Williamson, James Robert

The early years

James Williamson was born in Castroville , Texas ; his family moved to Detroit , Michigan when he was in 8th grade. In 9th grade, he formed his first rock and roll band, dubbed The Chosen Few, along with Scott Richardson. They performed cover versions of the songs of the Rolling Stones and other rock bands. Williamson spent some time in the juvenile home after his father gave him an ultimatum to cut his hair - Williamson refused. In the late period of The Chosen Few, Williamson was then in 11th grade, with Ron Ashton being a bass player in one of the band's compositions. Ashton later formed the band The Stooges as a guitarist with his brother Scott , Dave Alexander and Iggy Pop .

In 1969, after graduating from high school, Williamson went to New York , where he met with The Stooges , who recorded their debut album under the direction of former member of Velvet Underground, John Cale , who produced the record.

Joining The Stooges

In 1971, Williamson joined The Stooges , who at that time struggled with drugs, constant changes in composition and a lack of commercial success. David Bowie offered Iggy the opportunity to record an album in London , and eventually the Ashton brothers returned to the group, with Ron Ashton switching to bass. Williamson co-authored Iggy on all songs and played all the guitar parts for this album, entitled Raw Power (1973). He played loud and rude, like almost no one at that time, with a "dirty" sound and high energy. This, along with his work as a songwriter, is the reason that many consider him one of the punk pioneers.

Kill City , in which Williamson collaborated with Pop, was published in 1977. In 1979, Williamson returned to producing, composing songs and playing the guitar on Iggy Pop's third solo album, New Values (with former member of The Stooges multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston imitating Williamson's guitar style). Williamson also did the initial production work on Pop's next soldier album, before quarreling with Iggy; allegedly they did not speak for 16 years.

Many of the demos made before the Raw Power album were released late, including the hard rock songs “I Got A Right” and “Gimme Some Skin”. After collaborating with Iggy in sessions for their joint album Kill City , Williamson left the music business to become an electronic engineer and work in the computer industry. Williamson recently stepped down as vice president of Technology Standards at Sony Electronics, Inc.

Reunion with The Stooges

After leaving the music business for almost 30 years, James Williamson returns to the scene with Iggy and The Stooges in 2010. In the meantime, rehearsing for the upcoming The Stooges concerts, he performed in San Jose with the rock band Careless Hearts, who supported him, at the first concert in 35 years, at the Blank Club , San Jose , California 5 September 2009

The first concert of the reunited The Stooges , with Williamson, took place on November 7, 2009 in São Paulo , Brazil . The band performed material from the Raw Power album and some of Pop's early solo records.

In March 2010, The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Albums

With The Stooges Group

• 1973 - Raw Power
• 1977 - Metallic KO
• 1995 - Open Up and Bleed

With Iggy Pop

• 1977 - Kill City
• 1979 - New Values
• 2005 - A Million in Prizes: The Anthology

• James Williamson Myspace Page
• Interview with James Williamson for Paraphilia Magazine Issue Five, 2009
• Interview with James Williamson, 2007
• Interview with James Williamson, 2001
• Creem magazine Interview with James Williamson and Iggy Pop, 1974
• iggypop.org fan site
• IEEE 2008 Annual Election page for Standards Association Board of Governors with Williamson as nominee