Raw Power legacy edition UK press release

Yeah, it's a bit of a puzzle, but not really. Ron, Scott and I know this old friend from Ann Arbor, he took an edited tape, like the one I've had since 1977 or so, cleaned it up a bit and had hoped to make some $ by getting them to release it, you know through Easy Action or something. As I said I knew the recording well, and also knew Sony had been wanting to do something like we've done. Not a big deal, this mutual friend didn't "own it" as legally the Stooges own it, he had a tape, it came to our attention and Iggy gave me marching orders. I sought out the guy who recorded it, had the master reel, which clocked in at an hour, had lots of stuff on it that wasn't on the other tape, lots more colorful banter from the audience, that sort of thing. I think Scotty's quotes and that interview were done even before Iggy had heard it, without getting too deep into someone else's business, that's about it. Ron too had told people he had the tape for years, as to maybe protect the source, I don't speak for Ron, other than he loved the recording and he also told me what to look for in the CBS vaults.

There are two ways of doing things, just getting it out there, make the quick buck or taking the time, doing it right, I subscribe to the later. Again, this enabled us to revisit the CBS vaults and you'll be pleased with what else is featured. I can't editorialize yet, the reviews will be out there and you'll know soon enough.

Natalie, write me through my website and I'll see what I can do to get you some music sooner than later...I was at the Roxy show, sure, upstairs with Scott most of the time or in back with Clem Burke...

Thanks, but sorry, I'm still rather confused all by this as Scott says The Stooges were sent it.

"Just last week, this guy sent us a copy of a live show in Atlanta from the Raw Power period. Turns out it sounds pretty good. He had it digitally re-mastered and put Pro Tools to it and I think we’re going to buy and release it. It’s rockin’, it’s got Iggy reading some poetry—well, not reading, actually, but just making it up as he goes along, improvising poetry. [starts laughing] Aw man, you’ve got to hear it. I don’t want to give it away, but you have to hear it. You’ll be rolling on the floor—it’s pretty far-out stuff. So yeah, that’ll probably be out soon."

Ah, I get it now. The Stooges were sent a cleaned-up copy of an edited tape and the original plan was to release that. Since then, the unedited master reel has been found and this is being released instead.

Can't come soon enough for me.

Also Robert I was wondering why some of Iggy's mixes are being included when they're still very easy to get ahold of when not all of the 72' songs have been included. Could you clear this up too?

Has anyone seen an official release date for this yet?

OK, I'll give it another shot, the mutual friend gave Ron a copy of the tape, the band liked it, and Iggy asked me to look into it. When I heard it I knew it was the same tape I had for years, just like the stuff the Easy Action put out from 1971, all of those tapes had been around forever. I had heard about an archive house in Atlanta that had a lot of recordings from Richards, that is was why I went looking for it. Additionally, when he told Ron that he worked on it in Pro Tools, he had to edit Search And Destroy back together as it was on the tape in two parts and that wasn't acceptable to me, I also knew that by getting the master reel and using Sony's technology, we would have something better than home mastering on Pro Tools. Any clearer?

There was never a "plan" to release the other version, just talk that it was a great performance and it should come out. I was going to buy the tape and find a home for it, but if I was putting my money in up front, I needed to have the best deal in place first, which is what I did and found the best source.

We wanted to include a couple of Iggy's '96 mixes to offset the other mixes, to mix it up on the variations. Also, Iggy is still quite proud of his mix. We thought with this Deluxe Edition some people that buy it might not have gotten the remix, this gives them a taste.

Now, we might have Unganos 1970 out later this year, Rhino has the first album coming out in a limited edition with all remaining takes, I think there are as many as 5 additional takes of Little Doll, as well as Asthma Attack finally. There isn't going to be a shortage of Stooges music out this year.

Back door man with the info re Uganos and the complete 1st album i think i may explode with excitement!!! Thanks for all the info made my day/month etc What a year to be a Stooges obsessive

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

Unganos 1970 ... Asthma Attack....

