When Kid Rock performed “Detroit, Michigan” at halftime of the Thankgiving day’s Lions game, he wasn’t just honoring Motor City music history — he was showing off a piece of it.
This is a story about the little song that could.
“Detroit, Michigan,” part of his new “Rebel Soul” album, is actually modeled on a decades-old tune, dusted off and transformed by Rock into a modern
hometown anthem.
Rock’s version means belated pay dirt for the original tune’s surviving writer, Mack Rice. He’s tickled that one of Detroit’s reigning stars has embraced a song written nearly half a century ago and forgotten for nearly as long.
“The guy is good,” said Rice, 79. “I’ve never met him, but I love his style.”
Until now, the song’s origins were murky, buried amid the countless tracks churned out during the heyday of the Detroit record business. Recorded in 1964 with a rookie singer who went by Ronnie Love, the single was released by D-Town Records, one of many small labels operating in Motown’s shadow.
“It sold maybe 100 copies,” recalled Melvin Davis, a veteran of the Detroit R&B scene who witnessed the song’s making. “It wasn’t a hit, but it did achieve some airplay around town. And then it just sat around unseen all these years.”
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