The Velvet Underground

It proved to be the definitive end to the band's checkered career when Sterling Morrison died of cancer in 1995. External links:. or record — an MTV Unplugged album was proposed — Cale and Reed fell out again, breaking up the band once more. Vertical Horizon Discography. Before the band could tour the U.S. In the middle of 2004, the band ended their relationship with RCA. Cale sang the songs Nico had performed with the group. A first single, "I'm Still Here", did moderately well, but faded relatively quickly and with little fanfare.

There was a brief reunion of the original lineup in 1993, resulting in a European tour — opening a few concerts for U2 — and a live album, Live MCMXCIII. A larger tour started in August, leading up to the release of the album. broke up, Songs for Drella was the first time the pair had worked together in decades, and rumors of a reunion began to circulate. Eventually the band went on a short tour in early 2003, and it was announced that Go would finally be released a year late, in September 2003. Though Morrison and Tucker had each worked with Reed or Cale since the V.U. It seemed everyone at RCA who had worked with the band on Everything You Want was no longer there, and the new employees weren't quite sure what to do with a band that did not quite fit the emerging trends of popular music. In 1990, Reed and Cale released Songs for Drella, dedicated to the recently deceased Warhol. It was announced that the new album, Go, would be released in September of 2002, but as the date drew closer, it appeared that this would not happen.

In 1988, Nico died of a brain hemorrhage on the island of Ibiza. However, some management changes at RCA prevented this. Maureen Tucker raised a family before returning to small-scale gigging and recording in the 1980s. They then took a break, then came back to the studio to record their follow-up, which they hoped would be released soon enough to take advantage of the huge popularity of Everything You Want. Lou Reed and John Cale, in the meantime, enjoyed long and winded solo careers. The band, which had been touring constantly since the album was released, continued touring until well into 2001. Some have regarded Squeeze as a travesty, but others have argued the album — while certainly not up to the standards established on the previous Velvet Underground albums — is a respectable, if not especially noteworthy effort. The fourth single, "Best I Ever Had", was played moderately.

Sesnick managed to secure a recording contract with Polydor and so Yule recorded Squeeze under the Velvet Underground name with Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice and some unknown session players. A third single, "You're a God", also did very well. When Atlantic decided to release a live recording from 1970, Live at Max's Kansas City instead of letting the current band record a new album, its members drifted apart, leaving Yule and manager Steven Sesnick alone with the brand name. The second single, "Everything You Want", skyrocketed to the top of the charts, and became one of the most played songs on the radio in 2000. The band played shows in England, Wales, and the Netherlands, some of which end up on the 2001 box set Final V.U.. The first single, "We Are", made little impact. His replacement was singer/keyboard player Willie Alexander. The band's first effort with RCA was 1999's Everything You Want (RCA re-released the three older albums as well, with new packaging).

in English, and left the group for an academic career with the University of Texas at Austin. There were many more auditions, but they eventually came back to Sean, and he officially joined Vertical Horizon. before doing a tour of Europe. By that time, however, Sterling Morrison has finally obtained his B.A. Ryan had never intended to join the band permanently, so the three other members held auditions for a permanent bass player. Their first audition was Sean Hurley, and everyone liked him immediately. radio favourites, and the band, now featuring Walter Powers III on bass with Doug Yule promoted to lead vocals and guitar, went on the road once more, playing the East Coast of the U.S. Their wishes came true, and the band was signed to RCA Records. Although Loaded's spin-off single "Who Loves the Sun" did nothing, the album itself is something of a muted triumph. "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" became U.S. Also, by this time, the band was explicit in their intent to find a major record label; band members have said that it was no accident that the first track of Live Stages opens with the sounds of a large cheering audience.

Disillusioned with the lack of progress the band was making and feeling pressured by manager Sesnick, Reed decided to quit the band and did so in August 1970, just prior to the release of Loaded. Live Stages signaled a departure from the original acoustic guitar-based music, and featured heavy emphasis on electric guitar. Drums were actually played by several people, including Yule, engineer Adrian Barber, sessioneer Tommy Castanaro, and Doug Yule's brother Billy. This featured Matt, Keith, and Ed, as well as Ryan Fisher on bass. Though Tucker had retired from the group due to her pregnancy, she received a performance credit on Loaded. In 1997, a live album, Live Stages, was released. He was particularly bitter about the truncation of "Sweet Jane". More touring followed, and soon Matt and Keith were joined by Ed Toth on drums.

The album was remixed without Reed's approval. Guests included members of Jackopierce, as well as Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band on drums. had performed. The resulting album, Running on Ice, again had Matt and Keith playing acoustic guitar and singing, but with the addition of other guest musicians to play other instruments. Atlantic Records signed the Velvet Underground for what would be their final studio album, Loaded. The album's title refers to Atlantic's request that the band produce an album "loaded with hits." The album contained "Sweet Jane", one of Reed's best known songs and the most accessible pop songs the V.U. By 1995, they were ready to record again. were on his list, along with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Matt and Keith toured for several years after this, mostly appearing with similar bands such as Jackopierce.

