Motor City Five: Kick Out The Jams and more (COMBINED & RESTORED)

MC5 is an American rock band from Lincoln Park, Michigan, formed in 1964. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson. "Crystallizing the counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening", according to Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the MC5's far left political ties and anti-establishment lyrics and music positioned them as emerging innovators of the punk movement in the United States. Their loud, energetic style of back-to-basics rock 'n' roll included elements of garage rock, hard rock, blues rock, and psychedelic rock.

Alongside their Detroit-area brethren the Stooges, MC5 essentially laid the foundations for the emergence of punk; deafeningly loud and uncompromisingly intense, the group's politics were ultimately as crucial as their music, their revolutionary sloganeering and anti-establishment outrage crystallizing the counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening. Under the guidance of svengali John Sinclair (the infamous founder of the radical White Panther Party), MC5 celebrated the holy trinity of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, their incendiary live sets offering a defiantly bacchanalian counterpoint to the peace-and-love reveries of their hippie contemporaries. Although corporate censorship, label interference, and legal hassles combined to cripple the band's hopes of mainstream notoriety, both their sound and their sensibility remain seminal influences on successive generations of artists.

The Motor City Five formed in Lincoln Park, MI, in late 1964 by vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Fred "Sonic" Smith and Wayne Kramer, bassist Pat Burrows, and drummer Bob Gaspar; at the time, its members were still in high school, appearing at local parties and teen hangouts while clad in matching stage uniforms. In time, however, Smith and Kramer began experimenting with feedback and distortion, a development that hastened the exits of Burrows and Gaspar during the fall of 1965; adding bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dennis Thompson a year later, MC5 landed a regular gig at the famed Detroit venue the Grande Ballroom, building a fanatical local fan base on the strength of their increasingly anarchic live appearances. Soon the band caught the attention of Sinclair, a former high school English teacher anointed the Motor City's "King of the Hippies" after founding Trans Love Energies, the umbrella name applied to the many underground enterprises he operated, including his White Panther Party, a radical political faction espousing "total assault on the culture by any means necessary, including rock & roll, dope, and f*cking in the streets."

In early 1967, Sinclair was named MC5's manager; within months they issued their debut single, "I Can Only Give You Everything." As the official house band of the White Panthers, they became musical conduits for the party's political rhetoric, taking the stage draped in American flags and calling for a revolution; run-ins with the law became increasingly common, although in the wake of the Detroit riots of July 1967, the group relocated to the nearby college town of Ann Arbor. The following summer, MC5 appeared in Chicago at the Yippies' Festival of Life, a rally mounted in opposition to the Democratic National Convention, and in the audience was Elektra Records A&R executive Danny Fields, who signed the band a few months later. Their debut album, the classic Kick Out the Jams, was recorded live at the Grande Ballroom on October 30 and 31, 1968; although the album reached the national Top 30, retailers, including the Hudson's chain, refused to carry copies due to its inclusion of Tyner's trademark battle cry of "Kick out the jams, motherf*ckers!" The controversy spurred MC5 to run advertisements in the underground press reading "F*ck Hudson's!" Against the band's wishes, Elektra also issued a censored version of the album, replacing the offending expletive with "brothers and sisters."

When the dust settled, MC5 was dropped by Elektra; when Sinclair was subsequently jailed for possession of marijuana, the band was left without their manager and without a contract. They signed to Atlantic, where producer Jon Landau was installed to helm their second album, 1970's Back in the U.S.A.; with Sinclair out of the picture, the music's political stance vanished as well, with a newly stripped-down, razor-sharp sound replacing the feedback-driven fury of before. The record's approach divided fans and critics, however, and when the 1971 follow-up High Time failed to even reach the charts, Atlantic released MC5 from their contract; in addition to filing for bankruptcy, the group was dogged by mounting drug problems and in early 1972, Davis was dismissed from the lineup as a result of heroin abuse. Bassist Steve Moorhouse stepped in as his replacement, but soon after, both Tyner and Thompson announced their retirement from active touring; on New Year's Eve of 1972, the group played their final gig, appearing at the Grande Ballroom – the site of so many past glories – for just 500 dollars.

