The Stooges
Album cover showing the faces of the four group members
Studio album by
the Stooges
ReleasedAugust 5, 1969 (1969-08-05)
RecordedApril 1969
StudioThe Hit Factory, New York City
Genre
Length34:33
LabelElektra
ProducerJohn Cale
The Stooges chronology
The Stooges
(1969)		 Fun House
(1970)
Alternative cover
2020 reissue album cover showing the faces of the four group members
2020 "Vinyl Me, Please" reissue with the rejected John Cale mixes
Singles from The Stooges
  1. "I Wanna Be Your Dog"
    Released: July 1969
  2. "1969"
    Released: 1969

The Stooges is the debut studio album by American rock band the Stooges, released on August 5, 1969 by Elektra Records. Considered a landmark proto-punk release,[1] the album peaked at number 106 on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The tracks "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969" were released as singles; "1969" was featured on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs" at number 35.

Background and recording

For their first album, the Stooges had intended to record seven songs: "Asthma Attack", "I'm Sick", "The Dance of Romance", "Goodbye Bozos", "No Fun", "I Wanna Be Your Dog", and "1969". "Asthma Attack" was a completely different composition than the version of the song utilizing the same song title that appears on the album reissue. According to Iggy Pop, "'Asthma Attack' was a structured piece of repetitive descending chording that sounded a lot like (Syd Barrett's) Pink Floyd 'Interstellar Overdrive.'" He elaborates further, "And it was B (major), A (major), G (major), & E (major) like a Who thing – and then I would wheeze and say, 'asthma attack.'"

Ron Asheton's main guitar riff in the song "1969" which utilizes an "A (major) & G (major) two chord guitar pattern was directly lifted from The Byrds "Tribal Gathering" (originally occurring between :50-1:02 & again at 1:30-2:03 mark in the original song arrangement). The drum pattern in "1969" was directly lifted from the famous Bo Diddley percussive beat.

The main guitar riff to "I Wanna Be Your Dog" was inspired by the opening guitar riff to "Highway Chile" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the song arrangement to "No Fun" was inspired by Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line". Embryonic versions of all seven songs were initially written from mid-late 1968 and early 1969. These seven songs were staples—and essentially the basis—of the Stooges' 1968 and early 1969 live set at the time. A typical Stooges song of the period would involve either two minutes of composed song followed by several minutes of improvisation or avant-garde, free-form workouts. Having assumed that the seven songs as normally performed would cover requirements for the album, the Stooges were told by their record label Elektra that they needed more material. Pop later recalled: "We auditioned [the seven-song version of the album] live in the studio and they refused it. Jac Holzman, head of Elektra Records, is quoted having said, 'There aren't enough legitimate songs that contain structured lead vocals!' So we lied and said, 'That's OK, we've got lots more proper songs.' Upon hearing this Holzman then indicated to the band that they had one week to record and prepare the album."[2]

Within the week the group was able to complete the task the label requested and wrote four more songs, "We Will Fall" (based upon a musical chant by Dave Alexander), "Real Cool Time", "Not Right", and "Little Doll" (based upon "Goodbye Bozos" freak out, with an additional opening bass guitar riff directly lifted from Pharoah Sanders "Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt" originally played on stand up bass by Henry Grimes and occurring roughly at the halfway mark (9:03 minute mark) in the original song arrangement. ), and after producer John Cale informed the band that they needed "one more song to complete the album", Iggy revised "Ann" which was the first song he wrote for The Stooges that was initially discarded by the band in 1968.

Three of the four avant-garde, free-form songs were now restructured and edited into pre-existing original songs with only "I'm Sick" being discarded completely for the revised list repertoire of original songs recorded for the album. "The Dance Of Romance" was now added into the composition "Ann" tacked on as a musical coda after the ballad main song piece. "Goodbye Bozos" with an additional two chord sequence and updated lyrics now became revised as "Little Doll", while the Pink Floyd "Interstellar Overdrive" influenced structured piece known as "Asthma Attack" was now jettisoned for a more unstructured freak out piece which was newly improvised yet retained the original song title.

