Recording Sessions
Even though Elektra Records' Jac Holzman believed that the MC5 had more potential than The Stooges, he made a crucial intervention that former Kingsmen keyboardist Don Galluci produce the album. Having seen the group live, Galluci said to Holzman that it was an "Interesting group, but I don't think you can get this feeling on tape". Holzman said it didn't matter anyway because he had already reserved recording time in L.A. The album was recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California from 11 May to 25 May 1970. Galluci's plan as a producer was to record a about a dozen takes of each song every day and pick which one that would appear on the album. The first day consisted of sound checking and run-throughs of the songs prepared. The entire band used headphones with the bass and drums isolated by baffles while Iggy Pop sang his vocals through a condensor microphone on a boom.
The result was terrible in the band's opinion. They took exception to the atmosphere inside the studio with sound proof paddings and isolators. To achieve the vision that The Stooges and Galluci had, they stripped the entire studio of its attire to take the next step into a pseudo-live feel. According to Galluci, they set up the band in the way they normally play at a concert. For example, Iggy was singing through a hand-held microphone, and the guitar and bass amps were placed side by side.
Iggy Pop indicated that Howlin' Wolf "was really pertinent for me on Fun House. That stuff is Wolfy, at least as I could do it."
The Stooges intended for "Loose" to be the album's first track; Elektra, however, felt that "Down on the Street" would be the stronger opener.
An alternate version of "Down on the Street", featuring a Doors-style organ overdubbed by Gallucci, was pulled from the album and released as a single. It was released the same month as Fun House, and fared slightly better on the charts.
Read more about this topic: Fun House (The Stooges album)
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