIM meant Hermit and SHAW meant Forrest... Man from the Deep Woods. I was impressed.

Never have I met a Man with such an infinite amount of patience and unlimited loyalty... it really was all about the "People". It "Wasn't money he was after", as he says,"I wanted to change the world!" I'm pretty sure he has.

During the years I worked for Gary, as his assistant, he taught me just about everything I know about Graphic Arts. There were times, I'm sure, he was dumfounded by my behavior... my "Reckless Love of Life" he calls it, being very kind. His advice for this young, untrained cartoonist was, "learn to draw the same thing over and over..." not easy for a guy in my state of mind. So I studied the Underground Comix Artists... R Crumb, Greg Irons, Rick Griffin and the infamous S. Clay Wilson. Watching him and all those guys is the only art schoolin' I ever had. Oh yeah... Trippin' made me want to draw and STROH'S put art on hold.

Gary once told me, "If you spent as much time drawing as you spend in that Factory, you'd make some REAL money!" I didn't know about that. He was the BEST and he sure wasn't rich.

We had a lot of fun, no doubt... never heard a harsh word from him. I helped him move a couple dozen times... the Brother gets around. I proudly financed some Poster prints for Gary in later years, that MC5 with wings, and others. We shot a lot of video too. There's a shelf full at his house right now. He says "I'm your BIGGEST fan". The feeling's mutual, I'm sure.

MC5 Rob Tyner Tribute Show Motor City's Burnin

2010-03-04T22:23:00.003-05:00

I'm down on Schaefer Highway, out on the West Side. Rob Tyner's passing has brought a throng of Detroit Rock n' Rollers to Moby Dick's Bar in Dearborn... to "Remember Rob Tyner"....a HELL of a guy. I'd met his Mom at the funeral home a few weeks before... she buried her face in my MC5 t-shirt and sobbed... I cried like a baby... heart-broken.

Tonight it was Scott Morgan, Bobby East, Dee Dee Ramone, Wally from the Romantics and a shit-load of others... these guys are jammin' when I walk in. Killin' it for Rob... Hijackin' Love, Route 66... Michael Davis is brought onstage by Wayne Kramer... with Tino singin', some Howling Diablos and Rob's Guitarist from Weapons, Robert Gillespie... they do a 10 minute version of the "MOTOR CITY'S BURNIN"! This boy is impressed.... backstage I run into my old Pal Mike Davis, I ain't seen him in years... Let me' buy you a drink. Kick out the JAMS!

BIG RICH: DENNIS THOMPSON GRANDE VIDEO

2010-03-02T01:09:00.003-05:00

Detroit Devil's Night Fires

Devils Night in Detroit was BIG news, when we were kids it was soapin' windows and ringin' doorbells... gremlin stuff for sure... it was also the only day you could dress as a person of the opposite gender... and get away with it... you know, Halloween and all. General FREAK show downtown and everybody had a ball...in later years it took on a more tragic and bizare tone as fires raged all across town... insurance jobs, I ben' told.

Now the ZENTA thing, which was never fully explained to us by the MC5, yet heartily embraced as our "Religion", had it's HIGH Holy Days of October 30-31, New Years Eve to us... with ritual, sacramental offerings of pyscho-active substances performed at every opportunity... weed, acid...like that. It was told to me by "Bob "Righteous" Rudnik, a DJ, poet and knowledgable rapscalion, that Zenta originated as a pan handling routine by JC Crawford in New york City... who knows, who cares...it was OUR's and we ran with it.

The MC5 recorded their first album, Kick out the JAMS!, LIVE at the Grande Ballroom on these 2 special days in 1968. Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson says it was the FIRST LIVE Rock n' Roll Album EVER recorded! There was a sound truck outside... a couple thousand crazed teen-agers inside...and they wouldn't let me in.

Trip ahead 28 years to 1998, when I, as BIG VIDEO, and our body guard, Kevin Ernst, was invited to attend the gala re-opening of the Grande with a Documentary film crew as they interviewed Dennis INSIDE the Ballroom, amid the tumbled down plaster and beams and very... heavy... vibes.

