Editing MC5 (section)

===1963–1967: Formation and early years===
The origins of MC5 can be traced to the friendship between guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith. Friends since their teen years, they were both fans of [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] music, [[blues]], [[Chuck Berry]], [[Dick Dale]], [[The Ventures]], and what was later called [[garage rock]]: they adored any music with speed, energy and a rebellious attitude. Each guitarist/singer formed and led a rock group (Smith's Vibratones and Kramer's Bounty Hunters). As members of both groups left for college or straight jobs, the most committed members eventually united (under Kramer's leadership and the "Bounty Hunters" name) with Billy Vargo on guitar and Leo LeDuc on drums (at this point Smith played bass).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://makemyday.free.fr/mc5calendar.htm#63 |title=MC5 Concert Dates |publisher=Makemyday.free.fr |access-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref> They were popular and successful enough in and around Detroit that the musicians were able to quit their day jobs and make a living from the group.

Kramer felt that they needed a manager, which led him to Rob Derminer, a few years older than the others, and deeply involved in Detroit's hipster and left-wing political scenes. Derminer originally auditioned as a bass guitarist (a role which he held briefly in 1964, with Smith switching to guitar to replace Vargo and with Bob Gaspar replacing LeDuc). They quickly realized that Derminer's talents could be better used as a lead singer: Though not conventionally attractive and rather paunchy by traditional frontman standards, he nonetheless had a commanding stage presence, and a booming baritone voice that evidenced his abiding love of American [[soul music|soul]] and [[gospel music]]. Derminer renamed himself Rob Tyner (after [[John Coltrane]]'s pianist [[McCoy Tyner]]). Instead of Derminer, their manager ended up being [[Ann Marston]], a former national archery champion and beauty pageant winner.<ref name = NH>{{cite news | last = Thompson| first =Matt | title =Downriver's Rock n' Roll past relived through life of early MC5 manager Ann Marston| newspaper =[[The News-Herald (Southgate, Michigan)|The News-Herald]]| location = | pages = | language = | publisher = | date =October 11, 2015 | url =https://www.thenewsherald.com/news/downrivers-rock-n-roll-past-relived-through-life-of-early-mc5-manager-ann-marston/article_f9e427f8-c336-5def-8cad-4f3fc0c36747.html | accessdate = February 6, 2022}}</ref>

Tyner also conceived their new name, MC5, short for "Motor City Five" based on their Detroit roots. In some ways the group was similar to other [[garage bands]] of the period, composing soon-to-be historic workouts such as "Black to Comm" during their mid-teens in the basement of the home of Kramer's mother. Upon Tyner's switch from bassist to vocalist, he was initially replaced by Patrick Burrows before the lineup stabilized in 1965 with the arrival of Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson to replace Burrows and Gaspar, respectively.

The music also reflected Smith and Kramer's increasing interest in [[free jazz]]—the guitarists were inspired by the likes of [[Albert Ayler]], [[Archie Shepp]], [[Sun Ra]] and late period John Coltrane, and tried to imitate the ecstatic sounds of the squealing, high-pitched saxophonists they adored.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYzb_q_xKDgC&pg=PR61 |page=lxi |title=Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia |volume=2 |first=Todd S. |last=Jenkins |publisher=Greenwood |year=2004 |isbn=9780313333149}}</ref> MC5 even later opened a few U.S. midwest shows for Sun Ra, whose influence is obvious in "Starship". Kramer and Smith were also deeply inspired by [[Sonny Sharrock]], one of the few electric guitarists working in free jazz, and they eventually developed a unique interlocking style that was like little heard before: Kramer's solos often used a heavy, irregular [[vibrato]], while Smith's rhythms contained an uncommon explosive energy, including patterns that conveyed great excitement, as evidenced in "Black to Comm" and many other songs.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Playing almost nightly any place they could in and around Detroit, MC5 quickly earned a reputation for high-energy live performances and won a sizeable local following, regularly drawing sellout audiences of 1000 or more. Contemporary rock writer Robert Bixby stated that their sound was like "a catastrophic force of nature the band was barely able to control". Don McLeese noted that fans compared the aftermath of an MC5 performance to the delirious exhaustion after "a street rumble or an orgy".{{sfn|McLeese|2005|p=57}}

"When I first saw them, it was before they wrote songs, or it was before they met [[John Sinclair (poet)|John Sinclair]]," recalled [[Iggy Pop]]. "They were just a really fuckin' good big city [[cover band]], and they covered basically [[The Rolling Stones|The Stones]], [[Jimi Hendrix|Hendrix]], [[The Who]], all that shit, real well. And then they knew a little [[Ray Charles]] and shit. As they developed, I thought there was an overlay of [[jazz]], but a lot of the music values were very [[hard rock]]. Not too bluesy."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Keith|last=Cameron|title=Jack & Iggy|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|issue= 119 |date= October 2003 |page= 95}}</ref>

MC5 released a cover of [[Them (band)|Them]]'s "I Can Only Give You Everything", backed with their own "One of the Guys", on the tiny AMG label in 1967.