MC5 – KICK OUT THE
JAMS (ELEKTRA)
The Motor City Five
was more than just a rock band. Indeed
they were more than the prototype punk band that legend has presented them
as. No, here was a band with aspiration
far further than mere entertainer and innovator. They had a genuine agenda and thus a purpose
to their rock.
It is a very bold
gesture for your first record to be a live album. There are so many pitfalls that can occur. The gig could be shit. The equipment used to record could be
shit. The band could be shit. To enter into such an endeavour a band needs
to be at the top of their game but even then gold is not guaranteed. Such was the self belief of the MC5.
It opens with something
of a sermon and Brother J.C. Crawford calling out to the crowd to see their
hands. If you have ever seen the way
that Ian Svenonius works the room with The Make Up, then hearing and witnessing
the MC5 suddenly you realise where he learned his chops. Then after getting his “sea of hands”
Crawford begins speaking of revolution asking the crowd “to decide whether you
are going to be problem or whether you are going to be the solution” before
telling them that it takes them “five seconds to realise your purpose here on
the planet, five seconds that its time to move” as the final question asks the
audience if they’re reading to testify.
And with that the crowd has already been whipped up into a frenzy before
a note has even been played. This is
powerful stuff.
When At The Drive-in
arrived a decade ago with their afros and wowing with their blunt energy it was
obvious to the ones in the know that they were trying to bring a unique spin on
being the MC5. And being that the
product was so good, the fucking pulled it off.
“Kick Out The Jams” is
one of the most powerful declarations in rock history. It was (and still is) a call to arms to
remove restrictions (the jams). This was
a forward thinking outfit with an appropriate rallying call. They moved like a unit and were expertly
positioned by their manager John Sinclair to cause chaos in otherwise sedate
climates. And anything that accomplishes
such feats is a very powerful and important object.
The album was recorded
over two nights in October 1969 (Devil’s Night and Halloween) in Detroit
The MC5 was a huge
sounding band. The storming start of
“Rambin’ Rose” heavily reminds of the “Rock N Roll” opening to Led Zeppelin concerts
while there is no doubt there is a gnarly Stooges type bound to their sound in
general and “Borderline” sounds somewhat like The Who. To this you can add a subtle but effective
psychedelic leaning that appears to lay the ground for Mudhoney while the vocal
exertion in general echoes James Brown in both approach and register before it
eventually ends entering Sun Ra territory.
At the beginning of
“Motor City Is Burning” Crawford continues his preaching with discussion of
what is high society before leaning into a slow burning blues number addressing
just that. This was the time of the
draft and the Vietnam War, at time when there was no option other than be
incarcerated or fight.
The band played home
to three strong characters in Wayne Kramer the father of the band, Rob Tyner
the vocal frontman and Fred “Sonic” Smith the primary songwriter. Combined theirs was one hell of an engine
room.
A big part of their
decision to record live was their desire to capture their raw energy as by now
they had built up real momentum with their gigs holding a reputation for being
more about confrontation than entertainment.
With a staunch local following behind them they were being enthused to
play/rock harder and harder. When
touring bands hit Detroit Detroit
Ultimately the band
was too dangerous, too controversial to ever really being a mainstream going
concern. Kick Out The Jams was released
on February 1969 and the band was promptly dropped by Elektra in March 1969.
Consisting of just
eight songs the album is very much a two headed beast with the band tearing out
the blocks on the first side with four incendiary offerings before slowing the
pace down on side two with a cross section of a bluesy drawl ahead of one final
eight minute jam. Over the years fans
have shown preference for one side over the other but it is the second side
that holds most interest for me as I can hear the intro from “Rise Above” by
Black Flag in “Borderline” and a band that sounds like Mudhoney crossed with
Hendrix doing “Wild Thing” on “I Want You Right Now” not to mention the
venomous bile of “Motor City Is Burning” ahead of the exciting exploration of
closing track “Starship” seemingly designed to lift proceedings above and out
the building.
On the outset this
record smashed everything.
Thesaurus moment:
irascible.
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