PRESS SUMMARY: JAMES WILLIAMSON “RE-LICKED”

SELECT PRESS QUOTES:

“Unsurprisingly brilliant.” - NME

"'I Gotta Right,' the second single from Re-Licked. is a manic, guitar-blazing rocker featuring belter Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays." - USA TODAY

“James Williamson’s aggressive guitar style may be the most influential in punk.” - NPR’s WORLD CAFE

"An avalanche of raw riffs… and Williamson playing white-knuckled leads like he absolutely refuses to let the Stooges’ music go gentle into that good night." - PREMIER GUITAR"…hard-charging, fast-paced punk" - EXCLAIM!

4 STARS! “A raft of top-notch guest vocalists (Lisa Kekaula, Bobby Gillespie, Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan, Jello Biafra et al) bring the attitude while the band (featuring the remaining Stooges in parts) tear through what prove to be timeless tunes like the intervening years never happened. Inspiring.” – THE MUSIC.COM-AU

"...a karmic correction" - HARVEY KUBERNIK

“This completely fuckin’ smokes.” – DANGEROUS MINDS

"Williamson's axe still packs a formidable onslaught." -  SHINDIG

!“Williamson reworks obscure Stooges songs with a dream line-up of vocalists. Great as Raw Power is, Iggy and James had more to offer still; here’s some long-delayed proof.” – VIVE LE ROCK

“Williamson himself still plays with a young man’s vigour, alternating exhilarating unstable solos with murderously focuses riffs. And Jesus, that tone… you could shave Brian Blessed with it.” – RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

4/5 STARS! “Every musician on this album brought his A game, and Re-Licked is a great listen. James Williamson has hit a home run with this one, and it's maybe the best Stooges record yet.” - PUNK GLOBE

“Re-Licked is a kicking itself out of the garage with an intent to seek and destroy all naysayers, and along for the ride are some very special guest stars.” – ARTROCKER

“The lion’s share of Re-Licked effectively recreates what could and should have been the Stooges’ second Columbia album, at the same time – and this is the important part – as liberating the songs’ reputation from the concert environment. Some of the reworkings serve up what you’d expect, and are as great as they ought to be, too. But the real winners are the left field choices. Ariel Pink transforms the always-under-rated “She Creature of the Hollywood Hills” into a breathless slice of garage jazz fusion; Alison Mosshart’s “‘Til The End of the Night” is vividly chilled torch – not the band’s first bona fide ballad (that was probably “Gimme Danger”), but their first to sound like one, and Joe Cardamone concocts such a beautifully swaggering “Pinpoint Eyes” that you can almost hear the original Stooges cheering him on from their bar stools.” – GOLDMINE MAGAZINE

"A star-studded fuzz fest… Re-Licked rounds up vocalists from the famous to the obscure to rescue The Stooges' mythical post-Raw Power repertory.  Scruffy, in-the-red backing is suitably Stoogian, but the material is impeccable." – UNCUT

“It’s still a hotfoot to hear Williamson lash through all this again, his guitar a weapon like a 100 knives, with better sound quality. Re-Licked is wonderful, and Williamson should b proud of it.” – THE BIG TAKEOVER MAGAZINE

"[James Williamson & Iggy Pop's] refusal to cash in is admirable, and what we have instead is something that is fresh and innovative and equally admirable, in that Re-Licked shows Williamson to be an artist who has no desire to dine out on his glory days, but instead continue to push himself and to look forward even when revisiting the past." - PARAPHILIA MAGAZINE

"Williamson has transformed these old rehearsal room demos into songs that sound as if they're blazing down the highway in a new BMW. One after another guest vocalists impress: Lisa Kekaula from The Bellrays, Mark Lanegan, AlisonMosshart of The Dead Weather, Bobby Gillespie, also from Primal Scream, while the iconic guitarist shows what talent he really has on this disc. It's pure rock'n'roll for those who still care about such things." - MORGENBLADET WEEKLY / NORWAY

“gruff and propulsive” - CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND

“When you think of the sound of punk rock, real punk rock, what you hear is the sound James Williamson created in 1973 by plugging his Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar into a Vox AC30 amplifier and cranking it up until your ears bleed.” – VH1.com

“Properly recorded and no longer mired in sub-bootleg mire, the songs do indeed shine through.”  - BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS

“’” ROCK ON MAGAZINE / SPAIN

“ This material is great rock n’ roll that deserves a second act, and each singer sounds positively joyful as a stand-in for the world’s forgotten boy.” - ELMORE MAGAZINE

“…a riotous record that’s an essential purchase for any serious rock fan. Re-Licked feels like a Rosetta Stone of rock n’ roll – a historical document of sorts that combines the very foundations of modern rock with some of the most relevant of it’s more recent progenators, and Williamson has well & truly delivered the goods..” - 100 % ROCK MAGAZINE

“Thankfully, there isn't a single note on Re-Licked that was phoned in. Every person involved in this momentous release clearly grasped the importance of the work being presented…. gearing up to be the Album of the Year.” – music critic JOEL GAUSTEN

“…the ‘Great Lost Stooges’ album of 1974.” – OUT MAGAZINE

“It goes without saying that the songs boast plenty of Williamson’s firebreathing guitar… he remains a riffmeister supreme. Re-Licked is as ball-busting a rock & roll record as any to come down the pike in 2014.” – BLURT MAGAZINE

“Re-Licked has enough energy, fine playing and (deep breath) convincing vocals to present as something unique in the canon of Stooge-inspired music. Get it.” – I-94 BAR

 ".. a great album for every lover of rock music."  - NEW UNDERGROUND MUSIC

“Sure, if Iggy had gone back and sung these songs, it could of possibly been album of the year, but listen with an open mind and enjoy.” – NIPPERTOWN

“Every musician on this album brought his A game, and Re-Licked is a great listen. My recommendation is that you buy this album right now, and listen repeatedly. James Williamson has hit a home run with this one, and it's maybe the best Stooges record yet recorded - I love my old boss, but he's not missed that badly on this new born classic.” - ROCK GUITAR DAILY

“ A superb release and a must for any anyone who likes to rock and roll - as for Stooges fans it's a no brainer. Simply stunning!” - UBER ROCK: UK

“Some of the tracks feel like they are straight off Raw Power, others have a tinge of Funhouse, and others remind me of the Josh Homme collaboration of the Desert Sessions.” – BLANK GOLD COAST

“This project isn't just a re-hashing of old material, in fact far from it. Williamson has spent over a year bringing the tracks to life and finding the right vocalist for each song with the absence of Pop.” - ABC12-TV

“James Williamson has delivered decades old songs that sound as vibrant as anything else I’ve heard in 2014. And he’s stacked his roster with an all star line up of singers who unify this album through their collective bad assedness.” – BORED & DANGEROUS

“These are some of the greatest rock ’n’ roll songs ever written…. as killer a rock ’n’ roll album as you’re going to hear in these days of increasingly diminished expectations.” - James Marshall / PLEASE KILL ME.com

FULL PRESS ARTICLES

YAHOO! MUSIC (popular online music magazine) – Re-Licked LA concert premiere
See It First: The Stooges’ James Williamson & Friends Play Live in L.A.
By Wendy Geller

On January 16, 2015, James Williamson – guitarist for punk icons the Stooges – played a rare one-off concert in support of his most recent solo album Re-Licked. The LP featured lesser-known Stooges rarities originally penned by Stooges frontman Iggy Pop and Williamson in 1973-74 as the follow-up to their quintessential album Raw Power; however this time they were properly recorded and mixed for the first time with special guests.
Williamson welcomed some of these musical friends on stage with him, including such names as Alison Mosshart (The Kills/ Dead Weather), Jesse Malin, Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays), Joe Cardamone (Icarus Line), Carolyn Wonderland, Ron Young (Little Caeser) and Frank Meyer (The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs).

Yahoo Music is excited to premiere the concert for the first time, which will be released on film at a later date.
For more information on Williamson’s projects, check here.
https://www.yahoo.com/music/see-it-first-the-stooges-james-williamson-115776118626.html

UBBER ROCK (hard rock music site) – News post on Yahoo! Music full L.A. concert premiere with photo.
Yahoo! Music premieres recent JAMES WILLIAMSON 'Re-Licked' L.A. show

Yahoo! Music has premiered the recent L.A. concert from JAMES WILLIAMSON, where the Stooges guitarist reimagined some of the band's rarer tunes with a host of guest stars. Cheetah Chrome, Jesse Malin, Ron Young, The Bellrays' Lisa Kekaula, Jello Biafra, Alison Mosshart, Carolyn Wonderland, Joe Cardamone and many others appear - see the full setlist below:

1. 'Head on Curve' w/ Jello Biafra (The Dead Kennedys)
2. 'Open Up and Bleed' w/ Carolyn Wonderland
3. 'Scene of the Crime' w/ Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line)
4. 'She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills' w/ Frank Meyer (Streetwalkin' Cheetahs)
5. 'Till The End of the Night' w/ Alison Mosshart (The Kills/Dead Weather)
6. 'I Got a Right' w/ Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays)
7. 'Pinpoint Eyes' w/ Joe Cardamone
8. 'Wild Love' w/ Jesse Malin & Alison Mosshart
9. 'Rubber Leg' w/ Ron Young (Little Caesar)
10. 'I'm Sick of You' w/ Frank Meyer
11. 'Gimme Some Skin' w/ Carolyn Wonderland
12. 'Cock in My Pocket' w/ Shea Roberts (The Richmond Sluts)
13. 'Heavy Liquid' w/ Lisa Kekaula
14. 'Wet My Bed' w/ The Richmond Sluts
Encore
15. 'Search and Destroy' w/ Cheetah Chrome (The Dead Boys), Jesse Malin, and Jello Biafra
16. 'Louie Louie' w/ James Williamson & Friends

Watch the show here:
https://www.yahoo.com/music/see-it-first-the-stooges-james-williamson-115776118626.html

[James Williamson with Alison Mosshart photo by Heather Harris]
http://www.uberrock.co.uk/news-updates/94-april-news-updates/14199-yahoo-music-premieres-recent-james-williamson-re-licked-la-show.html

CALIFORNIA ROCKER (L.A. music blog) – Re-Licked LA concert featured
James Williamson ‘Re-Licked’ Show Released On Video
Posted by :News On : April 11, 20150
Category:New Releases, Video
Tags:#Re-Licked, #relicked, Alison Mosshart, Carolyn Wonderland, Cheetah Chrome, James Williamson, Lisa Kekaula, Street Walkin Cheetahs
Last January, Stooges guitarist James Williamson gathered together some of his alternative A-Listers and put on a show at the Bootleg that rocked the house.

Here is video of that show courtesy of Yahoo!
http://www.californiarocker.com/2015/04/11/james-williamson-relicked-video/

PARAPHILIA MAGAZINE (online music magazine) – Positive album reviw
JAMES WILLIAMSON: RE-LICKED
By Christopher Nosnibor

The biographical details have more or less passed into legend now: James Williamson was recruited by The Stooges towards the end of 1970 as a second guitarist, but their seminal 1973 release, Raw Power cemented Williamson’s reputation as an integral member of one of the defining bands of the 20th century. The simple fact is that it’s impossible to overstate the significance of The Stooges in terms of the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. Not to denigrate The Beatles or the Stones, or Bowie, but as we all know, the chameleon-like Bowie latched onto Iggy and The Stooges and identified them as the band that defined the essence of cool. It wasn’t all about Iggy, either: The Stooges were truly a unit, a band.

But for all that, Williamson has maintained an understated position. For that, respect is very much due. Re-Licked provides further evidence of the case in point.

Again, to provide some context: after the release of that pivotal album, Iggy and Williamson began work on a follow-up. Those tracks, although finding their way onto bootleg recordings over the years, were never officially released. Until now.

It would have been so easy for either artist – Iggy’s recent commentary on the state of his income despite being a living legend, and Williamson simply because he wrote the music for the songs – to have got some label to bung out an album containing these demos. The fans would have snapped it up as a bona fide historical document, and debate would have raged amongst fans and critics over what might have been had definitive studio versions ever been committed to tape.

But no. Their refusal to cash in is admirable, and what we have instead is something that is fresh and innovative and equally admirable, in that Re-Licked shows James Williamson to be an artist who has no desire to dine out on his glory days, but instead continue to push himself and to look forward even when revisiting the past.

So, Re-Licked contains brand new versions of the songs – initially written and demoed in 1973/74 – which have been completely recorded, with Williamson enlisting a wide range of guests to help out, including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, The BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, The Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone and Carolyn Wonderland. Not all of the most obvious choices, which is gratifying; we don’t need Bono or the dude from The Strokes trying to emulate Iggy and recreate the originals but without the juice. Instead, Williamson has brought in an interesting selection of artists to whom the songs actually mean something.

And yes, the songs sound great. Truly awesome. It kicks off with the driving blues-based riffage of ‘Head on the Curve,’ which finds Jello yelling ‘motherfuckers!’ repeatedly over a lively piano. ‘Open Up and Bleed’ gets a belting soul treatment thanks to Carolyn Wonderland’s gutsy vocals, and its unexpectedness only adds to its not-so-raw power. Weirdly ‘Scene of the Crime’ actually sounds more like Primal Scream than The Stooges. It’s not just the fact Bobby Gillespie’s on it, either. ‘She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills’ packs a swampy groove and a riotous sax solo. Mark Lanegan and Alison Mosshart are distinctive and compelling vocalists in their own right, and so coupling them on the gritty r’n’b of ‘Wild Love’ proves to be a stroke of genius. It’s an album that’s crammed with highlights, among which the sleazy blues of ‘Pinpoint Eyes’ finds Joe Cardamone – who’s clearly spent a long time studying Iggy’s work and moves – giving it his best.

The bonus tracks are very much bonuses, and while there are some duplications in the tracks, no-one’s going to grumble at the Gary Floyd version of ‘Cock in my Pocket’ which perfectly captures the raucous energy of the 1973 demo. And as anyone familiar with his work will know, anything JG Thirlwell touches is gold, and his appearance on the album’s last track, a second version of ‘Rubber Leg’ is no exception.

What makes Re-Licked truly special is that the songs have all been given very different treatments, from their original rough versions, and from one another. The execution of the tracks are wildly varied, and if some are more successful than others… so what? It’s all about interpretation and the exploration of their potential rather than simply going through the motions with some oh-so-reverent tribute. And because of this, the spirit of the songs shines through, the energy shines through with passion and exuberance, illustrating precisely why The Stooges stand as not just a significant band historically, but a band who are vital and relevant today.

Re-Licked, but not merely re-hashed or re-heated.

Re-Licked is released by Leopard Lady Records
http://www.paraphiliamagazine.com/periodical/james-williamson-re-licked/

DIFFUSER.FM
Watch James Williamson Perform Stooges Songs With Alison Mosshart + Lisa Kekaula
by Beth Kellmurray

Recently, Stooges guitarist James Williamson announced that he would be taking his Re-Licked project to Last Call With Carson Daly for a set of performances — and last night (Feb. 25), he made good on his word.
For the album — which arrived last year — Williamson reimagined previously unreleased Stooges songs written following the release of Raw Power between 1973-1974. For each track, Williamson enlisted the help of guest musicians to stand in for Iggy Pop on vocals. The Stooges guitarist’s collaborations range from former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra and Ariel Pink to the Kills and the Dead Weather’s Alison Mosshart and the Bellrays’ Lisa Kekaula — among others.
First up on Last Call, Williamson and Mosshart teamed up for “Till the End of the Night,” which you can watch above. Mosshart brings a smoky, restrained power to the tune. Kekaula, on the other hand, serves up a larger-than-life, soulful performance for her interpretation of “I Got a Right.” You can watch that performance below:
http://diffuser.fm/james-williamson-alison-mosshart-lisa-kekaula-stooges/

PITCHFORK
The Kills' Alison Mosshart Joins the Stooges' James Williamson on "Carson Daly"
Doing the Stooges' "'Till The End Of The Night"
By Evan Minsker
Recently, Stooges guitarist James Williamson has been playing Stooges songs with a variety of guest vocalists standing in for Iggy Pop. Tonight, Williamson's "Re-Licked Project" performed on "Last Call With Carson Daly" with Alison Mosshart of the Kills/Dead Weather. Watch them perform "'Till The End Of The Night" below.
The Bellrays' Lisa Kekaula also appeared with the band to do "I Got a Right"—check out that performance as well.
http://pitchfork.com/news/58630-the-kills-alison-mosshart-joins-the-stooges-james-williamson-on-carson-daly/

SPIN
Stooges Guitarist James Williamson's Guest-Filled Re-Licked Project Plays 'Carson Daly'
The Allison Mosshart-featuring outfit plays "Till the End of the Night" on 'Last Call'
Stooges guitarist James Williamson has been playing his band's old jams with a variety of guest vocalist under the name of The Re-Licked Project. Last night, the axe-man turned up on Last Call With Carson Daly with Kills and Dead Weather singer Alison Mosshart in tow to perform the Raw Power-era rarity "Till the End of the Night." The song ain't exactly "Search & Destroy," but there's an impressive amount of shredding to be had in the song's breakdown section, and Mosshart does original frontman Iggy Pop's grimy sensuality proud.

Watch above, and check a performance of the contemporaneous "I Got a Right" below, featuring Lisa Kekaula (of the Bellrays and Basement Jaxx' "Good Luck") on the mic.
http://www.spin.com/articles/stooges-james-williamson-alison-mosshart-till-the-end-of-the-night-carson-daly/

EXCLAIM! (National Canadian music monthly)
James Williamson
"'Till the End of the Night" (ft. Alison Mosshart) (live on 'Last Call with Carson Daly')
By Sarah Murphy

Back in the fall, the Stooges' guitarist James Williamson released Re-Licked — a collaborative album that saw the punk lengend team up with the likes of Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink and Jello Biafra to record unreleased Raw Power-era tracks. 
Williamson and his Re-Licked project served as the musical guest on Last Call with Carson Daly last night (February 25), and they got some help on vocals from the Kills and Dead Weather frontwoman Alison Mosshart. 
It's a surprisingly tame showing for the usually rambunctious Mosshart, who reigns in the stage antics and instead focuses on delivering a powerful vocal performance on "'Till the End of the Night." It's definitely worth a listen and you can check it out in the player below
http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/james_williamson-till_end_of_night_ft_alison_mosshart_live_on_last_call_with_carson_daly

MOTHER JONES (national political & cultural magazine) – Positive song and album review
Music Review: "Head on the Curve" by James Williamson
—By Jon Young
Track 1
"Head on the Curve"
From James Williamson's Re-Licked
ßLEOPARD LADY

Liner notes: Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys infamy) makes like a wildman, whooping and snarling as he attacks "motherfuckers trying to run this world," with scorching guitars and pumping piano providing tactical support.

Behind the music: Re-Licked features new takes on songs Stooges guitarist Williamson wrote and demoed with Iggy Pop in the '70s before the band imploded. Other singers include Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan and Alison Mosshart, but not Iggy.

Check it out if you like: Pioneering renegades (MC5, Ramones, New York Dolls).
http://www.motherjones.com/media/2015/01/music-review-head-curve-james-williamson

INNOCENT WORDS (Riverside, CA daily) – News post on Carson Daly appearances (from press announcement)
Alison Mosshart & Lisa Kekaula Join The Stooges’ James Williamson on Last Call with Carson Daly Tomorrow, Feb. 25th!
In support of his recent critically-acclaimed solo album, Re-Licked, The Stooges’ guitarist James Williamson will be the featured musical guest on Last Call with Carson Daly on Wed. Feb. 25th with Alison Mosshart (The Kills / Dead Weather) & Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays).This follows James’ appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly earlier this month with vocalist Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys / Guantanamo School of Medicine) and Texas blues belter & guitarist Carolyn Wonderland.

These late night TV performances find Williamson & friends performing early Iggy Pop/ Williamson-penned Stooges’ rarities as featured on the guitarist’s Re-Licked album. Tomorrow evening’s songs will include “‘Till The End Of The Night” (with Mosshart) and “I Got A Right” (with Kekaula).These televised performances will also be available to view online here on the NBC website within 24 to 48 hours of each episode.
http://innocentwords.com/alison-mosshart-lisa-kekaula-join-the-stooges-james-williamson-on-last-call-with-carson-daly-tomorrow-feb-25th/

THE PRESS ENTERPRISE (Riverside, CA daily) – News post on Carson Daly appearances (from press announcement)
RIVERSIDE: The BellRays' Lisa Kekaula to appear on Carson Daly show
Lisa Kekaula, a Riverside resident and singer of The BellRays, will join James Williamson on “Last Call with Carson Daly” in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Catch a Riverside vocal icon on “Last Call with Carson Daly” in the wee morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 26.
Lisa Kekaula, singer of The BellRays, will appear on the late night show with The Stooges’ guitarist James Williamson.
Williamson recently released “Re-Licked,” an album of Stooges’ material that he re-recorded with various guest artists, including Kekaula and Jello Biafra.
The late night gig will also feature Alison Mosshart of The Kills and The Dead Weather.
The BellRays will be heading to Australia with the Supersuckers this spring.
“Last Call with Carson Daly” airs at 1:35 a.m. on NBC.
http://www.pe.com/articles/kekaula-760977-carson-daly.html

VENTS MAGAZINE (music site) – News post on Carson Daly appearances (from press announcement)
http://ow.ly/JBu76

PORTABLE INFINITE (music site) – News post on Carson Daly appearances (from press announcement)\
Alison Mosshart & Lisa Kekaula join The Stooges' James Williamson on Lat Call with Carson Daly Feb 25th
http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2015/02/alison-mosshart-lisa-kekaula-join.html

BLURT MAGAZINE (national music magazine) – News post on Carson Daly appearances
James Williamson Hits Late Night TV w/Stoogoid Vengeance
In support of his recent critically-acclaimed solo album, Re-Licked, The Stooges’ guitarist James Williamson will be the featured musical guest on, not one, but two episodes of Last Call with Carson Daly. On Wed. Feb. 4th he’ll be joined by vocalists Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys / Guantanamo School of Medicine) and Texas blues belter & guitarist Carolyn Wonderland. And then on Wed. Feb. 25th Alison Mosshart (The Kills / Dead Weather) & Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays; pictured above) will be joining him.

For these two late night TV perfomances Williamson & friends will be performing early Iggy Pop/ Williamson-penned Stooges’ rarities as featured on the guitarist’s Re-Licked album. In addition, both of these televised performances will also be available to view online here on the NBC website within 24 to 48 hours of each episode.

BLURT offered this review of the Williamson album HERE, noting thusly: “It’s as ball-busting a rock & roll record as any to come down the pike in 2014.”
http://blurtonline.com/news/james-williamson-hits-late-night-tv-wstoogoid-vengeance/

PUNK NEWS (online punk music site) – positive show review
James Williamson and friends / Cheetah Chrome
Live in Los Angeles (2015)
Published on January 26th 2015

On January 16, 2015, I went to The Bootleg HiFi Theater to see a special, one-time performance where James Williamson, guitarist for The Stooges, performed his new album Re-Licked with the artists that sang on the album.

The opener was a Northern California band called The Richmond Sluts. They had a 70s, garage rock sound with a bit of modern rock thrown in, too. They were like a modern-day Doors. The Richmond Sluts relied especially heavily on guitars, but even more so on the electric organ/keyboard. Even the lead singer wore a leather vest over his white collared shit and had a hairstyle that was something straight out of a 70s televised musical performance. The most interesting part of their set when they covered “I Don’t Need No Doctor” by Ray Charles where they added a lot more guitar distortion and speed to the song.

Up next was Cheetah Chrome featuring The Street Walkin’ Cheetahs. Cheetah Chrome, of course, of the Dead Boys, handled lead guitars and vocals and could really shred on his guitar. The band was pretty much a pure rock band. Their sound may have touched a little bit on an early heavy metal side, too. I got an early Black Sabbath vibe from them overall. But though they could rock fast and loud tunes, the band wasn’t afraid to throw in a few slow ballads during their set.

Finally, James Williamson got on the stage. The crowd went wild. He didn't say a word into the mic. Instead, he just got started. He and the rest of the band began to play the intro to the first song (his set list was the exact track listing of his album) “Head on the Curve” and right when the vocal parts begin Jello Biafra bursts on to the stage and begins singing. Jello was jumping and flailing his arms and making those facial expressions only he could pull off. It’s this moment that’s one of the main reasons I gave this show a great rating. Where else are you going to see Jello Biafra sing while legendary proto-punk artist James Williamson is playing guitar along with him? It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Each time a new artist came up on stage to sing the next song, they weren’t announced so it was a little hard to determine who was which artist, but ultimately I was able to figure it out. Other highlights of the night were when blues singer, Carlyn Wonderland, sang the super dark song “Open Up and Bleed” and when Allison Mossart of The Kills and Jesse Mallin (who I had just seen perform a couple days before perform at Side One Dummy Records a couple days before) share vocals on James’ song “Wild Love.” One of the biggest surprises was when Lisa Kekualah of The Bellrays took the stage for “I Got a Right” and later “Heavy Liquid.” She had the best and most professional soul/R&B sounding voice I had heard live in a long time. She could hit really high notes flawlessly.

The two encore songs were exceptionally amazing to witness. After James Williamson played an extra-long, but great guitar solo while playing the song “Wet My Bed” with The Richmond Sluts, James and his band got back on stage and started playing The Stooges’ classic song “Search and Destroy” and who got on stage to sing? It was Cheetah Chrome, Jesse Malin, and Jello Biafra. Each of the singers took turns singing the lyrics, but when Jello started singing my mind was officially blown.

For the last song of the night Lisa Kekualah was brought back on stage to sing The Kingsmen song “Louie, Louie” and after a few verses they brought every artist that performed back on stage to sing as a grand finale. It was the best possible way to end the show.

I guess I had always taken Iggy, James Williamson, and the rest of The Stooges for granted a bit. I didn’t fully realize how important they were until I saw this show and afterwards when Jello said this to me: “If there were no Stooges, there would have been no Dead Kennedys.”
http://www.punknews.org/review/13185/james-williamson-and-friends-cheetah-chrome-live-in-los-angeles

ROCK GUITAR DAILY (online music site) – Feature audio interview
James Williamson - Re-Licked - The Rock Guitar Daily Interview

James Williamson changed the world of rock with his guitar playing and writing back in the seventies with Iggy Pop & The Stooges, and he's returned to the same world raising as much of a ruckus as ever in The Stooges' reunion and now he's released his most ambitious solo project to date. Re-Licked sees James and a star studded cast revisiting some of The Stooges' greatest rarities and outtakes.

We had a great chat about all of this, and also got into some subjects such as Williamson's after music career as a high powered executive for Sony (served as the company's vice president of technical standards), and his experiences as a songwriter and producer. Les Pauls and Marshall amps make it into the conversation as they must when one talks James Williamson, and there's much more as well across this 45 minute journey.

Listen to the interviw here:
http://rockguitardaily.blogspot.com/2015/01/james-williamson-re-licked-rock-guitar.html

PARAPHILIA MAGAZINE (online music site) – positive album review
JAMES WILLIAMSON: RE-LICKED
By Christopher Nosnibor

The biographical details have more or less passed into legend now: James Williamson was recruited by The Stooges towards the end of 1970 as a second guitarist, but their seminal 1973 release, Raw Power cemented Williamson’s reputation as an integral member of one of the defining bands of the 20th century. The simple fact is that it’s impossible to overstate the significance of The Stooges in terms of the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. Not to denigrate The Beatles or the Stones, or Bowie, but as we all know, the chameleon-like Bowie latched onto Iggy and The Stooges and identified them as the band that defined the essence of cool. It wasn’t all about Iggy, either: The Stooges were truly a unit, a band.

But for all that, Williamson has maintained an understated position. For that, respect is very much due. Re-Licked provides further evidence of the case in point.

Again, to provide some context: after the release of that pivotal album, Iggy and Williamson began work on a follow-up. Those tracks, although finding their way onto bootleg recordings over the years, were never officially released. Until now.

It would have been so easy for either artist – Iggy’s recent commentary on the state of his income despite being a living legend, and Williamson simply because he wrote the music for the songs – to have got some label to bung out an album containing these demos. The fans would have snapped it up as a bona fide historical document, and debate would have raged amongst fans and critics over what might have been had definitive studio versions ever been committed to tape.

Re-LickedBut no. Their refusal to cash in is admirable, and what we have instead is something that is fresh and innovative and equally admirable, in that Re-Licked shows James Williamson to be an artist who has no desire to dine out on his glory days, but instead continue to push himself and to look forward even when revisiting the past.

So, Re-Licked contains brand new versions of the songs – initially written and demoed in 1973/74 – which have been completely recorded, with Williamson enlisting a wide range of guests to help out, including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, The BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, The Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone and Carolyn Wonderland. Not all of the most obvious choices, which is gratifying; we don’t need Bono or the dude from The Strokes trying to emulate Iggy and recreate the originals but without the juice. Instead, Williamson has brought in an interesting selection of artists to whom the songs actually mean something.

And yes, the songs sound great. Truly awesome. It kicks off with the driving blues-based riffage of ‘Head on the Curve,’ which finds Jello yelling ‘motherfuckers!’ repeatedly over a lively piano. ‘Open Up and Bleed’ gets a belting soul treatment thanks to Carolyn Wonderland’s gutsy vocals, and its unexpectedness only adds to its not-so-raw power. Weirdly ‘Scene of the Crime’ actually sounds more like Primal Scream than The Stooges. It’s not just the fact Bobby Gillespie’s on it, either. ‘She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills’ packs a swampy groove and a riotous sax solo. Mark Lanegan and Alison Mosshart are distinctive and compelling vocalists in their own right, and so coupling them on the gritty r’n’b of ‘Wild Love’ proves to be a stroke of genius. It’s an album that’s crammed with highlights, among which the sleazy blues of ‘Pinpoint Eyes’ finds Joe Cardamone – who’s clearly spent a long time studying Iggy’s work and moves – giving it his best.

The bonus tracks are very much bonuses, and while there are some duplications in the tracks, no-one’s going to grumble at the Gary Floyd version of ‘Cock in my Pocket’ which perfectly captures the raucous energy of the 1973 demo. And as anyone familiar with his work will know, anything JG Thirlwell touches is gold, and his appearance on the album’s last track, a second version of ‘Rubber Leg’ is no exception.

What makes Re-Licked truly special is that the songs have all been given very different treatments, from their original rough versions, and from one another. The execution of the tracks are wildly varied, and if some are more successful than others… so what? It’s all about interpreThe biographical details have more or less passed into legend now: James Williamson was recruited by The Stooges towards the end of 1970 as a second guitarist, but their seminal 1973 release, Raw Power cemented Williamson’s reputation as an integral member of one of the defining bands of the 20th century. The simple fact is that it’s impossible to overstate the significance of The Stooges in terms of the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. Not to denigrate The Beatles or the Stones, or Bowie, but as we all know, the chameleon-like Bowie latched onto Iggy and The Stooges and identified them as the band that defined the essence of cool. It wasn’t all about Iggy, either: The Stooges were truly a unit, a band.

But for all that, Williamson has maintained an understated position. For that, respect is very much due. Re-Licked provides further evidence of the case in point.

Again, to provide some context: after the release of that pivotal album, Iggy and Williamson began work on a follow-up. Those tracks, although finding their way onto bootleg recordings over the years, were never officially released. Until now.

It would have been so easy for either artist – Iggy’s recent commentary on the state of his income despite being a living legend, and Williamson simply because he wrote the music for the songs – to have got some label to bung out an album containing these demos. The fans would have snapped it up as a bona fide historical document, and debate would have raged amongst fans and critics over what might have been had definitive studio versions ever been committed to tape.

Re-LickedBut no. Their refusal to cash in is admirable, and what we have instead is something that is fresh and innovative and equally admirable, in that Re-Licked shows James Williamson to be an artist who has no desire to dine out on his glory days, but instead continue to push himself and to look forward even when revisiting the past.

So, Re-Licked contains brand new versions of the songs – initially written and demoed in 1973/74 – which have been completely recorded, with Williamson enlisting a wide range of guests to help out, including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, The BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, The Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone and Carolyn Wonderland. Not all of the most obvious choices, which is gratifying; we don’t need Bono or the dude from The Strokes trying to emulate Iggy and recreate the originals but without the juice. Instead, Williamson has brought in an interesting selection of artists to whom the songs actually mean somethingtation and the exploration of their potential rather than simply going through the motions with some oh-so-reverent tribute. And because of this, the spirit of the songs shines through, the energy shines through with passion and exuberance, illustrating precisely why The Stooges stand as not just a significant band historically, but a band who are vital and relevant today.

Re-Licked, but not merely re-hashed or re-heated.

Re-Licked is released by Leopard Lady Records
http://www.paraphiliamagazine.com/periodical/james-williamson-re-licked/

LOS ANGELES BEAT (LA music site) – Show review with photo gallery
James Williamson & Friends, Cheetah Chrome With Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs – Live Review and Photo Gallery
Posted on January 23, 2015 by Bob Lee
jw1
Jello Biafra goes “Head On” with James Williamson. All photos by Bob Lee for the Los Angeles Beat.

When the Stooges splintered in 1974, they left unfinished business: at least two albums’ worth of songs that never received a proper studio recording. There’s an entire chunk of the band’s history when James Williamson and Ron Asheton were both playing guitar, playing mostly all-new songs at a handful of shows, that were never captured in the studio at all. Others from around the time of Raw Power exist in demo form and on live tapes, mostly awful sounding. Forty years later, Williamson took it upon himself to record these songs with other musicians and a rotating cast of singers, resulting in last year’s Re-Licked album. Friday at the Bootleg Theater, he brought the set to life with a one-off performance, with many of the album’s guest singers reprising their roles. And while rock’s most ferocious frontman may have been missing from the picture, his essential Iggyness pervaded the air like a stench.

Because even watching Jello Biafra be Jello Biafra as only he can, opening the show with a hurricane-force “Head On”, you can see the Iggy in it, the jazz hands and explosive energy. You can hear him in the blues-powered tones of Lisa Kekaula and Carolyn Wonderland, both floor-pounding intense. You can see his leering grin on the mugs of Joe Cardamone, Ron Young, Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs frontman Frank Meyer and Richmond Sluts singer Shea Roberts. Nobody is trying to “do” Iggy or ape his mannerisms, but those mannerisms are now part of the physical vocabulary of rock music. If you don’t want to stand there like a stick in the mud, you will eventually do something Iggy-like.

The net effect was incredibly powerful, much more visceral and fist-raising than its studio realization. Part of the reason was Williamson himself, his unmistakable guitar tone cutting through everything in its path. This is essential hard-ness, with sophistication and charm on call when they’re needed. It was also, frankly, just a lot of fun to hear a well-played set of these songs, some of which I was familiar with, some I barely knew and some I’d never heard before. It’s like discovering a new album by one of the greatest bands in history. By the time they encored with a couple we’d heard before – “Search and Destroy” and “Louie Louie” – the crowd was positively foaming.

One of the guests on that “Search and Destroy” encore was Cheetah Chrome, who’s been covering the song since joining Rocket From The Tombs in 1974, back when it was new. His opening set, backed by local shit-kickers the Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs, contained a handful of Dead Boys favorites amidst several solid tunes from his more recent recordings, including the fine Solo EP, and a surprise nod to Rocket guitarist Peter Laughner with a rousing cover of “Amphetamine”. There are still few things in life more thrilling than the opening riffs to “What Love Is” and “Sonic Reducer” and, like Williamson, he still plays with piss and vinegar. It was a night for old wounds opening up, bleeding, and feeling new again.
http://thelosangelesbeat.com/2015/01/james-williamson-friends-cheetah-chrome-with-streetwalkin-cheetahs-live-review-and-photo-gallery/

CALIFORNIA ROCKER (L.A. music blog) – Feature interview to preview LA show
James Williamson’s ‘Re-Licked’ Show Jets Punk’s Past to Future
By DONNA BALANCIA

Alison Mosshart, Jello Biafra, Cheetah Chrome A-Listers at Bootleg Show

SILVER LAKE — There was a kitchen drawer at our house that had all sorts of cool things: From screwdrivers to Scotch tape, gumballs to love beads. My dad called it “contained craziness.”

That’s what it was like at the James Williamson Re-Licked concert at the Bootleg the other night.

Accompanied by what could only be called The A-List of Alternative Artists, Williamson amassed a show that was one of the most action-packed we’ve ever seen. Williamson may have been known as producer and guitarist before, but now he can certainly claim the title of talent scout and promoter.

Calling on his relationships with people like The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, Jello Biafra, Joe Cardamone, Lisa Kekaula of the Bell Rays, Cheetah Chrome, and Frank Meyer and the Street Walkin’ Cheetahs, Williamson took a one-off show and turned it into a screaming social event of great success.

Ron Young and James Williamson
Dan Rothchild, Ron Young and James Williamson
SEE PHOTO GALLERIES AT WWW.CALIFORNIAROCKER.COM

Frank Meyer – photo by Donna Balancia
Band Street Walkin’ Cheetahs and ex-Dead Boys guitarist Chrome lent support as opening acts and joined in the action during the main show, as did “new guys” The Richmond Sluts, who were the young standouts.

The Richmond Sluts’ music and appearance were reminicent of a true 1970s rock n roll band. The charisma, stage presence and white go-go boots of frontman Shea Roberts is really something to appreciate. Roberts is clearly the new sex symbol of Rock N Roll.

Williamson said he selected Carolyn Wonderland to sing “Open Up And Bleed,” because he was looking for a Janis Joplin-type style for the song. She breathes new life into a great classic with a feminine touch and vulnerable but commanding stage persona.

Jello Biafra - photo by Donna Balancia

Meyer of the popular Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs has a fabulous persona, cool performance style and he did an excellent job running the show, introducing performers and keeping people laughing with his jokes. He gave super energetic renditions of “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills” and “I’m Sick of You.”

SEE THE RE-LICKED LIVE VIDEO HERE

Alison Mosshart - photo by Donna Balancia
Alison Mosshart – photo by Donna Balancia
Mosshart’s performance is always something to see — unique and relaxed — her body twisting with each word and wild hair seemingly with a life of its own. She knows how to keep the audience hanging on every motion.

Her crooning “Till The End of the Night” captured the audience as she is both flirtatious and powerful in her delivery. With Malin on “Wild Love,” she shows a gregarious and giving nature in her performance. She clearly enjoys collaborating with established as well as up-and-coming musicians.

Ron Young of Little Caesar was a breath of fresh air with his hard rock style. He delivered a solid performance of “Rubber Leg.” Young’s the kind of guy you want to be in the trenches with, as he is a real team player with a great attitude and cool swagger.

Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line taunted the audience with “Scene of The Crime” and “Pinpoint Eyes.” This Los Angeles artist has been working with The Icarus Line and previously fronted Kanker Sores. Kekaula’s wild energy and turned “I Got A Right” into a hopping punk revival, soul style.

Jello Biafra, Lisa Kekaula and Frank Meyer - photos by Donna Balancia

The opening song was a predictor for the superband performance: Biafra’s “Head On The Curve” was a wild shout out to both Iggy Pop and his Dead Kennedys days — he is still a wild man and compelling to the point where you can’t keep your eyes off him.

For show-enders “Search and Destroy” and “Louie Louie” it was like controlled chaos erupted on stage, and it was calamity on whom to focus the lens.

There was so much action at once it was like a three-ring circus with people running all over the place — Malin whipping his microphone cord around, Cheetah Chrome’s bald pate gleaming, Biafra waving his arms around, and Kekaula relieving her fellow musicians by fanning them wildly. Yes, with a fan.

Alison Mosshart - photo by Donna Balancia
Alison Mosshart – photo by Donna Balancia
Meanwhile, Williamson, who assembled the crazy crew of alternative’s wildly talented, kept his cool, calmly playing his well-recognized guitar in the corner of the stage.

When we asked him, “How did you keep a straight face?” he responded with a cool chuckle and the whole reason for the show: “It was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?”

Yes It Was.
http://www.californiarocker.com/2015/01/20/james-williamsons-re-licked-show-jets-punks-past-future/

GRIMY GOODS (L.A. music blog) – Positive show reviw with photos
JAMES WILLIAMSON GETS “RELICKED” WITH ALISON MOSSHART, JELLO BIAFRA, JOE CARDAMONE AND MORE AT BOOTLEG HIFI
Last Saturday, the Bootleg HiFi played host to a packed house of rock stars. Whether on or off the stage, Los Angeles musicians and fans came out in packs to celebrate the music of iconic guitarist, James Williamson of The Stooges. Performing songs from Williamson’s critically-acclaimed solo album, Re-Licked, fans were treated to early Iggy Pop/ Williamson-penned Stooges rarities that only diehard fans would know about. While Iggy Pop was not there to take part in the performance, the songs came to life with remarkable performances by Alison Mosshart (The Kills/ Dead Weather), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays), and Joe Cardamone (Icarus Line) to name a few.

Kicking off the evening that boasted an all-star lineup of musicians were The Richmond Sluts. The band blasted out a high energy rock ‘n’ roll set that had our hips shaking from the start. Following the Richmond Sluts was another punk icon, Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys. Taking the stage with his Street Walkin’ Cheetahs, Chrome performed tracks off his most recent album release, SOLO, along with closing out with an epic “Sonic Reducer” that had longtime fans shouting the lyrics to the well-known Dead Boys song.

Quietly taking to stage left, with a humble demeanor, the legendary Stooges guitarist, James Williamson was eagerly welcomed by a roar of fans. The crowd was filled wall-to-wall and seat-to-seat with a mature crowd of an average age of about 35. It was kind of refreshing to not be surrounded by a room of obnoxious scene hipsters holding up their iPhones for minutes on end (although there were a few people in front of me holding up their massive phone a bit too long). Needless to say, those annoying mega iPhone and Galaxy screens didn’t take away too much from the moment. With a legend like Williamson on stage, how can you not be captivated by his presence.

Kicking off a fiery set, Williamson was joined by Dead Kennedys frontman, Jello Biafra. With those signature vocals, Biafra bounced around the stage like a gorilla hopped-up on a case of Red Bull. He set the tone for an incredible night of high energy performances.

Following Biafra’s awesome performance was Carolyn Wonderland (Little Caeser). The woman blew us away with her gorgeous vocals which made for a tough act to follow. In fact, I can’t quite piece together who was the next act since I had to lift my jaw back up from the ground after hearing Wonderland’s pipes.
After composing myself, I was then thrown again in awe. My longtime girl-crush since the early days of The Kills, Alison Mosshart took to the stage. With a messy bleached blonde ‘do, Mosshart practically wrapped her mouth around the mic as she sexily crooned to a slow ballad while Williamson played a mean guitar solo. The two had great chemistry on stage, and I would say the best of the entire show, but Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays kind of gave Mosshart a run for her money.

Kekaula, without a doubt, lit a soul fire at the Bootleg HiFi. Singing a fierce rendition of “I Got A Right”, Kekaula not only had the powerful vocals to bring this song to life, but her stage presence was on fire. That woman gots some moves for sure.

Driving the ladies wild, and playing the role of Iggy Pop a little too well. Joe Cardamone of the Icarus Line had so much Stooges swagger. He strut those hips, opened that mouth wide and passionately sung along. At one point I thought he really was Iggy Pop.

The show went on well into the late hour, with some pretty remarkable performances. It was a very special treat to see James Williamson on stage, shredding to these rare cuts. It was also quite special to see so many talented musicians come together to celebrate music that in some form or another had an influence on their work.
Words: Sandra Burciaga
Photography: Bryan Olinger
http://www.grimygoods.com/2015/01/19/photos-review-james-williamson-alison-mosshart-jello-biafra-joe-cardamone-cheetah-chrome-bootelg-hifi/

CLASSIC ROCK’S BLUES MAGAZINE (national UK monthly music magazine) – Feature interview with Lois Wilson – PRINT ONLY. (Lois said she’d send a copy on 4/17/15)

L.A. RECORD (L.A. music weekly) – Positive LA show review
THE STOOGES’ JAMES WILLIAMSON w/JELLO BIAFRA, ALISON MOSSHART, ET AL. + CHEETAH CHROME + THE RICHMOND SLUTS @ THE BOOTLEG HIFI
Photos and words by Debi Del Grande

What a night (and early morning) at The Bootleg Hifi as The Stooges’ guitarist James Williamson played his solo album Re-Licked which is comprised of rare 70s Stooges’ songs that have never been properly released. The accomplished guitarist played the entire set as quite the array of established musicians shared vocal duties and had their Iggy Pop moment.

Like a bucking horse out the gate, Jello Biafra started everything off with “Head on the Curve.” Other contributors to the album that shined on stage were Joe Cardamore of The Icarus Line, Alison Mosshart of The Kills/Dead Weather and Lisa Kekaula who really fired things up. Williamson’s band may not have recognizable names, but they held their own.
Cheetah Chrome (The Dead Boys) featuring The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs and The Richmond Sluts got the party started and continued through the main set.
http://larecord.com/photos/2015/01/19/the-stooges-james-williamson-wjello-biafra-alison-mosshart-et-al-cheetah-chrome-the-richmond-sluts-the-bootleg-hifi

L.A. WEEKLY (L.A. music weekly) –LA show review
SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE BOOTLEGGED JAMES WILLIAMSON'S ALL-STAR STOOGES SHOW
BY ART TAVANA
James Williamson & Friends
The Bootleg Theater
January 16, 2015

The vainglorious dick measurement contest known as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony — aired annually on HBO for all the Pavlov'd dimwits still paying for cable — offers up a revolving door of goofy guest stars, like Lorde doing Nirvana. It's kitschy shit, American Idol karaoke for people who think rock & roll is Hollywood.

So last year, when Raw Power-era Stooges guitarist James Williamson took bootlegged Stooges cuts and recorded them with guest vocalists (sans Iggy Pop), I couldn't help but think back to Henry Rollins' pedagogical teachings: "Kill your past...kill the fucker, as you go galumphing on."

Going to see Williamson at the Bootleg on Friday, joined by everyone from Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), wearing a "Fuck the Tea Party" shirt, along with a leather-clad Alison Mosshart (The Kills/The Dead Weather), I felt like a bitter Guns N' Roses groupie seeing Myles Kennedy doing a prim and proper Axl Rose. Without the gimmicky, cock-grabbing Iggy, a few well-rehearsed versions of purposefully dilapidated Stooges recordings like "Scene of the Crime" and Metallic K.O.'s "Cock in My Pocket" were bound to be Time-Life covers by singers unwilling to blade themselves with egg shells.

But while that may have been true for Re-Licked, seeing 10 rock stars join Williamson live, feeding off the crowd, captured something the record never even hinted at: The jumping-off-the-deep-end, primal madness of The Stooges in their prime.

OK, so this isn't The Stooges. This is Williamson rocking out with a few of his friends on a Motor City Traveling Wilburys trip — a punk rock supergroup recreating half-done Stooges licks from 1972-74. Either way, it worked better live. Re-Licked should have been a live record.

Joining me to see Williamson was Don Waller, former lead singer of the trashy Imperial Dogs — an underrated '70s proto-punk group from the South Bay. It was the day after news had spread that the Svengali maestro of gross L.A. rock & roll excess, Kim Fowley, had died after a long battle with cancer.

The last time Don saw the Stooges was in '73, at Whisky A Go Go, Fowley's old clubhouse on the Sunset Strip. Maybe it was Don sharing stories with Bruce Duff of the Streewalkin' Cheetahs, or the fact Fowley's death had brought out the likes of L.A. punk queen Hellin Killer, but the night felt like a buzz show at the Roxy, or the Whisky, way back before hair metal vomited all over the graffiti.

Cheetah Chrome, the madman guitarist of CBGB punk legends the Dead Boys, was what I walked into to start my night. Sweat dripping off his shiny bald head, his gritty guitar work terrorizing the five-minute instrumental intro, Cheetah's scratchy vocals sounded like they were covered in soot and whiskey. On each song, his eyes barely opened as his head rattled like an old bluesman while he played some ripping jukebox power-pop.

I tried to suppress the glee on my face — like I was too punk for roadhouse blues played by an old man. But I couldn't help but pound my foot to the grooving rhythm of Bruce Duff, swinging his bass around like Pete Townshend, while Cheetah squeezed out his road-weary tales. When you have rock 'n' roll for organs, age is just a number.

When Williamson took the stage with Biafra to open with "Head on Curve," the place was packed with everyone from former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, to some local heroes at the bar who've been ripping off Stooges riffs to the tune of 10,000 Facebook followers (I won't name names). But goddamn it was a riot. Don't know how they did it, but the guest stars lit the stage on fire — especially Lisa Kekaula of the BellRays, who made me forget about Iggy by doing what he'd always attempted: Slicing up the blues into bloody pieces of punk rock shrapnel and skin.

A few of the cats, like Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line) and Shea Roberts (The Richmond Sluts) did some spot-on Iggy karaoke-dance-party moves that gave the event the humor it needed. Nothing quite like seeing Iggy aping Mick Jagger missing a chromosome — not even close. But Frank Meyer of the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs cut through the bleachers with his artful scream. Meyer's voice isn't on the record, which is just a shame.

Carolyn Wonderland on "Gimme Some Skin" wasn't trying to imitate the Ig's mutated chicken dance. She stood tall and roared like Janis Joplin, playing down-and-dirty blues. Williamson followed suit, proving why Raw Power is still the most influential record for punk guitarists trying to move beyond two chords.

Williamson, who never spoke to the crowd or yapped about the historical significance of the night, played his guitar with precision, while the guest stars tried to keep up. Switching crooners on every song, you'd think Williamson would chat up the crowd, maybe tell an Iggy story or two. Not a chance. He wasn't there to gain praise or ask the crowd to connect with his mojo. Even though his name was on the ticket, Williamson let the singers take the spotlight.

The crowd exploded when Cheetah and Biafra returned for the encore with the opening riff of "Search and Destroy," a not-so-surprising addition to the set list that made it feel like 1973 all over again. The punk rock supergroup closed the night with "Louie Louie," not the 55-minute rendition Iggy would have wanted (listen to side two of Metallic K.O. to get that), but a drawn-out anthem that made a few people chuckle — especially the old-timers who know their history.

After the show, one of those old-timers, Don Waller, drove off into the night behind the wheel of his 69' Karmann Ghia. But not before remembering the time his brother used a tape recorder to capture Iggy and the Stooges at the Whiskey in '73, sold it for some shitty MC5 tapes, and saw the recording siphoned into bootleg tapes that eventually became the lost sound of the Stooges, post-Raw Power — in other words, what this night was all about.

So who cares if Re-Licked is too polished for my taste. Williamson and friends needed to be experienced live — close enough to feel the sweat and hear the throwaway lyrics that make it a bit more Stooges than supergroup. No blood-letting or peanut butter molesting to report, but history was made.

Set List
1. "Head on Curve" w/ Jello Biafra
2. "Open Up and Bleed" w/ Carolyn Wonderland
3. "Scene of the Crime" w/ Joe Cardamone
4. "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills" w/ Frank Meyer
5. "Till The End of the Night" w/ Alison Mosshart
6. "I Got a Right" w/ Lisa Kekaula
7. "Pin Point Eyes" w/ Joe Cardamone
8. "Wild Love" w/ Alison Mosshart and Jesse Malin
9. "Rubber Leg" w/ Ron Young
10. "I'm Sick of You" w/ Frank Meyer
11. "Gimme Some Skin" w/ Carolyn Wonderland
12. "Cock in My Pocket" w/ Shea Roberts
13. "Heavy Liquid" w/ Lisa Kekaula
14. "Wet My Bed" w/ The Richmond Sluts

Encore
15. "Search and Destroy" w/ Cheetah Chrome, Jesse Malin, and Jello Biafra
16. "Louie Louie" w/ James Williamson & Friends
http://www.laweekly.com/music/someone-should-have-bootlegged-james-williamsons-all-star-stooges-show-5341857

OC REGISTER (Orange County Daily) – Positive show review
Former Stooges guitarist digs up buried gems
BY ANGELA RATZLAFF
When most people think of Iggy and the Stooges, they think of … well, Iggy Pop.

