rictified wrote:Ron was also a great bass player, in fact some would argue that he was better on bass than he was on guitar. He played bass on Raw Power. When they did their reunion I wondered why they didn't get James Williamson to play guitar again with Ron on bass.
For the time in between the "Stooges" and "Iggy and the Stooges", the band was broken up. Iggy went to London for a bit, where he wrote "Search and Destroy", as well as other cuts that did and didn't make it on the album "Raw Power". Iggy hooked up with guitarist James Williamson(not in London), and hooked back up with his old band mates. Ron was shocked, and upset, that he had been replaced, but took the gig of bassplayer anyways, beside his brother Scott on drums. Scott and Ron didn't like James, and were mortified when the record was released that the band was now called "Iggy and the Stooges".
The album was a sonic disaster in almost any respect, which makes it one of my favorites. The guitar blasts out from places like napalm and shrapnel. If you are ever in an emergency situation at home, don't bother with 911, just throw "Your pretty face is going to hell" on your stereo and crank it up. Cops will be there in no time.
The mix was really bad, very little levels of bass and drums, loud guitar rhythm, blasting loud guitar solos so piercing with treble, your cat will hide under the bed. This further infuriated the brothers, as they really felt slapped in the face. Supposedly, David Bowie had something to do with the mix. Bomp records even put out a version of this album with a "Bowie free" sticker on it. I've never heard/read anybody confirm or deny this as he(Bowie)was around at the time doing his own stuff and helping them out. I believe the real problem was everybody was doing massive amounts of hard drugs, and no one really remembers.
Iggy remixed the album in the late 90s, put the drums and bass back in as best he could, and threw in a bunch of liner notes from what he remembered. At this time, I think the healing process between the "original" Stooges was starting. A little while later, they reformed the band, and later cut a record. It was cool that Ron got to see that people did indeed like the music, and to get some proper touring and a signature model guitar.
As far as James Williamson goes, both brothers didn't like him, and the reunion of the Stooges was that of the original band. Iggy and James also have some issues, but don't really know enough about that to share it. James did do a few solo albums with Iggy, but none came close to "Raw Power".