The Velvet Underground

It proved to be the definitive end to the band's checkered career when Sterling Morrison died of cancer in 1995. However, during its lifespan, Wings underwent numerous personnel changes. or record — an MTV Unplugged album was proposed — Cale and Reed fell out again, breaking up the band once more. Wings was ostensibly a true band, and in fact several members besides McCartney contributed songs and occasional vocals, but McCartney was unquestionably the group's leader and star. Before the band could tour the U.S. Wings' 1977 single, "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls School" is still the biggest-selling non-charity single in the UK (although Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" sold more, its sales include a reissue in aid of the Terence Higgins Trust) and it ranked fourth in the official list of best selling singles in the UK issued in 2002. Cale sang the songs Nico had performed with the group. As leader of Wings, McCartney however was rising to a new peak of success and he became the only one of the four Beatles who continued to tour and record regularly in the years after their split.

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. But by the mid-Seventies Lennon's solo career had run out of steam and he had stopped recording; Harrison too was fading from view by this time as by 1976 he had all but retired from recording and performing. broke up, Songs for Drella was the first time the pair had worked together in decades, and rumors of a reunion began to circulate. Though McCartney was the first Beatle to release a solo album after the official break-up of the band, it was John Lennon's early solo output which initially gained the lead in both critical opinion and commercial success, and George Harrison had scored a huge success with his 1971 triple-album solo debut All Things Must Pass. Though Morrison and Tucker had each worked with Reed or Cale since the V.U. The longevity and success of Wings can be seen as something of a vindication for McCartney, whose early home-grown solo output, which frequently featured simplistic nursery-rhyme styled lyrics and sketchy arrangements and production, sometimes led to critical dismissal of his work as "lightweight" next to the more serious nature of his former bandmates' solo output. In 1990, Reed and Cale released Songs for Drella, dedicated to the recently deceased Warhol. Wings continued to demo some more tunes during 1980/1981 but following a disastrous aborted Japanese tour they fell apart.

In 1988, Nico died of a brain hemorrhage on the island of Ibiza. During this tour the live version of "Coming Up" was recodred, this being their final US number one the following year. Maureen Tucker raised a family before returning to small-scale gigging and recording in the 1980s. In November and December of 1979 Wings performed their final tour of the UK, climaxing with a massive 'Rockestra' all-star collection of musicians in London in aid of UNICEF and Kampuchean refugees. This final version of the band included guitarist Lawrence Juber and drummer Steve Holly, who had joined the group in 1978. Lou Reed and John Cale, in the meantime, enjoyed long and winded solo careers. McCartney was also honoured by The Guinness Book Of Records with a unique rhodium disc, recognising his achievement as the most successful popular music composer of all time. 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. During that year, Wings joined Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets onstage in London at the annual Buddy Holly Week party.

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. In 1979 Wings released the singles "Goodnight Tonight", "Getting Closer" and "Wonderful Christmastime" and the album Back to the Egg, a critical and commercial failure and the last McCartney project released under the Wings moniker, with McCartney returning to solo billing on future recordings. 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 album was a major commercial success, reaching #2 on the charts, but featured a markedly softer-rock, synth-based sound and yielded only minor UK hits in "With a Little Luck" and "Girlfriend" (the former was a big hit in the US). The band played shows in England, Wales, and the Netherlands, some of which end up on the 2001 box set Final V.U.. Though still released as a Wings album, the band was now reduced to Paul, Linda, Laine, and a host of studio players. His replacement was singer/keyboard player Willie Alexander. During the recording of the album in May, 1977, both Joe English and Jimmy McCullough parted ways with Wings (McCulloch died of a heroin overdose in 1979.).

in English, and left the group for an academic career with the University of Texas at Austin. McCartney released the album London Town in 1978. before doing a tour of Europe. By that time, however, Sterling Morrison has finally obtained his B.A. Its broad appeal was maximised by a pre-Christmas release and it became a massive international hit, dominating the charts in Britain, Australia and many other countries over the Christmas/New Year period and becoming one of the biggest selling UK singles of all time. 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. At the end of 1977 McCartney released the ballad "Mull of Kintyre", an ode to the Scottish coastal region he had made his home in the early Seventies. 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. Later in the year the band recorded their next album in the Virgin Islands.

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. During 1977 he released the peculiar, unpromoted and little-known album Thrillington -- an orchestral re-make of the earlier Ram album, issued under the pseudonym 'Percy "Thrills" Thrillington', followed by single version of a live recording of "Maybe I'm Amazed". Drums were actually played by several people, including Yule, engineer Adrian Barber, sessioneer Tommy Castanaro, and Doug Yule's brother Billy. After the world tour McCartney took a break, but this period produced both the most obscure and the most successful records he has made. Though Tucker had retired from the group due to her pregnancy, she received a performance credit on Loaded. Ever the astute businessman, McCartney also cannily bought the rights to an off-Broadway musical he had seen in America, and this investment reaped huge returns when the musical was adapted into the smash-hit feature film Grease. He was particularly bitter about the truncation of "Sweet Jane". Also in 1976, McCartney inaugurated Buddy Holly Week in London, founded on what would have been Holly's 40th birthday and marked with an annual celebrity party; his lifelong passion for the music of this rock'n'roll pioneer was also reflected in his aquisition of Holly's publishing catalogue.

