Search And Destroy

It's kinda hard to believe that this violent, savage, proto-punk manifesto of an album, "Raw Power" by Iggy and The Stooges, is 40 years old this year. What's even more amazing is that Iggy, formerly one of Rock's more self-destructive personalities, is still tearing up stages and destroying PA systems 4 decades later. It is, however, way past time for him to at least put on a t-shirt, for cryin' out loud.

Any discussion of this album requires a little perspective of the times. The Stooges had released two earlier albums on Elektra Records in 1969 and 1970. Neither sold all that well, but the band got noticed for their primitive songs and often confrontational live performances. When "Raw Power" was released in 1973, music fans who liked Hard Rock were listening to the likes of Humble Pie, Deep Purple, Grand Funk and Led Zeppelin. The radio was playing softer groups like The Carpenters, America, and Bread, along with singer/songwriters like James Taylor, Carole King and Jim Croce. The only real shockers at the time were the arrival of Metal through the first 4 albums from Black Sabbath, and Glam, spearheaded by Alice Cooper, David Bowie and T.Rex. The only thing close to the sound of The Stooges were labelmates, The MC5. Neither the public nor the music press were ready for the double-barreled sonic assault of "Raw Power". To say that this pioneering album upped the ante considerably is an understatement. Given those circumstances, "Raw Power" was, on first listen, both exhilarating and frightening; not unlike a ride through a spook house that offers its share of fun, but is also a bit too real for comfort.

The Stooges: James Williamson, Iggy, Scott Asheton, Ron Asheton

The main point of controversy with the album was that, despite the fact that musically, it more than lived up to its title, the record was poorly mixed and sounded terrible. To be frank, the sound was bad to the point where the only way it sounded any good at all was to play it at a nerve damaging volume, which may have been the intent. The album was mixed by David Bowie, and was done fast, on the cheap, using sub-par equipment and in between other projects that Bowie had in the works, as time permitted. The poor sound quality quickly became a point of notoriety, and Iggy himself was hounded for decades by fans begging him to remix the album, which he finally did in 1997, with dubious results. Sony was going to do it with or without his involvement, so Iggy relented. The new mix is better in that it's definitely louder, but to a fault. Apparently, the mix is a settlement between Iggy and Sony engineers, who could not convince Iggy that digital distortion, which manifests as noise, is not the same as an overdriven analog signal, which usually provides that warm, fuzzy distortion we all know and love. In other words, louder is not better, especially during the mastering process.

Here's the remixed version of the album's opening grenade, "Search And Destroy". The stereo staging is better and the rhythm guitar and bass are more full sounding, but some digital distortion is obvious. Whatever you do, you must play this loud enough to frighten the cat. Otherwise, you miss the point.

The lyric of this song is a mission statement; both a threat and a warning, laying bare the volatility and inherent danger of the band and the messenger. You can't fake that. On a recent Facebook thread regarding a recent Iggy show, I saw this entry: "Iggy is rock's true id. He's the uninhibited, visceral incarnation of the primal roots of this music. He's the free spirit with his middle finger in the air. Maybe that's not everyone's cup of tea, but for me, it exemplifies the freeing aspect of rock 'n roll." I'd say that's about right. Bottom line: this music either works for you or it doesn't, but it is what it is. No progress happens in the arts without some iconoclast kicking a door down every so often.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The same year that Sony issued the remixed edition of "Raw Power", a Stooges tribute album surfaced on the indie label, Royalty Records, entitled "We Will Fall". There's some good matches of performer to song on there, such as Joey Ramone doing "1969", Joan Jett's rendition of "Real Wild Child" and the Red Hot Chili Peppers covering our song of the moment, "Search And Destroy". While any number of bands could have done this song capably enough, the Peppers bring that extra spark of intensity that is necessary to give their performance the needed credibility. This band also has the dubious personal history to back that up as well. While I certainly don't condone such behavior, I also understand that it helped make them what they are. We are all the product of the sum of our experiences.

Here's the Red Hot Chili Peppers version. Yes, you have to play this one loud too! It's a rule around here.

Fast forward to the present day. In an effort to recapture the magic of the 1968 album "Super Session", Stephen Stills' manager Elliot Roberts decided that Stills needed some hang time doing some writing with session veteran Barry Goldberg. "Super Session" had featured Stills and the late Mike Bloomfield swapping guitar parts. Bloomfield had founded The Electric Flag with Goldberg, who also played on "Super Session", as did Blood, Sweat & Tears keyboardist Al Kooper.

Stills then contacted blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, to whom he'd been introduced some years back. Shepherd brought his drummer, Chris Layton, and Stills called his bassist of the moment, Kevin McCormick, completing the lineup of The Rides. Shepherd (or his publicist) said this about the band: "The Rides are a perfect mix of generations; where three musicians who love and play the blues collide and create music that goes beyond all our other individual life experiences and career achievements." Stills calls the group "the blues band of my dreams.” Yeah sure, whatever. This press kit video will give you a more proper introduction to the band than the band members can, apparently.

Among the album’s highlights are four Stills/Shepherd/Goldberg co-writes including the barnburner "Road House", the CSN influenced "Don’t Want Lies", and the title track, a guitar anthem with a strong lead vocal by Stills. There’s also a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin’ In The Free World", which must have been fun for them to play, and 3 other covers on which Shepherd sings lead, including Elmore James' "Talk To Me Baby", "Honey Bee" by Muddy Waters, and inexplicably, "Search And Destroy" from our pals, Iggy and The Stooges.

I have no idea what inspired these old dogs to have a crack at that song. I can only guess that Shepherd brought it to the table, as he also working on an album of covers with his own band. But as we discussed earlier, the song is of the same vintage as when Stills was making Top 40 singles. At any rate, I think you'll find that The Rides' version of "Search And Destroy" has little of the snot-rocket attitude of the original. It reminds me very much of a well meaning white blues singer doing his rendition of a greasy, bawdy old R&B 78. The affection for the song may be there, but none of the nose-thumbing sass of the original recording survives the transition. It just sounds too cleaned up and is therefore, a lot less credible. That said, there are many of you who may enjoy this more mannered rendition better than the original, and that's fine by me. Again, I'm just sayin'.

So, here's The Rides with "Search And Destroy". The lyrics scroll by in the video, and yes, Kenny Wayne is indeed declaring himself to be a streetwalking cheetah with a heart full of napalm. Like we ever had any doubt.

Ok, enough talk. Time to go buy some music! You can easily find "Raw Power", along with the 1st two Elektra albums by Iggy & The Stooges, and Iggy's solo catalog as well, at The House of Amazon. Vinyl is available on all 3 of these classic albums, should that interest you.

The Iggy Pop tribute album, "We Will Fall", is also at Amazon, as a used CD, for a ridiculously cheap price. If you'd rather cherry pick the Mp3 version, have at it.

Should your music shelves be low on the Red Hot Chili Peppers, you can address that as well.

The debut album from The Rides is available as a single disc, or a deluxe edition that includes a DVD with a minimum of worthwhile content, which makes it not really worth the extra 5 bucks.