REALLY GREAT GUEST POST : DETROIT FUNK

Found this really GREAT post and t hought we'd share it you MGT readers today....

From the dETROITFUNK BLOG

This thread will be delving deeper into the local history of one of the greatest bands in rock-n-roll, the MC5. These guys all grew up together in Lincoln Park, Michigan – a downriver suburban Detroit city.

Wayne Kramer (Wayne Kambes) Rob Tyner (Robert Derminer)
Frederick Dewey Smith (Fred “Sonic” Smith), Dennis “Machinegun” Thompson and Michael Davis

The leader of the band who started as lead guitarist, Wayne Kramer, changed his name to disassociate from his estraged father. Singer Rob Tyner took his name from McCoy Tyner, jazz genius John Coltrane’s piano player.



Fred “Sonic” Smith was originally from West Virginia, and moved north in his early teens. The name “sonic” came after he purchased a Fender Duo-Sonic guitar. Fred didnt care for the guitar, which was a short scale “student” model of the Fender Mustang, and returned it. The name stayed.

Fred would later become most known for playing a Mosrite guitar, and later the Rickenbacker 450. The impact of his genius ripples through rock history to this day: you will notice that Johnny Ramone happened to choose the Mosrite guitar, as did Kurt Cobain. This wasnt because they listened to the Ventures.

The concept that the work of Sonic Smith spawned a whole new generation of punk and grunge and alternative rock is crystallized in the name of the band “Sonic Youth” who named themselves in deference to the source.

In his post MC5 days, Fred had a band called Sonics Rendezvous which is known now as “the best band you’ve never heard of”.



This is the 1959 Fender Duo-Sonic that I grew up playing.




Rob Tyner was always the most domestic and grounded member of the band. He ended up moving with his wife and kids to the sleepy bedroom community of Berkley, Michigan. He formed bands and worked with local Viet Nam vets on various charity projects. He stayed very close to the arts community in Detroits Cultural Center around WSU, CCS and the DIA.

On September 17, 1991 Rob went to a Berkley grocery to do some shopping. When he arrived home he had a massive heart attack and crashed his car into his sons car in the driveway of his home. He was found slumped over the wheel and was pronounced dead at Royal Oaks William Beaumont Hospital shortly after. He was survived by his wife and two children.



Rob Tyner was laid to rest wearing an MC5 tshirt at Roseland Cemetery in Berkley.



The man who created all the MC5's Grande Ballroom poster art, Gary Grimshaw, grew up with the 5 in Lincoln Park. He designed this monument for Robs gravesite.



On the flipside of the monument we see the name of the persona that is known to history, Robin Tyner. “Let Me Be Who I Am” is taken from the themesong Kick out the Jams, – its says all that can be said about this wonderful guy. By all accounts a peaceful and friendly person who was well read, spiritual and a very good artist who drew all sorts of hilarious cartoons. Robs “spirit guide” was the Buffalo. The inscripted buffalo on his tombstone is from his own drawing.

Rest in peace Brother.



Fred Sonic Smith went on to form Sonics Rendezvous. New York poet and musician Patti Smith happened to be introduced to Fred right here at Detroits famous Lafayette Coney Island. She never heard of him or the 5, but liked him instantly and invited his band to open for hers. After Fred left the Coney, Patti asked a friend who he actually was. “The best” was the answer.



This is the Old Mariners Church along Jefferson on the river. This church became the stuff of local legend after the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost in Michigans Lake Superior near Whitefish Bay. Gordon Lightfoot recalls the tale in the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.

“In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
At the Maritime Sailors Catherdal
The churchbell chimed, unitil it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald”

Every year to the day they still hold the service and ring that bell.

Fred “Sonic” Smith and Patti Smith were married here at the Old Mariners Church.



Fred and Patti settled down here in the lakeside community of Saint Clair Shores, Michigan – the city where my parents lived when I was born, and just a couple miles from where I live now. Here they lived quietly as “Mr and Mrs Patty Smith” and according to Patti, “did a lot of fishing”.

In the late 1980’s, Fred's health began to decline. Sadly it must be considered that the lifestyle these guys lived may have resulted in their untimely death.



more story HERE

Wayne, Dennis and Michael are all alive and well out there. They have reunited as the 5 on occasion, and they all have played in various band projects. Wayne has released several albums of material and occasionally tours. He is still an incredible guitarist.

In hindsight it now all seems so sad. But theres an old abandoned ballroom out on Grand River where history will echo loudly in our collective memories forever.

KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERFUCKERS !