After being nominated six times, MC5 were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year. Unfortunately, their induction came a bit late as all of the members of the band passed away before they were honored.
In a recent interview, Ted Nugent admitted that he wishes he could have been the one to inducted MC5 into the Hall of Fame over Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
“Tom Morello [gave the speech] and that’s so unfortunate, because he never saw them,” Nugent told UCR. “I was the only clean and sober guy there to truly grasp the fire and the dynamic musical authority of the MC5. They set a bar for tightness — and their musical dynamic, when they played ‘It’s a Man’s World’ by James Brown and Rob Tyner slammed to his knees as Fred [“Sonic” Smith] and Wayne [Kramer] played the violin parts.
“I’m sorry, I love Tom Morello, but he has no idea. He has no f–kin’ idea! I guess he’s guessing, because he wasn’t there. I saw it a hundred times and I stood there slack-jawed going, ‘Holy f–k! These guys are James Brown-ing high volume musical virtuosity with scary passion!'”
He continued: “The authority [of what the MC5 did] only lasted two years until the drugs loosened them up and turned that definitive tightness and groove into slop. I don’t mean to be mean-spirited about it. Nobody has showered love on the MC5 more than I have. Not because they were punk. Because they weren’t punk. They were rhythm and blues, soul music sons of James Brown and Chuck Berry.
“I wish the world could have witnessed it, because the records they recorded, it wasn’t them. That wasn’t them. It wasn’t close. Not only was it not close, it wasn’t it. It had no resemblance to the power.”
