Biography John Cale
The Velvet Underground
The story has been told many a time. There once was a great avant-garde rock group who got picked up by Andy Warhol, enjoyed (very) moderate record sales of their four albums - Cale got ousted by Reed after the second one - and today is widely considered as an inspiration for anyone with a craving for dissonants, drones and depravity. And oh, there was a reunion tour in 1993.
"The aim of the band on the whole was to hypnotize audiences, so that their subconscious would take over. It was an attempt to control the unconscious with the hypnotic. We thought that the solution lay in providing hard drugs for everyone, but there was already a very strong psychedelic element in sustained sound, which is what we had... so we thought that putting viola drones behind guitars and echo was one way of creating this enormous space... which was itself a psychedelic experience."
Lou Reed and Cale had a troubled relationship from the get-go:
"Lou and I had one of these rapports where you think the other guy is thinking what you're thinking, but he's not. He couldn't figure me out, and I couldn't figure him out. The only thing we had in common were drugs and an obsession with risk taking. That was the raison d'être for the Velvet Underground."
This site does not cover the story of the world's ultimate cult band in great detail. You need only visit one site to learn everything you always wanted know:
The Velvet Underground Web Page
Subtitled Electricity comes from other planets, it covers the whole story. Includes an up-to-date news section. Maintained by Olivier Landemaine.
Still here? Let's see.
- Books
Up-Tight, The Companion ... - Discography
Cale era only. - Live dates 1993
We're Gonna have A Real Good Time Together. - Pictures
Factory days, live and about town. - Pictures of the 1993 Reunion
Fancy that. They are enjoying themselves.