However, maybe even more so than the vivacious vocalist, it was guitarist James Williamson who defined the Stooges’ iconic sound. His blues technicality and full fuzz sound forever changed the world of rock music and still continues to inspire current garage and punk artists.

For his new album, “Re-Licked,” Williamson revisits some rare bootleg recordings that probably only mostly die-hard Stooges fans know of. These songs were never produced or released properly, and some were only recorded live, so Williamson took it upon himself to go back into the studio with a full band and do these songs justice. He was joined by greats including former Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra, The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie, Bellrays vocalist Lisa Kekaula and many more.

For a special live performance, a slew of guests, including Mosshart, Biafra, former Heart Attack vocalist Jesse Malin, Austin-based blues singer Carolyn Wonderland and Icarus Line vocalist Joe Cardamone, accompanied Williamson in a journey back to the early ’70s. While diverse in style, each vocalist had the spirit and raw-power qualities of Iggy Pop.

The night opened with San Francisco-based rock group the Richmond Sluts, a band that also contributed to the “Re-Licked” project. While they were loud with fuzz guitars and fun with rockabilly riffs and stomp-worthy rhythms, it just seemed so forced. The idea of rock ’n’ roll is clearly in their heads, but it doesn’t take long for someone to look past the bell-bottomed jeans, not to mention the cheesy Mick Jagger dance moves, and realize that this group is in fact kind of boring and too respectable to be considered true rock ’n’ roll. They are a rock group, fun for drinking and maybe background music, but their live performance is missing that integrity factor by rehashing ideas of what rock is supposed to be with choreographed stage moves and banter.

Cheetah Chrome, former guitarist of the Dead Boys, performed with his group, the Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs. Now, it’s kind of weird seeing men in their late 50s performing songs about damning the man and going against society, but it was also kind of fun. The music was simple, Chrome’s vocals raw. Yeah, the bassist was off rhythm most of the time, and there was really only one person in the crowd pumping a fist, but the band still maintained a tough attitude with almost no stage banter and no gimmicks or facades to be found.

Taking the stage a little late, right around midnight, was James Williamson and company. Right out of the gate was the dynamic Biafra, with a personality and presence so strong that some people in the crowd might have not minded that Iggy wasn’t there. Biafra sang “Head on the Curve,” an unreleased song originally recorded in 1973. Because of Williamson’s untouched technique and Biafra’s vivacious vocals, the room felt like an underground show in the early ’70s. The sound was full, slightly gritty and totally powerful.

Right after that, it was a roller coaster of nonstop pure rock ’n’ roll from some of the most talented musicians. Highlights included Cardamone’s performances of “Scene of the Crime” and “Pin Point Eyes.” The vocalist took on the vocal energy of Iggy Pop and dark swagger of Nick Cave, bringing out the most in the Stooges’ early recordings.

Hearts stopped when Mosshart, dressed in leather and skin-tight jeans, stepped on stage in her pitch-black platform boots. She sang a haunting love song called “Till the End of the Night.” Her dark aesthetic and soft vocals brought a whole new life to one of the more gentle songs from the Stooges.

In addition to Mosshart, Kekaula and Wonderland proved to be the show-stoppers of the evening. Kekaula shocked the audience back to life each time she stepped on stage and belted out soulful renditions of garage rock songs. Wonderland had a bluesy presence and wowed everyone in the packed theater with her sultry renditions of songs.

The performance built to an ultimate ending with the last songs, including renditions of “Search and Destroy,” sung by Chrome, Malin and Biafra; and “Louie Louie,” sung by all the guest vocalists. It was a celebration of what will forever be a defining sound and movement in rock ’n’ roll.

Setlist:
Head on a Curve (with Jello Biafra)
Open Up and Bleed (with Carolyn Wonderland)
Scene of the Crime (with Joe Cardamone)
She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills (with Frank Meyer)
Till the End of the Night (with Alison Mosshart)
I Got a Right (with Lisa Kekaula)
Pin Point Eyes (Joe Cardamone)
Wild Love (Alison Mosshart and Jesse Malin)
Rubber Leg (with Ron Young
I'm Sick of You (Frank Meyer)
Gimme Some Skin (Carolyn Wonderland)
**** in my Pocket (Shea Roberts)
Heavy Liquid (Lisa Kekaula)
Wet My Bed (Richmond Sluts and all other vocalists)
Search and Destroy (Cheetah Chrome, Jesse Malin and Jello Biafra). Encore: Louie Louie (all vocalists).
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rock-648462-vocalist-songs.html

CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND (music site) – Positive show review with photo gallery
Live Review: James Williamson’s Re-Licked with Alison Mosshart and more in L.A. (1/16)
BY PHILIP COSORES

When Stooges guitarist James Williamson released Re-Licked late last year, it was not without controversy. Rolling Stone published an article explaining the story behind the album: Williamson teamed with the touring band (bassist Mike Watt, saxophonist Steve Mackay, and drummer Toby Dammit) to record an album of song’s penned by Iggy Pop, which were originally intended to be the follow-up to Raw Power in the ’70s but were never properly recorded and only previously released as live versions and bootlegs.

The strange thing is that Williamson, with Pop taking a year off, opted to record with guest vocalists. The Rolling Stone article notes that Pop did not really appreciate this and released the following statement after the article was published: “Iggy was never given an opportunity to participate on the album. He found out about the project in December of 2013 after it was rejected by a Chicago label.”

Hopefully, the release hasn’t put an additional strain on the relationship between Pop and Williamson, but that same Rolling Stone article also has Williamson saying that a tour behind the album was unlikely, adding, “I suppose we could consider something in major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London, but to pull 13 singers together for a show? Fuck. That would be almost impossible.”

Almost impossible, but that’s exactly what happened on Friday night at the small Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles, where a number of the album’s singers, including the Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, The Kills’ and The Dead Weather’s Alison Mosshart, the Icarus Line’s Joe Cardomone, and many others sang the songs with Williamson, trying to reimagine the energy of the Stooges decades after the songs were intended to be delivered.

For its part, the show went smoothly, a feat that is noteworthy when switching singers for literally every song. Williamson is the strong and silent type, addressing the crowd with hardly more than a wave and letting the rotating cast of singers be the mouthpieces they are intended to be.

There were obviously high points and filler. Biafra opened the show as a man possessed, leaping, his warbly yelp a trademark that is still impressive to hear live. Cardomone seemed more on point than anyone, singing both his song and filling in for Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. (Gillespie was one of a few vocalists who did not attend, which also included Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan, and The Orwells’ Mario Cuomo.)

And then there was Alison Mosshart, who by far was the biggest draw besides Williamson himself. Mosshart did less in terms of actual singing than she did simply by being a presence, which is an accomplishment in its own respect. Mosshart’s mere presence on a stage is enough to enrapture an audience. When she reappeared for a stumbling duet with Jesse Malin later in the night, the crowd was happy just to have her back.

The night would go on to feature a group jam of “Search and Destroy” that pleased a crowd full of Stooges devotees, many with gray hair that betrayed the longevity of their fandom. Time will tell where the Stooges go from here, and undoubtably this would have been a more special affair with Iggy involved. But for what it was, a one-off of rotating front-people having a blast onstage, it left the audience pleased and satisfied.

Setlist:
Head on the Curve ft. Jello Biafra
Open Up and Bleed ft. Carolyn Wonderland
Scene of the Crime ft. Joe Cardomone
She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills ft. Frank Meyer
Til the End of the Night ft. Alison Mosshart
I Gotta Right ft. Lisa Kekaula
Pinpoint Eyes ft. Joe Cardamone
Wild Love ft. Jesse Malin & Alison Mosshart
Rubber Leg ft. Ron Young
I’m Sick of You ft. Frank Meyer
Gimme Some Skin ft. Caroline Wonderland
C*ck in My Pocket ft. Shea Roberts
Heavy Liquid ft. Lisa Kekaula
Wet My Bed ft. The Richmond Sluts and all
Encore
Search and Destroy ft. all
Louis Louis ft. all
http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/01/live-review-james-williamsons-re-licked-with-alison-mosshart-and-more-in-l-a-116/

LAist (L.A. A&E site) – Weekend Planner: 24 Things To Do In Los Angeles

FRIDAY, JAN. 16 MUSIC: The Stooges' guitarist James Williamson plays the Bootleg for one-night only on Friday in support of his new solo album Re-Licked. Joining him are performers Alison Mosshart (The Kills/ Dead Weather), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys/Guantanamo School of Medicine), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays), Joe Cardamone (Icarus Line), Carolyn Wonderland, Ron Young (Little Caesar) and Jesse Malin. Opening acts are Cheetah Chrome (The Dead Boys) and the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs and The Richmond Sluts. 9 pm. 21+. Tickets: $35.
http://laist.com/2015/01/15/weekend_planner_23_things_to_do_in_3.php

L.A. WEEKLY (L.A. music weekly) – Best Show LA show preview
THE BEST CONCERTS TO SEE IN L.A. THIS WEEKEND
James Williamson
BOOTLEG HIFI
If there was one saving grace when founding Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton died of a heart attack in 2009, it was that it gave Iggy Pop a chance to reincarnate the mid-’70s lineup of the band, Iggy & the Stooges, featuring incendiary lead guitarist James Williamson. After the death last year of Ron’s brother, Stooges drummer Scott Asheton, future reunions of the group are in doubt, but the formerly reclusive Williamson has already bounced back with Re-Licked, a solo album of remakes of later Stooges material. Interestingly, instead of focusing on Raw Power, his landmark 1973 album with the band, Williamson chose to re-record rarities such as “Open Up and Bleed” and “Wet My Bed” with well-known singers, including tonight’s guests, Jello Biafra, The Kills’ Alison Mosshart and Bellrays soul-punk powerhouse Lisa Kekaula. — Falling James
http://www.laweekly.com/music/the-best-concerts-to-see-in-la-this-weekend-5336125

LA DOWNTOWN NEWS (L.A. A&E site) – Brief show preview
James Williamson at Bootleg Fri. Jan. 16
James Williamson: Re-Licked sounds like a memoir about an auspicious trip to Tijuana, but is in fact the Stooges’ guitarist playing with the likes of Alison Mosshart, Jello Biafra and many more.
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/calendar/pop_rock_and_jazz/james-williamson/event_d4c9de4a-9a94-11e4-9b3d-2bf0762923ef.html

DINOSAUR MAGAZINE
James Williamson Live and Re-Licked
Does James Williamson sing in the shower? Don Waller talks to the Stooges guitarist/songwriter on the eve of a rare live L.A. performance of his solo album “Re-Licked,” with guests including Alison Mosshart and Jello Biafra. We also find out why he’s OK with modifying some old lyrics … and what’s always in his refrigerator.

“Open Up and Bleed,” “Head on the Curve,” and “I Got a Right” are some of the greatest songs that Iggy Pop & the Stooges — or anyone else — ever performed. And for forty years, they were only available on bootlegs taken from live shows or rehearsal tapes. Until the songs’ co-writer, Stooges guitarist James Williamson, recruited an all-star collection of vocalists, recorded brand-new versions, and released the results on an album titled Re-Licked late last year.

This Friday, January 16, Williamson will join forces with Alison Mosshart (The Kills and Dead Weather), Lisa Kekaula (The BellRays), Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line), Texas bluesician Carolyn Wonderland, and Jello Biafra, Ron Young, and Jesse Malin (the respective former frontmen for the Dead Kennedys, Little Caesar, and D Generation) for a special, one-night-only show at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles.

San Francisco-based garage-rockers The Richmond Sluts will open the evening, followed by Cheetah Chrome (of Dead Boys fame) backed by the Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs, who take their name from the opening line of the Stooges’ classic “Search and Destroy.”

“Everyone will do the songs that they performed on the album,” says Williamson, “and we’re going to do the entire record. But since not everyone who’s on the album could make it, because of previous touring commitments, there’ll be some substitutions … and some surprises. But for that, you’ll have to come to the show.”

When I tell Williamson that I saw the Raw Power-era Stooges play nine different nights at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in 1973 — and that my younger brother smuggled in a cassette recorder and taped one of those sets, which became the source of many of the abovementioned bootlegs (from which neither of us made a penny), he says: “I just love that this show is bringing in so many people like you and Nite Bob, who did the sound when the Stooges played Max’s Kansas City, and is flying in just ’cause he wanted to mix this show. He heard all the songs you saw us play at the Whisky, too.”

Yeah, but the version of “Open Up and Bleed” that’s on the new album has a different arrangement than the 1973 rendition. “It’s more developed,” says Williamson. “We started doing that new arrangement at the end of the last Stooges tour in 2013. But when Iggy didn’t want to re-record all these older songs ’cause he didn’t want them to be compared to the original versions, I started thinking of doing the song with a really gritty — like a Janis Joplin-style — female vocal. Which led me to find Carolyn Wonderland. And she did it so great that it inspired me to go ahead in that direction with other singers.”
The arrangement for “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills” is also very different than the one heard at the Whisky. “That was never really a song per se,” says Williamson. “[The late Stooges then-bassist] Ron [Asheton] came up with the riff and we jammed on it ’cause we liked the feel, so we played it sometimes with Iggy vamping over the top.

“So we did an instrumental version with that feel, and Ariel Pink did an unbelievable impression of what Iggy would’ve done. He was definitely the right man for the job. It’s one of my favorite tracks.”

Some of the songs have undergone some lyrical alterations, as well. “As the co-writer, I’m OK with certain edits or mods to what were just working lyrics like on ‘Rubber Leg.’ There were various versions with Iggy singing different vocals and different lyrics, so we used an amalgamation.

“And with ‘Head on the Curve,’ saying ‘buttfucker’ is not gonna play very well in 2015. Jello’s comment was he didn’t want to sing anything that he couldn’t look Gary Floyd [the openly gay singer of punk band The Dicks, another participant in the project] in the eye while doing, so he changed it to ‘motherfucker,’ which in a way is better. Jello really stepped up on that one.”
Since DINOSAUR is about reinvention, it’s worth noting that after Iggy & the Stooges imploded in 1974, Williamson and Iggy recorded the 1975 album Kill City, which wasn’t released until two years later. By then, Williamson had abandoned his new career as a recording engineer and earned a degree in electrical engineering, and he spent the next twenty-five years working in Silicon Valley, eventually becoming a vice president of technical standards for Sony. After Ron Asheton’s death in 2009, he took a buy-out and rejoined the Stooges. (This story has been retold countless times.)

So what question does Williamson wish he’d get asked? “That’s a great question.” He laughs. “I don’t know the answer. I’ve given so many interviews, I feel like I’ve covered most things, quite a lot. I’m pleasantly surprised we’re not talking about old stuff.”

OK. If you could be any pop star other than yourself, who would you be? “I don’t want to be a pop star,” says Williamson. “I just always wanted to be like a regular person, whatever that is.”

So what three things are always in your refrigerator? He laughs. “Half and half, ’cause I drink a lot of coffee in the morning. And there’s always yogurt for my wife. And breakfast staples, like eggs, ’cause I like to have breakfast when I’m at home.”

Sounds like a regular guy. What do you sing in the shower? “I don’t.”
All right, then, what’s the one piece of pop memorabilia you would like to own? “Hmmmm.” He thinks. “I have the ‘Leopard Lady’ Les Paul that I played on Raw Power and everything else I’ve ever done, so that’s it for me.”
Do you have a favorite Saturday-night record? “It’s always different stuff,” he says. “I have a short attention span. I’m currently listening to an old Rolling Stones anthology, and some old blues. I’ve only made five albums, and normally I get too close and I get sick of listening to it. But that’s not the case with [Re-Licked], because the variety of different singers — and the enthusiasm of the players — hold my interest and keep it entertaining.”
Come Friday night, Williamson and his galaxy of guests — most of whom can be seen in a “making of” Re-Licked documentary — will be backed by drummer Michael Urbano, keyboardist Gregg Foreman, bassist Dan Rothchild, and vocalist Andrea Wasse.

“They’re an awesome rockin’ band,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
—Don Waller
http://www.dinosaurmagintl.com/features/james-williamson/

LOS ANGELES BEAT (LA music site) – Show preview
Beat Recommends: James Williamson & Cheetah Chrome
This Friday night presents no small dillemma for the proto-punk nut seeking live entertainment in LA. You’ve got the Dictators NYC (Manitoba and Ross but not Andy Shernoff) with the Angry Samoans at the Roxy, and you’ve got the Pagans supporting the first Humpers show in a dog’s age at Cafe NELA. But after much consideration, our vote for your weekend-detonating blast of raw power is going to the guitar player that actually played on “Raw Power”, Mr. James Williamson of the Stooges, in addition to the one that played on “Sonic Reducer”, Mr. Cheetah Chrome, at the Bootleg Theater.

Williamson is evidently doing only this one show to celebrate his Re-Licked album, a collection of songs written but never properly released by the Stooges in the early seventies, such as “Head On”, “Cock In My Pocket” and “Heavy Liquid.” In place of the Igster, Williamson has pulled together a number of distinctive vocalists for the show, including Jello Biafra, Allison Mosshart of the Kills and Dead Weather, Bellrays chanteuse Lisa Kekaula, and others. It promises to be a one of a kind event, a celebration of songs most of us have only heard on distant audience recordings or dodgy cassette demos, given the full force of Williamson’s searing guitar. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that Dead Boys/ Rocket From The Tombs six-stringer Cheetah Chrome, one of Williamson’s most productive students, will be on the bill backed by LA’s own Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs, who will be likely combine songs from his most recent EP Solo with a few numbers from his distinguished past. Yes, it’s a steep cover, but considering how rarely we gt to see these two men in our city, worth digging a little deeper than usual.
http://thelosangelesbeat.com/2015/01/beat-recommends-james-williamson-cheetah-chrome/

GRIMY GOODS (L.A. music blog) – Simple listing highlighted as “Best Shows”
THE BEST CONCERTS IN LOS ANGELES – JANUARY 12 – 18, 2015
FRIDAY – JANUARY 16, 2014
James Williamson: Re-Licked with ALISON MOSSHART, JELLO BIAFRA, CHEETAH CHROME, THE STREETWALKIN’ CHEETAHS, THE RICHMOND SLUTS & MANY OTHERS

EXAMINER (LA music site) – Feature interview
Stooges Hall of Famer Williamson interviews on upcoming LA show
Will Engel
LA Music Examiner
The excitement for James Williamson’s upcoming January 16th Los Angeles show is continuing to build. Having recently released a new album, entitled Re-Licked, legendary rock and roll Hall of Famer Stooges guitarist Williamson jams with many of the artists from the album in LA at The Bootleg Theater on January 16th, and he interviews here.

The album consists of rare Stooges songs by Iggy Pop and Williamson. The vocal musicians at the show include Alison Mosshart, Jesse Malin (recently added!), Jello Biafra, Lisa Kekaula, Joe Cardamore, Carolyn Wonderland, Ron Young and The Richmond Sluts. Malin took the time to answer an interview question energetically, expressing his enthusiasm for the upcoming event:

W.E. What are you most looking forward to about the Friday, January 16th performance at The Bootleg?

J.M. Being such a huge fan of James Williamson since I was a teen, it's an honor to be able to share a stage with him and get to sing on one of these lost treasures. I also think Alison Mosshart is cool as hell and look forward to doing this duet with her out in Kill City, California.

Opening acts will be Cheetah Chrome (The Dead Boys) featuring the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, and The Richmond Sluts. Williamson’s band includes Gregg Foreman on keys and guitar, Michael Urbano on drums, Dan Rothchild on bass and, most of all, Williamson himself on guitar. The Hall of Fame musician also took the time to answer the same interview question as Malin regarding the show, as Williamson too responded with gratitude for his fellow musicians and epic, rocking enthusiasm:

W.E. What are you most looking forward to about the Friday, January 16th performance at The Bootleg?"

J.W. I’m looking forward to playing this album live with the many, many talented singers and musicians who helped me make it a reality...and as if that weren't enough, I'll have support bands like The Richmond Sluts and Cheetah Chrome feat The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs playing on the bill with me....this show will be epic.

The epic evening starts to rock at 9pm at The Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA $35 / 21 & over. Tickets can be purchased here.
http://www.examiner.com/article/stooges-hall-of-famer-williamson-interviews-on-upcoming-la-show

BUZZBANDS LA (LA music site) – Staff Pick of the Week LA show preview
Staff Pick of the Week - Stooges guitarist James Williamson recently released the album “Re-Licked,” on which he reinterpreted 14 early Iggy Pop/Williamson-penned songs. On Friday night at the Bootleg, he’ll be backed by Gregg Foreman, Michael Urbano and Dan Rothchild for a set that will features guests including Alison Mosshart, Jello Biafra, Lisa Kekaula, Joe Cardamone and more.
http://www.buzzbands.la/2015/01/12/week-ahead-january-12-18/

ALL MUSIC (Top 20 online music sites) – Premiere of Makiing-of Re-Licked doc on Jan. 6 & LA show preview
Watch James Williamson and Guests Tackle Unreleased Iggy & the Stooges Cuts
By Chris Steffen
Even though the Stooges splintered after the release of 1973's Raw Power, frontman Iggy Pop and guitarist James Williamson continued to collaborate on new music, but beyond a smattering of demos and bootlegs, the material remained mostly ephemeral in Stooges lore. Last year, Williamson decided to revisit these songs with a cast of guest musicians, including Jello Biafra, Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan, and Alison Mosshart of the Kills and the Dead Weather.

On Friday, January 16, Williamson is staging a one-off show in Los Angeles with many of the album's guests (including Biafra, Mosshart, and late addition Jesse Malin), plus an opening set from Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome. L.A. residents can get in on that action here, while the rest of us can check out this documentary about the origins and recording of Re-Licked. This footage was part of the deluxe edition of the album, and we're bringing you the online premiere.
http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/james-williamson-re-licked-documentary

PLEASE KILL ME (music site) – Feature to preview LA show
JAMES WILLIAMSON BRINGS RE-LICKED ‘SUPERBAND’ SHOW TO LA!
JANUARY 9, 2015 LEGS MCNEIL LEAVE A COMMENT
BY DONNA BALANCIA VIA CALIFORNIA ROCKER

James Williamson’s repsonse to challenge is change.

Williamson took select Stooges songs, recruited top talent to record the vocals, and created the latest “Superband” of Alternative A-listers.

The resulting album, Re-Licked, is different than any what Stooges fan might have predicted.

And now, Williamson’s latest band is taking its act on the road. At least once.

On Jan. 16, the group which includes The Kills’ Alison Mosshart and Dead Kennedys former frontman Jello Biafra, will perform cuts from Re-Licked, appropriately enough, at Bootleg HiFi on Beverly in LA.

Alison Mosshart of The Kills California Rocker
Alison Mosshart – photo credit Heather Harris
“I’ll probably never be able to do it again, although a lot of people are already asking for it and we haven’t even done it yet,” Williamson said of the upcoming performance. “We had bounced it around a lot. Everybody on the album kept saying we should do this live, but the logistics of getting them all together is pretty daunting.”

Williamson and his bandmembers, drummer Michael Urbano, bassist Dan Rothchild, and keyboardist Gregg Foreman will back up Mosshart; Biafra; Lisa Kekaula of the BellRays; Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line; and Jesse Malin, formerly of D Generation.

Re-Licked is comprised of lesser-heard songs written by Williamson and the Stooges’ famous frontman Iggy Pop. And as is typical of any rocker-turned-techie-turned-rocker again, Williamson has broken the songs down, assigning each a decidedly new role, and surprisingly welcome gender-neutral cachet.

“I feel really lucky to have these people performing and the guys are good, but the women are phenomenal,” Williamson told CaliforniaRocker.com.

James Williamson The Women of Re-Licked - California Rocker Soundcloud

Next week’s superstar performance of the only (for now) Re-Licked show will be a defining moment that the audience can enthusiastically support, perhaps without comparisons to rarely heard, prior renditions of the underground-circulated songs.

Oddly, the standard mark of the new “superband” phenomenon — consider The New Basement Tapes comprised of Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith and Shannon Giddens — seems to be the absence of (and simultaneous tribute to) the most central figure. In the case of The New Basement Tapes, the band created and recorded music for the writings of Bob Dylan. That was followed by a terrific one-off performance in Hollywood. SEE #TNBT VIDEO

James Williamson, Iggy and the Stooges in 1973 - California Rocker
James Williamson, Iggy and the Stooges in 1973 – photo credit Heather Harris
So, of course, the obvious drawback with the Re-Licked show is that Iggy won’t be on hand to sing his own songs.

But on an evening when not only Williamson and Iggy’s mutual friends are all on stage together, across town in West Hollywood, Handsome Dick Manitoba’s Dictators will be out from New York to play. So one can always hope.

INSPIRING

They say, “Change is good,” and it may take a while to realize that, and at the very least, change is inspiring. Much in the way that the entire Re-Licked effort is inspiring — on several levels.

For one thing, Williamson’s gargantuan task of assembling the talent and scheduling them to record could require a degree in social engineering and advanced calendar management. He already has the degree in technology, obtained when the Stooges were in flux and the band’s future uncertain.

For Re-Licked, Williamson traveled near and far tracking down leads on artists, such as Carolyn Wonderland whom he thought could be appropriate and agile enough to interpret and appealingly present some challenging material.

Stooges in 1973 - California Rocker
Stooges in 1973 – photo credit Heather Harris
It’s unfortunate that in their day, the Stooges songs that would be on Re-Licked didn’t get a lot of play, but like Kekaula singing Iggy’s “I Gotta Right,” that could actually work in the artist’s favor.

So one common trait Williamson shares with partners on this project is confidence.

With the reviews and the distribution of the March, 2014 recording well in hand, the show then becomes the central focus.

“Most promoters wouldn’t be able to afford this cavalcade of stars coming from all over the world to do a show,” Williamson said. “As it turns out we’re doing a few songs for the Carson Daily Show so we’re already in LA to do that.

“I just said to some of the people coming, ‘Hey we’re already here why don’t we just do a show?’ and everybody wanted to do that, and they decided to stick around for an extra day and do it and that’s how it happened.

For Re-Licked, James Williamson assembled an 'Alternative A-list' - California Rocker
For Re-Licked, James Williamson assembled an ‘Alternative A-list’ – photo courtesy James Williamson
“All these singers came because they wanted to do it,” he said. “I’m very flattered they’d spend their time, energy and talents on my record.”

RESPECT

While it may not have been there during its own time, over the last three decades, there has been a growing wave of respect for 70s-era music. Stooges music in particular was finding its place among an enthusiastic and younger audience that was looking for a different sound.

James Williamson on Raw Power - Interview with CaliforniaRocker.com

“We’re kind of like the old blues guys,” Williamson said of the Stooges’ resurgence. “When I was growing up we had Eric Clapton, Cream, The Rolling Stones, we thought they were cool and everything, then we came to find out they weren’t the guys, the real guys were the blues guys. And we went to see them while they were still alive. That’s sort of how it is for us now. They recognize us as the guys that were authentic original sources of that music.”

Lisa Kekaula California Rocker
Lisa Kekaula – photo credit Heather Harris
Naturally, the respect of younger artists for the music and style of the Stooges emerges as enthusiastic collaborations. It could be argued that Iggy, who more than held his own as a solo act, was an innovator in the area of era-spanning collaborations. Among the bands and artists with whom he has collaborated are Sum 41, Green Day, Peaches, Cat Power, Kesha and many others. He will be working two shows in June with The Foo Fighters.

Williamson, on the other hand, seems to be oblivious to the age of the musicians with whom he’s working, saying that he is working with the most active musicians in the business.

“I honestly feel lucky not only to attract these people but to get these performances out them and these musicians,” Williamson said. “You can really tell on this album the people were excited to do it. It comes across, the enthusiasm is there and that’s a kind of magic you can’t predict and can’t expect to get it you’re just lucky when you do.”

Go HERE more information on the Re-Licked show at Bootleg HiFi
http://www.californiarocker.com/2015/01/08/james-williamson-re-licked-superband-show/

THE PORTABLE INFINITE (L.A. music blog) – LA show preview (from press announcement)
JAMES WILLIAMSON TO PERFORM RARE ONE-OFF LOS ANGELES SHOW W/ FRIENDS JAN. 16TH AT THE BOOTLEG!

ALISON MOSSHART, JELLO BIAFRA, LISA KEKAULA, CAROLYN WONDERLAND, JOE CARDAMONE & MANY OTHERS JOIN THE LEGENDARY STOOGES GUITARIST TO PERFORM SONGS FROM WILLIAMSON'S RECENT SOLO ALBUM RE-LICKED!

JESSE MALIN JUST ADDED TO THE LIST OF ALL-STAR SINGERS!

CHEETAH CHROME (THE DEAD BOYS, ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS) FEATURING THE STREETWALKIN' CHEETAHS, ALONG WITH THE RICHMOND SLUTS TO OPEN THIS SPECIAL L.A. SHOW!
http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-making-of-documentary-for-james.html

JUICE MAGAZINE(L.A. punk magazine) – Positive show preview
JAMES WILLIAMSON: RE-LICKED SHOW AT THE BOOTLEG HIFI!
JAMES WILLIAMSON: RE-LICKED SHOW
All-Star Line-up With Alison Mosshart (The Kills/ Dead Weather), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays) and Many More
Plowboy Records announces Cheetah Chrome featuring the Street Walkin’ Cheetahs confirmed to play Los Angeles for the James Williamson: Re-Licked concert on Friday, January, 16, 2015 at Bootleg HiFi. The Fold Silver Lake explains “Stooges guitarist James Williamson will be gathering together many of the noted singers and musicians that helped him resuscitate 14 early Iggy Pop/ Williamson-penned Stooges rarities…” Austin Chronicle‘s Kevin Curtain reported on Chrome and Williamson’s SXSW appearance last year stating “With Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome and the Stooges’ James Williamson jamming “White Light, White Heat” with Alejandro Escovedo and Blondie’s Clem Burke on Wednesday at the Austin Music Awards, two of the best punk guitarists of the Seventies joined forces.”
JAMES WILLIAMSON: Re-Licked
with Cheetah Chrome featuring the Street Walkin’ Cheetahs
Friday, January 16, 2015
at Bootleg HiFi in Los Angeles
doors 8:00 pm // tickets $35 // 21+
also playing: Alison Mosshart (The Kills/ Dead Weather), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays) and many more to perform songs from James Williamson’s new album, Re-Licked.
Set times TBA, line-up as follows:

Richmond Sluts, openers
Cheetah Chrome featuring the Street Walkin’ Cheetahs, support James Williamson and guests, headlining.
Cheetah Chrome is a founding member of Rocket From The Tombs, The Dead Boys and The Batusis (with Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls). His latest release is titled, SOLO, and includes cuts from a 1996 recording session produced by Genya Ravan (with executive producer Hilly Kristal) and from a Nashville session in 2010 featuring Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls), Lez Warner (The Cult), and Sean Koos (Joan Jett and The Blackhearts). The EP came out the same day as the CBGB movie. His autobiography, Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy’s Tale: From the Front Lines of Punk Rock, was published in 2010. He lives in Nashville with his wife and son.
http://juicemagazine.com/home/james-williamson-re-licked-show/

GRIMY GOODS (L.A. music blog) – Positive show preview
CHEETAH CHROME FEATURING THE STREETWALKIN’ CHEETAHS TO JOIN JAMES WILLIAMSON (THE STOOGES) AT BOOTLEG HIFI

James Williamson, guitarist of iconic rock n’ roll group The Stooges, is presenting a special one night only performance of his recent solo album Re-Licked, at the Bootleg HiFi on Friday, January 16th. It’s just been announced that famed punk rock guitarist Cheetah Chrome (The Dead Boys, Rocket From the Tombs, The Batusis) has been added to the impeccable roster. Other special guests include: Alison Mosshart (The Kills/Dead Weather), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays), Carolyn Wonderland, Ron Young, Joe Cardamone, and more. Plus, you never know who else might show up to this sure-fire, spectacular rock n’ roll fueled evening.
We last caught Cheetah putting on an epic comeback show at the Whiskey last Spring, performing tracks off his most recent album release, SOLO, which includes cuts from a 2010 Nashville recording session featuring Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls), Lez Warner (The Cult), and Sean Koos (Joan Jett and The Blackhearts). He also published a must-read autobiography in 2010 called Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy’s Tale: From the Front Lines of Punk Rock.
Tickets to Cheetah Chrome with James Williamson at The Bootleg HiFi on January 16th are priced at $35, doors at 8pm and the show is 21-and-over. Tickets are on sale now.
GET TICKETS TO CHEETAH CHROME WITH JAMES WILLIAMSON AT THE BOOTLEG HIFI!
http://www.grimygoods.com/2015/01/07/cheetah-chrome-featuring-the-streetwalkin-cheetahs-to-join-james-williamson-the-stooges-at-bootleg-hifi/

PUNK GLOBE (music blog) – Positive album review

James Williamson
Re-Licked
Leopard Lady Records
CD Review By: Tony Conley
"While on a break from touring this year, the members of the live touring version of The Stooges (James Williamson, Steve McKay, Mike Watt, and drummer Toby Dammit) got together and recorded songs that were originally penned by Iggy Pop and James Williamson in 1973/74 as the follow up to their quintessential album Raw Power. While a number of these tracks have found their way onto inferior sounding bootlegs and unofficial releases over the years, they are never properly recorded since the band didn't have a recording deal at the time." ~ James Williamson's .com

Iggy demurred, so James went ahead and did it - people have long clamored to hear what was left over from the demise of punk rock's original legends, so we are the joyful recipients of what may have been, and it's a great trip.

James Williamson is one of the rarest of birds, one which can simply walk away. When Iggy and The Stooges dismantled in 1974, Williamson spent a few years bouncing around looking for musical projects, but he soon set his sights on a world that led him far away from rock for a great many years. He became an electrical engineer, and after a long stint with Advanced Micro Devices in San Jose, he accepted a position as Vice President of Technical Standards, a position he held until accepting san early retirement buyout in 2009. The tech world's loss is definitely rock 'n' roll's gain.

Re-Licked sees Williamson going over unreleased songs, rarities, and some lesser known Stooges songs with the help of some of a letter generation's voices - Jello Biafra is no spring chicken, but he's still post-Stooges, and his take on the set opening 'Head On The Curve' sets the bar pretty high for the album as he obviously pays homage to an institution dear to his heart. That's a theme that runs through this record from beginning to end, the amount of passion and energy to be found on the vocal tracks, which sit brilliantly atop some very spirited playing from Williamson and his cohorts.

One thing that makes me love this record is the fact that it sounds like what I had always hoped The Stooges would sound like in the studio. The guitars couldn't sound any better - Williamson sounds like Williamson - his rapid paced chord changes, and searing leads have never sounded quite this in your face, and up front. Let's face it, The Stooges, perhaps more than any other legendary seventies band, suffered from some of the worst productions, and mixes that ever marred the era. Bow may have been onboard for some great albums by others (Lou Reed's Transformer, Mott The Hoople's All The Young Dudes, The Stooges' Raw Power), but in retrospect the ideas were much better than the sounds to be found upon these classics. Williamson has confronted this old problem, and his skills as an engineer/producer combine with his well known guitar histrionics to make for a record that should end up on plenty of those cursed top ten lists we'll soon be enduring (yes, they are as big a pain in the ass for the writer as they are for the reader).

Then there is the matter of 'Open Up And Bleed' as sang by Texas legend Carolyn Wonderland - when I saw Carolyn's name associated with a product from The Stooges, I had a bit of a problem getting from A to B, but that's more my preconceived notion of Carolyn as a singer from the south than anything. In fact, she's the perfect voice for what is certainly one of Iggy and James' more accessible compositions, and it's a great example of what The Stooges may have grown into, given more time and resources, and less hedonistic pursuits. This is one of the songs of the year for me.

Ariel Pink shows up to help out with 'She Creatures Of Hollywood', and his allegiance to the past is perhaps more familiar to The Stooges' hardcore when combined with the track's high tech take on lo-tech noise, and you'd dig this even if you didn't know its heritage. That's one of the things that makes this record so successful, and that is the fact that you can hear more Iggy influence than Stooges aping. Williamson has taken the material to new places via increased technologies, and time. This would be a cool record no matter when it was released.

Alison Mosshart (The Kills, Jack White's The Dead Weather) does a brilliant job on 'Til The End Of The Night', which just seems to grow, grow, and grow from a soft take on the tale straight into an epic of sound and emotion, especially lifted by Williamson's soaring guitar solo, which starts with harsh shards of his signature chording then sidles into a Page approved bit of Les Paul/Marshall madness that stirs the soul sufficiently before easing into Mosshart's final and building end of five and a half minutes of beauty.

'Heavy Liquid' is given the treatment by The Bellrays' Lisa Kekaula, and she sounds more like David Johansen than Iggy on this slashing rocker, and again, it's the band that provides the perfect undercurrent for her to surf across. This will have you at last realizing what Zeppelin may have sounded like with some horns attached. Great straight up rock by any measure.

'Sick Of You' is well served by The Orwells' Mario Cuomo, who sounds right at home on this rippling punk rocker. It's funny how when most singers cover Iggy, they end up sounding more like Jim Morrison, but hat was always part of the trip, right?

Joe Cardamone of the Icarus Line sounds like he's waited his whole life to sing 'Pin Point Eyes', and again a singer takes the work of Iggy Pop and adds the London soul tones of one Michael Jagger to the proceedings. Every musician on this album brought his A game, and Re-Licked is a great listen.

I could go on with this for another fifteen hundred words, but I'm too far behind in my work, and you should know by now that my recommendation is that you buy this album right now, and listen repeatedly. James Williamson has hit a home run with this one, and it's maybe the best Stooges record yet recorded - I love my old boss, but he's not missed that badly on this new born classic.
4 **** of 5
http://punkglobe.com/jameswilliamsoninterview0115.php

THE SCENESTAR (Los Angeles music blog) – LA Show preview
James Williamson Re-Licked At Bootleg HiFi
The Stooges guitarist James Williamson has a cool show this month! Joined by Ariel Pink, Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys), Bobby Gillespie (of Primal Scream), Mark Lanegan, and Alison Mosshart (of The Dead Weather and The Kills), James Williamson will play 14 tracks he co-wrote with Iggy Pop on Friday, January 16, at the Bootleg HiFi. The concert is part of his solo release Re-Licked, a collection of songs that were written with The Stooges but never officially released.

Tickets to this 21+ event at Bootleg HiFi are on sale now via the venue's ticketing site for $35.00 each plus service fees. Click below to purchase tickets to this unique evening of music with James Williamson and friends!

BUY TICKETS: January 16th: James Williamson at Bootleg HiFi
http://thescenestar.typepad.com/ss/2015/01/james-williamson-re-licked-at-bootleg-hifi.html

L.A. WEEKLY -simple listing already highlightd as a Critic's Pick...
http://www.laweekly.com/los-angeles/james-williamson/Event?oid=5287527

CITY OF DEVILS (L.A. heavy metal site) -simple listing with album art...
http://www.cityofdevils.info/show-calendar/2015/1/16/james-williamson-the-stooges

NEW NOISE MAGAZINE (L.A. music blog) – Positive show preview
Cheetah Chrome To Perform In Los Angeles with James Williamson

Plowboy Records announces Cheetah Chrome featuring the Street Walkin’ Cheetahs confirmed to play Los Angeles for the James Williamson: Re-Licked concert. The Fold Silver Lake explains “Stooges guitarist James Williamson will be gathering together many of the noted singers and musicians that helped him resuscitate 14 early Iggy Pop/ Williamson-penned Stooges rarities…” Austin Chronicle’s Kevin Curtain reported on Chrome and Williamson’s SXSW appearance last year stating “With Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome and the Stooges’ James Williamson jamming “White Light, White Heat” with Alejandro Escovedo and Blondie’s Clem Burke on Wednesday at the Austin Music Awards, two of the best punk guitarists of the Seventies joined forces.”

James Williamson: Re-Licked
with Cheetah Chrome featuring the Street Walkin’ Cheetahs
Friday, January 16, 2015
at Bootleg HiFi in Los Angeles
Doors 8:00 pm // tickets $35 // 21+

Also playing: Alison Mosshart (The Kills/ Dead Weather), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays) and many more to perform songs from James Williamson’s new album, Re-Licked.

Cheetah Chrome is a founding member of Rocket From The Tombs, The Dead Boys and The Batusis (with Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls). His latest release is titled, SOLO, and includes cuts from a 1996 recording session produced by Genya Ravan (with executive producer Hilly Kristal) and from a Nashville session in 2010 featuring Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls), Lez Warner (The Cult), and Sean Koos (Joan Jett and The Blackhearts). The EP came out the same day as the CBGB movie. His autobiography, ‘Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy’s Tale: From the Front Lines of Punk Rock,’ was published in 2010. He lives in Nashville with his wife and son.
http://newnoisemagazine.com/cheetah-chrome-perform-los-angeles-james-williamson/

PUNK NEWS (ONLINE PUNK MUSIC SITE) – L.A. SHOW PREVIEW
James Williamson to perform with Jello Biafra, Alison Mosshart, others

James Williamson of The Stooges has announced a show where he'll perform with Jello Biafra, Alison Mosshart (The Kills, Dead Weather), Carolyn Wonderland (Carolyn Wonderland Band), Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays) and more. The show is in support of Williamson's album Re-Licked where he recorded new versions of unreleased and rare Stooges tracks. Many of the show's performers appear on the album as well. The show is at the Bootleg Hi-Fi in LA on January 16, 2015. You can find more info here.

Punknews spoke to Williamson earlier this year.
http://www.punknews.org/article/56655/james-williamson-to-perform-with-jello-biafra-alison-mosshart-others

I-94 BAR (online Aussie music blog) – LA Show preview with live Icarus Line video
Williamson takes Re-Licked live

You’ve heard a lot about Stooges guitarist James Williamsons’ stellar “Re-Licked” album here but you may not know that he’s playing it live. The first of what are expected to be selected dates only is at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles in January.

Williamson will be joined by guests including Alison Mosshart, Lisa Kekaula, Jello Biafra and Carolyn Wonderland on January 16. Tickets here.

Straight James did a guest spot with The Icarus Line earlier this month, joining vocalist Joe Cardamone on “Pinpoint Eyes.”
http://www.i94bar.com/news/williamson-takes-re-licked-live

MORGENBLADET (Norway’s leading culture weekly) – Album review in Norweigian with Heather’s 1973 photo (the review below is not in full as it’s a paid subscription site)
Darth Vader with guitar
MUSIC 65-year guitar hero with friends make a new attempt to create youth masterpiece that disappeared.
REVIEW

James Williamson's contributions to rock history comes seven seconds into the opening cut "Search and Destroy" on the plate Raw Power Iggy and the Stooges from 1973. It's a guitar solo that jumps out of the speakers and draws you into the flames. You just have to get closer to the sound! The song is considered one of punk masterpieces, but what it had been without Williamson bloody strings?

For what characterizes Williamson guitar is that it is physically - he plays with his whole body. It's not about the notes, but how he beats them depends. He makes you feel, not think. The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr once said: "He has the technical qualities of Jimmy Page, without being equally contrived and coolness to Keith Richards, without being sloppy. He is both demonic and intellectual - about as you would imagine that Darth Vader had sounded if he played in a band. "
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=no&u=http://morgenbladet.no/kultur/2014/darth_vader_med_gitar&prev=search

100% ROCK MAGAZINE (online music blog) – Number 1 Best Album of 2014!
James Williamson – Re-Licked
The Stooges blazed a trail littered with used drug paraphernalia, glass & blood, peanut butter and some of the purest rock n’ roll ever conceived – not that they were respected for it at the time, and they disbanded after they couldn’t get a record deal to record the follow-up to seminal classic Raw Power. The songs Iggy Pop and Williamson wrote for that follow-up are finally here in full ragged studio glory, sung not by Pop but by a cast of luminaries including Bobby Gillespie, Alison Wonderland, Lisa Kekaula, Alison Mossheart, Nicke Andersson, Mark Lanegan and more. Once again, THIS is rock n’ roll.
http://magazine.100percentrock.com/news/201501/94998

JOELGAUSTEN.COM (online music site) – Number 2 Best Alb) – Positive album review
"Re-Licked" by James Williamson. This was a collection of latter era Stooges songs (ie the two years between "Raw Power" and the band's extremely messy demise) which Williamson, the band's guitarist at the time, put together an all star cast to re-work. And credit to him, he did a damn good job of it. Guest vocalists included Bobby Gillespie, Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Lisa Kekaula (the Bellrays) and Alison Mosshart (the Kills). For me though, the highlight was this version of "Open Up And Bleed" featuring the vocal talents of Carolyn Wonderland. Think a soul-based Iggy cover could never work? Prepare to be amazed...
http://shoutingpointingandranting.blogspot.com/2014/12/andys-top-40-albums-of-2014-intro.html

ROCK GUITAR DAILY (online music site) – 4/5 start album review with photos
James Williamson - Re-Licked - Blazing Some Past Masters (The Great Lost Stooge's Album?)
While on a break from touring this year, the members of the live touring version of The Stooges (James Williamson, Steve McKay, Mike Watt, and drummer Toby Dammit) got together and recorded songs that were originally penned by Iggy Pop and James Williamson in 1973/74 as the follow up to their quintessential album Raw Power. While a number of these tracks have found their way onto inferior sounding bootlegs and unofficial releases over the years, they are never properly recorded since the band didn't have a recording deal at the time. ~ James Williamson's .com

Iggy demurred, so James went ahead and did it - people have long clamored to hear what was left over from the demise of punk rock's original legends, so we are the joyful recipients of what may have been, and it's a great trip.

Then there is the matter of 'Open Up And Bleed' as sang by Texas legend Carolyn Wonderland - when I saw Carolyn's name associated with a product from The Stooges, I had a bit of a problem getting from A to B, but that's more my preconceived notion of Carolyn as a singer from the south than anything. In fact, she's the perfect voice for what is certainly one of Iggy and James' more accessible compositions, and it's a great example of what The Stooges may have grown into, given more time and resources, and less hedonistic pursuits. This is one of the songs of the year for me.

Ariel Pink shows up to help out with 'She Creatures Of Hollywood', and his allegiance to the past is perhaps more familiar to The Stooges' hardcore when combined with the track's high tech take on lo-tech noise, and you'd dig this even if you didn't know its heritage. That's one of the things that makes this record so successful, and that is the fact that you can hear more Iggy influence than Stooges aping. Williamson has taken the material to new places via increased technologies, and time. This would be a cool record no matter when it was released.

Alison Mosshart (The Kills, Jack White's The Dead Weather) does a brilliant job on 'Til The End Of The Night', which just seems to grow, grow, and grow from a soft take on the tale straight into an epic of sound and emotion, especially lifted by Williamson's soaring guitar solo, which starts with harsh shards of his signature chording then sidles into a Page approved bit of Les Paul/Marshall madness that stirs the soul sufficiently before easing into Mosshart's final and building end of five and a half minutes of beauty.

'Heavy Liquid' is given the treatment by The Bellrays' Lisa Kekaula, and she sounds more like David Johansen than Iggy on this slashing rocker, and again, it's the band that provides the perfect undercurrent for her to surf across. This will have you at last realizing what Zeppelin may have sounded like with some horns attached. Great straight up rock by any measure.

'Sick Of You' is well served by The Orwells' Mario Cuomo, who sounds right at home on this rippling punk rocker. It's funny how when most singers cover Iggy, they end up sounding more like Jim Morrison, but hat was always part of the trip, right?

Joe Cardamone of the Icarus Line sounds like he's waited his whole life to sing 'Pin Point Eyes', and again a singer takes the work of Iggy Pop and adds the London soul tones of one Michael Jagger to the proceedings. Every musician on this album brought his A game, and Re-Licked is a great listen.

I could go on with this for another fifteen hundred words, but I'm too far behind in my work, and you should know by now that my recommendation is that you buy this album right now, and listen repeatedly. James Williamson has hit a home run with this one, and it's maybe the best Stooges record yet recorded - I love my old boss, but he's not missed that badly on this new born classic.

4 of 5 Pints

http://www.nippertown.com/2014/12/16/best-of-2014-tim-livingstons-top-10-albums/
http://rockguitardaily.blogspot.com/2014/12/james-williamson-re-licked-blazing-some.html

NIPPERTOWN (online music blog) – TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2014
JAMES WILLIAMSON: Re-Licked Raw Power-era and since returning Stooges guitarist presents a bunch of songs written by Iggy and him originally intended to be a follow-up to that punk rock blueprint. But that never developed because the record label dropped the band, and the songs only later came out in varying degrees of demos, live recordings and semi-legit releases. So here Williamson re-records the songs using modern technology and sonics, and although Iggy opted to sit it out, the album yields surprising results. Using guest vocalists on each track (Jello Biafra, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Mark Lanegan, etc..), it’s great to hear these songs so well recorded. And taken for what it is, it’s actually is an enjoyable listen. Some of the best cuts feature female vocalists such as the BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula on “Got A Right” and blues artist Carolyn Wonderland on “Open Up and Bleed.” Sure, if Iggy had gone back and sung these songs, it could of possibly been album of the year, but listen with an open mind and enjoy.
http://www.nippertown.com/2014/12/16/best-of-2014-tim-livingstons-top-10-albums/

JOELGAUSTEN.COM (online music blog) – Feature interview (2nd one) with photos
Stooges Re-Vitalized: James Williamson on Iggy, Scotty and the Year's Best Album

What's it like to release the year's best album more than four decades after performing on one of the greatest records of all time? Ask Stooges guitarist James Williamson.

As discussed at length on this website several times throughout 2014 (see links at the bottom), Williamson spent the last 12 months creating and promoting Re-Licked, a collection of tunes he co-wrote with Iggy Pop in 1973/1974 as the follow-up to 1973's iconic Raw Power. With the band falling apart before this collection of songs could be immortalized in a proper recording studio, Stooges fans were left to spend the ensuing years experiencing these sounds on a slew of often-crummy bootlegs culled from live recordings and rehearsal tapes. With Re-Licked, these extraordinary compositions were finally given the justice they deserved.

James Williamson is one of the rarest of birds, one which can simply walk away. When Iggy and The Stooges dismantled in 1974, Williamson spent a few years bouncing around looking for musical projects, but he soon set his sights on a world that led him far away from rock for a great many years. He became an electrical engineer, and after a long stint with Advanced Micro Devices in San Jose, he accepted a position as Vice President of Technical Standards, a position he held until accepting san early retirement buyout in 2009. The tech world's loss is definitely rock 'n' roll's gain.

Re-Licked sees Williamson going over unreleased songs, rarities, and some lesser known Stooges songs with the help of some of a letter generation's voices - Jello Biafra is no spring chicken, but he's still post-Stooges, and his take on the set opening 'Head On The Curve' sets the bar pretty high for the album as he obviously pays homage to an institution dear to his heart. That's a theme that runs through this record from beginning to end, the amount of passion and energy to be found on the vocal tracks, which sit brilliantly atop some very spirited playing from Williamson and his cohorts.

