BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..

Subject: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 08:26 PM

...to anyone???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 08:31 PM

MC5 and White Panthers - but that was some time ago.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 08:37 PM

Yup... But there's a lot more... A lot...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 09:58 PM

Like FBI's "Top Ten Wanted List.???

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 10:00 PM

I had worked on some some concerts with John before the famous "two joints" conviction, when the WPP and the MC5(and Iggy) were all in still in Ann Arbor, He had an sense about about music and, were it not for politics and the drug conviction, could have been one of the great music promoters. He's still around, writing poetry, making music, and advocating for, well, you know what...
John Sinclair's Bio

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 10:03 PM

Thanks, Stim...

I heard John a few year back... He had a back-up band and he was talkin' about blues history... It was like listening to a lecture from a true bluesman...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 10:24 PM

John lives in Amsterdam, now Bobert and has a seed business as well as a radio show.
love, harpgirl

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 10:25 PM

He's still doing that, I understand. He knows a lot about jazz, as well. Was Wayne Kramer with the band?

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 10:31 PM

By the way, Bobert, do you know who did not like John Sinclair, even one tiny bit? Your favorite Republican, Ted Nugent--

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 10:33 PM

Not sure...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Sep 12 - 09:27 AM

This is weird... I have a picture of a poster for a 2 day benefit "Free John Sinclair" rock festival that was held Jan. 24th and 25th, 1970, in the Grande Ballroom in Detroit that lists the Amboy Dukes as one of the bands...

Guess they were okay back then...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 17 Sep 12 - 12:10 PM

I used to have that poster on my wall. . The Dukes were there because you were a Michigan Rock band, you pretty much were expected to play there(they played at a couple other "Free John" concerts, too.

Ted didn't like the Grande, much either, probably for the same reasons he didn't John Sinclair. If you asked him, either then or now, he would likely tell you that he didn't like the drugs and dirt, and the mindless "power to the people" rock and roll/pot rhetoric. It may have had more to do with the fact that the MC5, which John managed, were the house band at the Grande, and not the Dukes.

The next year, there was another "Free John Sinclair" concert/rally in Ann Arbor, this one featured John and Yoko, and, according to rock mythology, the establishment was so shaken by this outpouring of "Peace, Drugs, and Rock and Roll" that Sinclair was released, two days later.

The truth, of course, is that civil and human rights attorneys had been working on the case for quite a while (one of the attorneys later defended a band which featured yours truly, which is another, and rather silly story) and the concert was timed to coincide with (and pay the extensive legal costs of) the release.

The degree to which John Sinclair was a political prisoner, rather than just an obnoxious(but charming) promoter/maoist who had done a lot of stuff that pissed people off, is a moot point.

The MC5, and the Stooges, especially Iggy, did a lot better after they'd parted ways with him, but I don't think anything will ever be as much fun as those White Panther Party concerts with the stack of amps and "I wanna see a sea of hands"
and "Kick out the Jams" etc.

As far as politics, however, I believe it was our own beloved Motor City Madman who said, "When was the last time a bunch of stoned potheads changed anything?"

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Sep 12 - 12:51 PM

Yeah, I met Ted Nugent back then... He came across an an arrogance, belligerent asshole...

Never got to see the MC5 but did see the Stooges (with Iggy) at the Grande Ballroom... Got busted that night and spent the next two days in a Detroit jail (another silly story)...

Met John Sinclair about 8 years ago in Westminster, Md. at Common Ground Festival... He's quite the blues historian...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 17 Sep 12 - 01:15 PM

He prided himself on that, Bobert, and people loved him for it. It's a Michigan thing. As to spending two days in a Detroit jail, silly is not the word people usually use, but as they say, what a long strange trip...

Subject: RE: BS: 'Free John Sinclair'... Mean anything..
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Sep 12 - 09:32 PM

Yeah, Stims, it was silly... I was talkin' to a black dude in the men's room and asked him if he knew where I could score a "nickel bag" and so I hooked up after the music and followed him to heck-if-I-knew-where in Detroit... He went off and brought back the weed and we were just there on the street "rappin'" at about 1:00 in the morning... Everything was cool until the Detroit cops drove by and saw a white boy in the hood...

Busted me for suspicion of armed robbery???

Huh???

Hey, it was the 60s...

But I got out in time to catch the last of the White Panther convention I had driven up there to attend...