James Williamson meet n greet is TONIGHT! Bay area, CA

Shakes wrote:

he included him in the reformation in 2003. i don't understand what you're trying to say here. he plays on the stooges tracks on skull ring as well. same with telluric chaos and the weirdness. an "honorary member" yes, but he is really the only one who could of filled dave's shoes. the only albums mike even signs are the ones he plays on. that's a stand up guy!

i am pretty certain that ron played bass on the skull ring tracks

JESUS_LOVES_THE_STOOGES wrote:

Maybe they call it " Pop,Williamson,Asheton"

If anything like that ever happened they could call it any damn thing they wanted as long as they didn't use the 'S' word. But I'm sure they've all got the good sense not to.

Shakes wrote:

he included him in the reformation in 2003. i don't understand what you're trying to say here. he plays on the stooges tracks on skull ring as well. same with telluric chaos and the weirdness.

I took the first post as a reference to the fact that many high-profile interviews, photo sessions with the reformed "Stooges" did not include Mike Watt. Whose idea that was, I don't know; maybe Iggy, but maybe Watt himself thought it would be gracious, respectful etc.

ggriffin wrote:

Shakes wrote:

he included him in the reformation in 2003. i don't understand what you're trying to say here. he plays on the stooges tracks on skull ring as well. same with telluric chaos and the weirdness.

I took the first post as a reference to the fact that many high-profile interviews, photo sessions with the reformed "Stooges" did not include Mike Watt. Whose idea that was, I don't know; maybe Iggy, but maybe Watt himself thought it would be gracious, respectful etc.

I think I read ages ago that Mike Watt didn't want to be in the publicity photos or interviews out of respect or something. I think it had something to do with him not being an original member. Well either way, it was his descision.

JESUS_LOVES_THE_STOOGES wrote:

Maybe they call it " Pop,Williamson,Asheton"

You've got it in the wrong order, bud.

They could call it PAWW.

dynamite boogie wrote:

Shakes wrote:

he included him in the reformation in 2003. i don't understand what you're trying to say here. he plays on the stooges tracks on skull ring as well. same with telluric chaos and the weirdness. an "honorary member" yes, but he is really the only one who could of filled dave's shoes. the only albums mike even signs are the ones he plays on. that's a stand up guy!

i am pretty certain that ron played bass on the skull ring tracks

Ron DID play bass on the Stooges' "Skull Ring" tracks. It was just the three original guys on those.

thanks for confirming that.

Any reports on the James Williamson appearance at the guitar shop?

nitebob

Loose1969 wrote:

dynamite boogie wrote:

Shakes wrote:

he included him in the reformation in 2003. i don't understand what you're trying to say here. he plays on the stooges tracks on skull ring as well. same with telluric chaos and the weirdness. an "honorary member" yes, but he is really the only one who could of filled dave's shoes. the only albums mike even signs are the ones he plays on. that's a stand up guy!

i am pretty certain that ron played bass on the skull ring tracks

Ron DID play bass on the Stooges' "Skull Ring" tracks. It was just the three original guys on those.

whoops. you think i would care to read the entire skull ring booklet.

Nitebob wrote:

Any reports on the James Williamson appearance at the guitar shop?

nitebob

Query seconded: if we can manage to get this thread back on topic, I'd really love to know if anyone here went along to meet James. If you have photos, that would be even better.

Cheers.

Wishful thinking, guys. "Stooges" is the name that sells. "Stooges" is what advertisers want. "Stooges" is what people will pay for. When you invest 40 years in a brand, you dont just decide to change it to keep your "artistic integrity."

I'm placing all bets on "Stooges" remaining the name.

mg196 wrote:

Wishful thinking, guys. "Stooges" is the name that
sells. "Stooges" is what advertisers want. "Stooges" is what people
will pay for. When you invest 40 years in a brand, you dont just decide
to change it to keep your "artistic integrity."

I'm placing all bets on "Stooges" remaining the name.

Yep!
Finally someone who is thinking realistic in this.

