Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton found dead

Sad news out of Michigan this morning. Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead in his Ann Arbor Mich. home earlier today. He was 60.

Asheton and his drumming brother Scott formed the Psychedelic Stooges in 1967 with vocalist Iggy Pop and bassist Dave Alexander. The Stooges’ self-titled debut (1969) and Fun House (1970) helped lay the foundation for punk rock. Alexander was fired in 1970 and he died of alcohol-related causes in 1975. Asheton moved to bass for 1973’s Raw Power, making room for guitarist James Williamson.

The original surviving Stooges reunited in 2003 with Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt filling in for Alexander. I saw them perform a short live set at the Austin City Limits studio for Seattle’s KEXP during SXSW 2007. They only played songs from their disappointing comeback album, The Weirdness, but it was still great to see those guys in person.

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