I stumbled across a documentary by this title yesterday, and...holy shit. How had I never heard this? Pure gold.

Death are great! I watched a bit of the documentary and the story is amazing, as well as the music. Hard to believe most of those recordings (not counting the 7'')  sat in an attic for that long. Very cool and very ahead of their time.
BUT!

 (and I gotta warn you that I'm about to go  about on a rant here....)

Something kind of irks me about the hype surrounding this band...and it has nothing to do with the band itself.
 It all started when i watched the trailer of the doc....and in big letters, it said "BEFORE THE RAMONES" in some attempt to convince people that they were doing "Death" before the Ramones even existed. This, combined with endless amounts of "before punk, there was death" articles is really annoying.

  It's as if people find out that the brothers were playing together in '71, and immediately want people to believe that these recordings are from '71 and the band got  fucked over...completely glossing over the fact that they were a Funk group in '71 to '73, the bandname and concept was developed in '74, after the Ramones; the songs on For the Whole World to See were written between Oct-Dec 74 (the Ramones were already playing at CBGB's by that point); and they were recorded on Feb 18 '75, over a week after the Ramones recorded their 14 song demo.
  Don't get me wrong...I love these recordings...and obviously there was really no FIRST punk band. But I don't think that's an excuse for people to bend the facts in some attempt to romanticize a bands history....especially when the true history of the band is already an incredible story.
In closing, as a Ramones fan, that kind of shit annoys me. End rant. GREAT BAND! (one of many great proto punk bands!) :)

Sounds like the ad just wanted to catch people's attention with an easily identifiable name rather than anything else... Ramones vs. Death, apples and oranges if you ask me. They sound completely different. Death ended up sounding more like 70s RAWK with a funk tone (like the bulk of 70s rock).  They should have compared them to MC5 rather than The Ramones' powerpop sound.

Modern music doesn't have a color or a racial claim that goes with it. It evolves into what it is by different influences that actual written history can't always account for.  Ex. Scott Joplin was the son of a slave and freeborn taught by a German music professor (teaching in the U.S.) because he had the passion for music and wanted to learn.  He's the said godfather of ragtime/dixieland... and so forth into jazz.  At least that's the story we get.  In the 20s, EVERYONE is playing jazz and changing it about, everyone contributes. Rockabilly came about via the combination of blues & country blah, blah.. everyone has a place in the history of modern sounds....

I haven't even seen the documentary yet, but always a fan of Death. I keep meaning to see it. Glad to get some reviews here.

I agree about the Ramones name being used to draw attention to the documentary, but I don't really have a problem with that, because the band deserves more attention and that definitely draws potential viewers. Whatever the advertising tactics, I thought it was really good, and it led me to the album so I can't really complain. Annnd I also agree about the Ramones vs. Death being apples & oranges; both great in their own ways.

I'd agree and completely understand the "attention grabbing" angle...if only not for  a scene in the documentary where the guy from the Roots says "the ramones get all the credit, but Death was doing what they were doing only 2 years earlier". BULLSHIT THEY WERE ;)

But whatever.....me being nitpicky aside, the band is amazing and definitely deserves the attention they're getting.

I'm going to see this next week here in Toronto. Pretty excited to see it. Broke out "For the World To See" the other day. Been at least a year since I've played it. Such a killer record. 

As far as the ad stating "before there was punk"...well before there was Death there was the MC5, before them the Sonics, before them the Wailers, before them Little Richard who is probably the most punk thing ever...so whatever. Jazzed to see the flcik. 

Got a hold of the second Death release of demos etc, its as great as "For the whole world" what an amazing band

Great stuff from Burlington VT, the three sons of Bobby Hackney have a great band called Rough Francis 

GOOD CLIP. Rough Francis was featured in the documentary.....I knew of Death many years ago , because they were comped somewhere (I wanted to say KBD , but , I think that's wrong) , and written up on the Black Punk Time Page , which I've contributed to. But , I would'nt have guessed there was a whole (short) album of material. I missed them the first time they played in Chicago. CONFIDENTIALLY ,I HEARD IT WAS ONLY OCCASIONALLY GREAT , as the HACKNEYS WERE STILL GETTING OUT OF THE PROCESS OF BEING STRICTLY A REGGAE BAND. I'm sure this was'nt so , when they played on NYE. BUT , ROKY ERICKSON WAS ALSO PLAYING , AND , WITH NO CRAMPS , ANYMORE , ROKY TAKES #1 PRIORITY WITH ME (THEY SHARED THE #1 SPOT , PREVIOUSLY.) 

