Kick Out the Jams

33⅓ Main Series #25

by Don McLeese

When the Motor City 5 stormed the stage, the band combined the kinetic flash of James Brown on acid with the raw musical dynamics of the Who gone berserk. It s a unique band that can land itself on the cover of Rolling Stone a month before the release of its debut album and then be booted from its record contract just a few months later. Rock had never before seen the likes of the MC5 and never will again. Many of us who were floored by the 5 in concert were convinced that this was the most transcendently pulverizing rock we would ever experience, while many more who heard or read about the band dismissed the 5 as a caricature, a fraud, White Panther bozos play-acting at revolution. There was always plenty of humor to the 5 visionary knuckleheads though the question was whether they were in on the joke. Frequently ridiculed during their short career, they ve since been hailed as a primal influence on everything from punk to metal to Rage Against the Machine to the Detroit populist resurgence of the White Stripes, Kid Rock and Eminem.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Punk

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2005

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the better entries in the series I've read this year. I think McLeese did a fantastic job with an album that's fairly hard to write about, giving it a place in the larger cultural context of 1969 and, more importantly, the sixties in general. I've always been a fan of this record, but I now have an even better appreciation for it.

[miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is like fine if you are interested in 1. the MC5 2. detroit music history in general 3. john sinclair/the white panther party—i came for all 3 equally so there was enough interest for me to not feel like it was a huge waste of time. that said, this is not a very interesting book—it's very short, so i was able to blow through it on a bus ride from ann arbor to detroit (fitting, right?), but if i had put it down at any point i doubt i'd have picked it back up. the writing isn't terribly engaging, and i also don't find the story of the MC5 to be all that compelling—i'm a big fan of music nonfiction like 'our band could be your life' (the holy standard of punk raconteurism), which hooked me even with little to no knowledge of or investment in any of the bands profiled, and this is definitely not in the same tradition. if you don't love the MC5, skip this one—it's not a very good introduction to the band (not because it isn't clear or informed, which it is—just because it's pretty dull). i'd recommend this more for someone who lived through the band's heyday and just wants a rehash. and if you do end up getting nothing from it, at least you only wasted about an hour.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I like about this series is that you never know what you're going to get. This one does not go through the album song by song, as some of the books I've read has, but is more a discussion of the album and the band within the historical setting of 1968 in the US.

This was written in 2005 and I think I'd be interested in reading what the author would say about Wayne Kramer touring as the MC50 a couple of years ago. I attended the concert in Detroit and it was the only way I was ever going to see any iteration of the MC5, so I approve. The concert was LOUD (which seemed to be one of the author's criteria for being an MC5 show) and I loved it. Some of us weren't old enough to have seen them back in the day.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fine, if brief, introduction to the band, though the book is hardly about what its title promises...Kick out the Jams is less than half of the content here.

If you're a fan, sure, read it. If you're new to the band, it'll give you some grounding, though the music itself is the real story. Otherwise, eh.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of the 33 1/3 series takes the more predictable route of providing a 120-page biography of the band...that at times borders on hagiography. I can't say I learned much about the individual band members or even their patron saint-turned-resentful enemy John Sinclair. Instead, I learned about the events that helped shape the band's rise to fame and their falling out of the limelight.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the 33 1/3 series, this is a good chronicle about Detroit proto-punk band MC5 and their 1969 debut album with some nice touches of personal insight.

[Patrick Egan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read 20 or so of these books and McLeese’s might be the best. Tight, evocative, informative.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The MC5 - or the Motor City Five - I saw them at a dance in 1965 - and a couple of them had Beatle haircuts. Then in 1966 they played a dance at my high school. And then........

Their performances began with ....

Brothers and Sisters! I want to see a sea of hands out there! Let me see a sea of hands! I want everyone to kick up some noise! I want to hear some revolution out there Brothers! I want to hear a little revolution!

Brothers and Sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem or whether you are going to be the solution! (That's right!) You must choose Brothers, you must choose! It takes five seconds, five seconds of decision, five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet! It takes five seconds to realize that it's time to move, it's time to get down with it!

