Overview

The first memoir by Wayne Kramer, legendary guitarist and cofounder of quintessential Detroit proto-punk legends The MC5 In January 1969, before the world heard a note of their music, The MC5 was on the cover of Rolling Stone. The missing link between free jazz and punk rock, they were raw, primal, and, when things were clicking, absolutely unstoppable. Led by legendary guitarist Wayne Kramer, The MC5 was a reflection of the times: exciting, sexy, violent, chaotic, and out of control, all but assuring their time in the spotlight would be short-lived. They toured the country, played with music legends, and had a rabid following, their music acting as the soundtrack to the blue collar youth movement springing up across the nation. Kramer wanted to redefine what a rock 'n' roll group was capable of, and there was power in reaching for that, but it was also a recipe for disaster, both personally and professionally. The band recorded three major label albums but, by 1972, it was all over. Kramer's story is (literally) a revolutionary one, but it's also the deeply personal struggle of an addict and an artist, a rebel with a great tale to tell. The '60s were not all peace and love, but Kramer shows that peace and love can be born out of turbulence and unrest. From the glory days of Detroit to the junk-sick streets of the East Village, from Key West to Nashville and sunny L.A., in and out of prison and on and off of drugs, his is the classic journeyman narrative, but with a twist: he's here to remind us that revolution is always an option.

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Reviews

The Hard Stuff is a raw account of Kramer's life growing up in the increasingly mean streets of post-World War II Detroit, the glorious rise and precipitous fall of the MC5, and his decades-long addiction to drugs that led to his two-year bid in a federal penitentiary. --VICE's Noisey [This] book comes alive when bringing the reader into the heart of the late-'60s scene, where revolution seemed not just possible but plausible...The Hard Stuff is rarely poetic, but in its brutal honesty Mr. Kramer may succeed in deterring future musicians from contemplating serious drug abuse. --Wall Street Journal A book as suited to the sociology section as the music aisle. --The Guardian A thorough examination of his life, including musical adventures and drug misadventures that ultimately landed him in jail... The Hard Stuff covers the entirely of Kramer's life, with no attempts to hide any warts. --Billboard.com An honest accounting of everything the title states, from the rapid rise and fall of the MC5 over the course of three albums, the heroin addiction and drug dealing that landed him in prison, and ultimately the defeat of those demons, redemption, and late-in-life fatherhood that he calls 'the most meaningful thing I've ever done.' --Orange County Register By blending his own narrative with the trials of MC5 and by merging musical rebellion with social justice, the author has penned a contemplative diatribe against political authority. --Library Journal By the time he turned 30, Kramer had been the lead guitarist in a legendary but star-crossed rock band, a playacting Detroit gangster, and a guest of the American carceral system. All this living is covered in his new memoir The Hard Stuff, along with Kramer's roundabout path to the life he leads today. --NPR Music For all the hardness of his life, his insights into addiction-drawn from his own, and his absent father's alcoholism-are shot through with an enduring, thoughtful empathy that makes The Hard Stuff such an endearing read. --MOJO He defied death, drugs and detention. Now MC5 legend Wayne Kramer has written an equally full-on memoir...Eye-opening...Wide-ranging...His journey from fatherless child to musical maverick to junkie to upstanding survivor reads like a history of the late 20th century. --TheObserver In the grand literary tradition of finding meaning in the course of a life, guitar legend and rock music icon Wayne Kramer's deep and insightful memoir The Hard Stuff stands out like one of his piercing Fender solos. This is the story of a man ahead of his time, who has managed to carve a real life out of the shards of the magical but self-destructive life of his youth. Real wisdom arises from pain and loss, and Kramer has the chops to claim his place as a modern-day sage. That he stays grateful and humble is the best evidence of his personal growth. Read this memoir for a glimpse into the deepest reality of the human experience. --Kenneth E. Hartman, former prisoner, justice reform activist, and author of the Eric HofferAward-winning memoir Mother California: A Story of Redemption BehindBars Kramer has written one of rock's most engaging and readable memoirs. --Rolling Stone Kramer writes with a self-lacerating clarity about life in The MC5 and their chaotic