Celebrating
its 45th anniversary this month is Kill City by former Stooges
band-mates, Iggy Pop and James Williamson, which was released in
November of 1977. The material was originally recorded in 1975, after
the Stooges split, as a demo to try to secure a new recording contract,
but there were no takers at the time. Williamson subsequently managed
to get funding and generate some interest for the material after the
release of Iggy’s two Bowie produced solo LPs, The Idiot and Lust For
Life, which were released earlier in 1977. With an advance from Bomp!
Records, he went into the studio to remix the tracks and add some
overdubs of guitars and sax. Pop’s vocals had been recorded in 1975
during day passes from the asylum he’d checked himself into while trying
to kick his heroine addiction.
After the release of the
original green vinyl version of the album, the master tapes were lost
for many years and all subsequent reissues had to be mastered from a
copy of that poorly pressed LP, which resulted in a rather murky sound
for the material. However, in 2010, the masters would resurface and
Williamson, along with engineer Ed Cherney, remixed the album once more
for a cleaned up “restored” reissue.
Critically, the album has
been widely praised and features some material which originated before
the Stooges breakup. The original 1975 mix of the album has never been
heard with the exception of three songs which have appeared on various
compilation albums.
No comments:
Post a Comment