Scotty Thurston

Has anyone heard whether Scott Thurston will be joining the band for any of their upcoming shows? I never thought Id say this - but I actually miss his background vocals on some of the tunes - like Open Up & Bleed. Plus - it seems like he could really help James pull off some of the songs from Kill City with absolute conviction.

Ive seen him with Tom Petty - the guy is an incredible guitar player (as evidenced on New Values) and still possesses a really soulful voice.

Hi there,

I miss Thurston too. I'm worried about the too much sax warnings concerning the 2010 reunion shows. But I also have read some posts which seem not to like very much the boogied piano driven Stooges. Is that a common place among connoiseurs? I love the 1973-1974 band. I don't think Thurston is willing to leave the Heartbreakers for the Stooges, but his help in the future Stooges recordings would be a wonderful news in my opinion.

Take care,

Anton

The piano gives em a sort of Rolling Stones feel, it certainly isn't as punk as some fans would like the Stooges to be, nor as original as Fun House and Raw Power where, but it is still really good music. And for the live shows, it helped Williamson (always good to have a backup musician when you're going solo or doing complex riffs like S&D) in 73-74, and it helped him on the hall of fame gig.
That's why I'm all for the Stooges touring with added musicians. I love the sax, and I would love some piano. Imagine Dog with a sax melodic background and a rythmic piano, something like the hall of fame version but with more work behind. Imagine Open Up played played by such band. They could play anything, it would really expend their musical possibilities.
If they record some old songs for the net album, it would be a shame if they don't use the piano on at least some of the tracks.

I totally agree, Ziggy. I have read that Mackay is playing not only sax but harmonica and keyboards as well. Is he doing OK with all that junk? I think you are right asking for both a sax player and a pianist in the band.

More boogie woogie piano please!

As of 2 weeks ago, Scotty T was rehearsing with Petty for the upcoming tour.

Scotty is an amazing musician and very versatile. He was a wonderful bonus at the jam in January. He pinch hit for James on lead guitar. I would always welcome him back into the fold but he has a steady job with Petty and unfortunately for us, I think that is the way it is going to stay.

anton wrote:

I totally agree, Ziggy. I have read that Mackay is playing not only sax but harmonica and keyboards as well. Is he doing OK with all that junk? I think you are right asking for both a sax player and a pianist in the band.

Well, the little keyboard was used only for one note on Dog and Gimme Danger, and the harmonica on the intro of Open Up, so that's pretty simple to handle. To bad he didn't play more harmonica on Open Up, by the away, it sounded sooooooooo cool.

I hope he at least records with them on the old tunes that they intend to record.

Scott Thurston playing harmonica...yeah it would be great to have him back at least in a new album

Hectorlovesthestooges wrote:

Scott Thurston playing harmonica...yeah it would be great to have him back at least in a new album

agree!!! but I'd like to concerts ... Search and Destroy is pretty good with the piano

I have read that Bob Sheff left the piano arrangements pretty much done in 1973. Is that true? Do you think that Sheff's contribution to the band's sound was as crucial or even more tahn Thurston's? Should Gene Tyranny then make a guest appearence in the new Stooges records to come? Should they go all avant-garde about it at least in some tracks? Sorry, I'm rambling.

Bob Scheff plays on the "Rubber Legs" album, so listen for yourself ...I think it sounds just about the same. The compilers must have thought so too, since Scott Thurston is credited on the sleeve!

You are right, Triskell. I'm gonna listen to Bomp's ''Open up and bleed: the great lost Stooges album?'' instead, which is handier (Spotify) for me. Can somebody tell me which tracks is Gene Tyranny playing on, please? The tracklist is:

1. Rubber Legs
2. Open Up And Bleed
3. Johanna
4. Cock In My Pocket
5. Head On
6. Cry For Me
7. Rich Bitch
8. Wet My Bed
9. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills

http://www.bomp.com/iggy.html

I can hear piano on Scene of the Crime...who played it? and who played the single note on Raw Power?

I would guess that it will host a Stooges ....( like him down the street with the keys)

Although it's impossible to be 100% certain, it's arguably 99% certain that Scott Thurston does not appear on any of the 1973 rehearsal tracks.

Most of these recordings were definitely taped before he joined the band. So it would be Bob Sheff on these rehearsals.

Things become a little complicated with the tracks originally compiled on the Rubber Legs album, the Studio Rehearsals bootleg and recently the So Called CBS Rehearsals on the Heavy Liquid set.
These six tracks -
1. Rubber Legs
2. Open Up And Bleed
3. Johanna
4. Cock In My Pocket
5. Head On
6. Cry For Me
(sometimes plus a faster version of Rubber Legs)
are often touted as featuring Scott Thurston because they are claimed to have been taped just before the Max's shows in July / August 1973 - by then Thurston was in the band.

