James Williamson on The Stooges, 'Raw Power' and His New Album, 'Behind the Shade'

James Williamson has the distinction of having not only played guitar in the Stooges, but serving as a co-writer on all of the songs on their seminal 1973 album, Raw Power. The songs of Raw Power continue to be covered frequently—notable recordings have been done by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses and Ewan McGregor—while Raw Power continues to wind up on "greatest albums of all time" lists on a regular basis.

In the years between his collaborations with Stooges frontman Iggy Pop—he rejoined the Stooges in 2009—Williamson found success working in Silicon Valley. He ultimately developed computer chips before becoming an executive for Sony. After the dissolution of Iggy & the Stooges, Williamson recorded his first solo album, Re-Licked, which included members of the Dead Weather, Primal Scream and the Dead Kennedys. Behind the Shade is his second full-length and will be released June 22 via Leopard Lady Records.

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