![]() Often described as metallic, Williamson's hard-edged riffs and dirty arpeggios would soon bend the fingers of proto-punk guitarists such as Brian James of the Damned and Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys. The modular version of the Stooges that Bowie flew to London consisted of Iggy and sometime Stooge James Williamson, a Texan whose nervous, aggressive ax murdering stood in stark contrast to the simpler, sludgier style of his predecessor, Ron Asheton. He was about to knock out his 1973 masterwork "Aladdin Sane," but first he wanted to squeeze in a bout with Iggy, whom he worshiped as the Dionysian opposite of his own Apollonian calculationism. David Bowie was riding a phenomenal wave, having launched his own "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars," produced Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" and produced Lou Reed's "Transformer, all in 1972. Luckily, another Stooges fan had twigged to the split - a fan who could do something about it. Iggy was a doom-crooning, howling, primitive juggernaut of self-destructive intelligence, just what a draft dodger needed in the simpering wake of "You've Got a Friend." The Kid was pissed to hear the Stooges had broken up. He preferred the chaotic rock and free jazz of 1970's "Fun House," jumping to the rhythmic surge of "Down in the Street." Crude crap it was, but so compelling, and the Kid glued ears to the Stooges as much as the Stones. ![]() He smiled at the ridiculous San Francisco fuzztone guitar on the somewhat too tidy "The Stooges," even tolerating Cale's 10 minutes of soporific viola as these smokestack earthlings chanted a Hindu prayer ("We Will Fall"). The Kid trawled for the Stooges' cut-outs and netted them with difficulty. ![]() This was music for hot-rod engines lacking cars. This was music for young shits who loved women and didn't have girlfriends. This was music for poets who hated poetry. The insane frontman, Iggy, crawled on broken glass. They had a song called "I Wanna Be Your Dog." Check. Their first drop was produced by John Cale of the Velvet Underground. The story suggested that the quartet's hard-rock Michigan factory roots aligned with those of Alice Cooper and Grand Funk, which scored them points with the Kid. Here goes.Ī 1972 Rolling Stone article blabbed about the Stooges, whose first two albums in 1969 and '70 the Kid, stranded in Spokane, had missed. In many ways, almost all Raw Power has in common with the two Stooges albums that preceded it is its primal sound, but while the Stooges once sounded like the wildest (and weirdest) gang in town, Raw Power found them heavily armed and ready to destroy the world - that is, if they didn't destroy themselves first.The Kid who narrates this was the prototype Iggy fan, so that's his excuse for puking out this whole gilgamush of how he struggled up to and beyond Iggy & the Stooges' "Raw Power," one of the most culture-crushing albums of all time, released this week in 1973. Whether quietly brooding ("Gimme Danger") or inviting the apocalypse ("Search and Destroy"), Iggy had never sounded quite so focused as he did here, and his lyrics displayed an intensity that was more than a bit disquieting. But the most remarkable change came from the singer Raw Power revealed Iggy as a howling, smirking, lunatic genius. From a technical standpoint, Williamson was a more gifted guitar player than Asheton (not that that was ever the point), but his sheets of metallic fuzz were still more basic (and punishing) than what anyone was used to in 1973, while Ron Asheton played his bass like a weapon of revenge, and his brother Scott Asheton remained a powerhouse behind the drums. ![]() By most accounts, tensions were high during the recording of Raw Power, and the album sounds like the work of a band on its last legs - though rather than grinding to a halt, Iggy & the Stooges appeared ready to explode like an ammunition dump. ![]() By this point, guitarist Ron Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander had been edged out of the picture, and James Williamson had signed on as Iggy's new guitar mangler Asheton rejoined the band shortly before recording commenced on Raw Power, but was forced to play second fiddle to Williamson as bassist. In 1972, the Stooges were near the point of collapse when David Bowie's management team, MainMan, took a chance on the band at Bowie's behest. ![]()
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