All restructured and edited compositions were now played and recorded for the first time in the studio. An initial mix by John Cale, apparently resembling ex-Velvet Underground bandmate Lou Reed's "closet mix" of that band's eponymous third album from the same year, was rejected by Elektra. The mix as heard on the final product was done by Iggy Pop and Elektra president Jac Holzman. Four of Cale's original mixes would later appear on the bonus disc of a 2005 reissued version, with pitch correction applied to them. Five years later, all eight Cale mixes were released unaltered on the first disc of a 2010 collector's edition release of the album.[3]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Blender[5]
Chicago Tribune[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[7]
Pitchfork8.9/10[8]
Q[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide10/10[11]
Uncut[12]
The Village VoiceB+[13]

According to music historian Denise Sullivan, The Stooges was "disavowed" by most critics; Sullivan nonetheless called it "a rock'n'roll classic".[14] In a contemporary review, Edmund O. Ward of Rolling Stone called it "loud, boring, tasteless, unimaginative and childish", while conceding that he "kind of liked it".[15] Robert Christgau gave it a backhanded compliment in his column for The Village Voice, deeming it "stupid-rock at its best", but did give it a "B+" grade overall.[13]

In retrospect, Will Hodgkinson called The Stooges "charged and brutal garage-rock",[16] and Pitchfork critic Joe Tangari said it was one of the essential forerunners to the punk rock movement of the 1970s.[8] It and the Stooges' next two albums were later deemed "proto-punk landmarks", according to Mojo journalist Manish Agarwal.[17] Daryl Easlea, writing for BBC Music, called the album "rock at its most primordial. ... [the] album is the original punk rock rush on record, a long-held well-kept secret by those in the know."[18] Mark Deming of AllMusic commented, "Part of the fun of The Stooges is, then as now, the band managed the difficult feat of sounding ahead of their time and entirely out of their time, all at once."[4]

In 2003, the album was placed at number 185 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[19] maintaining the rating in its 2012 revised list,[20] and dropping to number 488 in its 2020 list.[21] The magazine also included "1969" in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".[22] Seth Jacobson, writing in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, said that the album was "a collection of brilliant curios, which were neither full-on garage rock, nor out-and-out dirge."[23] In 2005, Q magazine placed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" at number 13 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks".

Reissues

On August 16, 2005, Elektra and Rhino Records jointly re-issued the album as a specially-priced double CD, with a remastered version of the album on disc one and alternate takes on disc two. On May 7, 2010, Rhino again released the album in their "Handmade" series as a collector's package including two CDs, a 7" record and a 7"x7"-sized booklet. The first disc features the main songs, the single version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog", and all original John Cale mixes of the eight songs. The second disc, and both sides of the 7" single, contain the previously unissued "Asthma Attack", a staple of the group's early live shows.[3]

On November 8, 2019, Rhino released the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of the album on digital services and streaming platforms. This “2019 Remaster” version mirrors the contents of the 2010 double-disc set and includes John Cale's rejected mix of the original album, released at the correct speed for the first time.[24] [25] In 2020, Vinyl Me, Please reissued the album on vinyl using the rejected John Cale mixes. This was the first time the tracks have ever appeared on a vinyl pressing.[26]

Track listing

Original release

All tracks are written by The Stooges

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."1969"4:05
2."I Wanna Be Your Dog"3:09
3."We Will Fall"10:18
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."No Fun"5:14
2."Real Cool Time"2:29
3."Ann"3:00
4."Not Right"2:50
5."Little Doll"3:20

2005 reissue

Bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."No Fun" (Original John Cale Mix)4:43
2."1969" (Original John Cale Mix)2:45
3."I Wanna Be Your Dog" (Original John Cale mix)3:26
4."Little Doll" (Original John Cale Mix)2:49
5."1969" (Alternate Vocal)4:47
6."I Wanna Be Your Dog" (Alternate Vocal)3:28
7."Not Right" (Alternate Vocal)3:12
8."Real Cool Time" (Alternate Mix)3:22
9."Ann" (Full Version)7:52
10."No Fun" (Full Version)6:49