One thing that makes me love this record is the fact that it sounds like what I had always hoped The Stooges would sound like in the studio. The guitars couldn't sound any better - Williamson sounds like Williamson - his rapid paced chord changes, and searing leads have never sounded quite this in your face, and up front. Let's face it, The Stooges, perhaps more than any other legendary seventies band, suffered from some of the worst productions, and mixes that ever marred the era. Bow may have been onboard for some great albums by others (Lou Reed's Transformer, Mott The Hoople's All The Young Dudes, The Stooges' Raw Power), but in retrospect the ideas were much better than the sounds to be found upon these classics. Williamson has confronted this old problem, and his skills as an engineer/producer combine with his well known guitar histrionics to make for a record that should end up on plenty of those cursed top ten lists we'll soon be enduring (yes, they are as big a pain in the ass for the writer as they are for the reader).her fifteen hundred words, but I'm too far behind in my work, and you should know by now that my recommendation is that you buy this album right now, and listen repeatedly. James Williamson has hit a home run with this one, and it's maybe the best Stooges record yet recorded - I love my old boss, but he's not missed that badly on this new born classic.

4 of 5 Pints

http://www.nippertown.com/2014/12/16/best-of-2014-tim-livingstons-top-10-albums/
http://rockguitardaily.blogspot.com/2014/12/james-williamson-re-licked-blazing-some.html

NIPPERTOWN (online music blog) – TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2014
JAMES WILLIAMSON: Re-Licked Raw Power-era and since returning Stooges guitarist presents a bunch of songs written by Iggy and him originally intended to be a follow-up to that punk rock blueprint. But that never developed because the record label dropped the band, and the songs only later came out in varying degrees of demos, live recordings and semi-legit releases. So here Williamson re-records the songs using modern technology and sonics, and although Iggy opted to sit it out, the album yields surprising results. Using guest vocalists on each track (Jello Biafra, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Mark Lanegan, etc..), it’s great to hear these songs so well recorded. And taken for what it is, it’s actually is an enjoyable listen. Some of the best cuts feature female vocalists such as the BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula on “Got A Right” and blues artist Carolyn Wonderland on “Open Up and Bleed.” Sure, if Iggy had gone back and sung these songs, it could of possibly been album of the year, but listen with an open mind and enjoy.
http://www.nippertown.com/2014/12/16/best-of-2014-tim-livingstons-top-10-albums/

JOELGAUSTEN.COM (online music blog) – Feature interview (2nd one) with photos
Stooges Re-Vitalized: James Williamson on Iggy, Scotty and the Year's Best Album

What's it like to release the year's best album more than four decades after performing on one of the greatest records of all time? Ask Stooges guitarist James Williamson.

As discussed at length on this website several times throughout 2014 (see links at the bottom), Williamson spent the last 12 months creating and promoting Re-Licked, a collection of tunes he co-wrote with Iggy Pop in 1973/1974 as the follow-up to 1973's iconic Raw Power. With the band falling apart before this collection of songs could be immortalized in a proper recording studio, Stooges fans were left to spend the ensuing years experiencing these sounds on a slew of often-crummy bootlegs culled from live recordings and rehearsal tapes. With Re-Licked, these extraordinary compositions were finally given the justice they deserved.

Of course, Williamson had plenty of help making Re-Licked a reality. If this feature is your first introduction to the album, brace yourself for this list of contributors: Lisa Kekaula (The BellRays), Carolyn Wonderland, Gary Floyd (The Dicks), JG Thirlwell (Foetus), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys/Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine), Bobby Gillespie and Simone Marie Butler (Primal Scream), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees/ Queens of the Stone Age), Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line), Petra Haden, Ariel Pink, Ron Young (Little Caesar), Mike Watt (Stooges/Minutemen), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Gregg Foreman (Cat Power), Steve Mackay (Stooges), Toby Dammit (Stooges/Iggy Pop/Swans), Mario Cuomo (The Orwells), Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters/Entombed), The Richmond Sluts, Michael Urbano (Smash Mouth) and on and on. Is it any surprise that Re-Licked will be named Album of the Year when I publish my Best of 2014 feature at the end of the month?

In addition to being a gift to my ears, Re-Licked was a tremendous boost to my site. My interview with James from March of this year was easily my most-read piece of the year - a feat surely helped along by a nod from The Guardian. With Re-Licked finally out and Williamson's intense 2014 coming to a close, I reached out to him to reflect on a musical journey that gave already-timeless tunes a new home in the present tense.

When we spoke back in March, you mentioned that this album was really a bucket list project for you. Now that it's a month or so since the release of Re-Licked, what would you say is the most satisfying aspect of finally reaching this point and getting this into listeners' hands?

It's satisfying on so many different levels. I think that the first thing that comes to mind is just the very, very strong acceptance, not only just with new people – which is wonderful, and I would expect some of that just because of who's on the album – but from the hardcore Stooges fans. I'll never be able to please everybody with [something] that doesn't have Iggy singing on it. Even with Iggy singing on it like I had on the last [Stooges] album, Ready To Die, if you don't have both the Ashetons, you can't please everybody. That's just the way it is, and I guess I don't feel concerned about that so much, but I'm quite happy to hear so many people who are pretty dyed-in-the-wool Stooges fans are thrilled about it. This album brought these songs back to life, if you will. Most people had kind of given up and just said, 'Well, okay. The bootlegs are what we get, and that's the end of it.' And you giving me the accolade of Album of the Year is very high praise!

It's an amazing record; I'm so happy to see it finally here. Our initial conversation about the project was even before the release of the first 45. I know you were working with Toby Dammit and Mike Watt at that time. As time went on, you brought in Michael and Simone. How did that change come to be, and what did Michael and Simone do to affect and re-shape the proceedings along the way?

This record really had a life of its own. What really got the thing off dead center was 'Open Up And Bleed' with Carolyn Wonderland. But once I kind of had established that, then I felt like, 'Okay, this is doable.' I had Mike Watt and Toby Dammit, and I knew those guys had played some of these songs live with me. They either already knew them or they knew me well enough that it would be easy [for me] to work with them. We did eight of the songs with that lineup. After that, Watt [went] off to Europe to do a tour, and then Toby got engaged to a girl to Norway and moved off. Peoples' schedules started to interfere with me finishing up the rest of the project. I had a guy up in Berkeley, which is where I record a lot, who had been dying to play drums with me, Michael Urbano. I just said, 'Okay, I'm going to try this guy out because I need to get the record finished.' It turned out that his schedule was free, so he was on board. I asked the guy who was playing keys for me, Gregg Foreman, about a bass player. He recommended Simone, who happened to be in LA at the time. It kind of just came ttogether. But what was cool about it was that not only were both of these guys really good players, but they also brought this whole new energy and enthusiasm to the whole project.

You know, you get a little jaded...I've been out on the road for four or five years with Watt and a couple of years with Toby. We know each other well, and it's business as usual for us. But these new people don't know me, but they know the songs. They just brought this energy with them. If you watch the DVD [included in the Deluxe Edition of Re-Licked], you kind of see some of that. I think it kind of took it to the end zone.

You also ended up with more tracks on the album than you originally thought you would.

That's right. Part of that was just that I had these various different people doing alternative versions of the songs. I didn't want to throw anybody off the record; it was too hard to figure that out. What I decided to do was, 'Hey, there's only 10 songs that will fit on vinyl, but I can put a lot of songs on CD.' I just decided to keep everybody who wanted to be on the album on it and just put them on as alternative tracks and b-sides and stuff. I think that worked out really well because I found that there's always a whole segment of the listening population out there who are going to like a certain style better than another. There are guys who like Nicke Andersson's version of 'Cock In My Pocket,' and there are a lot of guys who like Gary Floyd's version a lot. It's the same thing with JG Thirlwell; he's got a huge following, so it's impossible to pick these things. I'm just glad I was just able to give people what they wanted.

I know it's probably very difficult for you to choose favorites for singers on the album, so I'll phrase the question this way: Which singers do you feel really elevated or maybe brought the song to an entirely different place you hadn't thought of, and which singers really maintained and celebrated the original spirit of how Iggy would approached that material?

Oh wow! (laughs) I really can't answer that in any honest fashion because I'm thrilled about everybody. I wouldn't have put them on the album if I didn't like what they were doing. Why the record sounds so good is because everybody just brought their A-game when they came to sing on it. I didn't have to coach them or prod them to get a good performance; they're just good. Some of them were good performances in only a couple of takes, just really strong. They came prepared.

Along the lines of your question, there were guys like Bobby Gillespie, who's a dyed-in-the-wool Stooges guy. He knew all the lyrics to that song ['Scene Of The Crime'] before he even set eyes on it. He just did his version of what he felt like Iggy would have done, and it's definitely very reminiscent of what Iggy would have sung on that. Similarly, [that happened] with Joe Cardamone. These guys aren't parodying Iggy per se, and they're obviously not going to have that baritone almost that Iggy has, but I think they know the attitude. I think they brought their version of that to the songs and did a great job, whereas the girls wouldn't even try to sing like Iggy. First of all, I told them not to anyway. Every one of them was exceptional in their own way. Carolyn floors me every time I listen to her; I think that's kind of universal from what I've heard from writers and so on. The same holds for Alison Mosshart; she was just chilling the way she sang 'Til The End Of The Night.' That was a song we tried back in the day that we wrote. I always liked it, but we tried it and it just didn't work for us. I was so happy that she made it her own and really brought it home. It was the same with 'Wild Love.' That was absolutely killer with her and Mark Lanegan. Finally, Lisa Kekaula is...you know...how many times can I say it?...She's a force of nature! (laughs) It's ridiculous. I think all of those people were inspiring, not the least of which was Ron Young of Little Caesar. Both JG Thirlwell and Ron took a crack at 'Rubber Leg,' and I was astonished by what those guys were able to do with it. They were all good.

A couple of days after I posted our previous interview, there was some back and forth in the media about statements that Iggy had made about the project at that phase, and what his thoughts might have been on that. Now that the album is out, have you heard any feedback from him? Where does he stand on things at this point?

I haven't. As a matter of fact, I just sent him a copy not all that long ago. I didn't get any feedback from him, but I would expect him to listen to it – which I'm sure he has or he will. But by the same token, it's not him on it. It's gotta be a little odd for him, but it's not meant to be anything other than a tribute to our songwriting. I think that's exactly what that album is. It represents that in a very positive way.

Yeah, there was that odd thing...It surprised me as much as it surprised anybody. I've worked with Iggy now probably 10 years at least in music, if you count the five in the beginning and the last five. I know him quite well, and I certainly would not have launched something like this without having let him know that I was doing it – which I did. That's why it was so surprising. But I have a feeling that, frankly, he forgot about it...Then he had a kind of knee-jerk reaction initially. Once we went through it again, I think he sort of started backpedaling. If you see subsequent press, you notice that he's sort of giving everybody his best wishes and all that sort of thing.

The Stooges, 1973. Photo by Heather Harris/Courtesy of Pavement PR

Unfortunately, something else happened just a couple of days after our first talk...

Yeah. Scotty. Of course, that's unrelated, but very sad.

When you look back at your work together, what do you feel was perhaps Scott's greatest contribution to The Stooges? What did he add to the mix that made The Stooges the band that we all love?

It was so many different things. That's like asking what Charlie Watts brought to The Rolling Stones. It's a feel, it's an attitude and it's a sound that is kind of the backbone of that particular band. I don't think you can separate The Stooges from Scott Asheton per se – especially the early Stooges, with things like 'Dirt' and so forth. That's all him. That band was very simple and played simple tunes. It was really the drums that were really pulling the weight on the songs most of the time. I think later, things got more complicated and he still was able to sort of bring forward that Stooge sound. Maybe my songs from Raw Power and onward...even this stuff, had we recorded it as an album...really wouldn't have been as Stoogey sounding without him there. Of course, I just finished this album without him there, and it sounds like me and I was part of the Stooges. But on the other hand, I think the drummers who played on it also used a lot of his original style from the bootlegs that we had to work off of.

James Williamson & Petra Haden. Photo by Heather Harris/Courtesy of Pavement PR

This past year was all about the Re-Licked album. What are your plans moving forward into 2015?

I'm still right in the thick of the promotion of this album. Really, it's only been out now for about a month. I know everybody is instantaneous these days (laughs), but I'm like the record company and everything on his record. I have to stick with it a little bit. We're going to do a live show coming up in January. I've got most of the singers; we're going to be doing a TV thing. Once I had almost all of them together, we decided, 'Hell, let's just play a live show,' so we're gonna do that. Beyond that, I'm going to see what I can do to relax for a little while. It’s been a very, very hard year on me because of having to not only play on this, but to produce it, be the record company and basically the one-man show on this. It's been a lot of work. I was happy to do it and I'm quite proud of it, but by the same token, I'd like to hang loose for a little while and then see what happens.

I've got a couple of little projects I've put on the back burner that I think I'll start on. I've always wanted to record Petra Haden on lead vocals instead of backing vocals, so I may do some of that. I don't know what I'll do with that kind of stuff; maybe I'll just give it to people just because she's such a great singer and I'd like to have people hear her. She's amazing; she is incredible. The way her vocals are, you have to get just the right material for her. I think I have at least one or two songs I can do with her, and really would like to, so that's one of the things I'd like to do moving forward.

More on James Williamson:

Still Bleeding: James Williamson Adds Raw Power to Long-Lost Stooges Tunes
More Power: James Williamson on Scott Asheton, Unheard Stooges & Beating the Bootlegs
James Williamson Streams New Song, Comments on Scott Asheton's Passing
ALBUM REVIEW - James Williamson: Re-Licked

http://www.joelgausten.com/2014/12/stooges-re-vitalized-james-williamson.html

100 % ROCK MAGAZINE (online music magazine) – Positive 9.5/10 album review.
CD Review: James Williamson – Re-Licked
Leopard Lady Records
October 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9.5/10

James Williamson - Re-Licked cover

James Williamson and lggy Pop wrote the follow-up to The Stooges’ seminal Raw Power in ’73 and ‘74, honing many of the tracks in their drug-chaos-fuelled live
Shows, but they never got the chance to record them, with the band unable to find a record deal and imploding in February of ‘74.

You should know all this, already – including the fact that Williamson had always harboured a desire to do the songs justice in a recording studio, rather than leave them existing solely on bootlegs of varying quality from Stooges shows of the era.

He’s finally manage to fulfil that dream with Re-Licked – and it is a behemoth of a record.

We know some will take to the higher ground and dispute the relevance of Stooges songs played with most of The Stooges now passed, and Iggy nowhere to be seen, but Williamson suggested this project when The Stooges went in to record Ready To Die a couple of years ago, and Pop nixed the idea. Re-Licked is a James Williamson album, and a great one at that.

With Iggy unwilling to relive the past (and invite the inevitable comparisons with their former work) Williamson re-worked the songs with some of the modern-day Stooges and a few other friends, then inviting an array of singers to lay their vocals onto the tracks.

Williamson’s fiery guitars are always at the fore, underpinning everything, and despite having fourteen singers across the albums ten tracks and six ‘b-sides and bonus alternate tracks’, Re-Licked manages to avoid sounding like a collection of disparate contributions (like some tribute albums) and instead delivers a riotous record that’s an essential purchase for any serious rock fan.

Jello Biafra opens the show on Head On The Curve, his unique vocals making the song sound like a head on collision of the Dead Kennedys & The Stooges. Carolyn Wonderland’s gorgeously honeyed blues vocals transform Open Up And Bleed into a chills-up-the-spine masterpiece. Bobby Gillespie is probably the closest to lggy on Scene Of The Crime while Williamson oozes feral jungle vibes throughout She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills, Ariel Pink channelling The Stooges inimitable style

Alison Mossheart flew from London to The States specially to record her songs, and makes ‘Til The End Of The Night her own with a broody, moody performance. Lisa Kekaula she-cat-growls through I Got A Right – perhaps the most garagey tirade present, and it’s a two-and-a-third-minute shot of adrenalin direct to the heart.

Mossheart duets with Mark Lanagan on the smouldering Wild Love, while cult soul rocker Ron Young shakes his Rubber Leg to great effect. As if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the bonus tracks – Wonderland nails Gimme Some Skin, Nicke Andersson and Gary Floyd both tackle Cock in Pocket with very different gusto, and Kekaula does
a similarly wild take on Heavy Liquid, amongst others.

Re-Licked feels like a Rosetta Stone of rock n’ roll – a historical document of sorts that combines the very foundations of modern rock with some of the most relevant of it’s more recent progenators, and Williamson has well & truly delivered the goods.
http://magazine.100percentrock.com/cd-reviews/201412/89836

GOLDMINE MAGAZINE (national monthly music magazine) – Positive album review.
Spin Cycle’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide
IT’S SORT OF OLD, SORT OF NEW…

Re-LickedCoverJames Williamson – Re-Licked (Leopard Lady Records) — reviewed here, but just so you know, “Lisa Kekaula’s “I Gotta Right” actually makes the Stooges’ original sound like a pantywaist, so coiled and tense is its every moment; while Carolyn Wonderland first mines every last drop of the primal blues menace that “Open Up and Bleed” ever packed, and then blurs “Gimme Some Skin” beneath an even more sinister sheen.”

- See more at: http://www.goldminemag.com/features/spin-cycles-2014-holiday-gift-guide#sthash.UFGKMh5a.dpuf
http://www.goldminemag.com/features/spin-cycles-2014-holiday-gift-guide

ELMORE MAGAZINE (national monthly music magazine) – Positive album review.
ALBUM REVIEWS
James Williamson – Re-Licked
(Leopard Lady Records)
Album Reviews | December 1st, 2014
Guitarist/songwriter James Williamson is not an original member of The Stooges, but he will forever be appreciated in the annals of rock history for providing guitar thunder and a songwriting foil to Iggy Pop on the proto-punk masterpiece, Raw Power. With all three of Iggy’s original bandmates now deceased, Williamson has reclaimed his place in what could be America’s greatest cult band. With Pop taking a year off, Williamson, along with the current touring Stooges (including legendary Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt) decided to re-record some of his and Pop’s unreleased and obscure collaborations with a motley crew of guest vocalists including Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) and psych-punk Ariel Pink.

Williamson’s influential style is ever present, as he leads the second wave Stooges through these riff heavy rockers. This eclectic rolodex of singers includes Mario Cuomo from young garage rockers The Orwells–who takes on the creepy dirge “I’m Sick Of You” convincingly– and Mark Lanegan, who duets with Alison Mosshart (The Kills/The Dead Weather) on the excellent “Wild Love.” In fact, the female vocalists, all less inclined to do an Iggy impression, stand out the most here. Texas blues singer Carolyn Wonderland tears up “Open Up And Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin” with great fervor, and BellRays singer Lisa Kekula tearing up “I Gotta Right” with a soulful snarl. This material is great rock n’ roll that deserves a second act, and each singer sounds positively joyful as a stand-in for the world’s forgotten boy.– Jamie Frey
http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2014/12/reviews/albums/james-williamson-re-licked

BROOKLYN VEGAN (NYC music blog) – Brief mention of new album as part of Mark Lanegan news story.
Alt rock vet Mark Lanegan news story.
Alt rock vet Mark Lanegan will release his new album, Phantom Radio, on October 21 via Flooded Soil/Vagrant. The first single from the record is "Floor Of The Ocean" which might supprise Screaming Trees fans who haven't checked with Mark in a while. It's heavy on synths and drum machines, with a little Peter Hook style bass in there as well. You can stream that below.
Mark will be touring this fall, and he'll play NYC at The Marlin Room at Webster Hall on November 8. Tickets go on sale Friday (9/19) at 10 AM.
You can also hear Mark on the new Stooges rerecordings that guitarist James Williamson is putting together. All tour dates are listed, along with the new song stream, below...
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/tag/Mark+Lanegan

GOLDMINE MAGAZINE (national monthly music magazine) – Positive album review.
James Williamson – the Stooges Relicked
By Dave Thompson
Like the album that the Velvets almost made before Loaded, or the set that Hendrix was working on at the time of his death, the fourth Stooges album is one of those legends that we never hear the end of. And neither should we. Hanging in rock mythology like a magnificent predatory bat, its contents as debatable as they would undoubtedly have been delirious, we are talking about an album whose contents weren’t simply derailed by timing or tragedy; or even eschewed by the record label. We are talking songs that were effectively blackballed by everybody who came into contact with them.

Poised, historically, between Raw Power and what became Kill City, a wealth of material has surfaced over the years that might have made it onto the album – rehearsal and demo takes, live cuts from the band’s 1973-74 touring. Fragments and fractions, for the most part, sub sonic rumblings from whichever trough of despair we like to think the Stooges had blundered into most recently. Image is a powerful deceiver, after all.

But never have we heard it like this – properly recorded, genuinely arranged, and performed not by the Stooges, or even Iggy Pop, but by guitarist and co-writer James Williamson… plus present-day Stooges band members Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and drummer Toby Dammit… plus a positive bucketfulRe-LickedCover of guests.

In strict chronological terms, there is some overlap. Songs recorded early in the band’s 1972 reformation, “I Got A Right,” “Gimme Some Skin” and “Sick of You,” reappear despite the Stooges’ own pre-Raw Power takes having circulated since 1977. “Scene of the Crime,” meanwhile, slips back from the themselves-disordered, but ultimately salvaged Kill City sessions. Whose own contents snatched away a few more of the songs that might have made it onto that album – the yearning “Johanna” most of all.

The lion’s share of Re-Licked, however… ten of its sixteen tracks total… effectively recreates what could and should have been the Stooges’ second Columbia album, at the same time – and this is the important part – as liberating the songs’ reputation from the concert environment.

From Metallic KO through Bomp’s entire Iguana Chronicles series, and onto Easy Action’s own action-packed exhumation of this era, we have created a vision of these songs.. “Cock In My Pocket,” “”Pinpoint Eyes,” “Wild Love,” “Rubber Leg,” “Heavy Liquid,” “Wet My Bed”… that paints them as the very last stop on the dissolution railroad; teetering gutter-rock poised to swan dive into its own sonic excrement. Play side two of Metallic KO for further details (and mourn, while you do so, Williamson’s decision not to tackle “Rich Bitch,” the true lost love song of the glam degeneration, on Re-Licked).

Re-Licked disvows all of that.

Some of the reworkings serve up what you’d expect, and are as great as they ought to be, too. Jello Biafra makes a yelping fist of “Head On The Curve”; Bobby Gillespie takes on “Scene of the Crime” and you see where a lot of Primal Scream came from. (The bits that don’t sound like Exile on Main Street, that is.) Mark Lanegan and Alison Mosshart wrap up “Wild Love” with riotously propulsive aplomb; JG Thirlwell gives “Rubber Leg” a suitable pounding. Nicke Andersson’s “Cock In My Pocket” (one of two versions included) is so deliciously enunciated that you will not want to play it at work. Probably. And the Richmond Sluts make “Wet My Bed” sound like classic Wayne County, and that is always a good thing.

But the real winners are the left field choices. Ariel Pink transforms the always-under-rated “She Creature of the Hollywood Hills” into a breathless slice of garage jazz fusion; Alison Mosshart’s “‘Til The End of the Night” is vividly chilled torch – not the band’s first bona fide ballad (that was probably “Gimme Danger”), but their first to sound like one.

Mario Cuomo’s “I’m Sick Of You” ain’t no patch on the Stooges’ prototype, but Williamson’s revision adds Question Mark keyboards to the old Yardbirds riff, and rebuilds the Doors in Iggy’s own image; and Joe Cardamone concocts such a beautifully swaggering “Pinpoint Eyes” that you can almost hear the original Stooges cheering him on from their bar stools.

Best of all, though… Lisa Kekaula’s “I Gotta Right” actually makes the Stooges’ original sound like a pantywaist, so coiled and tense is its every moment; while Carolyn Wonderland first mines every last drop of the primal blues menace that “Open Up and Bleed” ever packed, and then blurs “Gimme Some Skin” beneath an even more sinister sheen. Is it churlish to wish that Williamson had recorded the entire album with the pair of them? Probably, cos we’d miss a lot of other great stuff. But if there’s any extra out-takes, Kekaula and Wonderland giving other cuts the runaround…. gimme!

We will never lose our fascination with this era of the Stooges, just like we never lost it for the lost Velvets album, or the last Jimi disc. Indeed, the former has just been recreated once again as part of the latest Velvets box set, and the latter has been engaging great minds almost since Hendrix’s death. You could probably throw the Beach Boys’ Smile into the same sack. (Although I’d rather you didn’t. Yawn.)

The difference is, those albums can be recast, because their component parts at least exist in a form not far from genuinely releasable. It’s only the ultimate track election that eludes the conscientious archivist.

The Stooges, on the other hand… we can toy with the live tapes as much as we like, and debate too whether they’d have ever taken their so-personalized version of “Louie Louie” into the studio. But this is as close as we might ever get to knowing really what they’d do, and how it might have sounded. And the fact we had to wait FORTY F%$&ING YEARS to find out just goes to show one thing.

Contrary to the song, Jesus probably didn’t love the Stooges.
http://www.goldminemag.com/reviews/album-reviews/james-williamson-stooges-relicked

UNCUT (national UK music magazine) – Album review and “Revelations" mini-sidebar interview
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SHINDIG! (UK MUSIC MONTHLY MAGAZINE) – Album review

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VH1.COM (music video cable channel’s website) – Feature interview with photos and Re-Licked Teaser.
Punk Rock Guitar Hero James Williamson Of The Stooges Revisits Lost Classics On New Album
By Ben Smith

Though he’s hardly a household name, to fans and followers, Iggy & The Stooges guitarist James Williamson’s contribution to music is equal to any of his more famous contemporaries. His guitar playing on the band’s cataclysmic third album, Raw Power, a combination of furiously down-stroked power chords and sputtering, vicious leads, created the punk rock guitar style which has echoed down through the ages in the music of the Ramones, Black Flag, and all their cantankerous progeny. Like Tony Iommi in heavy metal, his actual sound is as important as what he played, an aggressive, high-end, overdriven roar, with little recorded precedent. When you think of the sound of punk rock, real punk rock, what you hear is the sound he created in 1973 by plugging his Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar into a Vox AC30 amplifier and cranking it up until your ears bleed.

Joining The Stooges in 1970 after the release of Fun House, Williamson took over songwriting guitar duties on its malevolent follow up. The band would implode soon after its release, leaving behind a slew of material that became fan favorites via bootlegs and semi-official releases. Though Williamson had been M.I.A. for over 30 years, and amazingly had spent that time as a highly successful computer engineer, he rejoined the reunited Stooges following founding guitarist Ron Asheton’s death in 2009. After the band went on hiatus last year, Williamson entered the studio with an all-star cast of guest musicians and has just released the new album Re-Licked, which features new recordings of the aforementioned lost Stooges classics. We caught up with him and talked about his musical history and how the new record came together.

VH1: How old were you when you moved to Detroit?

James Williamson: I was born in Texas. My father died and my mom moved to San Antonio when I was five or something like that. And she remarried an army guy so then we started moving around. I was in San Antonio until first grade then moved to Lawton, Oklahoma from second grade to through seventh grade. So it would have been the summer before eighth grade when I moved to Detroit.

How soon was it before you were checking out the local music scene and playing in bands?

It wasn’t that long. I already had a guitar. In Lawton, Oklahoma I took a couple lessons. It turns out the guy I took lessons from, Rusty McDonald, had played with (Texas swing pioneer) Bob Wills. He was pretty accomplished in his own right, had his own TV show there in Lawton. He taught me three or four chords so I could play “Good Old Mountain Dew” and put me on the TV show and I started getting a bunch of calls from local girls and I thought “OK, I’m going to stick with this.” So I was already playing a little bit then I moved to Detroit and I moved right next door to a family where all the kids played folk music and stuff like that. The kid closest to my age was a pretty good electric guitar player and he taught me barre chords and all the basic things you need to know. I spent that summer doing that and the next thing I’m trying to get in a band. It took about a year before I met (Detroit musician and future SRC member) Scott Richardson and we formed the a little cover band called The Chosen Few where we did The Beatles and Rolling Stones and Them and so forth.

It was with The Chosen Few that you first met Ron Asheton, right?

Exactly. I was out of The Chosen Few at that point because I had some problems with the law, you know? (Laughs) I had problems with the culture. I wanted to grow my hair long and they didn’t want me to. So I got kicked out of school and then I became truant. I had to go see the judge and got put in juvie so I ended up not being in the band anymore. After juvie, they moved me to New York because there was a boarding school that would maybe straighten me out. Anyway, one time on vacation I came back and went up to Ann Arbor with the other band members to see this new bass player they had added, Ron (Asheton). And that’s when I met him. I met Iggy (Pop, Stooges lead singer) at the same time. He was hanging out at the same frat party and they were buddies. Ron had played in The Prime Movers and Iggy was a drummer for The Prime Movers so they knew each other from high school.

What do you think set the Detroit bands apart from those in other parts of America? There’s a really authentic soul and R&B influence that comes out in you and the MC5 and that ilk.

I think you pointed out the obvious thing, and it’s true. The first thing I heard when I moved to Detroit was Martha & the Vandellas’ “Heatwave” and there was a heatwave in Detroit. It was just like wow, you know, this is not Lawton, Oklahoma anymore. When you’re learning an instrument you’re always trying to figure out what all the gear is and what you need to get a sound and everything. I used to hang out at a music store on Woodward Blvd. and there were a lot of really badass soul guys that would go in and try out an organ or whatever and I’d listen to those guys and just go, wow. So the environment was very musical in Detroit. And there were lots of other bands. I was a little bit of an oddball in that regard. I didn’t even know the MC5. I met Fred (“Sonic Smith,” MC5 guitarist) later on and Wayne (Kramer, also of the MC5) I met only recently when we were touring. So I just wasn’t part of that like the other Stooges were, but I did go to (famed Detroit music venue) The Grande Ballroom a lot, so I heard everybody who came through town and all the local bands who would play there. And the competition was rough. I mean, you got local guys like Bob Seger and Mitch Ryder, who were great, so it just was like, you better be good or don’t bother to go on stage.

Raw Power is so much more aggressive musically than anything else that had come out before it. Were you consciously trying to make such extreme music or was it just what naturally came out?

I can’t speak to the earlier albums because they were actually quite a bit more primitive. Part of that was because the band couldn’t really play their instruments at first. They were simple tunes, and there’s a beauty in that. But I know for me, I just always had my own style, and I always wrote original songs, so from the very beginning I developed that style. It was a way for me to entertain myself. Reflecting on it years later, all my stuff is pretty frenetic and at first, when I didn’t have the songwriting craft perfected, Iggy was the only guy who could make any sense out of all that crazy s**t. Iggy saw the beauty in it. He could write lyrics to it, and help me mold it into a song and that helped a lot. I think that was the secret to Raw Power because otherwise, I’m not sure who else I would have partnered with. Then of course I became proficient myself and could write songs. Some of the songs are totally written by me. But that’s the key, it was the combination of the two of us.

The first two Stooges are great, but to me, Raw Power is the one that if you played it for a Martian, they would say, “Oh, this is punk rock.”

But you know, that was the beauty of it but it was also its weakness. Because it was so different from anything else that anybody had ever heard before, it took all of these years for other people to start imitating it enough that it became a recognizable or acceptable sound to the record buying public.

You eventually got out of music and worked in the computer industry for almost 30 years. Was there anything you learned in The Stooges that was useful in your straight life?

Of course. I grew up a lot when I was in the Stooges. I moved up to Ann Arbor right after I graduated from high school, so I was just barely 20 I guess or maybe even a little younger. We started touring out of state when I was in the two-guitar lineup briefly in 1970 and that was big for me. I was going out of town and making money with the band and then all of a sudden we get this deal with CBS and we’re going over to London. Neither Iggy nor I had any clue about anything outside of the country. So we did a lot of growing up, both of us did. By the time I decided to become a computer engineer, I was older than most other people in that field. A lot of those people go to college right out of high school. So I was quite a bit more mature I think at that point. I appreciated it more and I can’t say that I regret any of it, The Stooges or the tech thing. It was just all good stuff for my life.

When you were working as a computer engineer, did you ever think that this other chapter of your life would happen?

Oh no way. No inkling of that. And really, I didn’t even have any interest in it. I had laid my guitar down years ago and pursued other interests that I really enjoyed. But when this came along the timing was good and you know, The Stooges were kind of a family. We went back a long way and I felt like I kind of needed to do it for them. But I wasn’t sure I could do it. Luckily I had six months or so to woodshed and everything and got it together so that I could do it. It was a little bit of a struggle to begin with but everybody pulled together and made it happen.

Moving into the present, what was the genesis of Re-Licked? You’re re-recording old Stooges songs that have only been heard in live versions and on various bootlegs.

It started out a couple of years ago when we were getting ready to make another record and Iggy and I discussed the possibility of doing that kind of an album because the fans had been begging for it for years. We discussed doing it as The Stooges but when you’re in the Stooges and you made Raw Power and it’s the same lineup, immediately people compare whatever you’re doing to Raw Power. Ready To Die (Iggy & The Stooges 2013 album of originals) was compared to it. Basically it would really beg the direct comparison of the old Stooges and young Stooges and so we didn’t want to do that. But I still wanted to do it because it just needed to be done. When we stopped touring and went on hiatus in September of last year I had free time. It actually started out with one song. I rearranged “Open Up and Bleed.” My wife and I love that song and decided we should have a Janis Joplin type singing it. I looked around and had a hard time finding somebody like that but a friend forwarded me a Youtube video of Carolyn Wonderland and I heard her and I thought she was perfect. So I got ahold of her and she was totally cool about it. She didn’t know me from anybody but she had a lot of people going “Hey, answer this guy’s email.” (Laugh) So I started doing it one by one and every story was a little bit different in terms of how to approach the singer or how they came to me. Jello Biafra demanded to do “Head On The Curve.” Then I lucked out to get Lisa Kekaula (of The Bellrays). She came over and we put her on “I Got A Right” and she just floored me. It was all people who were really well steeped in the Stooges and were big fans to begin with. Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) did one or two takes. He knew that song, “Scene Of The Crime,” like it was ingrained in his DNA. That’s the way it was.

Some of the material is even more extreme than Raw Power, either lyrically, like “Cock In My Pocket,” or musically, like “I Got A Right.” Do you think if The Stooges had recorded them for your planned fourth album they would have been cleaned up more or were you just ready to play with fire?
At that point in time all we would have had was the record company. We had managers but they were just out there working on live shows and stuff. We had nothing to lose. If we could’ve got the record company to let us make a record like that, we would have, but the thing is record companies don’t want to make records like that. That’s an interesting point. I hadn’t really considered that. But yeah, had we made another record for CBS, there’s no doubt they would have wanted it a little more commercial than the one that I just made.

Are there any plans to put a band together and tour behind the album?

We’ve got a TV thing lined up for the first of the year for a few of the songs which is good. The fact of the matter is it’s very challenging to put 14 singers on the road, almost all of which are already working people. You’d need a lot of lead time and a promoter who would have to come in and really step up to the proposition because it’s expensive too to get that many people in one place. But you can certainly imagine a showcase in major markets or whatever so I’m hopeful that people like you will get that message out and if the album does well, that promoters will want to do that. I would love to play it live and I know the singers would too. It’s just the logistics of it.

And I know Iggy has said he’s taking the year off, but are there any future plans for The Stooges at this point?

Yeah, who are we talking about here? What plan are you talking about? (laughter) No, you know, he’s not indicated whether he’s ready to go back out on the road or not and the honest to God truth is none of us are getting any younger. Every year that goes by, I wonder how much stage diving he’s got left in him. You know what I mean? It’s not like we’re just out there standing at the mic and singing. It’s a serious physical show for him. I hope he will for his own sake, if he’s up for it, do one or two things or maybe half a dozen things, but who knows. For me it’s not as big a deal because I do just stand there and play the guitar and but I also don’t want to become like The Rolling Stones. I don’t want to be too old to be playing.
http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2014-11-19/interview-the-stooges-james-williamson/

UBER ROCK: UK (UK metal/hard rock music site) – Album review
James Williamson - 'Re-Licked' (Leopard Lady Records) Print E-mail
CD Reviews
Written by Dom Daley
A record like this could go one of two ways - awesome and inspired due to the content or hide-behind-your-hands embarrassed due to the delivery. I decided that I'd watch the documentary first, that would at least give me a peak into what was going on here and would give me a heads up as to what to expect (although I already had the singles which is kinda cheating because let's not pretend this was a sure fire winner).

The Stooges were and are one of the most influential bands in the history of rock and roll. Let's not underplay this here 'I got them' and even though a lot of the music was only available on dodgy bootlegs it was a sound I wanted to totally immerse myself in and still to this day I listen to their album regularly - hell, I even had some lyrics gouged into my skin forever.

If you're not familiar with some of these singers that James Williamson has assembled then that's fine, this a great way to introduce yourself for later investigation. Let's cut to the chase, then.

Jello Biafra is up first with a blistering cut of 'Head On The Curve', a song I must have a hundred different takes of but none were ever finished - at last this beast has a heart and soul and is breathing with Williamson's guitar at the forefront but it's the chaotic hypnotic rhythm of the drums and piano as well as the meandering repetitive bass that makes this a breathtaking introduction. Wow! Simone Marie Butler take a bow, lady - that is some performance right there. It's a no holds barred hedonistic rock out.

'Open Up And Bleed' featuring Carolyn Wonderland is up next. Swirling keyboard brooding organ and picked acoustic guitars make this an absolute juggernaut of a song championed by the searing vocals of Wonderland, an embarrassment of riches. This is soul music and if this doesn't cleanse your soul of all the clutter and musical junk then you truly are a lost soul.

If there was a song eveer written for Bobby Gillespie to sing then 'Scene Of The Crime' is it. It's loud, sloppy and chaotic but you know it's cool as fuck and just about the epitome of rock and roll.

'She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills' is up next and it features Ariel Pink and is built around a groove that just grinds and keeps moving and is well placed in the running order as its chaos makes way for the acoustic driven 'Til The End Of The Night' and Alison Mosshart's lead vocals. One thing that raised an eyebrow when I saw who was guesting on these Stooges songs was how many female vocalists were on it. Being used to Iggy singing on bootleg versions, some, on first listen, made obvious sense and others who I was less familiar with became obvious choices upon hearing them interpret the music and this was one. As I listen and it gets to the guitar solo I'm listening in awe and the affirmation of why I love this music. Inspired from the mellow acoustic and timpani drums to the blistering ear bleeding electric guitar.

Possibly the finest vocal performance on the record, and any that are familiar with her band would expect nothing less, comes from Lisa Kekaula as 'I Gotta Rite' kicks two shades out of my monitors and my heart is jumping for joy. Rock and roll is dead my arse. These tunes might be old but bringing them to life in 2014 is awesome.

You have the likes of Primal Scream lending a hand and you also have the likes of Ron Young with his rasping rock vocals jumping in and you have some of the finest female vocal talents adding their twist on a familiar theme which is great. Possibly the best thing is none of the performers try to ape what Iggy might have done and have done the right thing by owning these tunes for themselves.

'Pinpoint Eyes' is sleazy as fuck and it's followed by the duet of Mark Lanegan and Alison Mossheart on 'Wild Love' - it's epic and throbbing with passion; whoever selected these singers needs to take some credit for getting it right every single time.

There's something for everyone here and there are some bonus tracks as well that feature the likes of Nicke Andersson cutting loose on 'Cock In My Pocket' and, of course, Lisa Kekaula is back for an encore on the horntastic 'Heavy Liquid'. We've even got time for those rock and rollers The Richmond Sluts to shake rock and roll on 'Wet My Bed' as well as some other blinders but I have to keep something back for you peeps.

It's easy to dismiss this as a vanity project for Williamson but trust me when I say it's a head and shoulders better than any other compilation album featuring guest vocalists and will strut like a peacock into anyone who hears its top ten no doubt about that. With the added bonus of the DVD of the making this pretty much covers everything. A superb release and a must for any anyone who likes to rock and roll - as for Stooges fans it's a no brainer. Simply stunning!
http://straightjameswilliamson.com/
http://www.uberrock.co.uk/cd-reviews/31-november-cd/13010-james-williamson-re-licked-leopard-lady-records.html

BLURT MAGAZINE (national music magazine) – Positive album reviw with photos with interview
GETTIN’ HIS LICKS IN: James Williamson of the Stooges

Ed. note: With Raw Power- and Ready To Die-era Stooges guitarist James Williamson currently unleashing his Re-Licked revisitation of early ‘70s Iggy/Williamson material, the BLURT crüe pays tribute to Mr. W. First up is Dr. Toland’s appreciation of the new album, then Moore and Stegall play tag-team with quotes from interviews they conducted in 2010 and 2013.

BY MICHAEL TOLAND, W/JOHN B. MOORE & TIM STEGALL

The story goes like this: once Rock Action died, Iggy Pop was allegedly no longer interested in making Stooges music. This left a bucketful of Iggy & the Stooges songs that, while heavily bootlegged since their demo and live debuts in the 70s, had never been properly recorded and released. Guitarist and co-composer James Williamson decided to take the tunes into the studio with a gang of guest singers and get the songs down before they were lost to the ether. Thus Re-Licked (recently released by Leopard Lady/Cobraside).

These “and friends” records tend to fall flat, if not completely on their faces – the importance of having a “name” artist often supersedes any musical merit. Not so here, fortunately. Williamson doesn’t mess with arrangements much – while not everything is heart-full-of-napalm Stoogerawk, there’s nothing here that would sound out of place in the mothership’s catalog. Plus Williamson chose his collaborators wisely.

Unsurprisingly, the BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula rocks “I Got a Right” and “Heavy Liquid” into the ground. Little Caesar singer Ron Young does the same for “Rubber Leg,” his soulful growl making this track sound like a fantasy team-up of Williamson and Scott Morgan. Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie raves through “Scene of the Crime,” the Kills’ Alison Mosshart croons through “‘Til the End of the Night” and Texas blues picker Carolyn Wonderland roars “Open Up and Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin.” The blunt “Cock in my Pocket” gets a pair of recordings, one featuring Nicke Anderson of the Hellacopters/Imperial State Electric and the other starring Gary Floyd of the Dicks/Sister Double Happiness. Young guns represent as well, with the Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone singing “Pin Point Eyes” and the Orwells’ Mario Cuomo doing the anthemic “I’m Sick of You.”

It goes without saying that the songs boast plenty of Williamson’s firebreathing guitar. Though his playing offers no real surprises, unless you count his delicate acoustic work on “‘Til the End of the Night,” he remains a riffmeister supreme. Given its origins in 40-year-old songs and all its moving parts, Re-Licked could have been a disaster. But instead it’s as ball-busting a rock & roll record as any to come down the pike in 2014.

RE-LICKED TRACK LISTING:

01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)

Bonus Tracks:

11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. C**k In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)

James Williamson 10-28

On resuming dialogue with Iggy Pop after Ron Asheton died:

JAMES WILLIAMSON: You know, we had spoken with each other over the years from time to time, mostly about business-related things like publishing… but yeah, we weren’t real tight and I had run across him a couple of times and gone to a few shows over the years but that’s about it. You know, it’s funny: when somebody dies there’s something about it that makes you brush all that aside and start talking. He called me up when Ronny died. I had already heard, but he was going to tell me if I hadn’t heard yet. So we started talking about this, that and the other thing and it just went from there.I had no intention of playing music at that point because I was still working for Sony, so I had a day job and I wasn’t going to start playing anymore. I told him if the band got into the Hall of Fame I’d come play, but other than that I didn’t have time to do it for one thing.

The second thing is I hadn’t played in 35 years virtually, not that kind of music anyway so we left it at that. A few months pass and Sony, not being immune to this economy, was handing out early retirement packages and I looked it over and decided I couldn’t afford not to take it, so I did. So now I’m thinking to myself, I’m available and these guys really can’t go out without me because they were fresh out of Stooges. So I said I owe it to these guys, I’ll do it. I called [Iggy] back and told him I’d do it, and we chatted a little more and decided it was something everyone wanted to do — so here we are.

On picking up his guitar again and initial rehearsals with the revamped Stooges:

I had pretty much put the guitar down and only a few years ago I found this marvelous guitar that was built in the 1920s that really kind of inspired me to play again… So I hadn’t played really rock ‘n’ roll for 35 years. In fact my son wrote a kind of humorous essay when he was in college called “Coffins in the Corner,” which were my guitar cases sitting up against the wall, never being opened. When I put it down, I put it down. So it didn’t get picked back up, basically, until about a year-and-a-half before I got a call from the Ig. I happened to run across a guitar in a flea market that was a real old guitar from I didn’t know when, but it sounded amazing. I didn’t know what it was, and neither did the guy who was selling it. So I got it cheap, and it turned out to be a Herman Weisenbourg Spanish guitar. It was just an amazing instrument, and it kinda got me excited about playing it. I was dicking around with that for about a year-and-a-half. So I wasn’t completely without playing, but it wasn’t the rock ‘n’ roll electric guitar style that you hear now.

I started rehearsing by myself pretty solidly in June of [2009] and I was fortunate because I knew some local guys through the music store and they offered to rehearse me as a band. It’s one thing to practice on your own; it’s a whole other thing to play with a band. I kind of told then I want to pay you back, so I did a gig with them in early September. So I did a gig with this local band called The Careless Hearts and that went over really well. In late August, the Stooges got together, but not with Iggy, just the band. We did about five days in Los Angeles and some things were rough, but it was rough on everybody because the new material we were playing, the other guys [drummer Scott Asheton, sax player Steve Mackay, latterday bassist Mike Watt] weren’t playing. They had just been playing the stuff from the first and second albums. It was all kind of new to everybody and we worked real hard for those five days and pulled it together pretty well. Later in September we got together with Iggy and played. It was pretty magical at that point, having everybody clicking and playing this material that was revamped, but fresh. We got a gig in San Paulo, Brazil and that kind of solidified everything.

On writing and recording the Ready to Die album:

When I got back in the band in 2009, all we cared about was touring. So we just had to get the band to be a crackin’ band and tour. But it took a couple of years before [Iggy and I] started sitting together and trying to write new material. And frankly, I wasn’t sure we could. It was a long, long time ago when we wrote the last song together. But it turned out we could write as quickly and as well as we ever did. So we got started on those things.

When we first started, occasionally we’d get together when we were on the road somewhere and dink around with stuff. That’s kinda old school for us. Then I went to Miami and we did sit in a room for a few days and also work on stuff. The way we write is, typically, I come up with a riff. If I like it well enough, after awhile I send it to him. If Ig likes it, then he starts working on the words. Then we go back and forth. You can do that anywhere, whether you’re sitting in a room or across the country. We came up with one song [“The Departed,” about Ron Asheton] in 2011, so that one goes back a ways. But most of the tunes actually were mostly [written in 2012] maybe a little bit at the end of the year before. I started putting them together as demos and stuff, and they started coming together pretty well. Then we spent the year really making songs out of them. So, we came up with about 15 that we recorded fully. From that, we got the ten on the album and a couple of bonus things. [Ultimately] I think the secret with Iggy. is he’s got to get excited about it. I think once the stuff is coming together, he certainly did get excited and he did step up.

On getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

None of the band members thought we were going to get in. We thought, we’re going to have to settle for taking pride in setting a record for never having gotten in. We didn’t have to, and we’re in, and I think everybody’s really happy about that. It’s just human nature; you want to be appreciated for what you’ve done. It’s a really gratifying thing.
http://blurtonline.com/feature/gettin-licks-james-williamson-stooges/

PLEASE KILL ME (website for the book of the same name – secured by James) – Feature interview & positiv album review by James Mashall with photos
JAMES WILLIAMSON: THE PKM INTERVIEW
By James Marshall

After nearly twenty years of being Please Kill Me’s bad guy, James Williamson finally wants to clear the air. I talked to him on the eve of the release of his first solo album Re/Licked.

Born in Castroville, Texas and raised in Detroit, he played in the early garage bands the Chosen Few [w/Scott Richardson] and the Coba Seas; joined the Stooges after Funhouse; co-wrote all the songs on Raw Power [and most of their post-Raw Power material] and was never asked to be interviewed by Legs and Gillian for Please Kill Me.

I spoke with James in September 2014

JW: James Williamson
JM: James Marshall

JM- James?
JW- Hey dude, how’ya doin’?
JM- This is great.
JW- You have the thing that records this?
JM- I have two things, a piece of software I downloaded and if that doesn’t work I’ve got an old cassette deck here going too…
JW- OK cool. Yeah. I’ve been skimming this book because I haven’t seen it in so long and I have to say this is the trashiest crap book I’ve seen in a long time.
JM- It’s almost like being the bad guy in that book is such an awesome achievement that you might wanna let it ride…
JW (laughs) Yeah… I have mixed feelings as to if this is worthy of our time. (laughs)
JM- There are things to be said for being the bad guy but I’ve read interviews where you said you felt bad about what some people said. Nobody makes any specific accusations like “He kicked my dog” or something, it’s more like “He was a black cloud hanging over the Stooges.” Weird stuff like that.
JW- Yeah, yeah, there’s stuff, I guess what I can provide and I don’t even know if this is of interest to you or not is some insights as to why these people would make such a comment. For example, I don’t think people understand what my relationship was to Cyrinda Foxe or my relationship to Leee Childers. Those types of things might be insightful; I don’t know if it really matters.

“I used to hang out at the earlier Stooges house for years, so [Kathy Asheton] knew exactly who I was. I was not a stranger as she portrayed it. Many of these stories are a bit, you know, revisionist history maybe.”

JM- I think it’s great to just get it down and put it out there.
JW- Oh, well, why not? (laughs) Do you go by Jim or James?
JM- I call myself James but people just take it upon themselves to call me Jim…
JW- I get that a lot. I even answer to lots of things… where would you like to start?
JM- I guess let’s start with you joining the Stooges. Some photos surfaced on Facebook recently that look like your first gig with the Stooges–– Zeke [Zetner] is still on bass–– his last show, your first maybe? Farmingdale High School or something like that…
JW- Yes. Farmingdale or Farmington. I remember that gig because it was colder than shit and that gym was not well-heated. Well, Zeke and Bill Cheatham and I shared a house together so we were good buddies. That was probably Zeke’s last one, or one of his last ones. If you look at the pictures carefully you’ll see a guy in the audience with a Jew-fro and that’s Don Was. That was his high school (laughs).
JM- I think Wayne Kramer was on the first couple of Was/Not Was records.
JW- I don’t even know Don Was. I corresponded with him because we briefly entertained the idea of going with Blue Note and having Don produce us for the last record [Ready To Die]. It didn’t happen, but Ig knows him pretty well.
Anyway, that was the first gig and I don’t remember anything about it other than I look like hell (laughs).
JM- You looked great! Anyway, how did you come into the band? Ronnie [Asheton] said he remembers you showing up in New York when they were doing the first album. You must have known these guys…

JW- Yeah, I did. There’s quite a few things that could use clarification. My knowing Ron being one of them. I was in a band called the Chosen Few with Scott Richardson. He and I started that band. I was about fifteen. I started having some problems with being truant and stuff and I ended up in juvie, so that was the end of the band for me. After I got out of juvie I went to this boarding school in upstate New York and one time, coming home from there, I was hanging out with the guys in the band and they had just added Ron Asheton [on bass] and he had super-long hair. They were from Detroit and he was from Ann Arbor, and being from Ann Arbor he could get away with doing some things we couldn’t, like the super-long hair. He’d been playing with a blues band that Iggy had been in, The Prime Movers. So they were playing a frat party and I tagged along with the band and it ended up being fateful because I not only met Ronnie but I met Iggy who I’d known about from the Prime Movers when he was their drummer. I met them and I had brought my guitar along and was playing some of my own compositions for Ig which he right away took interest in which was unusual because most bands didn’t play their own music in those days but I always did. From that point on I stayed in contact with those guys, periodically because I was still in high school. Eventually once I was out of high school I ended up moving up to Ann Arbor. In the meantime I’d gone to New York, I’m not sure why, I was there with a buddy and there were a couple of girls there, too. They were mixing their record and Iggy came by our hotel room and took me to Danny Fields’ house. First time I ever met him and I listened to the first Stooges’ album once it was mixed.
JM- To back track for I spoke with James in September 2014

JW: James Williamson
JM: James Marshall

JM- James?
JW- Hey dude, how’ya doin’?
JM- This is great.
JW- You have the thing that records this?
JM- I have two things, a piece of software I downloaded and if that doesn’t work I’ve got an old cassette deck here going too…
JW- OK cool. Yeah. I’ve been skimming this book because I haven’t seen it in so long and I have to say this is the trashiest crap book I’ve seen in a long time.
JM- It’s almost like being the bad guy in that book is such an awesome achievement that you might wanna let it ride…
JW (laughs) Yeah… I have mixed feelings as to if this is worthy of our time. (laughs)
JM- There are things to be said for being the bad guy but I’ve read interviews where you said you felt bad about what some people said. Nobody makes any specific accusations like “He kicked my dog” or something, it’s more like “He was a black cloud hanging over the Stooges.” Weird stuff like that.
JW- Yeah, yeah, there’s stuff, I guess what I can provide and I don’t even know if this is of interest to you or not is some insights as to why these people would make such a comment. For example, I don’t think people understand what my relationship was to Cyrinda Foxe or my relationship to Leee Childers. Those types of things might be insightful; I don’t know if it really matters.

