Iggy Pop & James Williamson “Kill City” released 45 years ago today, November 7th, 1977. Bomp! Records. Limited edition green vinyl. Pop and Williamson recorded Kill City in 1975 following the breakup of The Stooges in ’74. Supposedly John Cale was supposed to produce Kill City but after the demos were recorded (Pop’s vocals on the weekends while on leave from treatment for his heroin addiction) and then shelved for a couple of years (Williamson was jailed for heroin possession; they couldn’t find a record company to release the record), Williamson ended up producing it himself. From what I’ve read, it sounds like Iggy wasn’t happy about the release and the final product differs significantly from the original recording (which is not available): a lot of saxophone was added in on the track “Johanna;” there’s actually a lot of sax on the whole record, giving parts of the drug-hazed garage rock record a jazzy, 70’s New York City feel.

I like the non-sax forward hard garage rockers best: the title track “Kill City” is Stooge swagger and growl. “Consolation Prizes” has a killer hook, a sweet Zeppelin-esque blues guitar slide and Iggy’s vocals have his classic sneer. And “Beyond the Law,” though it does have saxophone, is a gritty rocker.