Nico

Of all people associated with the Velvet Underground, it was Nico whose solo output eventually diverged the furthest from conventional pop and rock.

Leaving the Velvet Underground’s side after the release of their debut, Nico soon got busy working on a debut of her own. Former bandmates Reed, Cale and Morrison helped with some of the songs, arranging and playing on the session, and even writing a few of them.

Other contributors included Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne and Tim Hardin.

‘Chelsea Girl’, produced by Tom Wilson, was released in October 1967. Nico was not pleased with the end result and would make a point of taking more control in subsequent albums.

During 1967 Nico had an affair with Jim Morrison, frontman of The Doors. Encourage by him to start writing her own songs, all of her albums from now on would contain only originals, except a cover of Morrison’s ‘The End’.

John Cale was brought in to produce her second album – and stayed in that position for the third and fourth as well.

Now with her own songs and with a producer whom she trusts and who understands her, she could finally bring to fore her authentic sound.

And her authentic sound was majestic, hypnotic and ethereal, influenced by European folklore and chamber music. Here’s a taste of her sophomore album ‘The Marble Index’:

As time progressed her style became darker and darker. She bought a harmonium and created walls of sound out of its organ-like timbre.

Along with her sound, her look began to change too: gone was the blonde hair. She now sported dark black hair and wore black clothes to match. Her 3rd album ‘Desertshore’ was released in 1970.

With time Nico gained complete command over her music, even making the important decisions in arrangement and in the studio (Cale was billed as the producer for her 4th album, ‘The End’, but he admits he spent most of the time staring in amazement at her work).

In 1988, while on vacation in Ibiza, Nico fell off her bicycle and hit her head. Admitted to hosiptal too late, she died of cerebral hemorrhage.

Nico’s music has been an inspiration for many since the 1970’s and was instrumental in the development of genres like goth-rock and dream pop.

In 1996 John Cale wrote the music score for the Ballet ‘Dance Music’, written to commemorate Nico’s life.

John Cale

After his departure from the Velvet Underground in 1968 Cale found work as producer, lending his talents to Nico, The Stooges, Nick Drake, The Modern Lovers and more. But it wasn’t long till he was making his own music. His debut album, ‘Vintage Violence’, was released in 1970.

Though mostly making Rock music, on occasioin Cale revisits his first paradigm in contemporary classical music – he’s one of very few artists to have made important contributions in both worlds. His 1971 collaboration with minimalist Terry Terry, ‘Church of Anthrax’, is situated somewhere in between the two.

Cale’s breakthrough album was 1974’s ‘Fear’. He was joined by a stellar cast of musicians, including Brian Eno on synthesizer. And his musical attitude had started to grow edgier compared with previous solo material.

His 1975 album ‘Slow Dazzle’ included a shocking cover version of Elvis’ ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.

It’s beyond the scope of this e-book to go over all of Cale’s career and his numerous achievements but I hope these few glimpses have picked your interest.

Cale’s work over the years has won him respect and admiration from musicians and music fans in multiple fields around the world.

He is still alive and active today as a composer, songwriter, performer, recording artist as well as producing for other artists.

Lou Reed

Lou Reed had his ups and downs throught his career. After 1972’s breakthrough release ‘Transformer’ he spent a while trying out different ideas before becoming the singer-songwriter we know him to be.

In 1973 he released the concept album ‘Berlin’, at once dark and melancholic but also grandiose and nearly operatic.

It was not succesful unfortunately, although it did have some good songs on it. Perhaps it was too much of a departure for him.

Later that year he did the sensible thing of revisiting some of his old Velvet Underground songs, on a live album, with bonafide updated hard rock arrangements. This ‘arena rock’ version of Reed proved popular and the album charted well. By 1978 it went gold (!).

1974’s ‘Sally Can’t Dance’ was Reed’s best selling album in the U.S.

1975’s album ‘Coney Island Baby’ is one of the most loved by critics. Beginning with it Reed’s songs gradually started to be more mature and refined, marking the style that would characterize him for most of his career.

Lou Reed died from liver disease in 2013.

When he passed John Cale wrote on facebook:

“The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet … I’ve lost my ‘school-yard buddy.’ ”

Reed was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll hall of fame by Patti Smith in 2015.

Moe Tucker

After leaving the Velvet Underground in 1972 Moe Tucker moved to Pheonix, Arizona to live with her husband and children.

In 1983 Tucker played in a short-live band called Paris 1942, founded by Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls (an acclaimed experimental rock group).