The album was remixed without Reed's approval. Further hits followed with the singles "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'Em In". had performed. One of the Seattle concerts from the American leg of the '75-'76 world tour was filmed and later released as the concert feature Rockshow (1980). 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. McCartney still mostly shied away from the Beatles catalogue; only five such numbers were typically included in the American shows. were on his list, along with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Also during this period, Wings embarked on a hugely successful and theatrical world tour, documented in the triple-live LP set Wings Over America, which included a late 1975 tour of Australia, McCartney's first visit there since the Beatles' epoch-making Antipodean tour in June, 1964.

In 1969, MGM Records president Mike Curb wanted to purge any drug- or hippie-related bands from MGM, and the V.U. Band on the Run was followed by similarly successful albums Venus and Mars (1975), which was recorded in New Orleans, and Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976), recorded in Nashville, both of which took top chart positions. 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. It also included two songs, "Let Me Roll It" and "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five", thought to be answer songs to "How Do You Sleep?", John Lennon's earlier scathing attack on McCartney. 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"). Moreover Band on the Run enjoyed a very positive critical reception, and did much to restore McCartney's somewhat damaged post-Beatles image. The rest of the recordings, as well as some alternate takes, were bundled on Another View. The album went to #1 and spawned a half-dozen hit singles including the rockers "Jet" and "Helen Wheels", the acoustic ballad "Bluebird", the title track -- a suite of movements recalling side 2 of Abbey Road -- and the rocky non-album single "Junior's Farm".

John Cale rejoined, briefly, for a few of these recording sessions. Following the release of Speedway, Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough left the band, leaving the McCartneys and Denny Laine to cut their next album at EMI's recording studio in Lagos, Nigeria, recording what turned out to be their breakthrough album, Band on the Run. This album had a transitional sound between the whisper-soft third album and the pop-rock anthems of their final record, Loaded. Over the years this has remained one of the most memorable of all Bond songs, and is always an exciting part of McCartney's concert performances (often played to fireworks). 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. Wings also recorded the hit theme song to the James Bond film Live and Let Die, which reunited McCartney with producer George Martin. 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. That same year, McCartney filmed his first American TV special James Paul McCartney, which was savagely criticised by noted rock journalist Lillian Roxon.

Reed's songs and singing were generally quiet, and almost confessional in places. In early 1973, McCartney repeated this pattern, adding ex-Spooky Tooth guitarist Henry McCullough, and re-christening the band "Paul McCartney and Wings" for the album Red Rose Speedway which yielded the first big Wings hit, the romantic ballad "My Love". The Velvet Underground was recorded in late 1968, and released in March of 1969. He scored hits with the relatively light singles "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Hi Hi Hi" (the latter getting in trouble with the BBC for alleged drug references). Morrison's ringing guitar parts and Yule's melodic bass guitar and harmony vocals are featured prominently. In 1972 McCartney returned to touring, mounting an impromptu tour of UK universities and small European venues (with the group literally driving around in a van), playing no Beatles numbers. 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. (The band name is said to have come to McCartney as he was praying in the hospital while Linda was giving birth to their eldest child Stella McCartney.).

Before the release of their third album Reed fired the classically trained Cale, replacing him with Doug Yule. The result was Wild Life, the first project to credit "Wings". 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". Late in 1971, drummer Denny Seiwell, and ex-Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine, joined Paul McCartney and wife Linda McCartney to record Paul's third post-Beatles project. 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. See Paul McCartney. White Light/White Heat entered the Billboard top 200 chart for exactly one week, at number 199. Wings was a pop-rock band led by Paul McCartney, formed after the dissolution of the Beatles.

The second album cover was a subtle black on black picture of the tattoo of one of Warhol's "Factory" members. Back to the Egg (1979). The meditative "Here She Comes Now" was later covered by Galaxie 500 and Nirvana. London Town (1978). 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. Wings Over America (1976). The eerie, hallucinatory "Lady Godiva's Operation" remains Reed's favorite track on the album. Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976).

The title track and first song starts things off with Cale pounding on piano like a demented Jerry Lee Lewis. Venus and Mars (1975). Cale has stated that while the debut had some moments of fragility and beauty, White Light/White Heat was "consciously anti-beauty". Band on the Run (1973). The recording was raw and oversaturated, one of the harshest, loudest records yet released. Red Rose Speedway (1973). It was released January, 1968. Wild Life (1971).

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.