Iggy Pop is getting the Raw Power era lineup of The Stooges back together for next year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in London and possibly a tour, according to an interview with guitarist James Williamson on Rolling Stone.
Williamson said he hasn’t performed live since the Stooges broke up in 1974 but has been practicing eight tracks from the classic 1973 album – the only one he recorded with the band – with members of the local San Jose group Careless Hearts. “I wrote a lot of those songs and it’s my style of guitar playing,” he said. “It kind of naturally came back to me.”
The Stooges original guitarist Ron Asheton, who switched to the bass for the recording of Raw Power, died of a heart attack in January. Williamson, who recently retired from his job in Silicon Valley, will meet up with Iggy and the rest of the band – bassist Mike Watt, drummer Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve McKay — in Los Angeles to commence rehearsals. He’s also going to learn to play songs from the band’s other albums, Raw Power, The Stooges, Fun House and Kill City.
“It’s been quite a job to dust off my rock & roll chops,” he said.
So far, the only show scheduled is for All Tomorrow’s Parties, which takes place on May 3, 2010, but Williamson is hopeful getting back together with Iggy will yield greater things. “The two of us have a long history of writing new tunes,” he said. “It’s probably a safe bet we will at some point.”