In a new interview with music journalist Joel Gausten, legendary IGGY AND THE STOOGES guitarist James Williamson offers the inside story of Re-Licked, his upcoming collection of re-recorded Stooges rarities written during the band’s Raw Power period in 1973/1974.

Photo by Tanya Alexis

When the always-reckless Stooges imploded in 1974, a number of songs written by Williamson and singer Iggy Pop were abandoned without receiving proper treatment in a recording studio, surviving only in an ever-growing series of bootlegs of dubious quality and origin. Fast-forward to 2014, and Williamson is resurrecting and recording a number of these songs (including 'I Got A Right', 'Rubber Legs', 'She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills', 'Wild Love', 'Heavy Liquid' and more) for Re-Licked, the debut release on his own Leopard Lady label. These new recordings will be fronted by a wealth of talented vocalists such as JELLO BIAFRA, MARK LANEGAN, ARIEL PINK, the extraordinary LISA KEKAULA of THE BELLRAYS and others to be announced soon. In addition to Williamson, the music on Re-Licked is supplied by his current Stooges bandmates – bassist Mike Watt (MINUTEMEN / fIREHOSE), saxophonist Steve Mackay and touring drummer Toby Dammit (IGGY POP / SWANS).

Fans will get a taste of the upcoming album next month when Williamson releases a limited-edition vinyl single,'Open Up And Bleed' / 'Gimme Some Skin', at independent record stores worldwide on Record Store Day, April 19th. Both songs feature the outstanding talents of Texas-based Blues belter CAROLYN WONDERLAND. The album’s next single, 'I Got A Right' / 'Heavy Liquid', will appear later this summer and feature vocals by Kekaula.

“It’s been something we’ve been kicking around for a lot of years,” says Williamson of the project. “We were originally going to record those songs back in the day because we had a deal with Columbia and were assuming that they were going to renew our contract. We were out on tour and writing all this new material and performing it, so that’s what you get on all those bootlegs that are out there. Of course, Columbia didn’t renew our contract. We didn’t have a record deal, so we never recorded them, but the fans have always been saying, ‘I wish they would re-record those songs.’ We hear that, and Ig and I were talking about it before we did the last album...I think that the conclusion we came to was, ‘No, let’s do new stuff. They’re always going to compare the young Stooges with the old Stooges’ version, and it probably wouldn’t be so great.’ So we didn’t do it. We’ve been touring steadily for the last four, four-and-a-half years. We announced at the end of last summer that we were going to take all of 2014 off, so that kind of gave me the time to go back and say, ‘You know what? This is on my bucket list and I want to get it done.’ We already had a touring band – Mike Watt, Toby Dammit and Steve Mackay – who already knew a bunch of these songs. We’re very tight after having toured so much, so I just said, ‘You know what? I’m going to go in there with these guys and try one.’ That’s how the first single came about.”

The complete interview is available at JoelGausten.com.