In 1969, MGM Records president Mike Curb wanted to purge any drug- or hippie-related bands from MGM, and the V.U. Both also contributed to writing all the songs, and both sang. Indeed, most of Reed's early solo career's more successful hits were reworked old Velvet Underground tracks, released for the first time in their original version on VU, Another View, and later on Peel Slowly and See and The Quine Tapes. There and Back Again was recorded in Matt's old high school over a period of a few days, and Matt and Keith together played all the instruments appearing on the album, though they both mostly played acoustic guitar. After Reed's departure, he later reworked a number of these songs for his solo records ("Stephanie Says", "Ocean", "I Can't Stand It", "Lisa Says", "Coney Island Baby"). The acoustic rock band Vertical Horizon was formed in 1990 by Georgetown University undergrads Matthew Scannell and Keith Kane; after graduation in 1991 the duo relocated to Boston and, in 1992, self-released their debut album There and Back Again. The rest of the recordings, as well as some alternate takes, were bundled on Another View. liberty.alphaquam.com : Liberty, a fan message board.

John Cale rejoined, briefly, for a few of these recording sessions. www.verticalhorizon.com : Official site. This album had a transitional sound between the whisper-soft third album and the pop-rock anthems of their final record, Loaded. 2003 - Go. The Velvet Underground recorded a lot of material that was never officially released due to disputes with their record label. What many consider the prime of these sessions were released many years later as VU. 1999 - Everything You Want. The album's influence can be heard in many later indie rock and lo-fi recordings. The album also features Maureen Tucker's only featured vocal performances, "After Hours", a song that Reed said was so innocent and pure he couldn't possibly sing it himself. 1997 - Live Stages.

Reed's songs and singing were generally quiet, and almost confessional in places. 1995 - Running on Ice. The Velvet Underground was recorded in late 1968, and released in March of 1969. 1992 - There and Back Again. Morrison's ringing guitar parts and Yule's melodic bass guitar and harmony vocals are featured prominently. This resulted in a gentler, more folk music-influenced sound for their third record which showcased the songwriting styles that would inform Reed's later solo career.

Before the release of their third album Reed fired the classically trained Cale, replacing him with Doug Yule. A play on the title "White Light/White heat" was used for the punk rock band Social Distortion's Album "White light/White heat/White trash". Tensions were growing: the group was tired of receiving little recognition for their hard work, and Reed and Cale were pulling the Velvet Underground in different directions. White Light/White Heat entered the Billboard top 200 chart for exactly one week, at number 199.

The second album cover was a subtle black on black picture of the tattoo of one of Warhol's "Factory" members. The meditative "Here She Comes Now" was later covered by Galaxie 500 and Nirvana. Despite the dominance of noisefests like "Sister Ray", the title track (later covered by David Bowie, and also by Joy Division), and "I Heard Her Call My Name", there was room for the darkly comic "The Gift", a Reed-penned short story narrated in Cale's deadpan Welsh accent. The eerie, hallucinatory "Lady Godiva's Operation" remains Reed's favorite track on the album.

The title track and first song starts things off with Cale pounding on piano like a demented Jerry Lee Lewis. Cale has stated that while the debut had some moments of fragility and beauty, White Light/White Heat was "consciously anti-beauty". The recording was raw and oversaturated, one of the harshest, loudest records yet released. It was released January, 1968.

In September, 1967, the VU recorded what would become their second album, White Light/White Heat. Reed fired Warhol as manager, and Nico was jettisoned, partly due to her unreliability. Cale reports that at about this time, The Velvet Underground were one of the first groups to receive an endorsement from Vox Guitars. The Velvet Underground performed live often, and their performances became louder, harsher and often featured extended improvisations.

MGM Records pulled all copies of the album until the legal problems were settled. The film's cinematographer had been arrested for drug possession, and, desperate for money, claimed the still had been included on the album without his permission. The Velvet Underground and Nico peaked at number 171 on Billboard Magazine's top 200 charts, but the promising debut was muted somewhat by legal complications: The album's back cover featured a still from a Warhol motion picture, Chelsea Girls. Tucker's drum kit was rather abreviated: She usually played on tom toms and an upturned bass drum, using mallets rather than drumsticks, and she rarely used cymbals.

The overall sound was propelled by Reed's strong deadpan vocals, Cale's droning or shrieking viola, Morrison's often R&B or country-influenced guitar, and Tucker's hypnotically simple but steady, propulssive beat. Eleven songs showcased their stylistic range, veering from the pounding attacks of "I'm Waiting For The Man" and "Run Run Run," the droning "Venus In Furs" and "Heroin" to the quiet "Femme Fatale" and the tender "I'll Be Your Mirror". Those who did remove the banana skin found a pink, phallic, peeled banana beneath. The album cover was famous for its simple, suggestive Warhol design: a bright yellow banana with "Peel Slowly and See" printed near a perforated tab.

