Iggy and The Stooges - "Raw Power"

It is with some embarrassment that I admit in the wake of the Beatles break-up in 1970 my favorite band was Grand Funk Railroad. But it was through them that I discovered their fellow Michiganders Iggy and The Stooges so the interest is not entirely without born fruit. I had turned on a broadcast of the Cincinnati Pop Festival to watch Grand Funk only to find bare-chested Iggy body surfing crowd. I barely saw The Stooges. All I saw as Iggy. I had never seen anything like it before and to this day I wonder if it was first time a rock star body surfed the crowd. Then he started smearing peanut butter on himself. I did ditch Grand Funk as my favorite that day but it was for another Detroit-based band also on the bill: Alice Cooper. I’ve never cared much for peanut butter.

Still you would’ve thought that a performance as memorable as Iggy & The Stooges would’ve had me running out to buy their record, but, believe it or not, it wasn’t until 1997 that I bought my first Iggy & The Stooges record. (I had some solo records: that red live job: the black and white albums recorded with David Bowie and Soupy Sales’ sons in Berlin; and New Values, still to this day a personal favorite. Columbia had reissued Raw Power and the marketing angle was it contained Iggy Pop’s mix, not Bowie’s. Based solely Iggy’s comment on the back – “People kept asking me – musicians, kids I would see, “Have you ever thought of remixing Raw Power?” Everything’s still in the red. It’s a very violent mix. The proof’s in the pudding.” That’s got to be some pudding because Pop’s mix was ferocious: leaving me with the impression that Bowie’s mix of the original album was as unlistenable as Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music; may even have been a contributing factor to Raw Power’s lackluster sales.

So now we have the 2010 Columbia/Legacy edition, the marketing angles – there are two - being Bowie’s restored mix and a live recording from the same era in Atlanta, Georgia.

Disc 1 – Raw Power (33:54)

Playing Bowie’s mix back-to-back with Pop’s mix makes this much clear: Pop wasn’t kidding when he said its his mix that’s all in the red! That mix is feral man. Bowie’s is much more sophisticated. This doesn’t mean that Bowie’s mix isn’t lethal. Both mixes are violent. It’s just that Pop’s is dressed up like a punk most people would be wary of after one look; Bowie’s mix is that of a polished, well-paid contract killer who charms you before delivering your bullet.

And I can’t recommend one over the other. They both scratch a certain itch.

Pop’s mix definitely has more oomph-pa-pa with thumping bass, screeching guitar and the vocals in your face. Of Bowie’s mix, he’s said “There’d always been a question in my mind, when I heard it, there’s no bottom, there’s no power.” It sounds as if the Pop’s primary objective was to slap on more bottom and increase the power: one he accomplished. It’s a house on fire.

Bowie’s mix is the opposite, full of shadows and danger. The rhythm section is lights out, allowing Williamson’s solos leap out and slash and attack. Pop’s vocals are more of the focal point. Lenny Kaye apparently compared Raw Power to White Light/White Heat and it’s an apt comparison. It’s a house that’s haunted.

Disc 2 – Georgia’s Peaches (68:41)

Iggy & The Stooges’ recording of one of a string of shows at Richards is considered the best live performance captured on tape by those who should know. (I wonder if Richards became Swinging Richards, a gay club still operating in Atlanta.) Then again, that might not be saying much. How many Stooges shows were professionally recorded? Elektra dropped The Stooges after two albums; Columbia cut them loose after one. Even this show recorded for radio never aired. The set’s interesting: a mixture of Raw Power cuts and other studio material that would be often bootlegged after the disembowelment of the band, for example Pilot’s Studio Sessions from 1996. There are no nods to The Stooges’ Elektra albums even though three Stooges are in the 1973 line-up.

The beginning is not promising. James Williamson has distracting guitar jack problems and whoever was manning the mixing board was having problems roping/taming/harnessing the raw power of The Stooges live sound. And - while it’s not his fault because he’s playing well - pianist Scott Thurston just doesn’t fit in. It’s what dates this recording; prevents it from being timeless. (Sort of like Ron Asheton’s wah-wah guitar on The Stooges.) I don’t mind occasional piano on Stooges songs such as the single version of ‘Down In The Street’ but it doesn’t belong on every number. Piano is not really a punk instrument and Iggy & The Stooges were definitely the first bona fide punk band (and Raw Power the first punk album. So the first song ‘Raw Power’ is disappointing: it’s played well, recorded poorly. One thing you clearly hear is this song is what Sex Pistol Steve Jones stole from for the ‘Something Else’ arrangement. You keep waiting for Sid Vicious to step up to the mike.

