RIP DO-GOODER

I'd been away from things for a few days, limiting my online time to strictly necessary shit. So I didn't find out until this past weekend that Wayne Kramer had passed away (on February 2nd). Kramer was one of the guitarists in the MC5 (the other being Fred "Sonic" Smith). Proto-punk influence, "Kick Out the Jams", guitar hero, blah blah, blah. He was a great musician, if you know the MC5, you know that. But he was so much more than just another hot shit guitarist.

If you don't know about his incarceration and his prison reform activism after his release, Capital & Main, a Califonia based non-profit site, has a great article about all that. That part of Kramer puts him on a whole other tier. Read the article. For now, here's my favorite clip of him, doing a cover of Ted Taylor's "Ramblin' Rose" with the MC5 (followed by "Kick Out the Jams"), from 1970. Check his foot work. (Look out Prince.) There's a few other MC5 things down there to keep you from the dishes..

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Listen:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Internet Archive
Ted Taylor - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at Internet Archive
MC5 - Rocket Reducer#2 (Rama Lama Fa Fa) mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (live) at YouTube Colorized version of the clip above. Had me fooled.
Visit:
Wayne Kramer’s Rage Against the Prison Machine at Capital & Main "Years behind bars for drug dealing led the influential proto-punk rocker to work for criminal justice reform."

"YES ROB, WE CAN SMELL" THEATER

Yee haw, dig it. There are three categories. Those that are into MC5 and have seen MC5 - A True Testimonial, the 2002 documentary about the band, those who dig the MC5 and haven't seen the film, and those who don't know the MC5 and couldn't care less. The latter are likely not here. Anyway, here's two hours of great footage, most rare, and a lot of interviews and storytelling. Cliff Claven on dope.

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Watch:
MC5 - A True Testimonial at Internet Archive Two hour documentary. Watch it soon, it may not be there long.

MEANWHILE AT THE BELT BUCKLE PAGENT

Just cruisin' the old posts at Probe Is Turning-On the People and landed on one with three versions of "Ramblin' Rose", the original by Ted Taylor, a cover by Jerry Lee Lewis, and the version that most people know by the MC5. I'm posting them again because it's been three years since MC5 had an appearance here. Plus, as a reminder to dig through the old posts at sites you go to regularly because, dare I say it, poking through old posts is the new thrift store crate digging. Sad but true. But, hey, when the selector is Phil Milstein (aka the Probe) and there are over 600 posts dating back to 2006, there's ample shit to merit a dive.

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Listen:
Ted Taylor - (Love Is Like a) Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Jerry Lee Lewis - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at The Helpless Dancer
MC5 - Tutti Frutti mp3 at Perrier Ville Ave
MC5 - The American Ruse mp3 at Kempa A few blips on this one, to discourage people who care about blips.

POCKETS WAYNE, POCKETS.

Fuck, do I dig hard songs with horns. There's something about adding horns, or even a lone sax, to a hard hitting song that's almost daring you to gripe about it. It's like they're saying "You came for the loud guitars, we choose to give you this", a particularly good attitude when it's coming from a band that isn't known for horns. And when you think of the MC5, you don't normally think about horns. That's right where they get you. This mind blowing chunk of horns comes right about the three and a half minute mark, and continues for the rest of the song, about two minutes. But those horns send it.

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Listen:
MC5 - Skunk (Sonicly Speaking) mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
MC5 - More songs on this post Scroll to the bottom
Visit:
MC5 - Large high resolution band shot From the same session as the photo above. Tape it on your locker.

PLEASE DON'T FART

I recommended the Schitzophonics to someone today, and I did what I do every time their name comes up. I when on a hunt for an mp3 or two. Per usual, skunked. So I did what I always do when I'm skunked looking for Schitzoponics mp3s, I watched a few videos of theirs.

The Schitzophonics always remind me of the MC5, and that always calls for a detour. Happens every time. And again, as is routine, I tried a couple of non-Kick Out the Jams MC5 tracks, and wouldn't you know it, I was reminded what shitty producers did to their studio stuff. A damn shame that is because I could do without all the brothers and sisters jive that is the intro to "Ramblin' Rose". But, boy, does that song smoke.

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Listen:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at The Helpless Dancer
MC5 - Tutti Frutti mp3 at Perrier Ville Ave (?)
MC5 - The American Ruse mp3 at Kempa A few blips on this one, to discourage people who care about blips.

PROTO YOUR MAMA

Ooh wee baby. Going through some old bookmarks, I wound up on a back page at Mustard Relics, on a page aptly titled Epic Tunes. What have we here? The first MC5 single, a cover of "I Can Only Give You Everything", from 1967, and Death's "Politicians In My Eye" from 1974, on the same page? I am down with that.

All of you should be familiar with the MC5. This first 45, released on the small regional label AMG, is a fairly straight forward cover, albeit with early Detroit gusto. Oh, but that thing by Death is a mighty blast, particularly when you consider it was recorded in 1974. It's like Pink Flag-era Wire meets metal.

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Listen:
MC5 - I Can Only Give You Everything mp3 at Mustard Relics 1966 Go there to get it, about halfway down the page.
Death - Politicians In My Eyes mp3 at Chunklet 1974
If the links go haywire, try them over there.

SOUNDS LIKE A PART NUMBER

The MC5 were posted not too long ago, so I'll keep it short and get out of your hair. The video below is a two hour documentary about the band. You ought to check it out, and soon. If this is like other full length films with music geek appeal, it'll be gone before you know it. (If it is gone by the time you read this, there's some other videos linked below.)

Even if you're a long time fiend there's some great footage to be seen here. The long drawn out intro sucks you in. That's all I'm saying. If you don't know the MC5, by all means, watch this sucker. It's a good way to avoid being one of those people.that don't know the MC5.