In 1989 she went on a tour of Europe with the indie cult band Half Japanese.

Gradually throughout the 80’s and 90’s she started recording again, first mostly cover versions of Rock and Roll classics and songs from other Velvets and later her originals too.

Tucker is still alive and well though not very active musically in recent years. Here’s a brilliant track from Tucker’s 3rd album, 1991’s ‘I Spend A Week There The Other Night’:

Sterling Morrison

Sterling Morrison was the only Velvet who didn’t pursue a solo musical career. In 1971, he left the Velvet Underground to begin graduate studies at the university of Texas, where he would earn a PhD in medieval literature.

In the 1980’s he got licensed as a master mariner and became a captain of a tugboat for most of the decade.

Throught the 70’s and 80’s he would occasionally play with former Velvets Reed, Cale and Tucker in live settings. In the late 80’s and early 90’s he joined Moe Tucker’s touring band. But he never recorded anything as a frontman.

Morrison played guitar on this song from 90’s indie band Luna. You can instantly recognise  his style.

In 1994 Sterling Morrison was diagnosed with Non-Hodgskin’s Lymphoma. He died consequentally in August 1995.

In 1996 The Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame. The three remaining members of the original line-up – Reed, Cale and Tucker – used the occasion to perform a song they wrote in Morrison’s memory.

Reunions

In 1972 Lou Reed, John Cale and Nico shared the stage at the Parisian club Bataclan, performing recent songs from each of their solo careers as well as some classic Velvet Underground songs. Notice this different arrangement of “Waiting For The Man”:

It would be 17 years before Reed and Cale would collaborate again. In a 1989 chance meeting they discuss doing something in memory of Andy Warhol who had died in 1987. The idea soon became a reality and they released a collaborative album in 1990, ‘Songs For Drella’, which tells the story of Warhols’ life.

This seems to have set the gears in motion. In one show of the Songs For Drella, Morrison and Tucker joined for the encore and the four of them played ‘Heroin’. At a 1992 date Reed and Morrison joined Cale at his concert for an encore. There was a feeling that something is about to happen.

And later in 1992 it did. The classical line-up of the Velvet Underground officially reunited and went on a European tour.

…

Sadly, after the tour was over old tensions resurfaced and the band broke up again before they could write or record any new material.

But at least now we have a good quality video capturing a full Velvet Underground concert. Here is a stunning performance from it by duelling Reed and Cale:

Pop, Bowie, Eno

David Bowie became a national phenomenon in the U.K. with Ziggy Stardust in 1972. With his next album, ‘Aladdin Sane’ released in 1973 he also made it in the U.S.

In 1974 Bowie released his last glam-rock era album, ‘Diamond Dogs’ and then sought a break away from the Ziggy persona and a musical change of direction. In his next album, 1975’s ‘Young Americans’, his musical style veered into R’n’B and Soul territory. It also featured a duet with Beatle John Lennon (co-written with him too):

Ever the character actor, in 1976 Bowie found a new persona, ‘The White Thin Duke’, showcased in his album ‘Station to Station’. His music of that period was an elegant amalgamation of soul, hard rock and a touch of experimental krautrock.

It was around that time that Bowie’s cocaine addiction began to take a toll on his mental health and endanger his physical health. Interested in the German Krautrock scene and feeling that a radical change of environment would help him clean up, Bowie moved to west Berlin.

But he didn’t move alone – Iggy Pop has also recently recovered from drug addiction and the two shared a flat in west Berlin, which made it easy to help each other stay clean.

During those few years in Berlin Bowie produced Iggy Pop’s first two albums, ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust For Life’.

Having long admired the music of Roxy Music and Brian Eno, Bowie sought to have his input in his next project and upon his request Eno flew to Berlin to work with him.

Eno co-produced (with Tony Visconti) Bowie next three albums – ‘Low’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lodger’, the so-called Berlin trilogy. On these albums Bowie used elements of Krautrock from bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! along with Eno’s ambient soundscapes as the backbone for many of the songs as well as lengthy instrumentals.

This was some of Bowie’s most experimental work to date.

And yet he managed to make a hit single in the form of ‘Heroes’. With Philip Spector-like walls of sound echoing Robert Fripp’s guitar lines the song’s sound is immediately captivating. Its lyrics about potential lovers from east and west Berlin who daydream of what could be if the city weren’t divided are emotionally resonant.

David Bowie would go on to make great music throughout his life. He never lost his curiosity, often experimenting with new idioms and genres as they came along, going as far as making a drum’n’bass record in the 1990’s.

