Timeline: 2001
Remastered Vintage Violence
Re-issue of the first album as a solo artist: Vintage Violence. The album contains two bonus tracks: an alternate version of Fairweather Friend and the previously unreleased instrumental track Wall.
Liner notes by Margaret Moser.
New York in the 1960s
Tony Conrad's label Table Of The Elements releases a series, John Cale: New York in the 1960s, of three albums with material from Cale's avant-garde and drone music from the early Sixties:
- Sun Blindness Music
- Dream Interpretation:
Inside The Dream Syndicate Vol. II - Stainless Gamelan:
Inside The Dream Syndicate Vol. III
Musicians include Tony Conrad, Terry Jennings, Angus MacLise - the original Velvets drummer, and Sterling Morrison.
This release is the follow-up of Inside The Dream Syndicate Vol. 1: Day Of Niagara 1965 released in 2000.
Cancelled reissue of Caribbean Sunset on CD
Caribbean Sunset was supposed to get a CD release, including the outtake She Never Took No For An Answer and an instrumental version of the Villa Albani (which was first released on 12" in Germany in 1984, together with the album version and Hungry For Love).
The release was cancelled at the last moment for unknown reasons. Considering that She Never ... was co-written with Larry Sloman, including the song on an expanded version of Artificial Intelligence would have made sense too. Track down a copy of the Sid & Nancy soundtrack if you want to hear it on CD.
Open All Night
The sampler Open All Night: In The City contains one Cale track: So Much For Love from the Walking on Locusts album. Released on Rhino (R2 79993).
Super Furry Animals
Plays piano on the track Presidential Suite on the Rings Around The World album by the Welsh rock band.
Shrek soundtrack
The animation movie Shrek features Cale's rendition of Hallelujah. Some verses were cut, because they were to be a bit much for the kids.
"I don't consider it my music, I consider it Leonard's. I'd always regarded that song as quintessential Leonard. That version was initially recorded for an Les Inrockuptibles compilation [1991's I'm Your Fan]. There were originally 15 verses to the song, some of them intensely religious, and I felt uncomfortable singing those, so I changed them around. If you watch the DVD extras on Shrek, there's one of a long conversation between the directors, an American lady and an Australian guy, I think, discussing how certain scenes came about. When they come to that scene, the guy is obviously a fan and the lady less so. He says, you know, expansively, like, 'Oh, John Cale's voice, whenever I hear his voice I wanna cry.' And the lady responds, drily, ''Well, there were a number of times during the making of this movie when I felt like crying too!' It was very funny."
On the soundtrack album this song is performed by Rufus Wainwright.
Singing with Jools
Cale duets with Jools Holland on the track I Wanna Be Around on his album Small World Big Band. A live rendition can be found on the Hootenanny DVD (2003) by Jools Holland. This was broadcasted by the BBC on December 31, 2002.
In the studio
Cale records demo's of Sold Motel, Things (To Do In Denver When You're Dead) and Over Her Head in December. These three songs were played regularly on his 2001 live performances. Sold Motel will be released on blackAcetate. The other two end up on HoboSapiens.
Nico/Icon on DVD
In October Nico/Icon, a documentary by Susanne Ofteringer made in 1995, is reissued on DVD. He performs Frozen Warnings on piano in the final scene.