Category Archives: Genre: Avant-rock

1960s, 1970s, Article Type: Fan Edit, Country: United States, Genre: Avant-garde, Genre: Avant-rock, Genre: Garage rock, Genre: Hard rock, Genre: Proto-punk, Genre: Punk rock, Genre: Rock, Media Type: Music

The Stooges (1969-1973) – 2 Fan Albums

Leave a comment

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

The Stooges are one of the all time great rock bands. Personally, that’s mainly off the strength of their middle effort, Fun House. Still, it was clear there was more to love. There are a lot of live recordings and stray tracks, so it’d be fun to see what can be done, especially because many have given a shot at what could be called the “fourth” Stooges album. My love is mainly with the classic lineup of singer Iggy Pop, bassist Dave Alexander, guitarist Ron Asheton, and drummer Scott Asheton, so I wanted to see what we could cook from them mainly.

On top of their two studio albums, I found eight stray tracks. Two live 1970 tracks are “Going to Ungano’s” and “Have Some Fun”/“My Dream Is Dead”. They suffer from poor sound quality and the first not being a song. However they’re still fun listens, so I’ve linked to them in their natural environment, Live at Ungano’s, August 17, 1970. Two tracks I hear are from 1968 are actually from 1971, “Ron’s Jam” and “What’s You Gonna Do”. Apparently two members of the Stooges, including famous singer Iggy Pop, were absent from these, so they’re getting tossed. The remaining four make for a surprisingly lengthy album of thirty-four minutes. It will be listed below with the surrounding albums. While noticeably less cohesive, it’s still a fine listen.

The Stooges (1969) – YouTube, Spotify

Freaks (1970) (Recorded 1969-1970) – YouTube, Spotify

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

  1. “Asthma Attack” (2019 Remaster)
  2. “Lost in the Future” (Take 1)
  3. “Slide (Slidin’ the Blues)” (Take 1)

SIDE B

  1. “Freak” (Take 1)

PERSONNEL

  • Iggy Pop – vocals
  • Ron Asheton – guitar
  • Dave Alexander – bass
  • Scott Asheton – drums
  • Steve Mackay – saxophone

Fun House (1970) – YouTube, Spotify

Alexander was later replaced. Nothing came of this period between him leaving and the first breakup other than some live recordings that weren’t released for a long time. I am not very fond of these due to low quality. There might be unreleased material with or without Alexander I don’t know about. I’m highlighting the following releases as they contain songs not featured elsewhere.

Have Some Fun: Live at Ungano’s (2010) (Recorded 1970) – YouTube, Spotify

You Don’t Want My Name… You Want My Action (2009) (Recorded 1971) – YouTube, Spotify

The band then famously reunited with James Williamson on guitar, Ron moved to bass, and the gang retitled “Iggy and the Stooges”. I was able to get one album’s worth of high quality strays for the follow-up to Raw Power that would’ve made a slightly lesser, but still solid installment. In parentheses are the compilations these are sourced from or some other identifier.

Raw Power (1973) (Highlighting the superior Iggy mix) – YouTube, Spotify

Jesus Loves The Stooges (1974) (Recorded 1972-1973) – YouTube, Spotify

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

  1. “I Got a Right” (Born in a Trailer)
  2. “I’m Sick of You” (Born in a Trailer)
  3. “Louie Louie” (More Power)
  4. “Scene of the Crime” (More Power)
  5. “Gimme Some Skin” (More Power)
  6. “Open Up And Bleed” (More Power)

SIDE B

  1. “Money” (More Power)
  2. “Cock In My Pocket” (2022 Mix)
  3. “Jesus Loves The Stooges” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)
  4. “Heavy Liquid” (Live at Richards, Atlanta, Georgia, October 1973)
  5. “Born in a Trailer” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)

PERSONNEL

  • Iggy Pop – vocals
  • James Williamson – guitar
  • Ron Asheton – bass
  • Scott Asheton – drums

Now what of other tracks recorded around this time, sometimes of high fidelity? Well, I either found those other ones really poor songs or more often poor quality. I also didn’t want to bother sifting through the countless releases compiling various live tracks and other oddities, but just know they’re there if you like fuzzy guitar riffs and yelling. My current game is collecting stray tracks, so I thought of an idea.

