piano & b/voc on raw power

Hi there, I've only been registered on this site about a month but I can't keep away, it's so good!
Anyway, wonder if anyone knows - I'm sure there's a piano on 'raw power', who's playing? Also on 'penetration', who's singing the backing vocals (doesn't sound like Iggy).
I've been a Stooges fan for over 30 years & this forum is way better than any of the books I've ever bought, so much information! Thanks to all (special up to Per & Natalie without whom etc. etc...

Welcome aboard gary!

The question about who was the studio pianist has been raised in a different thread not too long ago, no real definite answers, but some have suggested that Bowie was behind the ivories.

As far as the backing vocals, Ron was listed a a backing vocalist, so perhaps it is Ron that we hear.

Here is the part of that interview (Aku, is this the one you were referring to?)

scott wrote:

Welcome aboard gary!

The question about who was the studio pianist has been raised in a different thread not too long ago, no real definite answers, but some have suggested that Bowie was behind the ivories.

As far as the backing vocals, Ron was listed a a backing vocalist, so perhaps it is Ron that we hear.

Backing vocals on the Raw Power album were done by Ron,
He got the credit for it and He talked about the fact in an interview..saying that David Bowie/Iggy took most of his backin vocals away from the songs during the mixing...

Hi Gary, thanks for joining! Glad you like the forum!

good question regarding the piano segments! thats (honestly) something ive never really even thought about. if i had to guess id assume (as someone else has already stated) that it was bowie behind the keys.

and backing vocals were indeed credited to ron, and i have no real reason question that.

and YES!!!!! ive been coming here i guess i few months now, and i absolutely love it. its one of the first things i check whenever i get online. TONS of great info...and Per + Nat totally deserve any/all respect they get.


-s.

Unlikely to have been Bowie on piano - he was busy touring as Ziggy Ztardust at the time Raw Power was recorded and his only involvement came after the record company insisted that something be done with the supposedly 'unreleasable' tapes of the album. This required Iggy and Bowie to remix, as best they could, the raw tapes of the album tracks to create the Bowie Mix that was issued in 1973. Bowie wasn't present during the actual recording however.

My guess is that the uncredited piano is played by James. The celeste on "Penetration" was played by James when he found it in the studio, so it's not impossible that he played the piano too.

Cheers,

Richard

great point!

even though its slightly possible little things were added when bowie came in to help remix the album? for some reason whoever played wasnt credited...and i can see bowie totally NOT wanting to be credited for playing anything on that album.

I never thought much about who played the piano on this track..I always assumed it was Bowie.

gary wrote:

...piano on 'raw power', who's playing?

Oh, you mean those two piano keys (not even a full chord) that are simply hammered away at percussively throughout the song? Frankly, it could have been a monkey. No offense to whomever actually played that part, but it's barely piano "playing".

Didn't Iggy say he played that piano part?
Per

Wow, I'm overwhelmed by the response, thanks everybody!

I'm with Richard on this one. Though it's only one note through out the whole song so maybe John Cale slipped into the recording studio when no-one was looking so he could be pretentious but forgot his sleighbells.

I've always loved the piano and backing vocals in this song. I doubt the keys were an afterthought, they are integral to the feel of the song. Why else would Iggy have hired Bob and then Scott to play keys in the post-Raw Power tunes? Sure anyone could have played them, even Iggy. I doubt Bowie was around, and surely he wouldn't have wanted to play such a Stooge-like dumb riff. Most likely it was James, but someone would have to ask him.

citizensmurf wrote:

I've always loved the piano and backing vocals in this song. I doubt the keys were an afterthought, they are integral to the feel of the song. Why else would Iggy have hired Bob and then Scott to play keys in the post-Raw Power tunes? Sure anyone could have played them, even Iggy. I doubt Bowie was around, and surely he wouldn't have wanted to play such a Stooge-like dumb riff. Most likely it was James, but someone would have to ask him.

Iggy has stated that the addition of a keyboard player for the final tour in 73-74 was James Williamson's idea. If I remember correctly, Iggy's exact words were: "James had come into the Stooges late, and was trying to find a way to thicken our sound." Iggy obviously just went along with it.

The piano part on Raw Power was most likely an afterthought because the Stooges did not have a keyboard player when the song was written. When Scott Thurston added keyboards to the live versions of the song it was considerably more than a one-note riff.

James in truth wanted a piano player as he didn't want a second guitar player - a position Ron was promised he'd eventually get in the band when he moved down to bass.

StoogesFan wrote:

Iggy has stated that the addition of a keyboard player for the final tour in 73-74 was James Williamson's idea. If I remember correctly, Iggy's exact words were: "James had come into the Stooges late, and was trying to find a way to thicken our sound." Iggy obviously just went along with it.

The piano part on Raw Power was most likely an afterthought because the Stooges did not have a keyboard player when the song was written. When Scott Thurston added keyboards to the live versions of the song it was considerably more than a one-note riff.

I don't know if you can dismiss this as purely James' idea from one quote. Iggy had a lot of control over the band, so there would not have been a keyboard player if Iggy didn't think it fit the sound.

And just because there was not a regular keyboard player, doesn't mean Iggy just threw it on at the last minute. Like I said, we'd have to ask them to find out for sure, but to my ears, that piano part and the background "oohs" were put there with deliberate intention.

I agree with Citizen Smurf, if you listen to the Rough Power version you can see the intention very clearly

Songs often evolve while the band are in the recording studio. If other instruments are available, many bands will experiment by adding new elements. Sometimes they are kept in the final mix, sometimes not. The plain fact is that Raw Power could not have been written with keyboards because there was no keyboard player in the band.

The Stranglers used a car exhaust pipe on one of their tracks simply because the drummer found it lying around in the recording studio. Does anyone seriously think the track was written with this in mind?