Slash & Friends Release Album

Saul Hudson probably never planned on being in one of the biggest rock bands of their time. But as Slash that’s exactly what he did with Guns N’ Roses.

I reckon all Slash ever really wanted to do was be a guitar player and since G N’R that what he’s been trying to do. He’ll pop up as a guest player on any number of recordings or as a “surprise” guest at a live show. He’s formed a number of bands from Velvet Revolver to Slash’s Snakepit and tried numerous other collaborations along the way.

The guy just wants to play guitar.

Now Slash is releasing a new album and this time he pulled together a bunch of his famous friends to contribute.

Slash has good friends including  Dave Grohl, Ian Astbury, Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie (huh?), Chris Cornell, Lemmy Kilmeister, Andrew Stockdale, Iggy Pop, Kid Rock, and Adam Levine (from Maroon 5).

Slash said “The idea was really simple in the beginning. These are all artists I wanted to work with — that I thought it would be amazing to do something creative and collaborative. And I was so impressed with what everyone brought to the table. They were all so committed to doing a good job. And we had a lot of fun making these songs.”

In keeping with the G N’ R aesthetic Slash’s album is called ‘R&FN’R’.

Good on ‘ya, I say.

01. Ghost (feat. Ian Astbury)
02. Beautiful Dangerous (feat. Fergie)
03. Nothing To Say (feat. M. Shadows)
04. Crucify The Dead (feat. Ozzy Osbourne)
05. Promise (feat. Chris Cornell)
06. By The Sword (feat. Andrew Stockdale)
07. Doctor Alibi (feat. Lemmy Kilmeister)
08. Saint Is A Sinner Too (feat. Rocco De Luca)
09. Watch This (feat. Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
10. I Hold On (feat. Kid Rock)
11. Gotten (feat. Adam Levine)
12. We’re All Gonna Die (feat. Iggy Pop)
13. Starlight (feat. Myles Kennedy)

Ron Asheton of The Stooges Dies. Tributes Flow

Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead at his Ann Arbor, Mich. home Tuesday morning. The official cause of death is not yet known, but it is believed the Asheton suffered a heart attack. Police discovered Asheton’s body on a couch after his personal assistant had been unable to reach him for several days. He was 60.

“We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron’s death,” a combined statement released by Iggy Pop, Asheton’s brother Scott, saxophonist Steve Mackay, Mike Watt and the Stooges’ management read. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed. 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. 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.”

“I am in shock,” Stooges frontman Iggy Pop added in the statement. “He was my best friend.”

Asheton, along with his brother Scott on drums, Pop and original bassist Dave Alexander, formed the Stooges in Detroit in 1967. They released two albums, The Stooges and Fun House, before Ron Asheton took over bass duties. As a guitarist, he created a bevy of iconic riffs, including those for I Wanna Be Your Dog and TV Eye.

After the Stooges’ initial split, Asheton played in several other bands, including the Wylde Ratttz, featuring Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis and Mike Watt. Watt joined Asheton once more when the Stooges reunited in 2003, and Asheton returned to his original place as Stooges guitarist on the  2007 reunion album The Weirdness.

Asheton’s connection to Australia was strong with his involvement in New Race.

New Race was formed in Sydney in April 1981. New Race was a concept band formed by members of Radio Birdman; Deniz Tek, Rob Younger, and Warwick Gilbert, and Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson of MC5, another iconic Detroit band.

New Race played one tour of the East Coast of Australia which consisted of 16 shows. Many of these shows were recorded in anticipation of a live album at the end of the tour, and it was these recordings which formed the band’s only “official” album, The First and Last. There are two quality “bootleg” albums, also from these recordings, released on Revenge Records. The albums include mainly Radio Birdman originals, but also include songs from MC5 and The Stooges on their setlist. Other covers included songs from Deniz Tek’s post Birdman band, The Visitors and Asheton’s post Stooges band, Destroy All Monsters.

At the conclusion of the tour both Ron Asheton and Dennis Thompson returned to the United States to pursue new musical avenues.

One of the first rockers to pay tribute was Steve Wynn (formerly of the Dream Syndicate) who offered the following thoughts on his blog:
–In 1977 I bought “Raw Power” for my high school girlfriend Michelle. I knew she was into “punk” and when I saw the record over at Rhino Records on Westwood Boulevard (can we talk about ways that store has changed my life? Another blog, another time) I knew it was a good way to score some big points in our budding relationship. Now, I was musically adventurous and my favorite bands at the time were Roxy Music and The Who so I wasn’t afraid of volume, anger and dissonance but this was a whole new thing. I heard the opening notes of “Search and Destroy” at her place and it knocked me out, threw me against the wall, felt like a good version of electroshock therapy, wiping out much of what I thought and knew about music and beginning the end of my sportswriting dreams and paving the way for the string of bands I began playing in later that year. Now, I KNOW that Asheton “only” plays bass on this album and I KNOW that you really can’t hear the bass but he was still the heart and soul of that band. Oh, Michelle dug the record and later appeared in the LA punk documentary “The Decline of Western Civilzation.” We broke up six months later.

–In 1983 the Dream Syndicate was on our first tour of the US. We played the legendary Joe’s Star Lounge in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After a very rocking set, we were met by someone who told us that Ron Asheton loved the show and wanted to meet us in the basement of the club. This was his town. He was holding court. I was thrilled and ended up talking to Asheton for about an hour that night. I remember we talked a lot about Destroy All Monsters who I was listening to quite a bit at the time. He was kind, larger than life and generous with his time. It was easily one of the highlights of a very exciting tour.