Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ronald Franklin Asheton |
Born | Washington, D.C., US[1] | July 17, 1948
Died | c. January 6, 2009 Ann Arbor, Michigan, US[1] | (aged 60)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1963–2009 |
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Ronald Franklin Asheton (July 17, 1948 – c. January 6, 2009)[2] was an American musician, who was best known as the guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter for the rock band the Stooges. He formed the Stooges along with Iggy 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 December 2015) ranked at number 60.[4]
Early life
Ronald Franklin Asheton was born July 17, 1948, in Washington, D.C.[1] He described his household as heavily musical, and described his family as his first big musical influence. His first instrument was a violin which was given by his mother, he was then gifted an accordion at age 5, of which he practiced more seriously with. At age 10 he took up both guitar and bass which ultimately took the majority of his practice time and interest.
He described himself as a child different compared to others kids his age, as a majority of kids that lived in his area were more interested in sports and physical activities, while he spent his time listening to music and practicing on guitar and bass. When he was 13, the family relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He and his brother Scott attended Pioneer High School.
He played with some local bands including the Prime Movers and The Chosen Few (briefly overlapping with
The Stooges
By 1967, Asheton was jamming with his brother Scott and friend Dave Alexander. They were soon joined by James "Iggy" Osterberg who remembered Asheton from the Chosen Few. The "Psychedelic Stooges" played their first show
In 1972, David Bowie invited Pop and Williamson to London to reform the band and record a new album. Eventually, after being unable to find suitable local replacements, Pop invited the Asheton brothers to rejoin but with Ron on bass, a role Ron accepted only begrudgingly. The resulting album, Raw Power, sold poorly initially, but has since been seen as a seminal album in the development of what would later be called punk rock. Tensions and drug use had not gone away during the brief reunion, however, and the band would disintegrate again in February, 1974. Several more releases continued sporadically during the next several decades, mostly recordings of live shows, album remixes, and collections of unreleased recordings, but the Stooges would not tour or record again during the 20th century.
When the Stooges reformed in 2003 he once again appeared as the band's guitarist. He stayed with the band until his death and was replaced by Williamson.
Post-Stooges
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
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.
Following the band's 1974 breakup, Asheton returned to Ann Arbor and lived most of the rest of his life living with his mother.[6]
Death
During the early hours of January 6, 2009, police were summoned to Asheton's home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by his personal assistant, who had been unable to reach him for several days. Asheton was found dead in his bed, apparently having died of a heart attack.[8] Sonic Youth's album The Eternal is dedicated to him.
His brother Scott died on March 15, 2014, also from a heart attack.
On July 17, 2018, for what would have been Asheton's 70th birthday, a tribute concert was held in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, featuring
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 the 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 double tracked guitar solo (referred to as a "guitar duet" in the liner notes) on Ragnar Kvaran's 1981 recording, Wrecked on Love.[10]
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 Ratttz", for the original score of the 1998 movie Velvet Goldmine, but only one song was featured on the soundtrack. He contributed another song to Beyond Cyberpunk, a 2001 compilation assembled and produced by Wayne Kramer of MC5.
References
- ^ MLive.com. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- 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.
- ^ Laing, Dave (January 8, 2009). "Obituary: Ron Asheton". the Guardian. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ a b Kaufman, Dan (December 23, 2009). "Ron Asheton: Quiet Punk". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
- ^ "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.
- Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
- ^ 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