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After taking it for 30 years or so, the City of Amsterdam finally fell in behind
the federal government and joined the rollback movement that’s raged for the
past several years. The highlight of this demonic development was the
government’s effort to ban non-citizens of the Netherlands from the coffeeshops
and, concurrently, to transform the coffeeshops—open to the public for more than
40 years now—into private smoking clubs where each Dutch smoker would be forced
to register with the authorities as a member of one particular club.

While this solution was adapted by a series of small towns and cities on the
eastern border of the country and in some other distant areas, the major cities,
led by Amsterdam, rejected the federal government’s attempt to strangle their
cash cow and compromised by agreeing to enforce all marijuana regulations
presently on the books, like the restriction against the operation of
coffeeshops within 250 meters of a school building.

The school building clause has led to the closing of dozens of coffeeshops in
the city center. Other city government plans involving the social restructuring
of the Red Light District have led to the shuttering of dozens more, including
every weed outlet on the popular Warmoestraat corridor.

The number of coffeeshops in Amsterdam itself has shrunk from about 750 some 20
years ago to something like 200 now. The shops closed by government edict are
simply shut down without recompense or granting of a license to operate
somewhere else—they’re simply out of business. When their current license comes
up for renewal, it is not renewed.

The good part is that the coffeeshops that continue to exist are entirely
unchanged—except for the additional crowds of people denied access to their
former haunts and the waves of tourists who find less and less choices of places
to smoke and cop in the Centrum. Ironically, the shutting of so many outlets has
turned the ones that remain into virtual goldmines of cannabis profits.

I’ve reported on several of these issues in past columns, but it’s important to
reiterate that in Holland—unlike, say, Colorado or Oregon today—marijuana has
been accepted only at the end-retail level, that is, it’s okay to sell five
grams of weed or hash over the counter to a consumer in a coffeeshop.

But it has remained illegal to grow, cultivate, harvest, transport, wholesale or
otherwise provide the marijuana to the coffeeshops. This quaint demonstration of
official hypocrisy is what they call maintaining a “gray area” with regard to
legalization

DutchNews.nl reported recently that the Dutch police “dismantled 5,856 marijuana
plantations last year, or nearly 16 a day {but] estimate this is only one fifth
of the total.” Additionally, “the government is making a major effort to stamp
out production and last year made it a criminal offence for companies to supply
people with lamps, fertilizer and other equipment if they suspect it is being
used to grow marijuana.” Sound familiar?

Now comes the membership of the “ruling right-wing party,” VVD, which recently
voted to end the “strange situation” where the sale of small quantities of
marijuana in licensed coffee shops is accepted but production is not. The party
is now committed to “clever regulation” of cultivation and sales and will add
this call to the party’s manifesto for the 2017 general election, which
DutchNews.nl concludes will “clear the way for a shift in the policy of the next
government.”

Further, “Dozens of local councils in the Netherlands have endorsed a manifesto
calling for the cultivation of cannabis to be legalized and regulated, and 25
[cities] have applied to the minister of justice for permission to experiment
with legal growth and supply.”

Okay. This is the first positive development in the Netherlands for quite some
time, and while it may be too late for the Cannabis Cup as we knew it, these
developments bode well for the future in this place that has been the future
since the early 1970s. Maybe it’s taken the progress made by voters in half the
states in the U.S. in terms of gradually removing marijuana from the
wrong-headed and heavy-handed approach of the federal authorities, but it’s
reassuring to see the Dutch people moving in an intelligent direction once
again.

I wish I could say the same for the American voting public as a whole, but their
wholesale swallowing of the tissue of horseshit that was the Trump campaign is
an extremely bitter pill to have to ingest. Not only is this billionaire reality
television star and unscrupulous real estate developer and casino entrepreneur a
major liar, blowhard, bigot and bully, but his campaign was built on a call for
the imprisonment of his opponent—“Crooked Hillary”—that he has already admitted
he has no intention of pursing as president.

Let’s hope that the rest of his bullshit platform will be equally ignored, but
it’s hard to see the promise in that point of view when his appointments to
administrative posts are so vicious and wrong. Get ready for an attorney general
who has said that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was okay until he found out they
were smoking marijuana.

In more sad news closer to home, the City of Detroit has managed to close down
102 of the 273 medical dispensaries operating in the city as of last March.
“Eighty-seven (of the 273) are out of business,” Detroit Corporate Counsel
Melvin “Butch” Hollowell crowed. “Seven of those closed voluntarily, 80 we’ve
closed,” and 14 more dispensaries in the city have received closure notices,
with 64 additional dispensaries “in the pipeline.”