Great news! Thanks!

Interesting news! Though a little annoying to have to buy the first album again. Pity these tracks couldn't have been included on the last reissue just a few years ago.
Unganos 1970 though - excellent!!!
Cheers,
Richard

I don't care how many times I buy that first album!!
Five takes of Little Doll..!

what wonderful news...it's made my year so far... can't hide my excitement!

I hope they release everything they have in the vaults. In the last reissue they left plenty of room on the second disc for some reason. I wonder why didn't they release all the Cale mixes as an "alternative album". They could've also done something about the tape hiss. Anyway, I'm looking forward to this, this looks be a great year for us Stooges fans.

Thanks for the great news about Unganos / Asthma Attack! and clearing up about the raw power release!

although - why release unganos, a show heavily based on funhouse material - or all i think, on the original album reissue?

also what will be on the stooges limited edition? will it be the rhino edition with alternate takes plus these new takes, unganos and new photos etc?

are there no shows floating around of the early stage of the band?


thanks again for the great news, like everyone else, made my day!
HJW

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

OK, I'll give it another shot, the mutual friend gave Ron a copy of the tape, the band liked it, and Iggy asked me to look into it. When I heard it I knew it was the same tape I had for years, just like the stuff the Easy Action put out from 1971, all of those tapes had been around forever. I had heard about an archive house in Atlanta that had a lot of recordings from Richards, that is was why I went looking for it. Additionally, when he told Ron that he worked on it in Pro Tools, he had to edit Search And Destroy back together as it was on the tape in two parts and that wasn't acceptable to me, I also knew that by getting the master reel and using Sony's technology, we would have something better than home mastering on Pro Tools. Any clearer?

There was never a "plan" to release the other version, just talk that it was a great performance and it should come out. I was going to buy the tape and find a home for it, but if I was putting my money in up front, I needed to have the best deal in place first, which is what I did and found the best source.

We wanted to include a couple of Iggy's '96 mixes to offset the other mixes, to mix it up on the variations. Also, Iggy is still quite proud of his mix. We thought with this Deluxe Edition some people that buy it might not have gotten the remix, this gives them a taste.

Couple of quick questions, a good while back now I had a correspondence with a guy in Georgia who said that he was involved in contacting the band about the tape, which he, and at least one other person in Georgia, had turned up. So where do they fit in? And how come in the first press release it was "recently unearthed in Iggy's private tape stash"?

I'm also surprised about your excitement re the "Embassy Reels", as I thought they were just re-EQed versions of the standard mixes, certainly the ones released on the Embassy label album seemed to be.

homesickjameswilliamson wrote:

Thanks for the great news about Unganos / Asthma Attack! and clearing up about the raw power release!

although - why release unganos, a show heavily based on funhouse material - or all i think, on the original album reissue?

also what will be on the stooges limited edition? will it be the rhino edition with alternate takes plus these new takes, unganos and new photos etc?

are there no shows floating around of the early stage of the band?


thanks again for the great news, like everyone else, made my day!
HJW

I don't think Robert means that Unganos will be released on a reissue of the first album.

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

Any clearer?

Yes that clears things up somewhat, with the original press releases being different (as Petrie Terrace brought up) it all got rather confusing. Has anything been uncovered in Iggy's private stash?

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

Any clearer?

Also, Iggy is still quite proud of his mix. [/quote]

Did anyone tell him it was fucking awful?

Did anyone tell him it was fucking awful?

Lol I like Iggy's mix.. But just for the rawest track of RP like :

- Your pretty face is going to hell (the most savage song I ever heard)
- Raw Power (I love the burp !)
- Death Trip

Quote :

I don't think Robert means that Unganos will be released on a reissue of the first album.

