MOTOR CITY IS BURNING
I first heard the classic track “I’m a Ramrod” by the Ramrods on the 1998 Total Energy Records compilation LP and CD, Motor City’s Burnin’, with the title adapted from the MC5 song “Motor City Is Burning”; I got it in a special package of 3 Detroit CD’s that also included Motor City’s Burnin’, Vol. 2 and Motor City Blues. The first two albums are stoked with killer tracks from many of the bands mentioned above and others. Among other things, Motor City Blues was my introduction to a simply amazing street musician named One String Sam who plays a handmade “unitar” and has a bluesman howl unlike any that I have ever heard.
(March 2016)
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In his 5-star review of the MC5 album, Mark Deming raves in Allmusic: “Kick out the Jams is one of the most powerfully energetic live albums ever made; Wayne Kramer and Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith were a lethal combination on tightly interlocked guitars, bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dennis Thompson were as strong a rhythm section as Detroit ever produced, and Rob Tyner’s vocals could actually match the soulful firepower of the musicians, no small accomplishment. Even on the relatively subdued numbers (such as the blues workout ‘Motor City Is Burning’), the band sounds like they’re locked in tight and cooking with gas; while the full-blown rockers (pretty much all of side one) are as gloriously thunderous as anything ever committed to tape. This is an album that refuses to be played quietly.”
(December 2016)