Outside of the heavily-moneyed initiative to move a new generation of white
people into the downtown area and the former Cass Corridor, the opening of 273
compassion centers within the city of Detroit has been the most positive sign of
change in the entire ruins of Detroit, and one of the only signs of change and
positive growth outside of Grand Boulevard on the north, the Lodge freeway on
the west and I-75 on the east.

What kind of morons are running the city of Detroit? Where do they get these
people? If I may paraphrase the president-elect, Melvin “Butch” Hollowell should
be in prison for conducting this idiotic campaign. Lock him up!

Free The Weed!
—Amsterdam
November 24, 2016

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WHO IS JOHN SINCLAIR?

(Detroit, January 1, 2024)—John Sinclair has cut a wide swath for 60 years as a
prolific cultural worker; an innovative poet who sets his verse to music from
the blues and jazz tradition; a dynamic performer and bandleader who has
collaborated with scores of outstanding musicians in performance and recording;
a leading music journalist, acclaimed editor, and writer of album liner notes;
an award-winning radio broadcaster and record producer; an iconoclastic educator
and lecturer; a passionate crusader against the War in Vietnam and the War on
Drugs; and a living testimonial to the power of people to make fundamental
changes in the conditions of their lives and those of their fellow citizens.
Sinclair founded and directed the Detroit Artists Workshop; managed the MC-5;
formed the White Panther Party; produced the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival;
directed the Detroit Jazz Center; taught Blues History at Wayne State
University; edited City Arts Quarterly for the Detroit Council of the Arts;
produced Piano Night at Tipitina’s for the Professor Longhair Foundation and the
“live” broadcast of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for WWOZ-FM. He
spent three years in prison for marijuana offenses, overthrew the Michigan
marijuana laws, helped institute Ann Arbor’s historic $5 fine for possession of
weed, founded the Ann Arbor Hash Bash and served as High Priest of the Cannabis
Cup in Amsterdam. Sinclair has collaborated with a brilliant array of
contemporary musicians, from saxophone giants Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Daniel
Carter and Earl Turbinton to hornmen David Amram, Michael Ray, Charles Moore,
James Andrews and Kermit Ruffins, guitarists Wayne Kramer, Walter “Wolfman”
Washington, Willie King, Jim McCarty and Jeff “Baby” Grand, and West African
griots Bala Tounkare and Guelel Kuumba. Sinclair has released more than 30 CDs,
including several with his band of Blues Scholars, and his recent books include
It’s All Good—A John Sinclair Reader, Song of Praise: Homage to John Coltrane,
Sun Ra Interviews & Essays (editor), a book of blues verse called Fattening
Frogs For Snakes, and i mean you—a book for penny. John Sinclair was born in
Flint, Michigan on October 2, 1941. He attended Albion College and graduated
from the University of Michigan-Flint College in 1964 with an A.B. in English
Literature. At college he began writing poetry and music criticism; edited the
school paper, The Word; and directed the school’s Film Society. Sinclair pursued
graduate studies in American Literature at Wayne State University in Detroit,
completing his master’s thesis on William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch while beginning
his career as a poet, journalist, music presenter, concert and festival
producer, music historian, radio broadcaster and educator. As a cultural
activist Sinclair helped establish and direct the Detroit Artists Workshop, the
Allied Artists Association, Jazz Research Institute and Detroit Jazz Center. He
managed the MC5, Mitch Ryder & Detroit and other bands, produced dance concerts
at the Grande Ballroom, free concerts in the parks, the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz
Festivals, and countless left-wing benefits, community cultural events, jazz
concerts and poetry readings. Sinclair has booked bands, bought talent and done
publicity for nightclubs, bars and concert halls; developed programs, written
grants, raised funds and directed projects for jazz artists and community arts
organizations; and produced records by artists from the MC-5, Little Sonny and
Deacon John to Sun Ra, Victoria Spivey and Roosevelt Sykes. He’s been a
Community Arts panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts; a professor of
Blues History at Wayne State University; director of the City Arts Gallery for
the City of Detroit Council of the Arts; producer and host of radio program
series at WCBN-FM in Ann Arbor, WDET-FM in Detroit and WWOZ-FM in New Orleans;
and designer and producer of WWOZ’s live broadcast from the New Orleans Jazz &
Heritage Festival as well as “live” broadcasts from several community music
venues. As a professional journalist Sinclair has written columns, features and
reviews of jazz and blues, rock & roll and poetry and writing for publications
of all sorts, from obscure local papers to downbeat and Playboy magazine. He’s
published poetry books and journals, edited underground newspapers, arts
quarterlies and blues magazines, and written liner notes for albums by artists
from Louis Armstrong, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Harold Melvin & the Blue
Notes to Johnny Adams, the Wild Magnolias and the ReBirth Brass Band. A
marijuana activist since 1964, Sinclair has fought on the marijuana side of the
War on Drugs through Detroit LEMAR, Amorphia, NORML and a five-year struggle in
the courts of Michigan that cost him 2-1/2 years in prison before he overturned
Michigan’s marijuana laws on appeal and helped enact the historic $5 fine for
marijuana activity in Ann Arbor. Sinclair was Chairman of the White Panther
Party and its successor, the Rainbow Peoples Party, battling Richard M. Nixon
and his goons from the beginning of his administration to the bitter end. It was
Sinclair’s court case challenging Nixon’s warrantless wiretap program that
produced the historic Supreme Court decision in U.S. vs. U.S. District Court
