With the passing of drummerDennis Thompson, 2 days ago, after
a heart attack, aged 75, all original MC5 members are rockin’ their
asses off now in heaven, hell, and in between.
Vocalist Rob Tyner died in 1991, aged only 46, due to a heart attack.
Guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith who was married for 14 years to Patti
Smith and had 2 children together also passed away at the early age
of 46 following heart failure in 1994.
Guitarist Wayne Kramer who was working on a new MC5 album left us
last February, aged 75, after a long battle with cancer and bassistMichael
Davis didn’t survive liver failure in 2012, he was 68.
Kick out the jams one more time, Detroit motherfuckers.
Only 18 months ago WAYNE KRAMER, the guitarist and only surviving member of Detroit‘s legendary noise rock crusaders, announced that a new album would come out in October 2022. It would have been the band’s 3rd studio LP, following Back In The USA (1970) and High Time (1971). But it was with their first LP, a live on, named KICK OUT THE JAMS that they cemented their name for history. Since 1992 the band reunited regularly to play live.
The new longplayer, titled Heavy Lifting was planned to be released in October of 2022. But it wasn’t finished by then and last year Kramer announced that the album would be launched in 2024. Along the news came a snippet of the title track, written by Kramer with new MC5 singer Brad Brooks and longtime collaborator Tom Morello, guitarist of Rage Against The Machine. They shared a snippet of the song. Watch/listen below.
Final tour.
This morning, I was shocked by the sad, surprising news of Kramer‘s untimely death.
He passed away yesterday due to pancreatic cancer. Rest in piece, motherrocker.
“Kick out the jams motherfuckers
Yeah I, I, I, I, I’m gonna
I’m gonna kick ’em out, yeah”
Little note: after writing a piece about the 50th birthday of MC5 back in 2018, and
the accompanying tour, Wayne Kramer became a follower of my Twitter account. A very, very special moment I will never forget.
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
1 February 2019
Band: MC5
Album: KICK OUT THE JAMS – the band’s debut (live) LP
Released: February 1969 – 50 years ago
ALL MUSIC wrote: “Rather than try to capture their legendary on-stage energy in a studio,
MC5 opted to record their first album during a live concert at their home base, Detroit’s
Grande Ballroom, and while some folks who were there have quibbled that Kick Out the Jams isn’t the most accurate representation of the band’s sound, it’s certainly the best of the band’s three original albums, and easily beats the many semi-authorized live recordings of MC5 that have emerged in recent years…. The band sound like they’re locked in tight and cooking with gas, while the full-blown rockers (pretty much all of side one) are as gloriously thunderous as anything ever committed to tape; this is an album that refuses to be played quietly. For many years, Detroit was considered the High Energy Rock & Roll Capital of the World, and ‘Kick Out The Jams’ provided all the evidence anyone might need for the city to hold onto the title.”
Full review here – Score: 5/5
Turn Up The Volume says: The first time I heard the record – late seventies – about
10 years after its release I was perplexed. I remember I never ever experienced such
a rambunctious and crazed helter-skelter racket although I had tons of LOUD records
in my collection: The Stooges, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Birthday
Party, New York Dolls and so on. It wasn’t like MC5 reinvented rock ‘n’ roll. No, it was
all about the overwhelming, red-hot, knockout performance that almost trashed my speakers. It felt like a hellish explosion! A fucking tornado! A turbulent storm! It wasn’t really about the number of decibels (pretty high, of course) but the sheer E-N-E-R-G-Y the band developed, like a bunch of mental maniacs who got out of their straight jackets only once a month. You get exhausted just by listing to them. Anyway, if you never heard of these legends than this brilliant footage will give you an idea of MC5’s massive stamina …
“We weren’t on a meth power trip… just a power trip” – MC5
Album in full…
.
As all the fans know original member WAYNE KRAMER formed a 50th ‘KICK OUT THE JAMS’ Birthday band with famous musicians (members of Soundgarden, Fugazi and Don Was among others) and started a world tour last year with several new dates (so far only
in Europe) to come in 2019. Check them out here.
