In the 1970s, Wayne Kramer, the guitarist for rock's seminal pre-punk band, MC5, spent two years in a federal prison for trying to sell cocaine to undercover agents.
Today, he's trying really hard to get back behind bars. Only this time he wants to bring his guitar with him, and enough guitars for a few dozen inmates to enjoy.
The Associated Press reports that Kramer, with some help from Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett, ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke and others, has formed Jail Guitar Doors USA. Kramer runs the nonprofit charitable organization with his wife, Margaret, out of his Hollywood studio.
Jail Guitar Doors USA has delivered countless instruments to prisons and jails in Nevada, California and Texas.
"When I played music in prison, I wasn't in prison anymore," Kramer, 63, said. "And that's what we're trying to accomplish with the instrument donations. That this is a way that you can get through this time, that you can go someplace else, you can get involved in your guitar."
Kramer was in his 20s when he arrived at the federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky, in the 1970s.
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Photo: waynekramer.com