“I used to hang out at the earlier Stooges house for years, so [Kathy Asheton] knew exactly who I was. I was not a stranger as she portrayed it. Many of these stories are a bit, you know, revisionist history maybe.”

JM- I think it’s great to just get it down and put it out there.
JW- Oh, well, why not? (laughs) Do you go by Jim or James?
JM- I call myself James but people just take it upon themselves to call me Jim…
JW- I get that a lot. I even answer to lots of things… where would you like to start?
JM- I guess let’s start with you joining the Stooges. Some photos surfaced on Facebook recently that look like your first gig with the Stooges–– Zeke [Zetner] is still on bass–– his last show, your first maybe? Farmingdale High School or something like that…
JW- Yes. Farmingdale or Farmington. I remember that gig because it was colder than shit and that gym was not well-heated. Well, Zeke and Bill Cheatham and I shared a house together so we were good buddies. That was probably Zeke’s last one, or one of his last ones. If you look at the pictures carefully you’ll see a guy in the audience with a Jew-fro and that’s Don Was. That was his high school (laughs).
JM- I think Wayne Kramer was on the first couple of Was/Not Was records.
JW- I don’t even know Don Was. I corresponded with him because we briefly entertained the idea of going with Blue Note and having Don produce us for the last record [Ready To Die]. It didn’t happen, but Ig knows him pretty well.
Anyway, that was the first gig and I don’t remember anything about it other than I look like hell (laughs).
JM- You looked great! Anyway, how did you come into the band? Ronnie [Asheton] said he remembers you showing up in New York when they were doing the first album. You must have known these guys…

JW- Yeah, I did. There’s quite a few things that could use clarification. My knowing Ron being one of them. I was in a band called the Chosen Few with Scott Richardson. He and I started that band. I was about fifteen. I started having some problems with being truant and stuff and I ended up in juvie, so that was the end of the band for me. After I got out of juvie I went to this boarding school in upstate New York and one time, coming home from there, I was hanging out with the guys in the band and they had just added Ron Asheton [on bass] and he had super-long hair. They were from Detroit and he was from Ann Arbor, and being from Ann Arbor he could get away with doing some things we couldn’t, like the super-long hair. He’d been playing with a blues band that Iggy had been in, The Prime Movers. So they were playing a frat party and I tagged along with the band and it ended up being fateful because I not only met Ronnie but I met Iggy who I’d known about from the Prime Movers when he was their drummer. I met them and I had brought my guitar along and was playing some of my own compositions for Ig which he right away took interest in which was unusual because most bands didn’t play their own music in those days but I always did. From that point on I stayed in contact with those guys, periodically because I was still in high school. Eventually once I was out of high school I ended up moving up to Ann Arbor. In the meantime I’d gone to New York, I’m not sure why, I was there with a buddy and there were a couple of girls there, too. They were mixing their record and Iggy came by our hotel room and took me to Danny Fields’ house. First time I ever met him and I listened to the first Stooges’ album once it was mixed.
JM- To back track for a second, the Coba Seas, that was in boarding school?
JW- Yes. Once I went to boarding school I brought my guitar and amp and there were other guys that could play instruments and we put together a band up there. I don’t know if you’ve heard the record Unreformed [Norton Records, recorded in 1966, issued in 2009]
coba-seasJM- Yeah, great version of “Gloria”! When you got out of high school you went back to Detroit or Ann Arbor?
JW- Well, I finished high school at night school. That was the deal they made with me. There wasn’t anything happening in Detroit at the time so I knew some people in Ann Arbor and I moved up there and it wasn’t before long that the roadies needed a roommate, so I was around. They had added [roadies] Bill Cheatham on rhythm guitar and Zeke on bass, neither of which could play very well. Zeke a little better than Bill. At a certain point a decision was made we gotta find a guitar player and I was around. Ronnie made it sound like it was a big audition or something which it wasn’t. I would jam a little bit with him in his room and Iggy would be around and Iggy just said, “Let’s add him,” so that’s it

JM- When you first joined the band were you still playing the Funhouse repertoire?

JW- Yeah, some of that, but we had added… this is the very end of that period, so there was a couple of tunes, and of course we always had to play “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and Ig had already written “I Got A Right.” I don’t think we’d written “I’m Sick Of You” yet but if you have those Uganos bootlegs you can hear a lot of our repertoire in that.

JM- By that time the repertoire is completely new.
JW- It’s getting there. As soon as I came into the band I came with music. That was a characteristic of the Stooges, we didn’t just like to play our record and be like real entertainers, we always wanted to do the new stuff. The people who came to see us, they didn’t know the songs, they didn’t know the lyrics, it was really a terrible thing to do for the band, but that’s what we did.
JM- Where you living at Stooge Manor at the end?
JW- We called it the Funhouse. I started out there and it was really, really… you can imagine, it was just a flea bag. At the very beginning there were cots downstairs with sheets between them as the rooms. It was very, very bad conditions. So I moved out of there into this place called the Tower in downtown Ann Arbor Iggy stayed there and Scott Asheton was my roommate so I stayed there for a few months but it was a little on the expensive side and it was also just drug city. We weren’t playing enough shows to be able to afford that so I ended up back at the Funhouse only I took Iggy’s old room at the top and cleaned it all up and was there for a period of time. Eventually the band broke up and I had hepatitis by then so that was it.

“I’ve said it before and I really do believe that Bill Harvey went up to Ronnie’s room with all that Nazi crap up there and looked around and just went “No, no… ”

JM- When you first joined the band had the drug thing already kicked into high gear?
JW- No. When I first started I think they had not found needles yet. They hadn’t started injecting drugs yet, I’d seen all that already in Detroit and so I was trying to tell them, “No guys, don’t do this, it’s not good” but hey, it’s a slope you’re gonna slide down, and they did. Once that started–– which was fairly early on when I’d joined then they started getting habits–– and I fell right in with them, too, but I never had a habit. But Iggy got a bad habit, so that was, ugly, it was his first time around for that kind of stuff and he couldn’t manage it all. The band just kind of… Danny Fields has talked about it several times, he said he couldn’t deal with it, either. I like to refer to it, in this book (PKM) that we’re talking about, I think as a kind of a oversight from a Stooge perspective this book is all about the Danny Fields’ Stooges. Which is what I call ‘em. This is the time of the Stooges when Danny Fields is instrumental, got ‘em the first record deal, got ‘em all the contacts in New York, everybody that’s in this book came from the Danny Fields Stooges. I was really only barely involved in that period of the Stooges, when I came init was late ’70 and I’m in there until early ’71 and that band is over with. It was a speck of time at the end of the Funhouse era when we should have gotten an Elektra deal and didn’t. I gotta clarify that too, but from the London period on there is some overlap with some characters from back then, but no longer Danny anymore. Leee was around because of Main Man and Cyrinda, I had run into her before but she was not part of that scene. But a lot of people who have stuff in here about me don’t really even know me (laughs) but I seem to be a good kind of, what is it, a rush to fill a vacuum. I’m not there so I’m the easy guy to bad mouth. Let me just say that while I’m thinking about it. Danny Fields tells the story of the Elektra guys, Bill Harvey and Don Gallucci coming to the Funhouse to listen to the third possible album and I just want to clarify, and don’t get me wrong because I like Danny Fields, but everyone has some distortion about their remembrances of things–– but my remembrance of that is very clear because I was hoping for big things, I wanted to make my first record. But I don’t remember Danny being there at all that day. He was there many times but that wasn’t one of them. The other mention he makes is that he heard Search and Destroy and I have to say that, sorry Danny, but that wasn’t written yet. I wrote it in London. But it makes a good story. I would say that our style at the time was super frenetic so that the Elektra guys could not really relate to it. Unlike Raw Power, which nobody could relate to, this stuff was not fully formed yet. It was a blast of high energy stuff and you hear some of that on some of those bootlegs but I think we might have even moved on from there. I’ve said it before and I really do believe that Bill Harvey went up to Ronnie’s room with all that Nazi crap up there and looked around and just went “No, no…”

JM- He [Harvey] also punched out Danny Fields after Danny got fired.
JW- He did?

JM- He was not in the Stooges camp right from the start.
JW- I think their mind was made up when they walked through the door but they had to do due diligence and we didn’t have what they wanted. Anyway, that was that.
JM- So you end up in England with Iggy…
JW- We had already signed to Columbia. That story that Danny tells of Iggy being in his living room and Lisa Robinson calling him up and Bowie wanting to meet him, that’s all true. I was at my sister’s house, living on her couch with hepatitis. I was just getting over it by then. Iggy was in New York trying to get something together. I think Rick Derringer was trying to do something…
JM- Steve Paul–– Rick Derringer and Johnny Winter’s manager–– was trying to put them together.
JW- That’s it, but at the same time this Bowie thing is happening, so you have a choice of Rick Derringer or Tony DeFries and I think DeFries was pretty charming and a big vision kind of guy. He did take Ig over to Clive Davis and he sang “Shadow Of Your Smile,” that’s all true. He got the deal so we had what for those days was a sizable record deal for two records and Ig calls me up and says, “pack up your suitcase.” There was an interim meeting but I was still at my sisters, but I had one days notice to pack up and go. It was a quick thing.

“Iggy’s a very ambitious guy and he needs someone that can be the engine of the music he’s gonna make and he didn’t see Ron as that guy, and I guess he saw me as that guy. ”

JM- One thing people never talk about is there’s a level of musical sophistication on Raw Power, songs in weird keys and stuff. Do you have musical influences? It doesn’t seem like there’s other guitar players you could point back at and say I got a lot from this guy or that guy…
JW- No, I mean I have lots of influences but not of my actual writing. I’m self-taught by and large and I started writing my own music because it was easier for me than to try to imitate other people. That stuff came from me, but I think you may be misinterpreting the keys of the songs to the fact that in those days we didn’t have tuners per se and I didn’t have a piano around. I was in a three-piece band so we just self-tuned. I wouldn’t necessarily be in tune to B 440. People always ask if I de-tuned half a step, they’d say “how did you do that?” but it’s really just my guitar wouldn’t be in tune with a piano or whatever.
JM- If you try to play along with the record, Search and Destroy sounds like it’s in F sharp.
JW- It’s not. That’s not how you play it, it’s just the way the guitar is tuned.
JM- Ron always said he felt like he was demoted to bass, and felt left behind when you first went to England and starting auditioning people. You should tell your side of that because that’s something that just kind of hangs in the air all these years…
JW- Right, I can’t shake it no matter how many times I tell the stories but what happened was that Iggy wanted to start a brand new band, so there was no Stooges. In fact the story that Ronnie tells in the book isn’t exactly true. It might be true that Iggy was at some party for SRC but it would not have been true of me because I was at my sister’s place which was in the Detroit area and I had been sick so I wouldn’t have been hanging around a party. But Iggy could have told him that. The bottom line is the Stooges were over, the band had broken up and we were going to England to start a new band. I think the reason why Iggy had chosen me–– apart from that I could play guitar and had impressed him that way–– was that Ronnie had become very apathetic and lethargic and he smoked a lot of weed. He just liked to sit around and smoke weed. He wasn’t gonna be the guy who was gonna make the next record for Iggy. Iggy’s a very ambitious guy and he needs someone that can be the engine of the music he’s gonna make and he didn’t see Ron as that guy, and I guess he saw me as that guy.
I certainly wanted to make an album, I’d never made one before so I signed up and we were off to make that band. The thing was that neither one of us knew anything about anything. So we get on an airplane, go to London and parachute into the ground zero of glam. Here’s these two Michigan guys and we didn’t even know how to work the friggin’ bathtub, that’s how bad it was. (laughs). We have this record deal and we wanna make this work. We went about doing it, got into the Bowie/Main Man organization which at that time was fairly fledgling. Bowie was not a personality yet, he was just gathering some steam, “Changes” was just breaking, he didn’t even have adecent live act yet. So we’d go to the office every day and hang out with those guys and look at David’s latest ideas for clothing design and so forth. For us it was mostly trying to get connections to English musicians who we could put together a band with. The kinda guys that were around in those days were more from the… I don’t know… the Yes, kind of frilly shirt, long English hair, and platforms era. It just wasn’t us; it didn’t make any sense to us because of the style we played. In fact Bowie made no sense to us at all, but he was a nice guy, and who’s gonna argue with him? He was making pop records and we weren’t. We were extremely impressed with Marc Bolan, it was like “Holy Jeesuz, it’s like the Beatles again.” It really was like that over there. So it was like “let’s get some of this,” but we were really floundering in terms of getting a band together. The honest to God truth is, me and Iggy were staying at the Royal Gardens, a hotel in Kensington, and they put us in the honeymoon suite together. This two room suite. Ig took the outer room and I took the room with the beds in it. We were watching television one night and I said to him, “Hey, we know a rhythm section, why don’t we call the Ashetons up and get ‘em over here?” Ronnie’s a great bass player, which is what he was when I first met him, and he was a great bass player in that line-up. Anyway, Ig agreed and we called them up and brought them over and they were more than happy to do it. I think in hindsight Ronnie probably thought I’ll do this for a little while and I’ll eventually become the guitar player again, or become part of the guitars or whatever. It just wasn’t to work out that way because of my style of guitar, there’s not a lot of air for someone else to be there and fill in. We did it for a little while with the two guitar line-up in the beginning but that was mostly because we were playing those earlier Stooges type tunes which had room for that. Once I started writing the stuff for Raw Power there was no room for anybody else. So that’s why he stayed on bass and he did a great job but he always resented it. There’s many comments in this book that are sour grapes kind of things. There’s a comment by Kathy [Asheton] even–– who not surprisingly is toeing the Asheton party line about me–– but her description of me in the Funhouse coming back from a gig is astonishing to me because she knew me. It’s not like it was the first time I ever met her; I used to hang out at the earlier Stooges house for years, so she knew exactly who I was. I was not a stranger as she portrayed it. Many of these stories are a bit, you know, revisionist history maybe.

“In fact Bowie made no sense to us at all, but he was a nice guy, and who’s gonna argue with him? He was making pop records and we weren’t. ”

JM- The Rashomon effect factor of it. Everybody remembers it differently. All the songs on Raw Power were written in England?
JW- Yes, the two songs we brought over were “I Got A Right” and “I’m Sick Of You.” We wanted to record those songs, we played those songs at the one and only gig we played over there [King’s Cross Cinema] but Main Man turned up their nose at them and said “keep trying boys.” They wanted Bowie-esque pop songs that were working for him. They thought we were another one of those bands. The only reason Raw Power got made the way it did was that David got quite popular and he got busy and they quit paying attention to us and just let us go in and do our own in the studio.
JM- I guess we have to mention the eternal bitching that you can’t hear the bass and drums in the mix. I have to say I think the Bowie mix is the best one we’ve heard. The guitar and the vocals sound perfect. I don’t think the rhythm section is there on the tape…
JW- Yeah, that’s right. I agree with you that the Bowie mix is the best one to date. I never got a crack at it and I’d love to some day but the information I got third hand is that the tape, the signal isn’t there. It doesn’t surprise me, you gotta remember I didn’t know anything, it was my first record, so I was deferring to Ig in the studio and that’s a bad thing to do. He thinks he knows this stuff and he’s a very bossy guy, but he doesn’t know squat. He’s telling the engineer to do all this stuff that they did on Funhouse, live things, and the poor guy is doing his best, but what can he do? He’s gotta do what his customer wants him to do so I think the bass probably sounds like crap. The drums, I don’t know what to tell you, there’s probably leakage all over the drums and they had to be kept back. Maybe the takes that we used the drums for had leakage from other takes and just was crap… I don’t know.

James and Ron Asheton
James and Ron Asheton
JM- The Ig remix… all he did was make his own vocals louder, and they were the loudest thing on the record anyway, and take the effects off the guitar. I didn’t get what he was going for…
JW- He didn’t either. He just wanted to make it loud. That’s why Bowie mixed the thing in the first place. We didn’t want David Bowie to have anything to do with our record but at the end of the day it was just too much. We’d done this pretty crappy job of recording this thing and we had a lot of extraneous stuff in there and it was a bigger mix than Ig could handle. And I didn’t know how to do it; I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t even trying. We ended up with this mix that was really not useable. So DeFries made this executive decision to bring Bowie in, which Bowie wanted to do anyway. So that worked out fine. For all the grousing I’ve done about this mix, which is a strange, arty kind of thing that certainly has David’s fingerprint on it, you know what? He pulled it out, he pulled out an almost unusable session. And it made me sound great. I don’t know what I’m complaining about. I mean that mix, Jack White made a career out of that. That’s it.
JM- The Stooges come back to the States, move to L.A. and don’t play for, what, a year? Two shows, the Whiskey and Max’s?
JW- That’s not exactly correct, we hadn’t played those shows yet. The only thing we did when we got back was Cobo Hall in Detroit. That was it. Beyond that we were just holed up in that house in Mulholland, going to rehearsals and hoping we were going to play, and getting back into drugs. When we were in England it was pretty clean over there. Near the end Ronnie found some hash and we found out you could buy Codeine at the drug store. But we weren’t druggies over there. It was beer oriented stuff, but once we got back and got the groupies and the drug connections then everything started coming back in. In Hollywood, you got guys who don’t have much to do except rehearse for a couple of hours a day and get stoned. We still don’t know why we didn’t play; why didn’t DeFries play us more over in London? We’ll never know. I think he wanted David to be in the limelight and the Stooges were just for association. I mean, that’s very David Bowie.
JM- They had hits with Mott The Hoople and Lou Reed, you’d think they’d at least want some income…
JW- But those were Bowie’s projects. We didn’t want Bowie to produce us. We were adamant about that, we didn’t want Bowie in the studio. We didn’t want Bowie messing with our songs. So right or wrong, we weren’t the Mott the Hoople they were hoping for, so we had no hits. There was nothing that came close to being a hit for us.

“But DeFries didn’t know what to do with us and we weren’t playing the game he wanted. The band was a real band. It was kind of a democratic thing at that point and DeFries wanted to make Iggy a pop star like Bowie and Bowie’s bands were disposable.”

JM- Iggy told me he knew Raw Power wasn’t going to get played on the radio when he was making it. But bands back then had made it without radio. Grand Funk were huge before they had a radio hit…
JW- Well, the name of the game back then was records and we weren’t making ‘em. The only show we did over there was before we made the record. After that DeFries said he was afraid the police were gonna get called at our show. That could have happened in those days in London. We certainly scared the shit out of those kids for sure. You have no idea the look on these people’s faces. They had never seen anything like this. I mean we were just doing a regular gig.
JM- The photos are so amazing. Too bad there’s no tape of that one….
JW- Yeah. (laughs) It was something. If you look at us, here we are, we’re bumpkins. And we see all these people–– Bolan and Bowie and everybody–– and they’re all wearing makeup. So there we are and we got to do a show and we said, “Maybe we should be wearing makeup, too.” We start considering it and we don’t have any idea of what to do. We don’t even have any girls to help us at that point. We literally went out and got a box of clown’s makeup. If you look at us in those pictures we both have this white face on. That’s about it, there’s a little bit of this and that but it’s pretty much white face like a clown.
JM- Iggy’s got black lipstick on.
JW- (laughs) Right and Iggy’s got black lipstick on. But DeFries didn’t know what to do with us and we weren’t playing the game he wanted. The band was a real band. It was kind of a democratic thing at that point and DeFries wanted to make Iggy a pop star like Bowie and Bowie’s bands were disposable.
JM- Ronnie said he found out the Stooges had higher weekly salaries than the Spiders, and the Spiders were at their peak…
JW- And that wasn’t hardly enough to live on. Those guys, they were a good band, Ronson was good, and a good guy, too.
JM- He did a good Jeff Beck impersonation when he had to.
JW- Easy to work with, an easygoing guy. He was really into Beck, which I am too, but I don’t play like him.
JM- I can’t figure out any precursor to the guitar style on Raw Power. The only thing that comes to mind is the Ronnie Hawkins version of “Who Do You Love” that had Robbie Robertson playing lead guitar.
JW- It comes from me playing so much by myself, alone, and playing my own stuff so I make it up. A lot of down picking, a combination of the finger pressure and the pick style. You can always tell that it’s me playing guitar–– as soon as you hear it.

JM- There are horrible emotional screams, like on “Death Trip” I’m sure that’s why people love it today but, that kind of screaming emotion, did you have terrible teenage years or something?
JW- I kind of did, and that’s true I used the guitar as an emotional outlet and that’s where that comes from. You know, I had a stepfather who was an army colonel, I mean it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great and when you’re a teenager you always have a lot of angst anyway, so I had the combination, and for me, it was my way of dealing with that was to just go play guitar for hour after hour. That’s where that style comes from.

“So we have full access to the limo and we can go anywhere we want so our routine is to cruise by Hollywood High and try to pick up the high school girls. We were pretty successful at it.”

JM- Getting back to the L.A. years. You [and the band] are in this house on Mulholland and Leee Childers is the guy who’s put in charge to keep you guys in line?
JW- So we come back from London. They sent the Asheton brothers back first and me and Ig are still staying in London for awhile. At this point I’m pretty good buddies with Angie Bowie. Ig went directly to L.A., I came back through Ann Arbor. I came back with Angie on the same flight, meanwhile Angie starts shacking up with Ron and apparently has been doing that for quite some time. That’s neither here nor there but we spent a couple of days there and then we come out and stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel where Ig is staying. It’s just totally cool. First time in L.A., I get picked up by a limo with Ig in the back, palm trees everywhere, beautiful summer day, what’s not to like. We’re stylin’ up to the Beverly Hills Hotel and first night, there’s no rooms. So Angie and I have this room together and one thing leads to another and I’m screwing her and apparently everyone has so this not news or anything risqué.

But I don’t remember if it’s this book [PKM] or another book but she says I raped her or something and that’s completely untrue. I just want to go on the record, I got nothing to lose here. That’s a crazy thing to say. So we’re at the Beverly Hills Hotel and our daily routine becomes, we’re waiting for the Ashetons to come out, but we don’t want them to come out until we have a house. So we have full access to the limo and we can go anywhere we want so our routine is to cruise by Hollywood High and try to pick up the high school girls. We were pretty successful at it. A couple of the girls became girlfriends of ours, Evita being one of mine, and Coral being one of Ig’s. That’s where all those girls came from. Sable, they were all part of that crowd. The Shields girls [Coral and Sable] were actually from Palos Verdes but they were all part of the same clique. The other thing we’d do was hang around, I can’t remember who’s it was but Cyrinda Foxe was hanging around crashing at this person’s apartment. Ig reintroduced me to Cyrinda who I had met back in the Danny Fields Stooges one time at Max’s, Cyrinda was in Pork [the play] so I remember having met her back then. I was kind of thinking she was pretty cool, you know, doing the Marilyn thing and it was an any port in the storm kind of thing. I start screwing her and the next thing you know [by this time we’re in the house] she’s moving in with me. So now I’m living with Cyrinda Foxe, I’m trying to remember for you exactly how long, it wasn’t a terribly long time but it was probably a couple of months, or many many weeks, but over the course of that time we just couldn’t get along with each other. It wasn’t working. We decided to part company and off she went back to New York. And I get a phone call four weeks later and she’s pregnant. Now what do we do? Neither one of us want to get married or anything like that so she decides to terminate the pregnancy so I sent her money, which was in very short supply in those days. I felt like we left it on as good of terms as we could, but apparently not. When you hear the tone about what she says about me, and I know that was a big factor with Leee Childers because she was pals with him. So she was feeding the back panel on all the drugs kind of things, especially after the fact.

“It’s ludicrous, Leee’s feeding the back channel to Main Man that James is a big druggie and a bad guy, and he’s their little spy to the Stooges, but meanwhile Iggy’s my drug dealer. .”

JM- She had a sad ending, a brain tumor. I wonder if the brain tumor had already started to affect her when she gave the interview to Legs and Gillian.
JW- I think she kind of hated me, the pregnancy thing, and I wasn’t the easiest guy to be around, for sure. To me she was a very vulnerable person, extremely neurotic, just a real piece of work. So her and Leee were really good buddies and now Leee really doesn’t like me and we’re all in the same house. Leee’s over the garage and we’re in the main house. It’s ludicrous, Leee’s feeding the back channel to Main Man that James is a big druggie and a bad guy, and he’s their little spy to the Stooges, but meanwhile Iggy’s my drug dealer. DeFries buys this story and figures if I get rid of James maybe this thing will work. So one day I get the word directly from Ig who went in and had a long conversation with DeFries and he basically threw me under the bus. DeFries just said it’s either James or all of you can go. This was a pivotal point in that band because from that point on I never really trusted Iggy. Ronnie tells these stories because he experienced it many times in the band’s history, but this was the first time I’d ever experienced it. So I’m gone. Luckily by then I’ve got another girlfriend, Evita, who was kind enough to take me in so I was okay. Actually some good came out of it because I met Scott Thurston and after we put it back together he was our keyboard player. So that’s Leee and Cyrinda, so when I hear these things coming out of their interviews, and I know you like Leee, or liked Leee, but I detested Leee for the rest of his life. I would never under any circumstance have anything to do with Leee after that.
JM- I did like Leee, but it’s funny that he accused you of being a druggie and then goes on to manage the Heartbreakers. (laughs)
JW- (laughs) Exactly! But he was their little spy guy and he could kill two birds with one stone–– he could make Tony happy and make Cyrinda happy–– so they got me. It took about two seconds for them [Main Man] to realize, uh oh, all the rest of them [the Stooges] are worse! (laughs)
JM- And the Stooges have their one day Tornado Turner era…
JW- Right. That’s when they figured out “We better call that James back up…”
JM- Who made the call to ask you back?
JW- Ig. I didn’t see the gig, I only heard about it but apparently it was a complete disaster. It was two things, the gig was a disaster and shortly after that they all got canned [from Main Man], so they were like “Would you come back and play guitar for us again?” Meanwhile I’m working at a porno theater so I said I’ll do it. I didn’t have any job skills, all I knew how to do was play the guitar, and my guitar style wasn’t very commercial so I couldn’t just go out and get a gig. I had to go to unemployment every day, eventually they found me a projectionist job, it didn’t say porno projectionist, I showed up and they showed me how to feed the machine and that was my job.
JM- Non-union projectionist. So the Stooges finally start playing their final shows, after the break with DeFries, who fired who?
JW- He fired them. I was already out. They tried Tornado Turner. I think Kim Fowley set them up with him. DeFries got ahold of Kim Fowley, and you can imagine what that conversation was like. And Kim set them up with Tornado Turner and they go out and play this gig and of course it was a disaster. By then they [Main Man] knew that all of them were big druggies. So DeFries just said “Forget it, it’s over.” All of them were fired.

“I don’t remember him in any tutu– although he did wear that occasionally– but this time we was almost exclusively in that sort of insect gear. I remember it because, and I had the weird Spock outfit…”

JM- Which brings you to Jeff Walls.
JW- Right, that was the next manager. He was Helen Reddy’s husband. When I came back in that was already in place. He had a team of people and he put this guy John Major in. He was the brother or brother-in-law of the wife of Jackson Browne who committed suicide. He was a good guy. He took us under his wing and started to tour us. We needed a road manager so he brought in Chris Erring from the Bay Area, he was part of the Albert Grossman organization. The reason I tell you this is that he introduces me to the woman who would become my wife; who’s been my wife all these years. So I know him quite well and all these women know each other from Albert Grossman days. So they start touring us and I think we did some of our best shows with that management team. We did a lot of shows. Unfortunately you couldn’t book the Stooges on any organized tour–– we couldn’t play everywhere–– there were places where they didn’t want to know about us. Our tours consisted of a transcontinental air flight to New York or some east coast town that might know us, or Detroit. You might get two days but mostly likely you’d be taking a flight and then coming back to L.A. so it was a lot of overhead. We never had a truck. I’ve never been on a road bus in my life.

JM- When I saw you in Atlanta you had a rented back line.
JW- We didn’t have a truck, so every single gig was a brand new experience. I’d bring my guitar and who knows what amp I’d get. We’d try to get things we knew sounded decent like Marshalls and stuff but in a lot towns you couldn’t get that stuff so we’d get Sunns or Peaveys or whatever we could get. I learned to play on everything. We just never knew. Poor Scott Thurston, he had this one little pickup he carried around with him and just sort of chewing gum it onto whatever piano was there. (laughs) We always used rented back line and we always flew everywhere and that’s how we toured. We were in that mode with that management. I guess it was ’73, maybe for a year and a half we toured, it was good. A lot of the songs that I’m about to release on this record came from that period. We believed we were gonna get our record deal picked up with Columbia and they were coming to shows and stuff.
JM- Nite Bob said you guys did a demo at CBS in New York while the Max’s shows were going on.
JW- Yeah, that’s not true. What we did do was use the studio to rehearse in, just to hear what we sounded like. CBS was our recordcompany and they did record some stuff but not as demos. I think some of that stuff is floating around. A lot of the tunes I’m doing right now came from those CBS rehearsals.
JM- Columbia recorded the New Year’s Eve Academy of Music shows in New York too, judging by the bootleg it sounded like a bit of a disaster. Iggy’s falling apart..

JW- Yeah, that gig was weird for a lot of reasons. You couldn’t hear for one thing. God knows what it sounds like.
JM- You’re playing a Firebird in the photographs.
JW- That’s Nite Bob’s. He loaned it to me for the night. It was a cool looking guitar. The action was like two inches high. I was used to playing this Gibson Les Paul Custom and it was like agghhhhh! But I did it because it looked so cool.
JM- The band breaks up in February of ’74, those are the Metallic K.O. shows…
JW- Yeah, I wanna set that straight too. Ig tells a story in Please Kill Me, and Ig is always wants to embellish things from time to time. His version of this tale is quite different than my recollection. By this time we had a new management team out of New York and our crack management did book us into a biker bar before we were gonna play the Michigan Palace because it was a little extra money and they had no idea, it said “Rock and Roll Farm” and they figured it was a rock ’n’ roll place. So we get in there and do our thing and we had a lot of local people came to that place but it was essentially bikers. I don’t remember him in any tutu– although he did wear that occasionally– but this time we was almost exclusively in that sort of insect gear. I remember it because, and I had the weird Spock outfit, I know both of us got that made by the same guy in Hollywood, and those were the only costumes we had so we never wore anything else and they never got dry cleaned or anything, they could stand on their own. They stunk. I know that’s what he wore. I also recall the he wasn’t quite the way he says he was in the book. He was just doing his regular Iggy thing, going out in the audience and he saddled up to a biker leaning up against the rail near the back of the bar who was just looking at him. And you know how he gets right there with his mike and everything, and the guy just hauled off and cold-cocked him. He knocked him flat on the floor, I know he did. metallic-koWe didn’t know right away because we couldn’t see him but a lot of times with our band Iggy goes silent because he’s on the floor or whatever, he can’t get his mike back, it wasn’t unusual for us so we keep on playing. Meanwhile there’s starting to get a vibe in there and pretty soon it went too long and we just stopped and figured out what was going on. And he was hurt, he got hit hard. The thing was, those bikers were real bikers. We were lucky to out of there alive. It was a bad, bad, scene. We didn’t get paid for that or anything. So that was that one, but it is true that Ig then went on to taunt those guys on the radio like the brilliant guy that he is sometimes and they did come back and bring their buddies the next night and they did start throwing stuff and we egged them on. It’s all captured on Metallic KO. There was no other biker gang that were there to protect us or anything like that, like Ronnie points out, there was just us up there. The lucky thing is we were pretty far away from where they were seated and it’s pretty hard to peg a guy from that far. That’s the only reason we didn’t get hit.
JM- It’s amazing no one got really hurt in the four years of the Stooges.
JW- Yeah, it is. There have been some close calls for sure, but that was the worst one, it was nasty. Those were guys that would hurt you. So we got out of there.
JM- So, it’s the end of the Stooges…
JW- Yes, the end of the Stooges but I still got Ig living in my apartment. But we’ve been through this before and we think maybe we can get a record deal. We can always call the Ashetons back up, they’re back in Detroit by now. We start writing tunes, it’s promising, we got some pretty good tunes. Initially we thought Elton John, he liked us, he came to Atlanta, of course he wanted to suck my dick is what he wanted to do. I didn’t realize that at the time. We thought maybe he wanted to make a record with us or something. They didn’t. We went on and went to see John Cale [then working A&R at Warner Brothers–JM] and of course John Cale wasn’t doing anything except drugs, he wasn’t any help. Finally we run into Ben Edmonds from Creem and he had a lot of connections. Ben knew Jimmy Webb and he said look, you guys need demos. Lets go up to Jimmy’s house. Jimmy said, “you guys could use my studio you just got to pay my brother a bag of weed every day to be the engineer and we’ll do it.” We did it, that’s where we recorded Kill City. Meanwhile Ig had kind of fallen apart and now, by the time this all gets put together he’s in the hospital. I get the musicians and start cutting tracks at Jimmy Webb’s house and my singer is in the friggin’ hospital. I just did what I needed to do, get permission to take him out. When he had to do vocal tracks I’d pick him up at the hospital and cut his vocal and take him back to the hospital. That’s how that was made.
jw-carJM- Did someone shop the tape?
JW- There was an attorney named Bennett Glasser, pretty famous music attorney. First Ben tried to shop it, then Bennett tried to shop it, then Bennett gave up on us because Iggy was, as he put it, “too frenetic” which was true. One good thing he did do was say, “Where’s the tapes?” Well they’re up at Jimmy Webb’s house and he said, “Go get ‘em.” So I drove up there with Ig and we asked for the tapes and they gave ‘em to us. So now I got the multi-tracks but we don’t have anyone shopping it for us. So they just sat in the closet, then Ig… you know, Bowie starts coming around and Ig is off to Europe with Bowie and I’m working in a recording studio.
JM- I can’t remember if Greg Shaw [Bomp Records] puts out Kill City before you get hired to do New Values or after?
JW- Before. I went to the recording studio and did that for a while but I found out I’m not really cut out for that kind of work. I like to say, there’s only one thing worse than being in a band with guys you don’t like and that’s recording with guys you don’t like every single day of your life. I was like, I can’t do this. It was disco music they were recording over there at Paramount Records; it was disco mania in those days. I got interested in electronics and this peculiar thing happens, I go to this electronics store and I see, there’s this machine that came out very, very, early on called an Imsai 8080–– old, old before PC’s per se–– it had the old front panel switches and you had to boot the thing up by hand. kill-city2To me it was very exciting that you could do this. I decided that I’m gonna learn how to do this, and eventually it led me to go to school. In the midst of that Greg Shaw gets ahold of me and he offers me money–– and money for the studio to finish the record up to put it out on Bomp. I decided to do it. The tapes were not quite finished, they needed overdubs, there was quite a bit of stuff they needed, it wasn’t long enough, we had to add some stuff. There was some peculiarities about it but basically I finished it up and it sounded good. And Ig had heard about it and he had a fit. Now today you don’t hear that from him; he’s all about “that’s one of the first indie records” but he had a fit and he didn’t want me to put it out. He considered it unprofessional and unlike the things he and Bowie had been doing and blah blah blah, and I told him to go pound sand.

“I never thought of myself as a punk, never wanted to be a punk and still didn’t want to be a punk, so this made no sense to me whatsoever. ”

It wasn’t more than three or four months since that had happened that the kids started listening to that album and all of a sudden him and Bowie are using that to shop for the next deal saying, “Look, we’re plugged into the kids, look what we did.” Anyway, that’s Kill City. Then when their relationship parted [Iggy and Bowie] and it’s time to make a new record for Arista, that’s when New Values came in and that’s when
he asked me to produce that.
JM- There’s some funny stories about that in the Paul Trynka book Open Up and Bleed. In retrospect Iggy says he hired you hoping to get some guitar riffs out of you. But at that point you weren’t playing at all?
JW- That’s right. He always wanted me to come back and write him more songs. And I tried a little bit and I had one song I had written, “Don’t Look Down” that’s the one we recorded on the album of mine, the only one. But I’d lost interest in it, I put it down, I wasn’t doing it at all.
JM- Are you playing on “Billy Is A Runaway”?
JW- No, I only played on my own song, and on “Endless Sea,” that little reggae part, I did that I think. So anyway, he didn’t get that out of me, I don’t know if he even liked it at the time but subsequently that’s an album I’m quite proud of and I think a lot of people like that album. By that time Ben Edmonds was the A&R guy for Arista and both Ig and Ben had hoped that by putting me in the equation it would become punk which had become quite popular by then. I never thought of myself as a punk, never wanted to be a punk and still didn’t want to be a punk, so this made no sense to me whatsoever. All I wanted to do was make a good album. So we made that but Arista wasn’t happy. So they right away wanted to make another album which is Soldier. This time they were going to be sure to get punk out of me and so they decided to do the album in the U.K. and hire a bunch of guys who’d been in punk bands like Glen Matlock and Barry Andrews from XTC. And keep me captive over there so maybe I would become that way. Of course it was a total disaster and I didn’t end up finishing the project at all.

“Eventually I started telling my son, “Hey, I invented that style” and he’s like, “Okay, sure Dad.”

JM- Did you really pull a gun on someone?
JW- Yeah, but… Glen likes to tell that story, but the gun was a pellet gun but it happened to look like a real gun. It wasn’t even loaded with pellets. The A&R guy from Arista in England had it and I borrowed it, I just wanted to shoot cans, just something to do out in Wales. I mean they had shotguns out there, too, you could shoot skeet and all that kind of crap. Again, there’s all this embellishment of mean old James and the Phil Spector thing and so on but the bottom line was that I hated the material and I couldn’t get a performance out of the musicians. It was back in the days to get a performance you actually had to get a performance, you couldn’t just stop and cut it in and put it together with Pro Tools. We just became more and more adversarial and it just wasn’t working out so in the end it was just better to part company.

JM- From there you’re out of music for quite a while unless there’s something that went way under the radar…
JW- No, by then I’d had it. I was pretty much out of music when Ig came around asking about doing New Values. I did it because it was money and it was fun to do and Ig had some good material. I knew I could use my buddy Scotty Thurston and we put together a good band and everyone was on board with it and it was a good album. Soldier I did strictly for the money and that’s always a really bad reason to do things. I went into it with big reservations because I didn’t like the material, Ig didn’t have time to work up material, I wasn’t writing material, I occupied myself over there with technical related issues. There was a new thing called Sinthie Time Code where you could synch two 24 track machines together which was a huge thing back then. Ig is kind of a Luddite so it used to completely drive him over the top. (laughs)
JM- 48 tracks to fill on an Iggy record does sound like a lot.
JW- Maybe it was a little overkill but it was a lot of fun for me. And I was having trouble having fun at those sessions.

James on grave in UK 1972 (photo Byron Newman)
James on grave in UK 1972 (photo Byron Newman)
JM- The whole time your out of music you gave very few interviews. I remember a great one on the I-94 Bar website, but in most interviews you seemed really down on your musical past. When did it occur to you that the tide had turned in your favor historically?
JW- That’s when it started [at the time of the I-94 bar interview] or maybe a little earlier than that. I had put the guitar down, I wasn’t following music, I wasn’t even listening to that much music. All of a sudden I started getting these phone calls ever so often, usually some English writer who had come across my number, I wasn’t that hard to find because I was listed. Most people didn’t put that together. But these people would call and say, “Do you realize who you are?” (laughs) But I never really accepted that kind of status and frankly, in a lot of ways, I still don’t. Be that as it may, once the internet started happening I became much easier to find and that goes for people that I work with who had no idea about any of this and also the media people. I started getting more and more of this and I’d usually turn them down but Ken was able to get me through to Ronnie Asheton and I decided I’d do Ronnie a favor and do the interview. For a very long time I didn’t consider the Stooges to be important. We were not important to the music industry at the time I was in it. I always liked what we did and some people agreed with me but the industry never accepted us. I guess it was when my son started bringing home Nirvana albums and things like that that I started hearing the similarities. It even happened with the Sex Pistols, I started hearing, like wow, that sounds like me a little bit. Eventually I started telling my son, “Hey, I invented that style” and he’s like, “Okay, sure Dad.” But eventually I got enough of that to say, “Hey, people know who we were anyway” and I left it at that. Eventually, what was it, 2003 that they reformed the band and that was good, I was really happy to see Ronnie get his day in the sun again on guitar and all and they were getting some pretty good ink from that. Eventually when I rejoined the band I was astonished at the size of the crowds we were playing for and almost immediately we get put in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and a whole progression of things started happening and I have to say, this is incredible.
JM- To back track a bit, I think it was the ’96 Olympics that Nike does the “Search and Destroy” ad…
JW- Yeah.
JM- At that point you had to think you were entering popular culture in a big way.
JW- Yeah, that was incredible. I got this phone call, I was actually in my car on the road in Wyoming with my son going fishing. I get this phone call from my wife from Bug Music, my publisher at the time, now BMG, but they wanted to know if it was okay with me if Nike used one of my songs. I’m goin’ fuck yeah, what’s wrong with that? Then I get this call from this writer who wants to know if it’s okay if a commercial enterprise like this wants to use the anthem of punk rock. I’m okay with it.
JM- It’s not like radio is going to play it.
JW- Exactly, and they handled it in a very cool way. It only lasted a minute because people couldn’t handle it. The Nike thing was played in the basketball finals and people are freaking because the guy is puking on his shoes.
JM- Their previous ad had had William Burroughs in it. I think they were trying to market themselves to junkies. That was their theme that summer.

We never had any recognition back in the day so to be at this age and to be accepted like this and to be able to go out and play for appreciative fans a lot of which weren’t even alive at that time is pretty phenomenal.

JW- Whoever was running those ads was cool that’s all I know. So I’m in Wyoming and I said, “Good with me” but this guy asks, “Are you ever reforming”? and I said, “We’re not exactly the Beach Boys” and left it at that and got back in my car and kept driving.
JM- At some point your kids must have realized that their father had a background in rock ’n’ roll…
JW- Yeah, it was after my son started going to college, that’s when his personal biases started being overcome by his friends biases. My stock went way up.
JM- To jump forward again, your retirement from Sony dovetails into Ronnie Asheton’s death in a sort of a weird synchronicity.
suave1JW- Yeah, it does. The Ig story on that as usual is pretty Ig-ified. The true story is that was a period of time Sony was having trouble–– it’s still having trouble–– but the thing that all corporations do, is one of the first things is offer everybody over a certain age, usually over fifty, an early retirement package, that way they can get rid of higher paid guys and replace ‘em with lower paid guys. After fifty you’re maybe not getting the best years of their career so across the board they offer those things. So this was coming around and Ig called me up an asked me if I wanted to rejoin the band. At first I just told him no. First of all I hadn’t decided to take the retirement package and also I didn’t think I could get up and play guitar live anymore. I mean, am I really gonna go out and do that? So I gave it a lot of thought and this was over a course of weeks and eventually I called him back because I decided I can take this package and I’m free to do whatever I want and I talked to my wife and she was very dubious about it but she said “do whatever you want to do.” I really felt like I kind of owed it to those guys because they really kind of couldn’t do it without me. Think about what it would have been like if they got Tornado Turner? So I said OK, I’m gonna do it. I called ‘em back and said I’m gonna take the package and I’ll try. Luckily I had a long period of time to woodshed. And I had some help from people. I got to play with a local band which is essential to go and play live shows. So it got so I could do it, by the time we did our first live show in San Paolo, Brazil, you know, if wasn’t the best show I ever did, but it wasn’t a bad show.
JM- Big audience at that show, a real turn around from the Rock and Roll Farm.
JW- Exactly, It was unbelievable. It was 40,000 people. I’d never played for more than two thousand people in my life up until then. So it was like, holy shit, but I did it and I got used to it. But meanwhile Sony didn’t want me to leave, so I ended up consulting for them, so for the next two and a half years I had two jobs, I was consulting for Sony still and working for the Stooges. The only way it worked was with the Stooges schedule we knew it six months in advance at least so if there was a period I couldn’t do it I’d just tell the road manager Henry just block out these dates, I can’t do it.
JM- Were there Stooges fans at Sony back in Japan?
JW- It turns out there were. That worked out great. It wasn’t just Japan. I worked with Sony Pictures and Sony Music, who own Raw Power so it was this really weird thing (laughs). It’s a very strange thing for me and it’s very gratifying; we never had any recognition back in the day so to be at this age and to be accepted like this and to be able to go out and play for appreciative fans a lot of which weren’t even alive at that time is pretty phenomenal. I know you’ll appreciate this, we got to Europe a lot and the whole audience is twenty somethings, and my theory is, just like when we were watching Cream and the Rolling Stones and Jeff Beck there came a time where we realized that hey, these guys are not the real guys. These other guys are the real guys. So we started to go see them. I think these kids realize we’re the real guys in this genre of rock and roll.

JM- Yeah, you’re Howlin’ Wolf to these kids.
JW- Yeah, we’re the blues guys of rock and roll.
JM- You got a new record coming out, it’s the post-Raw Power Stooges repertoire re-recorded with other singers?
JW- Yeah. This is the material that was written after we came back from London. We had every reason to believe they were gonna pick up our option to do another album on our CBS contract. In typical fashion we started writing new material like crazy and we were pretty prolific back then and we would play it live because we were pretty ADD and we didn’t want to just play our album we wanted to play the new stuff. So we wrote all this new stuff and played it live and it got bootlegged and later on CBS didn’t pick up our option so all that we were left with was these bootlegs. All these years these bootlegs have been out there and there’s a lot of good tunes in there but they sound like hell, most of them. I’ve had to hear this stuff and I just cringe knowing how good it could be. Iggy and I talked about doing this before we recorded Ready To Die but we rejected it because anything we do now automatically gets compared to Raw Power and that era, and if we were to do those songs from that era with today’s line up it would be “these are the old Stooges and the young Stooges were so much better” so we decided no, let’s do new stuff. I’m proud of that album but this is something I’ve had on my bucket list.

JM- “Cock In My Pocket,” “Wet My Bed,” “Open Up and Bleed”… I love those songs…
JW- “Head On The Curb.” Some of the best songs we ever wrote. It was kind of the pinnacle of the Stooges, in between Raw Power and Kill City. Some of the Kill City songs came from that period. I just decided I’m gonna do it. We finished touring, I had the time, I didn’t have Iggy and I decided alright, I’m gonna line up a bunch of singers and do it. I got very lucky with that record, not only was I fired up about it but I had the other Stooges touring band members fired up about it. A lot of those songs we were playing live, and I’d done some new arrangements on some of them and we went into Dave Grohl’s studio in Northridge and started cutting tracks. It was easy because the drummer was down there and Mike Watt was down there and Grohl’s studio has the Sound City console so it’s a good sound. I did about eight tracks with them all together. I started finding singers, really good ones. Carolyn Wonderland was the first one, she just blew me away. Jello Biafra practically demanded he sing “Head On The Curb.” He was fantastic. Wait until you hear this. Bobby Gillespie [Primal Scream], he was all over it. Midstream I couldn’t get Watt anymore cause he was over in Europe touring so I found this good drummer from here in the Bay Area Michael Nirvano–– amazing drummer–– and then I found Greg Foreman who plays keyboards with Cat Power and he knew Simone Marie Butler who plays bass with Primal Scream, she really wanted to do it. So I got this whole other band who really kicked some serious ass on the remaining tunes, some of which are musically demanding. I’ve got this record ready to come out and I’m really happy with it.
JM- How do we wrap this up?
JW- Well it sounds like you’re more interested in the real story than these Please Don’t Kill Me, or Please Kill Me things, because when I started going through this stuff I kept thinking god, that’s so wrong… My own theory, without knowing, it that Legs is part of that New York clique and if that is what they they said, then that’s the way it was and that was good enough for him [Legs], or them [Legs and Gillian].

JM- It’s always been a bone of contention between me and Gillian. I mean it’s one thing when Ronnie Asheton says he feels bad about being demoted to bass, but Leee Childers slinging mud over drugs and he went on to manage the Heartbreakers…
JW- Yeah, Leee was bitching for all the wrong reasons. OK, I’ve been pretty down on Legs because of this because I felt that he did a really crappy job on research and I don’t know the guy at all, but since you and a good friend of mine, my distributor, John Kastner, is buddies with him, so I know a bunch of people that know him now, and so I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t be so begrudging about the whole thing and just let it go. But now that I look this [Please Kill Me] over I think ‘why do I care’? (laughs)
JM- It’s good for the legend.Re-Licked
[Leopard Lady Records]

by James Marshall

It has occurred to me in the last few minutes that although I’ve been reading them most of my life, I kind of hate record reviews. I don’t need someone telling me what I like, and I really hate when writers attempt to analyze rock lyrics (unless they’ve found something in “Surfin’ Bird” that I missed). Few writers know anything about music, or recording, or the business of music (hint: the money is in songwriting and publishing). On that note I will simply attempt to explain what this record–– which I think is pretty damn great–– is and isn’t. What it isn’t is a Stooges record, what it is, is James Williamson’s chance to get the Stooges repertoire 1972-74 recorded in some high quality studio recordings. For this he utilizes two core bands-–one being the final Stooges touring line-up Mike Watt on bass, Toby Dammit on drums and Steve MacKay on sax–– the other being Michael Urbano on drums, Simone Marie Butler [of Primal Scream] on bass, Gregg Foreman [Cat Power] plays keyboards throughout, and there’s a variety of other players scattered about and a line-up of guest singers. Best of all James Williamson is playing guitar on every track and is the featured soloist.
As mentioned, the tunes are all vintage Stooges from the era immediately before and after Raw Power. So far so good, these are some of the greatest rock ’n’ roll songs ever written, and let’s face it, if you’ve got a good song you’re halfway home. James co-wrote fourteen of the sixteen with Iggy Pop [“I Got A Right” is credited solely to Iggy, “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills” is credited to Iggy and Ron Asheton]. Stooges fans will recognize most if not all of the tunes from a bewildering variety of live and rehearsal bootlegs and an 8-track demo that was issued on several 45’s.

got-a-rightThe opening track, with Jello Biafra singing, is “Head On The Curve.” Jello sticks close to Iggy’s Metallic KO rendition (for reasons known only to him and perhaps his shrink, substituting the words Mother Fucker for Butt Fucker…) and Butler’s bass part pays tribute to Ron Asheton’s (for all his bitching over the years about being shifted to bass, I did finally get Ron to admit that he thought he was a great bass player). Second tune is the Stooges’ classic set closer “Open Up & Bleed”, is given a rather dramatic re-interpretation by Carolyn Wonderland who turns it into adult blues. These two tracks give you the point spread. Jello sticks as close to the Stooges as possible [as does Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie on “Scene Of The Crime”]. Carolyn Wonderland takes it as far into the modern world as a such a tune can go. All the other tracks fall in between these two extremes.

