Ron Asheton, R.I.P.
Ron Asheton, guitarist of the Stooges, passed away on New Year's Day at age 60.
Some people think the Stooges were about their singer, Iggy Pop. Perhaps they were. But looking back and listening back 40 years later, I think the Stooges were about Ron Asheton's fiery, unleashed, manic weed-and-speed guitar playing.
This cut, "1969"--the first track from their first album, The Stooges--makes my case better than anything else I could write. Turn up, if your speakers can handle it.
R.I.P., Mr. Asheton, or if you prefer, rest in a cacophonous haze of wah-wah, distortion, and feedback.
posted by Stuart Shea at 3:07 PM
4 Comments:
Maybe it's because when I started listening to heavy music, I came of age when Damage, Inc. (Metallica), We're Only Gonna Die (From Our Own Arrogance) -- (a Biohazard cover of a Bad Religion song), and Hangar 18 (Megadeth) were popular. Whatever the reason, I was less than impressed with that Stooges song.
It might have been truly influential in 1967, but listening to it this morning for the first time it did absolutely nothing for me.
7:27 AM, January 08, 2009
I think there is no finer guitar song than "Search and Destroy." I'd pit against anything, ever, anywhere.
10:12 AM, January 08, 2009
Wait, now I feel like a c*nt, b/c I jsut remembered James Williamson did all the guitar on "Raw Power."
Still greatest guitar song ever.
And Asheton was one of the greatest too.
10:38 AM, January 08, 2009
Thanks for sharing this, Stu. I think I've always avoided the Stooges, because I've read so much about them being the Godfathers of Punk, perhaps my least favorite rock genre. I've usually enjoyed Iggy Pop's live performances, when I've seen them here and there, so I should have known better.
Regardless: Hearing this now, however, I don't see where the line extends from this into punk. They would appear to have nothing in common. And this is excellent all the way around - puts me in the mind of what the Stones might have sounded like by the end of the '60's, if they'd made some different decisions as to their direction.
12:36 PM, January 27, 2009
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