Guitar Army

After the Detroit riots of 1967 the White Panther Party grew out of the Detroit Artists’ Workshop, a collective under the leadership of John and Leni Sinclair, which radically dedicated their creativity to “a total assault on the culture”. Politics, music, psychedelica, and arts were fused into a revolutionary force with The MC5’s rock and Gary Grimshaw’s graphic design as best-known exponents. The White Panther Party was organised and named after the Black Panther Party and became a vital part of the counter-culture. After John Sinclair had been set up by an undercover FBI agent and had been sentenced in 1969 to nine and a half to ten years imprisonment for the possession of two joints, his wife compiled his “street writings” and “prison writings” into Guitar Army. The 366 pages of this beautifully designed and printed book form a true document of the counter-culture in general and of the White Panther Party in particular.

Now available through Sea Urchin are signed and inscribed mint copies of the original first print run of John Sinclair’s Guitar Army from 1972. Guitar Army was compiled by John’s then wife Leni Sinclair, designed by Gary Grimshaw, and published by Douglas Book Corporation, NYC.