As the years went by, however, MC5's influence expanded; punk, hard rock, and power pop all clearly reflected the band's impact and by the 1990s, they were the subject of a steady stream of reissues and rarities packages. Following the band's demise, its members pursued new projects: Tyner released several solo records and also earned acclaim for his photography before suffering a fatal heart attack on September 17, 1991. Smith, meanwhile, formed Sonic's Rendezvous with fellow Detroit music legend Scott Morgan, issuing the underground classic "City Slang" in 1977 before leaving the group; in 1980 he wed Patti Smith, dying of heart failure on November 4, 1994. After spending much of the following decades battling drug addiction – including a two-year prison stint – Kramer resurfaced in 1995 with a blistering solo album, The Hard Stuff, the first of several new efforts for punk label Epitaph. Less successful were Davis, who seemingly disappeared from sight after a tenure with underground legends Destroy All Monsters (he died of liver failure on February 17, 2012 at the age of 68), and Thompson, whose solo ambitions went largely unrealized.

Kick Out The Jams still sounds astonishingly powerful after almost 40 years. Recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom in 1968, this relentless, aggressive set offers the frenzy of politicized garage punks blasting through giant stacks: a blitzkrieg of hard rock ignited from the dueling guitars of Wayne Kramer and Fred 'Sonic' Smith and of the throttled vocals of Rob Tyner. The Stooges with barricade-busting ideals, the Five turned the Motor City into a Mecca of sonic excess and shattered the dazed dreams of hippie America. From the pounding of the title track to the eight-and-a half-minute weirdout of Sun Ra's "Starship"," Kick Out The Jams" will rip your head to shreds.

Although the album fared well on the charts, it was surrounded in controversy from the get-go; the record company wanted the group to edit out a vulgarity included in the introduction to the title track. The friction would lead to the band parting ways from Elektra soon after, but all the hoopla could not take away from the stellar quality of KICK OUT THE JAMS. Be prepared to be blown away by such songs as "Rocket Reducer No. 62," "Borderline," "Starship," and the title track, to name but a few. KICK OUT THE JAMS is the undisputed Holy Grail for fans of blaring, high-energy rock.

Tracklist:

01. Ramblin' Rose
02. Kick Out The Jams
03. Come Together
04. Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)
05. Borderline
06. Motor City Is Burning
07. I Want You Right Now
08. Starship



Original Release Date: 1969
Release Date: November 26, 1991
Label: Elektra
Catalog No.: 7559-74042-2

Since it was impossible to top the in-concert exuberance of their debut, KICK OUT THE JAMS, the MC5 re-emerged with a more refined sound for their sophomore effort, 1970's BACK IN THE U.S.A., their first studio record. The music is comparable to other Detroit proto-punk rockers of the same era (The Stooges, Alice Cooper, etc.). As with the aforementioned peers, raw garage rock serves as the main ingredient for most of BACK IN THE U.S.A. Producer Jon Landau may have lessened the volatility of the MC5 as compared to JAMS, but the band was equipped with another great set of songs.

Tracklist:

01. Tutti-Frutti
02. Tonight
03. Teenage Lust
04. Let Me Try
05. Looking At You
06. High School
07. Call Me Animal
08. The American Ruse
09. Shakin' Street
10. The Human Being Lawnmower
11. Back In The USA



Original Release Date: 1970
Release Date: August 4, 1992
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: Atlantic / Rhino
Catalog No.: R2 71033-2

Unhappy with the more cultivated sound of their sophomore release "Back In The U.S.A.", the MC5 returned to the barnstorming rock & roll that characterized their debut, "Kick Out The Jams", on their third and final album, 1971's "High Time". While JAMS was a live recording, HIGH TIME was created in the studio, but does manage to retain the rough and spontaneous edge of their debut. Unfortunately, the album didn't serve as the MC5's big commercial breakthrough (although it deserved to), and the quintet broke up in a shroud of bickering and drug abuse soon after.
The songwriting is once again experimental and unpredictable, fueled by the band's barely contained playing. While the songs are pretty obscure outside of the MC5's rabid cult following, almost all of them easily hold their own. Most of the tracks exceed the five-minute mark, such as the groovy "Future/Now", the anthemic "Baby Won't Ya", and the percussive album-closer "Skunk". The punk rocker "Poison" and the bluesy "Gotta Keep Movin'" are shorter but just as exhilarating. HIGH TIME is a criminally underrated early-'70s rock gem.