The album was recorded in one or two days — there is some disagreement in the band members' memories — and released by MGM Records in March of 1967. on their debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico. Nico joined the V.U. Some of these performances have been released as a bootleg; they remain the only record of MacLise with the Velvet Underground.

Also at these appearances, the band often played an extended jam they had dubbed "The Booker T", after the leader of the musical group Booker T & the MG's; the jam later became the music for "The Gift" on White Light/White Heat. For these appearances, Cale sang and played organ and Tucker switched to bass guitar. In 1966, MacLise temporarily rejoined the Velvet Underground for a few weeks when Reed was suffering from hepatitis and unable to perform at a number of scheduled concerts. Producers of the day were frequently very restrictive in the studio, leaving little room for experimentation with new techniques, and Warhol gave the Velvets uprecedented free reign over the sound they produced.

Though Reed eventually fired Warhol, he has praised Warhol's integrity and early efforts with the group. Andy Warhol became the band's manager after seeing them play in 1965, and it was at his suggestion that they featured German chanteuse Nico singing several songs. Warhol's reputation certainly helped the band gain a higher profile. Also setting them apart from their contemporaries was their use of feedback and amplifier noise in a musical context, exemplified by the seventeen minute track "Sister Ray" from their second album. While the American west coast was undergoing the Summer of Love, psychedelia and flower power, the typically east coast Velvets concerned themselves with darker subject matter: transvestites, heroin addiction, and sadomasochism.

The group earned a regular paying gig at a club, and gained an early reputation. Her driving rhythms became an essential part of the group's music. MacLise was replaced by Maureen "Mo" Tucker, an acquaintance of Morrison's. "Angus was in it for art", Morrison reported.

When the group accepted an offer of $75 for their first paying performance at a high school, MacLise left the group, protesting what he considered commercialization. Nothing ever came of the demo, and it was released on the 1995 box set Peel Slowly And See. When he briefly returned to England, Cale gave a copy of the tape to Marianne Faithful, hoping she'd pass it on to Mick Jagger. In July of 1965, Reed, Cale and Morrison recorded a demo tape.

Their music was generally much more relaxed than it would later become: Cale described this era as reminiscent of beatnik poetry, with MacLise playing gentle "pitter and patter rhythms behind the drone". The newly named Velvet Underground rehearsed and performed in New York City. Morrison has reported the group liked the name, considering it evocative of "underground cinema," and fitting, due to Reed's already having written "Venus In Furs", inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's book of the same name, also dealing with sadomasochism. The Velvet Underground was a book about sadomasochism by Michael Leigh the group found left in the street.

This quartet was first called The Warlocks, then The Falling Spikes. Reed and Cale recruited Sterling Morrison — who'd already played with Reed a few times — to play guitar, and Angus MacLise joined on percussion. (Reed's first group with Cale was the short-lived The Primatives, assembled to support a Reed-penned single, "The Ostrich".) [1] (http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4036). The pair rehearsed and performed together, and their partnership and shared interests steered the early direction of what would become the Velvet Underground.

(Young's use of extended drones would be a profound influence on the early Velvet's sound). Cale had worked with John Cage and LaMonte Young, but was also interested in rock music. Reed met John Cale, a Welshman who had moved to the United States to study classical music. Lou Reed had performed with a few short-lived garage bands and had worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records, a job Reed described as "a poor man's Carole King".

The Velvet Underground formed in late 1964. Bands heavily influenced by the Velvets include the Modern Lovers, Big Star, and Galaxie 500. Credited with establishing a genre known as 'anti-pop', the group's often raw sound would influence many later punk, noise rock, and alternative music performers, and singer Lou Reed's lyrics brought new levels of poetic sophistication and social realism to rock. The Velvet Underground were one of the first rock music groups to experiment with the form, and to incorporate avant-garde influences.

This is certainly an overstatement, but it does demonstrate their massive influence and cult following that has outlasted the group's five-year existence. Although never commercially successful, The Velvet Underground remain one of the most influential bands of their time: a famous remark, often attributed to Brian Eno, is that while only a few thousand people bought a Velvet Underground record, almost every single one of them was inspired to start a band. for short) was an American rock and roll band of the late 1960s. The Velvet Underground (Affectionately known as The Velvets, or V.U.

Untitled essay by David Fricke from Peel Slowly and See. The Very Best of the Velvet Underground (recorded 1966-1970, released 2003). 1: The Quine Tapes (live, recorded 1969, released 2001). Bootleg Series, Vol.