Kick Out the Jams
Kick Out the Jams is MC5’s debut live album, recorded over two nights at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom in October 1968 and released in February 1969. It is raw, in-your-face, savage and raging. Bruce Botnick engineered it. Jac Holzman and Botnick knew MC5 were at their best playing for a receptive audience. The band used no studio overdubs or edits — just five players captured in the room: Wayne Kramer on lead guitar and vocals for 'Ramblin' Rose', Fred 'Sonic' Smith on rhythm guitar, Michael Davis on bass, Dennis Thompson on drums, Rob Tyner on lead vocals. It contains politically explicit material: 'Motor City Is Burning' references the Detroit riots of 1967 and praises the Black Panthers. 'Starship' is co-credited to Sun Ra because its lyrics borrow from one of his poems. John Sinclair’s liner notes are inflammatory. It does not offer studio polish, instrumental nuance, or vocal control. It does not separate instruments in the mix. It does not mute the title track’s expletive in the original release. The title track lands as a full-throated, room-filling call to action. 'Rocket Reducer No. 62' lands as a proto-punk anthem with repetitive, driving force. 'Motor City Is Burning' lands as an extended, politically charged cover. 'Starship' lands as a spaced-out, lyrically borrowed piece. Yes — if you want to hear what unmediated live rock energy sounded like before production smoothed it out. No — if you need separation, clarity, or restraint.