slide into drugs, disorder and prison. Every grim inch of the trip from boundary-smashing idealism to dingy realty is here, with a twist of redemption at the end. --Q Magazine Kramer's life has been a raging roller-coaster of euphoric highs and bottom-feeder lows. The now-sober superstar talks about all of it-the student demonstrations, police riots, crazy concerts, drug-fueled debauchery, wiretapping, marriages and divorce, prison time, therapy, recovery, and redemption-in his new memoir...Sure, we've been awed by other rock autobiographies...but we've never encountered a tale as turbulent and gritty as Kramer's. The Hard Stuff is a brisk, brutal page-turner wherein the Motor City 'white boy with the wah-wah' candidly chronicles the formation of one of rock's most outrageous ensembles. --AXS.com Often harrowing, sometimes hilarious and always compelling. --Buffalo News Reading Wayne Kramer's painfully honest autobiography was like savoring a real-life reverse murder mystery: how he ever survive to write this? World-class rock and jazz musician at the age of 20, progenitor of punk with the MC5, political and cultural revolutionary, heroin addict, alcoholic, residential B&E burglar, drug dealer, federal convict, nothing's omitted. Future generations of disaffected kids will read The Hard Stuff to learn the miracle of a life of music and survival. --Mark Rudd, author of Underground: My Life with SDS and theWeathermen Relives those energising days of the late '60s, when Detroit's MC5 mixed rock and revolution with free jazz and exceptional hair...An inspiring and redemptive tale. --Uncut The book, while detailing the struggle of an addict and an artist, is layered with the optimism of a man committed to seeing past impossibilities. --South Florida Sun-Sentinel The MC5 are the ultimate cult band: a rebellious group from late-1960s Detroit whose raw, proto-punk take on rock'n'roll influenced everyone from the Sex Pistols to Primal Scream. They never made it, though, and when you read this memoir by the guitarist and leader Wayne Kramer, you begin to see why. The Hard Stuff can be read as a manual of how not to become a rock star. Drugs, band feuds, jail and radical politics all combined to prevent stardom. This is a story of bad luck and bad behaviour in equal measure. --Times of London The 1960s rocker and (sometimes) revolutionary pulls no punches in his autobiography, delivering a detailed look at his life good (leading the rock powerhouse MC5, political activism during the late 1960s and early '70s) and bad (drugs, prison) in a voice as clear as the vocals on MC5's 'Kick Out the Jams.' --Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel There's no hyperbole in saying that The MC5 were one of the most important bands to emerge from America during the 1960s, which is why it's so great that Wayne Kramer, one of the founding members of the band, decided to sit down and write himself a memoir...The end result-The Hard Stuff-turned out spectacularly. --Rhino There's nothing like an autobiography when it comes to really digging deep. Kramer's The Hard Stuff does exactly that. It's simultaneously brutally honest, heartbreaking, hilarious, and life-affirming...It's a frankly wonderful read. --Detroit Metro Times Voyeuristically dramatic. --New York Times Book Review Wayne Kramer bore first-hand witness to an unparalleled era of rebellion, freedom, and total craziness. The Hard Stuff brings that milieu back-to-life with a wildly compelling, vivid, and eloquent portrayal. It's the next best thing to having actually been there. I binge-read the whole book and, for the next week, could smell and taste the Grande Ballroom in my mind. --Don Was, producer andfounder of Was (Not Was) Wayne Kramer is the biggest badass in rock 'n' roll. Period. And The Hard Stuff proves it. Between these covers is a story of survival, talent, madness, dope, guts, and a sheer, fearless commitment to bringing straight-up enlightenment to this fascist, prison-happy nation we happen to inhabit--even if it meant putting his own freedom, and his own unbelievably epic life, on the line. This just may be the best memoir of the year. --Jerry Stahl, author of I, Fatty and Permanent Midnight Wayne Kramer's story is an incredible tale of rock 'n' roll redemption. The MC5 crystallized the '60s counterculture movement at its most volatile and basically invented punk rock music. But Wayne's life proved to be as chaotic as his groundbreaking guitar playing. Rogue, rascal, rebel, revolutionary, artist, addict, inmate, poet, prisoner, and now proud papa, Brother Wayne Kramer is one of the wisest people I know, and he has earned that wisdom the hard way. The world needs to know this man's story. Here it is. --TomMorello, guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets ofRage

