The Stooges - "You Don't Want My Name, You Want My Action" CD Review (Easy Action)

This release has been out since last year but I finally got around to picking up a copy. I've bought more than enough dodgy Stooges releases over the last twenty year so I was hesitant to pick up yet another one. Now that I've spent some time with this set, the key question that I'll try to answer with this review is whether both the casual Stooges fan and the Stooges/Iggy collector would find value in this 4-disc collection.

You have to wonder what The Stooges were thinking (which may be an oxymoron) - roughly a year after the release of Funhouse, The Stooges went out on the road playing a set composed entirely of unreleased songs. Additionally, this lineup - which featured both Ron Asheton and James Williamson on guitar and Jimmy Recca on bass - only held together through this tour. Given this, most Stooges collectors are likely to already have this set. The sticking point for me was the unknown sound quality. Easy Action's site states in large type "These recordings are Audience recordings!". Having had a completely unlistenable recording of the show at The Factory (aka Kiel Auditorium) for years along with the average sounding Wampler Lake show, I was suspicious.

After giving this set a few spins, the bottom-line is that the sound quality is decent - not stellar, but decent all the same. The bar that I've set for audience recordings is whether the sound quality is something that you can play at a party and let the background noise and chatter "blur" any of the recording's minor imperfections. None of the four shows on this set hit this bar - all of the recordings require a somewhat quiet environment and active listening to appreciate the power of this lineup.

The set list is pretty much the same across all four shows:
- "I Got A Right",
- "You Don't Want My Name",
- "Fresh Rag",
- "Dead Body / Who Do You Love",
- "Big Time Bum" and
- "Do You Want My Love".

The first night (May 14, 1971) at the The Electric Factory also includes Iggy singing solo "The Shadow Of Your Smile" and the full band performance of "The Children of the Night".

Starting with Disc 1 and 2, both Electric Factory recording are guitar-heavy and this drowns out the bass, drums and most of Iggy's vocals. The intertwining lead guitars though give a good sense of the power of these songs. Moving on to Disc 3, the sound quality of The Factory show (the final live show with this lineup) is surprisingly good in comparison to the multi-generation unlistenable mess the was documented on Live '71. The bottom end of the range is missing but Iggy's vocals are reasonably clear. The final disc contains the first show of the tour, recorded in Detroit in April '71. This recording starts out rather rough but clears up by the third song and ends up being close in quality to The Factory show. This disc is rounded out by a post-split contractual obligation show at Wampler's Lake (recorded on July 24, 1971) where the lineup included just Ron, Scott, Jimmy with a vocalist recruited from the audience.

The sound quality of this set is going to scare away casual fans but collectors are going to want to have this set simply because there are no other decent recording of these songs or this lineup. While I'm unlikely to listen to this set often, it has a permanent home in my collection.

Links:
Iggy & The Stooges

Iggy and The Stooges: Win an Opportunity to Film The Stooges at All Tomorrow's Parties on Sept. 3rd

On Friday, September 3rd 2010, Iggy and the Stooges are putting themselves IN THE HANDS OF THE FANS...

MVD Entertainment Group has launched the site www.InTheHandsOfTheFans.com to offer fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to film and interview Iggy and the Stooges performing the seminal punk rock masterpiece Raw Power at the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival on September 3, 2010. Six lucky fans will be chosen by way of a video submission contest to join director Joey Carey on location at the Stardust Theater at Kutchers' Country Club in Monticello, NY. This marks the reunion between Iggy Pop and powerhouse guitarist James Williamson as well as original Stooges drummer Scott "Rock Action" Asheton. Also featuring Mike Watt on bass and Steve Mackay on saxophone.



The contest is based on fans submitting short high definition video segments asking Iggy and the Stooges interview questions, or demonstrating why they should win the contest. Winners of the contest will film and interview Iggy and the Stooges at All Tomorrow's Parties. This fan shot footage, along with the contestant video submissions, will be crafted into a high definition longform program, which will be part concert film and part reality TV show about the journey of the fans.

"Raw Power is one of the greatest, most dangerous albums in the history of rock and roll" says Ed Seaman, C.O.O. of MVD Entertainment Group. "We are honored to enable the fans this connection with the band; this will be a dream come true for the winners."

IN THE HANDS OF THE FANS will be sustainable as a series; MVD is already deep in discussions with a number of other artists and expects to have five more programs shot within the next six months with new announcements expected any day.