Favorites on early listening would have to be Lisa Kekaula of the Bel-Rays [who also did some vocals on the MC5 reunion] belting out “I Got A Right” Clara Ward gospel style, and “Heavy Liquid,” the most R&B oriented tune Williamson ever wrote. “Pinpoint Eyes,” a hard core blues with one of James’ best solos ever, sung by Joe Cardamone [The Icaruas Line]; The Richmond Sluts’ wailing through the flat out rocker “Wet My Bed” and two versions of “Cock In My Pocket,” sung first by Nicke Anderson [The Hellacopters] and then by Gary Floyd. Another real treat here is hearing polished versions of tunes known from bootlegs of such horrid quality it was hard to even tell if they were real tunes or not—“Rubber Legs” [sung by J.G. Thirlwell, who I think is the guy that used to collaborate with Lydia Lunch under the name Foetus] falls into that category as does “Til The End Of The Night” [Alison Mosshart sings] and Wild Love [Mosshart duets with Mark Lanegan]. I have to admit, I pay little attention to modern music and many of these singers and players are new to me, but all and all, this is as killer a rock ’n’ roll album as you’re going to hear in these days of increasingly diminished expectations.

http://pleasekillme.com/james-williamson-re-licked-and-last-licks/

100% ROCK MAGAZINE (Aussie daily– secured by Brian @ Rish) – Feature interview with photos
INTERVIEW: James Williamson – October 2014

By Shane Pinnegar

As the foil to Iggy Pop’s drug-fuelled mayhem in The Stooges James Williamson survived the early ‘70s proto-punk years, blazing a trail across the United States and into the hearts and minds of a million teenagers with his revolutionary riffs and song writing. The Raw Power album – featuring the title track, Search and Destroy, Gimme Danger, Shake Appeal and more – has stood the test of time, but upon its release in 1973 the album and band were all but ignored. It was just all too much for an America in the throughs of the Vietnam war and they were just too anti-conservative.

That didn’t stop them writing for the follow-up that never came, though: and in true Stooges obstinate fashion they started playing the new songs immediately – Open Up And Bleed, She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills, I Gotta Right, Rubber Leg, Heavy Liquid and even the establishment-baiting Cock In My Pocket have all gone down in arcane rock n’ roll history as subverted classics through their appearance on countless illicit bootlegs from the tail-end of the bands life, despite never having been officially recorded.

Guitarist James Williamson dropped out of the music business, learnt electronic engineering and enjoyed a fruitful career in that field for a quarter of a century before reuniting with Iggy & The Stooges after Ron Asheton’s death in 2009.

With The Stooges taking the year off the road and out of the studio after a busy four years, Williamson leapt on the opportunity to realise a long-held dream: he’d finally record the follow-up to Raw Power. Iggy Pop wasn’t interested in revisiting the past, so Williamson got The Stooges touring band together to start recording these forty-year-old tracks and invited a diverse range of singers into the fold to deliver the tracks. When band members had other commitments, he brought in some other friends and they finished the sessions.

“I did about 8 tracks with [Mike] Watt and Toby Dammit and [Steve] MacKay, and then Watt had to go off and play – you know, they have their own bands and side projects and things. Watt was touring Europe, then Toby was [busy], so it didn’t work out where I could use them for the whole thing. Then I was lucky enough to get Simone Marie Butler, the bass player for Primal Scream: she’s amazing. She came in and Michael Urbano, another amazing drummer came in, and Gregg Foreman from Cat Power is playing the keyboards on there. Those guys came in and really brought it. They were amazing to work with.”

Finally, Re-Licked is finished and Williamson couldn’t be happier.

“Yeah, believe me. I am!” he sighs with relief. “I’m getting down to the little minutia. I’m just about to approve the vinyl and all the manufacturing stuff. I’m very, very happy. It’s been a very taxing experience, but I’m quite proud of it.

“You know, the people that played on it were fantastic to work with. They all are – everybody was – big Stooges fans. They came having grown up with this material really. They all came knowing what the context of everything was and they were having a great time playing it. I think that comes across.”

When it came time to record the vocals, Williamson started with a visit to Austin, Texas to capture the soulful blues voice of Carolyn Wonderland on two tracks: Open Up And Bleed and Gimme Some Skin. Most of the other vocalists made their way to him.

“It was a mixture, but mostly it was live in person,” he explains. “They came to me in LA. In fact, Alison Mossheart even flew from London to come and do those two vocals. She was hardcore, man. She was like, her comment was, ‘I don’t know which I want to do more: to sing on this album or to hear it.’ She came in to really rock it, and she did. She was great.

“I think the only two that I needed to ship off files for was Bobby Gillespie [Primal Scream] which was no problem because Bobby knows those songs. He lived those songs. I think he did his vocal in just a few takes, maybe one, I don’t know. Then Nicke Andersson [The Hellacopters] in Sweden – the same thing. But mostly they were done in L.A. I did a couple of them up here where I live in Northern California in a studio I like to use in Berkeley and that’s where I mixed the album, but mostly in L.A.”

Williamson goes on to say he gave each singer free rein to do what th
“Yeah, you know what? I [think so] too,” agrees the guitarist. “I think, his voice has changed a lot since the days when we wrote and performed these songs. I just don’t think that it would have added anything. It would have probably just been a bare source of criticism, unnecessarily. Who’s to say what the future holds. Let’s not count him out because of course, I hope we can do some live performances with this stuff. You never know whether what we’re going to do and the band. Just like with Kill City [the Pop/Williamson album of demos released in 1975], we incorporated a lot of that stuff into The Stooges set.

“We’ll see what happens, but certainly for this record I think [with] the singers on there, there’s no need for Iggy. It’s all there.”

Williamson goes on to say he’d love to do a one-off live show with all of the singers taking part.

“I would love to do that. It just comes down to finding the promoter who is going to step up and put it together. 14 singers is a pretty daunting task.

“It’s not cheap, you know? It’s got to be a showcase type thing and in a major market no doubt. Promoters are very ingenious. If the album’s doing okay, they’ll figure out a way.”

By now you’re getting a handle on the people involved in Re-Licked. Nicke Andersson from Swedish sleaze-rockers The Hellacopters. Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. Garage rock queen Lisa Kekaula. Alt-blues star Alison Mossheart from the Dead Weather and The Kills. Former Screaming Tree and minor legend Mark Lanegan. Ron Young from soulful hard rockers Little Caesar. It’s an eclectic mix of very cult performers, and Williamson is adamant that he did not want to just mirror what The Stooges might have done in 1975.

“Oh yeah. I really didn’t want to do that,” he says emphatically. “First of all, I wanted to make an album that I was happy with – and I’ve changed a lot since 1973 or ‘74 or whatever. I wanted to bring what I learned from life now. Those people are all wonderful artists. Every one of them just comes across so enthusiastically and so happy to be on the album. You can’t argue with that. When I listen to the record – and I hope you too – feel like, ‘wow, these people are really having a good time with this.’

Once word got out that Williamson was making Re-Licked, he says a few people came a-knockin’, wanting to be involved, which led to a few alternate versions being offered as bonus tracks on the record.

“I’m not all that easy to get a hold of,” he laughs, “but I did have a few and I certainly didn’t have anybody who I contacted that rejected me. It was certainly something that most of the people, by the time I asked them they had already heard about it and they were flattered to be asked. So much so, really, that I was really surprised. It was a good surprise. I think if anything I might have had maybe too many singers. You hear those alternate tracks on the album, but I kind of made it my philosophy that if somebody’s going to come and step up and offer their vocal onto my record, then I’m going to use it. There’s a couple of them that are quite different from each other, but they’re all on there.

“Like Cock In My Pocket. Nicke [Andersson]’s and Gary Floyd [from Texan hardcore punk band The Dicks]’s versions are totally different from each other, but by the same token it’s funny that different people like different ones better than the other one.”

Having been back with the Stooges for roughly five years now, Williamson says he is still excited by it and enjoys being back in the band, especially given the long-overdue respect that has finally come their way.

“You know, I am. The Stooges have been a lot of fun and very, very gratifying at this point – in that we, when this album that we’re talking about tonight was created, nobody liked us and we couldn’t even get a record deal. The record label that we already had [didn’t want] to pick up the option to do this album, which is what would have been after Raw Power. That’s the kind of challenge where things were at, at that point. But now, where we are, it’s amazing how well known we are and well respected we are. For me, having lived all of that previous time, it’s very, very gratifying. But yeah, I’ve had a good time doing it.”

With most of the original Stooges members now gone, and different players coming into the band for touring and recording, Williamson is pretty sure that when either himself or Pop go to the great gig in the sky, the band will cease to be.

“Well, I hope [the music will live on]. I hope we made a big enough contribution. [But] if there’s no more Stooges it’s pretty hard to be The Stooges. I mean, I guess there’s tribute bands and things like that. No, I think that once we hang it up I think in terms of the band itself touring and things like that, I think it’s over.”

Transporting Williamson back to the chaotic last days of The Stooges, I ask if they deliberately wrote to bait the mainstream – after all, Cock In My Pocket and Wet My Bed, they’re not exactly Billbord Top 10 material for 1974!

“No, you know, in those days especially, we didn’t even consider things like that,” he says wistfully, “because we really only wrote songs because we liked them. By the time we would be playing them in a set live or anything, they were things that we actually liked. Yeah, it was outrageous to sing those songs and it was a hell of a lot of fun too. Wet My Bed, and all of those songs absolutely just made people crazy and they still do. They’re just fun songs to listen to and to play.”

Listening back to the infamous Metallic K.O. bootleg of The Stooges last ever show in Detroit in February 1974, and you can hear the hostility and hatred towards the band as they play Head On [performed by Jello Biafra from punk legends The Dead Kennedys on the new record] and Cock In My Pocket, as the crowd pelts the band with eggs and beer bottles. I’m not alone in wishing we had a time machine to travel back to that show and be a fly on the wall. It sounds chaotic and mad and insane.

“Well, it was. I mean it WAS,” declares Williamson, obviously still shell shocked by it forty years later. “It was a little bit dangerous too.

“The lucky part of that show was that from about 30 yards away, it’s pretty hard to kill somebody with a bottle – otherwise we wouldn’t have survived!”

Scary stuff indeed. Getting back very briefly to Williamson’s 25 year career as an electrical engineer, he says for the most part his co-workers didn’t have a clue about his past.

“Not until towards the end. [Much of] that was before the internet, so it was not that easy – the access to information was really a lot more sparse. Whereas after the internet, after a while, there became a tremendous amount of information and as we became more and more and more popular, I think then there was more and more written about us.

“Eventually people started hearing about me and stuff… the odd person would come up to me and say, ‘are you James Williamson from The Stooges?’ Yeah, you know? It was fine, but yeah, it was a long time before that happened. A lot of people were quite surprised because they had known me a long time without really knowing that particular fact. I think there was a VH1 Behind The Music show that they did of Iggy and I was on that as well. People were having their dinners watching TV and all of a sudden they’re going, ‘holy shit! I know that guy.’ That kind of thing.”

Re-Licked is out on 29 October in a variety of formats, including a 24-page booklet and a bonus ‘making of’ DVD. The album cover features an extremely striking image of Williamson in neo-Mexican skullface makeup, which he says might ring a bell with early Stooges fans.

“Well, it was a combination of things. When I was in my 20s, I was quite skinny. I got the nickname, ‘The Skull.’ I don’t know if that may have been lost to the sands of time except for the really hardcore fans, but I thought that would be a fun thing to do, to be a skull. I had met this wonderful body art person Prima Mary who actually painted me – when you see the actual album and the inside cover art and so forth, you’ll see there’s a real live leopard lady. Her dress is painted on – she’s actually got no dress on, it’s just painted. Anyway, I had her do that for me – it’s also very timely for Halloween time release.”

As our time runs down and talk turns to future projects, Williamson admits he is too focussed on Re-Licked to consider any other bucket-list projects he may have.

“Yeah, I just got to get out from under this first. But I do think I have more music in me. What form it will take and how I’ll deliver it to people is all stuff for the future. I’m certainly not willing to completely call it quits here once this is out and in people’s hands. I’m really looking forward to that happening and it’s going to happen pretty soon now. I was just approving the vinyl test pressing today. It’s coming along now!”

Re-Licked is out now in CD, vinyl and digital formats via Leopard Lady Records worldwide.

Track Listing:

01 Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02 Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03 Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04 She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05 Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06 I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07 Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08 Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09 Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar
)10 I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)

Bonus Tracks:
11 Gimme Some Skin (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
12 Cock In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13 Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14 Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15 Cock In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16 Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)

An edited version of this interview was first published in X-Press Magazine’s 21 October 2014 issue
http://magazine.100percentrock.com/interviews/201411/85668

THWART (online music blog) – Brif positive review with album art.
I don't think I need to really set the scene when I mention JAMES WILLIAMSON but Re-Licked, like it or not, is pretty rocking. Pretty, pretty rocking. Old songs, redone, with some newer material rounding out the release with a guest-starring cast. A list Im not going to re-do. I must say, Re-Licked plays well and sounds great. I was most impressed with Jello Biafras contribution, "Head On A Curve", which proves that no-one, NO-ONE sez 'Mother-fucker' better than Biafra!
http://shawnabnoxious.blogspot.com/2014/11/yes-yes-oui-ear-plugs-5.html

BORED AND DANGEROUS (online music blog) – Positive album review with two video teasers
MUSIC REVIEW | JAMES WILLIAMSON – RE-LICKED (2014)

In the early 70s, James Williamson joined The Stooges and went on to record several albums with Iggy Pop and the boys, including the justifiably legendary Raw Power. In recent years, various versions of The Stooges have reunited for a couple of albums and a couple of tours. I’m nowhere near enough of a Stooges aficionado to know how the new millennium version stacks up with the old school incarnation, but now, Williamson has given us a combination of the old and the new.

Re-Licked, a collection of unrecorded and lesser known Stooges songs from their original 70s heyday, utilising a range of guest vocalists and musicians, including Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Mike Watt (The Minutemen) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees). So, with that origin of the songs, and those names attached as collaborators, Williamson is setting expectations pretty high. Can Re-Licked live up to them?

Opening with the Biafra assisted Head on the Curve, Re-Licked kicks off in style, rocking hard, bringing the punk and showcasing Biafra sounding better than he ever did the in the Dead Kennedys. Then it’s a sharp left turn as Carolyn Wonderland fronts Open Up and Bleed, a dirty blues jam that swaggers through four and a half minutes of pure attitude.

Blues and punk fuse seamlessly on Scene of the Crime as Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) provides the unifying rock needed to bind it all together. This opening trifecta of awesome makes the organ and sax fuelled She Creature of the Hollywood Hills a little insubstantial by comparison, but they can’t all be zingers.

A little respite from the rock, the acoustic picking, combined with the hypnotic vocals of ‘Til the End of the Night is a nice little breather as Re-Licked gets ready to launch its second half. This sounds like the 60s or 70s, but not The Stooges of the 60s or 70s. It’s a little more reflective and introspective. It’s also around this time that I realise that for an album made by a guitarist, Williamson is surprisingly restrained in doling out the shredding solos. When he does, they’re great, but I also appreciate them a little bit more, because they’re so few and far between.

Then it’s side two, kicking off with probably the best song on Re-Lickerd, Gotta Right. This is Motorhead style energy (and I mean that as a huge compliment), and the wailing vocals form Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays), combined with the wailing guitar of Williamson, and airtight rhythm section makes for balls out rock at its balls outiest. This second half of ass kicking is relentless right up until the pair of awesome closers, Rubber Led and I’m Sick of You.

The guest vocalist aspect of Re-Licked had me concerned that it might come off as nothing more than a compilation album, but the ever changing sound provided by these singers gives it a real freshness that kept my attention every step of the way. Maybe Re-Licked would have been amazing with Iggy behind the mic. We’ll never know. But what I do know is, James Williamson has delivered decades old songs that sound as vibrant as anything else I’ve heard in 2014. And he’s stacked his roster with an all star line up of singers who unify this album through their collective bad assedness.
http://boredanddangerousblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/music-review-james-williamson-re-licked-2014/#more-2601

DAYS OF THE CRAZY WILD (online music site) – News post on album stream with album art.
Audio: Stream James William’s Album Of Re-Done Stooges Songs, ‘Re-Licked,’ Right Now!
James Williamson was the raw powerhouse guitar on The Stooges’ third album, Raw Power. He also played tremendous guitar on the underrated Iggy solo album, New Values.

Check out Williamson’s new album, Re-Licked, which is out now, and which finds Williamson remaking a bunch of Stooges songs that were never released with a bunch of great vocalists: Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, The BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, The Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone and Carolyn Wonderland.
http://www.daysofthecrazy-wild.com/audio-stream-james-williams-album-re-done-stooges-songs-re-licked-right-now/

VOCALS ON TOP (online music site) – Positive 3 1/2 star album review with cover art
James Williamson “Re-Licked”
James Williamson was in The Stooges and he will always be linked to them. He embraces that (and uses it) on his “solo” album Re-Licked. The album is exactly what it sounds like, Williamson going through the Stooges vaults and re-recording songs.

He uses a twist as he has several high profile guests help him out like Jello Biafra, Alison Mossheard and Mark Lanegan along with a laundry list of other lended talent. One good thing is there is no deception here; he presents them as re-recorded songs and even gives his guest artists prominent billing on the album cover. Williamson isn’t fooling anyone here and he doesn’t want to. The other good part is that the music isn’t too bad either. They aren’t stale rundowns, they have fire and passion like you’d find on a good cover album.

The sound undeniably belongs to The Stooges so the album works even with an array of vocalists. Most singers just try on their best Iggy Pop mask and that isn’t a horrible thing because it helps tie the record together. It’s great to hear Jello Biafra belt out “Head On The Curve” and fall somewhere between The Dead Kennedys and The Stooges. Mark Lanegan and Alison Mossheart duel on “Wild Love” nicely for one of the albums most distinct tracks as well. The record is interesting for a listen but even with Williamson’s presence doesn’t feel quite like The Stooges; it feels more like a tribute album.

Key Tracks: “Head On The Curve” (with Jello Biafra) “Wild Love” (with Lanegan and Mosshart) “Sick of You” (with Mario Cuomo of The Orwells)
http://vocalsontop.com/2014/11/03/250-word-album-review-james-williamson-re-licked/

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Aussie daily– secured by Brian @ Rish) – Positive album review with cover art
James Williamson “Re-Licked”
James Williamson's new take on old Stooges' classics
It's not likely to get spun on any mainstream radio stations any time soon, but Carolyn Wonderland unleashing Open Up And Bleed off James Williamson's Re-Licked album is one of the songs of the year.
Originally penned in the early '70s by Williamson and his Stooges bandmate Iggy Pop, the track until now has only ever been heard in raw or bootleg form, which has long been a source of frustration for Williamson.
The idea to record an album of songs that he and Pop wrote in the aftermath of making the hugely influential punk album Raw Power in 1973 had been bubbling away in the back of Williamson's mind for years.

James Williamson.

The Stooges, who were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, formed in 1967 with the indomitable Pop out front and the Asheton brothers, Ron and Scott, playing guitar and drums respectively. Williamson joined the band in 1970 and the songs on Re-Licked are those co-written by Pop that fell through the cracks after the Stooges went on tour on the back of Raw Power. The Stooges broke up in '75, leaving these songs unfinished, says Williamson.
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"I'm especially proud I've been able to re-do these songs because they had always sort of languished ... I'd always cringe when I'd hear those bootlegs," the 65-year-old told Fairfax Media.
Pop, who gave Williamson's project his blessing, was "kind of surprised when he heard the first single, like he forgot about it and then he quickly did some back-pedalling ... but he is on this album, he co-wrote it."
The impetus for calling on Texan singer Wonderland and then reaching out to other singers and musicians came at the conclusion of the Stooges last marathon tour, which began in 2009 and ran till last year.
Williamson, who rejoined the Stooges after stepping down from a senior technical position with corporate giant Sony, said the Re-Licked project quickly sprang to life after finding himself with some free time.
"Open Up And Bleed is one of my favourite songs and after talking to my wife we agreed it would be really cool if we had a female singer on there who could really belt it out," Williamson says.
"Then I started looking for other people and Jello [Biafra] was demanding he sing Head On The Curve. I got hooked up with Joe Cardamone from the Icarus Line. Joe is really plugged in down in LA and he did a fantastic performance on Pin Point Eyes.
"Mark [Lanegan] got involved and the A&R guy I was working with suggested Alison Mosshart, who was fantastic, and Bobby Gillespie [Primal Scream] is a big Stooges fan and he jumped on it and did a great performance. They all brought their love of the band, songs they grew up singing, and I think that's what comes across on the album, their enthusiasm for it."
The Stooges touring band of Mike Watt, Steve Mackay and Toby Dammit feature on several songs, while other guest singers include Ariel Punk and the Bellrays' Lisa Kekaula, who takes the classic I Got A Right to a stunning new level.
"I only had that one track for Lisa, but after she completely nailed that I put her on another track, Heavy Liquid ... she can sing anything, she's fantastic."
Described in an accompanying DVD as "inspiring to work with" by one musician and a "visceral guitar player" by another, Williamson's own passion for the songs hasn't diminished in the four decades since they were penned.
"It was such a pleasure to do this and I don't usually feel this way about my own records, but it's just a pleasure to play this record ... it's fun and it's worthwhile for sure. I am proud, no doubt."
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/james-williamsons-new-take-on-old-stooges-classics-20141031-11euvn.html

ABC12-TV (Flint, MI ABC affiliate) – Positive album review
Lost Iggy & The Stooges album goes from relic to Re-Licked
MID-MICHIGAN (WJRT) - 41 years later, the follow-up to Iggy & The Stooges seminal album Raw Power is finally getting it's proper release, and on the 65th birthday of the man who brought it back to life no less.

Iggy Pop isn't singing the songs, and many of them have gone through pretty drastic revisions, but Stooges guitarist James Williamson's Re-Licked consists of the tracks he and Pop wrote while touring in support of Raw Power in 1973, and even played many of them live before the band split up after being dropped by their record label.

Williamson told ABC12 in April that he's wanted to give these songs their due for a long time. But for three of the past four decades, the Detroit raised Williamson had a pretty valid excuse for putting the project off, he had left the music business behind for a career in silicon valley, eventually becoming a Vice-President of Technical Standards for Sony.

After retiring from electronics, he rejoined The Stooges following original guitarist Ron Asheton's death in 2009, and the fire to record these old songs was rekindled.

Hitting store shelves yesterday (October 29th), the project isn't just a re-hashing of old material, in fact far from it. Williamson has spent over a year bringing the tracks to life and finding the right vocalist for each song with the absence of Pop. Some were done in the more traditional Stooges style, Dead Kennedy's singer Jello Biafra opens the album with ferocious fervor as he belts out "Head On The Curve" over Williamson's screaming riffs.

Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie's rendition of "Scene Of The Crime" is more pre-punk rock Stooges sound, but a rolling piano by keyboardist Gregg Foreman adds a little melodic depth to Williamson's trebly tone.

"Rubber Leg" and "Pinpoint Eyes" keep the rockers rolling along, but the project also takes some drastic turns, notably Carolyn Wonderland's transformation of probably the best known of the post-Raw Power tracks "Open Up & Bleed" into a slow, sultry blues number.

Alison Mosshart of The Kills and The Dead Weather also slows the pace down on "Til The End Of The Night." A subdued Williamson acoustic guitar accompanies Mosshart's passionate plea for a one night stand.

Up to this point, the female songs had been slower and bluesier. But Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays kicks that stereotype to the curb with authority, giving probably the most Iggy-like performance of the album. Matching Williamson's screaming riffs with blood curdling screeches of her own on "I Gotta Right."

Mosshart's second contribution to the project continues the woman rockers, dueting with Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age's Mark Lanegan on "Wild Love." This one is highlighted by an extended intro from Williamson.

The Stooges didn't just play fast-paced rockers, as exhibited on the artsy, disorienting "She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills." Ariel Pink screams and moans his way over a funky keyboard beat and some vintage Stooges saxophone. The weirdness continues on the closing track "I'm Sick Of You" featuring The Orwells singer Mario Cuomo.

There's also a series of bonus tracks for the various editions of Re-Licked, including the B-Side from last spring's Open Up And Bleed single "Gimmie Some Skin" featuring Carolyn Wonderland. There's also another rocker from Lisa Kekaula and an alternate version of "Rubber Leg" with J.G. Thirlwell.

Another bonus in the deluxe editions is a fascinating documentary that takes fans inside the studio as Williamson and his band and all the guest vocalists put the project together.

Now that the album is complete, the future for Williamson isn't clear. He told us in April that given all the different elements, touring this project probably was going to be too difficult to pull together. And after a year off the road, Iggy & The Stooges haven't revealed any plans for returning in 2015.
http://www.abc12.com/story/27165453/lost-iggy-the-stooges-album-goes-from-relic-to-re-licked

DC ROCK LIVE (DC music blog) – Fair album review
JAMES WILLIAMSON "ReLICKED"

As a major Stooges fan, I've followed the band's activities closely over the years. I heard that in recent times James Williamson pitched an idea to Iggy for them to rerecord the post-Raw Power Stooges songs that were incomplete and that had been released in various bootleg and authorized rough and unfinished versions. Instead the Stooges made a new album, which while much better than 'The Weirdness', still was not quite up to what new versions of 'Open Up and Bleed' and 'I Gotta Right' would have yielded.

So James Williamson took it upon himself to do this album with a series of guest vocalists. And of course, everyone of them invites comparisons to Iggy and the older recorded versions of these songs, which while raw, still have that feral brilliance of the Stooges. Some of that is evident here in the ferocious Williamson guitar which still has that needed nasty streak. The Stooges rhythm section does well and the arrangements are good. But this record still ends up frustrating me with lots of vocalists that either do cliched blues versions or their own punk or rock styling to the songs. Only a few of them work well enough to really get me excited (see below). But if you like James Williamson the guitarist, there is still plenty here to give a fair listen to.

Songs to try first:

'Til the End of the Night - Alison Mosshart gives it a lighter blues workout, which works here (along with some hot guitar leads).

Rubber Leg - Two versions. I like the Ron Young one better, but the JG Thirlwell one is fine. I think this song is just brilliant and raw enough to work with more than Iggy.

I'm Sick of You - Cool song where guitar work remains similar and Mario Cuomo doesn't mess up the singing.
http://dcrocklive.blogspot.com/

DANGEROUS MINDS (online A&E site) – Feature interview (secured by James)
LESS WITH THE RAW, STILL WITH THE POWER: JAMES WILLIAMSON RESURRECTS LOST IGGY & THE STOOGES SONGS

The last five years must have felt like a triumphant return for Iggy and the Stooges’ James Williamson. After a decades-long alienation from the music business, during which he improbably landed a job as an electronics executive—not even a slightly typical afterlife for a proto-punk rager—the man best known for his sick guitar playing on the epochal 1973 album Raw Power reunited with his old band in 2009, and recorded the album Ready to Die with them last year. But with that band on hiatus again after a 2013 world tour, Williamson turned to some long-unfinished business. There was a very very large pile of old songs, dating back to the ‘70s, that he’d written with Stooges singer Iggy Pop for the intended follow-up to Raw Power, but which had never been recorded in a studio. A few were on the live Metallic K.O. album, some had circulated among obsessives as really rough-sounding bootleg dubs, and many of them turned up on the Open Up And Bleed! live collection released by BOMP! Records in 1995. But those were the only traces of those songs; sketchy-sounding live versions.

The Stooges, minus Iggy, have remedied that. With the Stooges’ touring band, that being bassist Mike Watt, drummer Toby Dammit, and saxophonist Steve Mackay, Williamson has recorded Re-Licked, a 16-track collection of those old songs, with a revolving door of siners. The lineup of vocalists is impressive—it HAS to be right? They’re standing in for a young Iggy Pop! I’d love to call it an all-star lineup, but a lot of these people aren’t really quite “stars,” though pretty much all of them kick high ass. The BellRays’ amazing Lisa Kekaula, Jello Biafra, Ariel Pink, ex-Dicks Gary Floyd, former Foetus honcho J.G. Thirlwell, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie all make appearances. Last April, a Record Store Day 7” teaser single was released, with the gifted Austin, TX blues belter Carolyn Wonderland singing “Open Up and Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin.” Both also appear on Re-Licked, which saw its release this week.

Williamson was kind enough to make some time to talk to Dangerous Minds about the album.

You joined the Stooges after Fun House, but they broke up. Then when they were reconstituted as Iggy and the Stooges, you played on Raw Power. After that, you appeared on a couple of Iggy albums, and that’s pretty much it, right? What did you do in all the years since then?

After we were unsuccessful at finding a record label, Iggy and I kinda gave up on the Stooges. He went off with Bowie, who’d offered to take him under his wing, and that launched his solo career, and I was kind of fed up with playing music at that point so I went to work at a recording studio in Los Angeles. I learned a lot there, but one of the things I learned was that I really wasn’t cut out to be a recording engineer. It was the disco era by then, and I couldn’t stand the work. One thing is worse than playing with musicians you don’t like, and that’s recording them every day. It was a training ground for me, though, because it got me interested in electronics, and since those were the early early days of the personal computer, that led to an interest in the possibilities of computers, so I decided to become a real electronics engineer. I got a job in Silicon Valley, and I’ve been here ever since.

And what got you back into playing?

I had a 25-30 year career in electronics, and ended up as an executive at Sony. Around when Ronnie Asheton died in 2009, I was toying with taking early retirement. With the economy, these companies were offering that, and it looked attractive. At the same time I got a call from Iggy asking if I wanted to rejoin the band. At first I turned him down. I couldn’t imagine doing it, and I wasn’t even sure I could do it, since I hadn’t been playing at all. But I decided I owed it to them to give it a try, and I could do it because of the retirement. Then it turned out that Sony didn’t want me to leave so they hired me back as a consultant, but still I had some time to do some woodshedding, and I got good enough to play the first gig in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to a HUGE audience compared to anything I’d ever seen before. So I was back. A lot of things happened all at once.

So the material you recorded for Re-Licked was late Iggy and the Stooges stuff that never got released on an LP. There’ve been two Stooges albums since their reunion, The Weirdness, which you’re not on, and Ready to Die, which you’re on. None of these dormant songs turned up on either of those albums. How come?

We did discuss it. We had that conversation. The fans always wanted that album, and the bootlegs are out there, so people are familiar with it. What we decided was if we did an Iggy and the Stooges album, it was a given that it’d be compared to Raw Power, and it probably would be a difficult comparison with the old Stooges vs the young Stooges. Iggy’s voice has changed a great deal, like everyone’s does, with age, and I’m not even sure he could sing some of these songs now, they’re not all easy to sing. In the end we decided that rather than beg that type of comparison, let’s just write new songs. Sure, it’s still going to get compared, but it’s going to get compared as new stuff. I’m very proud of Ready to Die, we spent a lot of time writing it, Iggy stepped up on the lyrics and the vocals, it’s a good album.

The fact was that we still hadn’t done these songs, though, and I had it in mind that I really wanted to do them. Once we stopped touring last September, I had the time. I only started out with one song, I rearranged “Open Up and Bleed,” and my wife and I were talking about it and thought it would be great to get a Janis Joplin type singer for it. So I searched and searched and searched, and finally an old friend of mine In Austin sent me a link to Carolyn Wonderland. She did like three takes and it was over, and I was so blown away I said, even before I came back from Austin, yeah, I can do this, I could do a whole album. Luckily for me I found a lot of people of that caliber who could do it.

How did you choose the singers? There are some inspired choices. Gary Floyd doing “Cock in my Pocket,” I just love. And the guy singing the other version of that song, he’s from the Hellacopters, right?

Yeah, Nicke Andersson. Those were people who were recommended to me, so were a lot of people on the album. I got lots of recommendations. There was a lot of interest in doing this album, so I didn’t have any problem attracting people. Where I did have a problem was I didn’t know a lot of them, so I would go and if they had any material I could get access to or if I could watch them on YouTube, I’d get a feel for their style. So the people that actually ended up on the album were narrowed down from a very big list. I didn’t really have anyone who turned me down. There were a couple of people who couldn’t do it because they were busy, but no one was disinterested. That’s one thing I really like about this album, you can hear the singers’ enthusiasm about it, it just feels like they’re into it and they’re bringing their A-game to these songs.

It’s interesting that there are so many female vocalists on the album.

Well, it all started with Carolyn, and after her I thought, well, this works pretty well. The Stooges never had any women on anything, so it was a different thing, but it worked really well. This isn’t a Stooges album, it’s a tribute to those songs, so I didn’t want think about making it sound like the Stooges, but just bring the best people on that I could find.

Yeah, Lisa Kekaula, especially, she’s pretty fabulous.

Oh, MAN, yeah!

Have you seen the BellRays live? You must have, right?

No! What happened was I was down at Joe Cardamone’s, he’s the Icarus Line’s singer. I worked a lot with him, he let me use his little studio for stuff where a little studio would work, and I was sitting with him and was looking for another vocalist, and he asked if I’d ever heard Lisa Kekaula, and I said no, and he said to call her. She just came right over, and I only had one track available at the time, that was “I Got a Right,” and she came in and just NAILED that song. My jaw dropped. Unbelievable. So I had to do a single with her, so later I came back and recorded “Heavy Liquid” for her. It was a lot of fun to do these sessions.

So is this it then, these are the canonical studio recordings of these songs? The Stooges won’t finally make the lost album?

I don’t see that as being in the cards. I made an open invitation to Iggy to sing on these. He wrote them with me, so he has every much a right to sing them as I have to play them. But I sincerely doubt that we’ll do that. Frankly I don’t know if we could improve on this.

How do you imagine it’ll be received? People who know these songs at all only know the really really gnarly versions from nth generation dubbed tapes, or else from K.O. or the Open Up and Bleed live thing.

So far the responses and reviews are incredibly good. It’s exceeding my expectations by a long shot. There’s always going to be people that don’t like something, and there’s a lot of “Iggy bigots” that are gonna hate it because he isn’t on it. I’ve always had to live with the people that wouldn’t recognize anything that came after Fun House. But so far, on balance, the responses are really amazing, if for no other reason than that, because of all the people singing on it, this is reaching people that possibly wouldn’t have listened to the Stooges. All of these different people bring their own audiences into play, so there’s this wider group you’re exposing this music to.

So is there anything happening with the Stooges in the future?

We haven’t discussed it. I’m beginning to have my doubts, because next year, Iggy’s going to be 68 years old. Think about going out and like, stage diving, at 68 years old. Think you could do it?

I’M NO IGGY POP!

*laughs* Well, the only thing that makes me say it could happen is that if anyone will do it, he will. I have doubts. And I also have to admit I’m a part of that equation, and right now I don’t have to think about it, but if I had a serious offer to do it, I’d really have to think about it. I’m not getting any younger either, but then, all I have to do is play guitar. So I could go out and do that, but I also feel a kind of duty to uphold the honor of the name. I don’t want us to be like the Rolling Stones. To me, they’ve ruined their brand. They’re just too frickin’ old. They’re still really cool guys, but they’re really cool REALLY OLD guys. I’d never go see ‘em anymore. So do I want the Stooges to be like that? No, I want people to remember us like, even the last tour we did, we were still really burning up the stage, some people at any age can’t do that. That’s what I want the memory to be. At this point I’m open to it if we can pull it off, but there are lots of reasons not to do it, too.

Williamson was right about these songs getting compared to the old versions, because we’re going to do that right now. Here’s the Stooges’ demo for “I Got a Right.” This has ended up on various bootlegs, and even got a small but legit release, on a super limited deluxe edition of Raw Power. This song completely fuckin’ smokes.

And here’s a teaser of the version with the BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula. This also completely fuckin’ smokes. If you’re watching at work, be advised there’s a stripper in the video.
by Ron Kretsch
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/less_with_the_raw_still_with_the_power

NPR’S WORLD CAFE (Internationally syndicated music radio show aired on over 200 stations worldwide) – Feature interview with spins from new record and Raw Power
James Williamson On World Café
Today's guest on World Cafe is guitarist James Williamson, who was a live guitarist for legendary Detroit rock band The Stooges after the release of 1970's Fun House and co-wrote 1973's Raw Power with Iggy Pop.

In 1974, Williamson began work with the group on a fourth album, Re-Licked, but the record was never released. A reconstruction of that lost album comes out Tuesday, put together by Williamson with guest vocalists, including Ariel Pink and Mark Lanegan. Hear two songs from that album and a Stooges classic on today's episode.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/world-cafe/2014/10/27/358642637/james-williamson-on-world-cafe

THE OAKLAND PRESS (daily) – Brief mention of album in “noteworthy” releases colum
New & Noteworthy:
James Williamson, “Re-Licked” (Leopard Lady): The Stooges guitarist recruits friends from the Kils, the Dead Weather, Primal Scream, the Orwells and more to help out on this newly recorded collection of the band’s rarities.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/arts-and-entertainment/20141027/the-listening-room-yusufstevens-black-veil-brides-flaming-lips-jerry-lee-lewis-more

READ THE HORN (UT Austin college weekly) – Positve album review with album art.
James Williamson “Re-Licked”
Leopard Lady Records

Guitarist James Williamson is beloved by devout followers of The Stooges, and those are exactly the folks who will want to pick up his new record Re-Licked. The album is a series of theatrical collaborations with artists like Jello Biafra, The Richmond Sluts, Ariel Pink, and Bobby Gillespie. Most of these tunes sound like a blast; a mix of lounge-y punk rock and funk. His duet with Ariel Pink specifically, titled “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills,” is like a costumed, psychedelic trip with distorted saxophone that appears suddenly in the midst of a lengthy jam and leaves you whirling. Elements of psychobilly, gospel, soul, and garage rock all contribute to the rose-tinted tinge on this kooky, brainy outing.
http://www.readthehorn.com/lifestyle/austin/101479/album_reviews_james_williamson_one_derful_jason_marsalis_vibes_quartet_easy_

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL (daily) – Brief news post on album
New CDs in stores this week
James Williamson, "Re-Licked" (Leopard Lady). Former Stooges guitarist — plus 21st-century Stooges touring band and Jello Biafra, Alison Mosshart et al. — reconsiders Stooges songs that didn't get their due back in the 1970s.
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/musicandnightlife/new-cds-in-stores-this-week-b99375329z1-280601862.html

THE MUSIC (Aussie weekly– secured by Brian @ Rish) – Positive 4/5 star album review with cover art
James Williamson “Re-Licked”
Leopard Lady Records
This batch of songs penned by the Iggy Pop/James Williamson team in the years directly before and after Iggy & The Stooges’ 1973 magnum opus Raw Power haven’t been officially released until now (although bootlegs abound), and – despite Iggy’s notable absence – it’s staggering how great they’ve scrubbed up.

A raft of top-notch guest vocalists (Lisa Kekaula, Bobby Gillespie, Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan, Jello Biafra et al) bring the attitude while the band (featuring the remaining Stooges in parts) tear through what prove to be timeless tunes like the intervening years never happened. Inspiring.
http://themusic.com.au/music/albumreviews/2014/10/27/james-williamson-re-licked-steve-bell/

ROLLING STONE AUSTRALIA (Aussie music monthly – secured by Brian @ Rish) – Album premiere with James photo
Premiere: James Williamson 'Re-Licked' Album Stream
BY JONNY NAIL

James Williamson's involvement with The Stooges began towards the end of 1970 when the band enlisted him as a second guitarist, but it was on their seminal 1973 release, Raw Power, where he became an integral part of the group's configuration, writing and composing the album alongside Iggy Pop.

After the release of the iconic record, Iggy and Williamson began work on a follow-up. Those tracks, although finding their way onto bootleg recordings over the years, were never officially released. Until now.

Brand new versions of these songs — initially written and demoed in 1973/74 — have been recorded, with Williamson enlisting a wide range of guests to help out, including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, The BellRays' Lisa Kekaula, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, The Icarus Line's Joe Cardamone and Carolyn Wonderland.

The album, entitled Re-Licked, will be released on vinyl and CD, packaged together with a 24-page booklet of liner notes and photos, as well as a special 'making-of' documentary DVD.

Re-Licked will be released worldwide tomorrow (October 29), but available to preview right now via the exclusive stream below:
http://rollingstoneaus.com/music/post/premiere-james-williamson-re-licked-album-stream/773

BLANK GOLD COAST (Aussie A&E monthly – secured by Brian @ Rish) – Positive album review
REVIEW: JAMES WILLIAMSON | RE-LICKED
James Williamson happens to be the guitarist and co-songwriter on one of my favourite albums of all time, The Stooges Raw Power. This was before “Iggy and the Stooges”, and it, like one of the tracks on the album is ‘Hard to Beat’. I saw Williamson play with the Stooges at the Big Day out some years ago and man, he can still crank it out.

This latest release Re-Licked is a collection of songs penned by Williamson and Iggy Pop in 1973-74 as a follow up to Raw Power, but as the Stooges disintegrated and Iggy moved on while disintegrating at the same time, the songs were never properly recorded; some making their way onto bootlegs and unofficial releases like Metallic KO which sits proudly in my record collection, but the sound quality of this live recording is average at best.

This year during a break in touring, Williamson and the current Stooges (Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and Drummer Tony Dammit) got together and recorded Re-Licked. And although Iggy is not on the album and is hard to replace, but what a line up of singers! Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lisa Kekaula (Bellrays and Basement Jax fame), Billy Gillespie (Primal Scream), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Nicke Andersson (Hellacopters) and many more: it is one awesome album.

Some of the tracks feel like they are straight off Raw Power, others have a tinge of Funhouse, and others remind me of the Josh Homme collaboration of the Desert Sessions. The tracks I have in my collection, the bootleg originals, Cock in My Pocket, I’m Sick of You, stack up fine against their bootleg brothers, but let me tell you, Lisa Kekaula’s I Gotta Right is kick-arse and pumping.
http://blankgc.com.au/james-williamson-re-licked/

WITH GUITARS (online music site) – News on World Café interview
’s World Café features The Stooge’s James Williamson Discussing his new “”Re-Licked” album.
http://www.withguitars.com/nprs-world-cafe-feature-stooges-james-williamson-today-discussing-new-re-licked-album/

WMSE (Milwaukee college radio) – Spin of “Wet My Bed” Oct. 24th
http://zerohourradio.blogspot.com/2014/10/playlist-for-102014-yummy.

I-94 BAR (online music site – per Brian @ Rish) – Feature interview
Taking your licks with James Williamson
Written by Robert Brokenmouth

These bloody phone interviews. If you’ve never done one, this is how it goes:

First, you notice unfamiliar terms in the email from the publicist like AEDT and CST that refer to time zones. And that excremental daylight saving kicked in two days ago. Cue frantic fiddling on the computer to make sure you’ve got the right time.

You’ve been given a choice of times - if you’re lucky. Bit awkward if you get stuck with a time when you’re at work and you have to excuse yourself to go to the bog and do an interview. Trust me, you get looks.

“Who were you cackling away to in the toilet, Robert? New … chum?”

Cue: furious blushing.

This interview was with James Williamson, the guitarist for Iggy and The Stooges, who has a new solo album, "Re-Licked" in the racks. And I got lucky on another front this time, and the nearly-threenager grandchild didn’t arrive until after I’d finished, so assorted boing noises, yowls and her squeaky voice didn’t float up into the recording.

With most "phoners"you do have a strict 20 minutes to adhere to, a weird time (in this case it’s from 8.55am to 9.15 am). But you do worry that it’s 4.30 am where the interviewee is, and he’ll be off his head on Tequila and mushies. As rock stars do.

Just 20 minutes to gain rapport and probe the poor bugger’s most intimate self? Poor bugger? He’s on the receiving end of a long line of assorted gits like me for several hours.

One minute before the appointed time, you dial a local number - with the area code prefix. A recorded message asks you to select your language. I am always very tempted to fuck with this but have so far refrained. One day I’ll select Croat or Bulgarian or Tig or something.

All Photos: Heather Harris

After that you tap in a 10-digit pin number. By this time you’re a bit frantic in case your fat little fingers press a wrong key, and you have to go back to the start. And, after that, you have to tap in an overseas phone number; in this case bloody 15 digits. Then the anxious moment when you hear the phone ring.

Have I got the right person? Have I got the right time? I explode in relief after the right man picks up. And we start laughing at the absurdity of it. Shit, I feel like I’m talking to a bloke I haven’t seen for four years or so. He’s friendly, human and - not a rock star.

James didn’t sound like he had the Tequila handy. Or mushies.

In case you don't know, Williamson wrote a slew of songs with Iggy Pop from 1970 to 1975, some of which got properly recorded and quite a lot which, e…well, they…only got unofficially recorded. The Iggy and the Stooges' LP "Raw Power" was really the ugly, brutal underbelly which drove punk. The Ramones, well to quote Suzy Ramone, ‘scattered their music around the world like Johnny Appleseed’. All true. But … the Stooges influenced the Ramones, and everyone - I repeat, Everyone - musically active in the NYC scene. Why?

Re-Licked Cover-lgeWell, the Pop/Williamson songs were nasty, brutish and short. Except for the slower songs which were huge, monster-beautiful, and so self-confident - and vulnerable - that you couldn’t ignore them, couldn’t get them out of your head.

I-94 BAR (online music site – per Brian @ Rish) – Feature interview
Taking your licks with James Williamson
Written by Robert Brokenmouth

These bloody phone interviews. If you’ve never done one, this is how it goes:

First, you notice unfamiliar terms in the email from the publicist like AEDT and CST that refer to time zones. And that excremental daylight saving kicked in two days ago. Cue frantic fiddling on the computer to make sure you’ve got the right time.

You’ve been given a choice of times - if you’re lucky. Bit awkward if you get stuck with a time when you’re at work and you have to excuse yourself to go to the bog and do an interview. Trust me, you get looks.

“Who were you cackling away to in the toilet, Robert? New … chum?”

Cue: furious blushing.

This interview was with James Williamson, the guitarist for Iggy and The Stooges, who has a new solo album, "Re-Licked" in the racks. And I got lucky on another front this time, and the nearly-threenager grandchild didn’t arrive until after I’d finished, so assorted boing noises, yowls and her squeaky voice didn’t float up into the recording.

With most "phoners"you do have a strict 20 minutes to adhere to, a weird time (in this case it’s from 8.55am to 9.15 am). But you do worry that it’s 4.30 am where the interviewee is, and he’ll be off his head on Tequila and mushies. As rock stars do.

Just 20 minutes to gain rapport and probe the poor bugger’s most intimate self? Poor bugger? He’s on the receiving end of a long line of assorted gits like me for several hours.

One minute before the appointed time, you dial a local number - with the area code prefix. A recorded message asks you to select your language. I am always very tempted to fuck with this but have so far refrained. One day I’ll select Croat or Bulgarian or Tig or something.

All Photos: Heather Harris

After that you tap in a 10-digit pin number. By this time you’re a bit frantic in case your fat little fingers press a wrong key, and you have to go back to the start. And, after that, you have to tap in an overseas phone number; in this case bloody 15 digits. Then the anxious moment when you hear the phone ring.

Have I got the right person? Have I got the right time? I explode in relief after the right man picks up. And we start laughing at the absurdity of it. Shit, I feel like I’m talking to a bloke I haven’t seen for four years or so. He’s friendly, human and - not a rock star.

James didn’t sound like he had the Tequila handy. Or mushies.

In case you don't know, Williamson wrote a slew of songs with Iggy Pop from 1970 to 1975, some of which got properly recorded and quite a lot which, e…well, they…only got unofficially recorded. The Iggy and the Stooges' LP "Raw Power" was really the ugly, brutal underbelly which drove punk. The Ramones, well to quote Suzy Ramone, ‘scattered their music around the world like Johnny Appleseed’. All true. But … the Stooges influenced the Ramones, and everyone - I repeat, Everyone - musically active in the NYC scene. Why?

Re-Licked Cover-lgeWell, the Pop/Williamson songs were nasty, brutish and short. Except for the slower songs which were huge, monster-beautiful, and so self-confident - and vulnerable - that you couldn’t ignore them, couldn’t get them out of your head.

And hey, no-one has really successfully covered this period Stooges. It is, it seems, just too damn hard.

“Re-Licked” is out on Leopard Lady Records on October 29. There’s been two singles (sorry, I mean 7” vinyl records) out already and if you don’t have them you’re a dirty shame.

James got the Stooges touring band (Mike Watt, Steve Mackay, and Toby Dammit) into the studio and recorded the backing tracks. Iggy didn’t want to do it, so pity the poor bugger who did the guide vocal, it would’ve been intense. Because there’s fourteen different vocalists here. And they’re all extraordinary, and the whole thing meshes in a magical way, tuff as leather jackets and pointed boots.

With the clock ticking, we gotta get down to it.

James: I can’t wait for you to hear the whole record - I am both proud and extremely happy with it. I’ve made a few albums in my day, but with Re-licked - I can sit around and listen to it and enjoy it … all the performers brought so much enthusiasm and excitement to it, you can really hear that.

And, you know, I don’t have to feel like everything should sound better, as with all the bootlegs over the years.

Stooges1973 1 HeatherHarrisRobert: This isn’t just unfinished business, is it?

James: No, it’s not unfinished business now – “Re-Licked” is something that always felt like it had to be done, and I had the opportunity, so I took it.

Robert: How are the journos reacting..?

James: Well, so far so good. It’s getting some really positive press, especially in France, Australian responses have been favourable as well. Do you know Harvey Kubernik? He’s a famous writer in LA, he recently described it as ‘karmic correction. I was encouraged by that.

Robert: Could you take it on the road - I mean with all those singers, you can’t go everywhere - but could you..?

James: Well, you know, I’m open to that, but yeah, with 14 singers, the logistics would be crazy. I guess it’s doable in the major markets; LA, New York, London, Sydney. There are so many well-known artists on the record, maybe they could do a few numbers of their own as well. It could be an incredible show, a kinda miniature festival…

(ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES?)

Robert: How did your writing partnership with Iggy start?

James: I had come to a frat party, up in Ann Arbor, I was not in the Coba Seas by then, and I met both Ron Asheton and Iggy that night. Iggy was drumming for this really good blues band, the Prime Movers. Ron had been with them too. Back then I almost exclusively wrote my own songs, and I think that made an impression on Iggy. So when I joined the Stooges in 1970, almost from the beginning I wrote with Iggy. Some of the earlier songs have faded into the sands of time, but I’m Sick of You was the earliest one to be recorded… we were quite prolific; all these tracks after Raw Power, we thought we were gonna make more LPs…

When I first heard the final mix of “Raw Power” I was very upset by it, because I thought we had done a better job of representing ourselves when we’d played. But… it’s kinda youth, I guess. I mean, I was in the room when Bowie mixed the LP - so I should have spoken up… and really, with what I know he had to work with.. Bowie did a remarkable job of making it listenable.

james-solo

When we recorded “Kill City”, that was right after “Metallic KO” and we believed we could get another record deal, we thought that Columbia would pick up their option but that didn’t happen. A lot of the recordings which ended up on bootlegs were our demo tapes which we were shopping around labels to get a deal…

Robert: “Raw Power” and “Metallic KO” - and even that bootleg “Night
of the Iguana” - had a huge impact on the fledgling underground… (hell, Head On in Adelaide were a sensation; but Garry Gray’s first band was doing “Search and Destroy” from "Raw Power" back in 1975)...

James: (Laughing) Jello Biafra, when he heard I was gonna do this, he rang me up and absolutely insisted that he wanted to do "Head On The Curve", so I said, ‘well, okay we’ll give it a shot’, and of course he completely killed that song…

Robert: You’re quoted as saying the Stooges are a family - and it's not like a marriage as other bands say.

James: That’s the way real bands are, they’re like gangs or families. You know each other so well, you live together, you speak a common language, you have your own subculture … bands that aren’t like that don’t have an authenticity …

Robert: Will you write a book about your life?