2010 collector's edition

Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
9."I Wanna Be Your Dog" (Single Version)3:10
10."1969" (Original John Cale Mix)2:57
11."Not Right" (Original John Cale Mix)2:37
12."We Will Fall" (Original John Cale Mix)11:10
13."No Fun" (Original John Cale Mix)4:42
14."Real Cool Time" (Original John Cale Mix)2:40
15."Ann" (Original John Cale Mix)3:15
16."Little Doll" (Original John Cale Mix)3:05
17."I Wanna Be Your Dog" (Original John Cale Mix)3:42
Bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Asthma Attack" (Album Version)6:26
2."1969" (Alternate Vocal)4:45
3."I Wanna Be Your Dog" (Alternate Vocal)3:28
4."We Will Fall" (Alternate Vocal)11:24
5."No Fun" (Full Version)6:49
6."Real Cool Time" (Takes 1 & 2)7:04
7."Ann" (Full Version)8:00
8."Not Right" (Alternate Vocal)3:08
9."Little Doll" (Takes 1–5)10:24

2020 reissue

Vinyl Me, Please John Cale Mix
No.TitleLength
1."1969"2:45
2."Not Right"2:27
3."We Will Fall"10:22
4."No Fun"4:41
5."Real Cool Time"2:34
6."Ann"3:01
7."Little Doll"2:52
8."I Wanna Be Your Dog"3:27

Personnel

The Stooges

Additional personnel

Technical personnel

2005 reissue personnel

References

  1. ↑ Reynolds 2007, p. 82.
  2. ↑ The Stooges (CD liner notes). The Stooges (reissue ed.). Rhino Entertainment. 2005. p. 9. R2 73176.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. 1 2 "The Stooges – The Stooges (Collector's Edition)". Rhino Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Deming, Mark. "The Stooges – The Stooges". AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ Smith, RJ (September 2004). "The Stooges: The Stooges". Blender. No. 29. New York. Archived from the original on May 4, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  6. ↑ Kot, Greg (July 22, 1990). "Pop On Pop: Iggy Rates His Own Music (And So Do We)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ Ross, Dalton (February 23, 2007). "Then and Now". Entertainment Weekly. New York. p. 66.
  8. 1 2 Tangari, Joe (August 17, 2005). "The Stooges: The Stooges / Fun House". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  9. ↑ "The Stooges: The Stooges". Q. No. 88. London. January 1994. p. 119.
  10. ↑ Seward 2004, p. 786.
  11. ↑ Rubin 1995, p. 378.
  12. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (September 2005). "The Stooges: The Stooges / Fun House". Uncut. No. 100. London. p. 120.
  13. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (August 14, 1969). "Consumer Guide (3)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  14. ↑ Sullivan 2004, p. 171.
  15. ↑ Ward, Edmund O. (October 18, 1969). "The Stooges: The Stooges". Rolling Stone. New York.
  16. ↑ Hodgkinson 2006, p. 203.
  17. ↑ Agarwal, Manish (April 2007). "The Stooges: The Weirdness". Mojo. No. 161. London. Ignored at the time, the first three Stooges records are now seen as proto-punk landmarks: 1969's deadpan nihilistic debut; 1970's molten masterpiece Funhouse and 1973's sleazy, volatile Raw Power.
  18. ↑ Easlea, Daryl (April 18, 2007). "The Stooges The Stooges Review". BBC Music. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  19. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Stooges – The Stooges". Rolling Stone. New York. December 11, 2003. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. New York. May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  21. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. New York. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (May 30, 2008). "Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time". Stereogum. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  23. ↑ Dimery 2006, p. 189.
  24. ↑ Marchese, Joe (November 19, 2019). "Real Cool Time: "The Stooges" Turns 50 with Deluxe Edition Featuring Speed-Corrected John Cale Mixes". theseconddisc.com. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  25. ↑ Young, Alex (November 8, 2019). "The Stooges' self-titled debut receives digital reissue with unreleased John Cale mix: Stream". consequence.net. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  26. ↑ Vinyl Me, Please (March 27, 2020). "The Stooges 'The Stooges (John Cale Mixes)' – Essentials April 2020 – VMP Session Notes". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2020.

Bibliography

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