He died from cancer in 2016, 3 days after releasing his last album, ‘Blackstar’.

Iggy Pop is still alive and has been continually active. In the 2000’s The Stooges reunited, making a couple of albums that are considered subpar compared to their original 3 albums. As a live band they were still a pleasure to behold – I can attest, having been to their Tel Aviv date in 2007.

Over the years Pop’s music grew more varied as he drew inspiration from a myriad of different sources.

Notably in 2012 he made an album of French Chansons and music hall standards. His deep respect for the material is felt through and through despite of his lacking accent.

You know how much I love Brassens so I could not continue without showing you Pop’s cover of ‘Les Passantes’ could I?

Brian Eno too is still alive and has been extremely prolific over the years, making records in several idioms – ambient, rock, world music, etc.

He has also worked as producer for many other artists as well as making collaborative projects, for example with John Cale in 1990’s ‘Wrong Way Up’ and with David Byrne in 1981’s ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’ and 2008’s ‘Everything That Happens Will Happen Today’.

The influence that Eno has had on punk, on art-rock as well as on the development of popular electronic music is beyond measurable.

Conclusions

The Velvet Underground have brought to Rock music several fresh ideas – their use of noise, their use of drones, their approach to rhythm, their gritty lyrics and so on – that many later artists picked up and explored.

Some focusing on some of these ideas more than others.

The vibrant energy and frenzy of their harder rocking songs, along with their structural and harmonic simplicity gave rise to the Punk movement. Their use of noise and free improvisation gave rise to art-punk, post-punk, no-wave, noise-rock and more.

Their more hypnotic songs, especially those with drones, would inspire dream-pop and post-rock.

The fact that the Velvet Underground were not a product of their time makes it easy for people of any generation to listen to them without feeling outdated. And since the innovations they brought over to Rock are so adaptible and lend themselves to versatile explorations, anyone with a creative bone can find something interesting they can do with them.

But above it all – they’re just great fun to jam to.

You may not personally like them but maybe now, with all of this in mind, you can begin to understand why they’ve been so beloved and influential across generations of musicians and music fans.

Appendix: The Czech Connection

Our story begins in 1960’s when Czech playwright Vaclav Havel hears the Velvet Underground during a work-related visit to the U.S.

He falls in love with the band and decides to smuggle their album (it was either their debut or White Light White Heat) to his home country of Czechoslovakia.

Smuggling was indeed necessary as the country was under a despotic communist regime (especially since 1968 when the Soviets brutally suppressed an attempt at liberalisation known as the Prague Spring)

Havel soon started making and distributing copies of smuggled Velvet Underground records among his friends who were mostly anti-regime dissidents.

Not realising the band’s name comes from a book on sexual deviations, people imagined that it was intended politically and with a feeling that they were ‘one of us’ so to speak the Velvets became an icon and a household name among Czechoslovakian dissidents.

And as in the west, so too in Czechoslovakia bands of people inspired by the VU were founded.

One of these bands was ‘Plastic People Of The Universe’ – named after a line from a Frank Zappa song. At first they would perform covers of songs by The Velvet Underground and by Frank Zappa. Later they made origianl music of their own.

The songs on their debut album consisted of poems by banned anti-communist poet Egon Bondy, which they set to music. Since they were outlawed by the regime and forbidden to record or perform their music live its recording was a clandenstine affair. To ensure the album’s survival they then smuggled it out of the country.

In 1976 the authorities had enough of them had they were arrested. But this move provoked an outcry in response. A document named ‘Article 77’, demanding more civil rights and in particular freedom of expression was published, with signatories including many of Czechoslovakia leading cultural and societal figures.

The dissident movement, spearheaded by Havel, was emboldened by this and steadily grew over subsequent years until its efforts ultimately succeded in the 1989 Velvet Revolution, toppling the regime without a bloodshed.

Vaclav Havel was elected the first president of the democratic Czechoslovakia and then the first president of the Czech republic after the country splitted to two. In 1990, in his capacity as president, he invited Lou Reed for an official visit to Prague. The two became friends for the rest of Havel’s life.

It is generally acknowledged that The Velvet Revolution is named that way due to how peacfully it achieved its objectives.

But some people are adamant that this name is also a tribute to the Velvet Underground who indirectly played a part in the rolling events that led to it. Who knows?

On the next page: Reed playing with Pulnoc, a later incarnation of Plastic People of the Universe, on his 1990 visit to Prague.

Thank you for reading this book, I hope you enjoyed it.