that “national security” wiretaps could not be allowed—at least not until the
Bush-Cheney-Rove era of the 2000s. Sinclair left Detroit in 1991 and spent 12
years in New Orleans before establishing a base in Amsterdam in 2003, where he
founded his internet radio station, RadioFreeAmsterdam.org, in 2004 and began
the process of establishing the John Sinclair Foundation. Sinclair experienced
several medical emergencies in 2017-2023 after he was struck down in Amsterdam
by a bicycle that hit him in the back and threw him face-down on the roadway.
Medical care in Amsterdam proved too expensive for a U.S Medicare/Mediaid
recipient, and he returned to Detroit for government-paid medical care at the
Detroit Medical Center. St. John’s Hospital, and the Ford Medical Center.
Sinclair contracted COPD, had three stents inserted into his heartline, suffered
an all-out heart attack in February 2020, underwent quintuple bypass surgery,
and continued to struggle against the diabetes that had been detected in 1991.
He also suffers from the effects of almost 30 falls in the past ten years and
must walk with the aid of a walker indoors and be carried in a wheelchair when
he goes outdoors. Sinclair resides just north of downtown Detroit and enjoys the
constant attention of his daughters Marion Sunny and Celia to his many and
various needs. He continues to release records and books and to tour around the
United States with a stunning variety of musical collaborators. In 2023 he was
prominently featured at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac in Lowell, Massachusetts,
where he appeared in concert with the David Amram ensemble. Sinclair’s books
have been translated into Italian, French and Spanish, and the poet was recently
honored as the International recipient of the prestigious Targa Matteo Salvatore
in Foggia, Italy. He’s appeared at the Festival Internazionale della Letteratura
Resistente in Tuscany and been featured at major events and festivals in Rome,
Milano, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Florence, and
Santiago, Chile. At the 2006 Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam a potent, prize-winning
strain of Dutch marijuana was named in his honor. Later the Ceres Seed Company
developed John Sinclair Seeds for sale and distribution throughout Europe and
the United Kingdom, and recently Winewood Organics of Ann Arbor has developed a
strain of John Sinclair Select Hash and pre-rolled hash joints. The State Bar of
Michigan, Cannabis Law Section, awarded Sinclair the Trail Blazer Award 2021 “in
appreciation for your dedication and outstanding achievements.” And Governor
Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilcrist, State Senator Jeff Irwin, and Rep.
Yousef Rabbi paid “Special Tribute” to Sinclair on August 31, 2021, as follows:
“Let it be known, that…in recognition of his considerable contributions to
Michigan through his art and political activism, it is a distinct privilege to
honor the work and life of John Sinclair.” In 2024 Sinclair looks forward to the
release of his Collected Poems 1964-2024 by M.L. Liebler at the Ridgeway Press;
a four-LP box set of his blues work, Fattening Frogs for Snakes, with a new
edition of the book included, by Jarrett Kowal of Jett Plastic Recordings; a new
edition of It’s All Good—A John Sinclair Reader, by Ben Horner of Horner Books;
and his new CD of Thelonious Monk works titled “fly right”—a monk suite,
recorded with New Orleans pianist Tom Worrell and produced for release by Mike
Boulan for his MoCound Records. On November 22, 2023 Sinclair celebrated the
20th year of his internet radio station, Radio Free Amsterdam, operated in
partnership with Steve “The Fly” Pratt in England and The Netherlands. John
Sinclair may be reached through the John Sinclair Foundation, 2930 E. Jefferson,
Detroit MI 48207 USA or at johnsinclair.us@gmail.com. WEBSITES
www.johnsinclair.us www.radiofreeamsterdam.org www.thejohnsinclairfoundation.org
ALBUMS BY JOHN SINCLAIR fly right: a monk suite with Edward Moss (unreleased)
thelonious: a book of monk (New Alliance Records, 1994) Full Moon Night with the
Blues Scholars (Total Energy Records, 1994) If I Could Be With You with Ed Moss
& the Society Jazz Orchestra (Schoolkids Records, 1994) Full Circle with Wayne
Kramer & Charles Moore (Alive Records, 1996) White Buffalo Prayer with Wayne
Kramer & Charles Moore (SpyBoy Records, 2000) Underground Issues with Wayne
Kramer & Charles Moore and others (Big Chief Records, 2000) Steady Rollin’ Man
with the Boston Blues Scholars (2002) KnockOut with the D-Men (420 Café, 2002)
PeyoteMind (The End Is Here Records, 2002) It’s All Good (Big Chief Records,
2005) No Money Down: Greatest Hits (Big Chief Records, 2005) criss cross (Big
Chief Records, 2007) Tearing Down The Shrine of Truth & Beauty with the Pinkeye
Orchestra (LocoGnosis Records, 2008) Detroit Life with the Motor City Blues
Scholars (No Cover Records, 2008) Viper Madness with the Planet D Nonet (No
Cover Records, 2010) Let’s Go Get ’Em with the International Blues Scholars
(MoCity Records, 2010) Honoring The Local Gods with the Hollow Bones (NYC, 2010)
Song of Praise: Homage To John Coltrane (Trembling Pillow Records, 2011) Beatnik
Youth with the Beatnik Youth Ensemble (Track Records, 2012; IronMan Records,
2017) Conspiracy Theory Collaborations with Various Artists (Big Chief Records,
2012) Viperism Marijuana Songs & Poems (Big Chief Records, 2012) Mohawk with
Steve The Fly (IronMan Records, 2015) Keeping The Blues Alive with Adventures In
Bluesland (NYC, 2017) It’s All Good: A John Sinclair Reader (Big Chief Records,
2018) Mobile Homeland with Tino Gross (Funky D Records CD, 2018; Jett Plastic
Recordings LP, 2019) Still Kickin’—You Buy We Fry with Tino Gross (Funky D
Records, 2019) Monk’s Dream with the Planet D Nonet at the Scarab Club (Eastlawn
Records, 2020) “fly right”—a monk suite with Tom Worrell (MoSound Records, 2023)
Fattening Frogs For Snakes box set of 4 LPs and copy of the book (Jett Plastic
Recordings, 2024) © 2024 The John Sinclair Foundation
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POETRY, MUSIC, RADIO, ACTIVISM. ALL GOOD.