Check it out...it was really good for me.

BIG RICH : MEETS GARY GRIMSHAW

2010-02-28T15:34:00.011-05:00

Gary Grimshaw Poster

The Rock n' Roll Revival at the State Fair Grounds was the big event in spring of '69....One thing I know for sure is a lot of strange shit happens when everybody's stoned... this show I actually watched all the bands, weather was great... huge area in front of the stage full of people sittin' on blankets... everybody else walked around the outside, socializin'...doin' their thing... a typical Detroit Scene... met some guys from High School in Detroit, one of 'em said" yeah, we always hated you... look cool now"....just like I said before... SRC's Gary Quackenbush played an insane set with his head bandaged from a bike crash, Fred Sonic Smith in his SS silver spacesuit, swingin' from the rafters... a typical Detroit scene...

Eastown Theater

The Eastown was another Planet from the Grande, on the other side of town... we went there all the time... the music was great... we had a lot of fun... but the beatnik/hippie vibe was gone... things had changed... weird chemicals galore... every kid was a dealer... shag haircuts and all... I know.

King Crimson, Joe Cocker, Eric Burdon, Black Sabbath.... and the Stooges... I left my Corvair one night... wouldn't start... got home some other way. There was a dangerous practice in those days... pass around a bottle of wine and everyone put something in it... then you drank it... unregulated alchemy I'd say... Gorilla Juice the bikers call it... dangerous as hell.

Note... I don't want to glorify this kind of life, dope and all...but it's most relevant to the story at hand.

Some Chicks from Warren had a house on Packard, in Ann Arbor..I was there one night in the summer time... Iggy Pop dropped by... he was showing the ladies his mosquito bites... then he split... no lie... ya' gotta love 'em. Then FUN HOUSE came out... record store on Woodward blastin' "Down on the Street" ... stacks of Stooges albums by the door... drove us wilder... hasn't been topped to this day... in my opinion.

BIG RICH

It's like this, to me...the MC5 was our Religious, Spiritual side... so to speak, the Stooges was the other.

Goose Lake, oh yeah....1970... we trained for weeks at the Unitarian Church on Cass with the Sunshine Bad Trip Company, we got there thursday night, before the show, to set up stuff, had a big circus tent with hay spread all over, like a first aid station for the chemically wounded... it's a blur at best.

THE STOOGES Photo: Mick Rock

I remember seeing the Stooges and taking a shower on the Ladies side... no one seemed to mind... actually that was the high, or low point of the hippie thing, the Governor banned any more such monkey shines and to tell the truth I was one of the first casualties that weekend... it IS possible to have too much fun. after that we changed our tune a bit, started eating brown rice and stopped taking so damn many drugs.

The Selective Service called me down for a chat... went to Fort Wayne Induction Center, downtown, with a couple buddies, Rockin' Rob and Fast Car Carl... I was goin' thru the stations... jockey shorts, black cowboy boots, big head a' hair and Alice Cooper Eyes. Someone told me ...." Man, you look FUNKY"...fairly standard procedure 'till a guy walked up and said.."I know you! I met you at GOOSE LAKE! wanna' roll some joint's?"... so I did... right there sittin' on a bench...he gave me the bag, I rolled 'em up..he passed 'em out and every one got lit... no one ever said a word... times were changin', for sure... I told a Doctor some of my adventures, he sent me to the shrink... long story short...1H Classification.. they would call me in case of National Emergency... they never did.

I knew a lady in the neighborhood... hippie ghetto by Wayne State... she had a little girl... let me move in with her... and except my years out on the road... we been together ever since... she saved me, I'm sure. This was spring of '71... life was good... whole wheat bread and co-op peanut butter... I was impressed.

