When guitarist James Williamson rejoined the Stooges in 2009, following the passing of Ron Asheton, it was a second shot at being a working musician and a return to his roots. Since the early 1980s he was more likely to mess around with computer parts than play his guitar in concert, at the various technology jobs he held in Silicon Valley. However, for the past four and a half years, Williamson has returned to his first passion, shredding away at guitar. During his time back he’s been able to enjoy the band finally getting its due – something that largely escaped the band in the 70s – with a surge of popularity. Last year’s Ready to Die was his first album with the Stooges since 1973’s Raw Power.
When Iggy Pop and the band decided to take this year off, Williamson wasn’t ready to halt this new musical momentum. Williamson had long been a fan of the material he co-wrote with Iggy post- Raw Power in 1973-74. But the only place to find the songs were bootlegs since the band’s deal with record label CBS fell through and the songs never appeared on an album. Wanting to revisit these songs and give them a proper release, Williamson reached out to Stooges touring members Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and drummer Toby Dammit, as well as various guest vocalists, to breathe new life into these songs. They’ll appear on his upcoming solo project album Re-Licked.
The album is tentatively scheduled for release this fall but Williamson has released several tracks to tide fans over. Two of these songs -“Open Up and Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin” – came out as a limited 7 inch vinyl single at Record Store Day and feature Texas blues singer / guitarist Carolyn Wonderland on vocals. Recently, he released “I Gotta Right” and “Heavy Liquid,” two songs featuring The Bellrays’ vocalist Lisa Kekaula. Other guest vocalists include Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, and Ariel Pink. The album will also include other lesser-known songs like “Rubber Legs,” “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills” and “Wild Love.”
We talked with Williamson earlier this year about the sudden recent passing of Stooges drummer and close friend Scott Asheton, getting to revisit these songs and what it means to be back playing music again.
*First of all, our condolences to you and the rest of the band about Scott’s sudden passing. *
Well thank you very much. Yeah, it was a big shock to all of us that knew him. He passed away too early but I guess none of us get to pick when we do that. So it’s just up to the rest of us accept what happened keep him in our memories.
What’s one of your favorite memories of him?
Oh, there’s so many. You know, he and I roomed together for awhile in Ann Arbor when I was first getting into the band. So I spent a lot of time with him. I don’t know, maybe some of the funny things he and his brother [Ron] used to do to amuse ourselves. In the airport when we were touring back in the 70s I remember right in the middle of the airport him getting down and laying on the floor and propelling himself in circles going “beep beep beep beep” like the Three Stooges do. And just goofy stuff like that. Scott was a very gentle soul and very nice guy and I’m going to miss him.
I imagine you’re happy you were able to play again with him when you came back in 2009 and then recorded last year’s Ready to Die album.
Very much was. Enjoyed that and enjoyed making an album with him and lots and lots of rehearsals together so it was just good catching up after all that time. In fact I even heard from him a couple weeks before he died. So I had contact with him as recently as that.
Have recent events like that affected your view of this current solo project?
Not at all. It’s not a Stooges project really. It’s a project that I’m doing because it’s on my bucket list, let’s put it that way. And so it’s something that I wanted to do for a very long time. I think it’s more or less a tribute to Iggy and my songwriting. I’m glad it’s actually turning out so nicely. But no, none of the Stooges related things would enter into this project even though some of the touring members of the Stooges have played on it.
What helped get this project off the ground?
One of my very favorite songs that I wrote with Iggy we played on tour called “Open Up and Bleed.” And I’ve always loved that song and I always thought it was a crime that we never recorded it. So towards the end of last summer I started messing around with it and got a little bit different arrangement for it and was talking to my wife about it. We were both saying “You know what this song really needs is a female singer that can belt out a song like Janis Joplin used to.” So I decided “Ok I’m going to go find someone like that.” And I looked and I looked and looked.
I won’t bore you with the details but finally a friend of mine forwarded a YouTube video of Carolyn Wonderland, who’s a blue singer and guitarist in Austin, Texas, and I said “You know what, that’s my girl right there.” So I tracked her down and she was totally cool about it and wanted to do it. I recorded the track first with Mike Watt and Toby Dammit and then went down to Austin to put her vocal on it. I was completely blown away. So it started out as a single really and once Carolyn impressed me that much with what she could do I thought, “You know what, this is cool, let’s keep going on this.” So I came up with a whole bunch more and I think we’re about eight tracks in right now. We’ve got a few more to do in May and some exciting singers singing on them. So it’s really turned into a really fun project.
What did Iggy think of the project?
You know, there’s been mixed stuff on this. I informed him about all of it back in early December of last year and at the time his response was “great,” he wished me great success with it. And then subsequently in the press, there’s been a couple of comments that were not that positive like the one he gave me. But beyond that I’ve had other communications with him, where he was clear that…I have as much right to record these songs as anybody does. In fact more so because I co-wrote them all. So he’s fine. It seems fine.
What were you looking for in picking guest vocalists?
