Ronald Franklin Asheton (July 17, 1948 – c. January 6, 2009)[2] was an American musician, who was best known as the guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter for the rock band the Stooges. He formed the Stooges along with Iggy Pop and his brother, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Asheton, once ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,[3] is currently (as of December 2015) ranked at number 60.[4]
Early life
Ronald Franklin Asheton was born July 17, 1948, in Washington, D.C.[1] He described his household as heavily musical, and described his family as his first big musical influence. His first instrument was a violin which was given by his mother, he was then gifted an accordion at age 5, of which he practiced more seriously with. At age 10 he took up both guitar and bass which ultimately took the majority of his practice time and interest.
He described himself as a child different compared to others kids his age, as a majority of kids that lived in his area were more interested in sports and physical activities, while he spent his time listening to music and practicing on guitar and bass. When he was 13, the family relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He and his brother Scott attended Pioneer High School.
He played with some local bands including the Prime Movers and The Chosen Few (briefly overlapping with James Williamson, later of the Stooges). He met Iggy Pop soon after and they formed the hard rock band the Stooges.[5] Like his father who was a Marine, Ron had a strong interest in military history, including a controversial albeit apolitical obsession with collecting Nazi memorabilia.
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By 1967, Asheton was jamming with his brother Scott and friend Dave Alexander. They were soon joined by James "Iggy" Osterberg who remembered Asheton from the Chosen Few. The "Psychedelic Stooges" played their first show Halloween 1967. In 1968 they were signed to Elektra Records along with MC5 by Danny Fields. He played guitar on and wrote most of the music for their first two albums, debut album The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970). Shortly after recording Fun House, a second guitarist was added to the band, initially former roadieBill Cheatham, who was shortly thereafter replaced by James Williamson. Infighting between Asheton and Williamson, whom he saw as usurping his role as songwriter and lead guitarist, as well as the toll of extensive drug use, caused the band to break up in 1971.
In 1972, David Bowie invited Pop and Williamson to London to reform the band and record a new album. Eventually, after being unable to find suitable local replacements, Pop invited the Asheton brothers to rejoin but with Ron on bass, a role Ron accepted only begrudgingly. The resulting album, Raw Power, sold poorly initially, but has since been seen as a seminal album in the development of what would later be called punk rock. Tensions and drug use had not gone away during the brief reunion, however, and the band would disintegrate again in February, 1974. Several more releases continued sporadically during the next several decades, mostly recordings of live shows, album remixes, and collections of unreleased recordings, but the Stooges would not tour or record again during the 20th century.
When the Stooges reformed in 2003 he once again appeared as the band's guitarist. He stayed with the band until his death and was replaced by Williamson.
Following the band's 1974 breakup, Asheton returned to Ann Arbor and lived most of the rest of his life living with his mother.[6]
Death
During the early hours of January 6, 2009, police were summoned to Asheton's home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by his personal assistant, who had been unable to reach him for several days. Asheton was found dead in his bed, apparently having died of a heart attack.[8]Sonic Youth's album The Eternal is dedicated to him.
His brother Scott died on March 15, 2014, also from a heart attack.
Asheton played the double tracked guitar solo (referred to as a "guitar duet" in the liner notes) on Ragnar Kvaran's 1981 recording, Wrecked on Love.[10]
He is credited for helping to write the song "Hit Them Again" on the album Radios Appear (1977) by Radio Birdman, as well as one track that can be heard at the end of the movie Mosquito. Some other tracks Asheton wrote had been recorded by the group "Wylde Ratttz", for the original score of the 1998 movie Velvet Goldmine, but only one song was featured on the soundtrack. He contributed another song to Beyond Cyberpunk, a 2001 compilation assembled and produced by Wayne Kramer of MC5.
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