I saw an ad in the Ann Arbor Sun Newspaper, Artist Wanted, volunteers to work on the Sun... so I went... hitchhiked west out 1-94 with my wife Dollye's overnight case full of drawings... Leni Sinclair was sitting at the front door desk, 1520 Hill Street, the White Panthers, now Rainbow Peoples house... I showed her my stuff... she got on a phone and said "Gary, can you come up here..." and up he came, we went downstairs... and he put my ass to work... That's the first time I met Gary Grimshaw.....

BIG

BIG RICH: DETROIT LATE 60's

2010-02-27T15:45:00.005-05:00

Big, with daughter Celeste and brother Pat the Bird (RIP)

People know me as Big Rich... it's true, I'm pretty big. I'm from Fenkell & Wyoming in the Motor City Detroit... Michigan... I went to Catholic School on Dexter and Fenkell, that's 5 Mile... couple miles from the Grande Ballroom... there was 9 kids in a 3 bedroom house. Dad was a Cop 'till I was 14... my Big Brother Jimmy played a Stratocaster in a 2 piece band... the Rockin' King's... they played around at parties and stuff... him and a snare drum... that's all it took, like,"Walk don't Run". I could hear 'em practicing' in the basement at night...up thru a heater vent in the floor... it was 1964.

Over the years I got around.... had a ton of fun... met some people you might know... MC 5, Stooges, Rationals... a lot of guys in other bands and clubs and stuff... spent some time with Fred Smith, Rock Action and Scott Morgan when they had Sonic's Rendezvous Band... Ron Asheton and Niagara and Michael Davis... when they had Destroy All Monsters... and Dark Carnival... had the privilege of going to Rob Tyner's home... with his buddy, Gary Grimshaw... went to a lot of shows... partied my ass off... had a lot of fun... I love those guy's.

All this memory trippin' started when I first heard that Gary Grimshaw was sick...

I been gone awhile... I started thinkin' back to when I last saw him, a couple years ago... been in Florida runnin' boat's and stuff since '98... came back to Detroit for Mom's Funeral... I had my son Mike along... was able to spend an hour at Gary's place near Wayne State... there he was, in his basement, bare brickwall studio, drawing table in the center of the room... surrounded by artwork, cd's, albums, a shelf of video's we made over the years, crates of framed posters, like a command center for the underground... I was impressed.

Then Kimmer came on the scene and wanted to help me make a blog to chronicle my life and all the "experiences" of my life so far... and so it begins....

I was a leather wearin' greaser in a frat boy school...it's true, never hooked up with any of them chicks, I used to wear socks they call, "thick n' thins"... like the black dudes wore... and shark skin pants, wingtip points, dress leather, tried to look sharp...like the older guys. Kid in my art class said check out this band, MC-5, buy their record, "Lookin' at You", even 'tho it sounds like shit, I asked him, why would I do that?... to support the BAND, Man! He was hip, had a band called Target... guy named Gary Grimshaw drew 'em a Bulls-Eye logo. A weird kid named Mahoney would write poems, I started illustrating them with pen & ink.... quit drawin' skulls and stuff... and usin' Brylcream, started growin' long hair... pretty soon they kicked me out, charged with smokin' it in the boys room... it was 1967, and I was 16.

Dollye and Big 1971

Now picture this, ridin' shotgun, back in the day... Sister Kitty drivin' Jimmy's Red Sport Fury Convertible... Bucket Seats, Hurst 4 Speed hifter... Hole shot from a stop sign, on the east side, "Satisfaction" on the radio....she was older too... I hung with her alot. We were greasers, wantin' to be biker's... but didn't have no bike. kid's those day rode BSA's, Norton's, stuff like that... a lot of 'em didn't survive. We all worked in my Dads shop, makin' car parts, he let us drive the pick-up truck at night... drank Bali-Hi, and Silver Satin Wine, back out on the west side where we were from... Listenin' to Motown, and the Animals, "We gotta get outta this place", "Sweet Pea" and "Wild Thing" ... it was all about the 45's... Hitsville.

