Wayne Kramer Guitarist MC5 Rock Band

Wayne Kramer of MC5 Wayne Kramer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and film and television composer. He was co-founder of the Detroit rock group MC5, and Rolling Stone named him one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.  Wayne was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.  The MC5 recorded and performed the song "Kick Out the Jams" which became an anthem for the protest movement of the 1960's. Along with that, came a passion for rock and roll, social and economic justice.    The MC5 emerged as an iconic American rock band that was in the vanguard of the social and cultural revolution of the 1960's.   The lyrics to "Kick Out the Jams" were controversial and required the band to shape the song for the audience or face arrest or being banned from the airwaves.   Wayne Kramer's band performed at a counter-protest at the 1968 Democratic Party Convention.  The police moved in and assaulted many in the crowd when the performance was over.  The actions by the Chicago Police Department have been called a police "riot" by historians and those charged with reviewing the police misconduct.  The MC5 performed at Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan.  The bands' performance there was halted by the Davison Township Police.  They didn't like the lyrics to the song Kick Out The Jams!  There is more connection to Davison, the MC5 was managed by Davison native, John Sinclair.   Sinclair was a radical (for the times) leftist who organized the White Panther Party to complement the Black Panther Party of the late 1960's and 70's. That activity earned Sinclair and band members of the MC5 the scrutiny of the FBI and the US Justice Department.  Jailed for possession of marijuana, Sinclair, became an international cause celeb for those who thought his punishment was too harsh for mere possession of pot and for those who sought to legalize the weed.    After the demise of his band, the MC5, Wayne Kramer fell into alcoholism and drug abuse.  Eventually he was prosecuted for a drug offense and sentenced to a federal prison.  After his release Kramer returned to his  work as a musician. Eventually Wayne found a substance-free lifestyle.   Wayne heads the American chapter of Jail Door Guitars, "an independent initiative which he founded that aims to provide instruments to those who are using music as a means of achieving the rehabilitation of prison inmates.   Wayne Kramer has written a memoir, The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the Mc5, and My Life of Impossibilities. You can follow Wayne Kramer at his Official Facebook Page  #mc5  #waynekramer #kickoutthejams #jaildoorguitars   

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