I read about this song long before I actually heard it. It’s loud hard rock right in your face. It’s famous for lead singer Rob Tyner’s uncensored “Kick out the jams motherf***ers” rather than the tamer version that is “Kick out the jams brothers and sisters. ”
They were using the expression for a long time, because they would be critical of other bands that came to Detroit that the MC5 would open for. They’d come into town with a big reputation, and then they’d get up on stage and if they were weak the MC5 would harass them. They would yell at them, ‘Kick out the jams or get off the stage, motherf–ker!’ Finally, one day they used the expression for a title of a song.
Many bands benefit from controversy, but the controversy over this song did not go well for them, and when they pushed it too far, it got them dropped from their label.
Many retailers refused to stock the album, including a local chain called Hudson’s. The band took this as an affront and placed an ad in an underground newspaper called the Fifth Estate that read, “F–k Hudson’s.” Hudson’s responded by threatening to pull all Elektra albums, so in 1969, the label dropped the MC5, recalled the Kick Out The Jams albums still in stores, and replaced them with clean versions.
Atlantic quickly signed the band and teamed them with producer Jon Landau, but their two albums on the label flopped, and by 1973 what was just a few years earlier the most promising band in Detroit was out of action.
“MC5” stands for Motor City Five. The name was derived from The Dave Clark Five, otherwise known as the DC5. The group went through a few managers, including Bruce Burnish, before John Sinclair took them on.
Jeff Buckley who was not known as a loud artist was a huge fan of this song and often performed it at his live shows, injecting a burst of rock into his setlists.
The song peaked at #82 in the Billboard 100 in 1969.
From Songfacts
The signature song of the MC5, “Kick Out The Jams” was also their rallying cry and credo. The phrase was often taken to mean “overcome obstacles,” but it wasn’t written as a song of perseverance.
Along with the rest of the album, this was recorded live at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit on October 30 and 31 (Mischief Night and Halloween), 1968. By this time, the MC5 had gained a fervent live following in the Detroit area, but had not released any material. By the time the album was issued a few months later in early 1969, they had stirred up lots of controversy for their revolutionary stunts and associations: they sometimes brought unloaded rifles on stage, and their manager, John Sinclair, founded the White Panther party, devoted to upending political and cultural norms. The song peaked on the Hot 100 on April 5, 1969; In July, Sinclair was given a 10-year prison sentence for possession of two marijuana cigarettes. He became a cause célèbre, as many rockers voiced support for him. In 1971, John Lennon lionized him in the song “John Sinclair.”
Elektra Records president Jac Holzman is listed as the co-producer on this track along with Bruce Botnick, as they handled the live recording. Botnick was the engineer for The Doors.
This was likely the first rock song on a major label to use the word f–k in the lyrics (it was also printed in the liner notes, written by John Sinclair). It proved very provocative, but also drew attention away from other storylines, like their furious live shows and role in defining the Detroit rock sound.
The entire band was credited as writers on this song, per custom on their first album. Lead singer Rob Tyner, who died of a heart attack in 1991 at age 46, did most of the work on this one. Wayne Kramer told Songfacts:
“We were going through a very creative period. The band had just moved in together for the very first time. There used to be a building in downtown Detroit that was a dentist’s office on the second floor, and we all moved into different rooms in the dentist’s office as our bedrooms. And then downstairs was a storefront. I covered the walls with egg crates and made it a rehearsal studio, so for the first time we could rehearse whenever we wanted to – all day, all night if we wanted to – and we all lived there.
So, it became possible to really develop some songs and some music. And Tyner and I developed a little habit of sitting down at the kitchen table with a couple of joints of reefer, a little amp, my electric guitar. He’d have a notepad, I would just play guitar riffs, and he would listen and say, ‘Wait, wait… play that one again. No, change that a little bit. OK, play that again. Play that four times.’ And then we would start to cobble the songs together. That was where ‘Kick Out The Jams’ was born.”
Rage Against The Machine covered this on their 2000 album Renegades. On August 27, 2008, Rage performed the song with MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer at the Denver Coliseum during the Democratic National Convention, which was being held nearby.
This was the first song played on XFM’s launch as a Londonwide commercial station on September 1, 1997. 23 years later, it was the also the final track broadcast by XFM before its re-branding as Radio X on September 21, 2015.
The censored version
The uncensored version
Kick Out The Jams
Kick out the jams motherfuckers !