Wayne Kramer's story is an incredible tale of rock 'n' roll redemption. The MC5 crystallized the '60s counterculture movement at its most volatile and basically invented punk rock music. But Wayne's life proved to be as chaotic as his groundbreaking guitar playing. Rogue, rascal, rebel, revolutionary, artist, addict, inmate, poet, prisoner, and now proud papa, Brother Wayne Kramer is one of the wisest people I know, and he has earned that wisdom the hard way. The world needs to know this man's story. Here it is. --Tom Morello, guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage Wayne Kramer is the biggest badass in rock 'n' roll. Period. And The Hard Stuff proves it. Between these covers is a story of survival, talent, madness, dope, guts, and a sheer, fearless commitment to bringing straight-up enlightenment to this fascist, prison-happy nation we happen to inhabit--even if it meant putting his own freedom, and his own unbelievably epic life, on the line. This just may be the best memoir of the year. --Jerry Stahl, author of I, Fatty and Permanent Midnight Wayne Kramer bore first-hand witness to an unparalleled era of rebellion, freedom, and total craziness. The Hard Stuff brings that milieu back-to-life with a wildly compelling, vivid, and eloquent portrayal. It's the next best thing to having actually been there. I binge-read the whole book and, for the next week, could smell and taste the Grande Ballroom in my mind. --Don Was, producer and founder of Was (Not Was) Voyeuristically dramatic. --New York Times Book Review There's nothing like an autobiography when it comes to really digging deep. Kramer's The Hard Stuff does exactly that. It's simultaneously brutally honest, heartbreaking, hilarious, and life-affirming...It's a frankly wonderful read. --Detroit Metro Times There's no hyperbole in saying that The MC5 were one of the most important bands to emerge from America during the 1960s, which is why it's so great that Wayne Kramer, one of the founding members of the band, decided to sit down and write himself a memoir...The end result-The Hard Stuff-turned out spectacularly. --Rhino The 1960s rocker and (sometimes) revolutionary pulls no punches in his autobiography, delivering a detailed look at his life good (leading the rock powerhouse MC5, political activism during the late 1960s and early '70s) and bad (drugs, prison) in a voice as clear as the vocals on MC5's 'Kick Out the Jams.' --Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel The MC5 are the ultimate cult band: a rebellious group from late-1960s Detroit whose raw, proto-punk take on rock'n'roll influenced everyone from the Sex Pistols to Primal Scream. They never made it, though, and when you read this memoir by the guitarist and leader Wayne Kramer, you begin to see why. The Hard Stuff can be read as a manual of how not to become a rock star. Drugs, band feuds, jail and radical politics all combined to prevent stardom. This is a story of bad luck and bad behaviour in equal measure. --Times of London The book, while detailing the struggle of an addict and an artist, is layered with the optimism of a man committed to seeing past impossibilities. --South Florida Sun-Sentinel Relives those energising days of the late '60s, when Detroit's MC5 mixed rock and revolution with free jazz and exceptional hair...An inspiring and redemptive tale. --Uncut Reading Wayne Kramer's painfully honest autobiography was like savoring a real-life reverse murder mystery: how he ever survive to write this? World-class rock and jazz musician at the age of 20, progenitor of punk with the MC5, political and cultural revolutionary, heroin addict, alcoholic, residential B&E burglar, drug dealer, federal convict, nothing's omitted. Future generations of disaffected kids will read The Hard Stuff to learn the miracle of a life of music and survival. --Mark Rudd, author of Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen Often harrowing, sometimes hilarious and always compelling. --Buffalo News Kramer's life has been a raging roller-coaster of euphoric highs and bottom-feeder lows. The now-sober superstar talks about all of it-the student demonstrations, police riots, crazy concerts, drug-fueled debauchery, wiretapping, marriages and divorce, prison time, therapy, recovery, and redemption-in his new memoir...Sure, we've been awed by other rock autobiographies...but we've never encountered a tale as turbulent and gritty as Kramer's. The Hard Stuff is a brisk, brutal page-turner wherein the Motor City 'white boy with the wah-wah' candidly chronicles the formation of one of rock's most outrageous ensembles. --AXS.com Kramer writes with a self-lacerating clarity about life in The MC5 and their chaotic slide into drugs, disorder and prison. Every grim inch of the trip from boundary-smashing idealism to dingy realty is here, with a twist of redemption at the end. --Q Magazine Kramer has written one of rock's most engaging and readable