Remembering Ron Asheton

Over the Last two days of reading story's on the passing of Stooges guitarist
Ron Asheton who pass away yesterday at the age of 60.

i decide to search the web for rememberced of the late great guitarist
and i found a lot with the source of the Quietes []

if you want to add you rememberec you can fire off a E-mail at culturecitynewstips[at]yahoo[dot]com

the 1st quite is from the Ron best friend in the world
Iggy Pop.

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We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron’s death. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed.

For all that knew him behind the façade of Mr Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not.

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.

Iggy, Scott, Steve, Mike and Crew

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I am in shock. He was my best friend.

Iggy Pop
[via iggypop.com]

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"I would hang out with those guys, watch TV, smoke a joint and relax,", "We'd laugh, we'd crack jokes. They weren't so serious. They were aware of the revolution, they were aware of the times, but they just liked to have fun. Their outlook on life was a little less serious."

Dennis Thompson - longtime friend, drummer, MC5.
[via Detroit News]

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“To me, he was the epitome of raw punk,”, “He wasn’t flashy or over the top. It was raw. The riffs he wrote stood the test of time.”

“He was like a kid in a candy store, just so excited,”, “He wasn’t afraid to show it. Some people are too cool, but he was obviously very happy and proud.”

Jason Stollsteimer - Von Bondies Front man and guitarist
[via Detroit Free Press]

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"'I Wanna Be Your Dog' was my fuzz-wah guitar bible as a kid," Diamond said. "I learned a lot about how to really play the guitar listening to Ron Asheton growing up. That guy showed you that wild and loose was the way to go."

Jim Diamond - producer, Ghetto Recorders
[via Detroit News]

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"The thing about his playing is that, unlike the MC5, it wasn't based in blues or any rock 'n' roll that had come before. There weren't any Chuck Berry licks in it, there weren't any recognizable blues licks in what he did, it was something that he totally invented and came directly from his soul. There was no precedent for it. It was almost like John Lee Hooker where you can't discern any influences. It seemed to have come from a primal place. I've tried to imitate his style and been semi-successful, but it's a really idiosyncratic style of playing. His playing totally blows me away."

Danny Kroha - guitarist, the Readies and the Demolition Doll Rods
[via Detroit Free Press]

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"To me, the Asheton brothers were the stars of the reunion. They deserved it. Ron's playing was so direct. When you look at the 'Fun House' album ... everything that he played was great. It's the same with the other guys, too. They had their own sound, and it was totally to the point. In later years, maybe because people had put down his guitar playing, Ron started playing a million notes in his solos and it was frustrating. Nobody could play those rhythms like Ron. You could have a million people covering 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' and they would all sound like (profanity) except when Ron played it.

Bootsey X - singer and a member of Dark Carnival with Asheton
[via Detroit Free Press]

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"Here it is -- Ron was the Christopher Columbus of rock 'n' roll. He knew there was a new world out there and from Day 1 when he was a teenager, he knew that was what he wanted to do. That was his calling, his mission in life. ... Ron didn't have a musical background playing in bar bands and that sort of rootsy stuff -- he taught himself everything.

"It turned out to be something that was completely unique. It was a breakaway from the traditional way of playing guitar. He had a great sense of rhythm and harmonics. The whole thing always sounded good. That's the bottom line -- if something sounds good, it is good. The Stooges guys weren't great musicians, that isn't what it was about. It was about the spirit. ... They approached everything from a very primitive level and it struck a chord with people. Ron lived for that band. It was everything to him."

Michael Davis, MC5 bassist also a member of Destroy All Monsters with Asheton
[via Detroit Free Press]

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I also remember Ron being angry over some things Iggy once said that ended up in a story I did back in the '90s. Iggy had come to town, the conquering hero as usual, and saw a lot of his old friends and bandmates, including Ron. Later on a limo ride to the airport, Iggy told me it saddened him to see old friends living in the same places, doing the same things. I think Ron took that personally, and he wasn't happy with Iggy for a while after that.

That had a happy ending later, when Iggy got the group back together for a well-received comeback.

Susan Whitall - Music Writer, Detroit News
[via Detroit News]

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"Wherever great musicians go when they pass, Ron is there and they're better for it. He was a decent man."

Russ Gibb - former manager of the Grande Ballroom
[via Detroit Free Press]

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"a kind and gentle, good man ... a legendary figure from a legendary band."

Scott Morgan - lead singer, Scott Morgan Powertrane
[via Ann Arbor News]

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"He was always approachable and always helpful to local bands. And he could go on for hours with stories about show business and people he'd run into over the years."

"When the whole Stooge reunion happened (in 2005-07), he started to get attention and people were focusing on his place in history," "The last three or four years he was starting to get the notoriety, attention and financial rewards for all the work he had been doing. It's too bad he didn't get to enjoy that more."

Alan Goldsmith - music journalist
[via Ann Arbor News]

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"He was a mesmerizing guitar player. He was not a showman, he didn't show off very much, but if you listened it just got into your blood. I saw him at the Fox (Theater) when they had a reunion after a long absence. I was immediately transported back to the Grande Ballroom (a Detroit venue of the 1960s and '70s). He was one of the greatest guitar players coming out of this area, I believe."

Leni Sinclair - legionnaire music photographer
[via Ann Arbor News]

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"The sound coming from his guitar was just the most unbelievable thing I had ever heard; bursts of feedback-laced shrapnel. I was awe struck then, and I still am to this day every time I play their records,"

Dianna Frank - marketing manager, Live Nation/Detroit
[via Ann Arbor News]

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"He was one of a kind and he marched to his own drum. ... He tended to use not a whole lot of chords, but he had a certain style of chording where the E strings would drone and then he would slide up and down the neck and then there's the volume of it -- the wall of sound that he was able to produce from one guitar. He was very inspirational and he'll continue to be so."

Steve Mackay - Stooges, saxophonist
[via Detroit Free Press]

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"I think the way he played guitar and the way The Stooges played as a band took rock music back to the primeval basics,"

"He seemed to play really instinctively, really raw, he had amazing guitar playing. Songs like 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' were really simple but with the kind of riff that you can't believe no-one had thought of before. That was just absolutely amazing."

Stuart Braithwaite - Mogwai frontman Stuart Braithwaite
[Via NME]

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"I just loved The Stooges, "Ron's was a totally original style: really fucking sexy and wild and reckless and free.

"He was a free rock 'n' roll guitarist. He made up his own style – there's nobody else who sounded llike Ron Asheton. As soon as you hear the first chords of any Stooges song you knew it was him playing.

"He had killer riffs. 'No Fun', 'Down On The Street', 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' – all those songs you identify with a guitar riff even before Iggy [Pop] starts singing. He's one of the greats, I think."

Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream frontman
[Via NME]

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I knew Ron since early 1977. He never had any trace of conceit or ego and was easily one of the very best songwriters ever to come out of Detroit. He looked cooler than anyone playing onstage and he NEVER made a single mistake in any live show I ever saw him play. His talent and humanity will be terribly missed by everyone who ever knew him.

Ben Waugh
[coment left over on Motorcityrocks.com]

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Asheton was a true trailblazer. I’m just thankful I was able to catch him live at the Stooges’ 2003 reunion show at DTE Energy, in spite of the statewide blackouts that threw a wrench into the scheduling of the event. It was one of the most memorable, balls-out rock’n'roll concerts I’ve ever attended.

Todd - co-editor of The Post-Rockist blog