“I enjoy convalescance. It is the part that makes illness worthwhile.”
-- George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950: “Back to Methuselah” (1921)
Good news. Time McGee has come through his surgery with a smiling face and no com
plications.
-- George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950: “Back to Methuselah” (1921)
Good news. Time McGee has come through his surgery with a smiling face and no com
plications.One of my great joys when relaxing in Big Bay is reading “The Porcupine Press.” It was with some sadness, then, that I noticed Jesse Luke’s (The P.P.s web and print designer) obituary in The Ann Arbor News. My sincere condolences to those of you in Ann Arbor and Marquette who knew him.
There will be a celebration of his life tonight (Jan. 7) at the Cavern Club (1st Street) in Ann Arbor.
A nationally known nice guy from Ann Arbor also passed this week. Ron Asheton (AKA Rock Action), late of the Stooges, is no longer with us.
ATTN: Ski-doo Fans
FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER)
Lead singer Iggy Pop called Asheton "my best friend" in a statement Tuesday, and the band expressed shock at his death.
"For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not," the band said in a written statement. "As a musician Ron was The Guitar God, idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him."
Asheton's powerful, distorted guitar on songs like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "T.V. Eye" was a hallmark of the group's sound. His "technically adept but also beautifully raw" style was heavily influenced by free jazz and created "beauty out of noise," said Brian Cogan, a punk-music historian at Molloy College on New York's Long Island.
"He invents the template for punk-rock guitar," Cogan said. "He's the one who allows Johnny Ramone and the guys in the Dictators to play the way they do."
When he was named the 29th greatest guitarist of all time in 2003 by Rolling Stone, the magazine described Asheton as "the Detroit punk who made the Stooges' music reek like a puddle of week-old biker sweat."
After recording three albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Stooges split and Iggy Pop went on to a successful solo career. Asheton played guitar for bands including the New Order, New Race, Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival.
In 2003, Asheston reunited with the rest of the Stooges and a new album, "The Weirdness," was released in 2007.
Russ Gibb, who owned Detroit's legendary Grande Ballroom and gave the Stooges their first major show there in 1968, said Asheton was a gentleman in all of their dealings.
"Wherever he is today, it's a better place because he's there," Gibb said Tuesday. "He was a gentleman musician. The musicland that you and I live in has lost something today and wherever musicians go, they're better today because he's there."
Ronald Asheton was born July 17, 1948, in Washington, D.C.
"For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not," the band said in a written statement. "As a musician Ron was The Guitar God, idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him."
Asheton's powerful, distorted guitar on songs like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "T.V. Eye" was a hallmark of the group's sound. His "technically adept but also beautifully raw" style was heavily influenced by free jazz and created "beauty out of noise," said Brian Cogan, a punk-music historian at Molloy College on New York's Long Island.
"He invents the template for punk-rock guitar," Cogan said. "He's the one who allows Johnny Ramone and the guys in the Dictators to play the way they do."
When he was named the 29th greatest guitarist of all time in 2003 by Rolling Stone, the magazine described Asheton as "the Detroit punk who made the Stooges' music reek like a puddle of week-old biker sweat."
After recording three albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Stooges split and Iggy Pop went on to a successful solo career. Asheton played guitar for bands including the New Order, New Race, Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival.
In 2003, Asheston reunited with the rest of the Stooges and a new album, "The Weirdness," was released in 2007.
Russ Gibb, who owned Detroit's legendary Grande Ballroom and gave the Stooges their first major show there in 1968, said Asheton was a gentleman in all of their dealings.
"Wherever he is today, it's a better place because he's there," Gibb said Tuesday. "He was a gentleman musician. The musicland that you and I live in has lost something today and wherever musicians go, they're better today because he's there."
Ronald Asheton was born July 17, 1948, in Washington, D.C.
4 comments:
First, and certainly foremost, I am loving the news that our old friend Tim has successfully made it through his surgery. Moocho praise and huzzas to Mr. McGees' doctors. Carry on Tim, and Kris & I will see you this summer. Second, I am hating the news from Ann Arbor. Rock Action is dead? As a collector of everything recorded by the Stooges, on vinyl natch, I was hoping for a second tour to promote 'The Wierdness' since I missed the first one. I saw the Iggster in Houston with a touring band that included the bass player from the Clash but I have never seen the Stooges. Looks like I missed my chance. Later,Bill.
Hi Randy, i just felt the need to say hi!
I remember seeing Iggy on Polk street in SF in 1976. He wasn't at his best that evening. I am sorry to hear about his compatriot, Ron A., its a good thing Bowie came to the rescue.
RIP
gl
I remember him, thats a shame.
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