Brothers, it's time to testify and I want to know, are you ready to testify? Are you ready? I give you a testimonial: the MC5!

This small, little book, only 122 pages, is a brief history of the Detroit music scene in the mid to late 1960's concentrating on the band the MC5 and their debut album Kick Out the Jams. Written by a professor at the University of Iowa's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Don McLeese first saw the MC5 at - of all places - the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. They were the only band to appear at the 'Festival of Life' put on by the Yippies and they kicked butt!

Me? I eventually saw them again - several times - at the famed Grande Ballroom in Detroit, and the 1969 Rock on Roll Revival held at the Michigan State Fair Grounds at (are you ready) 8 Mile Rd and Woodward. And there was that one last time when I saw them open for Led Zeppelin Aug 1970.

McLeese paints the sad story of a band being anointed the next big thing in Rock by Rolling Stone magazine and then destroyed by the same publication just weeks after Kick Out the Jams was released.

He does an excellent job of describing the relationship of the band with John Sinclair, their one-time mentor and manager, and with the radical left.

Short but sweet. I recommend this book as an introduction to the Detroit music scene during the mid to late '60s.

It would be fun to go back for a few hours, to stand in that old ballroom, the lights dim, the smell of cigarettes, marijuana and patchouli oil, the crowd waiting, anticipating the moment. Then Rob Tyner slowly, quietly says, "right now, right now, it's time to" and then SCREAMS 'Kick Out the Jams, M***F***ers!"

[Kitap · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the author, a professor of journalism and music journalist, was given the go-ahead by the publisher to pursue a project on the Motor City 5's seminal album Kick Out the Jams, he

had no idea what kind of book might result. All I knew was that I wanted to come to terms with the most powerful rock I had ever experienced and to try to explain how a time like no other and a place like no other had ignited a band like no other.

The writing would allow me to revisit a pivotal year in my life—as the eighteenth year is in almost anyone's—one that happened to coincide with one of the most tumultuous years in the history of the country and its culture. Those were insane times, and I hoped to make sense of them, both in terms of what I felt then and how I feel now.

I knew the work would draw from memory, research and cultural/musical analysis, and that these elements would somehow coalesce into something more than a 35,000-word review of of a [then] thirty-six-year-old album. Experience would be my primary resource: I saw the MC5 more than a dozen times over the arc of their brief run... (pp. 118&ndash9)

The book gives the album itself a single chapter, and after listening to it a half-dozen times in the last week, this makes sense. It isn't a cerebral album that you need to ponder or "get into"; instead, it is throbbing, pulsing, driving, powerful music that makes you want to rock. The rest of the book situates that driving music into a context that shows why it was so motherfucking revolutionary.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn't talk much about the contents of the actual "Kick Out The Jams" album--though don't get me wrong, there are a few pages devoted to it. What it mostly focuses on is a social history and biography of the MC5 and their place within the broader context of the late 60s rock scene. In the absence of a major MC5 biography, this book does a great job of providing at least the skeleton of such a thing, though it can't go but so far in 120 half-sized pages. The suppressed documentary "The MC5: A True Testimonial", of which I've seen a bootleg copy, supplies more of the visceral rush of what the MC5 were all about, which it can of course do due to its inclusion of archival performance footage. However, McLeese's little book contains information that wasn't to be found in the movie, and besides, the movie isn't publicly available anyway--unfortunately due to the rampant egotism of Wayne Kramer, who needs to chill out already. In fact, "Kick Out The Jams" ends with a heartfelt plea for "A True Testimonial" to be released, one I fully agree with. Even if it were widely available, though, this book would still be an essential companion to it. As it is now, it's an absolute must read for any fan of the MC5. I only wish it were twice as long.

[Beth martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don McLeese approaches this book is to begin with his personal experience with the MC 5 and how they changed his life as a young adult, and then moves on to elaborate on the MC 5 as a band and their history. The MC 5 were always a bit of mystery to me. There are certain recordings that I loved right off the bat, and others where the appeal is lost on me. This book illuminated why this is the case for me by discussing the different studio albums and the approach that the band, label, management and producers had. McLeese does this in a way that holds even the readers interest. You do not need to know much about the behind the scenes workings of a studio and the music industry to get what he is saying. He discusses at length how the band always had a difficult time translating their live experience in the studio.

