In The Groove with MC5 Guitarist Wayne Kramer

Iconic Detroit musician picks three formative songs from three formative years of his life

In The Groove features musicians, politicians and everybody in between talking about three formative songs from three formative years of their life. On this edition of In The Groove, CultureShift talks with MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer about the music that shaped him throughout his life.

“I had a neighbor who had a copy of “Ready Teddy” by Little Richard,” says Kramer. “Little Richard just turned me out. When I heard that fervor in his singing and the drumming of Earl Palmer — just slamming that beat — it was from another planet.”

Kramer has kicked out the jams for the MC5, helped bring music programs into dozens of U.S. prisons with his Jail Guitar Doors initiative and has created music for shows like HBO’s cult comedy “Eastbound & Down.”

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation. 
 

Still from YouTube

 

Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.