The Stooges (album)

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The Stooges
Studio album by The Stooges
Released August 5, 1969 (US)
September 1969 (UK)
Recorded April 1969
Genre Hard rock, protopunk
Length 34:33
Label Elektra
Producer John Cale
Professional reviews
The Stooges chronology
The Stooges
(1969)
Fun House
(1970)

The Stooges is the self-titled debut of the rock band The Stooges. It was released in August 1969 and peaked at number 106 on the Billboard album charts. Two songs, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969", were released as singles.

Contents

[edit] Album history

For their first album, The Stooges had intended to record five songs: "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "No Fun", "1969", "Ann", and "We Will Fall". The five songs were staples of—and essentially the basis of—The Stooges' live set at the time. A typical Stooges song of the period would involve two minutes of composed song followed by several minutes of improvisation. Presuming that the five songs as normally performed would cover requirements for the album, the Stooges were told by Elektra that they needed more material. According to Iggy Pop, "We handed (the five-song version of the album) in and they refused it. They said, 'There aren't enough songs!' So we lied and said, 'That's OK, we've got lots more songs.'" (liner notes of 2005 reissue, p.9)

In reality, the Stooges were about a day ahead of themselves when Iggy made that statement to Elektra; overnight, the group wrote three more songs, "Real Cool Time", "Not Right", and "Little Doll", and played them for the first time in the studio.

An initial mix by producer John Cale that resembled fellow ex-Velvet Underground member Lou Reed's "closet mix" of their third album was rejected by Elektra. The mix as heard on the album was done by Iggy Pop and Elektra Records president Jac Holzman. Four of Cale's original mixes, and the full studio versions of "Ann" and "Not Right", appear on the bonus disc of the 2005 reissued version.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 185 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[2] The same magazine included "1969" in their "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" list[1].

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" at number 13 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

Redd Kross covered "Ann" on their 1984 all-covers album Teen Babes From Monsanto.

Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their first full length album Confusion is Sex. A cut-up sample of "Not Right" appears on their second full length Bad Moon Rising, between the tracks "Society Is a Hole" and "I Love Her All The Time".

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1988 album "Up Your Alley". Spacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their debut album Sound of Confusion.

The Stalin covered "No Fun" on their 1982 single, "Allergy".

Asian Dub Foundation covered "No Fun" on their 2008 album Punkara, with guest vocals from Iggy Pop himself.

The Sex Pistols were known to cover "No Fun" at many shows and released a studio version as a b-side to "Pretty Vacant". It was the last song performed by the group before breaking up at the infamous Winterland show.

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and Iggy Pop.

[edit] Side A

  1. "1969" – 4:05
  2. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" – 3:09
  3. "We Will Fall" – 10:18

[edit] Side B

  1. "No Fun" – 5:15
  2. "Real Cool Time" – 2:32
  3. "Ann" – 2:59
  4. "Not Right" – 2:51
  5. "Little Doll" – 3:20

[edit] 2005 reissue

On August 16, 2005, Elektra and Rhino Records jointly reissued the album as a specially-priced double CD, with a remastered version of the album on disc one and the following outtakes on disc two:

  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

[edit] Musical personnel

[edit] Recording and artwork personnel

[edit] Reissue personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ Weisbard & Marks, 1995. p.378
  2. ^ 185) The Stooges : Rolling Stone

[edit] Notes

  • Weisbard, Eric; Craig Marks (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679755748.