Cast your mind back to 1994, November, the 5th day. A man by the name of Fred Sonic Smith passed away in the Detroit suburbs on this day. His name may not be as well known as Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Clapton, or any of the most popular names thrown around these days but Fred Sonic Smith was absolute magic behind the guitar.

Raised in the Detroit suburb of Lincoln Park, he was one of the founders of the MC5. The MC5 being one of the more notable Michigan bands of the late 1960s, in fact one that helped define the style "Detroit Rock." The MC5's antics are certainly legendary but so is the guitar sound. After the MC5 disolved Fred formed a few other bands that never recorded. Married Patti Smith, yes, THAT Patti Smith. Ended up recruiting ex-Stooges drummer Scott Asheton (AKA - Rock Action), Gary Rassmusen and Scott Morgon to form Sonic's Rendezvous Band. Sadly the Rendezvous Band never got the attention that the MC5 did, partly due to the fact that they barely toured outside the Midwest and only released one (now extremely rare) 45 RPM single: City Slang. However their sound was intense and they were definately one of those bands that had all the right people working together at the right time. Unfortunately the band broke up in the late 1970s.

There's still a handful of us in Michigan where the life Fred Sonic Smith holds great meaning. However if you ask virtually any rock and roller in Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Finland, Norway, Netherlands and most other western and northern European nations about Fred you'll probably get an earful of how great he was. Thank goodness for bands like the Hellacopters for bringing Fred's name back into current day conciousness. On thier 1997 album "Payin' The Dues" they recorded a cover of City Slang.

Today is a day to remember a great musician that is gone but certainly not forgotten.