It was around that time when Donnie Young got killed in Viet-Nam. I used to take his niece to the movies on Harper & Van Dyke, at The Eastown Theatre... saw Riot on Sunset Strip... and The Harper, now the call it HARPO'S... He told Kitty, "I won't be coming back"... we went to his funeral, there was a truck load of soldiers, an Honor Guard. They gave his Mom his watch, and the flag, she didn't take it very well... My Dad said you better join the Navy or you'll be up to your ass in jungle-mud. I wasn't sure if they had mud in Viet-Nam... besides, I wasn't goin' nowhere... and I didn't.

Later, sometimes we'd go down by The Detroit River, in my Sister's Chevy, new, light purple with a white rag top, stick shift, just hang out, drink beer... lovin' it... we had a little mini-rumble once, our best guy socked their best guy, and it was over... not too much trouble in those days... besides commin' home late... I kissed my first girl in the back seat of somebody else's car, behind the police station on Belle Isle... we used to go over the bridge to Canada in a black VW bug, way out in the sticks, some one knew some body over there, so we went.... one night I didn't go... they ran a stop and hit a Mack Truck...

Detroit Love IN Grimshaw Poster

That summer, the hippies had a LOVE-IN on Belle Isle, Mom dropped us off in a white Impala convertible, she used to hang out there as a girl, so she thought it would be cool.... I hopped out in the traffic jam... I think I saw the MC5, can't say for sure... had a blast... a black dude passed some weed... end of the day a little bit of a ruckus broke out, over by the Bikers... Cops on horses made us leave... it got pretty stupid, down on the street, people throwin' rocks and stuff...

My buddys brother came home from the Navy, we gave 'em a ride downtown to a place called Plum Street, Detroit's version of Haight Ashbury..."Man, you can get anything you want down there", he said, "a fur-covered tambourine, maybe even some boo"....we were impressed... later, I passed my pal a joint on the way home from school, he threw it out the window, didn't see him much after that.... it was his car. He joined the Navy too. Pretty soon I smoked it every chance I got... bought it from the bikers, at the Daly Drive-in... you had to know somebody then... and it was't the mean green the kids are blowin' these days.

Pot used to come in tin foil, 3 bucks or 5, a nickel bag, before they invented baggies, thats how old I am....

We started hangin' down on Plum... on the street, around the shops... sometimes at a place we called High Cool, an old lady sold hot french bread with butter, sugar and cinnamon, out the window of a house, 'till the city shut her down... hippie food... just smokin' grass, drinkin' coffee and poppin' dexidrine... strobe lights flashin' in the snow, havin' a fine time....chicks, hippies, bikers, tourists... you could be anything you wanted. Mom bought tickets to see Frank Zappa & The Mothers, our new favorite band ...we started gettin' weirder... Plum Street started goin' bad...trouble and cops... One night we took a bus from Downtown, up Grand River to Joy Road, first time ever at the Grande Ballroom, got there late, just in time to see the MC-5, it was New Years Eve, 1967... after that we went there all the time, seen all the bands, like Jimi said, never hear surf music again... more like... the Psychedelic Stooges...

One night, late, I was with Peter Canfield, they called him Peter the Witch... he was tumbling down the Grande stairs...some kind of acrobat... just for kicks... he almost creamed Chuck Berry, who was commin' UP the stairs, no lie... I had a hold of Chuck Berry! Another time, I was trippin', Uncle Russ was standing at the top of those stairs,watching people walk in, he said "I'm looking for a new announcer, Dave Miller is quittin' & I need someone tall, come by my office"....Nah, I said... I could hardly talk... Crazy times.... Miller traded my partner Billy G a fringed suede vest for a black motorcycle jacket... we loved the Grande... all them girls in velvet pants... dark... do what ya' want...

