A pivotal and lasting presence in Michigan's rock landscape, Scott Morgan assembled his initial group long prior to the British Invasion igniting the garage rock surge of the 1960s, and he continues delivering robust, soul-infused rock and roll close to five decades afterward. From 1964 through 1970 he supplied gritty, soul-steeped vocals for the Rationals, whose strongest recordings appear on the anthology Think Rational!, while during the 1970s he belonged to the storied though seldom-documented Sonic's Rendezvous Band alongside ex-MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith; that ensemble refined the high-energy Detroit style of the preceding decade into a leaner, updated form. One of their incendiary concert performances survives on Live, Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, 01/14/1978. Morgan displayed his blue-eyed soul inclinations via the Solution on the 2007 album Will Not Be Televised and his Detroit-bred rock delivery with the Hydromatics, most evident on the self-titled 2000 compilation; both outfits served as side projects involving members of Sweden's the Hellacopters. Guitar-driven hard rock dominated his principal 2000s vehicle, Powertrane, whose only studio album, Beyond the Sound, appeared in 2007, before he revisited his rock-and-soul foundations on solo releases beginning with the 2010 album Scott Morgan.
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Morgan grew up in a household of music enthusiasts; once the music bug struck him in childhood, his parents purchased a guitar and he began learning, initially drawing inspiration from instrumental outfits such as Lonnie Mack and the Ventures. While enrolled at Forsythe Junior High, he befriended classmate Steve Correll, another guitarist, and in 1962 the pair resolved to start a band. Steve's brother supplied the name the Rationals; when local high-school student Bob Pretzfelder consented to play drums, the group possessed its first stable lineup. By the time Morgan and Correll advanced to Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School, Bill Figg had supplanted Pretzfelder, and when Steve's parents dispatched him to military school for a year, Terry Trabandt joined as the new guitarist. Correll returned to Ann Arbor and Pioneer High by 1964, and with Steve resuming guitar duties alongside Terry on bass, the classic Rationals configuration was complete.
Shaped by the fresh sounds of British groups including the Beatles and the Kinks as well as the emotional force of soul and R&B, the Rationals ranked among the Midwest's earliest standout blue-eyed soul ensembles, propelled by Morgan's commanding voice; after linking with manager and producer Jeep Holland they became one of the state's most popular acts, sharing bills with numerous leading artists of the era and issuing several regional hits on Holland's A-Square Records label, among them a 1966 rendition of Otis Redding's "Respect" that preceded Aretha Franklin's version. Cameo-Parkway acquired "Respect" for national distribution, and their take on the Goffin/King standard "I Need You" secured a brief Capitol Records contract, yet as the Rationals adopted a harder-edged approach and highlighted guitar interplay between Correll and Morgan they parted from Holland. The band shifted from teen clubs to psychedelic ballrooms, and in 1969, following Morgan's decision to decline an offer from Al Kooper to join Blood, Sweat & Tears, the Rationals at last tracked their long-delayed debut album. Released in 1970, the record arrived amid internal tensions, and its commercial shortfall prompted the Rationals to disband.
Within months of the breakup Morgan and Trabandt launched Guardian Angel; that unit proved short-lived, after which Morgan assembled Lightning. In 1973 he issued the solo single "Take a Look" b/w "Soul Mover," featuring Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5 on lead guitar; the collaboration with Smith ultimately yielded Sonic's Rendezvous Band in 1975. Arguably the finest rock band never to release an album, SRB placed Morgan and Smith on guitars and vocals, Gary Rasmussen of the Up on bass, and Scott Asheton of the Stooges on drums. The group used the MC5's high-energy template as a foundation and rendered it both tighter and more powerful; SRB cultivated an ardent Midwest following through electrifying live shows, yet absent label support the band could not expand its regional success, and in 1980 it dissolved after issuing only one single, the track "City Slang" pressed on both sides. Over time the group attained legendary status among devotees of high-energy rock, with numerous posthumous live-tape and demo releases emerging, most notably a six-disc box set issued by Easy Action Records in 2006.
Following the SRB split Morgan formed the Scott Morgan Band, again with Rasmussen and Asheton handling bass and drums; after recording an album for a French label the outfit evolved into Scots Pirates, in which Morgan alternated vocals with Kathy Deschaine while trading riffs with a rotating cast of guitarists that included Brian Delaney, Bobby East, and Michael Katon. In 1991, prior to Scots Pirates' launch, a brief Rationals reunion occurred; recordings from the reconstituted lineup surface on the Morgan anthology Medium Rare. After Scots Pirates delivered two albums for the Michigan-based Schoolkids Records imprint, Morgan joined the supergroup Dodge Main, which also included Wayne Kramer of the MC5 and Deniz Tek of Radio Birdman; the short-lived ensemble released an album on Alive Records in 1996. In 1998 Morgan encountered Nicke Royale of Sweden's the Hellacopters; an avid SRB admirer, Royale proposed a collaboration, resulting in the Hydromatics, whose 1999 album Parts Unknown openly honored the high-energy Michigan sound of the genre's peak era. Morgan and Royale have likewise collaborated in the international outfit the Solution, anchored in classic soul and R&B and showcasing Morgan's vocal strengths.
In 2001 Morgan connected with guitarist Robert Gillespie, who had previously worked with Rob Tyner, Mitch Ryder, and the Torpedos; once Gillespie contributed to Morgan's studio sessions the pair meshed and formed Powertrane alongside bassist Chris "Box" Taylor (Mazinga, the Avatars) and drummer Andy Frost (Hydromatics, the High Rollers). Several performances featuring guest guitarists Deniz Tek and Ron Asheton of the Stooges were captured on the 2002 live album Ann Arbor Revival Meeting, while their debut studio effort, Beyond the Sound, arrived in 2007. In 2009 Britain's Big Beat Records issued the two-disc A-Square Records anthology Think Rational!; to mark the release Morgan staged a series of concerts with a Detroit ensemble he named "the Irrationals," performing selections from the Rationals catalog. Several members of that unit, among them Matthew Smith, Jim Diamond, Chris "Box" Taylor, and Dave Shettler, joined Morgan in the studio for the 2010 album Scott Morgan, his first proper solo release across a five-decade recording career. Three years afterward Easy Action released the rarities-packed triple-disc overview Three Chords and a Cloud of Dust. Health issues largely sidelined Morgan throughout the 2010s, yet he returned with the 2017 solo album Rough & Ready, supported by members of the Detroit band the Sights.