I'm not convinced. Much as I love the Stooges, Iggy Pop is a pretty strong brand. He could revert to performing and touring under his own name. I very much doubt he'd want to continue the Stooges without Ron.

Funhouse wrote:

I'm not convinced. Much as I love the Stooges, Iggy Pop is a pretty strong brand. He could revert to performing and touring under his own name. I very much doubt he'd want to continue the Stooges without Ron.

I have no idea what he might want to do but do know that before the band reformed he was not headlining huge festival gigs like the reformed Stooges were able to. The Iggy Pop "brand" is a fine one. It just does not seem to be as lucrative as The Stooges name.

I'm sure you're right but I don't think The Stooges exist any more, given that the only founding members left are Iggy and Scott. That said, it hasn't stopped the two surviving members of The Who performing as such.

Well, there are founding members and there are longtime and very influential members. James joined in 1971 and continued working with Ig for many years after The Stooges disbanded.

I would have a problem with them being called The Stooges if Steve Jones or Whitey whatever his last name is joined (and that could still happen - none of us knows what the future will hold). James is/was a Stooge, wrote some killing tunes, was an inspiration to a lot of other bands (just as Ron was) and was one of the best guitarists of his generation. Raw Power was the first Stooges record a great many people heard back in the day. I'm old enough to remember when it was pretty difficult to find the two Elektra LPs. It takes nothing away from Ron Asheton for James Williamson to be a Stooge. Plus, on a very greedy level - I want to hear the Raw Power tunes and the unrecorded R.P. tour tunes again.

I used to tease Ron that they should bring James back. Let the two of them switch off on bass (sorry - Watt would have to go in this scenario) and play everything the fans want to hear. I did it, of course, to needle him a bit, but it would have been a Stooge fan's dream. At least this Stooge fan's dream.

larry fine wrote:

Funhouse wrote:

I'm not convinced. Much as I love the Stooges, Iggy Pop is a pretty strong brand. He could revert to performing and touring under his own name. I very much doubt he'd want to continue the Stooges without Ron.

I have no idea what he might want to do but do know that before the band reformed he was not headlining huge festival gigs like the reformed Stooges were able to. The Iggy Pop "brand" is a fine one. It just does not seem to be as lucrative as The Stooges name.

I'm not convinced he is doing so much better as the Stooges. For a start he is headlining small festivals, not huge ones. Comparing appearances at Reading, in 2001 he was 4th on the bill on the Friday as Iggy Pop and in 2005 he was 4th on the bill on Sunday with the Stooges. Perhaps Sunday is better than Friday but even so I should think if he toured solo he would still be 4th on the bill at Reading.

Funhouse wrote:

I'm not convinced. Much as I love the Stooges, Iggy Pop is a pretty strong brand. He could revert to performing and touring under his own name.

Agreed.

I'd love to hear James Williamson playing the Raw Power songs live too... I think both incarnations of the band are superb in their own way. Nevertheless, I can't see James giving up his day job to go back on the road. I hope I'm wrong.

I agree.
besides, i saw the re-formed stooges twice and they were always billed as 'Iggy and the Stooges' so whats the difference if JW did play with Iggy & Scott as 'Iggy and the Stooges'.
that WAS the name of the band when he recorded/played with them.
I don't think this is spittin on Ron's grave or anything...

JW must be a pretty rusty player by now anyway.

jpod wrote:

JW must be a pretty rusty player by now anyway.

Check out the mp3 on cb's page. He's anything but

there's goin a lot attention to James as musician nowadays. all he says and stuff..
like in that Mojo article lately.. feels weird... i'm not up to it.. yet. it doesn't help either to see him in Hawai with a guitar

Cool. can u send me a link?
or point me in the right direction?

www.iggypop.org - go to the latest news section and there's a link to the MP3 there. There's no doubt he can still play!

It might be a good idea if Williamson hops on to change the name anyway, because in a lot of markets, The Stooges brand was kind of beat to death, with the band playing the same set for several years. If they go out with Watt/Williamson/Asheton they could be billed as Iggy Pop's Raw Power or something like that, so people would know that it was going to be something different.

Wow, that link is cool, nice to hear williamson again