uhm, no.
I just noticed this, and yes. Why? John Cale didn't understand this band at all. I hate his production on the original Stooges recording of it, as well as the rest of the album it came from. Too clean and sterile; plus, mixing Iggy's vocals so high in the mix was total idiocy. Why attract attention to the lyrics, which was the one bad thing about the band? Had the s/t been less sanitary and more sleazy like Fun House, I would never have stated the above.
I don't really want to be a jerk here, but I'm just going to have to shut you down on that one. First of all, I agree-- he Uncle Tupelo version is better. And the mixing on the first Stooges album IS very unfit for the group's sound.
But, John Cale doesn't have as much to do with the poor mixing as you think. John Cale PRODUCED the album, sure, but it should be noted that when he turned the album in to Elektra Records in 1969, the sound WAS slightly sleazier and the vocals WERE lower in the mix. It was actually Elektra head Jac Holzman who took the album, and remixed it in the way that it was eventually presented. He himself raised the volume of the vocals in order to make the sound more commercial and whatnot.
So, yeah-- not John Cale.
I'll give you the mixing, but the production is still Cale's doing, so yes, he deserves blame.