Thanks, i read over this and realised this too - although didnt someone say it wasnt strong enough to release it by itself?

also i think that the songs listed by freemind above work really well in iggys mix, the 97 mix is a weird one, if you're in the mood for it, its amazing, otherwise its unlistenable, like casually, but one offs are great, i think/hope the new mix/remaster/whatever they're doing, will make it 'easier' to listen to

I shouldn't be spending this much time trying to clear this up, but since I spent so much time on the book doing the same thing...

Random thoughts

-Alot of people have told Iggy what they thought of his remix, you don't know Igg, makes him love something more! It fit right in for what else was going on at that moment in time and the mix we closed with does make for a savage ending.

-Not all of the first album tapes had been found yet in 2005 when the deluxe reissues came out, it's not like there is an vault with this stuff in it.

-Why do we keep going back to Georgia? I explained the role the others had in bringing it to the band's attention. The Stooges themselves would never write a check or make a call to release a tape, not their style, their job is to make music. They loved it, asked me to find a home for it, and I went big on it, instead of sneaking it out as a semi-official bootleg, I sought to make it as big as possible.

-No set plans for Unganos at this point, but August makes 40 years on that and Fun House. So, we'll see what can be done with it. Why put it out, because it is a document in time, like Velvet Underground At Max's.

-As far as the inconsistancies in the press releases, I haven't a clue. As far as Iggy's private stash, well I am sure that might be poetic license.

-EQ? Mixes? Don't believe everything that has been written, there are as may as 6 very distinct different reels that I have of the album, Iggy has told me over the years that he mixed it so many times that he couldn't be objective any longer, he was even sleeping with the tapes at one point. The tapes that he played on WABX were taken away from him by MainMan and only then did he agree to have David mix it. There are also mono mixes that were done for singles, the biggest thing we discovered in all of this, is that there is no paperwork to explain it all, we can only take guesses. I could go into it deeper, but what is the point?

Go talk amongst yourselves, I'll check back in over the weekend.

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

We wanted to include a couple of Iggy's '96 mixes to offset the other mixes, to mix it up on the variations. Also, Iggy is still quite proud of his mix. We thought with this Deluxe Edition some people that buy it might not have gotten the remix, this gives them a taste.

Thanks for the info, but I still do not understand the need to include some Iggy mixes. People who buy the Deluxe Edition will no doubt be big Stooges fans and as such will have bought Iggy's mix already. Just seems we're being ripped off a little.

G, F#, E wrote:

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

We wanted to include a couple of Iggy's '96 mixes to offset the other mixes, to mix it up on the variations. Also, Iggy is still quite proud of his mix. We thought with this Deluxe Edition some people that buy it might not have gotten the remix, this gives them a taste.

Thanks for the info, but I still do not understand the need to include some Iggy mixes. People who buy the Deluxe Edition will no doubt be big Stooges fans and as such will have bought Iggy's mix already. Just seems we're being ripped off a little.

I can't either. its gotta be padding. the majority of fans will have iggy's mix and will buy this again. shit having a staggered release for the deluxe editions means i'll probably buy them both. and i probably won't be alone there.

anyway, i bought ig's mix for only £2.99 brand new!!! so i reckon thats helluva good value for money. the least i can do is keep the stooge pension fund topped up!!

G, F#, E wrote:

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

We wanted to include a couple of Iggy's '96 mixes to offset the other mixes, to mix it up on the variations. Also, Iggy is still quite proud of his mix. We thought with this Deluxe Edition some people that buy it might not have gotten the remix, this gives them a taste.

Thanks for the info, but I still do not understand the need to include some Iggy mixes. People who buy the Deluxe Edition will no doubt be big Stooges fans and as such will have bought Iggy's mix already. Just seems we're being ripped off a little.

I don't agree that we're being ripped off. The simple fact is that Iggy wanted to include a representative sample of his mix. Think of those two tracks as 'extra bonus' features. There is really no minumum quantity regarding what may be included on a CD, and as such the 'rarities' disc could easily have been restricted to six tracks instead of eight. Would anyone have been happier with this arrangement?

