Wayne Kramer, one of the two lead guitarists for the proto-punk band the MC5, has died. (Only the drummer from the original band is still alive.) The Michigan rock band was best-known for the 1969 live album "Kick Out the Jams," and recorded two other studio albums. They enjoyed modest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but are now widely acclaimed as the progenitors of punk rock music. Here's a few clips of the band, starting with Mr. Kramer's best-known number, "Ramblin' Rose," on which he also sings the lead in his strange falsetto; this is live in 1970:
And here's the band on the German show Beat Club doing another MC5 staple, "Motor City is Burning," their anti-police anthem about the Detroit riot of 1967 (Kramer is the guitarist on the left):
And here are they doing one of their later numbers, "Tonight," live in 1972 (Kramer is the guitarist closest to the camera):
Given Mr. Kramer's appearance and demeanor, it will perhaps not surprise readers to learn he ended up in jail for a period of time in the 1970s on drug charges. Rob Tyner, the Afro-sporting lead singer, died in 1991 of a heart attack, long retired from the music business. The other lead guitarist, Fred "Sonic" Smith (who later married Patti Smith) died in 1994 of heart failure. Both Tyner and Smith were only in their 40s.
There's a documentary about Detroit and the music scene in the late 1960s here, including the MC5 and their self-styled revolutionary manager John Sinclair (later immortalized by John Lennon).
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