Kick Out the Jams

The album peaked at number 30 on the Billboard albums chart, "in the wake of a publicity blitz", wrote Robert Christgau in ''Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981). In Canada, the album reached #37. While "Ramblin' Rose" and "Motor City Is Burning" open with the band's typical leftist and revolutionary rhetoric, it was the opening line to the title track that stirred up controversy. Vocalist Rob Tyner shouted, "And right now ... right now ... right now it's time to ... kick out the jams, motherfuckers!" before the opening riffs. Elektra Records executives were offended by the line and had preferred to edit it out of the album (replacing the offending words with "brothers and sisters"), while the band and manager John Sinclair adamantly opposed this. However in 2002, Wayne Kramer explained to NPR's Terry Gross on her show, Fresh Air, the band understood and accepted the single needed to be recorded without the profanity. The original release had "kick out the jams, Motherfuckers!" printed on the inside album cover, but was soon pulled from stores. Two versions were then released, both with censored album covers, with the uncensored audio version sold behind record counters. The controversy escalated further when Hudson's department stores refused to carry the album. Tensions between the band and the Hudson's chain escalated to the point that the department stores refused to carry any album from the Elektra label after MC5 took out a full-page ad that, according to Danny Fields, "was just a picture of Rob Tyner, and all it said was 'Fuck Hudson's.' And it had the Elektra logo". To end the conflict and to avoid further financial loss, Elektra dropped MC5 from their record label. ==Music and lyrics==

The music on Kick Out the Jams has been described as "raw, in-your-face, savage and raging." According to Classic Rock Magazine, "it’s a devastating introduction to a band who had so much anger and frustration to get out of their system." "Kick out the jams" has been taken to be a slogan of the 1960s ethos of revolution and liberation, an incitement to "kick out" restrictions in various forms. To quote MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer from his interview with Caroline Boucher in Disc & Music Echo magazine on August 8, 1970: People said "oh wow, 'kick out the jams' means break down restrictions" etc., and it made good copy, but when we wrote it we didn't have that in mind. We first used the phrase when we were the house band at a ballroom in Detroit, and we played there every week with another band from the area. ... We got in the habit, being the sort of punks we are, of screaming at them to get off the stage, to kick out the jams, meaning stop jamming. We were saying it all the time and it became a sort of esoteric phrase. Now, I think people can get what they like out of it; that's one of the good things about rock and roll. The title has also been reinterpreted as an establishment message masquerading as a revolutionary anthem. David Bowie sings in the song "Cygnet Committee": "[We] stoned the poor on slogans such as/Wish You Could Hear/Love Is All We Need/Kick Out the Jams/Kick Out Your Mother". ==Critical reception==

Upon its release, critic Lester Bangs, writing his inaugural review for Rolling Stone, called Kick Out the Jams a "ridiculous, overbearing, pretentious album". In contrast to this view, modern opinion of the album generally holds it in very high regard, noting its influence on rock music that has followed. Mark Deming in a retrospective review for AllMusic called it "one of the most powerfully energetic live albums ever made". Bangs himself would change his mind about the album, writing in a footnote in his Troggs essay "James Taylor Marked for Death": ==Legacy==

In March 2005, Q placed the song "Kick Out the Jams" at number 39 in its "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks" list. The same track was named the 65th best hard rock song of all time by VH1. "The MC5 were a mercurial band," remarked guitarist Wayne Kramer. "We were inconsistent. All of a sudden, this was the night. It was a lot of pressure for us to be under. I hear it every time I listen to the record. I hear me making clumsy mistakes on the guitar; I hear Dennis all over on the tempos; I hear Rob not quite in the perfect voice he was capable of." Tyler Kane of Paste wrote in 2018: "It might not have been until 1977 when punk rock became somewhat of a household term, but its foundation was set in 1969 with the Motor City Five's roaring arrival, Kick Out the Jams." Classic Rock wrote in 2021: "While many people would suggest albums from Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, UFO and others, it’s arguable that Kick Out The Jams is the greatest live album of all time." ==Track listing==

; MC5 • Rob Tyner – lead vocals • Wayne Kramer – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Ramblin' Rose" • Fred "Sonic" Smith – rhythm guitar, backing vocals • Michael Davis – bass guitar • Dennis Thompson – drums ; Additional personnel • Brother J. C. Crawford – "spiritual advisor" • John Sinclair – "guidance", liner notes • Bruce Botnick – engineer • Robert L. Heimall, William S. Harvey – artwork • Joel Brodsky – album cover photo • Magdalena Sinclair – liner photography ==Charts==