Let’s say Iggy and the gang breakup, as happened in real life, then the record company asked for another album. Having no desire or ability to make a sixth studio album, and to embrace the punk rock spirit, Iggy took those low quality strays and made a giant and unlistenable compilation. Worried this would damage his career, he credited it as “Twiggy and the Tooges”. He also did himself a favor and got to work on the Kill City album. This album is two and three-quarters hours long. If it was released, it probably would have taken up about four LPs. Note that there’s no rhyme or reason to what versions of songs are picked. (I also don’t count this as a “fan album”. No way I’m relistening to these to make sure they’re sequenced well.)

The Shit Box (1975) (Recorded 1972-1974) – YouTube, Spotify

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

  1. “Instrumental” (Heavy Liquid)
  2. “I’m Hungry” (Raw Power (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition))
  3. “Hey, Peter” (Raw Power (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition))
  4. “Doojiman” (Raw Power (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition))
  5. “Johanna” (Heavy Liquid)

SIDE B

  1. “Rubber Legs” (Heavy Liquid)
  2. “Pinpoint Eyes/Cry For Me” (Heavy Liquid)
  3. “Tight Pants” (Heavy Liquid)
  4. “Head On” (Rehearsal) (Raw Power (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition))

SIDE C

  1. “I Need Somebody/Sweet Child/I Like The Way You Walk” (Morgan Sound Studios, Ypsilanti Michigan March 1973)
  2. “Can’t Turn You Loose” (Morgan Sound Studios, Ypsilanti Michigan March 1973)

SIDE D

  1. “Hey Baby” (Detroit Rehearsals Spring 1973)
  2. “Wild Love” (Heavy Liquid)
  3. “Till The End Of The Night” (Heavy Liquid)
  4. “Head On Curve” (Heavy Liquid)

SIDE E

  1. “I Come From Nowhere” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)
  2. “Old King Live Forever” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)
  3. “Look So Sweet” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)
  4. “Mellow Down Easy” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)
  5. “Move Ass Baby” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)

SIDE F

  1. “My Girl Hates My Heroin” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)
  2. “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)
  3. “I’m a Man” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)
  4. “Ballad of Hollis Brown” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)

SIDE G

  1. “Purple Haze” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)
  2. “I’m So Glad” (New York & Detroit Rehearsals, 1973)
  3. “New Orleans” (Live, The Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles, 16 September 1973)
  4. “Rich Bitch” (Live, The Academy Of Music, New York City, 31 December 1973)

SIDE H

  1. “Wet My Bed” (Bimbos 365 Club S.F Jan 1974)
  2. “Delta Blues Shuffle” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)
  3. “Fire Engine” (Jesus Loves The Stooges)
  4. “I Got Nothin’” (Bimbos 365 Club S.F Jan 1974)

Of course there would later be a well regarded live album:

Metallic K.O. (1976) (Recorded 1973-1974) – YouTube, Spotify

Kill City (1977) (Recorded 1975) – YouTube, Spotify

Kill City is not a Stooges album. It’s a collaboration between the two main minds of the latter day Stooges. It’s also a forgotten oddity, so for my money worthy of being featured. It, like all the other material, showcases Iggy and his gang as not perfect Gods of rock, but those that experimented and at times failed. Still, just because some of this is not perfect doesn’t mean it’s not sharp and helps to define five great musicians from Motor City. You could call them the Motor City Five. Attached below is my friend, Ken’s, concept for a follow-up to Raw Power. I had no part in this.

Head On (1974) – Spotify

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!