memoirs. --Rolling Stone In the grand literary tradition of finding meaning in the course of a life, guitar legend and rock music icon Wayne Kramer's deep and insightful memoir The Hard Stuff stands out like one of his piercing Fender solos. This is the story of a man ahead of his time, who has managed to carve a real life out of the shards of the magical but self-destructive life of his youth. Real wisdom arises from pain and loss, and Kramer has the chops to claim his place as a modern-day sage. That he stays grateful and humble is the best evidence of his personal growth. Read this memoir for a glimpse into the deepest reality of the human experience. --Kenneth E. Hartman, former prisoner, justice reform activist, and author of the Eric Hoffer Award-winning memoir Mother California: A Story of Redemption Behind Bars He defied death, drugs and detention. Now MC5 legend Wayne Kramer has written an equally full-on memoir...Eye-opening...Wide-ranging...His journey from fatherless child to musical maverick to junkie to upstanding survivor reads like a history of the late 20th century. --The Observer For all the hardness of his life, his insights into addiction-drawn from his own, and his absent father's alcoholism-are shot through with an enduring, thoughtful empathy that makes The Hard Stuff such an endearing read. --MOJO By the time he turned 30, Kramer had been the lead guitarist in a legendary but star-crossed rock band, a playacting Detroit gangster, and a guest of the American carceral system. All this living is covered in his new memoir The Hard Stuff, along with Kramer's roundabout path to the life he leads today. --NPR Music By blending his own narrative with the trials of MC5 and by merging musical rebellion with social justice, the author has penned a contemplative diatribe against political authority. --Library Journal An honest accounting of everything the title states, from the rapid rise and fall of the MC5 over the course of three albums, the heroin addiction and drug dealing that landed him in prison, and ultimately the defeat of those demons, redemption, and late-in-life fatherhood that he calls 'the most meaningful thing I've ever done.' --Orange County Register A thorough examination of his life, including musical adventures and drug misadventures that ultimately landed him in jail... The Hard Stuff covers the entirely of Kramer's life, with no attempts to hide any warts. --Billboard.com A book as suited to the sociology section as the music aisle. --The Guardian [This] book comes alive when bringing the reader into the heart of the late-'60s scene, where revolution seemed not just possible but plausible...The Hard Stuff is rarely poetic, but in its brutal honesty Mr. Kramer may succeed in deterring future musicians from contemplating serious drug abuse. --Wall Street Journal The Hard Stuff is a raw account of Kramer's life growing up in the increasingly mean streets of post-World War II Detroit, the glorious rise and precipitous fall of the MC5, and his decades-long addiction to drugs that led to his two-year bid in a federal penitentiary. --VICE's Noisey

Voyeuristically dramatic. --New York Times Book Review The 1960s rocker and (sometimes) revolutionary pulls no punches in his autobiography, delivering a detailed look at his life good (leading the rock powerhouse MC5, political activism during the late 1960s and early '70s) and bad (drugs, prison) in a voice as clear as the vocals on MC5's 'Kick Out the Jams.' --Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Chronicles the band's formation against a violent, racially divided Detroit backdrop as well as Kramer's prison stint, addiction battle, and late-in-life career resurgence. --Yahoo! Entertainment [A] thoroughly engrossing memoir. --Cincinnati City Beat The Hard Stuff is really candid and open. --Goldmine Well worth checking out. --The Indypendent An impossible-to-put-down autobiography. --Vintage Rock An honest accounting of everything the title states, from the rapid rise and fall of the MC5 over the course of three albums, the heroin addiction and drug dealing that landed him in prison, and ultimately the defeat of those demons, redemption, and late-in-life fatherhood that he calls 'the most meaningful thing I've ever done.' --Orange County Register Kramer recounts [his] days and a lifetime as a musician, activist, federal drug prisoner and, late in life, family man...A vivid new memoir. --Los Angeles Times This book...will keep Priest fans on the edge of their seats. --Classic Rock Revisited [Kramer] goes into great detail about his struggle to make it in music. --NeuFutur A read as gritty, raw and in-your-face as the MC5's uncompromising songbook. --Las Vegas Review Journal Kramer doesn't hold back...