.....THE PEOPLE WRITING THESE ADS FOR THE FILM , OR EVEN THAT NEW CAR COMMERCIAL WITH ACTORS PLAYING THE RAMONES' FEET , NEED TO REALIZE , WHAT CREDIT ?! IF AND WHEN THE RAMONES GOT THEIR JUST DUE , IT WAS NOT AS LONG AGO WAS PEOPLE SEEN TO THINK. IN THE 80'S AND 90'S , IT WAS'NT COOL TO LIKE THE RAMONES AT ALL. THEY BREAK UP , KEY MEMBERS START DYING , "OH , YEAH ! THE RAMONES STARTED IT ALL ! LET'S INDUCT THEM IN THE ROCK 'N'ROLL HALL OF FAME , AND NOT GIVE JOEY'S MOM AND BROTHER HIS AWARD."...THE RAMONES BEGAN , IN EARNEST , IN 1974. DEATH STARTED OUT , WHEN , IN '73 ? NOT SO MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE IN TIMES. DEATH MANAGED TO TAKE SOME MAINSTREAM ROCK INFLUENCES , COMBINE THEM WITH DETROIT STANDBYS , THE STOOGES , MC5 , AND THE ALICE COOPER GROUP , AND COME UP WITH AN UNCONSCIOUS PRECURSOR TO TEH NEW YORK PUNK SOUND. HAD TEHY MOVED TO NEW YORK , THEY MIGHT HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY. IN DETROIT , A BLACK BAND PLAYING INTENSE HARD ROCK MUSIC MET WITH AS MUCH RESISTANCE , OR MORE , FROM THEIR OWN , AS THE AVERAGE WHITE ROCKER.   NEW YORK HAD THE PLANETS , NEON LEON , DIG WAYNE , PURE HELL , IVAN JULIAN , BARRY JONES , BLAQUE , JEAN BEAUVOIR , AND A RELOCATED BAD BRAINS , WHO , INITIALLY , DEATH WERE BEING COMPARED TO , TO THE DEGREE THAT IT WAS SAID BAD BRAINS MIMICKED DEATH , WHEN IT WAS NIGH ON IMPOSSIBLE THEY'D EVER HEARD THEIR 45.  A LOT OF BANDS DID'NT KNOW HOW WELL THEY'D HAVE DONE IN NEW YORK.....UNLESS THEY TRIED.

John Battles said:

THE RAMONES BEGAN , IN EARNEST , IN 1974. DEATH STARTED OUT , WHEN , IN '73 ? .

You're spot on with everything in that post. But to further your point, i quoted this to point out that Death actually didn't start until Spring of '74 (the Ramones formed in Jan '74), they didn't write "for the whole world to see" until Oct '74 (and of course, the Ramones were playing CBGB's by August...with March being their first show), and "for the whole world to see" was recorded on Feb 18th, 1975 (the ramones recorded their first 15 song session on Feb 2nd, 1975).

I love Death and think they were well before their time...but yeah, the whole "Before the Ramones" thing is not only pointless to point out (for the exact reasons you mentioned), but it's not even true, period. I think what confuses people is the fact the Hackney brothers were a funk group called Rock Fire Funk Express in 1973. You can hear their song "people save the world" on youtube, recorded in Sept '73. It's not even close to what they did in Death.

Dammit! It quoted your whole thing and i can't edit it. I'll try again:

John: " THE RAMONES BEGAN , IN EARNEST , IN 1974. DEATH STARTED OUT , WHEN , IN '73 ? ."

You're spot on with everything in that post. But to further your point, i quoted this to point out that Death actually didn't start until Spring of '74 (the Ramones formed in Jan '74), they didn't write "for the whole world to see" until Oct '74 (and of course, the Ramones were playing CBGB's by August...with March being their first show), and "for the whole world to see" was recorded on Feb 18th, 1975 (the ramones recorded their first 15 song session on Feb 2nd, 1975).

I love Death and think they were well before their time...but yeah, the whole "Before the Ramones" thing is not only pointless to point out (for the exact reasons you mentioned), but it's not even true, period. I think what confuses people is the fact the Hackney brothers were a funk group called Rock Fire Funk Express in 1973. You can hear their song "people save the world" on youtube, recorded in Sept '73. It's not even close to what they did in Death.

Good point , I forgot they were still finding their way in '73. Just as people don't want to recall The Bad Brains were formed from the ashes of a Jazz Fusion group , til they later came under the spell of Reggae and Punk. It just did'nt make good copy "Before The Ramones"......THERE'S STILL SOME TIGHT GROOVES THAT GO BACK TO RAW FUNK IN SOME OF DEATH'S RECORDINGS. That's not a bad thing. i'd say they were Punk , or Proto Punk , but not in a Ramones /Heartbreakers /Dead Boys kinda sense. Most people that had'nt dared venture into The Bowery at the time  would'nt have known anout the embryonic NYC PUNK SCENE.

What Death were into was VERY different from the Black music scene in Detroit , obviously , but , even if they knew teh right people , it might've taken them at least a couple of years to infiltrate the post Stooges/MC5 club scene , which did go one to include people like Hiawatha Bailey (Cult Heroes) and The (Detroit) N****ERS , who , reportedly , were assembled by a White Svengali    www.roctober.com

click on Black Punk. Lively up your damn self. : ) John.

That link is killer! I'll read more of it tomorrow. Thanks for that. 

Thank you. It's been going on for years.

Some of my contributions were not directly credited to me (They were edited , with new content added , usually.) .But there are some new ones under my name.

When the page began , most people , myself included  , only knew Death for "Keep on Knockin"" if even that.

When Death first played Chicago , I was going to go , but , did'nt. I did'nt feel like being on public trans longer than at the actual show , that night. I heard they only did some of the songs on that first 12" , and padded the set out with Reggae songs from their other  band.  I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A HAPPY CAMPER TO FIND THAT OUT , IN PERSON. SORRY........But , they obviously have it together , now .

I missed them again on NYE , because Roky Erickson was also playing , I might add , in a less batshit crazy part of town .......