Radio Free Amsterdam / The John Sinclair Foundation  

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LENI SINCLAIR INVITED TO SIGN DETROIT’S SCARAB CLUB BEAMS

November 5, 2024 by Mark Leave a Comment

https://www.metrotimes.com/arts/leni-sinclair-invited-to-sign-detroits-scarab-club-beams-37488240

Rock ’n’ roll photographer Leni Sinclair is set to autograph the beams of
Detroit’s Scarab Club, signing an exclusive guestbook of sorts that includes
artists like LeRoy Foster, Diego Rivera, Marcel Duchamp, and Isamu Noguchi,
among others.

Sinclair will sign the beams during the opening reception for Detroit Leni: a
Leni Sinclair Retrospective from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13.

As a documenter of Detroit’s counterculture scene of the 1960s and ’70s who was
once married to John Sinclair, the late political activist and former manager of
the influential rock band MC5, Leni had a front-row view so to speak of the
turbulent time period; the Sinclairs co-founded the White Panther Party, an
anti-racist socialist group aligned with the Black Panthers. Her photos were
published in Rolling Stone, CREEM, and High Times, and in 2016 she was named the
recipient of the Kresge Eminent Artist Award.

“This exhibition not only invites members and guests to witness the radical
spirit that defined an era but also to reflect on the enduring power of cultural
movements to shape history,” gallery director Dalia Reyes said in a statement.
“Sinclair’s work is as relevant today as it was then.”

RELATED

RIP JOHN SINCLAIR, DEAD AT 82THE POET AND ACTIVIST IS KNOWN FOR MANAGING THE
ROCK BAND MC5 AND FIGHTING TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS

John Sinclair as well as the last remaining founding members of the MC5 all died
this year, just as the band was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. Guitarist Wayne Kramer died in February at age 75, Sinclair died in April
at 82, and drummer Dennis Thompson died in May at 75.

The band is set to be honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
ceremony on Oct. 19 at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Signing the beams of the Scarab Club is an honor that was not granted to many
women over its nearly 100-year history, as the club was men-only until 1962,
though it has been trying to rectify it. Last year, Detroit artist Nora Chapa
Mendoza became the first Latina to sign the Scarab Club beams.


MC5 CELEBRATION

November 5, 2024 by Mark Leave a Comment

https://www.lphistorical.org/events-exhibits/mc5-celebration

For both the lifelong and newcomer fans of the MC5, the rockers from Lincoln
Park who helped lead the evolution of rock music into the punk era of the 1970s,
the celebration of the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this
October has already begun. Having epitomized the rock revolution with their
rebellious spirit and revolutionary musical styles, the band has merited past
nominations to the Hall and is being awarded in 2024 with the “Award for Musical
Excellence.”