[A] brutally frank new memoir. --San Diego Union-Tribune There's no hyperbole in saying that The MC5 were one of the most important bands to emerge from America during the 1960s, which is why it's so great that Wayne Kramer, one of the founding members of the band, decided to sit down and write himself a memoir...The end result-The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities-turned out spectacularly. --Rhino A rollicking read...The Hard Stuff takes us through the rise and fall of the 5, Kramer's slide into crime, his imprisonment for drug dealing, ongoing battles with booze and smack, career revival and personal redemption through hard work and love. --I-94 Bar Detail[s] his years in the legendary Detroit band, MC5, an eventual decline into the criminal underworld, prison, the slow climb back out and the arrival of a child into his life...Kramer has a presence and, more importantly, he has heart...His book...is strong-voiced, concise and, at times, uncomfortably sincere...Kramer spends little time dissecting the finite details of his storied former band and, instead, focuses on the internal goings-on within his head and life...With each turn of the page, The Hard Stuff peels away his well-known brash facade, revealing an intelligent and damaged man looking for some kind of redemption. --No Recess! [An] astonishing book...which is essentially the memoir of a criminal who moonlighted as a rock star...It's an amazing tale, from one of the sharpest guys in rock. --Rock Cellar Throughout The Hard Stuff, Kramer refuses to shy away from his mistakes and puts most of the blame on himself. Despite the near-universal knowledge of the line 'Kick out the jams, motherfucker!' the band is still criminally underrated. Kramer delves deep into the band's founding and their role of mixing racial politics into their music's message...A fascinating read. --Innocent Words As Kramer's book documents, his life was one of absolute reckless abandon. --Forbes.com A true redemption story. --Columbia Daily Herald A jaw-dropping memoir that is at turns hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking. It's a gonzo read about a gonzo life. --Phawker Kramer's life has been a raging roller-coaster of euphoric highs and bottom-feeder lows. The now-sober superstar talks about all of it-the student demonstrations, police riots, crazy concerts, drug-fueled debauchery, wiretapping, marriages and divorce, prison time, therapy, recovery, and redemption-in his new memoir...Sure, we've been awed by other rock autobiographies...but we've never encountered a tale as turbulent and gritty as Kramer's. The Hard Stuff is a brisk, brutal page-turner wherein the Motor City 'white boy with the wah-wah' candidly chronicles the formation of one of rock's most outrageous ensembles. --AXS.com Kramer recounts a story that is revolutionary, but it's also the deeply personal struggle of an addict and an artist, a rebel with a great tale to tell...Kramer shows that peace and love can be born out of turbulence and unrest. --Music Connection A lively autobiography filled with anecdotes and what sound like honest admissions from a life on the edge. --Milwaukee Shepherd-Express The Hard Stuff goes into depth about his 'life of impossibilities, ' and in reading this book, it quickly becomes apparent why Kramer has been influential to countless major artists including Henry Rollins, Tom Morello and Jeff Buckley. --The Hype Kramer intertwines the history of the group with the political climate of the late 1960s and his own struggles with addiction and imprisonment. The disparate anecdotes that comprise this confessional memoir form a mosaic of the music industry, race relations in the United States, the criminalization of drugs, and a musical revolution rising from the country's industrial core...By blending his own narrative with the trials of MC5 and by merging musical rebellion with social justice, the author has penned a contemplative diatribe against political authority. --Library Journal [A] terrific memoir. --Please Kill Me The book, while detailing the struggle of an addict and an artist, is layered with the optimism of a man committed to seeing past impossibilities. --South Florida Sun-Sentinel [An] uncompromising memoir...Kramer recounts his journey through addiction, prison, and rock music in an unflinching fashion. --Discogs Kramer writes with a self-lacerating clarity about life in The MC5 and their chaotic slide into drugs, disorder and prison. Every grim inch of the trip from boundary-smashing idealism to dingy realty is here, with a twist of redemption at the end. --Q Magazine Kramer has written one of rock's most engaging and readable memoirs. --Rolling Stone Kramer was not just at the heart of the post-hippie revolutionary movement of the late Sixties but, a decade later, would also be an important influence on the punk generation. This is his turbulent, engrossing life story. --Choice (UK) The arc of dizzying ascent, steep fall and hard-won redemption is a familiar