Okay, we would all have liked a few more outtakes ('Scene of the Crime' etc) and a little more of the 'Embassy Reels', plus maybe a few more properly remastered rehearsal tracks. If this forthcoming set is successful, maybe Iggy will sanction a further release at some future point. In the meantime, let's just be thankful for what we have (or what we will have shortly ).

Well, i for one never bought the Iggy remix as i already had RP on vinyl and cd and at the time didnt realise it would be so 'different' (or have much cash to spare). I will look forward to having my brain mashed!

Robert we seem to be getting ripped off on the postage and packaging, whats the reason behind this?

PS. On a totally unrelated topic what was it like taking those seminal shots of The Stooges when you were only 14?

BackDoorMan@TheMindRoom wrote:

I shouldn't be spending this much time trying to clear this up, but since I spent so much time on the book doing the same thing...

Just to remind you of the source of all this confusion you're graciously taking time out to explain. The origins of the tape have been variously described as ...

" ... this guy sent us a copy of a live show in Atlanta from the Raw Power period. Turns out it sounds pretty good. He had it digitally re-mastered and put Pro Tools to it and I think we’re going to buy and release it" (Scott) , "Ron Asheton made Matheu aware of a Richards cassette he had stored away" (Sony) , "A mutual friend of the Ashetons and I, did give a copy to Ronnie" (Robert Matheu) , " ... recently unearthed in Iggy's private tape stash" (Sony)

"Ron, Scott and I know this old friend from Ann Arbor, he took an edited tape, like the one I've had since 1977 or so, cleaned it up a bit and had hoped to make some $ by getting them to release it, you know through Easy Action or something" (Robert Matheu)

In response to the above post I asked you where the guys in Georgia fitted in, you replied ...

"Why do we keep going back to Georgia? I explained the role the others had in bringing it to the band's attention"

Well, between one post and the next you've jumped from talking about a "guy" singular, in Ann Arbor, to "others" plural, in Georgia, with no further explanation. And you're really surprised people are still asking you questions?

Re "Go talk amongst yourselves, I'll check back in over the weekend." I'd suggest you and your colleagues at Sony do the same, maybe you can get your story straight.

On the same subject, sorry if I'm boring you here, ...

"I immediately knew the performance, and it was edited even more and attempts had been made to splice together Search And Destroy, rending it a full minute shorter. After Iggy gave me his blessing to find a home to release it, I went to Sony." (Robert Matheu)

"Not a big deal, this mutual friend didn't "own it" as legally the Stooges own it, he had a tape, it came to our attention and Iggy gave me marching orders. I sought out the guy who recorded it, had the master reel ..." (Robert Matheu)

I'm a bit confused, if you've had a copy of the tape for over thirty years, and all that was different about the new version was that it was more heavily edited, and had what you dismissively described as some "home mastering on Pro Tools", why no previous attempt on your part to bring your better quality tape to the attention of the band/Iggy/Sony?, or for that matter any previous attempt to locate the master?

Re "EQ? Mixes? Don't believe everything that has been written"

I don't. But I do believe nearly thirty years familiarity with all three UK pressings of RP, over "... there is no paperwork to explain it all, we can only take guesses". We do live in the age of the spin doctor, after all.

A couple of questions....
a) Concerning the Richards tape, there were five shows (I attended three), weren't they all recorded? I have a vague memory of I Got Nuthin' and possibly Rich Bitch being played during the stint.
b) Is Asthma Attack a real song, or a free form jam? Either way, I certainly looking forward to it when Rhino issues it. During one of their NYC shows (Roseland, I think) at one point in between 1970 and Funhouse they went into a free jam and Iggy seemed to be singing lyrics that included the words Asthma Attack over and over, could it be they worked it into the set? I have a a tape of the show on my hardrive, I'll try and pinpoint the spot and re-listen to it. Then again, it might have been at a different show since I've seen about eight post- reunion shows.