The final program for Iggy and the Stooges IN THE HANDS OF THE FANS is expected to release on DVD, BluRay, digital download and broadcast by early 2011. All contestants will receive a special offer to purchase the film early along with some exclusive value added content.



Links:
Iggy Pop
All Tomorrow's Parties

Iggy & The Stooges - "Raw Power" Legacy Edition CD Review

I've been a bit suspicious of this release after having acquired a large number of 'lost' live shows and outtakes from Raw Power era of The Stooges over the last twenty years. After finally sitting down to give this 2CD a listen (and then a second listen), I was pleasantly surprised.

The first disc of this set restores the original David Bowie mix of Raw Power. While this may not be a big deal for long-time fans, the original mix has been hard to find since Columbia issued Iggy's red-lining, guitar-heavy remix in 1997. The original mix wasn't without its fault - it was trebly with Iggy and guitarist James Williamson grossly dominating the mix, leaving the Asheton brothers no where to be heard - but the '97 remix didn't solve any problems by turning the volume up to "11". Interestingly, both James Williamson and Ron Asheton individually stated in interviews over the years that they liked the Bowie mix better than Iggy's later version.

"Bowie's not my favorite guy, but I have to say that overall, I think he did a pretty good job." -- James Williamson



The real gem, and counterpoint to the Bowie mix of Raw Power, is on Disc 2 - which is a complete live show from the Raw Power tour recorded at Richard's in Atlanta, GA. The surprise with this show is that it captures The Stooges, both tight and coherent and James Williamson's guitar is buried in the mix so Ron Asheton's fluid bass playing and Scott Thurston's bar room piano rise to the top of the mix. The set list is pretty standard for this era/tour which consists of five tracks from Raw Power plus "Head On", "Cock In My Pocket" and "Open Up & Bleed".

The second disc wraps up with "Doojiman" which is an outtake from the session for Raw Power. The sound on this track is perfect (unlike some of the Bomp and Revenge releases) but this is a track that will only appeal to die-hard fans. While the band lays down a voodoo groove, Iggy scats and jabbers over the four minute track leaving him sounding somewhat like Gibby Haynes. The last track, "Head On", is from a rehearsal performance and sounds like something that could have (and may have?) been included in the massive series of outtakes and reissues that Bomp, Revenge and Easy Action have issued over the years.

Given the $13.99 price point for this set (new from Amazon), the live show on the second disc more than makes this set worthwhile.

Links:
Iggy and the Stooges

Iggy Pop - Raw Power Legacy Edition Released on April 13th

DOWNLOAD: Iggy & the Stooges - "Raw Power" Podcast

As much as I've tried to break away from being a record collector, I still have way too many legit, semi-legit and bootleg Iggy Pop CDs, LPs, etc. As I started trading tapes twenty years ago and recently bought both Iggy Pop live box sets from Easy Action, I'm pleasantly surprised that this new reissue of Raw Power contains a number of tracks that I don't already have.

There is both a 2-disc (the first two discs listed below) and 4-disc version of the Raw Power Legacy Edition. Here is the track listing:

Disc 1 - Raw Power (original David Bowie mix)
01. Search and Destroy
02. Gimme Danger
03. Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell
04. Penetration
05. Raw Power
06. I Need Somebody
07. Shake Appeal
08. Death Trip

Disc 2 - "Georgia Peaches"
01. Introduction *
02. Raw Power *
03. Head On *
04. Gimme Danger *
05. Search and Destroy *
06. I Need Somebody *
07. Heavy Liquid *
08. Cock in My Pocket *
09. Open Up and Bleed *
10. Doojiman [outtake]
11. Head On [CBS Studio rehearsal performance]
* Live in Atlanta, 1973

Disc 3 - Rarities, Outtakes, & Alternates from the Raw Power Era
01. I'm Hungry [outtake]
02. I Got a Right [outtake]
03. I'm Sick of You [outtake]
04. Hey, Peter [outtake]
05. Shake Appeal [alternate mix]
06. Death Trip [alternate mix]
07. Gimme Danger [alternate mix from the 1996 Iggy "violent" remixes]
08. Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell [alternate mix from the 1996 Iggy "violent" remixes]

Disc 4 (DVD)
The Making of Raw Power - documentary by Morgan Neville featuring new interviews with Iggy Pop, James Williamson, Scott Asheton, Mike Watt, Johnny Marr, and Henry Rollins + live performance footage of James Williamson’s first reunion gig with Iggy and the Stooges shot at Festival Planeta Terra, São Paulo, Brazil, November 2009

Links:
Iggy Pop