one. Few, however, have pushed those contours to such vivid extremes as the MC5 guitarist. --Uncut The Hard Stuff navigates drugs, violence, and the politics of loud guitars. --The Georgia Straight Hard-hitting, raw, unflinchingly honest, thought-provoking, inspiring and highly recommended. --Classic Rock For all the hardness of his life, his insights into addiction-drawn from his own, and his absent father's alcoholism-are shot through with an enduring, thoughtful empathy that makes The Hard Stuff such an endearing read. --MOJO By the time he turned 30, Kramer had been the lead guitarist in a legendary but star-crossed rock band, a playacting Detroit gangster, and a guest of the American carceral system. All this living is covered in his new memoir The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5 and My Life of Impossibilities, along with Kramer's roundabout path to the life he leads today. --NPR Music A book as suited to the sociology section as the music aisle. --The Guardian Chronicles [Kramer's] upbringing in suburban Detroit and the rise of the MC5-a band that exploded onto the scene and seemed to fall apart just as suddenly-but he also attempts to provide a cautionary tale of sorts, detailing his struggles with addiction and his time in prison resulting from an arrest for selling cocaine to an undercover officer in 1975. --Spare Change News 320 pages of raw revolution and intoxicating inspiration. --Merry Jane In The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities, Kramer documents his descent into his self-made hell and his reemergence into the world of the living. The book offers no excuses, just frank reflections on his own mistakes, misdeeds, and his path out of the darkness. --Omnivoracious: The Amazon Book Review The Hard Stuff is a raw account of Kramer's life growing up in the increasingly mean streets of post-World War II Detroit, the glorious rise and precipitous fall of the MC5, and his decades-long addiction to drugs that led to his two-year bid in a federal penitentiary. --Vice's Noisey A thorough examination of his life, including musical adventures and drug misadventures that ultimately landed him in jail... The Hard Stuff covers the entirely of Kramer's life, with no attempts to hide any warts. --Billboard.com It should need no spoiler alert to state that Mr. Kramer eventually beat his addictions; memoirs are rarely written with a needle between one's toes. But that doesn't make The Hard Stuff a feel-good story...The book comes alive when bringing the reader into the heart of the late-'60s scene, where revolution seemed not just possible but plausible...The Hard Stuff is rarely poetic, but in its brutal honesty Mr. Kramer may succeed in deterring future musicians from contemplating serious drug abuse. --Wall Street Journal Rock has a special place in its heart for the almost-made-its, and the MC5 is up there with the best... You'll learn a lot about the MC5 in this book. --Financial Times There's nothing like an autobiography when it comes to really digging deep. Kramer's The Hard Stuff does exactly that. It's simultaneously brutally honest, heartbreaking, hilarious, and life-affirming...It's a frankly wonderful read. --Detroit Metro Times He defied death, drugs and detention. Now MC5 legend Wayne Kramer has written an equally full-on memoir...Eye-opening...Wide-ranging...His journey from fatherless child to musical maverick to junkie to upstanding survivor reads like a history of the late 20th century. --The Observer The MC5 are the ultimate cult band: a rebellious group from late-1960s Detroit whose raw, proto-punk take on rock'n'roll influenced everyone from the Sex Pistols to Primal Scream. They never made it, though, and when you read this memoir by the guitarist and leader Wayne Kramer, you begin to see why. The Hard Stuff can be read as a manual of how not to become a rock star. Drugs, band feuds, jail and radical politics all combined to prevent stardom. This is a story of bad luck and bad behaviour in equal measure. --Times of London Often harrowing, sometimes hilarious and always compelling. --Buffalo News A gritty rock memoir detailing a cult American band's fall from grace and its subsequent determination not to get up...Gripping and sobering...A manual of how not to be in a band. --Wanted Online MC5 fans will relish the opportunity to hear Kramer's version of events from the band's history...The Hard Stuff's lesson is an inspirational one: no matter how far you fall, circumstances can arise which lead you to a better place. Plus it's just wildly entertaining. --Midnight to Six Relives those energising days of the late '60s, when Detroit's MC5 mixed rock and revolution with free jazz and exceptional hair...An inspiring and redemptive tale. --Uncut A rollicking account...from his rough upbringing in post-war Detroit, to his transformation from greaser guitarist to