I just started going for talent. So it’s pretty tough to beat what Carolyn did on the first single. But I was able to find another great female singer Lisa Kekuala and she completely just ran away with the next single which will come out in late May or June. And I was looking for people that might have a bit of an alternative aspect to their careers and I was also asking my friends who they thought might work with this material. So it’s the same process anybody uses really to find the people they’re looking for in a band or vocalist or whatever. And so far I think I’m batting a thousand. Just amazing who’s stepped forward to do this.
What was it like hearing these songs written by you and Iggy come out of singers like Carolyn? Based on the single “Open Up & Bleed”/“Gimme Some Skin” it’s interesting to hear the different interpretations of vocals.
Exactly. It’s a fresh take on it so I’m very pleased with that assessment and I think the general response so far from those who heard some of it is very positive. So I’m encouraged and in the end it’s up to the people who listen to it.
What do you remember most about the original sessions when you wrote these songs?
I don’t… [Laughs]...it’s a long time ago. Most of these songs were written in a period of time where we had left management team that had taken us to London and recorded Raw Power and were with a new management team and were touring the US. And we believed we’d get our CBS contract under which we made Raw Power renewed for a second record. So we wrote most of this material at that time and were playing it live while we were touring. So that’s how all these bootlegs came about of that material live. But that material, on the other hand, was never properly recorded.
Now that you’re older, how do you think you relate to these songs?
Well I wrote them. So I wrote the music. So I relate to them very personally. Like I said, the whole genesis for this project really is my desire to see this stuff get recorded properly. And we had made a decision before the last record not to do this as the Stooges because of the obvious comparison between the young Stooges and the old Stooges. So with that album [ Ready to Die ] we went ahead with new material. But now that I have this year off I’m taking the opportunity to do something I wanted to do for a very long time.
I think I remember reading somewhere that you were toying with the idea of playing some shows for this project.
I did toy with it but the problem is that there’s so many singers and they’re located all over the world. So logistically it’s very difficult to think that you could pull that together, though it could happen. It could happen that we get the right promoter or maybe someone that wants to make a DVD of it; we could do a showcase show say in LA where there’s half a dozen of these singers located in LA. And with a little money people could come in from other places. They already are to make this record. It is conceivable but right now I don’t have any plans to do it. But I have been talking with the distributor and stranger things have happened, let’s put it that way. It would be fun for sure.
That’s pretty understandable since people like Mike Watt seem to be busy all the time.
He is very busy. He’s off in Europe right now. In fact he’s too busy he’s delaying a bunch of my stuff. [Laughs] But yeah, he’s keeping busy and we’re all trying to keep busy. I think Toby Dammit’s up in Norway now and working with some people in the studio up there. So I believe even Steve Mackay is in Europe right now too. So everyone’s trying to stay playing and staying doing stuff. So it’s not time totally off but time that people are doing what they want to do.
For awhile you were in a totally different profession working with technology between the early 80s and 2009. What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned through the transition between music and the tech jobs?
Gosh, that’s a complex question. The transition was at the time when I was ready to make a transition. So I was done with the rock and roll world and I got very excited and inspired by the emerging personal computer. So that was the emphasis to do it but the actual doing of it was quite difficult and took me many years to really become an electronics engineer and move to the Silicon Valley. But I did it and never really regretted doing that. I enjoyed many, many years doing that and enjoyed being part of and witnessing the emergence of the personal computer and the internet and all the things that have happened here.
But at the same token that too ran its course and here, at a later age, after Ronny [Asheton] passed, the opportunity arose again to rejoin the Stooges. And at first I really wasn’t sure that I could. But I was free to do whatever I wanted so I felt like I owed it to those guys to give it a shot and I did and it worked out OK. So here we are, we’ve been touring four and a half years pretty steadily and I think a lot of guys like Scott Asheton and Ronny [Asheton] before that got a chance to do what they always wanted to do. Which was being in The Stooges. And I also got a chance to see the adulation and receive the gratification of audiences really loving to come see The Stooges in a way that it never was true in the 70s. We had really small audiences and it was quite different.
After this project what’s next for you?
Well there’s a loose plan to play again but that plan was put into place before Scott Asheton passed. So right now it’s up in the air. We’re all in our mid 60s and making long term plans at that age for a rock and roll band is probably not very realistic. We’ll see. We’ve got the year off this year. Iggy has said he wants next year off too so is that is the case that puts us at 2016. We’ll see what everyone wants to do at that point. I have no idea what I’m going to want to do, much less what the rest of them are going to want to do. But right now I’m making this album and I’m not going to worry about all that kind of stuff.
When do you think the full album will be out?
I’m working as hard as I can to get the album out or at least started pressing in late August. So that would put it in the September timeframe. That’s my target and I’m hoping to beat that. There’s a lot of things involved so I’m just working hard on it. We’re very excited about it and I hope the people like the fruits of my labor.
It must be great being back in the studio making music.
Absolutely. I mean that’s the thing about it, that it’s great, and like I said it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m working with really talented people here so it’s fun to meet new people and work with different people. So yeah, it’s a blast. It’s coming along so I’m thinking good things.