James: I get that asked frequently now… I guess the answer is perhaps… I certainly think there’s a lot of stories which haven’t come out. Yes, I have a different perspective on all of it now, but the stories are the same… and I think people would enjoy reading them.

Hell, that’s a book I want to read. Tell him I’m an editor, Mr Barman.

Thank God I didn’t have to do this interview in the bog.
http://www.i94bar.com/interviews/james-williamson-on-re-licked

BUDDYHEAD (online music site) – Positive post with album art and “Making Of” doc teaser.
WATCH: James Williamson (The Stooges) – “RE-Licked” (Making Of Documentary)
BY TRAVIS MICHAEL KELLER

Might wanna peep game on this album.

This project has James Williamson, who played guitar in small band (that invented punk rock) called The Stooges during their “Raw Power” era, taking old Stooges songs that him and Iggy Pop wrote in 73/74 and finishing them up with the help of a pretty cool assortment of musicians like our very own – Joe Caradmone of The Icarus Line, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Ariel Pink, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Gary Floyd from The Dicks, Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays & Mr. Jello Biafra! Pretty stellar alumni eh? Damn straight!

The Stooges were planning to record these songs for their record after “Raw Power”… which never happened because they were dropped. And up until now, the songs were never properly recorded in a studio and the only way you could hear them were shotty live bootlegs.

Anyways… this is all super exciting in a rock n’ roll history type of way… just watch the making of documentary below…. dig.

James Williamson of The Stooges – “RE-Licked” (Making Of Documentary)

Re-Licked will be available worldwide Oct. 29, 2014 on CD, vinyl & digital formats worldwide via Leopard Lady Records.

RE-LICKED TRACK LISTING
01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)

Bonus Tracks:
11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. Cock In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. Cock In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)

Here’s some more info about “Re-Licked” that I jacked from Jame Williamson’s website – http://straightjameswilliamson.com/

“While on a break from touring this year, the members of the live touring version of The Stooges (James Williamson, Steve Mackay, Mike Watt & drummer Toby Dammit) got together and recorded songs that were originally penned by Iggy Pop and James Williamson in 1973/74 as the follow-up to their quintessential album Raw Power. While a number of these tracks have found their way onto inferior-sounding bootlegs and unofficial releases over the years, they were never properly recorded since the band didn’t have a record deal at the time.

Williamson always wanted to revisit these songs and has done so with a powerhouse lineup of musicians and singers who don’t disappoint on his forthcoming solo album entitled Re-Licked.

The vinyl & CD versions of this album will also feature a deluxe package including an in-depth 24-page booklet with liner notes & photos, as well as a fascinating ‘making-of’ Re-Licked documentary on DVD, giving the viewer a fly-on-the-wall experience of being in the studio with all of these great musicians. The mp3 version of the album will also include this deluxe package in digital format.”
http://www.buddyhead.com/2014/10/22/watch-james-williamson-the-stooges-re-licked-making-of-documentary/

ROCK ON MAGAZINE (Spanish music monthly) – Positive album review with albim art (in Spanish)
Spotty translation:
Spotty Translation:
JAMES WILLIAMSON 'Re-Licked'

A JOURNAL OF MUSIC THINGS (music site) Cock in my Pocket song stream with news on album.
http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/new-music-inbox-pop-group-james-williamson-jackals-wish-kinnie-starr/

JOEL GAUSTEN.COM (online music site) – Positive album review with album art
ALBUM REVIEW - James Williamson: Re-Licked
If I'm going to review this album the right way, I need to talk to you, dear reader, in the first person. Receiving a promo copy of James Williamson's Re-Licked last week ended months of feverish anticipation for me. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of interviewing James shortly before the release of the album's first single, “Open Up And Bleed”/”Gimme Some Skin.” At the time, I was made aware that one of my all-time favorite singers, the great Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays, would be one of the guest vocalists on the project. That was enough to sell me; Re-Licked was already gearing up to be the Album of the Year.

Williamson developed Re-Licked as way to finally record a number of post-Raw Power tracks that he wrote with Iggy Pop in 1973-74. Although these numbers have existed for years on a number of bootleg releases of varying audio quality, Re-Licked represents the first time these songs were given a chance to grow in a legitimate studio setting. How could this not be amazing?

The seven months that followed my chat with James saw Re-Licked – and the Stooges legacy it celebrates – experience considerable highs and lows. First came a press statement from Iggy Pop that seemed to paint a shaky portrait of current relations within the Stooges camp, followed a few short days later by the unexpected death of Stooges drummer Scott Asheton. On a much-needed positive note, the spring and summer brought news of even more amazing performers jumping on board for the album. The list included Gary Floyd (The Dicks/Sister Double Happiness) and J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus) – two people whose onstage brilliance forever elevated my expectations with other live performers.

As for the rest of the cast of characters, here's a sampling: Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys/Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine), Carolyn Wonderland, Bobby Gillespie and Simone Marie Butler (Primal Scream), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees/ Queens of the Stone Age), Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line), Petra Haden, Ariel Pink, Ron Young (Little Caesar), Mike Watt (Stooges/Minutemen), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Gregg Foreman (Cat Power), Steve Mackay (Stooges), Toby Dammit (Stooges/Iggy Pop/Swans), Mario Cuomo (The Orwells), Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters/Entombed), The Richmond Sluts, Michael Urbano (Smash Mouth) and on and on.

The presence of musical personalities this strong makes sense. During their all-too-short original late '60s/early '70s run, The Stooges set the benchmark for aggressive, real Rock 'N' Roll. Stooges songs are litmus tests: Not only do you have to be the real deal, but you also have to be on the very top of your game to perform these tunes in a convincing way.

Thankfully, there isn't a single note on Re-Licked that was phoned in. Every person involved in this momentous release clearly grasped the importance of the work being presented. Some highlights: Kekaula is her usual jaw-dropping self on “I Gotta Right” and “Heavy Liquid,” while Wonderland delivers a Joplinesque howl on “Open Up And Bleed.” Young delivers a fantastic Blues-tinged take on “Rubber Leg,” while the rhythm sections of Watt/Dammit and Butler/Urbano (both given the hefty task of honoring the late Asheton brothers) rise to the challenge with admirable aplomb.

Naturally, Floyd is incomparable on a blistering “Cock In My Pocket,” while Biafra is Biafra on “Head On The Curve.”

As far as the singers who come closest to mirroring Iggy's snarl and charm, full marks go to Thirlwell (the album's second version of ”Rubber Leg”) and Cardamone (“Pinpoint Eyes”), while Pink adds a touch of James Brown to his iguana groove on “She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills.”

Finally freed of the audio crud that plagued the original Stooges versions, the songs that comprise Re-Licked prove that the Pop/Williamson songwriting team was capable of far more than just raw power. Nowhere is this more evident than on the breathtaking (and touchingly sad) “'Til The End Of The Night,” performed here with heartstring-tugging precision by Mosshart.

Of course, Williamson is the greatest star of this show. There's just something about the sound this man gets out of his guitar that....well, if you know, you know. And if you don't know yet, listen to “Wild Love,” “I'm Sick Of You” and the 3:14 mark of “'Til The End Of The Night.” Hell, listen to everything the guy plays on this thing. Few players hit your ears – and your gut – with this level of intensity.

It's fitting and beautiful that quite a few of Re-Licked's participants were either toddlers or not even alive when these songs were written. Their passionate contributions demonstrate how timeless The Stooges' material truly is. For a certain segment of the population, this is our Folk music. And for the guy who's typing this review with a still-healing Stooges tattoo on his arm, having these tunes finally presented with this level of clarity is a deeply emotional experience.

In the words of Scott Asheton, “God loves The Stooges.”

Thank you so much, James. This album means a lot.

Re-Licked will be available worldwide October 29 on CD, vinyl and digital formats worldwide via Leopard Lady Records. For more information, visit James Williamson's Official Website.

RE-LICKED TRACK LISTING
01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from
Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from
The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from
The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)
Bonus Tracks:
11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from
The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. C**k In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)
http://www.joelgausten.com/2014/10/album-review-james-williamson-re-licked.html

PUNK NEWS (online punk music site) – “Cock in my Pocket” song stream with James photo.
Media: James Williamson: “Cock in my pocket”
James Williamson of The Stooges has released a new track from his up-coming Re-Licked album, which finds the famed guitarist recording rare and unreleased Stooges tunes. The new single is for "Cock in my pokcet" and features Gary Floyd of The Dicks on vocals. The album is out October 29 via Leopard Lady Records.
http://www.punknews.org/article/56136/media-james-williamson-cock-in-my-pocket

ANTI-TWINK (online gay site) – “Cock in my Pocket” song stream with album art.
James Williamson “Cock in my pocket”
The guitarist from The Stooges wrote this in the 70s and never recorded it. Now James Williamson is releasing a bunch of tracks that were never recorded as Re-licked on October 29th. One of them features the vocalist from The Dicks, which was one of the few queer punk bands in the 1980s. Check it out below:
http://antitwink.com/2014/10/cock-pocket/

VENTS MAGAZINE (online music site) – News on “Cock in my Pocket” Out premiere with album art (from press announcement).
OUT PREMIERES THE STOOGES’ JAMES WILLIAMSON’S NEW TRACK NSFW! NEW SOLO ALBUM “RE-LICKED” OUT 10/29!
http://ventsmagazine.com/out-premieres-the-stooges-james-williamsons-new-track-nsfw-new-solo-album-re-licked-out-1029/

ROCKOL.IT (Itallian online music site) – News on “Cock in my Pocket” Out premiere with album art
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://247.libero.it/focus/30480094/1/stooges-ecco-cock-in-my-pocket-da-re-licked-di-james-williamson/&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522james%2Bwilliamson%2522%2B%2522re-licked%2522%26sa%3DX%26espv%3D2%26biw%3D1108%26bih%3D824%26tbs%3Dqdr:d

KDHX RADIO (St. Louis community radio) – “She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills” aired on bobEE Sweet’s “Uncontrollable Urge” show on Oct. 1st..
http://spinitron.com/radio/playlist.php?station=kdhx&plid=17621&ptype=n

OUT (national gay magazine) – “Cock in my Pocket” song premiere with album art and Gary Floyd video interview.
POPNOGRAPHY
Listen: James Williamson's 'C*ck In My Pocket' With The Dicks' Gary Floyd
10.1.2014
BY JERRY PORTWOOD

An exclusive listen to the The Stooges' guitar legend's NSFW new track
The track, "Cock In My Pocket," was originally penned by The Stooges' guitar player James Williamson & Iggy Pop back in 1973, but it was never properly recorded. Now it will be featured on Williamson's new solo album, title Re-Licked, out Oct. 29, which many will view as the "Great Lost Stooges" album of 1974. And Out has the exclusive first listen to share with fans. Written by Iggy during the most volatile periods of The Stooges' career, the lyrics are, not surprisingly, a tad not safe for work (depending on where you work, that is).

Of special note: This track features vocals by The Dicks' Gary Floyd, one of a handful of openly gay musicians in the 1980s punk scene. As he told Adam Rathe in his oral history of Queer Core published in Out in 2012:

"The thing that set Austin apart in 1979 was that there were always a lot of queers in the scene. There was a big influence from the artsy radio and television department at the university. I started The Dicks. I met the other guys, and, while it wasn’t exactly true, I told them I already had a band. The scene was so young and uninfluenced; we didn’t have to live up to anything. Soon, other bands that had gay people started showing up. The popular bands in Austin were fronted by openly gay guys."

So, how did Floyd, all these years later, get involved with recording the track? As Williamson explains:

"Gary was suggested as a singer on my album Re-Licked by the bass player on this song Mike Watt. I had never heard of him before, but several others chimed in that he would be a great choice. So, I researched him some and was pleasantly surprised to see he was a fellow Texan and had some serious CRED of his own... I'm very happy with the way his vocal came out and am looking forward to his new efforts with 'The Dicks From Texas'."

In this 6-minute interview, Floyd goes on to explain the influence Iggy & The Stooges had on him and what it was like working with Williamson in the studio. Watch it below:
http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2014/10/01/stooges-james-williamson-cock-my-pocket-dicks-gary-floyd

BREAKTHRU RADIO (NYC internet radio) – “Open Up & Bleed” aired on 9/22
http://www.breakthruradio.com/admin/djjackrabid/

NME (UK national bi-weekly music magazine) – “I’m Sick of You” featured in NME’s 20 Essential New Tracks with positive review (in print and online)
James Williamson - I’m Sick Of You (feat Mario Cuomo)

Of all the frontmen in the world today under the age of 25, The Orwells' Mario Cuomo is the best placed to replicate the gore, gall and godliness of Iggy Pop. All that crawling around the floor on Letterman? The drawl he employs on every single Orwells tune? He's pure James Newell Osterberg, and on 'I'm Sick Of You' he lives out his wildest fantasy while backed by original Stooges hero James Williamson. It is, unsurprisingly, brilliant.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/various-artists/15623

KDHX RADIO (St. Louis community radio) – “I Gotta Right” aired on bobEE Sweet’s “Uncontrollable Urge” show on Sep. 17th.
http://kdhx.org/spinitron/playlist.php?station=kdhx&plid=17463

ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL (UK online music site) – Positive feature story
Hot Licks from James Williamson
Simon Wright

Iggy and the Stooges guitarist James Williamson has just released his Re-Licked CD (Leopard Lady Records), featuring a selection of vintage Stooges songs  that have never previously been captured in a studio to James' satisfaction. Vocals on these new recordings are supplied by a variety of guests, with James on lead guitar throughout.
   
"Most of these songs were written after Raw Power was released and we had been dropped by Mainman and we were beginning to tour the   US under new management.   We were still under the belief that CBS/Columbia Records would pick up their option for us to record a second album for them.   All of this was around the1973-74 timeframe. We wrote these songs fairly quickly and were playing them live, as was our usual way.   Of course, they would be bootlegged as was very common in those days.   However, the record company decided not to pick up the option for us to do the album, so all that remained was the bootlegs, although a couple of things like Johanna did show up on the Kill City LP.   There are also a couple of songs included on this album from early demo sessions before Raw Power, namely I Got a Right and I'm Sick of You, one of the earliest songs I ever wrote with Iggy." 

So why do this project now?    "I have always wanted to hear these songs recorded properly, I feel that they are some of our best writing, certainly  a tribute to the song writing of Iggy Pop and James Williamson. Iggy and I discussed doing this before we did ‘Ready to Die’ in 2013, but decided against it as the obvious comparisons between the young Stooges and the older Stooges would surely be drawn. Instead after our final tour date last September, I decided to try a new arrangement of 'Open Up and Bleed' that I had come up with while on tour.   I sought out a female singer who could really belt out a song the way the Janis Joplin used to and found Carolyn Wonderland, who is a singer with the voice that Janis would have wished she had had.   Once that went so well, I decided to go ahead and do a full blown album of all of this material.”
   
Re-Licked is a comprehensive collection of the preKill City material. "I did pretty much all of the songs from that period of time,  at least the ones that were do-able.   I selected the singers based on their own styles, availability, interest and enthusiasm and was very pleased with the results." The singers James selected include Lisa Kekaula from the BellRays, who performed a similar role in the MC5 / DKT touring project. "I had heard about DKT only after I had already done the track with Lisa.   It’s a cool concept that works really well with the right singers...in my case, I wasn't trying to make this a version of the Stooges but rather an interpretation of the songs." 

Re-Licked contains some gems, but inevitably it is an uneven selection. The lead-off single    'Open Up And Bleed' is a highpoint, Carolyn's' soulful wail counterpointed by some delicate accoustic guitar picking. Slower, less well known songs such as She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills and Til The End Of The Night do better than the likes of Cock In My Pocket and other raucous rockers. The only uptempo track that convinces is Wet My Bed where James flaunts his best Chuck Berry riffs. Also recommended is Wild Love, where Mark Lanegan and Alison Mosshart channel a  sleaze-rock Sonny and Cher. Overall Re-Licked is well worth a listen: properly recorded and no longer mired in sub-bootleg mire, the songs do indeed shine through.   

Sadly a live version of Re-Licked seems unlikely. "Well, I would love to play this material live, but with 14 well known working singers, it's nearly impossible logistically.   That said, if some promoter wants to put together a showcase in a major city like London, Paris, NYC, LA or Sydney...I'd be thrilled to do it as I know the singers and musicians would be as well. We could tour as James Williamson And..." Apparently Iggy views the project with mixed feelings. "Well, he has vacillated from wishing it all success, to saying he was never asked, to back to wishing it well and thanking all the singers...he's likely heard the singles so far, but very few people have heard the album yet.   I'll send him one after it gets released.   Just for the record he has been asked to participate but has not responded."

And why is James known as Strait James Williamson these days? "It's a kind of inside joke.   In the song ‘The Dum Dum Boys’ Iggy sang the line "James, he's gone straight"...so I named my music publishing company Strait James Music, Straight isn't distinctive enough for a publishing name"
http://onlyrockandroll.london/2014/09/16/hot-licks-from-james-williamson/

YEAH SICK (music blog) – News post with “I’m Sick of You” stream
WHO’S VOICE IS THIS ON WHO’S NEW LP?
Uhh yeah, that’s Mario Cuomo from The Orwells singing on James Williamson’s (The Stooges Guitarist) new LP. Kid get’s mad street credentials for that stunt.
http://yeahsick.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/whos-voice-is-this-on-whos-new-lp/

WMSE RADIO (Milwaukee college radio) – “Scene of the Crime with Bobby Gilllespie” aired on Andy Turner’s “Zero Hour show on Sep. 12th.
http://zerohourradio.blogspot.com/2014/09/playlist-for-91214-girl-in-red-skirt.html

ARTROCKER (UK monthly music magazine) – Feature interview with James photo
The Stooges get Re-Licked
James Williamson talks about his new project Re-Licked
James Williamson is on a mission. Revitalised after a reunion with The Stooges and further stoked by interest in his career he has been working hard on keeping The Stooges beating heart alive. Iggy may be having a break from this thing called rock and roll but James is having none of it. The results...a new album of re-recordeed songs from the catalogue of Iggy Pop and James Williamson. Songs that never made it into the studio, some known from live shows, some not. Re-licked is a kicking itself out of the garage with an intent to seek and destroy all naysayers, and along for the ride are some very special guest stars. Let's hear what the man, the legend, The Stooge as to say about it all...

Hi, how are you these days?

I'm doing great, thanks for asking! The album is finished and very happy with how it came together, so life is good

You've been quite busy recently, where did the idea for Re-Licked come from?

Well, I've always wanted to do studio versions of these tunes…I felt that they desired it. Iggy and I discussed it during the planning for what ended up be "Ready to Die" and we decided against it as the obvious comparisons would be drawn between the "old" stooges and the "young" stooges…so we went with new material for that album (and I'm glad we did). However, that left these tunes without proper versions. After our most recent touring season in September 2013, I had worked up a new arrangement of "Open Up and Bleed" which we had be doing live and since we were on hiatus, I decided to record it. My wife and I discussed it, since it was a favorite of both of ours and thought that it would be great to have a female singer on it who could belt out a song the way Janis Joplin used to. Through an old high school friend from Austin, I received a youtube clip of Carolyn Wonderland, who was perfect for this song. I went to Austin and recorded it with her and it went so well, that I was encouraged to go on and do the rest of the material for the album with various other singers on each song. It couldn't have gone better all the way around.

There are a lot of guest vocalists on this album. Some of them are obvious choices such as Bobby Gillespie and Jello Biafra, some not so such as Allison Mosshart. Did you approach them or did they hear about the project and approach you?

It was a mixture of things. I had worked previously with the very talented Petra Hedan, but then, John Kaster, who is a promoter that we've worked with for some concerts (and who is also part owner of the distributor Cobraside), introduced me to Joe Cardamone and Nicke Andersson. Joe is not only a great singer in his own right (and owns a small studio in Burbank, CA), but is plugged into a lot of people in the L.A. area. So Joe, got me in touch with Lisa Kekuala and Mark Lanegan I believe. I got Ariel Pink and J.G. Thirlwell through Toby Dammit (our Stooges touring drummer), Alison Mosshart and Mario Coumo through Jon Sidel who is A&R for BMG (my publisher). Ron Young was courtesy of Heather Harris (photographer extraordinaire) and the Richmond Sluts came from my mixing engineer Jesse Nichols (who is in the band). Every one of these singers was totally into doing this project as a labor of love…since they are all huge Stooges fans…so we had a blast working on it. Similarly, the musicians came together. At first I was using the touring rhythm section from the Stooges, but I ended up finishing up the album with Gregg Foreman, then Simone Marie Butler and Michael Urbano…along with some killer horns from Steffen Kuehn, Allison Gomer and Aaron Lington, with the added touches of violin from Petra Haden and Contra Bass from Mark Culbertson.

How did each vocalist approach the songs? There's a definite Stooges feel about them but also a fresh approach. Was it interesting to see these old songs brought to life in different ways?Absolutely! This project was as much fun for me in the control room as it was for the singers out at the mic. They all knew and pretty much grew up with these songs, so they brought their own versions to them and really rocked em….

Has Iggy heard it and what's his take on this? Why didn't he want to do the album?

I don't know what Iggy has heard at this point, since we went on hiatus, he's been laying pretty low…just taking time off from the whole rock scene…of course he will at some point if he hasn't already. As I mentioned, we had discussed doing this previously and rejected the idea. I left the door open for him to be involved but he's never stepped up to participate…but this album has a life of its own.

Do you see yourself as something of a curator for The Stooges history now? It's been a catalogue which has been repackaged and re-issued so many times that it's become a bit of a minefield.

Well, not really. I mean I wrote the music to all of these songs except two. So, I have a very personal ownership of this material and have had it on my bucket list to record it properly for a long, long, time. I feel that first and foremost this album is a tribute to the song witting of Iggy Pop and James Williamson. So the term curate is a little too far removed from my perspective.

Is there much more in the vaults? What about some live shows, or video?

I think these are most of what's left. Live shows will be a challenge with 14 singers…we've toyed with some showcases in large markets like London, Paris, New York, LA, Sydney, but we'll have to see what can be put together.

A DVD of the making of this album is included in the album package so there's about 35 minutes of interviews and clips from the studio process…it's pretty cool.

Are you proud of the influence The Stooges have had? You said once that the band was before their time, what do you think the reaction would be if you were a new band starting now?

Of course I'm proud of the Stooges influence and being a part of it. I think its unassailable to say our music was before its time and no doubt, we would be poorly received if we were starting now…since the thing that has made us accepted is exactly the influence that we've had on other bands and the sound that we created which became accepted by mainstream rock and roll/punk. If none of that would have happened, we would be misunderstood just like we were then.

What advice would you offer to bands starting out these days?

Find another line of work? Of course, if you have it in your blood, you won't listen to me anyway, in which case I'd say, do what you like and makes sense to you. Don't worry about other people. Make your own music. You may or may not make a living at it, but at least you've done something meaningful to yourself.

...and finally, do you want to leave a message for our readers at Artrocker?

Thanks for sticking with us and whatever you do, try and have some fun with it.

Re-Licked is out on October 29th

Martyn Coppack
http://www.artrocker.tv/news/article/the-stooges-get-re-licked

PUNK NEWS (online punk music site) – News post on album with James photo
James Williamson releases details about ‘Re-licked’
A little while ago, James Williamson of The Stooges announced that he was going to record some rare Stooges songs with new vocalists. Well, Williamson has just released RE-Licked's track listing, guest stars and release date. Notably, Jello Biafra handles the first song "Head on the Curve."

Stooges Steve Mackay and Mike Watt also perform on the album. Petra Haden contributes back-up vocals. The release is due out October 29 via Leopard Lady Records. Punknews spoke to Williamson earlier this year.

Re-Licked Track List:
01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I'm Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)

Bonus Tracks:
11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. Cock In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. Cock In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)
http://www.punknews.org/article/55853/james-williamson-releases-details-about-re-licked

PURSUIT OF DOPENESS (online music blog) – “I’m Sick of You” song stream with positive story WITH ALBUM ART.
James Williamson To Release Re-Recorded Stooges Rarities Album; “I’m Sick Of You” feat. Mario Cuomo (The Orwells)

The Stooges have long been staples in the Punk game as pioneers of the genre and their legacy is all but forgotten. The band’s guitarist, James Williamson is releasing a solo album titled Re-Licked which revisits some of the more obscure Stooges tracks and re-mixes and re-records them with special guest vocals from the likes of Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Alison Mosshart (The Kills) and Ariel Pink.

Our first look at this album features our guy, Mario Cuomo of The Orwells who’s providing vocals on “I’m Sick Of You.” Hear it below and see the track list below.

Tracklist:

Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)
Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland) *

C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters) *
Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula) *
Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts) *
C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks) *
Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus) *
*Tracks 11-16 are “Bonus Tracks.”
http://www.pursuitofdopeness.com/2014/09/james-williamson-to-release-re-recorded-stooges-rarities-album-im-sick-of-you-feat-mario-cuomo-the-orwells/

I-94 BAR (online Australian music blog) – “I’m Sick of You” song feature with positive story and James/Mario photo.
James Williamson album tracklist revealed
Written by The Barman on 03 September 2014.

The first look at the tracklist for the James Williamson album "Re-Licked" is public and it's a dizzying reflection on the backlog of Iggy & The Stooges material that's been bootlegged over the years.

There's also a track - an inciendiary version of "I'm Sick Of You" featuring Mario Cuomo from Chicago band The Orwells - being promo'd on the Net for your listening pleasure.

In case you hadn't heard, Williamson is releasing the album of re-recorded but largely not properly released Stoogesongs on his own Leopard Lady label on October 29 with an array of guest vocalists.

The core band for the recordings was an Iggy-less Stooges with two seven-inch singles already in the racks. The tracklist is:

Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
Rubber Legs (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
I'm Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)

Bonus Tracks:
Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
Cock In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
Cock In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
Rubber Legs (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)
http://www.i94bar.com/news/james-williamson-album-tracklist-revealed

CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND (online music blog) – “I’m Sick of You” song feature with positive story and James/Mario photo.
Listen: James Williamson re-records early Stooges song “I’m Sick Of You” with The Orwells’ Mario Cuomo
BY MICHELLE GESLANI

While the future of The Stooges remains unclear, guitarist James Williamson will forge on with his own solo album later this fall. Re-Licked features 16 “lesser-known Stooges tracks properly recorded and mixed for the first time.”

In addition to being backed by live Stooges members Steve Mackay, Toby Dammit, and Mike Watt, Williamson has recruited a handful of A-list lead singers. That list includes Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Ariel Pink, and many more.

Our first preview of the record comes in the form of “I’m Sick Of You”, Williamson’s collaboration with The Orwells’ own Mario Cuomo. A gruff and propulsive number that features Cuomo growling over feverish riffs, the track is said to be “one of the very earliest songs (Williamson)] wrote with Iggy (Pop) back in around late 1970.”

Listen in below (via BrooklynVegan).

Re-Licked is due out on October 29th via Leopard Lady Records. Check out the album’s official tracklist and artwork below.

Re-Licked Tracklist:
01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)

03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)

Bonus Tracks:
11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/09/listen-james-williamson-re-records-early-stooges-song-im-sick-of-you-with-the-orwells-mario-cuomo

BROOKLYN VEGAN (online music blog) – “I’m Sick of You” song premiere
James Williamson releasing an LP of re-recorded Stooges rarities w/ guest singers (stream 1 w/ Mario from the Orwells)
by Andrew Sacher
James and Mario in the studio (photo by Heather Harris)
James
The Stooges guitarist James Williamson is releasing a solo album, Re-Licked, features "lesser-known Stooges tracks properly recorded and mixed for the first time" with an impressive list of guest lead singers, including Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Mario Cuomo (The Orwells), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), Ariel Pink and others. James is backed by live Stooges members Steve Mackay, Toby Dammit, and Mike Watt (also of The Minutemen, fIREHOSE, etc) and that dog.'s Petra Haden provides backup vocals. The album's due out on October 29 via Leopard Lady Records. Artwork and tracklist below.
"I'm Sick of You," which has The Orwells' Mario Cuomo on guest vocals, makes its premiere in this post. James says it "was one of the very earliest songs [he] wrote with Iggy back in around late 1970," and that they "played it live at the King's Cross Cinema Show while [they] were in London just before [they] recorded Raw Power." Mario's a good choice, considering Iggy seems like a big influence on him, and he gets his Danzig or his Jim Morrison on a bit for this one too. Check it out below.

The Orwells also have a previously discussed fall tour which hits NYC on October 15 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show are still available.
Song stream, LP artwork, tracklist, and another pic from the recording session, below...

Tracklist:
01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I'm Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)
Bonus Tracks:
11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2014/09/james_williamso.html

| STOMP & STAMMER (Atlanta music monthly) – Brief news piece on album.
Stooges axeman James Williamson has recruited Mike Watt, Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan and the Kills’ Alison Mosshart for an album called Re-Licked. It’ll arrive sometime this fall.
http://www.stompandstammer.com/content/11/71/21/42/

DOWNLOAD.COM (CNET’s music site) – Feature interview to run in Oct. (per Josh Rotter) Interview already completed.

CAMBRIDGE 105 FM (Cambridge UK Radio Station) – Re-Licked added to rotation per Mike Hauser)

JAMBANDS (Relix magazine’s more popular online sister site) – Feature interview.
Stooges Guitarist James Williamson Gets Re-Licked

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.

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.
http://www.jambands.com/features/2014/08/26/stooges-guitarist-james-williamson-gets-re-licked

WPKN / NORTH FORK SOUND (Bridgeport, CT public radio & online music site) – “I Gotta Right” Number 1 in their Top 20 chart Aug. 24th with James photo online.
http://northforksound.blogspot.com/2014/08/north-fork-sound-top-20-august-24th-2014.html

SF MEDIA (online music site) – Positive 4/5 star single review with single art
James Williamson & Lisa Kekaula – I Got a Right – Single Review
Leopard Lady Records
Release Date: Out Now
Review by Vincent von Fuhkk

JAMES WILLIAMSON shouldn’t need any introductions, however those that may not be aware, WILLIAMSON was the guitarist in the legendary band, THE STOOGES in which he can be heard on the scorching ‘Raw Power’ album that was released in 1973, and Iggy Pops ‘Kill City’ from 1977, one of my favourite albums.

With this new single, WILLIAMSON brings in the very talented vocalist Lisa Kekaula from punk n’ soul band, THE BELLRAYS. ‘I Got A Right’, originally recorded by THE STOOGES was a single with b-side ‘Gimme Some Skin’ released by the Siamese label in 1977. This upbeat soul punk rendition is the follow up from WILLIAMSON’s Record Store Day exclusive single ‘Gimme Some Skin/Open Up and Bleed’, and will be featured on forthcoming album ‘Re-Licked’. This album will consist of other lesser known STOOGES tunes such as ‘Rubber Legs’, ‘She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills’, ‘Scene of the Crime’, ‘Wild Love’ amongst others and will feature an array of vocalists including Jello Biafra (DEAD KENNEDYS, THE GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE), Mark Lanegan (SCREAMING TRESS, QOTSA), Alison Mosshart (THE KILLS), and many more.

‘I Got A Right’ starts off with an almighty powerful soulful howl from Kekaula which then blasts in to the blistering all too familiar riffage of WILLIAMSON, complete with a white-knuckled solo. Although it’s not as manic as its originator, this version has given a new lease on the songs life with its more controlled upbeat rock ‘n’ roll style mixed with a soul sound, and it blends perfectly with Kekaula’s vocals, along with the back-ups from Petra Haden. Backed by the current STOOGES touring line-up of Mike Watt of the MINUTEMEN, Toby Dammit and Steve Mackay (Saxophone on THE STOOGES ‘Fun House’ album), this single is pleasing to the ears.
http://sfmedia.com.au/james-williamson-lisa-kekaula-i-got-a-right-single-review/

NOISE (Portuguese music site) – News post on new single, video teaser, album and photo (in Portuguese)
Translation:
When he started playing with Iggy & The Stooges, James Williamson brought a more technical sound to the band. After Raw Power (1973), the guitars of the Stooges became a little less organic and instinctive and showed a more worked melodies, more solos ... And this is no accident: it is that he plays too even. Williamson will forever be remembered for what he recorded in his youth, but his more recent works are also interesting.

The guitarist is preparing to launch Re-Licked , an album that will bring several current versions of their lesser-known compositions such as "Rubber Legs," "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills," "Scene of the Crime" and "Wild Love ". And Williamson is in good company in this project: who will take on the vocal tracks are musicians like Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) and several others.

Williamson released a teaser showing the project "I Got A Right" sung by Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays. Is already on sale including the single on vinyl that brings this track and "Heavy Liquid", to ensure your, just go here . Here's the teaser of the project and feel the sonzera things to come:
http://www.noize.com.br/james-williamson-vai-lancar-re-licked-com-jello-biafra-mark-lanegan-lisa-kekaula-ariel-pink-e-outros/

UBER ROCK (UK hard rock music site) – Second news post on new single, album and album art (from press release)
JAMES WILLIAMSON and LISA KEKAULA preview their ‘I Got A Right’ 7” single
Following the release of his recent Record Store Day exclusive single "Gimme Some Skin"/"Open Up & Bleed," The Stooges' James Williamson has just released his second single today from his forthcoming solo album Re-Licked.

You can hear the single right now by following the link below.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/06/18/song-premiere-james-williamson-i-gotta-right-stooges-rarity/10653453/

On it, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist has enlisted The Bellrays' vocalist Lisa Kekaula for the songs "I Gotta Right" (originally penned by Iggy Pop circa 1970) and "Heavy Liquid" (written by Pop & Williamson circa '73). Backed by the driving force of Steve Mackay, Mike Watt & drummer Toby Dammit (all from the live touring version of The Stooges), along with backing vocals from Petra Haden, Williamson's snarling, incendiary guitar riffs spar perfectly with Kekaula's own soul-shaking, hair-raising vocal deliveries on these two early Stooges rarities.

Williamson's Re-Licked (to be released in the fall of 2014) will also feature other lesser-known Stooges tracks properly recorded and mixed for the first time. Songs such as "Rubber Legs," "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills," "Scene of the Crime," "Wild Love" and others will be fronted by a wealth of talented vocalists such as Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, The Orwell's Mario Cuomo, Ariel Pink, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, Carolyn Wonderland and others.

The 7" vinyl single of James Williamson's "I Gotta Right"/"Heavy Liquid" is now available online in the U.S. through Insound, and can also be found in finer record stores worldwide.
http://www.uberrock.co.uk/news-updates/98-august-news-updates/12124-james-williamson-and-lisa-kekaula-preview-their-i-got-a-right-7-single.html

SKYLIGHT (Athens, Greece music site) – News post on new single, video teaser, album and photo
THE STOOGES' GUITAR LEGEND JAMES WILLIAMSON'S NEW VINYL-ONLY SINGLE "I GOTTA RIGHT"/"HEAVY LIQUID" WITH THE BELLRAYS' LISA KEKAULA IS OUT NOW!
http://www.skylight.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4918:the-stooges-guitar-legend-james-williamsons-new-vinyl-only-single-qi-gotta-rightqqheavy-liquidq-with-the-bellrays-lisa-kekaula-is-out-now&catid=48:music-news&Itemid=18

INNOCENT WORDS (online music site) – News post on new single, album and photo (from press release)
The Stooges James Williamson’s New Single “I Gotta Right”/”Heavy Liquid” Out Now
http://innocentwords.com/the-stooges-james-williamsons-new-single-i-gotta-rightheavy-liquid-out-now/

SOMETHING ELSE! (online music site) – Positive single review with single art
Something Else! sneak peek: The Stooges’ James Williamson, “I Gotta Right” from Re-Licked (2014)
by Nick DeRiso
http://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/08/11/something-else-sneak-peek-the-stooges-james-williamson-i-gotta-right-from-re-licked-2014/

WITH GUITARS (online music site) – News post on new single, album and single art (from press release)
The Stooges’ James Williamson and Lisa Kekaula New Single “I Gotta Right” /”Heavy Liquid” Out Now.
http://www.withguitars.com/stooges-james-williamson-lisa-kekuala-new-single-gotta-right-heavy-liquid-now/

THE PORTABLE INFINATE (online music blog) – News post on new single, album and single art (from press release)
THE STOOGES' GUITAR LEGEND JAMES WILLIAMSON'S NEW VINYL-ONLY SINGLE "I GOTTA RIGHT"/"HEAVY LIQUID" WITH THE BELLRAYS' LISA KEKAULA IS OUT NOW!
http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-stooges-james-williamsons-new-single.html

HELLHOUND MUSIC (online music site) – News post on new single, album and single art (from press release)
The Stooges’ James Williamson releases new single ‘I Gotta Right’/'Heavy Liquid’
http://www.hellhoundmusic.com/the-stooges-james-williamson-releases-new-single-i-gotta-rightheavy-liquid/

METRO TIMES (Detroit weekly) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with single art, video teaser, and related links
City Slang: James Williamson to release second single
By Brett Callwood

Stooges guitarist James Williamson will release the second single from his forthcoming Re-Licked album, “I Got A Right / Heavy Liquid,” on July 29. Lisa Kekaula of the Bell Rays, and also formerly a regular vocalist for the DKT/MC5, sings on the tracks.

Williamson’s first single from the album, “Gimme Some Skin / Open Up and Bleed,” was released for Record Store Day earlier this year.

Re-Licked sees Williamson, backed by the current Stooges touring band of Mike Watt (bass), Steve Mackay (sax) and Toby Dammit (drums), recording a bunch of Stooges songs that were previously only available on bootlegs. Iggy Pop isn’t joining the band (hence no Stooges name on the front); instead, they’re joined by an impressive set of guest vocalists. This time, it’s Kekaula’s turn to shine.

We spoke to Williamson about the project back in March, and he told us that, “There was a period of time back there in ’73, ’74 where we were writing furiously new material for what we thought was going to be a second Columbia record, and that’s the body of this work that I’m recording. The thing was they didn’t pick up their option but we toured around it quite a bit, we played it live quite a bit back then, and so there’s lots of bootlegs of live performances but nothing properly recorded. So my thought and the whole concept behind this project was to do proper studio recordings of that body of material, but with different singers on every one of them.”
http://blogs.metrotimes.com/music-blahg/city-slang-james-williamson-release-second-single/

PREMIER GUITAR (monthly music magazine) – Positive “I Gotta Right” single review with teaser video and single art.
Ear to the Ground: James Williamson and Lisa Kekaula’s “I Gotta Right”
Eric Shea

Remember how excited everybody was when word got out that Joan Jett was going to sing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with Nirvana at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Unfortunately, by the time she spit out the first chorus, the overall feeling was that the performance was good—but not great. Or maybe, like a lot of stuff that goes viral, the hype superseded the actual event. Conversely, it seems like there should be as much buzz orbiting around Stooges guitarist James Williamson getting Lisa Kekaula from the Bell Rays to sing a scorching soul-punk rendering of “I Got a Right.”

Slightly retitled here as “I Gotta Right,” the song was originally recorded by Iggy and the Stooges in 1972 and released in 1977 as the A-side on a Siamese Records 45 single (with “Gimme Some Skin” on the flipside). In keeping with tradition, Williamson is releasing the updated single in 7" vinyl format on July 29th to preview his upcoming solo LP, Re-Licked. The album will revisit obscure Stooges singles, with Williamson backed by the Stooges’ most recent touring band—Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, Steve Mackay (who played sax on the Stooges’ 1970 album, Fun House), and drummer Toby Dammit. The project also boasts vocal appearances by Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan, Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, the Kills’ Alison Mosshart, Ariel Pink, Carolyn Wonderland, and the Orwells’ Mario Cuomo.

From the opening howl of Kekaula’s Motor City-inspired soul power, it’s apparent that all of the aforementioned singers are going to have to step up their game to contend with “I Gotta Right.” This one has everything you need: An avalanche of raw riffs, the Decemberists' Petra Haden on backing vocals, and Williamson playing white-knuckled leads like he absolutely refuses to let the Stooges’ music go gentle into that good night. straightjameswilliamson.com
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21056-ear-to-the-ground-james-williamson-and-lisa-kekaulas-i-gotta-right

SOMETHING ELSE (online music site) – Positive “Open Up And Bleed” single review
One Track Mind: The Stooges’ James Williamson, “Open Up and Bleed” from Re-Licked (2014)
BY NICK DERISO
http://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/06/29/one-track-mind-the-stooges-james-williamson-open-up-and-bleed-from-re-licked-2014/

UBER ROCK UK (UK har d rock site) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo, and related links (from press announcement)
THE BELLRAYS' LISA KEKAULA joins THE STOOGES' JAMES WILLIAMSON on new single

Following the release of his recent Record Store Day exclusive single, 'Gimme Some Skin'/'Open Up & Bleed', The Stooges' James Williamson is set to release his second single on July 29th from his forthcoming solo album 'Re-Licked'.

On it, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist has enlisted The Bellrays' vocalist Lisa Kekaula for the songs 'I Gotta Right' (originally penned by Iggy Pop circa 1970) and 'Heavy Liquid' (written by Pop & Williamson circa '73). Backed by the driving force of Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and drummer Toby Dammit (all from the live touring version of The Stooges), along with backing vocals from Petra Haden, Williamson's snarling, incendiary guitar riffs spar perfectly with Kekaula's own soul-shaking, hair-raising vocal deliveries on these two early Stooges rarities.

Williamson's 'Re-Licked' (to be released in the fall of 2014) will also feature other lesser-known Stooges tracks properly recorded and mixed for the first time. Songs such as 'Rubber Legs', 'She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills', 'Scene of the Crime', 'Wild Love' and others will be fronted by a wealth of talented vocalists such as Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, The Orwell's Mario Cuomo, Ariel Pink, Carolyn Wonderland and others.

'I Gotta Right'/'Heavy Liquid' with Lisa Kekaula will be available on limited 7" vinyl & digital formats worldwide on July 29th via Leopard Lady Records.

Watch a teaser of the single below:
http://www.uberrock.co.uk/news-updates/96-june-news-updates/11670-the-bellrays-lisa-kekaula-joins-the-stooges-james-williamson-on-new-single.html

THE STRANGER WEEKLY (Seattle weekly) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo, and related links
The Stooges' James Williams Sets Rarities Release With Special Guests
This spring, days before Stooges' drummer, Scott Ashton, died, I heard Stooges' Raw Power era and current guitarist, James Williamson, was recording a Stooges record WITHOUT Iggy Pop. Uh. WUT?! Turns out, HE IS, but Iggy was cool with it 'cause Iggy "wanted to take a year off." Yeah, so Williamson is recording/has recorded an entire album, a solo album, of updated and properly recorded Williamson era Stooges' songs called Re-Licked. And, as there's no Iggy, it'll feature guest vocalists like Jello Biafra and Mark Lanegan. I'll be interested to hear new arrangements, that Williamson IS playing on these tracks DOES mean something, but...I dunno, it still seems kinda weird.

The first single, "Open Up and Bleed" b/w "Gimme Some Skin," was issued on Record Store Day 2014 and featured Williamson's Stooges touring group vocalist Carolyn Wonderland on vocals. It's okay, not as confrontational as with Iggy, obvs. The next single, "I Got A Right" b/w "Heavy Liquid," is scheduled for a July 29th release and features Bellrays' singer, Lisa Kekaula. This time it's a version of the Stooges' raw POUNDER "I Got A Right." This track is faster and cleaner than the Bomp single; it kinda reminded me of Motorhead!! Like, if Ms. Kekaula fronted Motorhead. Um, if you wanna watch/hear the teaser clip for "I Gotta Right," you'll need to jump the bump. The clip well, it's a bit NSFW as it features a mostly naked burlesque performer Cleo Vipers.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/06/19/current-stooges-line-up-releasing-stooges-album-iggy-pop-not-included

GOOD READS (online music site) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo, single art, video teaser and related links (from press announcement)
THE STOOGES' JAMES WILLIAMSON TO RELEASE 2ND SINGLE
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/6490519-the-stooges-james-williamson-to-release-2nd-single

NOISE 11 (online music site) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo, video teaser and related links (from press announcement)
James Williamson Rounds Up Stooges Famous Fans For Rarities Release
by PAUL CASHMERE on JUNE 19, 2014
James Williamson, guitarist for The Stooges 1973 era ‘Raw Power’ album and more recently 2013’s ‘Ready To Die’ has gathered famous friends who were fans of the band to record rare songs of The Stooges for the album ‘Re-Licked’.

‘Re-Licked’ will feature collaborations with Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, The Orwell’s Mario Cuomo, Ariel Pink and Carolyn Wonderland as well as an incredibly powerful second single ‘I Gotta Right’ featuring Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays.

‘I Gotta Right’ was written by Iggy Pop around 1970 but remained unused until now. Another song ‘Heavy Liquid’ was written in 1973 by Pop and Williamson but not used on ‘Raw Power’.

The recording band features Steve Mackay, Mike Watt & drummer Toby Dammit, all from the live touring version of The Stooges.

The album will be released around October. The single ‘I Gotta Right’ will be released on July 29.

Sample James Williamson and Lisa Kekaula I Gotta Right
http://www.noise11.com/news/james-williamson-rounds-up-stooges-famous-fans-for-rarities-release-20140619

THE PORTABLE INFINITE (online music site) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo, and related links (from press announcement)
The Stooges' James Williamson to Release Second Single
http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-stooges-james-williamson-to-release.html

VINTAGE VINYL NEWS (online music site) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo, and related links (from Noise 11 post above)
The Stooges' James Williamson Sets Rarities Release With Special Guests
http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2014/06/the-stooges-james-williams-sets.html

WCSX Radio (Detroit Classic Rock station) – Brief news posting on Re-Licked project
* Stooges guitarist James Williamson will be joined on some of the group's famous fans for "Re-Licked," an album featuring re-recordings of rare and unreleased Stooges material.
http://www.wcsx.com/gmi/Story.aspx?ID=2161403

BROADWAY WORLD (online music site) – News posting on new single and Re-Licked project with photo and related links (from press announcement)
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/The-Stooges-James-Williamson-to-Release-2nd-Single-from-RE-LICKED-729-20140618#.U6LRm41dXmY

I-94 BAR (online Australian music site) – Video Teaser posted.
Preview: I Got A Right single by James Williamson and Lisa Kekaula
http://www.i94bar.com/news/preview-i-got-a-right-single-by-james-williamson-and-lisa-kekaula

EXCLAIM! (National Canadian music magazine) – News on “I Gotta Right” song premiere with video teaser
James Williamson "I Gotta Right" (ft. Lisa Kekaula)
By Alex Hudson
Stooges guitarist James Williamson is recording some of the legendary band's archival rarities for a new album called Re-Licked, and with the full collection set to drop in the fall, he has shared a new single from the project.

"I Gotta Right" was penned by Iggy Pop around 1970. This new version from Williamson is a hard-charging, fast-paced punk track that features wailing snarls from Lisa Kekaula of the Bellrays. Petra Haden contributed vocal harmonies, while the instrumentation includes touring Stooges members Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and Toby Dammit.

Hear it below [via USA Today].

This song will come out on July 29. The single comes backed with "Heavy Liquid," also sung by Kekaula.

Below, additionally watch a video teaser for the tune. It features some extremely risqué burlesque dancing, although there's not any nudity technically speaking.

This follows a Record Store Day single with the songs "Gimme Some Skin" and "Open Up & Bleed."
http://exclaim.ca/MusicVideo/ClickHear/james_williamson

VENTS (online music site) – News on “I Gotta Right” single with cover art

THE STOOGES’ JAMES WILLIAMSON TO RELEASE 2ND SINGLE FROM “RE-LICKED” LP 7/29 – “I GOTTA RIGHT”/”HEAVY LIQUID”
http://ventsmagazine.com/the-stooges-james-williamson-to-release-2nd-single-from-re-licked-lp-729-i-gotta-rightheavy-liquid/

USA TODAY (Third largest daily newspaper in the U.S.) – “I Gotta Right” song premiere.
Premiere: Stooges' 'I Gotta Right' by James Williamson
Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
Guitarist/producer James Williamson, best known for his frenetic fretwork with Iggy Pop and The Stooges, will release solo album Re-Licked in the fall. Meanwhile, he's serving up I Gotta Right, a manic, guitar-blazing rocker featuring belter Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays.

The song, penned by Pop circa 1970, will be released July 29 as a seven-inch vinyl and digital single, backed by Heavy Liquid, which Williamson wrote with Pop in 1973. It can be pre-ordered here.

"This song is one of my favorites from our canon of work," Williamson tells USA TODAY. " We (Iggy and The Stooges) have played this song since 1970, when I joined the band, and continued to play it live up through our most recent tour.

"It was recorded as a demo, which was a candidate for our 1971 project Raw Power but was rejected by our management at that time, so was only released on bootlegs and on underground labels.

"I'm joined on this new rendition by Lisa Kekaula's powerful voice teamed up with Petra Hedan's amazing backing vocals. I love this version! It grabs you and doesn't let go until the last note."

On Re-Licked, Williamson revives lesser-known Stooges tracks, including Rubber Legs, She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills, Scene of the Crime and Wild Love. He's backed by Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and Toby Dammit (all from the touring version of The Stooges), plus such guest vocalists as Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, The Orwell's Mario Cuomo, Ariel Pink and Carolyn Wonderland.

I Gotta Right follows the release of Record Store Day exclusive single Gimme Some Skin/Open Up & Bleed.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/06/18/song-premiere-james-williamson-i-gotta-right-stooges-rarity/10653453/

VIVE LE ROCK! (UK music magazine) – News story on new Re-Licked project in June/July issue. (print only)

ALL MUSIC (online music site) – YouTube video news piece on Re-Licked project (along with news on U2’s new album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGIp1r7RYkw

CLOWN MAGAZINE (online UK music site) – Feature on RSD singles and Re-Licked project
JAMES WILLIAMSON RELEASES SINGLES OPEN UP & BLEED, & GIMME SOME SKIN
James Williamson was the guitarist of the influential garage-rock band Iggy Pop & The Stooges. During the recording of Raw Power they were going to release another album afterwards, but their record company CBS dropped them. Subsequently the band split-up and it never got released, until now.

James Williamson has beautifully recreated with fellow musician, singer Carolyn Wonderland to record this forgotten masterpiece called Re-Licked, which will be released in the latter part of 2014.

However James Williamson has released the single tracks, Open Up & Bleed, and Gimme Some Skin, which have had a complete makeover to the high quality standards of today’s recordings; and topped by Carolyn Wonderland’s powerful and clear singing style.

To support Record Store Day in April 2014, both the singles will be available through independent record stores worldwide.
http://clownmagazine.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/james-williamson-releases-singles-open-up-bleed-gimme-some-skin/

WRITE ON MUSIC (online music site) – Feature interview
Guitarist James Williamson Previews “Re-Licked” Stooges LP with Record Store Day Exclusive

Iggy and the Stooges achieved a sense of having come full circle with last year’s Ready to Die, their first album of new material since 1973’s Raw Power. For guitarist James Williamson, however, some unfinished business remained, namely with music he'd composed with Iggy Pop in the mid-seventies—songs that were intended to comprise the follow-up to Raw Power—which was neither properly produced nor officially released.

“I think that body of work is very, very strong,” says Williamson, “and the only thing people have ever been able to hear are the bootlegs of us performing it live back in the day, but a lot of the songs were only partially developed.”

In a Record Store Day exclusive 7” vinyl release of “Open Up and Bleed”/“Gimme Some Skin,” Williamson teams up with Texas blues troubadour Carolyn Wonderland to preview Re-Licked (due this fall), which features a batch of lost Stooges classics (including “I Got a Right,” “She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills,” and “Wild Love”) interpreted by a roster of vocalists that also includes Ariel Pink and Mark Lanegan, among others.

