RON ASHETON R.I.P.

I just heard that Ron Asheton died. I just want to say that, while Ron may have not been in the elite class of rock players in a technical sense, he's definitely as important as just about any rock guitarist you could name. I don't think there are any rock guitarists I enjoy listening to more. I'm always hoping a student will show up asking how to play like Ron, but somehow it's always Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Angus Young, Tony Iommi (and some tired modern players I'd prefer not to name). Not that I don't love those guys, but--

Note to young players-- get a fuzztone and a wah-wah and learn some Ron Asheton licks! I hope to write about his playing here soon. In the meantime, if you don't own "Fun House" by the Stooges, go buy it.

The first Stooges record has a lot of Ron also, and it's good, but he had developed a lot of exciting new ideas and sounds by the time they did "Fun House" and the guitar on that record is a giant step forward-- it's sort of an evolution of the garage band sound, incorporating Velvet Underground-type ideas and pointing the way toward punk rock and hard rock. If you dig raunchy wah wah and fuzz, here's a feast of it. The third album is great, also, but at that point James Williamson had come in on guitar. If you want the undiluted Ron Asheton experience, "Fun House" is the way to go.

Since I wrote this, I bought a two-disc version of the first Stooges album "The Stooges." It's got tons of extra tracks-- weird alternate mixes by John Cale, bumped by the record company for being "too arty," and longer early versions of a couple tunes. These longer versions have much more Ron Asheton than the released versions-- which means, a lot more fuzz and wah. Good stuff--