Ann Arbor native, Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton dies at 60

Sometimes music happens that changes things. Influential music ebbs and flows, there are peaks and valleys. There are a few that lead while most follow. The Stooges was one of those leaders. It's hard to argue the Stooges' place in rock history. And the man behind those three-chord, punk rock riffs, Ron Asheton, was found dead in his Ann Arbor home last week. A tribute to Asheton will be held on Jan. 17 at the Music Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Detroit.

Will Iggy show up?

Excerpt:

Three high school friends in Ann Arbor — Mr. Asheton; his drummer brother, Scott; and the singer James Osterberg, who later changed his name to Iggy Pop — formed the nucleus of what was first called the Psychedelic Stooges. Influenced by free jazz, garage rock and Chicago blues, the Stooges’ first two albums — “The Stooges” and “Fun House” — are the best showcase of Mr. Asheton’s sound: two- or three-chord riffs with an open, droning, low E string and solos filtered through distortion and wah-wah pedals.

After the high point of “Fun House,” things became more complicated. The bassist, Dave Alexander, was fired, and the band was dropped by its label, Elektra. Iggy Pop, individually, was signed by David Bowie’s production company, MainMan. A new guitarist and songwriter, James Williamson, joined the group. On “Raw Power,” the band’s final studio album, Mr. Asheton was demoted to playing bass.

The Stooges lasted from 1967 to 1974. Having progressed from a noisy, anarchic joke to a great, confrontational rock band and back to a joke, the members were broke and addicted to heroin, except for Mr. Asheton, who increasingly took responsibility for holding the band together from day to day.

Read the entire article here.

For more information on the tribute go here.