It wasn’t until my freshman year of college that I got in to The Velvet Underground (eternal gratitude to my dormmate for making it happen). I was aware of them, knew some of Lou Reed’s solo work, and understood how important and influential they were, but had never really sat down to absorb any of it. Then my roommate brought home The Velvet Underground and Nico and everything changed.
That album’s a masterpiece, and it’s probably not even their best record (Loaded possibly?), but it’s mix of pop and noise and poetry, along with Reed’s New York swagger, Nico’s icy croon, and Andy Warhol kitsch makes for an absolute monument of sound, a record that naturally didn’t sell, but that affected everything that came after.
At any given moment, I have a different favorite song from the album, but the one that really grabbed a hold of me first was the Nico sung “Femme Fatale,” a kind of quirky little nugget that felt like a detached version of ‘60s pop music. It somehow manages to be warm and glowing and cold and aloof all at the same time, and like the rest of that wonderful record, led me to extended works of Reed and Cale and Nico.
If you could see any now deceased/defunct artist or band, who would it be? Let’s say you have a time machine, or you can suddenly bend reality to your whim and witness some legendary artist perform at the height of his or her or their musical prowess…who do you see? Who did you miss out on the first time around? For me, it’s a three-way tie between Queen, Nirvana, and The Velvet Underground (though admittedly, I would happily take Joy Division or T. Rex or a pre-Brain Jones death Rolling Stones too).
Oh, The Velvet Underground, that all too short-lived group that a thousand music writers have assessed as the pivotal artist that inspired everybody everywhere who ever heard them to start a band of their very own. There might be something to that sentiment though, those four classic albums from 1967 through 1970 introducing the world at large to the extraordinary talents of Lou Reed, Nico (on the first record at least), Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, and John Cale. And while some members would go on to greater acclaim than others, Lou Reed most notably and deservedly, or full on cult status like Nico, I feel like John Cale has never really gotten his due.
Cale was only with the band for their first two albums before leaving to pursue a solo career, one that I think rivals his better known former colleague, and I sometimes wonder what direction The Velvet Underground might have moved in had he and Reed been able to keep their collaborative songwriting partnership intact. But I guess at least we got some fantastic solo albums from the two.
Cale’s first solo outing was 1970’s Vintage Violence, a fairly straight forward collection of pop songs from an artist who came of age playing more Avant Garde material, but his personal touch is still there, recognizable, almost like someone who’s trying something out for the first time. It’s a great beginning statement from the musician, and its highlighted by its beautifully wistful centerpiece, “Big White Cloud.” Opening with a rising string section, the song has an almost epic quality to it, like a big, expansive sky, blue going on and on forever. All the while a piano plays a soothing, swaying, sing-song melody that feels like the sonic equivalent of laying in the grass, watching the clouds subtly move above you, and finding peace there. Cale sings warmly and invitingly on the track, a friendly companion to while away the afternoon with. And then everything slowly fades out, sunset coming on to burn the last of the day away.
The legendary John Cale released a new album this year. Let's go back and listen to a track from his first solo release over 50 years ago. Listen to "Please" below, our Daily Jam.
John Cale has been making music for a long, long time. He was a member of The Velvet Underground after all. And yesterday he dropped a new track called "Night Crawling." It's kind of a groovy, slinky little number. Check the video for the tune out below.
Gothic folk crooner Marissa Nadler dropped a couple of new tracks this week, one of which, the sorrowful "Poison," featuring the legendary John Cale on vocals. Listen below and get the "Poison Summer" single here via KRO Records.
I got nothing today. Sometimes, everything just kind of sounds the same to me, and nothing pops, and nothing gets me excited. I'm sure there is amazing new music to be found and heard right this very second, but i don't have the energy wherewithal to seek it out. So let's just listen to John Cale's "Big White Cloud" instead, from 1970's "Vintage Violence." I will relax and redouble my efforts in the morrow.
