Another great one has left the building..........
Ron Asheton R.I.P.
Ron Asheton has died.
This probably doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot to most of you, and too bad. The Stooges were maybe the truest example of rock and roll you're ever likely to encounter. In this age of watered down tenth-generation Iron Maiden worship, the honor and respect due to those that practiced a more, shall we say direct method of rock and roll is becoming increasingly forgotten and lost. The complexities and finesse of hair-god metal riffage has tainted even the darkest recesses of punk rock simplicity - you can't find a guitarist who hasn't been in some way influenced or informed by the virtuosity and arrogance of ye olde Metal Gods.....
This makes the passing of Ron Asheton all the sadder.
Asheton was more than a mere guitarist. He was a wall of fucking THUNDER. As the driving sonic force of the Stooges, Asheton beat riffs out of a guitar like some drunken teenage thug pissed off at the world and hell-bent to prove... well, whatsitoya?? ? His approach to guitar was less about theory than threat. If one approaches the instrument for its precision and subtleties, Asheton tore out only it's brute strength - an imposing force of sneering, searing aggro that can't be taught, studied or copied. It was pure unadultrated punk-snot attitude lubed with the sweat and grease of acne pits and oily hair. Ya either gots it or ya dont.
And ya DONT.
'Raw Power' may be the more noted and respected of the Stooges recordings, but for my money, 'Funhouse' is where its happening. Sure, 'Raw Power' is great, but Asheton was regulated to bass on that album, almost as a backing musician, whereas the first two albums were of his construction (destruction? )... The Stooges invented the form, Ron Asheton the penultimate punk rock guitar player. His style burned the amalgamate of garage rock snarl, blues swagger and the ineptitude that yields only brilliance. It was the sound of teen angst Saturday night dead: sweaty t-shirts, dirty denim, a bottle of Boones, nowhere to go and nothing to do. 'No Fun'...
The 'Funhouse' album is a devestating testament to the audacious power and meaning of rock and roll. So much so its almost painful. Held next to the contemporaries of the day is laughable. Held to what passes as 'rock' today and its fucking pathetic. 'Funhouse' stands as an iconic abrasion to the face of mainstream music. It was created and performed by true hoodlum punks with little interest in politics, fashion or anything else. It is all at once rebellious, unifying, ugly, sexy, dark and blinding. It is crushing and direct. It says nothing yet means everything.
Rarely has bleak been so beautiful.
Ron Asheton has died.
I hope not in vain.
-Russell Ward, 1/06/09
