Detroit with Mitch Ryder - Get Out the Vote: Live at the Hill Auditorium -- April 1, 1972 (CD)

All Music Guide

On April 1, 1972, Detroit (the band, not the city), led by Mitch Ryder, performed at a Get Out the Vote rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a tape of the performance, which is listenable but rough around the edges, with a muffled quality that no amount of modernday tweaking could fix. Ryder is in energetic form, but considerably hoarser voice than he was on the classic Detroit Wheels hits; you can believe it when the liner notes say he quit singing three months later rather than face a possible throat operation. The set is dominated by covers of Lou Reed ("Rock Roll"), Chuck Berry, the Stones, Smokey Robinson, and Edgar Winter, as well as a reprise of the "Devil with a Blue Dress On"/Good Golly Miss Molly" hit by the Detroit Wheels; Steve Hunter, later to work with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, plays lead guitar. It's goodtime RBinfused rock roll, and no doubt was a good time indeed for those attending the event. But it's merely a souvenir when heard on disc, and not a recommended alt...ernative to Detroit's official album. - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Read more Less