rock 'n' roll revolutionary. --MOJO Wayne Kramer is the biggest badass in rock 'n' roll. Period. And The Hard Stuff proves it. Between these covers is a story of survival, talent, madness, dope, guts, and a sheer, fearless commitment to bringing straight-up enlightenment to this fascist, prison-happy nation we happen to inhabit--even if it meant putting his own freedom, and his own unbelievably epic life, on the line. This just may be the best memoir of the year. --Jerry Stahl, author of I, Fatty and Permanent Midnight Wayne Kramer's story is an incredible tale of rock 'n' roll redemption. The MC5 crystallized the '60s counterculture movement at its most volatile and basically invented punk rock music. But Wayne's life proved to be as chaotic as his groundbreaking guitar playing. Rogue, rascal, rebel, revolutionary, artist, addict, inmate, poet, prisoner, and now proud papa, Brother Wayne Kramer is one of the wisest people I know, and he has earned that wisdom the hard way. The world needs to know this man's story. Here it is. --Tom Morello, guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage

In the grand literary tradition of finding meaning in the course of a life, guitar legend and rock music icon Wayne Kramer's deep and insightful memoir The Hard Stuff stands out like one of his piercing Fender solos. This is the story of a man ahead of his time, who has managed to carve a real life out of the shards of the magical but self-destructive life of his youth. Real wisdom arises from pain and loss, and Kramer has the chops to claim his place as a modern-day sage. That he stays grateful and humble is the best evidence of his personal growth. Read this memoir for a glimpse into the deepest reality of the human experience. --Kenneth E. Hartman, former prisoner, justice reform activist, and author of the Eric Hoffer Award-winning memoir Mother California: A Story of Redemption Behind Bars Reading Wayne Kramer's painfully honest autobiography was like savoring a real-life reverse murder mystery: how he ever survive to write this? World-class rock and jazz musician at the age of 20, progenitor of punk with the MC5, political and cultural revolutionary, heroin addict, alcoholic, residential B&E burglar, drug dealer, federal convict, nothing's omitted. Future generations of disaffected kids will read The Hard Stuff to learn the miracle of a life of music and survival. --Mark Rudd, author of Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen Wayne Kramer bore first-hand witness to an unparalleled era of rebellion, freedom, and total craziness. The Hard Stuff brings that milieu back-to-life with a wildly compelling, vivid, and eloquent portrayal. It's the next best thing to having actually been there. I binge-read the whole book and, for the next week, could smell and taste the Grande Ballroom in my mind. --Don Was, producer and founder of Was (Not Was) Wayne Kramer is the biggest badass in rock 'n' roll. Period. And The Hard Stuff proves it. Between these covers is a story of survival, talent, madness, dope, guts, and a sheer, fearless commitment to bringing straight-up enlightenment to this fascist, prison-happy nation we happen to inhabit--even if it meant putting his own freedom, and his own unbelievably epic life, on the line. This just may be the best memoir of the year. --Jerry Stahl, author of I, Fatty and Permanent Midnight Wayne Kramer's story is an incredible tale of rock 'n' roll redemption. The MC5 crystallized the '60s counterculture movement at its most volatile and basically invented punk rock music. But Wayne's life proved to be as chaotic as his groundbreaking guitar playing. Rogue, rascal, rebel, revolutionary, artist, addict, inmate, poet, prisoner, and now proud papa, Brother Wayne Kramer is one of the wisest people I know, and he has earned that wisdom the hard way. The world needs to know this man's story. Here it is. --Tom Morello, guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage Kramer's life has been a raging roller-coaster of euphoric highs and bottom-feeder lows. The now-sober superstar talks about all of it-the student demonstrations, police riots, crazy concerts, drug-fueled debauchery, wiretapping, marriages and divorce, prison time, therapy, recovery, and redemption-in his new memoir...Sure, we've been awed by other rock autobiographies...but we've never encountered a tale as turbulent and gritty as Kramer's. The Hard Stuff is a brisk, brutal page-turner wherein the Motor City 'white boy with the wah-wah' candidly chronicles the formation of one of rock's most outrageous ensembles. --AXS.com There's no hyperbole in saying that The MC5 were one of the most important bands to emerge from America during the 1960s, which is why it's so great that Wayne Kramer, one of the founding members of the band, decided to sit down and write himself a memoir...The end result-The Hard