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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZVELVET UNDERGROUND, TheRock band '66-70 whose profound influence wasn't recognized until after they'd split up. Vocalist and songwriter Lou Reed met classically-trained violinist John Cale while working as a songwriter for Pickwick International; Cale's artist friend Angus MacLise (b 4 March 1938, Bridgeport CT; d 21 June 1979, Kathmandu, Nepal) played bongos in 1965, but quit when gigs had to begin and end at fixed times. They recruited classically-trained bassist Sterling Morrison (d 30 August 1995, Poughkeepsie NY, aged 53, of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) and drummer Maureen Tucker for various groups. They became the Velvets and were taken up by Andy Warhol for his multimedia organization the Factory, and for a tour called the Exploding Plastic Inevitable; German-born vocalist Nico joined from the Factory. Warhol was the nominal producer of The Velvet Underground And Nico '67 on Verve, with Warhol's famous banana sleeve art: with drug songs 'Heroin' and 'I'm Waiting For The Man', 'Venus In Furs' (sado-masochist), Nico vocal on 'I'll Be Your Mirror', it did not get a lot of airplay. Nico left; Warhol lost interest and the second album White Light/White Heat '68 barely made the top 200 with the 17-minute horror classic 'Sister Ray'. Brian Eno famously said that their first album had sold only 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band. With the usual hauteur of New Yorkers they hated the California soft-rock of the Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas and the rest; when they played on the West Coast, Cher walked out, saying 'It will replace nothing, except maybe suicide.' Cale left, ousted by Reed, replaced by Doug Yule; after The Velvet Underground '69 on MGM, Tucker was replaced by Billy Yule; Loaded '70 appeared on Cotillion, as did Live At Max's Kansas City (from a 1970 residency, released '72); Reed left and the Yule brothers carried on through '72. Two-disc 1969 Velvet Underground Live first appeared '74 on Mercury. Their dark urban vision had its effect on a generation; then VU '85 on Verve included unreleased tracks from '68-9 and reached the top 100 LPs in USA; Another View '86 on Verve inclluded more unreleased tracks with Reed and Cale. Five-CD set Peel Slowly And See on A&M included their first four albums plus; limited edition two-CD Loaded on Rhino '97 compiled Atlantic sessions from '70. Morrison had quit music for teaching, fed up with the squabbling; he earned a PhD in medieval literature at the U. of Texas in Austin, and later became a tugboat captain in Houston. Discovering that Vaclav Havel was a big fan apparently mellowed Reed and after a decade of not speaking they suddenly made it up for an unrehearsed version of 'Heroin' near Paris '90, where Reed was championing the Czech band Pulnoc. They did it again '93 and made an album, which may have been a mistake; Live MCMXCIII was on Sire in three different CD editions. See entries for individuals. Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground by Rob Jovanovic appeared in 2012. |