MC5 on Beat Club

MC5 were one of the greatest unsung American bands of their generation. While a majority of the American youth was under the influence of flower power, these guys were barreling forward with their own style of high octane Rock N' Roll. While they were fairly (or rather unfairly) neglected in their own time, they have along with their contemporaries The Stooges, become considered the very pinnacle and definition of the Detroit Rock sound and have been heralded as godfathers of Punk.

Towards the very end of their unfortunately short career, the band went on a tour of Europe in first part of 1972. At some point in the tour, their original bassist Michael Davis left the band and was replaced with Steve Moorhouse, who is seen here. As part of the tour the band stopped off in Germany and were featured on an episode of the "Beat Club".

Unlike many of the music performance shows in the US, where the artist lip-synced and looked like morons, Germany's "Beat Club", which ran from 1965-1972, featured artists actually performing the music live, in an intimate and relaxed setting (see the first clip for evidence). It was in many ways a forerunner to the quality music programs that followed in it's wake such as "The Old Grey Whistle Test", "The Midnight Special", "Rockpalast" and much later "Later...With Jools Holland".

This post features as many clips as I could find of these sessions. Their many be others that I haven't found (alert me in the comments if you are able to find others). These are the original pre-air clips that feature the band playing behind a blue screen. When the clips would later go to broadcast, they would be filled with a cool psychedelic style light show.

Some of these clips are higher quality than others. Click on the clips to view each on youtube for higher quality resolution and/or widescreen, when available.


Ramblin' Rose

This classic cover was a staple of the band's live performances since at least 1968, features guitarist Wayne Kramer on lead vocals and was the opening track on the band's 1969 live debut album, "Kick Out the Jams". Here its played slightly slower and groovier than normal.





Tonight

From the band's second album 1970's "Back in the USA". This is the best version of the song I've heard live or otherwise and is exponentially better than the studio recording. Here we can really see the band in full flight and epic jam mode. In the extended boogie section in the middle, there's a vamp that sounds a lot like ZZ Top's classic "La Grange". Also of note is the fact that you can witness the brilliant interplay and musical chemistry between guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, and understand why they are considered, to this day, to be one of the greatest guitar duos in history.




Back to Comm

This was a track from the early days of the band.



The Motor City Is Burning

This is a cool blues number that was also originally on their debut.




Kick Out the Jams

I've posted two versions of this, the band's most well known song. The first is a great full extended version, with the band getting in some great jamming. The second is a much shorter alternate performance, that was the one they chose to actually broadcast. As you can see it features the background projection, comes in as the band is in mid jam and features some classic stage antics from Kramer and Smith. Kick ass.