Sadly, the group’s last remaining members, lead guitarist Wayne Kramer, and
drummer Dennis ‘Machine Gun’ Thompson, both passed away earlier this year. Fred
‘Sonic’ Smith, Rob Tyner, and Michael Davis had died in previous years. The
band’s longtime manager, John Sinclair, also passed away this year. On Saturday,
October 19, 2024, the MC5, along with a slate of other legendary rock honorees,
will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Ohio.

One week prior, on Saturday, October 12th, the community of Lincoln Park will
gather at our Memorial Park Bandshell to celebrate this landmark in rock and
roll history. With activities set to begin at 3:00 p.m., DJ Soul Deep will kick
off the festivities turning out tunes by the group and its influencers and the
many bands they came to inspire. The celebration will include friends and
families of the band, and the dedication of a tree next to the bandshell, where
the MC5 performed in their early years together. A declaration of the special
day and presentation by the City of Lincoln Park leads off the official
proceedings. The release of “MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary
Band” takes place the same weekend with book sales and signing by co-authors
Brad Tolinski and Jaan Uhelszki. The celebrated artwork of photographer Leni
Sinclair and poster artists Gary Grimshaw and Carl Lundgren will also be
represented and available for purchase. An assortment of food trucks will be on
site. Scheduled speakers include musician Tino Gross, who will serve as emcee
for the celebration, journalist Peter Werbe, poet M.L. Liebler, and members of
the band’s families, giving testimonials in the stage portion of the evening.
Live performances by Sugar Tradition and American Ruse will carry the energy
through the evening’s twilight. At dusk, there will be a showing of rare films
of the band. Our deep gratitude to Becky Tyner, Tim Caldwell and Adam Stanfel
for their help coordinating this special tribute in Lincoln Park. It is an
absolute joy for all of us – and you – to share this milestone here in our own
backyard!

More information about our previous exhibition for the 50th anniversary of MC5
can be found HERE.

Our Thanks to Carl Lundgren for the art design with photography by Leni Sinclair
and Emil Bacilla.

Download Press Release

Here is a link to the recent Destination Downriver podcast that features a
segment on the upcoming MC5 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebration here in Lincoln
Park. Participants include former mayor and current director of the Lincoln Park
Chamber of Commerce, Tom Karnes; Special Events Director for the City, Stephani
Davis; and Museum Curator Jeff Day.

Podcast

A new book entitled MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band,
will have its official release at an event to be held Friday October 11th at the
DIA. Including interviews and research conducted by writer Ben Edmunds over a
two decade period, compiled and edited by co-authors Jaan Uhelszki and Brad
Tolinski, the book is being released one week before the MC5 will be
inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.               

The book’s release and concurrent Hall of Fame event was a completely
serendipitous occurrence.

The new book will also be available for purchase and signing at Lincoln Park’s
celebration event for the 5 at the Memorial Park bandshell on Saturday,
October 12th beginning at 3pm. This is event is free and open to the community.

You can check out the DIA event details by clicking HERE.’

 * Saturday, October 12, 2024
 * 3:00 PM  9:00 PM
 * The Lincoln Park Bandshell3240 Ferris AvenueLincoln Park, MI, 48146United
   States (map)


HOW REVOLUTIONARY BAND MC5 SOUNDTRACKED US COUNTERCULTURE

November 5, 2024 by Mark Leave a Comment

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20241017-how-revolutionary-band-mc5-soundtracked-us-counterculture

(Credit: Alamy)

They emerged from 1960s Detroit with an explosive sound that paved the way for
punk. As a new LP is released, those who knew them explain how they changed the
shape of music forever.

Detroit has a staggeringly rich history of music. From soul to techno via blues
and garage rock, the US city has been a hub of innovation for the best part of
the last century. While the sound of 1960s Detroit may have been dominated and
epitomised by Motown, the era-defining soul label and production team, another
band emerged in that decade who would help shape the sonic legacy of the city:
the MC5.

Warning: This article contains language that some may find offensive

They are a group that have just been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame and who, a remarkable 53 years since their last album, have just returned
with a new one, Heavy Lifting, as well as being the subject of a new book, MC5:
An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band. However, the celebrations
of their legacy and impact are deeply bittersweet, as the two remaining founding
members – Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson – both died this year.

Their influence is vast. Loved by everyone from Motörhead to The Clash, they
have been sampled by the KLF and covered by The Stranglers and The White
Stripes. They were even the reason that Alice Cooper moved to Detroit to start a
band. “There was nothing like it anywhere else in the USA,” he says in a quote
on the biography’s jacket. Their sound, a fiery mix of hard rock, blues, free
jazz, touches of psychedelia, and a blisteringly unique tone – complete with
James Brown-like showmanship – would later have them called proto-punk, which is
to say: punk before punk. Following Kramer’s death in February, Rage Against the
Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who features on Heavy Lifting, wrote in an
Instagram post that the band “basically invented punk rock”.