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Listen:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at Teenage Kicks USA
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
MC5 - I Just Don't Know mp3 at Beware of the Blog
MC5 - Looking At You mp3 at The Rising Storm
MC5 - One of the Guys (early cut) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Video:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose (live 1970, at Wayne State University's Tartar Field, Detroit)
MC5 - Lookin' At You (live, same show as above)
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (TV appearance) at YouTube

BOSS MC5 CLIP

My friend Ray, otherwise known as The Guy Who Always Finds Cool Shit On YouTube was at it again today. This time, it's a mighty fine long clip (28 minutes) of the MC5. There's five songs that appear to be raw footage from an appearance on Beat Club, a German TV show, in 1972. Raw, in that they're playing in front of a blue screen, without all of the ridiculous effects that were usually added later. There's a few things that make this one cool, other than it being a good quality clip of the MC5. After "Kick Out the Jams", just before the second song "Ramblin' Rose", at 9:12 Wayne Kramer is seen doing a little primping. As Rob Tyner rubs his shoulders, Kramer responds, doing a little shadow boxing. Okay, not a big deal, but when was the last time you saw the MC5 in a candid moment? Okay, then, moving on, check Kramer, during "Ramblin' Rose" (at 9:51). Never mind his falsetto, or the purple ruffled shirt, check his moves, his pouts, hell, even his guitar face. It's fucking Prince. I'm not a Prince fiend by any stretch of the imagination (in fact, he's always kind of annoyed me), and I'm not suggesting that Prince saw a clip of Kramer and decide he'd cop his style, but the similarity is there.

There's a few other MC5 cuts below, including the early "One of the Guys". To round things out, two earlier versions of "Ramblin' Rose", and a semi-recent cover of "Kick Out The Jams" by Deep Street Soul, a soul funk outfit from Australia.

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Listen:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at Teenage Kicks USA
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
MC5 - I Just Don't Know mp3 at Beware of the Blog
MC5 - Looking At You mp3 at The Rising Storm
MC5 - One of the Guys (early cut) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Jerry Lee Lewis - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Ted Taylor - Ramblin' Rose mp3 (via Box.com) at If There Is a Hell Below 1966. Note: At Box.com, click on the "Download" button in the top right
Deep Street Soul with Tia Hunter - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at Artmp3
Video:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose (live 1970, at Wayne State University's Tartar Field, Detroit)
MC5 - Lookin' At You (live, same show as above)
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (TV appearance) at YouTube
Visit:
The Rise and Fall of the MC5 at Perfect Sound Forever
MC5 Gateway - Extensive fan site

AROUND THE HORN

You've all heard the MC5's "Ramblin' Rose," right? I'm just making sure we're all in the right room. Some of you may have heard Ted Taylor's version of the same song too, right? You'd be forgiven if you assumed that that was the original. Until recently, I'd assumed just that. Got that cleared up today. Have you heard Beaugard and the Tuff's garage version? Shit howdy, it is exquisite. Really, check it out. How about Jerry Lee Lewis's 1962 version, which I now know is the original, thanks to Funky 16 Corners. They have a nice post about the song, which started all of this cover chasing nonsense. This is a rare case of four excellent versions, in four distinctly different styles.



Funky 16 Corners host Larry Grogan is a generous man, who knows good music. Read a few of his posts and you'll get a feel for what the guy is like. Really, he's one of the good guys. He's having a pledge drive, with a mighty payback. He's offering up eight free mixes of "classic soul, funk, reggae, rock steady, old school Hammond 45s and all connective points in between" (donating is not mandatory). Some of the mixes were donated by other DJs/bloggers, so there's a variety of themes. I'm digging DJ Prestige's Hotter Fire reggae mix, and the last one, Larry's Greasy Spoon: Hammond Organ From the Old School." Just check it out, fool.

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Listen:
Jerry Lee Lewis - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Ted Taylor - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
Beauregard and the Tuffs - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Iron Leg
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose (live) mp3 at In All Caps
Visit:
Funky 16 Corners - Eight mixes Pay up tightwads.

KICK OUT THE JAMS

I watched a bunch of MC5 stuff tonight, and it felt good. Because ten years ago, I would have never imagined ever having the opportunity to see any footage of them at all. I wasn't about to take this one for granted. After watching a few videos, it's easy to see why their live shows have been written about so much.

The two guitar attack of Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, was like having two Ron Ashtons, two Townshends, or two Leslie Wests, in the same group; and this was in the era of single guitar players in hard rock bands. (Along with the Stooges, the Who and Mountain, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple come to mind...there's lots more.) You either leaned more towards rock (like the Stones) and had two guitars, or you were more hard rock, with one guitarist. Few bands, with two guitars, straddled the line. A little later, the Flamin' Groovies sorta did (closer to the Stones end), and the Dolls. But the MC5 were all the way in the hard rock category, with two guitar players. Two very active guitar players. Watching it live is captivating.

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Music:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at One Sweet Song
MC5 - I Just Don't Know mp3 at Beware of the Blog
MC5 - Rocket Reducer No. 62 mp3 at Merry Swankster
MC5 - Looking At You mp3 at The Rising Storm
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
MC5 - The American Ruse mp3 at Favorite 10
MC5 - One of the Guys (early cut) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
MC5 and the Stooges: 40 Years Later (audio documentary) mp3 at WDET
Video:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose (live 1970, at Wayne State University's Tartar Field, Detroit)
MC5 - Lookin' At You (live, same show as above)
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (TV appearance) at YouTube
Read:
The Rise and Fall of the MC5 at Perfect Sound Forever
MC5 Gateway - Extensive fan site
Excellent review of a MC5/Johnny Winter/Led Zeppelin show in 1969, (The author attended when he was 14!)