19 Comments
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Lincoln Mitchell's avatar

Very saddened by his death as well. I always liked the connection between Kramer and the Clash, one of my favorite bands.

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Dan Epstein's avatar

It took me years to realize that the first verse of "Jail Guitar Doors" was about him. But I don't feel too badly, as apparently Billy Bragg had no idea until Wayne told him, haha!

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Lincoln Mitchell's avatar

Yes. I did not realize it for years either.

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Bill Weigel's avatar

Wow! I never put that “together”!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jail_Guitar_Doors

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S.W. Lauden's avatar

Beautiful.

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Dan Epstein's avatar

Thanks, my friend.

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Erik Sugg's avatar

Amazing piece, brother. A truly fantastic final line as well, haha.

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Dan Epstein's avatar

Thanks, my man. I thought you might dig it!

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Hektor Bleriot's avatar

Totally identify with your experience. Great tribute to WK and the MC5.

When I was playing drums in several KC area punk/thrash/psychedelic bands in early 80s, the MC5 were legendary. One of the guitar players in several of my bands played a burgundy colored SG, and was known for being addicted to opiates of various types, and his guitars all came and went (like Wayne's) and I remember him twiddling endlessly on his electronic tuner between what seemed like every damned song we played. He's been gone for years now. RIP Wayne. And God bless the memory of Dave Dawg!

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The Girl Can't Help It's avatar

Sweatiest band ever! I loved them and had great hopes of seeing the reconstituted band, which now will never happen. ROCK THE HEAVENS, WAYNE AND SONIC!

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Mickey McMahan's avatar

Nice tribute Dan. I love the SG story. As a player of SGs, let me introduce you to my little friend, Graphite in the nut, works like a charm. One dollar at your local hardware store. RIP Brother Wayne.

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Dan Epstein's avatar

Excellent tip, Mickey! Truth be told, I never entirely gave up on my SG dream - and I now have a SG that plays wonderfully and stays in tune even when I use the vibrola (which is often). Just took a few tries before I found the right one for me!

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Michael K. Fell's avatar

Fantastic essay. Thanks for sharing your story with us, all. I am still saddened that "A True Testimonial" hasn't seen the light of day. I was given a pre-release copy on DVD by a friend who worked at a UK magazine, and they were sent it for review (before the lawsuit). After my buddy reviewed the film he kindly gave the DVD to me. It's one of the best music docs ever made! RIP Wayne & the rest of the MC5. At least their music lives on and will ultimately outlive us all.

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Dan Epstein's avatar

It is an absolutely fantastic doc - I have a bootleg copy somewhere.

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Tony Fletcher's avatar

Sweetly done, man!

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Angel L. Martinez's avatar

Thanks for sharing! The ending was hilarious!Rest in Power, Brother Wayne Kramer! Long live the legacy of the MC5!

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Dan Epstein's avatar

Right on, Angel!

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Thea Wood's avatar

What a wonderful experience and touching tribute to your musical inspiration. I grew up in metro Detroit but was too young to see MC5 perform (born 1969). It’s no surprise that they’ve had a lasting influence on the “not Motown” Detroit sound: garage rock and punk that we love and adore from Iggy Pop, The Stooges, The White Stripes/Jack White, Nikki Corvette, The Romantics, Choking Susan, The LowCocks, and the list goes on. I fully appreciate now what I was too young to experience then. Thank you for the smile. And sorry for the loss of an icon.

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Dan Epstein's avatar

Right on, Thea. Wayne made a lot of folks smile (and had a great one, himself), so I'm happy that my experience with him put a smile on your face.

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