The Jeff Gold book

Jeff Gold’s book on The Stooges is truly awesome, as many have commented here. However, it does include a number of glaring errors which could have been avoided if more diligent research had been done. Some of the most annoying ones are the following:

Page 173: Photos by Peter Hujar listed as being from “early 1970”, but are clearly from the autumn 1970, when the Stooges included Billy Cheatham and Zeke Zettner. The photos were most likely taken around the time of the New York gigs the Stooges played at Electric Circus, 23 October 1970, and The Ritz Theatre, 31 October 1970.

Page 190-91: The photo is listed as being from Electric Circus, 23 October 1970, but it is from the 14-15 May 1971 gigs at this venue. This is evident from the silver glitter and Iggy being slightly overweight as he had put on a few pounds. Moreover, the photo is by Lisa Gottlieb whose photos are also featured in the Easy Action box set of 1971 gigs.

Page 193: The review of the Electric Circus gigs is from the 14-15 May 1971 concerts at the venue, but this is listed as being from late 1970. Yes, they did play Electric Circus in 1970 (on 23 October 1970), but the review mentions two gigs and even refers to Fun House as an album from LAST year, clearly showing that the review is from 1971. Pictures on this page are also listed as being from late 1970, but they are from the spring 1971 tour the band did.

Page 196: The paper RPM listed as “1/5/1971” cannot possibly from January 1971 despite the American way of writing “month/day/year”. It must be from 1 May 1971 since the review by Lisa Robinson talks about the gigs the Stooges played in at the Vanity Theatre in Detroit (13 April 1971) and at the Opera House in Chicago (17 April 1971). The review mentions Iggy being covered in glitter, which was customary on the spring 1971 tour.

Page 199: There is no proof that James Williamson joined the Stooges for the 5 December 1970 gig at Farmington High School, as claimed in the book. He joined a few weeks earlier, most likely immediately after the gig at Ritz Theatre, New York, 31 October 1970, which was when Billy Cheatham left the band. The next gig after NY was Eastown Theater, Detroit, 13-14 November 1970, so most likely James joined in the two-week interim between Ritz Theatre and Eastown Theater. Natalie Schlossman reported in Popped that she met James for the first time before the gig they played at the Monroe Community College in Rochester, 4 December, i.e. before the Farmington High School gig.

Page 213: The photo on this page is very clearly not from 1971, but from mid-1970, as judged by Iggy’s attire.

These errors are kind of frustrating and could easily have been avoided if the author(s) had spent some more time on research and getting everything as accurate as possible. Still, it’s an amazing book and the errors probably won’t be noticed by many readers. Or will they? I think books of this type benefit greatly from fan input to make sure the facts are correct.

Per

Good work Per!
Yes I don't know why they don't get things checked properly. It's not difficult is it?
Cheers,
Richard

When Caught In The Act finally comes out we will be going over it with a fine toothed comb. And if there are any errors contained within you are going to be more that a little embarrassed. So be on your toes for that final rewrite. Just sayin.

That said, I'm really looking forward to your book. As I understand it the book is being written in conjunction with Natalie Schlossman, who was an Elecktra employee in the late 60's/early 70's and who followed the Stooges until their demise in 1974. Her account should be  invaluable. Her observations on Dave's last days will probably be as riveting as Marky Ramone's account of Joey's last days. And while she appears to have left the building here, I appreciated her observations on this forum in the past.

The planned book will not deal with Dave's death. Or the details of the Stooges' career, which has already been covered very well in the books by Jeff Gold, Bob Matheu, Paul Trynka, Richard Adams and others. Don't have much to add there, really. Instead, the book will focus narrowly on the Stooges' concerts. And there are likely to be a few errors, but they probably won't be due to insufficient research.

Per

So is Natalie no longer involved with the book? My understanding from a few years back was that the book was based on her recollections from her years with the Stooges with you as coauthor. But no, it wouldn't surprise me if she completely backed out. The way she completely abandoned this forum all of a sudden spoke volumes. But that's her right if so desired. Many other people have as well. We as Stooges diehards remain.

pernil wrote:

Instead, the book will focus narrowly on the Stooges' concerts. And there are likely to be a few errors, but they probably won't be due to insufficient research.

Per

Looking forward to the book. I don't know if it's been considered, but I think it would be great if the book were to be packaged with CD(s) of some/all of the Stooges shows that haven't previously been released.