Stuff-turned out spectacularly. --Rhino The Hard Stuff is a raw account of Kramer's life growing up in the increasingly mean streets of post-World War II Detroit, the glorious rise and precipitous fall of the MC5, and his decades-long addiction to drugs that led to his two-year bid in a federal penitentiary. --VICE's Noisey A thorough examination of his life, including musical adventures and drug misadventures that ultimately landed him in jail... The Hard Stuff covers the entirely of Kramer's life, with no attempts to hide any warts. --Billboard.com By blending his own narrative with the trials of MC5 and by merging musical rebellion with social justice, the author has penned a contemplative diatribe against political authority. --Library Journal The MC5 are the ultimate cult band: a rebellious group from late-1960s Detroit whose raw, proto-punk take on rock'n'roll influenced everyone from the Sex Pistols to Primal Scream. They never made it, though, and when you read this memoir by the guitarist and leader Wayne Kramer, you begin to see why. The Hard Stuff can be read as a manual of how not to become a rock star. Drugs, band feuds, jail and radical politics all combined to prevent stardom. This is a story of bad luck and bad behaviour in equal measure. --Times of London He defied death, drugs and detention. Now MC5 legend Wayne Kramer has written an equally full-on memoir...Eye-opening...Wide-ranging...His journey from fatherless child to musical maverick to junkie to upstanding survivor reads like a history of the late 20th century. --The Observer A book as suited to the sociology section as the music aisle. --The Guardian Relives those energising days of the late '60s, when Detroit's MC5 mixed rock and revolution with free jazz and exceptional hair...An inspiring and redemptive tale. --Uncut Kramer writes with a self-lacerating clarity about life in The MC5 and their chaotic slide into drugs, disorder and prison. Every grim inch of the trip from boundary-smashing idealism to dingy realty is here, with a twist of redemption at the end. --Q Magazine For all the hardness of his life, his insights into addiction-drawn from his own, and his absent father's alcoholism-are shot through with an enduring, thoughtful empathy that makes The Hard Stuff such an endearing read. --MOJO The book, while detailing the struggle of an addict and an artist, is layered with the optimism of a man committed to seeing past impossibilities. --South Florida Sun-Sentinel An honest accounting of everything the title states, from the rapid rise and fall of the MC5 over the course of three albums, the heroin addiction and drug dealing that landed him in prison, and ultimately the defeat of those demons, redemption, and late-in-life fatherhood that he calls 'the most meaningful thing I've ever done.' --Orange County Register The 1960s rocker and (sometimes) revolutionary pulls no punches in his autobiography, delivering a detailed look at his life good (leading the rock powerhouse MC5, political activism during the late 1960s and early '70s) and bad (drugs, prison) in a voice as clear as the vocals on MC5's 'Kick Out the Jams.' --Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Often harrowing, sometimes hilarious and always compelling. --Buffalo News There's nothing like an autobiography when it comes to really digging deep. Kramer's The Hard Stuff does exactly that. It's simultaneously brutally honest, heartbreaking, hilarious, and life-affirming...It's a frankly wonderful read. --Detroit Metro Times By the time he turned 30, Kramer had been the lead guitarist in a legendary but star-crossed rock band, a playacting Detroit gangster, and a guest of the American carceral system. All this living is covered in his new memoir The Hard Stuff, along with Kramer's roundabout path to the life he leads today. --NPR Music Kramer has written one of rock's most engaging and readable memoirs. --Rolling Stone [This] book comes alive when bringing the reader into the heart of the late-'60s scene, where revolution seemed not just possible but plausible...The Hard Stuff is rarely poetic, but in its brutal honesty Mr. Kramer may succeed in deterring future musicians from contemplating serious drug abuse. --Wall Street Journal Voyeuristically dramatic. --New York Times Book Review

Author Information

WAYNE KRAMER was a cofounder and guitarist of Detroit's incendiary rock band the MC5, and a notable activist for racial and economic equality, which made him a target of the FBI's counterintelligence program. After serving a federal prison term, he cofounded the charity Jail Guitar Doors with Billy Bragg, released a dozen solo albums, and has gone on to score countless feature films, cutting-edge documentaries, and notable series for television. He is considered a pioneer of both punk rock and heavy metal.

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