"Kick Out The Jams" by MC5 – February 1969 US Debut Album on Elektra Records in Mono and Stereo (May 1969 in the UK) featuring Rob Tyner, Wayne Kramer, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson (November 1991 UK Elektra CD Reissue and Remaster – Stereo Mix Used - The 1991 Variant Itself Reissued September 1995 and 2000) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

 

 

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"...The Sobbing of Tortured Souls..."

I don't know about the Trans Love Energies name-checked on the poster of their Grande Ballroom Concert for the two nights of 30 and 31 October in 1968 (Free Admission too) - but I can guarantee you ear-bleedin' louden-boomer where's my-mufflers-a-go-go when you listen to the genuinely extraordinary "Kick Out The Jams" - a 60ts LP that has entered legend with good cause.

In his equally wild and enthusiastic new liner notes for the original November 1991 CD reissue and remaster - Lead Singer Rob Tyner gives it some welly with the adjectives and comparisons. Part hilarious, part braggart, part hindsight true - Detroit's MC5 rocked so hard that the words Punk before there was Punk have been constantly thrown at their explosive debut - and they would be right. I can only imagine what kind of sonic assault both they and The Stooges made at the Union Ballroom on Monday, 23 October 1968 (another benefit-gig poster reproduced on the six-leaf fold-out poster inlay). To the music...while we still have eardrums...

 

UK released November 1991 (reissued September 1995 and May 2000) - "Kick Out The Jams" by MC5 on Elektra 7559-74042-2 (Barcode 075597404227) is a straightforward CD reissue and remaster of their debut album from 1969 that plays out as follows (40:07 minutes): 

 

1. Compare Intro/Ramblin' Rose [Side 1]

2. Kick Out The Jams (Including The MF Intro) 

3. Come Together 

4. Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)

5. Borderline [Side 1]

6. Motor City Is Burning 

7. I Want You Right Now 

8. Starship 

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Kick Out The Jams" - released February 1969 in the USA on Elektra Records EKL 4042 (Mono) and Elektra EKS 74042 (Stereo), May 1969 in the UK on Elektra EKL 4042 (Mono) and Elektra EKS 74042 (Stereo) - The STEREO MIX only is used. The album was recorded live at Russ Gibb's Grande Ballroom in Detroit across two nights - 30 and 31 October 1968. Produced by JAC HOLZMAN and BRUCE BOTNICK  - it peaked at No. 30. 

 

Along with The Stooges - the MC5 were the original counter-hippies - the first proper punks. But kudos due or not, if I'm truthful, this nut-him-in-the-privates-regardless-of-the-cost controversial starter makes for hard work and a somewhat dated listen in 2022. I doubt I could make it through the 8:26 minutes of "Starship" ever again no matter what the enticement may be - a co-write with Sun Ra and therefore suitably out there man. 

 

While the "Kick Out The Jams Mother Fuckers!" scream on original issues of the opening track has been thankfully reinstated for this 1991 CD Remaster (Elektra had to change subsequent LP pressings with the more neutral "Kick Out The Jams Brothers and Sisters!" rant instead) - the equally controversial liner notes across the inner gatefold sleeve by John Sinclair of The White Panthers have not made the transition. 

 

Sinclair encouraged us to "...go wild, take on the world..." and indeed kick out those jams Mother F-r's. That diatribe has been replaced by just as mouthy Rob Tyner liner notes penned mere months before he died that year aged only 46. The release is in fact dedicated to him (1944 to 1991). There are great posters repro'd on one side with period stuff on the other (see the two photos above)

 

For such a notoriously full-on album, the remaster has done its job in vamping up what was already there - the sheer sonic velocity of the MC5 on stage. Both Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith trash their guitars with monster riffs, feedback and sheer abandon - while the Rhythm Section of Michael Davis on Bass with Dennis Thompson on Drums sound like John Paul Jones and John Bonham on Bad Speed - ready to hurt dearest Mummy and her suburban socialite friends. Tracks like the 4:30 minutes of "Motor City Is Burning" or "Come Together" are so Rawk it hurts. And I have always wondered would it have been better to do studio versions - but it some respects - they were right - in your face is the point. Let the spirit be our guide.

 

You can buy this CD for about a fiver and join these insolent brats at the beer trough - brutal - slogging it out with the man - but be warned, you may never look at Hawkwind or Motorhead or Iron Maiden as being hardcore ever again...