One artist not on the roster? Iggy Pop. “If we had done them with Iggy singing them there would be the comparison between the early Stooges and current Stooges,” says Williamson, “and we decided that was not a good idea.”

Recalling his ambition for “Open Up and Bleed,” Williamson says that he sought a vocalist in the vein of Janis Joplin. An old friend tipped him off to Wonderland by way of a YouTube video, which was incentive enough for Williamson to hop on a plane bound for Austin, Texas to behold the singer in the flesh. “I was just floored,” he says. “This girl has got the voice that Janis Joplin wished that she’d had. She’s phenomenal.”

“Oh hell, I can’t live up to that,” says Wonderland with an unassuming chuckle, adding that she appreciated the opportunity to stray beyond her blues-drenched stomping grounds. “It’s neat to challenge [yourself] to do somebody else’s stuff, especially something so groovy.”

Of course, like the rest of the songs on Re-Licked both “Open Up and Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin” were written for Iggy Pop to perform in his inimitably virile way, a realization that Williamson suggests became all too apparent in working with Wonderland.

Thinking back to the “Gimme Some Skin” session in particular, Williamson says, “That lyric is like a total Iggy-throwaway lyric—‘Typhoid Mary, she’s got soul/Fucks all night on an old asshole...’—and here’s Carolyn Wonderland, and I’m asking her to sing this song. I told her right up front, ‘Hey, look, I don’t want to offend you with these lyrics,’ because I didn’t know her at all.

“But shit,” adds Williamson, “she’s a Texas blues singer; she doesn’t care. It’s actually kind of a fun song. Anyway, she got on it—she brings it alive.”
http://www.writeonmusic.com/2014/04/guitarist-james-williamson-previews-re.html

METRO TIMES (Detroit weekly) – Feature interview
James Williamson, the Stooges
Stooges guitarist preps album of re-recorded rarities.
By Brett Callwood
PUBLISHED: APRIL 15, 2014

Naturally, following Scott Asheton’s recent death, the Stooges are going to be taking a long rest, perhaps a permanent one. Fret not, though, for James Williamson has been in the studio recording a bunch of Stooges songs that were previously only available in bootleg form. The “Open Up and Bleed/Gimme Some Skin” single will be released for Record Store Day, and the Re-Licked album will follow soon afterward.

This isn’t a Stooges release — Williamson and Stooges touring musicians Mike Watt, Steve Mackay and Toby Dammit were joined in the studio by a number of different vocalists rather than Iggy Pop. Austin country singer Carolyn Wonderland handles the mic on that first single. We caught up with Williamson to find out more, though it’s only fair we point out that this interview took place before Scott Asheton died.

1. What made you want to re-record these old Stooges tunes?

There was a period of time back there in ’73, ’74 where we were writing furiously new material for what we thought was going to be a second Columbia record. The thing was they didn’t pick up their option, but we toured around it quite a bit, and so there are lots of bootlegs of live performances. My thought and the whole concept behind this project was to do proper studio recordings, but with different singers on every one of them.

2. Did you approach Iggy with the idea first?

Yeah, we discussed doing this around the time we did last year’s album. But we decided that we should do new material because if we re-did them with Iggy singing, the natural response is to compare the old Stooges vs. the now Stooges. We felt much better writing new material. That said, by doing it this way we’re not really comparing the old Stooges because this is a completely fresh look at it with new interpretations of the songs.

3. Who do you have playing these songs with you?

All the guys that have been touring with us for the better part of the last two years are the musicians. It’s a sensitive point because I don’t want to confuse the issue by saying it’s the Stooges, because I’m the only Stooge on this project. Iggy’s not on it and he’s the other Stooge in the current touring band.

4. Carolyn Wonderland has done a great job. Who else is on the album?

Of course Carolyn killed those tracks. I think probably the next single that comes out will be with Lisa Kekaula (Bellrays, DKT/MC5) singing the vocals. She’s awesome. She’s done a couple. There’s about 13 singers altogether. We’ve got Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream, Jim Reid from the Jesus and Mary Chain, Mark Lanegan from Screaming Trees … it’s a real powerhouse lineup of singers.

5. Any plans to play it live?

I don’t know. I’d love to, and in fact I’m going to play this single at SXSW with Carolyn. I could easily do a similar showcase thing with Lisa, but the trouble is with 13 singers, how do you get them all together to do a show?

James Williamson’s single “Open Up and Bleed/Gimme Some Skin” is being released for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 19. The Re-Licked album will follow.
http://metrotimes.com/music/motor-city-five/james-williamson-the-stooges-1.1668517

WPKN RADIO (Bridgeport, CT Radio) –“Open Up And Bleed” on North Fork Sound show April 6th
http://northforksound.blogspot.com/

ABC12-TV (Flint, MI ABC affiliate) – Mid Michigan Music Scene Feature on new album and RSD single – both online and broadcast TV.
http://www.abc12.com/story/25249723/james-williamson-opens-up-the-stooges-vault

UNCUT (UK monthly music magazine) – Edited online feature from 3 page print feature
The Stooges’ James Williamson: “I didn’t feel Iggy Pop was particularly thrilled about jumping back into the studio”
James Williamson has shed light on his latest project, Re-Licked, a new version of a ‘lost’ 1974 Stooges album, in the new issue of Uncut.
The guitarist has re-recorded a host of songs, including “Open Up And Bleed”, “I Got A Write” and “Gimme Some Skin”, with guest singers including Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, Jello Biafra and Ariel Pink.
Live Stooges Mike Watt, Toby Dammit and Steve Mackay all feature on the recordings, but Iggy Pop does not.
“I discussed doing these with Iggy,” explains Williamson. “We decided there’d be no way we could do them as The Stooges and have it not be compared to the old Stooges – though I guess it’s the other way around, ’cause we were new in those days and now we’re old. So we opted to do a new record [2012’s Ready To Die].
“Why don’t I do it with Iggy now? I felt like this was my project, I didn’t feel like he was particularly thrilled about jumping back into the studio. Now I think he’s hearing that it sounds pretty damn good, so hey, if he wants to sing on one or two of them I’d be thrilled to death to have him do it.”
The new Uncut, dated May 2014, is out now.
Visit our new, dedicated features section, with plenty of our best long pieces archived there. You can find it here.
Uncut is now available as a digital edition! Download here on your iPad/iPhone and here on your Kindle Fire or Nook.
http://www.uncut.co.uk/the-stooges/the-stooges-james-williamson-i-didn-t-feel-iggy-pop-was-particularly-thrilled-about-jump

KDNK RADIO (Carbondale, CO Community Radio) – Alan Weaver confirmed airplay of “Open Up And Bleed” on his show Dreamweaver.

I-94 BAR (Australia music site) – Feature interview (secured by Aussie publicist)
Gimme Some Stooges songs: James Williamson opens up and talks

Written by The Barman

The Golden Age of Iggy and The Stooges continues unabated. With the band on indefinite hiatus, “Raw Power” era guitarist James Williamson is shining new light on a batch of mostly unreleased or never-properly-recorded gems from the band’s back-pages.

Record Store Day 2014 (April 19) will be marked by the release of a seven-inch single co-billed under the Williamson name, coupling the Iggy-less Stooges touring band with flame-haired Texan vocalist Carolyn Wonderland.

Re-worked takes on “Open Up And Bleed” backed with a powerhouse “Gimme Some Skin” will be the precursor to a full James Williamson album later in the year. “Re-Licked” will feature a bevy of guest vocalists.

“I’ve really always wanted to re-do these songs,” James explains down the Skype line from his home in California. “It’s been on my bucket list all along.

“It’s something we (Iggy and James) had talked about doing before we recorded ‘Ready To Die’ but decided against it because of the obvious comparisons between the ‘old’ Stooges and the ‘new’ Stooges.”

james-w-wide
Straight James Williamson. Heather Harris photo

The Stooges being the Stooges, it wouldn't be right if there wasn't some sort of controversy on the boil. Less than two months ago, Rolling Stone reported bad blood between Williamson and Pop, based on the shaky premise of each issuing public statements about the project that appeared to be at slight cross purposes.

“I can’t really say where that (the story) was coming from. It socked me as much as it did anyone else. We were going along, we had decided to take hiatus after the last tour, and I had contacted Jim and let him know what I was doing (in thre studio). i had a positive e-mail from him wishing me great success with it.

“Then about March, he did this knee-jerk thing. You know, I reminded him of our earlier exchange. You notice after that everything tamed. So I think he just reacted very quickly and he understands now. All seems to be well.

“This album is a tribute to our songwriting, It’s not an attempt to replace Iggy.

“No label’s involved. This is a labour of love for me and I didn’t want no-one messing with it. I have strong support from BMG on this. They’re big fans and publishers for me and Iggy.”

The concept of mixing it up with an the Stooges duking it out with all-star array of singers is tantalising to say the least. The two single tracks sound monstrously good - as you can hear for yourself from the samples on this page.

“I started out wanting to do just the one single, ‘Open Up And Bleed’ with Carolyn Wonderland. That came out so great and I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to go for the whole thing’. The singers on this are amazing. The second single is with Lisa Kekaula (of The BellRays) who knocks ‘I Got A Right’ clear out of the park. It really was lots of fun.

“The album won’t be completed and out until September but it’s pretty far along. I can certainly say ‘Gimme Some Skin’ won’t be on the album - it’s just for Record Store Day - but Lisa will do ‘I Got a Right’ and ‘Heavy Liquid’. Jello will do ’Head On the Curve’.

“I’ve got Mark Lanegan (The Screaming Trees) and Alison Mosshart from The Kills and The Dead Weather, and they're are going to do a duet, I hope, on ‘Wild Love’ and ‘Till The End of the Night’. I’ve got a really great vocal from Nicke from Hellacopters on ‘Cock in My Pocket’ and I have Jim Reid (Jesus and the Mary Chain) on deck for ‘Rubber Legs’ and Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) for ‘Scene of the Crime’.”

More immediately, the spotlight is on Carolyn Wonderland, a blues guitar slinger with a voice not far removed from that of another Texan, Janis Joplin.

“I had a hard time finding with the style of female singer I wanted,” James offers.

“A friend of mine sent me a link and as soon as I heard her I said: ‘That’s my girl right here’. I tracked her down in Austin through some mutual acquaintances and vectored in one her and she was so cool, she was like: ‘Let’s do it’.

Carolyn Wonderland ToddVWolfson
Vocalist Carolyn Wonderland. Todd V Wolfson photo.

“I got down there in Austin and she just nailed those songs in four takes. Amazing singer.”

Away from the studio, James has only just come to terms with the sudden death of drummer Scott “Rock Action” Asheton, He took ill while the band was en route to a European tour and his ongoing health concerns were serious enough to limit him to recording only, with longtime Iggy Pop solo band sideman Toby Damnit taking his place on the road.

“It wasn’t a stroke,” Williams says of his bandmate’s sidelining.”I don’t know where that started. He wasn’t feeling well. He was sickly.

“When you’re playing drums in the Stooges, it’s a brutal gig. It doesn’t stop. Even our touring drummer Toby Dammit, who’s 20 years younger than us, he gets his ass kicked every single night.

“So, he (Rock) just wanted to take some time off and that became a problem in itself., You lose some muscle. It’s hard to get it back. We were hoping he would but it never came to pass.

“His passing is s a tragedy and a big shock to all of us. He was a dear friend of mine. We used to room together in the early days of the band. We were very close.

“He was too young but you know we don’t get to pick when we go out. So I got to hurry up and get this album out. I might be next - you never know.”

stooges-promo
Re-printed promo photo showing the "Raw Power" Stooges in 1972.

On the $64 question about whether the Stooges have a future, Williamson is optimistic.

“I think the chances are very good. Often now, at our age everything is subject to change without notice. The reason we took a break after 4 1/2 years of touring this line-up is to give the fans a break. We’ve been hitting those markets pretty hard.

“Right now I’m not writing - I’m head down, doing this album. I certainly intend doing some writing.

“I’d like to go back out and tour some more and I think Ig would too, but the trouble is…think about it. He’s 66 now. If he takes two years off he’ll be 68. How many guys are going to stage dive at 68? Maybe, maybe not, it’s his call.

“I’m hoping we all don’t get too complacent after sitting around for a year or too and say: ‘This is kinda nice, we’re going to stay here in the rocker’, ya know.”
http://i94bar.com/interviews/gimme-some-stooges-songs-james-williamson-opens-up-and-talks

THE AU. REVIEW (Australia music site) – Feature interview (secured by Aussie publicist)
THE AU INTERVIEW: JAMES WILLIAMSON OF THE STOOGES (DETROIT)
April 8, 2014 - 11:32pm — Paul McBride

James Williamson

In 1973, Iggy and the Stooges – Iggy Pop, James Williamson, and brothers Ron and Scott Asheton – released Raw Power, a seminal rock album that stunned audiences of the day and introduced the music world to the first spewings of punk.
After the band fell apart in 1974, guitarist Williamson left music behind and had a successful career in the electronics and software industries, before rejoining the band in 2009. In 2010 the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and released their latest record Ready to Die last year. Williamson's new project involves re-workings of songs from the Raw Power era; a collection which will be released as an album entitled Re-Licked.
Why did you decide to re-visit these songs?

You know, it was a series of things. I've always kind of wanted to hear those songs recorded properly. Back in the day we thought when we wrote them that they would be on a studio album, and we toured with them. Then we changed management, and unfortunately we didn't get the option for another record from Columbia Records after Raw Power, so all that existed of those songs was the bootlegs for all these years. I started out wanting to find a female vocalist, as I thought 'Open Up And Bleed' would really be good for someone who sang kind of like Janis Joplin, and so I looked and looked and a friend of mine in Austin, Texas sent me a link to Carolyn Wonderland singing, and I just said 'that's my girl'. I got in touch with her, and she was totally cool; didn't know me from anybody, but was totally cool to record it. That's the first single [and is] coming out on Record Store Day on the 19th of April. I was pretty inspired to go on and continue doing them, and I'm so glad I did as all these singers have stepped up and done a fantastic job. Really, I think you're going to be pretty amazed at some of these performances
.
What other singers do you have on there and how did you come to work with them?

The next single is with a girl called Lisa Kekaula of The BellRays; she just completely rocks on 'I Gotta Right' and 'Heavy Liquid'. That'll come out around June-ish. I've got Ariel Pink on 'She Creatures From The Hollywood Hills', Jello Biafra on 'Head On', Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream is going to do 'Scene Of The Crime', Jim Reid from The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart and on and on. There's thirteen of them altogether; it's a real showcase for singers, if you will, and a tribute to our song-writing.

Did you originally want Iggy to sing on the album?

Well, you know, initially I did. Initially he and I discussed it as a possible album instead of the last one that we did. We decided against it because of the obvious comparisons between the young Stooges and the old Stooges, and so it just didn't seem like a good idea to get bogged down in all these comparisons. I feel like we made a good album with Ready To Die, but I still had it on my bucket list to do these songs properly, and so the obvious way for me to avoid the comparisons was to have a fresh look at them, re-arrange the songs and bring in other singers. Then it becomes a tribute to the song-writing, rather than an attempt to compete with your younger self.

What makes Raw Power so damn good?

I think it's the song-writing; pure and simple. Those songs – and God knows, they've been mishandled in every way possible by many different people – still sound good, even if the mix is crap or whatever. It just doesn't matter. The song-writing is the most essential ingredient, but also the playing was ground-breaking. That was my first album, so I didn't know anything about the studio and had to defer to Iggy. Iggy's not the most technical person in the world, and he's a very creative guy and wants to push the envelope, but sometimes in the studio that's not a good idea. With that record we made the engineer do a lot of things he probably shouldn't have done, and there were some technical problems; the bass was like mush and the drum track was almost non-existent. Given what [producer] David Bowie had to work with, he did a pretty good job, albeit a little bit arty. Anyway, he made me sound great, and I've got to be thankful for that [laughs]. For an album which is essentially guitar and vocals, it's pretty good. Jack White has made an entire career out of it.

How did you feel when people said Iggy and the Stooges couldn't play properly or weren't real musicians?

Well, I think we proved them wrong. History will probably show that we were good musicians, and we were also very creative and willing to take chances, and not just try to to imitate what was popular at the time. God knows, when we made Raw Power, they were still tying yellow ribbons around the old oak tree, you know? That was the popular music at the time. We pushed the envelope, and although it didn't do us any good career-wise until much much later, we were successful; it just took a really long time.

There seems to be so much of the Vietnam War in Raw Power. Was that a major influence on the recording?

Yes. No doubt about it. Certainly the riffs from 'Search and Destroy'. The genesis of that was me in the rehearsal room screwing around with the guys, playing 'machine gun' on the guitar. They kind of liked that, and that's how that song started. There was a little bit of influence on our playing, but there was a ton of influence on Iggy's lyrics. He's a very topical writer; if you look at any of his stuff, it's stuff that's in the newspaper at the time. That's the way he writes.

Any chance of a trip to Australia any time soon?

I've been asked that question a lot and I'd absolutely love to do it. The thing is trying to organise thirteen singers to show up anywhere is daunting, never mind get them all to Australia. It'd be a challenge, but I'm up for it, and if we can find a promoter to step up and do that, I'd love to. I love Australia; I've been there a couple of times now. The Stooges aren't touring this year, but when we do start touring again, Australia is certainly a viable venue for us.

Do you think you'll ever retire from music, like you have from your electronics career?

I'm sure I will, but before I do I'd like to work on a different type of music. Because I was out of music for so long I've got a lot of music still in me, and that's part of what doing this new album is about. The stuff has a fresh new look and sound to it, and I feel good about that. How long more The Stooges go on; I don't know. There's not many of us left, for one thing. What I do on-stage is just stand there and play, and assuming I don't get arthritis or something and can't play – like Keith Richards or someone like that – I can do it for a long time. But Iggy; he's 66. When we go back out again he'll be 67, 68. How many guys are going to stage dive at that point? If anybody will, he will, but I'm just saying, you know?
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JAMES WILLIAMSON AND CAROLYN WONDERLAND's NEW LIMITED VINYL SINGLE 'OPEN UP AND BLEED'/'GIMME SOME SKIN' WILL BE AVAILABLE AT INDEPENDENT RECORD STORES WORLDWIDE ON RECORD STORE DAY, APRIL 19TH 2014.
http://www.theaureview.com/interviews/james-williamson-of-iggy-and-the-stooges-detroit

UNCUT (UK monthly music magazine) – Fantastic three page feature interview with James (print only)

DAILY EXPRESS (UK daily) – Feature on new album and RSD single
The Stooges rocker James Williamson resurrects lost album

THE STOOGES rocker JAMES WILLIAMSON has resurrected a collection of songs he wrote with IGGY POP four decades ago.
The iconic punk band enjoyed a prolific creative period while they toured their now-legendary 1973 album Raw Power, but the songs they wrote were never properly recorded and the group split in 1974 after being dropped by their record label.

Williamson tell Uncut magazine, "We did Raw Power, and we still had a record contract with CBS (the CBS Records label) for a second album. We were out touring the U.S. like crazy, generating new material for what would have been a second album on CBS, but later on in the tour they decided not to pick up our option, so those songs just kind of laid there."

The guitarist is now preparing to release the lost album that was to be Raw Power's follow-up, titled Re-Licked, after spending a year in the recording studio working on the songs, many of which have only been heard as rehearsal or live recordings.

Iggy Pop is not involved with the project, so Williamson has recruited a number of collaborators including former Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Mark Lanegan, punk legend Jello Biafra and blues singer Carolyn Wonderland to handle vocal duties.

He explains, "It's been really encouraging how many singers have come forward and wanted to sing on it.... I discussed doing these with Iggy. We decided there was no way we could do them as The Stooges and not be compared to the old Stooges... So we opted to do a new record (2013's Ready To Die). Why don't I do it with Iggy now? I felt like this was my project, I didn't feel like he was particularly thrilled about jumping back into the studio. Now I think he's hearing that it sounds pretty damn good, so hey, if he wants to sing on one or two of them I'd be thrilled to death to have him do it. So it's kind of open ended but frankly I don't think he will."

Re-Licked is due for release in the autumn (14), while tracks Open Up and Bleed and Gimme Some Skin, both featuring Wonderland, will be released as singles for Record Store Day in April (14).
http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/468297/The-Stooges-rocker-James-Williamson-resurrects-lost-album

HOLLYWOOD.COM (A&E site) – Feature on new album and RSD single (from Daily Express feature above)
The Stooges rocker James Williamson resurrects lost album
BY: WENN.COM

The Stooges rocker James Williamson has resurrected a collection of songs he wrote with Iggy Pop four decades ago. The iconic punk band enjoyed a prolific creative period while they toured their now-legendary 1973 album Raw Power, but the songs they wrote were never properly recorded and the group split in 1974 after being dropped by their record label. Williamson tell Uncut magazine, "We did Raw Power, and we still had a record contract with CBS (the CBS Records label) for a second album. We were out touring the U.S. like crazy, generating new material for what would have been a second album on CBS, but later on in the tour they decided not to pick up our option, so those songs just kind of laid there." The guitarist is now preparing to release the lost album that was to be Raw Power's follow-up, titled Re-Licked, after spending a year in the recording studio working on the songs, many of which have only been heard as rehearsal or live recordings. Iggy Pop is not involved with the project, so Williamson has recruited a number of collaborators including former Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Mark Lanegan, punk legend Jello Biafra and blues singer Carolyn Wonderland to handle vocal duties. He explains, "It's been really encouraging how many singers have come forward and wanted to sing on it.... I discussed doing these with Iggy. We decided there was no way we could do them as The Stooges and not be compared to the old Stooges... So we opted to do a new record (2013's Ready To Die). Why don't I do it with Iggy now? I felt like this was my project, I didn't feel like he was particularly thrilled about jumping back into the studio. Now I think he's hearing that it sounds pretty damn good, so hey, if he wants to sing on one or two of them I'd be thrilled to death to have him do it. So it's kind of open ended but frankly I don't think he will." Re-Licked is due for release in the autumn (14), while tracks Open Up and Bleed and Gimme Some Skin, both featuring Wonderland, will be released as singles for Record Store Day in April (14).
http://www.hollywood.com/news/brief/56851325/the-stooges-rocker-james-williamson-resurrects-lost-album

GLIDE MAGAZINE (online music magazine) – Feature interview with James
JAMES WILLIAMSON OF THE STOOGES (INTERVIEW)
March 24, 2014 by Leslie Michele Derrough in Columns, My Roots No

It’s two days following the death of Stooges drummer Scott Asheton and James Williamson has a full day of press ahead of him. Our interview had been booked two weeks prior but who knew a tragedy would strike someone close to him. Williamson, however, didn’t want to cancel. “You know, it’s not going to be any easier next week either,” he theorized when I offered to postpone. “We’re all sorry to hear the news.”

Williamson joined The Stooges in the latter part of 1970, in time to record one of the most influential albums of the punk rock movement, Raw Power. Not a success at the time, it took a few years before the world would pull this extraordinary group of songs to their heart and make it a classic. By that time, the band had moved on, Williamson especially. Following it’s release and some touring, the guitar player gave his instrument to a friend and became a whole new person – a businessman in a suit and eventually a VP. After the death of Stooges bass player Ron Asheton, Scott’s brother, the Stooges reunited, played some shows and recorded Ready To Die in 2013.

Still feeling the thrill and excitement of making music again, Williamson has a new project in the works titled Re-Licked, which comes out swinging via their lead single “Open Up & Bleed”/”Gimme Some Skin” on Record Store Day, April 19th. Featuring the extra-sultry, super sassy vocals of Carolyn Wonderland, it’s a great introduction to Stooges songs that Williamson has reworked and re-recorded with special guests such as Mark Lanegan and Jello Biafra.

Williamson was excited to talk about his new music and his days with Iggy Pop in the Stooges. But first he wanted to share a few words about his old friend and bandmate, Scott Asheton. “He seemed a little young for this to happen but you don’t get to pick your time,” he began somberly. “There are so many happy memories with him. I used to be his roommate back in Ann Arbor. We shared everything together … but I’ve had many, many good times with him and he was certainly a drummer that was unequaled in his own style. Stylistically, I think he was totally unique. It was truly a pleasure playing with him and we all will miss him.”

stooges2014

When was the last time you had played with him?

I think the last time we played [together] was when we made the record last year, Ready To Die. I produced that record and so I had him in the studio doing drums so I played with him quite a bit during that record.

And now you have a new album coming out featuring old Stooges songs re-recorded with a new vibe and new singers. The first single features Carolyn Wonderland and her voice is remarkable and gets into your soul in a good gut-wrenching bluesy way. How did you hook up with her?

Well, you know what, she is amazing. Here’s what happened: I was sitting around, and you know that’s one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever been a part of writing, so we played that song live in the last couple of years in our set and I always felt like it could benefit from a rearrangement and it could benefit from a female vocalist who could really belt out a song like Janis Joplin could. But the thing was, Janis wasn’t available (laughs) so I started looking around. I talked to my wife and she agreed with me and we started looking around for people and the first one we found was amazing. She was actually doing A Night With Janis, which was a show that was around, still is actually, and went to see her live and she did a really good Janis. But she was so good they picked her up for the Broadway show so she became unavailable. And in a way it lucked out. So I continued looking and found a few people that I considered but when I contacted them and stuff, I just wasn’t feeling the love.

I had put out a lot of feelers amongst people I know and my old buddy from high school, boarding school in upstate New York, Mike, lived in Austin and he shot me a YouTube link of Carolyn and I just said, that’s my girl right there. So I had to track her down, which wasn’t all that easy, but I have lots of friends that had worked with her and so all of a sudden, she’s out on the road and she gets about ten different emails from all kinds of people all over the world saying, “Check your email. This guy wants to get a hold of you.” (laughs) So anyway, she did, she got back to me, and I described what I was interested in doing and she said right away, “Let’s give it a whirl.”

She’s just a wonderful person, she’s game for anything, and I went down to Austin, I’d already had the tracks, and I went down there and recorded them at her local studio, which was Bismeaux Studios, and that’s Ray Benson’s place. And she just killed that song. I think she took maybe three or four takes and that was it. So I’m down there, used to singers that, you know, take a while (laughs). I had booked extra days and I had to cancel them cause I didn’t have anything else to do. She was just too good. I’ll tell you, to be quite honest with you, we’re talking about the new album but I’m not sure there would have been a new album if it hadn’t been for Carolyn because she kind of really inspired me to, “Wow, this could be great.” And it is. It’s been fantastic.

jameswilliamsonalbum

I didn’t realize she’s been around for a long time.

Yes she has and that’s the thing. I think, for some reason, she has not gotten the exposure that she deserves. I mean, anybody who knows music that has ever heard her sing is floored. I know that, for example, Bob Dylan has seen her and just completely was head over heels. And the same thing with, oh, I forget his name, wool cap from the Monkees.

Mike Nesmith

Yeah, yeah, Nesmith. All these people. All you have to do is hear her and you just go, WOW (laughs)

When did the idea come along that you wanted to do these songs again as a new record?

Well, like I was just saying, I think that the first single with Carolyn really got me fired up about it and then I started thinking, ok. I mean, before we did this thing, I kind of had sketched out the idea but then I was really encouraged to do it because I felt like we could really make it special. So then after that, I went down to LA and cut six more tracks with the rhythm section and put a few more vocals on it and one of the vocals came from a girl by the name of Lisa Kekaula, and I don’t know if you know who she is but she’s another one. She’s in a band called the Bellrays. Check her out. That’s the next single and she’s going to blow you away. Just unbelievable. So now, here I am batting a thousand (laughs). At this point, I have a lot of singers who have jumped on board this because they’re excited about doing it. I think I’m going to be able to put out a record that people really like and that is a tribute to the Stooges and to Iggy and my own writing because it’s all about the songs, really.

Do you have an actual release date?

Not specifically. I had to delay the recording because Mike Watt is on tour. He’s in Europe through the end of April, so I couldn’t get back in the studio until May. The only firm schedule I have is that the first single comes out on Record Store Day, on the 19th of April, and then the second one I want to put out in June. Then I’ll be head down mixing and going through the whole process of pressing the records and getting them out there and so on. I’m guessing that September is probably a realistic date for the release.

You’re a Texas guy and I hear you began playing when you were in seventh grade. Who were you listening to at that time that made you want to pick up a guitar?

Well, when we were in San Antonio, my sister had one of those little portable record players, you know, self-contained boxes, and she started bringing home these Elvis Presley records and I’d hear those and they sounded great. Then all of a sudden, he started going on Ed Sullivan and everyone was huddled around the TV when he would come on and do his thing and all the girls were going nuts and I started thinking, hey, that looks kind of cool (laughs). That’s how I got the idea. The image was really cool to have a guitar so my uncle worked for Sears and I talked my mom into getting the discount from my uncle, which wasn’t much of a discount (laughs) but it worked. By then we had moved to Oklahoma but on a trip down to Texas I got it. And it was an old acoustic F-hole kind of guitar, terrible old thing but it did the trick and I started taking a few lessons in Lawton, Oklahoma.

And my teacher, oddly enough, was a guy named Rusty McDonald and I didn’t know this, in fact it wouldn’t have meant anything to me at the time anyway, but in going back, some of my friends on Facebook researched all this stuff and Rusty McDonald was the vocalist for Bob Wills. So all of those really popular Bob Wills songs were all Rusty McDonald doing the vocals. He’s a pretty famous guy and he got sick of the record business, music business, so he did a little bit of this and that and he had his own TV show down in Lawton and as soon as he taught me how to play “Good Old Mountain Dew,” he brought me on the show to sing and play it. So there I was, and that would have been in sixth grade, and I started getting phone calls from the girls so I figured, Hey, you know what, I like this show biz (laughs).

james williamson pub pic tanya alexis 01

You guys are all the same

(laughs) Well, you know, whatever works (laughs). Everything else I was doing wasn’t working.

When did you realize that you had your own unique sound? Or did you ever realize that?

You know, I didn’t. What had happened with me was then we moved to Michigan and I didn’t know how to play guitar at that point but I lucked out and moved next door to a family of musical people and the son, who was maybe a year or two older than me, was really quite good on the electric guitar. And so here I am, I got nothing to do in the summer and I just kept hanging out over at his house and he taught me how to play the bar chords and all the things you need to know to play the instrument. I did learn how to play some stuff. I was way into the Ventures, surf music and things like that so I learned how to play “Pipeline” and those kinds of songs. But I very quickly learned that it was easier for me to make up my own stuff than it was to learn somebody else’s stuff. So my style kind of evolved in my own way and I used it quite a bit as an emotional outlet. You know, being fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years old, you need that kind of stuff. That’s how it evolved. I think people seemed to like to play with me in the bands that I was in. The Chosen Few was my first band and we did a lot of covers of Rolling Stones and Them and so on. But I was also writing at the same time. In fact, the first time I ever met Iggy I showed him a song that I had written and he took note of that and we remained friends from there on out. So I think he wanted to tap into that cause he wanted to write too and that’s how we got going.

You’re still a Gibson guitar guy, right?

I am. Well, I’m a lot of guitar guy now but the thing is that nobody wants to hear my other guitars. All they want to hear is that Les Paul sound that I have. So you got to please the people who are buying your stuff. At home I play a lot of different styles and a lot of different sounds. I like to play lap steel guitar and all kinds of stuff but for the Stooges there is only one sound so that’s the Gibson Les Paul.

In your opinion, what makes a guitar solo into a great guitar solo?

Oh gee, I think that there’s so many facets to that but I think the fundamental thing that makes it really different is when a guitar player can put the feel of what he’s doing into the instrument and transfer it to you. If you can feel what the guy is doing, and he’s not just technically adept, you know, but really is playing with feel and has a way to make you feel that way, that’s a great solo.

You had known the guys in the Stooges when you were younger, before the band had started, correct?

Yeah, that’s right. You know that band I was telling you about, The Chosen Few? I co-founded it but I was only in it for a short time, then I got sent to Juvy (laughs). It really was for a stupid thing too but anyway, when I came out, I would visit and the band was still going on and they had some line-up changes and one of the changes was that they had added Ron Asheton on bass from up in Ann Arbor. This was a Detroit-based band. I went up for a gig they did at a frat party up in Ann Arbor and met both Ronnie and Iggy at the same time. Iggy was just about to leave the Prime Movers. He was the drummer for the Prime Movers, which was a blues band, a really good one. Ronnie had been in the Prime Movers; maybe he was still part time in them or whatever as a bass player. So I met them both and then from there on out we stayed in touch and I would come up now and then and eventually when I finished high school I moved up to Ann Arbor to live cause there was more going on in the college town. I moved in with a couple of the guys in the band and then one thing led to another and they had had a rhythm guitar player that wasn’t very good (laughs) so they kind of parted company there and added me.

Had you secretly wanted to be in that band or did it come more as a surprise when they asked you?

Well, you know, when you’re a musician, half of the battle is to get anybody to care (laughs). So as a young guy, I had played in a few bands already and first of all, it’s really hard to get a good frontman. That’s the key to any band. If you want people to pay attention to you, you need a good frontman. And Iggy was a great frontman and still is, in fact. I had seen them play. I was around when they did the first two albums too. I was in New York when they finished mixing the first album and I heard the playbacks and stuff. I had seen the band evolve and they were good, simple but good, and they were very, very effective on stage. So I thought that was pretty cool but I hadn’t really thought that I would ever be in that band. So when it sort of happened, I was a little taken aback but I was into doing it. And it turned out really good.

What do you remember most about recording Raw Power? Because that was your first time in a studio, correct?

Yeah, that was my first record. I had been in a couple studios to do demos. We did a few demos of songs that we brought over to London with us but management didn’t like them. And they were great songs too. One of them I’m actually going to release as the next single, “I Gotta Right.” But Raw Power was kind of my first full record and so I really didn’t know much about the studio. I kind of deferred to Iggy because he had done two records before so he had some experience and we wanted to produce the record ourselves. I think there were pluses and minuses to that. The pluses – we did what we wanted to do and we got a record that was game-changing; but by the same token, there are technical flaws in that record, mainly because of both of our lack of technical expertise. So we made the engineer do a bunch of things he didn’t want to do and, I guess in a way, what I am doing is getting to do it over now (laughs). But normally, you don’t get to do do-overs so we live with it but I think the bottom line with that record is that the songwriting is so strong that mixes or who mastered it or whatever just don’t really matter. You can have a crummy mix and it still sounds great.

Do you remember what the so-called surprise song may have been on that album – the one that came in at the last moment or the one that completely changed from it’s original version once you went in to record it?

Hmm, you know you’re asking me a forty-some-odd year old question (laughs) but I think it might have been “Penetration.” We had worked it up in a different way and I think at the very end we sort of just threw out all the other parts cause they weren’t really developed that much and we just kept the real simple repetitive riff, which actually is hypnotic really. I think that people really, really relate to that song.

I love how your guitar seems to race underneath Iggy’s vocals on “Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell.”

Yeah, yeah, I did. I just let it rip in there and that song definitely is kind of crazed but there is so much going on in there and just playing it like crazy.

How did you create those songs?

The way we write is that I generally, in fact, I can’t think of any exceptions, but I write the riff, start out with the riff, and then play it a lot to see if I can live with it for a few days without getting bored with it. Then generally I’ll show it to Ig and if he relates to it too then we’ll kind of work it up from there and I’ll expand on the music and he expands on the lyrics. Especially on that album, he was involved a little bit in some of the arrangements because I was less experienced than him, in songwriting too. But not so much. I mean, if he wanted some other parts, I’d come up with them. So you can kind of split it as I did the music and he did the lyrics. But there’s some interplay in there too.

What was it like working with David Bowie?

Well, we didn’t work together that much. I, personally, and I’ve probably made too much out of this over the years because everybody asks me (laughs). The reason why is probably cause I’m kind of well-known to not have liked David Bowie that much but the thing is it’s not really that. You know how it is when you meet people, there are some people you like and some people you don’t? I just didn’t particularly like him but I give him credit for he is a brilliant musician and certainly lots and lots of great songs and very successful. He wanted to produce Raw Power and we declined on that so as I’ve often said, we got lucky because the management groups started breaking him in the US and didn’t have time to meddle in our stuff so they left us to make Raw Power without any adult supervision, you know (laughs). I just did a talk at SXSW about my life and one of the moderators was Buzz from the Melvins. He quipped right there, he said he just loved the fact that David Bowie was described as the adult (laughs). Everybody just cracked up because he’s absolutely right.

In terms of working with David, the only thing that I was involved with was when he mixed Raw Power. I think that a lot has been said about his mix, you know, being flawed and so on and so forth but I think given all of the flaws of the recording of Raw Power he did the best he could do and, yes, he did a kind of arty mix but I think that it actually has merit and in hindsight it certainly made me sound great. The guitars are like right there. You can almost not hear anything except for vocals and guitars. And you know what, he’s spawned Jack White’s entire career, certainly with White Stripes (laughs). I don’t know, he’s an interesting guy and he has lots of good ideas so let’s leave it at that. He did me a big favor, let’s put it that way.

What was the most unusual thing you saw Iggy Pop do onstage?

(laughs) Oh, there are so many of those but I’ll tell you this one cause it’s relatively clean (laughs). When my wife was first introduced to me by our roadie, who had worked together with her in New York City; he had worked at Albert Grossman’s office, which was Bob Dylan’s manager in those days, and she was in New York, so she knew him from back then. So when he came out and he ended up being our road manager, he wanted to introduce us. So we’re at the Whisky A Go Go in probably 1973 or 1974, I can’t remember, but at the Whisky the second floor is where the dressing room is. From the second floor, there is kind of a ramp that is covered and it goes from the backstage on to the stage. So you kind of enter through that ramp. And here she is coming to meet me and I’m in the dressing room with my hair sticking straight up in the air, six different colors and everything, and then it’s time to go on stage and, you know, she’s witnessing all this, and Iggy’s got to go to the bathroom. So we’re walking down the ramp and he just lets it rip all the way down (laughs). And she’s looking at that and I swear to God, she wouldn’t go out with me for another seven years after that (laughs)

iggy

How long have you been married now?

As of the 27th of this month, we’ll be married thirty-three years.

Ok, what was the most unusual thing YOU did on stage?

Oh gee, I’m just thinking back to the first show that we did after we came back from London recording Raw Power. It was at Cobo Arena in Detroit. We were fresh from ground zero of glam and here we are, we come over to Hollywood and go out and buy a bunch of custom clothes, we’re all tricked out, and one of my ideas was I would get some really long boots made that would come all the way up to mid-thigh. So I got this custom boot maker to make them and it took forever. So we are two weeks away from the gig and these things were great looking but I had just sort of tried the foot on to make sure everything fit and hadn’t really did the whole thing with them. So here I am, first gig and I’ve got my new boots and then come to find out there’s a reason why women have some give in the knee on their boots, and that is because when you have them mid-thigh, I found out I couldn’t sit down when I had them on (laughs). So here I was, going to the gig and they had to lay me out on the floor of the car cause I couldn’t sit down. Then they had to prop me up to get out of the car. And then I couldn’t sit down all night. That’s all I could do was play standing up and I never wore those boots again. It was the one time they were ever worn but that was probably the too-dumb-to-live stuff (laughs)

When you did Ready To Die last year, your guitar playing sounds like it never aged.

Thank you. I’m very proud of that album. I really feel like it accomplished what we were trying to do, which was sound like us.

jameswilliamsonamp

When you moved in to your so-called “business suit life,” had you been playing the guitar at all around the house?

No, I hadn’t. In fact, I gave my guitar to my friend Scott Thurston who used to play in the band with us and I just put down the guitar all together for thirty-five years. I did, however, just before all this stuff started happening, oddly enough, I did find a guitar at a swap meet that sounded really good to me. It was a real old guitar and the guy that was selling it at the flea market didn’t really know what it was. It was made by a guy named Hermann Weissenborn and he was from the twenties and a really great maker but not well known – and I didn’t know who he was either – but I got it cheap and brought it home and found out more about it later. So I really got a great deal on it. But it just sounded so good so I started playing that acoustic and just kind of dinking around. It wasn’t anything kind of what the Stooges would be but it wasn’t all that long after that that Ronnie died and I got the call from Iggy. My circumstances were such that I had taken early retirement so once that had happened I was free to do whatever I wanted to and I felt like they needed me to step up so I did. Luckily, it took six or eight months before we actually played our first gig so I had time to kind of get going.

It’s funny how life kind of does things like that…

It is. What is it they say, life happens when you’re making plans for other things (laughs)

Who was the first real rock star you ever met?

Well, I guess this would count as a rock star. The first one I ever met was Little Stevie Wonder. He used to play at our Michigan State Fair back then, and you’re probably too young to remember “Fingertips,” but that was his first big song and he would be right there up close and personal. He would be standing at the edge of a stage that wasn’t more than two feet high and he would have four guys around the four corners, the four sides, to make sure he didn’t fall off. He’d play those songs and I got to meet him and everything afterwards. He was a young person. I was probably fourteen and he probably was twelve. He was really young.

What was he like?

He was always really nice, just a friendly guy, a happy guy actually. That was really pretty cool. Of course, I didn’t know anything. Who knew he was going to be a megastar.

What is the most interesting piece of memorabilia that you own from your career?

I guess I’d have to say it’s my original Raw Power guitar. I gave it to my friend but then when I started back up he gave it back to me. It’s kind of a unique instrument. It sounds a certain way like no other guitar I’ve ever played and I own lots of them. It’s the original one that we recorded Raw Power and like you say, on Ready To Die you can hear that sound and it’s partly me and it’s partly that guitar.

Since this is a big Beatles anniversary year, their 50th anniversary of coming to America, in your opinion, what song was their most jaw dropping song?

Well, I don’t know. I have to admit to you that I wasn’t a huge Beatles fan. Although, by the same token that if I’m honest with you, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” I was just gobsmacked when that came out, cause I had been listening to like surf music and the Kingston Trio and the folk music was quite big then. Then all of a sudden, bang, The Beatles, and that changed everything overnight almost. So those songs were huge. Stuff like “Help,” those were great songs. Their songwriting was almost unequaled, even though I feel like it was a little bit too, I don’t know, song-y, I guess is the word. I felt like some of the alternative bands like the Rolling Stones, Them and so forth were more attractive to my ear. But in hindsight as an older person, they’re unparalleled in terms of songwriting.

Do you think there is anything left for the young punk guys that are playing today to surprise us with?

Oh yeah, I think there is always room for that. But I think the problem with it is that somehow they’ve lost the feel for the music. I’ve said this before, I go out on tour, the last four and a half years we’ve been out, people are still rocking out to what we do and I look at these bands and they just don’t know how to rock. They know how to emote but they don’t rock. I don’t know how to tell them how to do that but it’s a part of what really attracts people to this type of music. I don’t think there’s any reason why they can’t do it but I just get the feeling that they don’t want to do it and I don’t know why.

What still excites you about playing music?

Well, you know, it’s funny. First of all, I really, really like to write songs, so that’s probably the most fun that I get about the whole thing. And I would do it whether I was going to benefit commercially or was just doing it for my own sake cause I like to hear new stuff. But in terms of touring, it’s kind of like, partly because for so long we couldn’t get arrested. Nobody wanted to know about us and we couldn’t get record companies interested and we had very small audiences. Now, all of a sudden, we have these mega concerts and the fans are totally with us. So the adulation is there and we’re reaching audiences that are a couple generations younger than us, in their twenties, and they’re a very large part of our audience now. So I feel like we’re a bunch of old guys at the end of the game kind of doing victory laps but by the same token I think people appreciate that we’re still doing it. There’s kind of a give and take between us and the audience and that’s exciting. It’s always gratifying to be recognized by people and we’re no different from anybody else in that regard.

Are you playing any shows anytime soon?

I just played some shows down at SXSW but not with the Stooges. I played the single with Carolyn Wonderland and I sat in on her shows and actually there’s some YouTubes of that and you can hear her do it live and she’s just as good live, if not better. That was fun. I sat in on the Austin Music Awards. We did “White Light/White Heat” from the Velvets. I did it with Cheetah Chrome. Then I sat in for a couple of songs with the Austin School Of Rock kids. So I’m playing a little bit.
http://www.glidemagazine.com/115802/james-williamson-stooges-interview/

DAYS OF THE CRAZY-WILD (online music blog) – News on Re-Licked with single art and OUAB video teaser
Stooges’ Guitarist James Williamson’s ‘Re-Licked’ Comes Into Focus

I’ve previously written about the album James Williamson, The Stooges’ guitarist best known for his contribution to the amazing 1973 Stooges’ album Raw Power, has been recording.

Williamson’s guitar work on Raw Power put him on the map, but I’ve also always loved his playing on the Iggy Pop solo album, New Values, and there are plenty of Stooges’ bootlegs that show off Williamson’s unique sound as well.

Now I’ve got more info about Re-Licked via Joel Gausten’s website.

The album will be comprised of songs Williamson and Iggy wrote but that were never officially released (or properly recorded).

Songs to be on the album include: “I Got A Right,” “Rubber Legs,” “She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills,” “Wild Love,” “Heavy Liquid” “Open Up And Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin.”

Singles include: Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Lisa Kekaula of The BellRays and Carolyn Wonderland, the Texas singer who is on the upcoming single, “Open Up And Bleed” b/w “Gimme Some Skin.”

The current touring version of The Stooges — bassist Mike Watt, saxophonist Steve Mackay and drummer Toby Dammit — play on the album along with Williamson of course.

So far the album has mostly been recorded at Dave Grohl’s studio in Northridge, CA.

Re-Licked will be released on Williamson’s Leopard Lady label.

http://www.daysofthecrazy-wild.com/stooges-guitarist-james-williamsons-re-licked-comes-into-focus/

METRO TIMES (online music blog) – News on Gimme Some Skin song premiere with single art.
’s Gimme Some Skin
By Brett Callwood
Stooges guitarist James Williamson has recorded some old, rare Stooges songs for a forthcoming album, featuring a collection of singers including Mark Lanegan and Carolyn Wonderland.

For Record Store Day (April 19), Williamson is releasing Open Up and Bleed/Gimme Some Skin as a single, both with vocals by Wonderland.

We interviewed Williamson and that will be published the week of Record Store Day. In the meantime, Classic Rock Magazine posted a short feature and a link to the song. Hear it here.
http://blogs.metrotimes.com/music-blahg/city-slang-listen-james-williamsons-gimme-skin/

JJ THOMAS RADIO (online music blog) – News on Gimme Some Skin song premiere with James photo.
http://www.jjthomasradio.com/?p=234001

JOELGAUSTEN.COM (online music blog) – News on Gimme Some Skin song premiere with single art, GSS video teaser and statement on Scott.
James Williamson Streams New Song, Comments on Scott Asheton's Passing

As previously reported on this site, legendary Iggy and The Stooges guitarist James Williamson is in the process of finishing Re-Licked, a collection of re-recorded version of rare Stooges songs, for release later this year. While on a break from the road, the members of the live touring version of The Stooges got together and recorded music that was originally penned by Williamson and singer Iggy Pop in 1973/74. These songs were never properly immortalized in studio form since the band didn't have a record deal at the time. Re-Licked will offer fresh takes on Stooges tracks such as "I Got A Right," "Rubber Legs," "She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills," "Wild Love" and others, with vocal duties handled by a vast array of guests including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Lisa Kekaula (The BellRays) and more.

The first single from the project, "Open Up & Bleed"/"Gimme Some Skin," will be released on Record Store Day (April 19) and boasts vocals by powerful Blues singer Carolyn Wonderland.

The Re-Licked version of “Gimme Some Skin” is currently streaming at Classic Rock Magazine.

In other news, Williamson has released an official statement on the passing of Stooges drummer Scott Asheton, who died on March 15 at the age of 64:

To all my friends, Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts around the passing of our friend and bandmate Scott Asheton last night. My only comfort is that he reached out to me in an email about a week or two ago saying that he was thinking of me and the good times we had together and that he would like to make some music with me. I responded but he never got back to me again. I guess that was his way of saying goodbye for now… Anyway, my heart goes out to his immediate family Liz, Leanna Raquel Asheton and Kathleen Asheton. He was one of the good guys and a friend of mine.
http://www.joelgausten.com/2014/03/james-williamson-streams-new-song.html

JOELGAUSTEN.COM (online music blog) – Follow-up feature interview
More Power: James Williamson on Scott Asheton, Unheard Stooges & Beating the Bootlegs

Author's Note (March 16, 2014): I'm profoundly shocked and saddened to learn that Scott Asheton of THE STOOGES died last night at the age of 64. I had no idea that as I sat here last night writing a positive update on Scott's condition below, he was in fact leaving this world. It was a mere 13 days ago that I spoke to James regarding Scott, and all seemed to be going well. Now, I'm playing "Head On" from The Stooges' Georgia Peaches live CD and remembering the man and his incomparable style. What a drummer. What an influence. Goddamn, I'll miss hearing that guy play. My deepest condolences to James and the rest of the Stooges clan on their loss. Thank you, Scott. You were fucking great.

It’s been an interesting few days for James Williamson.

Nearly two days after I published a full-length interview with Williamson regarding his upcoming Re-Licked album, Rolling Stone followed suit and ran their own story on the Stooges-centric project. Less than 24 hours later, the Rolling Stone piece was revised to include a statement from Iggy Pop’s spokesperson, indicating that all might not be well with between the singer and the rest of his band. While this was later followed by another statement from Iggy that sort of calmed things down a bit, this level of media activity/controversy has made Re-Licked one of the most talked about and anticipated/debated releases of the year. With news of the album going viral and Williamson tearing it up at SXSW this week, it doesn’t appear that the buzz surrounding this latest chapter in the Stooges saga will die down any time soon.

And that’s a great thing, because some serious justice needs to be served.

When it’s unveiled this fall, Re-Licked will finally present a number of classic Stooges tunes in a properly recorded form for the first time. When Iggy and The Stooges called it a day in 1974, songs-in-progress like “I Got A Right” and “She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills” were deprived of an opportunity to live on as legitimate studio recordings. Instead, these treasures were left to exist for decades in a perpetually recycled and regurgitated form, appearing on an ever-confusing slew of re-titled/re-assembled bootlegs. It’s become so wacky that not even Williamson can verify the source of some of the material that’s appeared on the market over the years. For example, a 2009 Cleopatra Records LP called More Power claimed to include 11 songs “recorded 1972-1973,” even though accurately placing the origin of the album’s versions of “Open Up And Bleed,” “Gimme Some Skin” and other tracks is a true head scratcher for the guitarist.

“I think I might have seen the album; I don’t even think I have a copy of it,” he says. “[The bootleg songs] come from a lot of different sources…I know they didn’t come from me. They could have come from Ronny Asheton’s basement, or Scott Asheton’s. Who knows what the source of [those recordings] was. If [More Power] has those songs on it, though, they would have to be live tracks, and could have come from the people who actually recorded the live tracks to begin with. We played those songs quite regularly back in that time, more like ’73-’74 in the last series of tours we did…They would not have been studio [versions]. ‘I Got A Right’ could have been kind of a demo thing, and actually ‘Gimme Some Skin’ might have been a demo thing too, so that’s possible - but certainly not ‘Open Up And Bleed.’ They were never recorded in a studio…It could have been a good rehearsal, though. We did some Detroit ones and things like that where they weren’t bad.”

So what does Williamson feel about this ever-growing pile of unofficial Stooges releases in the marketplace?

“What can I say? I don’t have any control over it,” he says. “If people want it, that’s going to happen no matter what we do. I think I’m flattered that all these years later, people are still buying that stuff. Even though it sounds like crap, they still want it because the songs are good. Sometimes, [the bootlegs] have other historical value and so forth. What I’m really hoping is that people will appreciate this fresh look at all this stuff that’s done properly.”

