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THE HARD STUFF

Wayne Kramer

Dope, Crime, The MC5 and my Life of Impossibilities

Wayne Kramer's story is a reminder that out of darkness comes light. The sixties were NOT all peace and love – but peace and love can be born out of turbulence and unrest. Wayne’s story is a revolutionary story. But it’s also the deeply personal struggle of an addict and an artist, a rebel with a great tale to tell.
I first heard the MC5 my freshman year in college. A friend played me their live album, and I was hooked at the words “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers.” The missing link between Free Jazz and Punk Rock, as pundits have called them, to me they were all about the guitar interplay between Fred Sonic Smith and Wayne Kramer. I knew that they had played the riots at the Democratic National Convention and I knew that they were White Panthers. That they would flame out before they could ever be as well-known as they should have been. That they were seen as proto-punks and visionaries.

What I didn’t know was that I would one day have the honor of representing Wayne Kramer’s memoir. And boy do we need someone like Wayne in our lives these days! Wayne’s story is a reminder that out of darkness comes light. The sixties were NOT all peace and love – but peace and love can be born out of turbulence and unrest. Wayne’s story is a revolutionary story. But it’s also the deeply personal struggle of an addict and an artist, a rebel with a great tale to tell. From the glory days of Detroit to the junk-sick streets of the East Village, Key West to Nashville to sunny LA, in and out of prison, on and off drugs, Wayne’s is the classic journeyman narrative, with a twist: he’s here to remind us that revolution is always an option, and maybe it’s time to kick out some more jams, motherfuckers.


Wayne Kramer (born April 30, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television composer.
Available products
Book

Published 2018-08-14 by Hachette

Book

Published 2018-08-14 by Hachette

Comments

The arc of dizzying ascent, steep fall and hard-won redemption is a familiar one. Few, however, have pushed these contours to such vivid extremes as the MC5 guitarist.

Eye-Opening [ ... ] This journey through the hard stuff is admirably hard on Kramer himself. The self-portrait that emerges here is of an intelligent man of no little principle, slugging it out with his inner thug, losing battle after battle before finally, painfully, winning back both career and respect.

An endearing read.

The Hard Stuff is hard-hitting, raw, unflinchingly honest, thought-provoking, inspiring and highly recommended.

Wayne Kramer was the cover story of the 8/17 issue of Spare Change News. Read more...

Exclusive Wayne Kramer book peek: How I became a drug dealer Read more...

UK: Faber ; Spain: Alpha Omega

MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer knows why music and politics mix so well.

We sit down with the guitarist of one of Detroit's most notorious bands, MC5, to hear more about his new autobiography 'The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities'. Read more...

Kramer writes with self-lacerating clarity about life in The MC5 and their chaotic slide into drugs disorder and prison. Every grim inch of the trip from boundary-smashing idealism to dingy realty is here, with a twist of redemption at the end.

Turbulent, engrossing life story. A painful, beautiful experience.

Wayne Kramer: 'I knew there was more to my story than most' - The guitarist of MC5 discusses his challenging and ultimately redemptive life, as detailed in his new autobiography. Read more...

Most importantly, NPR has run a massive profile of Wayne and the MC50, the name he's using for his new tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MC5s seminal album, KICK OUT THE JAMS. Read more...

Wayne Kramer Talks About Jail, Detroit, and MC5's 50th Anniversary - Legendary punk rocker also discusses his new book and new band with Mike Doughty. Read more...