Their seminal debut album Kick Out the Jams was recorded as a live album –
capturing their raw energy (Credit: Alamy)

“It’s just so wrong,” William DuVall, the Alice in Chains singer and MC5
collaborator, tells the BBC. “They’re finally getting into the Hall of Fame just
in time for none of them to be here.” As tragic as it is that the band didn’t
get to see their final album come out or to receive some long overdue adulation,
their musical legacy is not going anywhere in a hurry. For those who fell into
the whirlwind of sound spewing from the stage that was the band in full fury,
it’s a difficult thing to shake off. “I’ll never forget going to see them,”
musician and producer Don Was tells the BBC. “It was jaw-dropping – startling.
I’d never heard, or seen, anything like that before.”


THE DETROIT DYNAMIC

Was is a hugely successful industry figure, having worked with everyone from Bob
Dylan to The Rolling Stones, and he grew up in Detroit in the 1950s and ’60s.
“It was really vibrant,” he recalls. “After World War Two, workers came from all
over the world to work in auto factories and they brought their cultures with
them. So there was this crazy jambalaya of all these different elements. All
those cultures then began to fuse together into something very original, and you
can hear it in the music that came from the city.”

Aside from the multicultural and multi-racial backdrop that made up the city,
its blue-collar roots also played a part in its inspired post-war musical
output, Was believes. “There is something really honest about the people,” he
says, “because Detroit was a one-industry town and everybody was in the same
boat. So the music reflects that basic honesty. John Lee Hooker, to me, is the
epitome of Detroit. The music is so raw that you almost think it’s about to fall
apart, but it never does, and it grooves like crazy, and it’s as soulful as can
be. So everything moves through that, from Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels to
the MC5, The Stooges, and The White Stripes. They all come out of that
tradition.”

If Motown represented Detroit’s aspirations in the ’60s, then MC5 reflected many
of its brutal realities – Brad Tolinski

However, Detroit was also a changing city. Manufacturing jobs from the auto
industry were in steep decline, while tensions were in sharp ascent, culminating
in the 1967 racial unrest. The co-author of their oral biography, Brad Tolinski
tells the BBC: “If Motown represented Detroit’s aspirations in the ’60s, then
MC5 reflected many of its brutal realities.”

The band was formed in 1963 by guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith,
and would go on to include Rob Tyner on vocals, Dennis Thompson on drums and
Michael Davis on bass. As enamoured by John Coltrane as they were by Bo Diddley
and Chuck Berry, in their early days the band were simply a flush-tight local
outfit known to audiences for the power and precision of their playing. In an
interview in Mojo magazine in 2003, Iggy Pop recalled seeing them during this
period, when, as he said, they were a great “big city cover band”, who covered
“real well” The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and The Who, among others.

The staunchly left-wing band also exemplified the counterculture movement of the
1960s, inspired as they were by Marxism and the beat poets, as well as the
psychedelic drugs of the era. They became involved with local hippy, activist
and jazz fiend John Sinclair, who became their manager. As anti-racists, they
were avid supporters of the Black Panther Party and joined the White Panther
Party, an affiliate political collective that Sinclair and others had dreamed
up. “I visited their communal house where they had a Xerox machine down in the
basement,” record producer Bruce Botnick tells the BBC, “where Sinclair was
making copies of their White Panther Party political stuff.” They played
anti-Vietnam demos that ended in riots, and soon they had a reputation as a band
who were as sonically pulverising as they were politically charged – desperately
seeking revolution on all fronts. On Gotta Keep Movin’, they sang, “Atom bombs,
Vietnam, missiles on the moon / And they wonder why their kids are shootin’
drugs so soon,” while on The American Ruse they railed against the US’s
“terminal stasis”.

Demonstrating their political proactiveness, the band played anti-Vietnam War
protests (Credit: Getty Images)

They became both a representation and a rejection of the times, according to
Jaan Uhelszki, the other co-author of their oral biography. “The MC5 took the
cultural shifts – the Vietnam War, the race riots, the harassment of the
longhairs – that were exploding in the US in the late ’60s and turned them into
a subversive, reckless, thuggish art form,” Uhelszki tells the BBC, “full of
high volume, high energy, rude flamboyance and a rough magic that seemed to
release primitive forces in their audience.”