Although the songs on Re-Licked will certainly feel different without the presence of the Asheton brothers, fans can take solace in the fact that Williamson is offering one hell of a replacement rhythm section. Mike Watt’s talents and exploits in the music world are the stuff of legend, while Toby Dammit (a.k.a. Larry Mullins) once held his own in the mighty Swans. While nobody can ever replace Scott and the late Ron (just listed to “Head On” from the Georgia Peaches live disc included in the 2010 Legacy Edition of Raw Power for immediate confirmation of this fact), Watt and Dammit are more than capable of rising to this considerable challenge.

“They’re very, very good and we now have a lot of time together out on the road,” Williamson says. “We have become very tight as a three-piece, and then of course there’s [Steve] Mackay on some of [the tracks]. It’s a fresh look at it, really.”

As for Scott Asheton, Williamson reports that the timekeeper – sidelined from touring in recent years over health concerns – is doing pretty well these days.

“He’s getting stronger and stronger,” he says. “He played on the last [Stooges] album, but it’s different to be in the studio. You stop and start when you want to or need to; you can control all that stuff. But when you’re playing in The Stooges, especially live, you don’t stop at all, really. It’s like one hour of continuous energy expenditure. Frankly, I don’t know how Ig does it. For me, it’s okay because I’m just standing there playing the guitar, but Toby Dammit is 20 years younger than we are, and it kicks his ass every singe night when we play live. Having Scotty more my age, pushing 65…it’s a real challenge. I don’t know if he’ll be strong enough in 2015 or whether he’s just gonna stick to the studio. We’ll find out, but I do think he’s doing much better.”

With all this talk of unearthed material, one has to wonder if there is anything from the post-reunion Stooges sitting in the vaults. According to Williamson, not everything that was recorded for Ready To Die was included on the album. One tune in particular, “Popular Pants,” could end up in the world sooner rather than later.

“I love that song,” he says. “I think it’s both funny and really sounds good, but it was more acoustic so it didn’t hold up against the rockin’ tracks very nicely. It was just too different, so we didn’t put it on there. But it’ll show up.”

An extraordinary collection of re-recorded Raw Power-era rarities on the way? The possibility of unheard Stooges material hitting the masses? This tale is far from over.

Visit James Williamson’s Official Website for regular updates on Re-Licked and other news.

Check out my previous feature on James Williamson HERE.
http://www.joelgausten.com/2014/03/more-power-james-williamson-on-scott.html

AUSTIN CHRONICLE (weekly) – News on James’ SXSW panel
SXSW Panel: From Riffs to Bits
This is your life James Williamson, you Stooge you
By Tim Stegall,

James Williamson, Texan by way of Detroit, practically invented the punk rock guitar riff when he co-wrote “Search & Destroy” with Iggy Pop. That led to one of the most insane journeys a rock & roll musician could have: From garage bands, reform school, and the Stooges to disco producer, Silicon Valley techie, corporate VP, and re-birth as a Stooge.

For one hour, with moderator Jack Boulware – author of Bay Area punk history Gimme Something Better – and Melvins bedrock Buzz Osbourne (seemingly there as comic relief), SXSW essentially presented “James Williamson: This Is Your Life.” Stories were told, photographs shown, riffs played.

Throughout, Williamson flashed a dry sense of humor: “I finally figured out this guitar thing wasn’t working out,” so he shifted into the high tech sector and started a family. Osbourne weighed in with some devastatingly funny color commentary: “I like that David Bowie was the ‘adult’ on the sessions,” he quipped after Williamson described the recording of Raw Power as “the adults left the children to their own devices.”

Finally, at the end, Williamson strapped on his Les Paul and began deconstructing his own Stooges riffs, pointing out the genealogy of “Shake Appeal” and “Search & Destroy.” He didn’t realize parts of “Search & Destroy” descended from the Ventures’ “Walk Don’t Run” (“Oh, cool. I like surf music”) and the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man.”

Surf & Destroy, anyone?
http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2014-03-14/sxsw-panel-from-riffs-to-bits/

AUSTIN CHRONICLE (weekly) – News on James’ SXSW activities
White Light, White Heat
Smokin' in the Boys Room: Cheetah Chrome (l) and James Williamson backstage at the AMAs
PHOTO BY TODD V. WOLFSON
With Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome and the Stooges' James Williamson jamming "White Light, White Heat" with Alejandro Escovedo and Blondie's Clem Burke on Wednesday at the Austin Music Awards, two of the best punk guitarists of the Seventies joined forces. Chrome's been making the most out of his SXSW and is slated to play with local Dead Boys tribute act Flamethrower Love at the Lost Well (2421 Webberville) today before heading to the Legendary White Swan to play "Sonic Reducer" with Tim Stegall's Hormones. After that, it's down to the Paramount Theatre, where he'll take part in the Lou Reed tribute. Williamson's busy, too, talking punk rock and tech with Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne at the "From Riffs to Bits" panel today at the Convention Center, 12:30pm, room 12AB. He's already collaborated with local blues shredder/howler Carolyn Wonderland, having tracked her vocals on blues versions of Stooges rarities "Open Up and Bleed" and "Give Me Some Skin" for the forthcoming album Re-Licked, which also features Gary Floyd of Austin's Dicks singing "Cock in my Pocket."
http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2014-03-14/playback-red-river/

PUNK NEWS (online music site) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
Members of The Stooges are releasing an album without vocalist Iggy Pop, but with several guest vocalists. The album will feature Raw Power-era guitarist James Williamson, as well as Mike Watt, saxophonist Steve Mackay, and Stooges touring drummer Toby Dammit. The album will consist of recordings of unreleased Raw Power-era tracks with guest vocalists, including Jello Biafra, Ariel Pink, Teri Gender Bender, Mario Cuomo, Carolyn Wonderland and others.

According to Rolling Stone, Pop claims that he wasn't asked if he wanted to be part of the album.. Williamson will be releasing a 7-inch single promoting the album on Record Store Day 2014.
http://www.punknews.org/article/54417/members-of-the-stooges-to-release-album-without-iggy-pop-with-guest-vocalists

SKN BACK ALLEY (online music site) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges record album without Iggy Pop
The Stooges have confirmed that they are recording an album without Iggy Pop.

James Williamson, Mike Watt, Steve Mackay and Toby Dammit are working on the LP, titled Re-Licked, with a series of guest vocalists including Mark Lanegan and Jello Biafra.

The album is said to consist of previously unreleased songs that were written around the tim

"Ready to Die" will feature versions of "She Creatures of The Hollywood Hills" (sung by Pink), "Wild Love" (Lanegan), "Sick of You" (Cuomo), "Head On" (Biafra), "Till the End of the Night" (Teri Gender Bender), "I Got a Right" and "Heavy Liquid."

Perhaps it's a good thing that the group aren't planning to tour behind the new album, but Williamson does indeed acknowledge that the Stooges (with Iggy as frontman) -- a group whose raucous proto-punk influenced the Ramones, the Dead Boys and a host of other gnarly music makers -- are planning to hit the road again in 2015.
http://www.ibtimes.com/stooges-without-iggy-guitarist-james-williamson-says-new-stooges-album-way-1561111

PITCHFORK (online music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges Releasing Album Without Iggy Pop, Features Guest Vocalists Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan
Re-Licked features new studio versions of Stooges rarities
By Evan Minsker

Last year, Iggy and the Stooges released a new album Ready to Die. As guitarist James Williamson told Rolling Stone, Iggy wanted to take a year off, but the rest of the Stooges decided to keep going without him. They're working on an album called Re-Licked. It features several Raw Power-era tracks the band only played live (which have circulated widely on bootlegs) sung by a variety of guest vocalists.

The album will feature Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan, Jello Biafra, the Orwells' Mario Cuomo, blues singer Carolyn Wonderland, Le Butcherettes' Teri Gender Bender, and others. On Record Store Day (April 19), Williamson will release a 7" featuring "Open Up and Bleed" b/w "Gimme Some Skin", both sung by Wonderland.
Williamson, Mike Watt, Steve Mackay, and Toby Dammit recorded most of the album at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios. (The one with the Neve console from Sound City.) A spokesperson for Iggy Pop told Rolling Stone that he was never given an opportunity to participate. Williamson said:
"He gave me his blessing and wished me success," says Williamson. "But it's a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you're not on it. I think he's cool with it so far. We'll see how things progress…I hope he maintains his positive attitude."

Later, Pop released a statement to the magazine:
"I don't have a problem with anything, I don't oppose anything. This statement about the 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me. The guys in the touring group have been phoning and emailing me and my rep before during and after the recordings, wondering how I felt about this. These guys are my friends and we've all worked together many years. I am glad someone is paying them; they are working musicians and they need to play. I want to thank all the wonderful singers on this record for covering my songs."

It includes versions of "She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills" (sung by Pink), "Wild Love" (Lanegan), "Sick of You" (Cuomo), "Head On" (Biafra), "Till the End of the Night" (Teri Gender Bender), "I Got A Right", and "Heavy Liquid".
The band don't plan on touring behind the album, though Williamson says the Stooges (along with Iggy) are tentatively planning to tour again in 2015.
Watch them do "Open Up and Bleed" in Sydney last year:
http://pitchfork.com/news/54302-the-stooges-releasing-album-without-iggy-pop-features-guest-vocalists-ariel-pink-mark-lanegan/

SPIN (national music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
Iggy and the Stooges Are Releasing an Album Without Iggy
'Re-Licked' features reworkings of old songs, and Iggy's kind of okay with it
When it comes to Iggy Pop, nothing is too weird to be true, but the latest development out of the Stooges' camp sure is a head-scratcher. Though they'd planned to take all of 2014 off, the band does have a new LP planned for this year — without their fearless frontman.

Guitarist James Williamson, who originally played on Raw Power and returned to the fold following the death of founding axeman Ron Asheton, is leading the Stooges on the recording of Re-Licked, an LP of the band's rarities featuring guest singers such as Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Jello Biafra, the Orwells' Mario Cuomo, and Le Butcherettes' Teri Gender Bender. The band performed songs such as "Open Up and Bleed," "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills," "Wild Love," and "I Got a Right" in the early '70s but they were never properly recorded until now.

Still, as Rolling Stone reports, Iggy's involvement or lack thereof is a bit murky. First, a rep for Pop said, "Iggy was never given an opportunity to participate on the album. He found out about the project in December of 2013 after it was rejected by a Chicago label." Then, Williamson said, "He gave me his blessing and wished me success. But it's a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you're not on it. I think he's cool with it so far. We'll see how things progress… I hope he maintains his positive attitude."

Finally, to not actually clear the air, Iggy offered RS this written explanation: "I don't have a problem with anything, I don't oppose anything. This statement about the 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me. The guys in the touring group have been phoning and emailing me and my rep before during and after the recordings, wondering how I felt about this. These guys are my friends and we've all worked together many years. I am glad someone is paying them; they are working musicians and they need to play. I want to thank all the wonderful singers on this record for covering my songs."

So, there you don't really have it. So far, Williamson has recorded eight songs for Re-Licked at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios and plans on tracking five more. No plans are in the cards for a tour, and he says the Stooges are still eyeing a return in 2015.
http://www.spin.com/articles/the-stooges-iggy-pop-re-licked-album/

UNCUT (UK music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges recording new album without Iggy Pop
The Stooges are recording an album of material without Iggy Pop.
The line-up of James Williamson, Mike Watt, Steve Mackay and Toby Dammit are working on an album, Re-Licked, with a series of guest vocalists including Mark Lanegan and Jello Biafra.
Re-Licked consists of previously unreleased songs written around the time of the Iggy And The Stooges' 1973 album Raw Power. Pop announced last September that he wouldn’t be working with The Stooges in 2014, but Williamson told Rolling Stone: "Iggy gave me his blessing and wished me success with the album. But it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it."
Pop said in a statement: "I don’t have a problem with anything. This statement about 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me…T hese guys are my friends and we’ve all worked together many years. They’re working musicians and they need to play." Pop’s spokesman additionally claimed the singer wasn’t given the chance to appear on Re-Licked and only learned of the album in December 2013 when a record label rejected the chance to release it.
Since reforming in 2003, the band have released two albums: The Weirdness in 2007 and Ready To Die in 2013.
http://www.uncut.co.uk/the-stooges-recording-new-album-without-iggy-pop-news

THE GUARDIAN (UK daily) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
Stooges record new album – without Iggy Pop
Re-Licked sees guitarist James Williamson and his bandmates revisit band’s 70s material – with a selection of guest vocalis
One of our Stooges has gone missing … James Williamson (left), Iggy Pop and Scott Asheton
The Stooges are releasing an album without Iggy Pop. Guitarist James Williamson has spearheaded work on Re-Licked, a compilation of 40-year-old Stooges outtakes which the band has rerecorded with new vocalists.

“[Iggy] gave me his blessing and wished me success,” Williamson told Rolling Stone. “But it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it. I think he’s cool with it so far. We’ll see how things progress.”

“This statement about the ‘hard pill’ sounds kind of passive-aggressive to me,” Pop replied in a statement. “[But] I don’t have a problem with anything, I don’t oppose anything … These guys are my friends and … I am glad someone is paying them; they are working musicians and they need to play.”

While Re-Licked is due later this year, a teaser single will be released on 19 April, Record Store Day. Both are being issued under Williamson’s name. But apart from guest singers like Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink and Carolyn Wonderland, it’s Pop’s touring bandmates who are performing, and it’s Pop’s songs they are playing. All were written by Pop and Williamson in 1973 and 1974, around the time of Raw Power.

“We were originally going to record those songs back in the day because we had a deal with Columbia and were assuming that they were going to renew our contract,” Williamson recently explained to blogger Joel Gausten. “Of course, Columbia didn’t renew our contract. We didn’t have a record deal, so we never recorded them, but the fans have always been saying, ‘I wish they would rerecord those songs.’”

As a group entity, Iggy and the Stooges are currently on hiatus. Though they released a new LP in April 2013, they haven’t played together since last September. Initially, Pop claimed he hadn’t even been told of Williamson’s Re-Licked plans. Still, the Stooges guitarist hopes they will resume touring in 2015. “The thing is, at our age, you never really know,” Williamson said. “There’s a lot of things that can happen … I hope [Iggy] maintains his positive attitude.”
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/11/stooges-record-new-album-without-iggy-pop

LOUDER THAN WAR (online music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
Weirdness -The Stooges to record album without Iggy but he’s still in the band!
The greatest band of them all finds itself in a weird situation with plans to record ’Re-Licked’, a set of previously unreleased songs written around the time of their classic 1973 album ‘Raw Power’ but without Iggy at the helm. Mark Lanegan and Jello Biafra are among the guest singers who will feature on the album after Iggy announced last September that he wouldn’t be working with The Stooges in 2014- taking a deserved rest from the endless ripping the entrails out of every festival on the world circuit.

In the one year gap though, guitar hero James Williamson has decided to remain busy and told Rolling Stone ”Iggy gave me his blessing and wished me success with the album. But it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it.”
Iggy has replied. “I don’t have a problem with anything. This statement about ‘hard pill’ sounds kind of passive aggressive to me…These guys are my friends and we’ve all worked together many years. They’re working musicians and they need to play.”

A PR person spoke on Ig’s behalf and claimed the singer wasn’t given the chance to appear on ‘Re-Licked’ and only learned of the album in December 2013 when a record label rejected the chance to release it.

This is the first year since the band reformed in 2003 that Pop hasn’t toured or recorded with the band. They have released two albums since reuniting, ‘The Weirdness’ in 2007 and ‘Ready To Die’ in 2013.
http://louderthanwar.com/weirdness-the-stooges-to-record-album-without-iggy-but-hes-still-in-the-band/

THE LINE OF BEST FIT (online UK music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges to release new album without Iggy Pop, featuring Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan & more
BY LUKE MORGAN BRITTON
Iggy Pop‘s band The Stooges are recording a new album without their iconic frontman, reports say, with guest vocalists filling in for the singer.

Re-Licked is expected in August/September and will consist of tracks originally written back in 1973, during the same sessions as seminal LP Raw Power. The cuts are being re-recorded with a number of high-profile stars, including Ariel Pink, Mario Cuomo of The Orwells and Mark Lanegan.

“[Iggy] gave me his blessing and wished me success,” Stooges guitarist James Williamson told Rolling Stone. “But it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it.”

Meanwhile, Iggy (who is currently sittiing in for Jarvis Cocker as a radio host on 6 Music) said of the project: “These guys are my friends and we’ve all worked together many years… I want to thank all the wonderful singers on this record for covering my songs.”

The Stooges originally reformed in 2003 thirty years after splitting up.
http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/latest-news/the-stooges-to-release-new-album-without-iggy-pop-featuring-ariel-pink-mark-lanegan-more-148140?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+thelineofbestfit+(The+Line+Of+Best+Fit)

THE 405 (online music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges are releasing a new album without Iggy Pop
by Peter Hinson,
When Ron Asheton died in 2009 The Stooges only waited a second before starting a third life in their long careers. They drafted back James Williamson to reform, as best they could, their Iggy and The Stooges incarnation that recorded their 1973 classic Raw Power.

Last year, they released Ready to Die, a pretty lukewarm record that was never going to knock any of the band's first three records off of anyone's stereo. But their legacy was sealed year ago, the band in the modern era have mostly come to be known as live act who, even after the years of drugs and excess, are still shit hot. And that's largely thanks to Iggy Pop.

Well The Stooges are working on another album that no one will reach for before Fun House after it's over a week old, but this time Iggy Pop won't be on it. Iggy wanted to take a year off, he is 66 after all, but the rest of the band don't, so they're going to try and replace the irreplaceable with a slew of guest stars.

Re-Licked will feature versions of Raw Power-era tracks that were never recorded by the band, only played live and frequently bootlegged. Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Mario Cuomo from The Orwells, blues singer Carolyn Wonderland, and more will all appear on the album, which was recorded at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios.

The first Re-Licked release will be a 7" for Record Store Day that features versions of 'Open Up and Bleed' and 'Gimme Some Skin', sung by Wonderland. It's unclear how much animosity this decision has in the original Iggy and the Stooges as both Williamson and Pop seem to stay amicable, but unsure of the other camps feelings in their statements regarding the album.

Williamson told Rolling Stone: "He gave me his blessing and wished me success," says Williamson. "But it's a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you're not on it. I think he's cool with it so far. We'll see how things progress...I hope he maintains his positive attitude."

To which Iggy replied: "I don't have a problem with anything, I don't oppose anything. This statement about the 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me. The guys in the touring group have been phoning and emailing me and my rep before during and after the recordings, wondering how I felt about this. These guys are my friends and we've all worked together many years. I am glad someone is paying them; they are working musicians and they need to play. I want to thank all the wonderful singers on this record for covering my songs."

Listen to 'I Got a Right' below.
http://www.thefourohfive.com/news/article/the-stooges-are-releases-a-new-album-without-iggy-pop-139

THE A.V. CLUB (THE ONION’S national online A&E magazine) – News on new

“Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges will finally release an album without distracting presence of Iggy Pop
By Sean O'Neal Mar 11, 2014 11:22 AM

For those who enjoy The Stooges, but have long wished that Iggy Pop would sit out a round and maybe give Ariel Pink a shot, the band has just the album for you. Guitarist James Williamson tells Rolling Stone that The Stooges—a group in which only he and saxophone player Steve Mackay can be considered “original” members—will continue its long tradition of just playing with whomever is around by recording the upcoming Re-Licked, an album of songs written and performed live in the wake of Raw Power, but never committed to the studio. Many of them have been heard on bootlegs, but Williamson says, “Recording them properly is something I've always wanted to do.” And when it comes to finally making them a proper Stooges album, he’s not letting the minor hiccup of Iggy Pop not wanting to do it stand in his way.

Instead, Williamson recruited guest vocalists like Ariel Pink, Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan, Jello Biafra, The Orwells’ Mario Cuomo, and Le Butcherettes’ Teri Gender Bender to sing with The Stooges’ (mostly guest musicians at this point) lineup, recording the bulk of the tracks at Dave Grohl’s 606 Studios. And although Williamson says he had to tweak some of the arrangements and lyrics of songs like “Open Up And Bleed” and “Gimme Some Skin”—both of which were handled by Texas blues singer Carolyn Wonderland, for a 7-inch due out on Record Store Day—he also says, “Pretty much they're true to the originals.” Except for the part where Iggy Pop sings on them.

As for how Pop might feel about the band he founded—and which officially goes under the name Iggy And The Stooges now—making an album without him, Williamson claimed Pop had given them “his blessing and wished me success.” Yet he also acknowledged, “But it's a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you're not on it. I think he's cool with it so far.”

After reps for the singer suggested Pop might have only been “cool” with it because he wasn’t even aware of the project until December, and “was never given an opportunity to participate,” Pop issued his own, longer statement to clarify. “I don't have a problem with anything, I don't oppose anything,” he wrote. “This statement about the 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me.” He then offered his own somewhat passive-aggressive benediction, calling his bandmates his “friends”—but also his “touring group”—and saying he’s “glad someone is paying them.”

There are currently no plans for A Bunch Of Singers Who Answered Their Email And The Stooges to tour.
http://www.avclub.com/article/stooges-will-finally-release-album-without-distrac-202060

CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND (online music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
The Stooges recording new album without Iggy Pop
BY CHRIS COPLAN
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/03/the-stooges-recording-new-album-without-iggy-pop/

NME (UK music magazine) – News on new “Re-Licked” album and The Stooges
Iggy And The Stooges recording - without Iggy
Frontman expected to return next year
Iggy And The Stooges are planning to record an album with a series of guest singers replacing Iggy Pop. The move comes as guitarist James Williamson claims the frontman is expected to return to the band in 2015.

Mark Lanegan and Jello Biafra are among the guest singers who will feature on 'Re-Licked', a set of previously unreleased songs written around the time of their classic 1973 album 'Raw Power'. Pop announced last September that he wouldn’t be working with The Stooges in 2014, but Williamson told Rolling Stone: "Iggy gave me his blessing and wished me success with the album. But it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it."

Pop said in a statement: "I don’t have a problem with anything. This statement about 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me…These guys are my friends and we’ve all worked together many years. They’re working musicians and they need to play." Pop’s spokesman additionally claimed the singer wasn’t given the chance to appear on 'Re-Licked' and only learned of the album in December 2013 when a record label rejected the chance to release it.

This is the first year since the band reformed in 2003 that Pop hasn’t toured or recorded with the band. They have released two albums since reuniting, 'The Weirdness' in 2007 and 'Ready To Die' in 2013.
http://www.nme.com/news/iggy-and-the-stooges/75984

ROLLING STONE (national music magazine) – James second follow-up feature interview
Iggy and the Stooges Face Uncertain Future
The proto-punk icons are taking 2014 off. What does the future hold for a band with no concrete plans?
By ANDY GREENE

Ever since reforming the Stooges for Coachella 2003, Iggy Pop has devoted most of his time to leading the group on a never-ending world tour and cutting two new albums even after the death of founding guitarist Ron Asheton led to the return of Raw Power-era guitarist James Williamson and medical problems sidelined drummer Scott Asheton. But for the first time in a decade, The Stooges have no shows booked and face a very uncertain future.

Stooges Guitarist James Williamson Talks 'Raw Power'-Era Rarities

The group last played at Colorado's Riot Fest on September 21st, 2013 and afterwards, Iggy ceased all group activity for the entirety of 2014. Williamson is using the time to record Raw Power-era rarities with guest singers, and he's unsure what the future holds for the proto-punk pioneers. "The plan now is to go back out in 2015," he says. "The thing is, at our age, you never really know. There's a lot of things that can happen. And that's a long way from here, but that's the plan right now."

Last year, The Stooges released Ready to Die, their first album with Williamson since Raw Power and only their fifth LP overall. It wasn't a big commercial success. "We never had a great reception for our albums anyway," says Williamson. "It doesn't really matter. I'm proud of the album. I think it'll hold up over time."

Scott Asheton played drums on Ready to Die, but he's been off the road since suffering an unspecified severe injury after the Stooges played France's Hellfest Festival in June 2011. "He was on a flight to England when all sorts of hell broke loose," Iggy told Rolling Stone later that year. "Without proper medical attention right there he would have bought it."

Asheton was replaced on the road by Toby Dammit, though he did get back behind the kit during the Stooges' set at Austin City Limits in October 2012. But it was clear to most observers he was struggling to keep up, and Dammit has been playing with the group ever since. "Scotty is losing a step here and there," Williamson says. "And he just can't keep up with that brutal touring schedule. It's just too tough. Toby is 20 years younger. Scotty is getting better, though. He brought a lot to the party on the last record." Might he rejoin the group if they return in 2015? "I don't know," says Williamson. "That's an open-ended thing at this point. We gotta get there first."

For all of the Stooges' heavy touring in recent years, American fans have had relatively few chances to see them, with most of their shows occurring in Europe and Australia. "My impression is that Iggy became quite popular in Europe during his solo years," says Williamson. "And not so much in America. He just got into the habit of touring Europe and the promoters and agents there are real plugged in. We sell out almost every show we play in America, but it's not on the same scale as Europe."

Director Jim Jarmusch has been plugging away at a Stooges documentary over the past few years. "As far as I know, that's still in the works," says Williamson. "God knows when it's going to be done, though. But you can be sure it won't be what you think it's going to be."

For now, Williamson is focused on finishing Re-Licked, a collection of newly recorded Stooges outtakes with guest singers like Jello Biafra and Mark Lanegan tackling the vocals. Iggy's absence from the project has left some Stooges fans scratching their heads. "He gave me his blessing and wished me success," says Williamson. "But it's a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you're not on it. I think he's cool with it so far. We'll see how things progress…I hope he maintains his positive attitude."

"I don't have a problem with anything, I don't oppose anything," Iggy tells Rolling Stone in a written statement. "This statement about the 'hard pill' sounds kind of passive aggressive to me. The guys in the touring group have been phoning and emailing me and my rep before during and after the recordings, wondering how I felt about this. These guys are my friends and we've all worked together many years. I am glad someone is paying them; they are working musicians and they need to play. I want to thank all the wonderful singers on this record for covering my songs."

Last week, a spokesperson for Iggy Pop told Rolling Stone that Iggy wasn't given an opportunity to participate on the album and he only learned of it in December of 2013, after an Australian label turned it down.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/iggy-and-the-stooges-face-uncertain-future-20140310

ULTIMATE CLASSIC ROCK (national Canadian music magazine) – News story on new album with photo and video teaser (with Iggy’s statement)
Stooges Guitarist James Williamson Digs Up Old Songs For New Album
by Dave Swanson

EXCLAIM.CA (national Canadian music magazine) – News story on new album with photo and video teaser (with Iggy’s statement)
Stooges' James Williamson Recruits Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Jello Biafra to Re-record Unreleased 'Raw Power'-era Material Without Iggy Pop

By Alex Hudson
Iggy Pop is apparently taking some time off from the Stooges, but fans of the band still have something to look forward to thanks to guitarist James Williamson, who is digging up some unreleased Raw Power-era songs for a newly recorded album called Re-Licked.

As Rolling Stone reports, the band wrote a batch of songs around the time of 1973's Raw Power, but they broke up and the material was never released. Now, Williamson has recruited the band's bassist Mike Watt, sax player Steve Mackay and touring timekeeper Toby Dammit to finally turn the songs into an album.

They will be joined by an assortment of guest singers. Much of the recording took place at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios in Northridge, CA, with vocalists including Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Jello Biafra, Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes, Kimono Kult, Bosnian Rainbows), Mario Cuomo (the Orwells) and Carolyn Wonderland.

These songs were performed live back in the day, and some cuts ("Open Up and Bleed," "I Got a Right," "Heavy Liquid," "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills," "Wild Love") have appeared on bootlegs over the years. Eight tunes are done, with five more still to do.

Williamson said, "Some of the arrangements have been changed a bit and there's a few lyrical tweaks, but pretty much they're true to the originals."

As for Iggy Pop not being involved in the project, a spokesperson told Rolling Stone, "Iggy was never given an opportunity to participate on the album. He found out about the project in December of 2013 after it was rejected by an Australian label."

Re-Licked is expected out in August or September. In the meantime, fans can preview the project via a vinyl single for "Open Up and Bleed" and "Gimme Some Skin." This will come out on Record Store Day (April 19) and features Wonderland on lead vocals. Check out a teaser for "Open Up and Bleed" below.
http://exclaim.ca/News/stooges_james_williamson_recruits_mark_lanegan_ariel_pink_jello_biafra_to_re-record_unreleased_raw_power-era_material_without_iggy_pop

ROLLING STONE (national music magazine) – James feature interview with photo
Stooges Guitarist James Williamson Talks 'Raw Power'-Era Rarities

'Re-Licked' will feature Stooges song only available on hissy bootlegs
When Iggy Pop decided that the Stooges would take 2014 off, guitarist James Williamson had little desire to stop working. After all, Willamson already had a 30-year break from the music industry before he rejoined the Stooges in 2010 after original guitarist Ron Asheton passed away. He also had the itch to finally complete a series of songs the Stooges wrote around 1973 for a follow-up to Raw Power that never came to be.

Iggy and the Stooges Are 'Ready to Die'

With Iggy out of the picture for now, Williamson reached out to a series of guest singers along with the band's bassist Mike Watt, saxophonist Steve Mackay and touring drummer Toby Dammit to finally record the old material. He's calling the project Re-Licked. "These are songs we only played live," Williamson tells Rolling Stone. "I felt these songs had greater potential than what was represented on bootlegs. Recording them properly is something I've always wanted to do. I know not everyone can sing a Stooges song, but so far so good."

Hardcore fans of The Stooges will recognize titles like "Open Up And Bleed," "I Got A Right," "Heavy Liquid," "She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills" and "Wild Love" from dodgy-sounding bootlegs that have been circulating for decades. "We were terrible entertainers back in the 1970s," says Williamson. "It didn't dawn on us that we should play songs that people know. We also got bored very easily and just wanted to do new stuff. But then Columbia didn't pick up our option and so the songs had nowhere to go."

Williamson is still hard at work on the album, but on April 19th, he'll release "Open Up And Bleed" and "Gimme Some Skin" on vinyl for Record Store Day. Texas blues singer Carolyn Wonderland handles vocal duties on both tracks. "I've evolved my thinking about a few of the songs," says Williamson. "Some of the arrangements have been changed a bit and there's a few lyrical tweaks, but pretty much they're true to the originals."

Much of the album was recorded at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios in Northridge, California, which utilizes the legendary Nieve console from Sound City Studios. "The Nieve console is just killer," says Williamson. "It's a great sound for basic tracks and it's convenient because Watt lives right down by there."

Some of the singers on the project will be largely unknown to mass audiences, like Teri Gender Bender of the Mexican punk band Le Butcherettes. She's tackling the super obscure "Till The End of Night," while Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan was recruited to sing "Wild Love" and Mario Cuomo of The Orwells is handling "Sick of You." "That's a real teen angst sort of song," says Williamson of the latter track. "He sort of channels Joey Ramone on that."

Former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra signed on to record "Head On." "That song has always been on his bucket list," says Williamson. "I wouldn't dare give it to anybody else. Watt also plays a huge bass solo on that." Ariel Pink sings "She Creatures of Hollywood" and, according to Williamson, is "probably the only guy that could have made that song work." Mackay also provides a "Fun House-style sax solo" to accompany Pink.

So far, Williamson has cut eight tracks and plans to record five more once Watt returns from a long European tour. "I figure I can have the album mixed, mastered and pressed by late August or early September," he says. "Sometime before that, I'll put out a second single, maybe in June."

In an ideal world, Iggy Pop would have sung on this album, but Williamson understands his reluctance. "He's made something like 40 albums," he says. "After our last album, he wasn't too excited about stepping into the studio. I understand."

Don't expect Williamson to hit the road in support of Re-Licked. "That's not in the cards," he says. "I suppose we could consider something in major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London, but to pull 13 singers together for a show? Fuck. That would be almost impossible."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/stooges-guitarist-james-williamson-talks-raw-power-era-rarities-20140307

CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE (UK monthly music magazine) – “Gimme Some Skin” song premiere scheduled for Wed. March 19th (per editor Sian)
http://classicrock.teamrock.com/music_and_videos/music-premiere-james-williamson-gimme-some-skin/

METRO TIMES (Detroit weekly) – James interview with Brett Callwood for news feature on new single & album. (Tue. March 4th 10:30am PST)

WRITE ON MUSIC (online music blog) – James interview with Donald Gibson for news feature on new single & album. (Tue. March 4th 11:30am PST)

WRAT “THE ELECTRIC BALLROOM” (New Jersey Rock Radio) – James taped interview with Keith Roth for on-air feature on new single & album. (Tue. March 18th 10am PST. )

I
NNOCENT WORDS (online music news site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with single art, James photo and video teaser (from press release).
The Stooges’ James Williamson To Release Record Store Day Single April 19 With Carolyn Wonderland - See more at: http://innocentwords.com/the-stooges-james-williamson-to-release-record-store-day-single-april-19-with-carolyn-wonderland/#sthash.UQ0bubaJ.dpuf
http://innocentwords.com/the-stooges-james-williamson-to-release-record-store-day-single-april-19-with-carolyn-wonderland/

LETTERS FROM A TAPEHEAD (Philly-base online music site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with single art
Stooges alum James Williamson is releasing an album of reconsidered Stooges songs called, Re-licked. In an attempt to tease the album, Williamson is releasing a Record Store Day exclusive single of "Open Up and Bleed" b/w "Gimme Some Skin," both of which are sung by singer Carolyn Wonderland.

I caught his rendition of "Open Up and Bleed" via Gregg Foreman's The Pharmacy a week or so ago in an episode featuring an interview with Lydia Lunch. You can find that here.

All the info below comes courtesy of Pavement PR.
http://www.letters-from-a-tapehead.com/

HARD ROCK INFO (Swedish metal music site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album
THE STOOGES guitarist to release exclusive single THE STOOGES' guitarist James Williamson announces the release of his new exclusive Record Store Day vinyl single, "Open Up And Bleed"/Gimme Some Skin", on April 19.
This recording of 2 early THE STOOGES songs will feature THE STOOGES without Iggy Pop, but with Texas blues singer/guitarist Carolyn Wonderland.
The single is an early taste of Williamson's forthcoming studio album, "Re-licked".http://www.bravewords.com/news/219125

BRAVE WORDS & BLOODY KNUCKLES (Canadian metal music magazine) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with photo and video teaser (from JoelGausten post)
IGGY AND THE STOOGES Guitarist James Williamson Reveals New Re-Recorded Rarities Project
http://www.bravewords.com/news/219125

AUSTIN CHRONICLE (Austin weekly) – Carolyn SXS show preview highlights as a SXSW Pick.
Tuesday – First Night
Carolyn Wonderland
11pm, the Main The reigning queen of Austin blues, Carolyn Wonderland sparks fire on guitar and soulful fury in the force of her vocal grit. Since 2011's Peace Meal, reveling in Wonderland's rough and raw Janis Joplin-esque howl and burn-down blues, she's lent her impeccable riffs to a number of albums, including the upcoming LP from the Stooges' James Williamson, Re-licked. 2014 promises a necessary live album. – Doug Freeman
http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2014-03-07/sxsw-tuesday-picks-and-sleepers-tuesday-picks-and-sleepers/

J
OELGAUSTEN.COM (online music blog) – Feature interview with photo, single art and video taser and related link.
Still Bleeding: James Williamson Adds Raw Power to Long-Lost Stooges Tunes
Photo by Tanya Alexis

It only took one album to make James Williamson a Rock legend.

In 1973, Williamson was an integral part of the creation of Iggy and The Stooges’ Raw Power, one of history’s greatest Rock albums. With Williamson on guitar, Iggy Pop on vocals, the late Ron Asheton on bass and Scott Asheton on drums, this incarnation of the band blazed the trail for Punk to come with tracks like “Search And Destroy,” “Raw Power” and “Shake Appeal.” An absolutely bulletproof release, Raw Power still sounds as fresh and aggressive today as it did 41 years ago.

When the always-reckless band imploded in 1974, a number of songs written by Williamson and Pop were abandoned without receiving proper treatment in a recording studio, surviving only in an ever-growing series of bootlegs of dubious quality and origin. Fast-forward to 2014, and Williamson is resurrecting and recording a number of these songs (including “I Got A Right,” “Rubber Legs,” “She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills,” “Wild Love,” “Heavy Liquid” and more) for Re-Licked, the debut release on his own Leopard Lady label. These new recordings will be fronted by a wealth of talented vocalists such as Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, the extraordinary Lisa Kekaula of The BellRays and others to be announced soon. In addition to Williamson, the music on Re-Licked is supplied by his current Stooges bandmates – bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen/fIREHOSE), saxophonist Steve Mackaye and touring drummer Toby Dammit (Iggy Pop/Swans).

Fans will get a taste of the upcoming album next month when Williamson releases a limited-edition vinyl single,“Open Up And Bleed”/“Gimme Some Skin,” at independent record stores worldwide on Record Store Day, April 19th. Both songs feature the outstanding talents of Texas-based Blues belter Carolyn Wonderland. The album’s next single, “I Got A Right” / “Heavy Liquid,” will appear later this summer and feature vocals by Kekaula.

Re-Licked is the latest story in Williamson’s whirlwind second life as a working musician. After retiring from the music business at the dawn of the ’80s, he became a Silicon Valley executive thanks to his work in the electrical engineering field, eventually landing a position as vice president of technical standards for Sony. An early retirement buyout from the company in 2009 coincided with an invitation to re-join The Stooges, who had initially reformed in 2003. Before long, Williamson was onstage with his guitar for the first time in decades – and that sound was back. Last year, the Williamson-produced Ready to Die – his first album with Iggy And The Stooges in 40 years – was released on Fat Possum Records.

Williamson’s enthusiasm for Re-Licked was impossible to ignore when I phoned him earlier this week for the inside story on the project.

I’ve been listening to the single for the last few days now, and it’s been blowing my mind. To hear those songs in this light is really something else.

I’m just so psyched about this project so far! It’s bringing new life to these tracks; it’s really great.

How did the idea to exhume these songs come about?

It’s been something we’ve been kicking around for a lot of years. We were originally going to record those songs back in the day because we had a deal with Columbia and were assuming that they were going to renew our contract. We were out on tour and writing all this new material and performing it, so that’s what you get on all those bootlegs that are out there. Of course, Columbia didn’t renew our contract. We didn’t have a record deal, so we never recorded them, but the fans have always been saying, ‘I wish they would re-record those songs.’ We hear that, and Ig and I were talking about it before we did the last album...I think that the conclusion we came to was, ‘No, let’s do new stuff. They’re always going to compare the young Stooges with the old Stooges’ version, and it probably wouldn’t be so great.’ So we didn’t do it. We’ve been touring steadily for the last four, four-and-a-half years. We announced at the end of last summer that we were going to take all of 2014 off, so that kind of gave me the time to go back and say, ‘You know what? This is on my bucket list and I want to get it done.’ We already had a touring band – Mike Watt, Toby Dammit and Steve Mackaye – who already knew a bunch of these songs. We’re very tight after having toured so much, so I just said, ‘You know what? I’m going to go in there with these guys and try one.’ That’s how the first single came about.

I love ‘Open Up And Bleed;” it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever been part of writing in my life. My wife and I were thinking and talking about it, and [I] said, ‘You know who would sound killer on this song? Janis Joplin.’ Of course that wasn’t an option, so I went through a lot of different channels to try to find somebody who could sing like that – a woman who could really belt out a song. I found a couple of them, but I really wasn’t feeling the love on it, and I kept searching around. My old buddy rom boarding school in upstate New York, Michael Adams, is in Austin, TX and shot me a YouTube of Carolyn Wonderland singing, and man…I talked about it again with my wife and said, ‘That’s my girl!’ I tracked her down through a whole bunch of different sources, and she was totally cool in doing it. She just kills that track.

You have some other singers in this project who are equally mind-blowing – like one of my favorites, Lisa from The BellRays.

Oh, man, yeah! Once I did [the first] single with Carolyn, then I was really encouraged that this was going to be a fun project. I went back in the studio and cut another six tracks with the band. At first, [the idea] was [having] one or two singers, but then once the word got out, like everybody wants to sing on this record! I had to pick from a really good roster of people. Mainly, we’re tracked down at Dave Grohl’s studio in Northridge [CA]. They have an old Sound City Neve console down there; the stuff sounds really good. I also got plugged into this guy Joe Cardamone, who’s from Icarus Line. He’s been very helpful to me in a number of ways, one of which is he’s got a little inexpensive studio. If I’m doing vocals and stuff, I can go in there. I’m kind of bankrolling this myself, so it has been very helpful, but he also came up with Lisa. So we got Lisa in there, and she just floored me…I mean, really unbelievable. Wait ’til you hear her sing!

The cover of the single is very striking. What can you tell me about the artist involved in that?

On the last song of our last show in San Jose at the end of last summer, all of a sudden, onstage comes this whole group of girls – good-looking girls at that – who were just painted. They’re like nude, and you can kind of tell that they’re nude, but you kind of can’t because they’re painted. I was just struck by what a spectacle it was because they looked eerie in a way and they brought so much to the party. We didn’t know they were going to come onstage; the promoter set all that up with the artist, Trina Merry. She does body painting; that’s her deal.

After that, I [contacted] the promoter and wanted to know who that [artist] was. I got in touch with her and started going through all the various different things that she’s done. Check her art gallery out; it’s just amazing.

For the first [single], I didn’t have enough time, so I selected a piece that she had already done. That thing is amazing! I believe it’s derived from a Salvador Dali piece or something similar to that with bodies, but she had her painted people in there, and that’s an amazing photo. I used that, but moving forward you’ll see a bunch of stuff from her. In fact, in the teaser [video below], she painted the face that I have on. I’ve got a bunch of stuff that you’ll see moving forward that she was involved with because she’s just so talented and it’s so much fun to work with her. I’m really happy about that find.

Obviously, this new record is a further chapter in your second life in the music industry. What was the most surprising thing for you when you got back with Iggy in ’09 and stepped into that role again – whether in the music business itself or as a musician touring after all that time?

It was a couple of things that struck me right off the back. Number one, that the audience approval for us was just off the chart. I had never experienced anything like that in my life because back in the day, we weren’t very well liked at all. There were a few pockets of fans and so forth, but the biggest show I might have performed at might have been 2,000 people. But my first show [back with The Stooges] was 40,000 people going crazy. It was a whole different deal. The next thing that struck me right away was how professional Iggy had become. Back when we were doing it [in the ’70s], you never knew what you were going to get on a show night. We might not [have been] able to show up, or we would be late. We certainly never did more than about a 20 or 30-minute show, So, yeah, he had become very, very professional over the years. Even though he’s still very spontaneous, he’s always there on time, is prepared and knows what he’s doing. That was a big change.

The last Stooges album [Ready To Die] has been out for about a year now. Of course, that was the first one that you worked on in some time. Looking back on that record now, what are your thoughts on that music? If you had a goal going into that album, do you feel it was reached?

I do. I feel very proud of that album. I know that the reviews on it were a mixed bag, but the whole spectrum was so great. On one hand, some people were panning it or kind of badmouthing the Ig, like he’s too old to be doing this, or that talking about tits and stuff at his age was kind of creepy. On the other end of the spectrum, there are some gushing reviews of that album, including [from] the guy I’m doing SXSW’s speech with next Friday, Buzz from The Melvins. He went apeshit over that album. It’s never been something we put too much stock in because we’ve never really gotten really good reviews on albums, but they stand the test of time. So [with] this one, I felt pretty good, [and] it’s selling pretty well – for these days, actually very well. So I think the fans like it, and that’s what we’re doing it for.

What does the future look like for The Stooges?

Well, you never know at our age! (laughs) I can’t worry about it too much. We announced at the end of last summer that we’re talking all of 2014 off, so that’s what we’re doing and that’s why I have the time to make this project that we’re talking about. The plan is to go back out in 2015, but that’s a long way away. I’ll just take things as they go. Right now, just getting this project out is consuming my time, especially when you’re trying to do everything yourself like I am. It’s a bigger role than I had planned on, to be honest with you (laughs).

I was one of those kids who bought a vinyl copy of Raw Power and was hit by the lightning bolt. It’s 41 years since the release of that album. As someone who was partly responsible for that album’s creation, why do you think that particular recording continues to resonate for so many people?

First of all, there’s great songs on it. It’s just like saying, ‘Why does everybody keep playing these Stones, Led Zeppelin and Beatles songs?’ It’s because they’re great songs. I think the songs on Raw Power are so great that no matter what anybody did to the mix and how mishandled it was over the years, it still sounds good. Of course, it made me sound good because practically all you can hear is the guitar and vocals on it (laughs). It’s just a cool album, and it was a historical album. Certainly, it had broken some ground at the time.

I think that now, the kids going back - the twentysomethings and so forth - are doing kind of what we used to do when we were their age. We would hear the English guys come over and play the Blues, like Cream and Jeff Beck and all that stuff. We thought, ‘Man, these guys are fantastic’ until we figured out, ‘Hey, those aren’t the real guys. These are the real guys,’ and then we’d go seek them out and listen to them. I think we’re kind of like the old Blues guys of these days.
http://www.joelgausten.com/2014/03/still-bleeding-james-williamson-adds.html

VINTAGE VINYL NEWS (NY music news site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with photo and video teaser (from AussieNoise 11 news post)http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2014/03/james-williamson-re-recording-rare.html

TOP 40 CHARTS (online music news site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with single art (from press release).
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http://top40-charts.com/news/Rock/The-Stooges-Guitar-Legend-James-Williamson-Announces-The-Release-Of-His-New-Exclusive-Record-Store-Day-Vinyl-Single-%CE%9Fpen-Up-And-Bleed-%CE%93imme-Some-Skin-On-April-19th/98290.html

ROCKOL.COM (UK music site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked.album
Iggy-less Stooges to release album with Lanegan, Biafra and others on vocals
On Record Store Day 2014 will be released a special single featuring the Stooges tracks "Open Up And Bleed" and "Gimme Some Skin" played by the touring version of Iggy and the Stooges - without Iggy - paired with Texan blues vocalist Carolyn Wonderland.

The two songs are part of a bigger project, an album called "Re-Licked", set to be out in the future, that will include Iggy-less versions of lesser-known Stooges tracks, properly recorded and mixed for the first time.
"I Gotta Right", "Rubber Legs", "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills" and "Wild Love" will be among the tunes rendered by guest vocalists including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Lisa Kekuala (The BellRays).
“Re-Licked”, was recorded during a break from the band’s extensive 2013 world tour.

The appetizer "Open Up & Bleed"/"Gimme Some Skin" will be available as a vinyl 7" single at independent record stores worldwide on April 19.
http://www.rockol.com/uk/news-580524/iggyless-stooges-to-release-album-with-lanegan-biafra-and-others-on-vocals

ROCK REBEL MAGAZINE (Italy online music site) – News post (in Italian)on RSD single and Re-Licked album with single art and video teaser
http://www.rockrebelmagazine.com/2014/03/03/the-stooges-un-vinile-senza-iggy-pop-per-il-record-store-day/

UBER ROCK (UK online music site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with single art and video teaser (from press release).
JAMES WILLIAMSON to release new takes on early STOOGES tracks on Record Store Day
http://www.uberrock.co.uk/news-updates/92-february-news-updates/10706-james-williamson-to-release-new-takes-on-early-stooges-tracks-on-record-store-day.html

MUSICA NUEVA (Spain music site) - News post in Spanish on RSD single and Re-Licked.album
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmusicanueva.es%2F&anno=2

I
-94 BAR (Sydney, Australia music site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with James photo.
Straight James leads Iggy-less Stooges through new album
Iggy and the Stooges guitarist James Williamson is releasing a single as a precursor to an album’s worth of lost songs recorded by the Stooges with a range of guest vocalists.

“Open Up And Bleed” b/w “Gimme Some Skin” will be available on April 19 and finds the touring version of Iggy and the Stooges - without Iggy - paired with Texan blues vocalist Carolyn Wonderland.

No date has been announced for Re-Licked”, but it will include Iggy-less versions of lesser-known Stooges tracks, properly recorded and mixed for the first time. "I Gotta Right," "Rubber Legs," "She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills" and "Wild Love" will be among the tunes rendered by guest vocalists including Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Ariel Pink, Lisa Kekuala (The BellRays.)

One of the concepts in the melting pot when Williamson joined a re-constituted Stooges after the untimely passing of Ron Asheton was the re-recording of old songs never given the full studio treatment.

While that idea was overtaken with the release of the band LP “Ready To Die”, the core idea obviously still had an attraction.

The album, titled “Re-Licked”, was recorded during a break from the band’s extensive 2013 world tour.

"Open Up & Bleed"/"Gimme Some Skin" will be available as a vinyl 7” single at independent record stores worldwide on Record Store Day, April 19.

Williamson previously released a solo album on Easy Action with San Jose band The Careless Hearts as his backing act, culled from a 2009 live show that marked his return to the stage after 30 years away.
http://www.i94bar.com/news/auto-generate-from-title

MUSICA NUEVA (Spain music site) - News post in Spanish on RSD single and Re-Licked.album
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmusicanueva.es%2F&anno=2

TRINCHEIRA (Portugal music site) - News post ion RSD single and Re-Licked.album
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://ricmais.com.br/sc/trincheira/musica/james-williamson-e-os-stooges-regravam-musicas-antigas-sem-iggy-pop/&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522james%2Bwilliamson%2522%26sa%3DX%26espv%3D210%26es_sm%3D119%26biw%3D1168%26bih%3D942%26tbs%3Dqdr:d

TARINGA(Spain music site) - News post ion RSD single and Re-Licked.album
http://www.taringa.net/posts/noticias/17618679/Stooges-publicaran-album-con-Jello-Biafra-y-Mark-Lanegan.html

SKYLIGHT (Athens, Greece music magazine) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with artist photo (from press release).
THE STOOGES' GUITAR LEGEND JAMES WILLIAMSON ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF HIS NEW EXCLUSIVE RECORD STORE DAY VINYL SINGLE "OPEN UP AND BLEED"/"GIMME SOME SKIN" ON APRIL 19TH!
http://www.skylight.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4505:the-stooges-guitar-legend-james-williamson-announces-the-release-of-his-new-exclusive-record-store-day-vinyl-single-qopen-up-and-bleedqqgimme-some-skinq-on-april-19th&catid=48:music-news&Itemid=18

HELLHOUND MUSIC (online music SITE) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with artist photo (from press release).
The Stooges’ James Williamson to releases new single Apr.19 w/ Carolyn Wonderland
http://www.hellhoundmusic.com/tag/james-williamson/

VENT S MAGAZINE (online music magazine) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with artist photo (from press release).
THE STOOGES’ JAMES WILLIAMSON (@straightjamesw) TO RELEASE RSD SINGLE APRIL 19TH W/ CAROLYN WONDERLAND!
http://ventsmagazine.com/the-stooges-james-williamson-straightjamesw-to-release-rsd-single-april-19th-w-carolyn-wonderland/

WITH GUITARS (online music site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with James/Carolyn photo with Pharmacy audio stream and video teaser (from press release).
The Stooges’ Guitar Legend James Williamson To Release Record Store Day Single
http://www.withguitars.com/stooges-guitar-legend-james-williamson-release-record-store/

MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS NETWORK (Music industry news site) – News post on RSD single and Re-Licked album with single art (from press release).
The Stooges’ Guitar Legend James Williamson Announces The Release of his New Exclusive Record Store Day Vinyl Single “Open Up & Bleed” / “Gimme Some Skin” On April 19th!
http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=171871

Great new interview with James at the I-94 Bar.

2006 Interview with Paul Trynka.

2001 Interview with Ken Shimamoto for the I-94 Bar.

1974 Creem Magazine interview with Iggy and James by Lester Bangs.