1.07.2011

TERRY TRABANDT OF THE RATIONALS HAS PASSED AWAY



Sad news again... Scott Morgan called to let me know that Terry Trabandt Bass, player of The Rationals has passed away (12-28-10). We don't have complete information at this time. All I could find was a short obit in the Ft Meyers Florida newspaper.

If anyone has any information please email me retrokimmer.com

Found a little bit out about terrys ashes. He will be released to his Brother Charles.
My Sister and I just had to know this. Terry was so much a part of Chars life. They were very good friend's.

If no one was to received terrys ashes, we were going to claim them. We didn't want Terry to be placed somewhere and forgotten.
So knowing his Brother is taking Terry help's, because we didn't want Terry to be alone and forgotten.

Terry died of natural causes. This also brings somewhat relief to us. Thanks Patches!!!

We'll keep updating as more information comes in.




TERRY NORMAN TRABANDT, 61, Ft. Myers, died 12-28-2010.

Terry was the most outgoing and friendly Rational. He was the charmer with the quick, warm smile that seemed to be meant especially for whoever caught it.

Terry's Rationals Bio Page


The History of The Rationals

Terry Trabandt, bassplayer-singer for the Rationals, died in Florida on December 28th, aged 61. Scott Morgan writes:

This is my worst nightmare. I'll live to a hundred and all my friends will be gone. That said, it ain't about me. It's about my friend and fellow Rational Terry Trabandt.

The first time i was aware of Terry he was in the Ann Arbor News with some other guys who were taking guitar lessons. After Steve Correl and I started the band, Steve went to military school, so i had to find some new partners in crime until he got back. I started working with Terry and Bill Figg mostly woodshedding (rehearsing). When Steve got back we convinced Terry to play bass and we had the final Rationals lineup.

We started small, playing mostly private parties and sock hops until we met Jeep Holland. One thing i didn't know about Terry was that he could really sing. If you listen to I Need You, Zip a Dee Doo Dah, or Listen To Me, you can hear the perfect blend of harmonies that Terry and Steve could produce.

I think Terry played bass better than guitar. His bass lines were always inventive. I always thought every bass player copied James Jamerson but Terry said he got his ideas from the British groups.

Things really clicked for us after we started working with Jeep, and in a short period of time we were recording, doing television with Robin Seymour and touring. We just kept building on that premise. Our first record was a hit in Ann Arbor, our second sounded a lot like the Kinks and the Beatles, but it was our third that put us over the top. It was the flip side of Leaving Here, Respect.

By now we were so popular in Detroit that the cops were beating girls off our van with billy clubs. I was horrified but it lead to us stopping the show at Cobo Hall and having girls carried away, having fainted at Hudson's Auditorium.

Our friend Deon Jackson said Terry had a "do wrong smile". I think he was kidding. When we played the Grande, Terry did the opening remarks saying he was sorry we had these colds. A typical understatement that Rob Tyner heard as "the sun, the moon and the stars".

Terry was the Rationals just as the rest of us. When we broke up in 1970 we went out in a blaze of glory having just released our first album in a singles based world, but Terry wasn't ready to give up. We started a band and recorded with Fred Smith, Mike Davis, and Bill Figg which played one show opening for Tim Buckley. Then we moved on to Guardian Angel with my brother David and Tex Gabriel.

We got John Sinclair and Pete Andrews to manage us and kept the ball rolling with some new bandmates. That phase lasted a few years and Terry moved to Los Angeles with Fred Smith and I right behind him. He moved back to Michigan and soon headed to Germany where he formed a band. He lived in New York for awhile then eventually moved to Ft Meyers, Florida.

In 1991, we had a reunion that lasted for several years. Terry and I were the last ones in that project until about 1993 after we did one last recording session. After that we decided to put the reunion to bed.

I guess I could say a lot of high and mighty things about Terry but the proof is in the pudding and it's all on record. He was a great musician, my friend, and I'm gonna miss him. See ya soon, brother. Scott Morgan

18 comments:

patches said...

Terry was a very caring and loving person. A heart of gold.

Patches

Sally Omally Schroeder said...

Oh Scott, I'm so sorry to hear this. Terry was such a sweet soul and one of the funniest roommates I had ever experienced! I'll never forget when Terry had just warmed up some spaghetti and had taken it into his room to eat. The phone was for him so he sat the spaghetti on his bed. Well Karma (the dog) ate it all up. He came back after his phone conversation and the plate was clean. The look on his face, trying to figure out what had happened. Terry see you up in heaven some day. I love you.

John Morgan said...

I'll miss you Terry!

Mark Richards said...

I heard, and then saw, the Rationals in the early 60's at a beach on Elizabeth Lake in Waterford. I’ve never stopped loving their music; it's amazing how people you really don’t know can be remembered forever.

Jim DeLashmit said...

R.I.P. Terry

Pete James said...

Sad News, The Rationals are so much apart of Detroit History and a Big Influence on Me as a Young Proud Motor City Rock and Roller, He was Perfect in that Band, R.I.P.

Mick Anthony Casanovaa said...

very sad. RIP one of my favourite bassists

Mick Anthony Casanovaa said...

very sad. RIP one of my favourite bassists

charlene arwine said...

i'm sick and shocked, he was my friend, i just had a dream about him last night. I can' stop crying, i hope this isn't true, I loved him so much.

Scott, in my selfish sorrow, I forgot to extend my sympathy to you . You lost an old friend and a great guy who was a part of your musical history. The Rationals music and all of your other music will keep us all forever young in our hearts. God Bless you ...charlene arwine

Mohair Sweets said...

Very sorry to hear this.

Bob Resch said...

I was always a big fan of Terry's bass playing. Always strong and melodic, he held up his end of the bargain with the Rationals with ease and made it all look like fun.
Late December 2010, I bought a DVD of some of the vintage Swingin' Time shows with Robin Seymour. I couldn't wait to see the September 10, 1966 show. On that show were the Rationals performing "Leavin' Here" and "Respect". Those were the days!! Must be a helluva band in Rock n' Roll Heaven!!

Scott Morgan said...

unfortunately they reused most of the tape so only a few of the performances survived.

pmarshall said...

sad to hear, I knew Terry since Junior High and we kept up until the mid-eighties, then lost track. He always remembered my birthday and would call to wish me well. When he lived in L.A. he was a welcome visitor and we will miss him terribly. I am proud to call him a friend.

Anonymous said...

The Rationals contributed so much to us here in Detroit.All four nice guys, and hard working.I can remember playing with Dave Whitehouse and Chris Lena from the Underdogs and Scott came in .Always polite...The Rationals ALL FOUR of them have always shown class .Terry brought us all great memories.But like Scott said we will all see him soon enough.Rick Wearing

jonathan correllsr said...

teryy had a magnetic personality, im glad to have known him.
jon correll, brother of steve correll, former guitar player for the rats

jonathan correllsr said...

i will miss terry, he had a magnetic persoality. always on and a smile.
jon correll, brother of steve correllguitar player for the rationals

jonathan correllsr said...

terry wasa nice uy to me always, once ran into him purly by accident on the beach in miami, of course he had a few girls walking with him.
jon correll, brother of steve correll, guitar player for the rats. scotts comments were all appropriate.

Anonymous said...

We were in math class together at Ann Arbor High School. Terry would call me up at night for help with homework, which made me study as I didn't want to let him down.
Always had on a smile and good word. My homeroom classmate, Julie Dresner, was his girlfriend at the time. RIP, Terry. A good man.

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