The Detroit Cobras: Baby 2004 + Tied & True 2006

 

One of the earliest groups to emerge from the Detroit garage rock scene that would produce the White

Stripes and the Dirtbombs, the Detroit Cobras were the Midwest's finest and most distinctive cover band. Rarely writing material of their own, the group dug deep into the well of vintage R&B and primitive rock & roll, unearthing rarities and lost classics they adapted to their swaggering aural personality.
                                                  

The Detroit Cobras are an American garage rock band from Detroit, Michigan, which was formed in

1994 by guitarist Steve Shaw, guitarist Mary Ramirez, bassist Jeff Meier, drummer Vic Hill, and singer Rachel Nagy. The group was later known (with the exception of Rachel Nagy, and Mary Ramirez) for a constantly changing assortment of musicians.
                     

The band's cocky Motor City spirit was always front and center, even after the albums Mink Rat or

Rabbit (1998) and Life, Love and Leaving (2001) made them international stars. They knew how to make the most of their raw, stripped-down approach from the start, as evidenced on the 2008 collection The Original Recordings: Singles & Unreleased 1995-1997.
                           

Literally dozens of musicians made their way through the Cobras' lineup, but their musical identity was

rooted in two constant members. Vocalist Rachel Nagy possessed a full-bodied instrument that split the difference between R&B and rock & roll, and guitarist Maribel Restrepo (aka Mary Ramirez) added scrappy, elemental guitar figures that honored the melodies but kept the songs from sounding like museum pieces.
                      

The Detroit Cobras were formed in 1995 by Rachel Nagy, a singer and former exotic dancer, and

Maribel Restrepo, a guitarist whose 1980s band the Vertical Pillows were mentored by Rob Tyner of the MC5. Nagy and Restrepo teamed up with guitarist Steve Shaw, who developed a taste for classic R&B while spending time with Alex Chilton, whom he met through his friends in Detroit garage punk primitives the Gories.
                      

Focusing on overlooked R&B and rock & roll chestnuts played with no-frills energy, the first lineup

was filled out by Jeff Meier from Rocket 455 on bass and Vic Hill on drums, and they released their first 7" single, "Over to My House" b/w "Down in Louisiana," in 1996.
                    

In what would prove to be the first in a long line of personnel changes, drummer Hill was replaced by

Chris Fachini by the time the Cobras released their third single, "Ain't It a Shame" b/w "Slum Lord" (which also hit stores in 1996), and their debut LP, 1998's Mink Rat or Rabbit, introduced their third timekeeper, Damian Lang (who'd worked with Snake Out and Elvis Hitler).
                                 

Rachel Nagy, founding member and lead singer of the Motor City garage rock outfit the Detroit

Cobras, has died. The band — which Nagy formed in the early Nineties alongside guitarist Mary Ramirez — announced Nagy’s death Saturday on social media. No cause of death was revealed, nor was Nagy’s age at the time of her death.(14 January 2022)

 

 

 

THE DETROIT COBRAS - BABY 2004
            

The Detroit Cobras – Baby
Label: Bloodshot Records – BS 125
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue 2005
Country: US
Released: 2004 
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock

TRAXS

01. Slipping Around
02. I Wanna Holler (But The Town's Too Small)
03. Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand
04. Weak Spot
05. Everybody's Going Wild
06. Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)
07. Mean Man
08. Now You're Gone
09. It's Raining
10. Just Can't Please You
11. The Real Thing
12. Baby Help Me
13. Cha Cha Twist
14. Ya Ya Ya (Looking For My Baby)
15. My Baby Loves The Secret Agent
16. Heartbeat
17. You Don't Knock
18. Silver & Gold (When I Get Like This)
19. 99 And A Half Just Won't Do
20. Insane Asylum

MP3 @ 320 Size: 117 MB
Flac  Size: 511 MB

THE DETROIT COBRAS - TIED & TRUE 2006

               

The Detroit Cobras – Tied & True
Label: Bloodshot Records – BS 139
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2006
Genre: Rock
Style: Blues Rock, Garage Rock, Rock & Roll

TRAXS

                  

01. As Long As I Have You   2:59
Written-By – Bob Elgin, Norman Meade
02. Nothing But A Heartache   2:41
Written-By – Tony Waddington, Wayne Bickerton
03. If You Don't Think   1:43
Written-By – James Brown
04. Leave My Kitten Alone   2:42
Written-By – James McDougal, Little Willie John, Titus Turner
05. (I Wanna Know) What's Going On   2:06
Written-By – Mac Rebennack, Seth David
06. Try Love   2:54
Piano – Eddie Hawrysch
Written-By – Willie Ray James
07. You'll Never Change   2:53
Written-By – Robert West, Willie Schofield
08. Puppet On A String   2:09
Written-By – Roland Davis
09. Only To Other People   2:27
Written-By – Artie Kornfeld, Gerry Goffin, Toni Wine
10. The Hurts All Gone   2:26
Piano – Eddie Hawrysch
Written-By – Jerry Ragovoy, Roy Alfred
11. My Delight   2:22
Written-By – Brenton Dowe, James McNaughton, Renford Cogle
12. On A Monday   1:42
Written-By – Traditional
13. Green Light   2:43
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Jeliana Frelitz, Melissa Glush, Ryan Pritts
Written-By – D. Gordon, Eddy Grant, Irving Gordon

MP3 @ 320 Size: 74 MB
Flac  Size: 180 MB

The Detroit Cobras on Urban Aspirines HERE