Nick Kent on Scott Asheton

 

From The Dark Stuff. Not the most flattering portrait (below , not above) but The Stooges never pretended to be nice guys

 

'...well let's start by saying that Scottie Asheton was the youngest, sweetest and most hopeless member of The Stooges. If Terry Malloy, the valiant simpleton Marlon Brando portrayed in On The Waterfront had been plucked from his place in the dockyard conflicts of the fifties and restationed one whole decade later in the suburbs of Michigan, where he would come to find his destiny bashing out primitive rhythms he would later end up pawning to further his love of substance abuse. Well that was pretty much Scott Asheton for you. He even had a bit of that Brando-esque 'noble savage' look about his features, which peered out, adopting looks of casual menace from behind two lank curtains of greasy, black hair; but mostly he resembled a hard-core biker type pondering his next act of imminent barbarism. Scott's talent for creating mayhem was also something to be considered. His piece de resistance in this area had to be the time in 1971 when he drove The Stooges bus - with all their equipment inside - under a 12 foot high bridge without considering the fact that the vehicle he was piloting measured over 16 feet in height. Talk about raising the roof. The resulting crash sent all the occupants and their cargo spilling out on to the highway, breaking all the instruments, injuring several people and basically putting paid to the Stooges' immediate future.'

 

It seems wrong somehow that someone who was defined by being so young should no longer be with us.