BUT - for one thing it's clear that these tracks are not from the same 'session' at all - differing recording levels / standards indicate this. Note also that Open Up And Bleed in concert featured Thurston's muscular harmonica and bluesy backing vocals - these are nowhere to be found on the take recorded here. Crucially, Iggy, on numerous occasions, refers to Bob - it has to be Mr Blue Gene Tyranny himself, Bob Sheff.

Clearly these so called CBS rehearsals are just a collection of random tracks recorded earlier in the year amongst all the other rehearsal tracks. They are arguably some of the best, but are by no means a different set of recordings.

Cheers,

Richard

Thank you very much, Adams66!

Does anyone know if the 'faster' Rubber Legs is the same track as on the Rubber Legs CD just sped up, or is it a different take?

It's the same take at two different speeds. One has been slowed down or the other sped up - I can't remember now which it is.
Cheers,
R

There are at least two different complete, near-contempraneous takes of Rubber Legs.
I have one on 'Rubber Legs' and a completely different one on a comp called 'Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell'.
Ditto for 'Johanna'.

Bob Scheff is on the Heavy Liquid box for sure, specifically the rehearsal disc at the SRC studio. I believe these were practice sessions for the upcoming (March '73) Detroit homecoming gig.

Someone is playing harmonica on the "CBS "version of 'Bleed'. Scheff?

adams66 wrote:

Things become a little complicated with the tracks originally compiled on the Rubber Legs album, the Studio Rehearsals bootleg and recently the So Called CBS Rehearsals on the Heavy Liquid set.
These six tracks -
1. Rubber Legs
2. Open Up And Bleed
3. Johanna
4. Cock In My Pocket
5. Head On
6. Cry For Me
(sometimes plus a faster version of Rubber Legs)
are often touted as featuring Scott Thurston because they are claimed to have been taped just before the Max's shows in July / August 1973 - by then Thurston was in the band.

BUT - for one thing it's clear that these tracks are not from the same 'session' at all - differing recording levels / standards indicate this. Note also that Open Up And Bleed in concert featured Thurston's muscular harmonica and bluesy backing vocals - these are nowhere to be found on the take recorded here. Crucially, Iggy, on numerous occasions, refers to Bob - it has to be Mr Blue Gene Tyranny himself, Bob Sheff.

Clearly these so called CBS rehearsals are just a collection of random tracks recorded earlier in the year amongst all the other rehearsal tracks. They are arguably some of the best, but are by no means a different set of recordings.

Rubber Legs, Open Up and Bleed, and Johanna appear to all be from one rehearsal tape which is listed in Per Nilsen's 'The Wild One' as a Detroit Rehearsal February 20 1973. (I have a copy of the tape.) I don't know where the other three are from, but Iggy refers to Bob on 'Cock In My Pocket', so that one at least seems to be from around the same period, with Bob Sheff, and I suspect all the rehearsal tapes are.

After doing my homework, I would say that Sheff made the piano arrangements for those songs, but only Thurston would follow the band into the sonic Pit.

adams66 wrote:

It's the same take at two different speeds. One has been slowed down or the other sped up - I can't remember now which it is.

The six tracks on 'Rubber Legs' (which came to be referred to as 'CBS Rehearsals') appear to have been sourced from the 'Studio Rehearsals 1973-1974' bootleg LP. Subsequent releases of these tracks seem to have in turn been sourced from 'Rubber Legs'.) On 'Rubber Legs' and every(?) subsequent release the tracks run at a faster speed than the original bootleg, and I think they sound too fast. The timings on the original bootleg LP also closely match the timings for the three tracks that are on my copy of the February 20 1973 tape.

The slower 'Rubber Legs' (same take) first appeared on Bomp's 'Open Up and Bleed' and might be expected to have been sourced from their master tapes (while the other 'CBS Rehearsals' apparently weren't!) It's timing closely matches the 'Studio Rehearsals 1973-1974' boot and my tape. So I think the slower one is the correct speed, and just about every other release of these six tracks is too fast.

trailerborn wrote:

There are at least two different complete, near-contempraneous takes of Rubber Legs.

Yes there are two takes of Rubber Legs, both from the February 20 tape. One (the one we have been discussing) has been released at two different speeds. The other one appears on some releases with a faded out ending and on other releases without the fade! It all gets quite confusing!

It just got a lot less confusing, thanks to you! When I have "Rubber Legs" on vinyl, what do I need to get a decent version of the other recording?