Tracklist:

01. Sister Anne
02. Baby Won't Ya
03. Miss X
04. Gotta Keep Movin'
05. Future/Now
06. Poison
07. Over And Over
08. Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)



Original Release Date: 1971
Release Date: August 4, 1992
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: Atlantic / Rhino
Catalog No.: R2 71034-2

Skydog's "Thunder Express" compiles six songs recorded for French TV at Castle Herouville, France, in March 1972, with both sides of the AMG "I Can Only Give You Everything"/"I Just Don't Know" single. This release - highly recommended; indeed, despite having been recorded when the band were on their last legs, with an English musician replacing bassist Michael Davis, "Thunder Express" might just be the best MC5 rekkid your money can buy…the "KOTJ" songs sound great sans feedback, with all the instruments clearly audible The extended version of "Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa" sounds like the missing link between "Cold Sweat"-era James Brown and "Funhouse"-era Stooges, the title track (a Berryesque car tune) rivals "Sister Anne" as the Five's finest pure rock'n'roll moment, and there's a neat version of Detroit garage band staple, the Stones' "Empty Heart".

– Ken Shimamoto, MC5 - The Bootleg Legacy

Tracklist:

01. Kick Out The Jams
02. Empty Heart
03. Ramblin' Rose
04. Thunder Express
05. Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa
06. Motor City Is Burning
07. I Can Only Give You Everything
08. I Just Don't Know



Release Date: 1994
Format: Bootleg
Label: Skydog International
Catalog No.: 62254-2



Originally released only on cassette in 1983 on ROIR & now remastered and on CD for the first time. Assembled by guitarist Wayne Kramer, it contains 15 tracks from his private tapes, 1966-1971 - rare out-takes, mixes, remixes, uncensored versions and private demos unavailable elsewhere.

Although the MC5 achieved legendary status in the wake of punk rock, years after their 1972 breakup, they only released three albums during their life span. Diehard fans had long craved rarities and outtakes from the band, and in 1983, ROIR released a compilation of such material, BABES IN ARMS. Originally issued as a cassette-only release (and eventually as a CD in 1998), the album may not match the cohesiveness of such official albums as KICK OUT THE JAMS or HIGH TIME, but it will surely please hardcore fans.
You'll be treated to such early tracks as "One of the Guys", "I Just Don't Know", "Looking At You", and a cover of Van Morrison's "I Can Only Give You Everything", which all show that the young band had already mastered their high-octane sound. Also featured "Gold", one of the last MC5 recordings ever made. In addition, there are alternate takes of such classics as "Shaking Street", "Future Now", "Sister Ann", "Poison", "Gotta Keep Moving", and legendary "Kick Out the Jams". MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer has named BABES IN ARMS as his favorite album by the band - there's no denying the high quality and timelessness of the tracks.

Wayne Kramer assembled this collection of 15 rare MC5 tracks, and while trying to cover the career of a band who helped give birth to punk rock AND made it onto Spiro Agnew's enemies list might seem like a near-impossible task in less than an hour, Babes in Arms does a pretty respectable job of capturing what the MC5 were all about in one convenient package. Most of the cuts on Babes in Arms are alternate versions of songs from the band's three studio albums, but while the most of the tracks appear in variant mixes or longer edits, the differences are minimal enough that they can pass for the originals in a pinch (one crucial exception: a great acoustic version of Fred "Sonic" Smith's "Shakin' Street"), making Babes in Arms a solid "Best of the MC5" collection. Even more importantly, the set also includes several excellent and hard to find early single sides, including the amusing garage-protest nugget "One of the Guys" and a primal, in-the-red rave-up on "Looking at You" that leaves the version on Back in the U.S.A. in the dust. The one previously unreleased song, "Gold", is an unfocused jam that doesn't really go anywhere, and the sound quality of the source materials isn't all that hot (especially on the CD version), but otherwise Babes in Arms is a howling, furious blast of what made the MC5 one of the finest (and most dangerous) American rock bands of the 1960s. Crank it up loud – the guys would want it that way.

~ Mark Deming, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Shaking Street
02. American Ruse
03. Skunk (Sonically Speaking)
04. Tuttie Fruttie
05. Poison
06. Gotta Keep Moving
07. Tonite
08. Kick Out The Jams
09. Sister Ann
10. Future Now
11. Gold
12. I Can Only Give You Everything
13. One Of The Guys
14. I Just Don't Know
15. Looking At You


Compiled and Produced by Wayne Kramer
Recording information: 1966 - 1971.

Original Release Date: 1983
Release Date: December 2, 1997
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: ROIR International
Catalog No.: RUSCD 8236

See also: MC5: A True Testimonial (Unreleased documentary 2002) [DVD9]