I can still remember runnin' up them stairs, hearing "Border Line"... knowin' the Five was lettin' loose...like a giant psychedelic pep-rally. The Grande was a Ballrom Dancin', Rollerskate'n place from the '30's... the walk-around was like a horse shoe shape... great big windows you could sit in... watch the freak show passin' by... step down thru the arches onto the big wooden floor... stage at the far end... big white walls on either side with swirlin' pulsatin' light show goin'... trippin'... gettin' crazy postcards for the next show... all kinds of diff'rent music... your ears would be ringin' on the way home... never saw anything that compares.

People say you could walk into the Dressing Room... it's true... we went in and were tokin' & jokin' while the 5 tuned up, just like that song "Kick out the Jams", ..."the dressing room got hazy"... found a pick on the floor... saved it for 40 years, till one of my boy's was lookin' for one... they were impressed.

I saw Janis walkin' down Forrest, when Big Brother played, people said she was lookin' for dope. "Cheap Thrills" was our favorite album that summer, Hells Angels approved it said on the cover, we had a lotta' fun... Orange Wedge Trippin' on the Roller Coaster at Edgewater Amusement Park...

We were really flyin' high....walls were fallin' down, for sure... with not much guidance, there was little we wouldn't do, once the ball went rollin', it was hard to stop... it's true.

My Family moved out to the 'Burbs, no bus, no sidewalks, didn't dig that scene, being a City Boy and all... but there were Teen Clubs and Shows all over... always something goin' on... The Hideouts, Crows Nest, Palladium... you could see 5 or 6 "local bands" on any given night... name 'em...

Third Power, Wilson Mower Pursuit, Frost, SRC, Bob Seeger, Ted Nugent, Rationals, Stooges, and always, the MC-5.

I split from home, again, ran away to Toronto with my girlfriend in a 4 door '61 Ford. This was 1968, Canned Heat on the radio, "On the road again"... We heard about the Party in Chicago, they called it the Festival of Light... joint rolling contests, bands, MC-5, all that... some people wanted to go, so we went. We stopped in Ann Arbor at the Hill Street House on the way... when we got there, Cops were kickin' peoples asses in the streets, all over... not too cool... had to run alot... at night we slept in some kind of theatre court yard with big brick walls, near Lincoln Park. We went to see The Five play, got there just in time to see the party "broke up"... my car was parked in the Zoo lot, cops were sittin' on the hood and all 4 tires were slashed... they were laughin'... I was only 17, so they let me go... we headed back to Detroit.

"Kick Out The Jams" was recorded LIVE at the Grande... Halloween of '68...the ZENTA New Year... (thats our religion...) I got off work late, found someone to score some booze, six pack of Mickeys Malt and a fifth of Southern Comfort, (for Janis...) all this took a while, needless to say, they wouldn't let us in... gave me a poster and said go away... so I did... a very sad state of affairs, indeed. I met up with those guys later... The MC5 was it for us...looked cool, crazy sparkly costumes and flags and full length leathers, they talked cool with a serious swagger and a hell on wheels approach to life they called "Total Assault on the Culture"... we could relate....

Mom thought MC-5 was a drug... Dad called me Zenta, till the day he died...

The heat was on that fall, people got busted... nowhere to run... I moved back home and went back to school to dodge the draft, ended up at Warren High, like Mitch Ryder, from earlier times... his picture was still hangin on the wall... finally graduated, they mailed me my diploma... had a car, off and on... $100 specials... drove 'em till they stopped then walked away... workin' in the tool shop... and carryin' on...

Preston Fletcher went to Viet Nam so we moved into his apartment on 4th and Antoinette... me and a kid named Gerber Baby... every one had a nick name... that was his. we were walking down the street one day... black chick said man, "you all got the crazy-ittis" we were proud... sometimes we sold the Fifth Estate, for cash. It was a radical newspaper, full of revolution and all... once we got arrested for selling it outside a High School, Peddling without a License was the charge and off to Oakland County Jail... they were always wantin' to give a kid a haircut, I guess it was important to them, too... Cops were really aggravated by all this long hair, free love and talk of overthrowing the established order... I could tell.

Truth was, no one dared to put a FREE JOHN SINCLAIR bumper sticker on their car... know what I mean?

BIG