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Before they played their songs at today’s noontime free in-store at Amoeba Hollywood, Wayne Kramer and Billy Bragg talked about Jail Guitar Doors. The organization was started in England by Bragg, with the intent of raising money to give guitars to prisoners. Not so they’ll be musicians when they are released but so that they have a creative outlet for the rest of their lives. Of course, its namesake is a song by The Clash, and when Bragg was telling the MC5 guitarist about the cause and the tune, Kramer’s response was something like, “That song is about me!” Bragg was embarrassed but excited when the Detroit musician agreed to sign on to spearhead the U.S. arm of the group. When the British punk/folk singer relayed the story to Mick Jones, the singer of “Jail Guitar Doors” didn’t even remember that Kramer was in it!

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Before they played their songs at today’s noontime free in-store at Amoeba Hollywood, Wayne Kramer and Billy Bragg talked about Jail Guitar Doors. The organization was started in England by Bragg, with the intent of raising money to give guitars to prisoners. Not so they’ll be musicians when they are released but so that they have a creative outlet for the rest of their lives. Of course, its namesake is a song by The Clash, and when Bragg was telling the MC5 guitarist about the cause and the tune, Kramer’s response was something like, “That song is about me!” Bragg was embarrassed but excited when the Detroit musician agreed to sign on to spearhead the U.S. arm of the group. When the British punk/folk singer relayed the story to Mick Jones, the singer of “Jail Guitar Doors” didn’t even remember that Kramer was in it!

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