There was a nice section dealing with the band’s problems with the East Village Motherfuckers, a far-left militant group, but only one sentence about the band’s appearance at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.ĭrug abuse was one of the major issues that brought down the MC5, and Part 2 deals with Kramer’s downward spiral into full-blown addiction, as well as the drug dealing and home invasions that he became involved in to support his habit. John Sinclair, the White Panther Party, and the recording of the band’s three albums are all covered, but one wishes the author would have provided more detail on events surrounding the MC5. Although Kramer’s prose is not as eloquent as Springsteen’s, he pulls you into the action, be it his light-hearted reactions to seeing the T.A.M.I Show or his serious recollections of the 1967 Detroit riots. Rob Tyner), and the formation of the MC5 are all fascinating and they reminded me of Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run memoir in the manner in which he described these early days of playing in a band. Kramer’s stories of growing up in Lincoln Park, his introduction to the guitar and his rock and roll influences, the friendships with Fred Smith and Bob Derminer (a.k.a. One cannot help but appreciate Kramer’s honesty in relating what must have been an excruciating time in their young lives. This section deals with Kramer’s childhood, the effects of growing up without a father in a single-parent home, and the abuse he and his sister had to endure from his mother’s second husband. Part 1 is the largest of the three, and it takes up half of the book.

Although the MC5 understandably looms large, Kramer’s book is much more than just the story of the rise and fall of Michigan’s most notorious band.Ĭhapters are divided into three sections. The classic cover photo of Wayne Kramer blasting out a guitar solo as a member of the MC5 might give one the impression that his new memoir, The Hard Stuff, is an in-depth account of the legendary Detroit band.

The hard stuff by wayne kramer