John Sinclair
(1941)
American poet, writer and radio maker. Founder of White Panther Party and manager of rock band MC5, busted after being set up by undercover agents in 1967..
Poet John Sinclair Detroit was chairman of the White Panther Party from November 1968-July 1969. From 1969 he served two years of a ten year sentence for the sale of two joints to undercover narcotics officers. His case recieved international attention when John Lennon performed at a benefit concert on his behalf.
Sinclair was managing the MC5 at the time of their free concert outside the Democratic National Convention of 1968. The band was the only one to play before the police broke up the rally, calling it a riot.
In July 1969 Sinclair was sentenced to prison for 9 1/2 to 10 years. While in prison he wrote the books Guitar Army and Music & Politics, which he co-wrote with Robert Levin. Through his writing he became a national symbol of the fight to decriminalize marijuana. On December 10, 1971 John Lennon and Yoko Ono headlined the Free John Now Rally in front of 15,000 people at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan. John and Yoko sang the song "John Sinclair" with lyrics including:
It ain't fair, John Sinclair
In the stir for breathing air
Won't you care for John Sinclair?
In the stir for breathing air
Let him be, set him free
Let him be like you and me
They gave him ten for two
What else can the judges do?
Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free
Three days after the concert the Michigan Supreme Court released Sinclair and later overturned his conviction.
Sinclair was instrumental in the formation of the anarchist underground newspaper Fifth Estate in Detroit as well as the Artist's Workshop Press which published five issues of Work magazine. Information on Sinclair is available in the John & Leni Sinclair Papers at the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan.
John Sinclair began spinning records at high school record hops in the late 1950s as "Frantic JohnÐFlint's Youngest Disc Jockey." He first broadcast by carrier current on the campus of Albion College in 1959
Founding producer of the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, Executive Director of the Detroit Jazz Center former Expansion Arts panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, now producer of recordings for several labels in the USA, UK and Japan, as well as productions for WNRZ-FM and WCBN-FM (Ann Arbor), WDET-FM (Detroit) and the annual "live" broadcast from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - WWOZ-FM (New Orleans), where Sinclair was voted New Orleans' Best Radio Personality by the readers of OffBeat magazine for five years running (1999-2003) before he left to relocate in Amsterdam. Author of "Guitar Army"; "Music & Politics"; "This Is Our Music"; "Fire Music: A Record"; "Meditations: A Suite for John Coltrane", and "We Just Change The Beat"
The legendary John Sinclair continues to kick out the jams. His continued activism on varied fronts, however, has paved the way for the next chapter of his life. Sinclair's made repeated trips to Amsterdam in the past five years, where he's performed his poetry and served as the High Priest of the Cannabis Cup -- a marijuana celebration. He struck such a chord with his new Amsterdam colleagues that he's received an offer he never could have imagined.
"I've got a patron in Amsterdam, and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse," says Sinclair. "Pretty much whatever I want, they said they'd help me out until I get established. I've really got an open mind and just really want to try this. God only knows what will happen." So after spending the summer in Detroit, Sinclair will head overseas in the fall, where his new home base will be The 4:20 Cafe in Amsterdam.
That doesn't make leaving New Orleans any easier for him. "I'm proud of my radio shows and proud that I built up such a loyal listenership," he says. "My great remembrances are big Chief Bo Dollis calling up while I was playing Indian music, and saying, 'We're taping your show, and we're sewing right now.' Or Snooks Eaglin calling, or Irma Thomas, or George Porter Jr. calling and asking, 'What was that you just played?' I did radio in Detroit for years, but Aretha Franklin or Levi Stubbs never called."
The John Sinclair Radio Show is programmed and hosted by John Sinclair. Clay Windham of the International Roots Music Collective is musical director. The program is produced and engineered by Henk Botwinik, and Larry Hayden is executive producer.
The John Sinclair Radio Show is a Big Chief / Creative Resources / Just Ask Production.
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