Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton | |
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Ron Asheton in 1970 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Ronald Franklin Asheton |
Born |
Washington, D.C.,[1] | July 17, 1948
Died |
January 6, 2009 60) Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA[1] | (aged
Genres | Punk rock, hard rock, garage rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, actor |
Instruments | Guitar, bass, accordion |
Years active | 1963–2008 |
Labels | Elektra, Columbia, Virgin |
Associated acts | The Stooges, The New Order, Destroy All Monsters, New Race, Dark Carnival |
Notable instruments | |
Reverend Ron Asheton Signature Guitar (Custom Volcano 390) |
Ronald Franklin Asheton (July 17, 1948 – January 6, 2009)[2] was an American guitarist, bassist, actor and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock band the Stooges. He formed the Stooges along with Pop and his brother, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Asheton, once ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time[3] is currently (as of November 2014) ranked at number 60.[4]
The Stooges
Asheton was born in Washington, D.C.[1] He already had five years of practice on the accordion behind him when he began playing bass guitar at age 10. Asheton was the lead guitarist on the Stooges' first two albums, and later appeared as bassist for their third, Raw Power, when he was replaced in both instrument and songwriting prominence by The Stooges' new guitar player, James Williamson. When the Stooges reformed, however, he once again appeared as the band's guitarist.
His raw, distorted guitar work with The Stooges was greatly influential for many punk bands to come.
Other work
Apart from The Stooges, Asheton also played in the bands The New Order (not the UK band New Order), Destroy All Monsters, Dark Carnival, New Race and The Empty Set.
More recently he played with The Wylde Ratttz, a band composed of some of punk and alt-rock's most renowned and respected musicians. The band included Mike Watt of Minutemen, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Mark Arm of Mudhoney. It contributed a cover version of the Stooges song "T.V. Eye" to the soundtrack for the Todd Haynes film Velvet Goldmine, which starred Ewan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.[5] Asheton's final song "3 Stooges" appeared during the credits of the 2012 comedy film The Three Stooges.
Asheton also acted, appearing with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre star Gunnar Hansen in Mosquito, which was released 1995. He also appeared in two other films: Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo and Legion of the Night.
Death
Asheton was found dead in his bed by police at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the early hours of January 6, 2009, apparently having died of a heart attack a couple of days earlier. Police were summoned to Asheton's house by his personal assistant, who had been unable to reach him for several days.[6] Sonic Youth's album The Eternal is dedicated to him.
His brother Scott died on March 15, 2014, also from a heart attack.
Musical equipment
Asheton mainly relied on simple setups with very few effect pedals.[7]
- Guitars
- Reverend Ron Asheton Signature guitar (Custom Volcano 390)
- Reverend Jetstream guitar
- Gibson Les Paul
- Gibson Flying V
- Fender Stratocaster
- Gibson SG Jr.
- Guild X-79
- Effects
- Vox wah-wah pedal
- Reverend Drive Train
- Mosrite Fuzzrite
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- Vox Tone Bender
- Amplification
Discography
- With the Stooges
- The Stooges (1969)
- Fun House (1970)
- Raw Power (1973)
- The Weirdness (2007)
- With The New Order
- New Order (1977)
- Victim of Circumstance (1989)
- Declaration of War (1990)
- With Destroy All Monsters
- November 22, 1963 (1989)
- Bored (1999) – recorded in 1978
- With New Race
- The First and Last (1982)
- The First To Pay (1989)
- The Second Wave (1990)
- With Dark Carnival
- Live - Welcome to Show Business (1990)
- Greatest Show in Detroit (1991)
- Last Great Ride (1996)
- HOTBOX Greatest Hits 6 Disc set (2006)
- With The Empty Set
- Thin Slim & None/Flunkie (1996)
- With Powertrane
- Ann Arbor Revival Meeting (2003)
- Other contributions
Asheton played the triple tracked guitar solo (referred to as a "guitar duet" in the liner notes) on Ragnar Kvaran's 1981 recording, Wrecked on Love.[8]
He is credited for helping to write the song "Hit Them Again" on the album Radios Appear (1977) by Radio Birdman, as well as one track that can be heard at the end of the movie Mosquito. Some other tracks Asheton wrote had been recorded by the group "Wylde Rattz", for the original score of the movie Velvet Goldmine, but only one song was featured on the soundtrack (1998), as well as another on Beyond Cyberpunk a Wayne Kramer (MC5) assembled CD compilation (2001).
References
- 1 2 3 Aisner, Art (January 6, 2009). "Stooges' guitarist Ron Asheton found dead in his Ann Arbor home". MLive.com. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- ↑ "Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton found dead". NME.com. January 6, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- ↑ Fricke, David (December 2, 2010). "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- ↑ "Ron Asheton - 100 Greatest Guitarists". Rolling Stone. December 18, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Velvet Goldmine (1998) – Soundtracks". IMDb.
- ↑ Kreps, Daniel (January 6, 2009). "The Stooges Guitarist Ron Asheton Found Dead At 60". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.fuzz.se/main.asp?go=8&src=8&sgo=0&am=1&aid=1036
- ↑ Ragnar Kvaran Wrecked on Love, A.T.C. Records, 1981
External links
- Brown, Daniel (2009). "Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton found dead". Radio France Internationale.
- "Ron Asheton Discography". Discogs. 2016.
- Gross, Jason (2009). "Ron Asheton - Stooges interview". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on June 16, 2006.
- Broadley, Erin (April 3, 2007). "Iggy and the Stooges: An Interview With Ron Asheton". SuicideGirls.
- "Ron Asheton". NNDB. 2014.
- "Ron Asheton Obituary". Chicago Tribune. 2009.
- "Ron Asheton Signature". Reverend Guitars. 2016.
- Ron Asheton on LocalWiki