So what exactly is going on between chief Stooge Iggy Pop, and Stooges’ guitarist James Williamson?

First we learned that Williamson and the current version of the Stooges (bassist Mike Watt and drummer Toby Dammit and sax man Steve MacKay) are recording an album, Un-Licked, of officially unreleased Stooges’ songs with guest vocalists including Jello Biafra and Mark Lanegan.

OK, that sounded cool, and the partial version of “Open Up and Bleed” we heard sounds good.

And then, today, Rolling Stone runs an article in which Williamson says that for Iggy, “it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it.”

And Iggy counters: “This statement about the ‘hard pill’ sounds kind of passive aggressive to me.:

Rolling Stone also reports: “Last week, a spokesperson for Iggy Pop told Rolling Stone that Iggy wasn’t given an opportunity to participate on the album and he only learned of it in December of 2013, after a Chicago label turned it down.”

Here’s Williamson’s full quote:” He [Iggy] gave me his blessing and wished me success. But it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone is doing all your songs with your band and you’re not on it. I think he’s cool with it so far. We’ll see how things progress…I hope he maintains his positive attitude.”

Here’s Iggy’s full quote: “I don’t have a problem with anything, I don’t oppose anything,” Iggy tells Rolling Stone in a written statement. “This statement about the ‘hard pill’ sounds kind of passive aggressive to me. The guys in the touring group have been phoning and emailing me and my rep before during and after the recordings, wondering how I felt about this. These guys are my friends and we’ve all worked together many years. I am glad someone is paying them; they are working musicians and they need to play. I want to thank all the wonderful singers on this record for covering my songs.”

Come on guys, no hard feelings, OK?

Iggy and The Stooges including James Williamson:

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