per nilsen

The Truth Is In The Sound We Make 
by Carlton Sandercock and Per Nilsen
Wintergarden Books 

It is The Last Word in illustrated Stooges books.

Big statement, and the competition has been stiff. 

Change my mind. 

First there was 2009’s lavish “Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story” by Robert Matheu (R.I.P.) and Jeffrey Morgan that chronicled the band’s two careers in pictures and essays. 

Ten years later, photographer Ed Caraeff’s “Iggy & the Stooges: One Night at the Whisky” was a beautiful visual document of a 1970 Los Angeles show during the recording. of “Fun House”. It was limited in scope but evocative in execution.  

A few years later, “Iggy & The Stooges: Raw Power” by the late Mick Rock followed. Rock not only captured the memorable image on the cover of “Raw Power”, taken at the Stooges’ only UK show, but a slew of images of the boys during downtime.

“Total Chaos” by Iggy and Jeff Gold contained rare documents and handbills, but was mainly text and most of the live photos were familiar.  

So Wintergarden Books (publishing arm of Easy Action Records), has scooped the pool with this 300-page, hard cover behemoth. 

Iggy & The Stooges Onstage 1967-74 by Per Nilsen (Sonic Bond Publishing)

Cutting to the chase: This is an amazing book and an essential item for any Stoogephile. Swedish author Per Nilsenhas pedigree – he wrote the world’s first Iggy Pop biography, “The Wild One”, way back in 1988 – and he’s an academic, so you know it’s going to be researched to, er, within an inch of its pretty face going to hell.

The concept is simple: Nilsen divides the original lifespan of the Stooges into logical chunks, provides contextual information and then lists every show played, accompanied by as much information as is available. Yes, every show. He draws on a mix of primary sources and published interviews. He relies heavily on advertisements and reviews from local papers, underground press like The Fifth Estateand Natalie Schlossman’s fan magazine “Popped”. 

You can’t beat great research. Nilsen picks up inaccuracies published elsewhere and rules out advertised gigs that were never played. He even calls out a minor error in Paul Trynka’s definitive “Open Up and Bleed” book. I’m not sure the road crew accounts here of the alleged Goose Lake shutdown tally with the Third Man Records record of the same show, but they make fascinating reading.

The roll-call of first-hand accounts is impressive. Early manager Jimmy Silver is a big catch. James Williamson’sbad guy rap for poisoning the band is shown to be the ill-considered myth that it is, with tour manager John Adam (aka The Fellow) confirmed as the real catalyst for various members’ heroin habits.

The Decline Years of the Stooges, post-Mainman, hold a certain fascination for hardcore fans. Part of it is voyeurism – a peek into the on-the-road medicine cabinet and the approval-seeking, self-insulating excesses that it fuelled in a damaged singer – and the other part is wondering why the band kept going on its march of death.