T.J. Wheeler & The Smokers Archives

John Sinclair (1941-2024) Last of the Beatnik Warrior Poets and Cultural Revolutionary has passed away at 82. The work must go on

2 April 2024Mark

“Rock N Roll music is a weapon of cultural revolution. There are not enough musicians around today who are hip to this fact” John Sinclair is best known as the Sixties "marijuana" activist who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving two joints to an undercover policewoman. He was eventually freed when John Lennon and Yoko Ono spoke out on his behalf. Less understood is his role as the founder and chairman of the radical anti-war group, The White Panther Party, an offshoot of the Black Panthers. The Black Panther Party was a militant political organization formed after the brutal murders of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert…

John Sinclair – Renegade Poet, Beatnik and Cultural Revolutionary

2 April 2024Mark

Immortalized by John Lennon’s 1972 song that bears his name, Sinclair is an iconic figure of ‘60s counterculture, famous for, among other things, having co-founded the anti-racist White Panther Party and for managing Detroit’s legendary proto-punk outfit MC5 early in its history. Following a highly publicized two-year stint in prison for marijuana possession (Lennon’s song was a protest against his incarceration), Sinclair has stuck to his guns as an advocate for marijuana reform. “Living Euro to Euro, sleeping on the couches and extra beds of friends, a man without a country and a post office box in New Orleans for a permanent address.” That's how spoken word poet John Sinclair describes…

John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop

1 December 2022Mark

Not many people can say that John Lennon wrote a song about them, but John Sinclair is among that select bunch. Viewed by the powers-that-be as a dangerous revolutionary for his involvement with the White Panther Party, Sinclair was handed a ludicrously harsh sentence – “they gave him ten for two” – for marijuana possession after a police sting. In 1971, Lennon, along with Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Phil Ochs and Archie Shepp played a freedom rally in Michigan and three days later Sinclair was freed. Sinclair is probably best known in the music world for managing riotous proto-punks The MC5 and imbuing them with a radical zeal. But Sinclair is…

50th Anniversary Celebration of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, Detroit, 10th December, 2021

8 December 2021Mark

Beatnik Youth Ambient by John Sinclair (Detroit, November 20, 2021)—Former Michigan marijuana prisoner John Sinclair, his family and friends will celebrate his release from Jackson Prison 50 years ago with an early evening party at the Ralston Holistic Healing Center at 19730 Ralston Street (near State Fair) from 6:00-10:00 pm on December 10, 2021, exactly 50 years after the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor where John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Seale, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Seger, Commander Cody and a host of others gathered to speak, play and protest the imprisonment of their friend John Sinclair following a sentence in Detroit Recorder’s…

50th Anniversary Celebration of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally to be held at Ralston Center in Detroit on 10th December, 2021

1 December 2021Mark

Beatnik Youth Ambient by John Sinclair (Detroit, November 20, 2021)—Former Michigan marijuana prisoner John Sinclair, his family and friends will celebrate his release from Jackson Prison 50 years ago with an early evening party at the Ralston Holistic Healing Center and Stonehouse Bar at 19730 Ralston Street (near State Fair) from 6:00-10:00 pm on December 10, 2021, exactly 50 years after the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor where John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Seale, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Seger, Commander Cody and a host of others gathered to speak, play and protest the imprisonment of their friend John Sinclair following a sentence…

John Sinclair – Time Line from 1941 to 2018. A Life’s work to date…..

14 November 2020Mark

1941-1959 Born October 2 at Women’s Hospital, Flint, Michigan Parents: John Sr. (Jack) and Elsie Sinclair Sister Kathleen born 1943, brother David born 1945 Attended Davison Public Schools, Davison, Michigan 1959 1959-1964 Attended Albion College, Albion, Michigan, 1959-61 Attended Flint Junior College, 1961 Attended University of Michigan-Flint College. 1962-64 Editor, The Word, UM–Flint President, UM—Flint Cinema Guild Graduated UM-Flint, January 1964, A.B. English Literature 1964-67 Attended Wayne State University, Detroit, Graduate School of English Master’s Thesis: William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch Convicted of Marijuana Possession, Detroit Recorders Court, Sentenced to two years probation Co-Founder & Director, Detroit Artists Workshop Founder & Director, Detroit LEMAR (Legalize Marijuana) Editor & Publisher, Artists Workshop Press…

John Sinclair – Kick Out The Jams Limited Edition T-shirt

17 February 2019Mark

This is the first in a series of Limited Edition John Sinclair T-shirts featuring a White Panther design on the FRONT and a quote from John Sinclair on the BACK. Strictly Limited to 50 Shirts including a download code for Beatnik Youth. When these T-shirts are gone, they're gone. The T-shirts are Gildan Extra Tees. A black shirt with a white print on the front and back, with a Green Cannabis Leaf design. The T-shirt is a heavy weight shirt, available in Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large and Extra Extra Large. Also available in Ladies Small. When you buy or pre-order this shirt you also get a download code for John…

John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth (Double CD) 2018

4 February 2018Mark

John Sinclair - “Beatnik Youth" on Double CD Released 2018 by Iron Man Records. All Press enquiries to Sean Newsham Catalogue Number: IMB6032 Release date: 2018 Label: Iron Man Records Distribution: Cargo Disc 1 Testify (9.10) Good Stuff (4.32) Everybody Needs Somebody (7.09) Change My Life (5.14) Ain't Nobody's Business (3.36) My Buddy (5.13) That Old Man (3.53) Disc 2 Brilliant Corners (11.29) Culture Cide (11.38) Red Dress (Ruby My Dear) (6.25) Sitarrtha (6.16) Do It (6.16) War On Drugs (6.18) Read a brilliant review of Beatnik Youth by Gus Ironside for Louder Than War here Saby Reyes-Kulkarni interviewed John Sinclair and Youth and wrote a fantastic piece for Bandcamp here…