More than five decades ago, in 1975, a prominent Detroit songwriter and session musician named Ted Lucas self-released an album of beautiful acoustic ballads and evocative guitar instrumentals. Though it is now regarded as a masterpiece, the self-titled LP (commonly referred to as OM after the imprint on the label) was a failure by all commercial measures. As a result, within five years Lucas stopped performing, becoming reclusive and mostly forgotten before his death in 1992.
Though he died before he could see it, in the ensuing decades, OM became a sought-after title for collectors of private-press folk and psychedelic music and eventually saw a proper reissue in 2010 through Los Angeles label Yoga Records. Through nothing more than being in the right place at the right time, in 2008 I had the good fortune of being hired by Yoga to serve as Detroit liaison to the Lucas family, and, ultimately, the person to undertake the enormous endeavor of collecting and processing the hundreds of unheard tapes Lucas left when he passed.
Fast forward to the present, and Ted Lucas’s catalog is now under license to Third Man Records, who released the definitive edition of OM in 2025. I spent the last year working with the label to produce an expansive retrospective box set of previously unheard recordings that span Lucas’s entire career — from his ’60s psych groups, the Spike-Drivers and Misty Wizards, to the singer-songwriter compositions he made during the OM period, and the lost Don Was-produced second album that was never completed. The remarkable 3xLP set, Images of Life, will be released worldwide on May 22.
To properly celebrate the occasion, on Saturday, May 16, Third Man Cass Corridor is hosting Strange Mysterious Sounds: Songs of the Late Ted Lucas, a night of live music performed by an all-star band of Detroit Tedheads. Led by Eddie Baranek, Detroit rock lifer best known for fronting the Sights, this one-night-only band will feature generations of prominent local talent. Among them is Muruga Booker, original drummer of the Spike-Drivers who played behind everyone from John Lee Hooker to Bob Dylan; Matthew Smith and Maria Nuccilli of Hamtramck’s beloved Outrageous Cherry; His Name is Alive’s Warren Defever, who also engineered and mastered Images of Life; and members of SSM, Bonny Doon, Caterpillar, and Swimsuit, to name a few.
“Ted’s songwriting was so pure,” Baranek recently told me. “His songs could be interpreted by anyone and, no matter what, you’d still hear what makes them great. Two singers in the band, Dina [Bankole] and Rachele Eve, have voices that take these songs to new places. Playing with the material, the freedom to interpret — that’s what Ted was all about.”
Though Ted Lucas is most often remembered as a solo performer, he actually spent most of his music career working collaboratively, whether amongst his bandmates, mentors like Ravi Shankar and Joe Fava, or with producers like Norman Whitfield at Motown, where he was a studio hired gun. Lucas believed he was at his best when chasing a shared artistic goal, not unlike the one Baranek and company have undertaken for the show in his honor.
“We learned some songs just like Ted laid them on the tape. But other songs left us room to play and be creative, like adding a saxophone, mandolin, maybe a fourth vocal harmony,” Baranek said. His bandmate Dave Shettler added, “Ted was so good and natural at three- and four-part harmonies. We’re going to mix it up voice-wise and let the personalities of the singers make new magic on the stage.”
In total, the band will be playing more than 20 of Lucas’s songs, some of which Ted had never performed for an audience. Of particular note are numbers from his unfinished second album, which he recorded with a full rock band. The onstage renditions on May 16 might surprise anyone expecting a night of the delicate ballads Lucas was best known for.
Shettler, who will contribute vocals and percussion to the show, believes the heretofore unreleased rock album fits perfectly in the Ted Lucas discography. “The OM record took Michigan Lonely Guy charm and elevated it to another level. I always wondered, why didn’t this guy put out more stuff? So, when I heard the lost album for the first time, it made perfect sense. I always knew there was a way deeper picture than we had been allowed to see,” he said. “The other day, running a tune in rehearsal, Eddie and I looked at each other and mouthed the words, ‘What a fucking song.’”
Though the assembled band does not have a proper name, the group text is titled TEDHEADS. Quite a fitting designation since one of the main criteria when selecting candidates was an existing knowledge and appreciation of Lucas’s catalog. The fact that 16 accomplished local musicians all checked that box indicates that Lucas has finally returned to household-name status in Detroit’s artistic circles, just as he enjoyed during his creative peak 50 years ago.
Strange Mysterious Sounds: Songs of the Late Ted Lucas: Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m.. Third Man Records Cass Corridor, 441 W Canfield St., Detroit. $15.
Performances by: Dina Bankole, Eddie Baranek, Nicole Baranek, Muruga Booker, Bobby Colombo, Warren Defever, Rachele Eve, Zak Frieling, Tyler Hicks, Rod Jones, Maria Nuccilli, Kyle Schanta, Dave Shettler, Matthew Smith, Pete Woodman, and Susie Woodman.
Ted Lucas: Strange Mysterious Sounds Tribute Show
Time Sat., May 16, 7:30 p.m.
Location Third Man Records Cass Corridor, 441 W. Canfield St., Detroit