It was interesting to see that McLeese's favorite album by Mc 5 is mine, "High Times". I had always felt maybe I was alone in this view, and his perspective as to why this is their best album was interesting, and I think valid.

A good read even for non die hard fans.... an interesting glimpse into a unique band who gave us a blueprint for so much of music's future.

[Bruce Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a challenge to write a book--even a brief one--about an album whose historical significance outweighs its musical heft. That's not a direct criticism of the first MC5 album, whose 'don't give a fuck' energy is quite thrilling (in parts), but for a musicologist, this is quite slim pickings. Once you have talked about the exciting title track, there is not a lot to say. The sound quality (it was recorded 'live') is mediocre at best and the songwriting basic.
And it is vital to note that the above paragraph totally misses the point of both the MC5 and this book. McLeese has given us a personal and societal context for this rambunctious band and done so with affection and passion. And that is what the MC5 debut is about too. Passion. It's a train-wreck of a story, with the band members being totally naive and the leadership more focussed on social revolution than musical ambition, but it is fascinating to dive into a time before punk and discover some of the tribal magnetism that made the band local legends.

Bruce Jenkins is the author of Vinyl Connection, a long-running music blog.

[Chris Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small(literally) but fairly in depth look at the time of the MC5. This band couldn't have been around at any other moment, they didn't sell many records, The Stooges their little brother band became bigger, but these guys set the tone for sonic garage rock and roll. The whole White Panther thing sort of took over from their initial power which in some ways was everything that they stood for, some didn't want to be involved(the rhythm section)others thought it provoked middle America, which it did, so much so that they were on the FBI hit list for years. Whether guru Sinclairs involvement was a good idea or not kinda misses the point, he did and they became notorious for alot more than just kicking out the jams!

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

in my opinion the book gets a little too into slagging Wayne Kramer at conclusion for reforming with the MC rhythm section to take the songs on the road again. Also, it is regrettable that the doc about the 5 called "A True Testimonial" was squelched but, again, the author doesn't seem interested in understanding position of Wayne Kramer, Dennis Thompson, and Mike Davis in their action against the filmmakers.

But for the most part this is a great read and provides great historical context and references for further reading.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

audiobook.

excellent! the series is back on track! admittedly, this book was as much about the MC5 as it was about this particular album. but it melded the world that existed around MC5, the time and other things really well.

i appreciated hearing the difference of being in the rust belt vs. being on the coasts - musically. i enjoyed the DNC 68 talk and the discussion of the band post kick out the jams.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes the writing of such books just makes the book all the more interesting. McLeese definitely made the material in this story come to life, and in doing so, made the album come to life for me all over again, though I feel as if I might not understand it quite the way he sees it.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nicely written account of the days of mayhem. Lots of excellent historical research. I probably will never consider this one of my favorite albums but that doesn't mean I don't think it's one of the most important in the history of rock.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a strong book from what I've read of the 33 1/3 series so far. It offers a good historical look at one of my favorite bands and one of my favorite cities, though it mentions riots in Detroit in 1968, a year Detroit happened to be riot-free.

[DURTY · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were the first guys to learn record companies don't subsidize the dog that bites the hand. Rage Against the Machine would learn later. Nonetheless, a nice aural assault from the people's band, back when guerilla theatre was in vogue and they didn't need no stinkin' stage.

[CleverGirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

what music writing should always be like.

[David Crunelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly well written, which is kinda exceptional in the music book world. Highly recommended for early fans of the MC5.

[Nick H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serves as a succinct history of the band, as well as an informational snap-shot of the Detroit rock music scene in the mid to late 60's. a quick read, and quite enjoyable.

[Fonzette · Rating 3 out of 5]

.

[Greg Renoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. It really helped me understand the power and significance of the MC5.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of the hype that buried a great band. The author notes that their next two albums were ignored classics (true).

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A not so interesting volume