Ron Asheton (pictured far right) is my guitar hero. His playing style, his story and local Ann Arbor upbringing influence me more then any other guitar player. His band and their songs are part of my personal mix tape that plays in my head as I travel through life. Growing up a Rock 'N' Roll infected teenager in the Ann Arbor area you couldn't avoid the legend of the Stooges. Their legacy effects every rock band from this area even if they don't know it. They set the standard.
I was fortunate enough to have befriended Ron back in 1999. It was wonderful to be able to get to know the person behind the Stooges legend. He was always very gracious and friendly, and he loved to talk about the past Rock 'N' Roll glory days and the Stooges.
I am very honored to have performed with him on several occasions, when he sat in as a special guest with Powertrane. The highlight from that time was a show we did in Brooklyn at the Warsaw where we played to a sold out house in April, 2002.
This was before the Stooges reunited. Ron didn't play out much back then. Originally I hatched a plan in early 2001 to reunite Ron with Deniz Tek (my other guitar hero) and combine them with Scott Morgan and Powertrane, a group I had just taken over bass duties for. Ron And Deniz hadn't performed together since the New Race tour in 1981. My plan worked out perfectly.
We did a short tour and three sold out shows at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, the last one included Mitch Ryder on the bill. A live CD titled Ann Arbor Revival Meeting was released featuring highlights from the first two Blind Pig shows. After the tour Ron took the money he made and bought a ton of fireworks and held an awesome forth of July party. It wasn't a blowout crazy party. It was small. People brought their kids. It was great. He delighted in setting off the fireworks and entertaining the little kids that were there.
Ron started performing out a lot more after doing those shows with Powertrane. He went on tour with the J. Mascis and the Fog and I didn't see him for a while. One day out the blue Ron called me and asked if he could use the Powertrane rehearsal space. He and his brother Scott were going to play some big festival in L.A. with J Mascis, Mike Watt and bunch of other folks and they needed to get ready for it. I told him of course he could. Then he said I could come sit in on bass with them for rehearsal. I was thrilled to say the least. He and Scott were super cool. They even let my friend John Griffin sit in and sing. We did about 40 minutes of Stooges stuff. John and I had our little minds blown. Ron and Scott must have not minded either because they asked us to come back and do it a second time. It was crazy. It was a Stooges fan dream come true. For about an hour or so John and I were in the Stooges. Sort of. Shortly after that the real Stooges got back together in 2003. I saw Ron around then and he was super happy and excited. He was never a stuck up rock star, not once. I was super happy for him and that the Stooges finally got the respect they deserved.
A few years later my wife and I bought a house just down the street around the corner from Ron. We hung out a few times. I saw him outside a lot when I drove past his place. He always waved. In 2007 the Stooges released the Weirdness album and were getting ready to embark on a big tour. While Scott Morgan was hanging out with Ron over Christmas, Ron offered to have Powertrane open for the Stooges at the Fox Theater. Later that year on April 13th we opened their show in Detroit, all thanks to Ron's help.
It was an amazing experience. One I'll always be incredibly thankful for. The last time I talked to Ron was after they played for Madonna. He told me that he had a good time but that it was sort of silly and strange. I saw him one more time after that while coming back from a walk with my wife. He drove by and slowed down and saluted to me. I was supposed to go see him on Christmas Eve, but we were to tired after family stuff. I know Scott saw him. Of course now I wish we would have went. But I guess you never see this sort of thing coming. Ron always seemed like a super mellow person. He liked to relax at home and chill. I hardly ever went over to see him. He never answered his phone and was always in chill mode just off a tour or something. I didn't want to bother him and I hate showing up unannounced. When ever I did stop by, he was always super nice and never turned me away. Ron Asheton is my guitar hero and I'll always be thankful for his friendship and the time I got to spend with him.
I was fortunate enough to have befriended Ron back in 1999. It was wonderful to be able to get to know the person behind the Stooges legend. He was always very gracious and friendly, and he loved to talk about the past Rock 'N' Roll glory days and the Stooges.
I am very honored to have performed with him on several occasions, when he sat in as a special guest with Powertrane. The highlight from that time was a show we did in Brooklyn at the Warsaw where we played to a sold out house in April, 2002.
This was before the Stooges reunited. Ron didn't play out much back then. Originally I hatched a plan in early 2001 to reunite Ron with Deniz Tek (my other guitar hero) and combine them with Scott Morgan and Powertrane, a group I had just taken over bass duties for. Ron And Deniz hadn't performed together since the New Race tour in 1981. My plan worked out perfectly.
We did a short tour and three sold out shows at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, the last one included Mitch Ryder on the bill. A live CD titled Ann Arbor Revival Meeting was released featuring highlights from the first two Blind Pig shows. After the tour Ron took the money he made and bought a ton of fireworks and held an awesome forth of July party. It wasn't a blowout crazy party. It was small. People brought their kids. It was great. He delighted in setting off the fireworks and entertaining the little kids that were there.
Ron started performing out a lot more after doing those shows with Powertrane. He went on tour with the J. Mascis and the Fog and I didn't see him for a while. One day out the blue Ron called me and asked if he could use the Powertrane rehearsal space. He and his brother Scott were going to play some big festival in L.A. with J Mascis, Mike Watt and bunch of other folks and they needed to get ready for it. I told him of course he could. Then he said I could come sit in on bass with them for rehearsal. I was thrilled to say the least. He and Scott were super cool. They even let my friend John Griffin sit in and sing. We did about 40 minutes of Stooges stuff. John and I had our little minds blown. Ron and Scott must have not minded either because they asked us to come back and do it a second time. It was crazy. It was a Stooges fan dream come true. For about an hour or so John and I were in the Stooges. Sort of. Shortly after that the real Stooges got back together in 2003. I saw Ron around then and he was super happy and excited. He was never a stuck up rock star, not once. I was super happy for him and that the Stooges finally got the respect they deserved.
A few years later my wife and I bought a house just down the street around the corner from Ron. We hung out a few times. I saw him outside a lot when I drove past his place. He always waved. In 2007 the Stooges released the Weirdness album and were getting ready to embark on a big tour. While Scott Morgan was hanging out with Ron over Christmas, Ron offered to have Powertrane open for the Stooges at the Fox Theater. Later that year on April 13th we opened their show in Detroit, all thanks to Ron's help.
It was an amazing experience. One I'll always be incredibly thankful for. The last time I talked to Ron was after they played for Madonna. He told me that he had a good time but that it was sort of silly and strange. I saw him one more time after that while coming back from a walk with my wife. He drove by and slowed down and saluted to me. I was supposed to go see him on Christmas Eve, but we were to tired after family stuff. I know Scott saw him. Of course now I wish we would have went. But I guess you never see this sort of thing coming. Ron always seemed like a super mellow person. He liked to relax at home and chill. I hardly ever went over to see him. He never answered his phone and was always in chill mode just off a tour or something. I didn't want to bother him and I hate showing up unannounced. When ever I did stop by, he was always super nice and never turned me away. Ron Asheton is my guitar hero and I'll always be thankful for his friendship and the time I got to spend with him.
5 comments:
Real nice tribute, Box. Nice to hear someone talk about the man and not just his music, great as it was.
Thanks Mark. Ron was a great guy.
Great tribute. This is how people live on.
I linked it a bit. Hope that's OK.
Very cool stuff, to think of the adventure being around your heroes.... I mentioned you in my Ron tribute, so pop on over to my blog and check it out...
later
Eric Reanimator
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