New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today
Alice Cooper announces the release of his brand new studio album 'Detroit Stories', out February 26, 2021 on earMUSIC. Named for the city that launched the original
Alice Cooper group on the road to success, "Detroit Stories" follows last year's "Breadcrumbs" EP as a modern-day homage to the toughest and craziest Rock n Roll scene there ever was. The album was produced by longtime
Alice Cooper collaborator Bob Ezrin and features
Detroit music legends including MC5's Wayne Kramer, The
Detroit Wheels Johnny "Bee" Badanjek, Paul Randolph (legendary
Detroit jazz and R&B bassist) as well as the Motor City Horns and other local musicians.
Fans will get a first taste of the upcoming album this Friday, November 13, with the release of Cooper's cover of The
Velvet Underground's "Rock 'n' Roll". Written by Lou Reed, the song was famously recorded by Mitch Ryder & The
Detroit Wheels featuring drummer Johnny Bee and guitarist Steve Hunter, with Ezrin producing. All 3 reprised their roles for
Detroit Stories, adding the legendary
Joe Bonamassa as a bonus.
In 1970, fledgling producer Bob Ezrin walked into a farmhouse on the outskirts of
Detroit to work with the
Alice Cooper band. Abandoning flower power Los Angeles, because they were the opposite of the hippie peace and love ideal, Alice had brought his decidedly darker gang back to his birthplace to the legendary rock scene that gave birth to hard rock, garage rock, soul, funk, punk...and more.
Ezrin drilled the band for 10 hours a day to define their signature sound. Whenever they nailed a song, the inmates at the hospital for the criminally insane across the road cheered and thus the classic
Alice Cooper sound was born.
"Detroit was
Heavy Rock central then," explains Alice, "You'd play the Eastown and it would be Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, the Stooges and the Who, for $4! The next weekend at the Grande it was MC5, Brownsville Station and Fleetwood Mac, or Savoy Brown or the Small Faces. You couldn't be a soft-rock band or you'd get your ass kicked."
"Los Angeles had its sound with The Doors, Love and Buffalo Springfield," he says, "San Francisco had the
Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. New York had The Rascals and The
Velvet Underground. But
Detroit was the birthplace of angry hard rock. After not fitting in anywhere in the US (musically or image wise)
Detroit was the only place that recognized the
Alice Cooper guitar driven, hard rock sound and our crazy stage show.
Detroit was a haven for the outcasts. And when they found out I was born in East Detroit... we were home."
50 years later Alice and Ezrin gathered some legendary
Detroit musicians in a
Detroit studio to record
Detroit Stories, Alice Cooper's new album that celebrates that spirit for a new era. If 2019's "Breadcrumbs" EP laid down the trail to the city,
Detroit Stories drives like a muscle car right down Woodward Ave.
"We recorded with Wayne Kramer (guitarist and writer from the MC5), Johnny "Bee" Badanjek (drums - from the legendary
Detroit Wheels), Paul Randolph (legendary
Detroit jazz and R&B bassist) as well as the Motor City Horns and other local musicians," explains Ezrin, "We had musical ideas and encouragement from John Varvatos, the support of the folks at Shinola, and we recorded at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak. This was Made In
Detroit for
Detroit by
Detroit denizens!"
Discover
Detroit Stories as they were meant to be told.
"Detroit Stories" will be available on CD, CD+DVD Digipak, CD Box Set (including CD, Blu-ray, T-shirt, face mask, torch light and 3 stickers), and 2LP Gatefold on February 26th 2021 on earMUSIC.
The DVD and Blu-ray will show the incredible live performance "A Paranormal Evening At The Olympia Paris" for the first time on video. With the whole concert culture being shut down due to covid-19,
Alice Cooper felt the need to share one of his latest shows with his fans as he cannot wait to get back on the road - better than ever.
