A Newbury Comics exclusive color vinyl pressing.
Purely on the infectious enthusiasm of Elektra PR Man Danny Fields, who saw both MC5 and the Stooges in the space of one Detroit weekend, Jac Holzman snapped up both groups. Uncharacteristically, Jac agreed to the deal on the phone without having heard a single note. He advanced $15,000 to the MC5 and paid the Stooges $5,000 to sign with Elektra. At the end of October 1968, just two months later, Holzman, with Doors engineer Bruce Botnick, recorded the MC5 live over two days at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom. It was a full-pedal-to-the-metal fusion of hollering, high-energy rock-n-roll, with loud blasts of heavy jazz and blues.
The following day, November 1st, MC5 manager John Sinclair founded the White Panthers, with the MC5 inducted as its house band. Sinclair’s inflammatory politicizing and the group’s penchant for attracting troublemakers created enough of a stir, and their debut album, Kick Out The Jams, landed in the Top Forty.