I don’t know if ‘Head On’ was originally intended as a showcase for Ron Asheton, now relegated to playing bass. I doubt it. Sounds as if Williamson has finally decided to swap out guitar cords, leaving Asheton to sort of solo and carry the song musically. It’s from this point on that Georgia’s Peaches lives up to its reputation as the band gels like a juvenile delinquent’s ducktail.

You can hear a girl say “I don’t think he likes us.” after ‘Head On’ and its true that Iggy’s in a confrontational mood, threatening to punch some mother fuckin’ cracker’s face in and telling the crowd to “suck my ass.” Of course this coarseness is followed by ‘Gimme Danger’: the best ballad off of Raw Power. (Probably the blueprint of Alice Cooper’s ‘Desperado’ too.)

Williamson’s chords cutting off Pop as he’s telling management to “Turn the Lights on!” and ushers in an impatient ‘search and Destroy’. Iggy uses Jagger mannerisms, something he refrained from on the studio recording but live it with the “Come on!” and “Get down!” exhortations it sound like a Get Yer Ya-Yas Out outtake. Scott Thurston playing like Ian Stewart only encourages the Stones comparisons.

The bootleg’s title comes from a pretty profane, misogynistic ad-libbed poem that I won’t quote it here except to say it involves ignorant women, mothers, and more sucking ass.

‘I Need Somebody’ with its trapdoor chords swaggers about and made me think that maybe the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be in Detroit, not Cleveland. After all, other than Pere Ubu what has Cleveland contributed to rock and roll? (I know, I know a disc jockey from Cleveland popularized the moniker. So what?) Detroit is another city down in the dumps and needs tourists too. Detroit gave us The MC5, Iggy & The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Grand Funk Railroad, and Bob Seeger. (Okay we’ll forgive them for that.) And Eminem! This is a good tight version of ‘I Need Somebody’ with some ad-libbing at the end about ”the way I walk” but if I’m thinking about relocating the Rock and Roll Hall of fame to Detroit, it’s not holding my attention.

Which ‘Heavy Liquid’ absolutely positively does! Bearing a more than passing musical resemblance to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Misty Mountain Hop’, this is raw aural power. I recommend getting this Legacy edition for this song alone. Sure, it’s on bootlegs but this is the first properly pressed release of ‘Heavy Liquid’ and believe me it spills all over the place.

‘Cock In My Pocket’ is another heavily bootlegged track and one all young men can identify with (and old men remember).

Unfortunately ‘Open Up And Bleed’ – while a provocative title – doesn’t close the set with enough wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. Unless its just the encore with the intervening moments edited out, which on a second listen it might be. It’s a bluesy number – sort of – with some harmonica and Iggy doing his best to bring some interest to the number. He’s impassioned but it doesn’t pick up until the tempo picks up near the end. Let’s face it: The Stooges were best when playing with total abandon.

But no matter what you think, when Iggy ends with saying “I ain’t for sale, no!” you believe him.

Disc 2 – Bonus Studio Tracks

There are two previously unreleased bonus studio tracks to entice the Iggy Pop fan with deep pockets. The first – ‘Doojiman’ – is a Raw Power outtake with plenty of vocals but no words. Reminds me of Nick Cave’s better band, the one that used to cover ‘Loose’, only maybe with Robert Plant fronting them. The truest measure of a rock band’s worth is the number of bootleg recordings they have spawned and this line-up has an impressive share. I don’t know if ‘Doojiman’ is available elsewhere, but I do recommend buying the 2010 Columbia/Legacy edition for this one recording if you are a true fan.

‘Head On’ is from a year later (1973) and is a rehearsal performance. It differs significantly from the Georgia’s Peaches version. The pianist is uncredited but he’s the reason to listen to this. (It’d serve me right if this is Scott Thurston.) The keys are really cold: it sounds as if they’re using Red Garland’s piano without his permission. You know the way Red Garland’s notes always sounded like ice cubes in a highball glass? That’s what these sound like here.

So give Raw Power a 10 no matter what mix you put on. They’re equally amazing. The 1997 edition’s booklet is a better read while the 2010 booklet has better pictures. Give Georgia’s Peaches and the bonus tracks a 9. That makes the Columbia/Legacy edition worthy of 9.5 Hellbombs.