THEIR REMARKABLE DEBUT ALBUM

Danny Fields, who managed The Ramones and was working in A&R for Elektra
Records, had seen the group, who were now playing more of their own material,
and wanted to sign them. So label boss Jac Holzman, along with Botnick, went to
check them out in Detroit. “It was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard in my
life,” recalls Botnick. “Jac signed them instantly.” In a highly unusual, but
very smart move, the band’s debut album was a live record. “We said, ‘This is
where it’s at,'” recalls Botnick. “‘If we put them under studio conditions
they’re just not going to perform because they need to be in front of their
fans.’ The music didn’t lend itself to the studio – MC5 is a performing band.”

The album just sounded like everything was exploding all at once. I could
imagine the room having a hard time keeping itself together – William DuVall

Released in 1969, Kick Out the Jams is not only regarded as one of the greatest
live albums of all time but as a debut album vastly ahead of its time. It also
captures a moment of pure crystallisation as a new kind of rock ‘n’ roll is
being created. “It just sounded like everything was exploding all at once,”
recalls DuVall of listening to the record when he was a teenager. “I could
imagine the room having a hard time keeping itself together. I used to stare at
the cover of the record in the same way I looked at comic books when I was a
kid. I would just stare at the pictures because I wanted to be in the frame so
much. It was almost like, if I stare at it long enough then maybe I’ll get some
of that energy transfer.”

The album contained one moment that would go on to define not only the album but
also the band. Along with a searingly powerful guitar riff, and a drum part so
ferocious that it resulted in Thompson being nicknamed Machine Gun, the song
Kick Out the Jams has an impassioned scream by Tyner. Before the track explodes
to life, he declares: “Right now, it’s time to… kick out the jams,
motherfucker!”


DETROIT TONIGHT LIVE CELEBRATES THE LIFE & TIMES OF JOHN SINCLAIR

June 12, 2024 by Steve Fly

This Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m.

Please join us to Celebrate the Life and Times of John Sinclair

ML Liebler & The Magic Poetry Band, Bill Harris, Ed Sanders, Peter Werbe, Robin
Eichele , Melba Joyce Boyd, Ra Rishikavi Raghudas, Mark James Andrews, Sunfrog
aka Andrew Smith.

Jun. 13 | 7PM

https://www.jazzcafedetroit.com/events/June-2024/Detroit-Tonight-Live-Celebrates-the-Life-Times-of-John-Sinclair


JOHN SINCLAIR IS FREE

May 17, 2024 by Steve Fly

A Celebration of Life, Poetry, Music and Film May 17, 2024
Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center 6621 St. Claude, Ave., Arabi, LA.

Thanks to James Reuter / Bearcat Cafe, Renee Broussard, Dennis Formento, Carlo
Ditta, Bill Lynn, Jerry Brock and the family and friends including Penny, Celia,
Sonny, Beyoncé and Leni Sinclair.

Photo Credits – Leni Sinclair, Pat Jolly, Lynn Abbott and others with all rights
reserved by photographer.

https://johnsinclair.us/ The John Sinclair Foundation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Friday, May 17 @ 7:00 pm

“JOHN SINCLAIR IS FREE”

A tribute in poetry, music and film

Free admission

John Sinclair, poet, activist, concert & record producer, bandleader and scholar
of the blues.  A celebration in words and music for the poet, bandleader, &
performer, record and concert producer who passed away in Detroit on April 2,
2024.   

Poets:  Valentine Pierce, Megan Burns, Timeless***, Bill Lavender, Chuck
Perkins, Dennis Formento, David Kunian of WWOZ, etc.

Music by Carlo Ditta and band; Second line with the Treme Brass Band

Video selections from John’s career in New Orleans curated by Rene Broussard

https://www.zeitgeistnola.org


MEMORIAL FOR JOHN SINCLAIR

April 8, 2024 by Steve Fly

The Memorial For John Sinclair will take place on Tuesday 9th April (13.00 EDT)

“we are grateful for the gatherings of people who are able to watch remotely,
due to the generosity of Richard Blondy, Eli Neiburger of the The Ann Arbor
District Public Library (AADPL), and Eddie Saint Aubin and Steve Soviak at the
Ralston Project.”

Streaming @ Richard Blondy, FB account: https://www.facebook.com/RichardBlondy/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> about






JOHN SINCLAIR CELEBRATION OF LIFE

April 4, 2024 by Steve Fly




JOHN SINCLAIR 1941 – 2024 R.I.P BIG CHIEF

April 3, 2024 by Steve Fly


JOHN SINCLAIR 1941 – 2024

> 

Big Chief has left the building
let the love flow
x

> “Instead, this Saturday’s 53rd annual Hash Bash will partially be a de-facto
> remembrance event for Sinclair. Event coordinator Jamie Lowell said there was
> already a portion of the Bash earmarked to pay homage to other legalization
> activists who have recently died, including Rick Thompson, Brad Lemke, Gersh
> Avery and Rhory Gould. Several politicians and cannabis activists, including
> John’s ex-wife, photographer Leni Sinclair, are scheduled to speak Saturday.
> https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/people/2024/04/02/obit-john-sinclair-marijuana-activist-detroit-radical/73178795007/

