James Williamson of the Stooges
You may know guitarist James Williamson
from his long musical partnership with
Iggy Pop in the ‘70s, a period during
which he co-wrote and played guitar on
The Stooges’ highly influential proto-
punk masterpiece Raw Power, among
other achievements. What you may
not know is that, following the break-
up of the Stooges and a general period
disillusionment with the music industry,
Williamson put down his guitar and went
back to school. He eventually graduated
with an electrical engineering degree
from Cal Poly, moved to Silicon Valley, and
became Sony’s Vice President of Technical
Standards, a sweet day gig he retired
from in 2009. In retirement he picked
up his black Les Paul again, warmed up
his famously savage downstroke, hit the
road with Iggy, made some records, and
got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame, as one does.
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