Yeah! I, I, I, I, I’m gonna
I’m gonna kick ’em out ! Yeah !
Well I feel pretty good
And I guess that I could get crazy now baby
Cause we all got in tune
And when the dressing room got hazy now baby
I know how you want it child
Hot, quick and tight
The girls can’t stand it
When you’re doin’ it right
Let me up on the stand
And let me kick out the jam
Yes, kick out the jams
I want to kick ’em out!
Yes I’m starting to sweat
You know my shirt’s all wet
What a feeling
In the sound that abounds
And resounds and rebounds off the ceiling
You gotta have it baby
You can’t do without
When you get that feeling
You gotta sock ’em out
Put that mike in my hand
And let me kick out the jam
Yes ! Kick out the jams
I want to kick ’em out
So you got to give it up
You know you can’t get enough Miss Mackenzie
Cause it gets in your brain
It drives you insane
Leaping frenzy
The wailin’ guitars girl
The crash of the drums
Make you want to keep-a-rockin’
Till the morning comes
Let me be who I am
And let me kick out the jams
Yes, kick out the jams
I done kicked em out!!!
…
That tune rocks pretty hard. The name MC5 rings a bell, though I don’t recall previously listening to any specific songs.
It’s funny those lyrics caused such a storm, especially from today’s perspective where you have certain genres of music that are filled with foul language. While I don’t mind the occasional curse word in a song, if it’s one after the other, it does turn me off.
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I know what you mean. I like people to be clever about it. Make people read between the lines a little bit…don’t be so obvious.
This one like I said… I read about it before I heard it. They have been called a proto type heavy metal band.
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I never had any of the MC5 albums, but I remember listening to them on FM radio. It was nice to read about them, because I never knew anything about this group. If I am not mistaken, Country Joe and the Fish used the F word on a song before MC5.
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I was going to ask you if you knew about these guys. They were hard that is for sure.
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I always thought they fit in really good with Mountain and the James Gang.
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Yes they do fit in that genre perfectly.
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I’ve heard OF them much more than I’ve heard them…yet another Velvet Underground-like one in that respect. didn’t Patti Smith marry one of them?
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Yes she did marry Fred Smith from them…I should have listed that. They were very hard rock before it was really popular.
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I know the Rage cover – guess I should go back and hear the original sometime.
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That’s not a bad version.
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I find more than a few tracks of RATM at a time too much, but it was pretty good.
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Everything seems primitive at first view, but it isn’t. MC5 had playful and creative talent. On one hand, they are considered as big bang of punk and noise rock. Sex Pistols, Black Flag and some others make reference to them. On the other hand is their versed, stylistic diversity far away from the often simple punk rock songs. I like brilliant ending “Starship” – a psychedelic monster.
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It’s been a long time since I heard Spaceship….I just listened for the first time in years…it’s like a train coming right at you.
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Yep, amazing madness. The piece combines the lyrics of Sun Ra with their own music.
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Have you watched the Creem Magazine documentary Max? if not check it out as these guys are in it.
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No I haven’t…I sure will…they seemed like rebels and geez they turned up!
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I need to put these guys on one of my You Pick It’s.
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It would be a good one…I was going to suggest this morning Big Star’s first one BUT…it would only get one vote lol
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This is a helluvatune… rocks as hard as a mountain, but playful. Absolute classic. You’ve put me in the mood for some Sunday MC5 jams.
I didn’t know the Hudson’s / Elektra story. All over a wee curse word!
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I didn’t know the Hudson story either…the band was determined. Enjoy your Sunday!
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I really like the BOC version on the Some Enchanted Evening album. While I dig MC5, gotta say that BOC nailed that as a cover version.
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I saw MC50 in Grand Rapids, MI a few years ago. It was their 50th reunion tour
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Oh cool! They were one of the first really hard rock bands…some say proto Heavy Metal
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That’s what I heard, but I was honestly surprised I didn’t know more about them before that. Kim Thayer of Soundgarden was part of the band too
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They pushed the limits back then. That is so cool that you got to see them.
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It was a good show.
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Though I think there were only a couple of the original guys
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I think the guitar player was original and really he was the main one…
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Yeah, I think you’re right about that
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Yup. I also like the Rage cover you mentioned
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Eek. I’ve never heard of them. LOL!
Dude! You are over 1,000 followers!
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Now this is some rock and roll MF! lol.. Yea I couldn’t believe it either!
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You so special…🤪
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Well I try to be as classy as possible!
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😁
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