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If they had some acid today things would be different. It was a catalyst. All of the sudden you penetrated the bullshit and the popular culture and life and you thought, 'This isn't real. The universe is real. The stars are real, the trees are real, but this is horseshit.' That was a great revelation. I'm still working off of the things I learned 40, 45 years later. -John Sinclair |
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John Sinclair 1969
Kramer & Sinclair by Leni Sinclair |
In 1975, Kramer was caught selling cocaine to undercover federal agents and spent two years in prison. Upon his release, Kramer stayed out of the public eye and the music business until the 1995 release of his debut solo album, The Hard Stuff. When asked if "The Man" was able to keep him down, and if the demise of the MC5 and his time in prison changed his views, Kramer is quick to respond, "I'm still left of left. I'm not convinced I'm going to change the world today, but that doesn't mean I'm any less passionate about social justice. There are things that are wrong and they're immoral and unethical and they need to be addressed. A spotlight needs to be put on them. There are people and forces in play that are anti-civilization, anti-human rights. The stuff that I think is worth fighting for may not seem glamorous and may not be sexy - things like education, health care, security and democracy. They're not Hollywood ideas, these are human ideas that have been here from the beginning, and I think they're worthy of time and effort. None of that's changed. In fact, if anything I'm more committed."
These days Kramer collaborates with Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morrello, works on movies and is almost finished with another album.
Kramer & Sinclair |
"I'm in it every day," says Kramer. "I'm trying to make something good happen every day." Of his new record Kramer tells us, "It's a big departure. It's all instrumental except for one spoken word piece. It'll be the companion album to the score of a film I'm doing called The Narcotics Farm, which is a documentary investigation into the United States government's treatment of prisoners in the '40s, '50s and '60s in Lexington, Kentucky, where they experimented on prisoners with drugs. Kind of connected to the Tuskegee syphilis experiments and CIA experiments on mind-controlling drugs."
35 years later, Kramer and Sinclair are still fighting the good fight. They love music and are passionate about social justice. Jail time, oppressive governments and years of struggle couldn't keep them down. Today, we're looking for leaders. Perhaps the reissue of Guitar Army can serve as fodder for the next revolution.
"If they had some acid today things would be different," says Sinclair. "It was a catalyst. All of the sudden you penetrated the bullshit and the popular culture and life and you thought, 'This isn't real. The universe is real. The stars are real, the trees are real, but this is horseshit.' That was a great revelation. I'm still working off of the things I learned 40, 45 years later."
"John Sinclair" by John Lennon
It ain't fair, John Sinclair
In the stir of breathing air
Won't you care for John Sinclair?
In the stair of breathing air
Let him be, set him free
Let him be like you and me
They give him ten for two
What else can the judges do?
Gotta, gotta... gotta, set him free
If he had been a soldier man
Shooting gooks in Vietnam
If he was the CIA
Selling dope and making hay
He'd be free, they'd let him be
Breatthing air, like you and me
They gave me ten for two
What more can the judges do?
Gotta, gotta... gottta set him freee
Was he jailed for what he done?
Representing everyone
Free john now, if we can
From the clutches oof the man
Let him free, lift the lid
Bring him to his wife and kids
They gave me ten for two
What more can the bastards do?
Gotta, gotta... gotta set him free...
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