Alison Alber August 15th, 2020 - 12:00 PM
Rewriting punk history
Let’s go back in history, about 50 years ago to the day. The Stooges are giving their final performance with the original line up. What follows is the ultimate breakup of the band and the rise of Iggy Pop to the icon he is today. There are many rumors about what happened at the infamous Goose Lake Festival and bassist Dave Alexander, who died in 1975. It’s almost like an urban legend—the bassist who was drunk out of his mind and never even touched his instrument during the performance.
Well, for the first time in 50 years (that is half a century), fans can find out for themselves, and they will hear how Alexander did play bass during the concert. This will be especially obvious in tracks like, “Dirt.” Live at Goose Lake: August 8th 1970 takes back fans, young and old, to witness a piece of Punk history. Third Man Records released the album with a powerful statement on their website: “Not only is this the last ever performance of the original godhead Stooges line-up, but it is the ONLY known soundboard recording of said line-up.” Now this statement alone should be able to get every Stooges fan, music history buff and audiophile a little excited. Third Man Records even writes who is behind the audio recovery, “The audio was lovingly restored by Vance Powell (The White Stripes, Chris Stapleton) and mastered by Bill Skibbe at Third Man Mastering, and liner notes were written by Jaan Uhelzski (Creem Magazine).”
Live at Goose Lake: August 8th 1970 is the live recording of Fun House, which was released on July 7, 1970, which is included on the famous Rolling Stones list, “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” on the spot 191. What do people expect from a live punk show? Chaos! And they will get it with this live album.
It begins with a simple “Intro” and ends with history. The announcer quickly introduces The Stooges on stage, and people can hear excited fans in the background. Even if it’s just all in one’s head, it’s so easy to imagine the band coming on stage. Iggy Pop shouts in the microphone while some disoriented notes are thrown out.
The real show begins with “Loose,” the recording is loud and dirty. The heavy riffs almost swallow up Iggy Pop’s voice. The listener now knows this album won’t be some high end recorded, remastered live album. It’s raw and dirty like punk is meant to be. The word Iggy Pop screams into the microphone is hard to hear, but they take the listener’s heart by storm.
“Down On The Street” gives a bigger feeling with the moaning Iggy Pop and the feedback of the instruments. The guitar solo is hypnotizing and will captivate everyone’s attention. “T.V. Eye” is one of the highlights on the live show, just six minutes of pure punk, that only keeps on getting better with “Dirt.” Here the audience at home can hear that Alexander was playing his bass during this bass-led song. Like the title gives away, the song is dirty, especially Iggy Pop’s vocal performance. The guitar solo is electrifying. It is so easy to see Iggy Pop crawling and grinding on stage during the solo, losing control.
“1970 (I Feel Alright)” keeps up with the high destructive energy of the previous songs, maybe even tops it, which will lead to a spontaneous mosh pit in the living room. “Fun House” is everything punk stands for plus a saxophone. “L.A. Blues” is with a runtime of eight minutes by far the longest song on the album. The song brings a live punk experience to an end.
Live at Goose Lake: August 8th 1970 is making The Stooges’ history. It is pretty nice to listen to it digitally, but it will probably reach a whole another dimension on vinyl. The Stooges are legendary, and this album is proof of it once again.