> “You got to/live it not just/say it or/play it that’s what this is/all/about,”
> Sinclair wrote in a 1965 poem.
> Upon the dissolution of the White Panther Party in 1971, Sinclair formed and
> chaired the Rainbow People’s Party, which embraced Marxism-Leninism and
> promoted the revolutionary struggle for a “communal, classless,
> anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and anti-sexist … culture of liberation.”
> Sinclair proudly and aggressively fought for progressive policies as part of
> the burgeoning “New Left” movement.
> “In those times, we considered ourselves revolutionaries,” he said in 2013.
> “We wanted equal distribution of wealth. We didn’t want 1 percent of the rich
> running everything. Of course, we lost.”
> Sinclair often kept a toehold in the world of music, managing for a time Mitch
> Ryder and perhaps most notably MC5, a Detroit-based quintet known for “Kick
> Out the Jams” and as a hard-rocking forerunner to the punk movement.
> https://apnews.com/article/john-sinclair-dies-82a88b0420656561e708ea36c4050a21

> “He’s an incredibly persuasive and charismatic person,” Kramer told Rolling
> Stone. “He’s this great big cat and he’s got all this energy, you know, and he
> just turns it on you. There is something to John’s father-figure effect on the
> group. I had just left home, and here was this older cat who could explain all
> these things that I didn’t understand about the world. And he did have a
> strong effect on everyone else, philosophically strong spiritual attitudes
> that he instilled in us.”
> 
> https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/john-sinclair-dead-obit-1234997977

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> John was my mentor in the 70s self-determination music,” says Detroit musician
> and label operator RJ Spangler, whose Planet D Nonet collaborated with
> Sinclair on the Viper Madness album in 2008. “John really turned us onto New
> Orleans music and culture; we had grand times together in the Big Easy. It
> will not be the same without him.”
> 
> Gross — who like many in Sinclair’s circles refers to him as “The Chief” —
> adds that, “If you could hang out with the guy, it was incredible. To
> experience his love for jazz and what he could teach you in an hour was
> amazing.” And, Gross notes, “He never for one second veered of his path of
> pushing back against The Man. John stood up for the downtrodden, as cliché as
> that might sound. He would champion black culture and blues and jazz music,
> and anybody who seemed oppressed, John was in their corner.”
> 
> https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/john-sinclair-dead-mc5-manager-dies-obituary-1235647609

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> John Lennon read “The Entrapment of John Sinclair,” and decided to do
> something about Sinclair’s very very unjust sentence, “Ten Years for Two
> Joints.”–Ed Sanders, The Entrapment of John Sinclair.

> Long before social media’s instant impact, Sinclair helped spawn the pointedly
> politicized alternative newspaper movement as a fast fount of information
> about the “underground,” as the counterculture was termed at the time, with
> Detroit publications such as Fifth Estate (which still exists), the Ann Arbor
> Sun, the Detroit Artists Workshop Press and its offshoot Work Magazine. Later
> in life, he worked as a spoken-word performer and recording artist with an eye
> toward what he called “jazz poetry,” recording more than 30 albums with
> different band names, including the Blues Scholars which included his longtime
> friend Wayne Kramer, the MC5 guitarist and cofounder who passed away in
> February this year.
> https://variety.com/2024/music/news/john-sinclair-former-mc5-manager-dead-1235958404/
> 
> https://thejohnsinclairfoundation.org/171-2


JOHN SINCLAIR RADIO SHOW 1033 – REMEDIES

December 2, 2023 by Steve Fly

> JOHN SINCLAIR RADIO SHOW 1033 – REMEDIES




DONATE TO THE JOHN SINCLAIR FOUNDATION

November 16, 2023 by Steve Fly



JSF

The John Sinclair Foundation

johnsinclairfoundation.us @ gmail . com

 


PRESS & MEDIA

John Sinclair & Don Was At Legends Plaza
Growing Up in America (film)
The U.S. vs John Lennon (film)
Article From The Guardian
Click On Detroit, Local 4, WDIV
John Sinclair On His Activism And Legacy, With Hour Detroit


UNIVERSITY PERIODICALS

Freeing John Sinclair - Ann Arbor District Library (AADL)
The Sinclair Papers University of Michigan


FRIENDS & AFFILIATES

Radio Free Amsterdam
Iron Man Records
JetPlastic Recordings
M.L. Liebler
Don Was
Detroit Artist Workshop
Art Yard Recordings
The John Sinclair Foundation


SHOP

SHOP BOOKS
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SHOP MUSIC
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