John Cale

John Davies Cale (born March 9, 1942) is a Welsh ^{Welsh people} musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground.

Though best known for his work in rock music, Cale has worked in various genres including drone ^{drone music} , noise ^{noise music} and classical ^{classical music} . Since departing from The Velvet Underground in 1968 he has released approximately 30 albums. Of his solo work, Cale is perhaps best known for his album Paris 1919 ^{Paris 1919 (album)} , plus his mid-1970s Island Records trilogy of albums: Fear ^{Fear (John Cale album)} , Slow Dazzle ^{Slow Dazzle (album)} , and Helen of Troy ^{Helen of Troy (album)} .

Cale has produced or collaborated with Lou Reed, Nico, La Monte Young, John Cage, Terry Riley, Cranes ^{Cranes (band)} , Nick Drake, Kevin Ayers, Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, The Modern Lovers, James Dean Bradfield, Marc Almond, Squeeze, Happy Mondays, Ambulance LTD and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

  John Cale was born March 9, 1942 in Garnant in the heavily industrial Amman Valley ^{River Amman} of Wales to Will Cale and Margaret Davies. His mother was a primary school teacher and his father was a coal miner.. He then traveled to the U.S. ^{United States} to continue his musical training, thanks to the help and influence of Aaron Copland.

Arriving in New York City, he met a number of influential composers. On September 9, 1963, with John Cage and several others, Cale participated in an 18-hour piano-playing marathon that was the first full-length performance of Erik Satie's "Vexations ^{Vexations#First public performance} ". After the performance, Cale appeared on the television panel show I've Got a Secret. Cale's secret was that he had performed in an 18-hour concert, and he was accompanied by a man whose secret was that he was the only audience member who had stayed for the duration.

Cale also played in La Monte Young's ensemble the Theater of Eternal Music also known as the Dream Syndicate, (not to be confused with the 1980s band of the same name). The heavily drone-laden ^{drone music} music he played there proved to be a big influence in his work with his next group, the Velvet Underground. One of his collaborators on these recordings was Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison. Three albums of his early experimental work from this period would remain unreleased until 2001.In early 1965, he co-founded The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed, recruiting Reed's college friend Sterling Morrison and Cale's flatmate Angus Maclise to complete the initial line-up. Cale was asked to leave the band in September 1968, due in part to creative disagreements with Reed.

The very first commercially available recording of The Velvet Underground, an instrumental track called "Loop" given away with Aspen Magazine ^{Aspen (magazine)} , was a feedback experiment written and conducted by Cale. He then appears on the Velvet Underground's first two albums, The Velvet Underground & Nico (recorded in 1966, released in 1967) and White Light/White Heat (recorded in 1967, released in 1968). On these albums he plays viola, bass guitar and piano, and sings occasional backing vocals. White Light/White Heat features Cale on organ ^{organ (music)} (on "Sister Ray") as well as two vocal turns: "Lady Godiva's Operation", an experimental song where he shares lead vocal duties with Reed, and "The Gift ^{The Gift (Velvet Underground song)} ", a long spoken word piece written by Reed. Though Cale co-wrote the music to several songs, his most distinctive contribution is the electrically amplified viola.

Cale also played on Nico's 1967 debut album, Chelsea Girl ^{Chelsea Girl (album)} , which features songs co-written by Velvet Underground members Cale, Reed and Morrison, who also feature as musicians. Cale makes his debut as lyricist on "Winter Song" and "Little Sister".

Apart from appearing on these three albums, he also played organ on the track "Ocean" during the practice sessions to produce demos for the band's fourth album Loaded ^{Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)} , nearly two years after he left the band. He was enticed back into the studio by the band's manager, Steve Sesnick "in a half-hearted attempt to reunite old comrades", as Cale put it. Although he does not appear on the finished album, the demo recording of "Ocean" was included in the 1997 Loaded: Fully Loaded Edition re-issue. Finally, five previously unreleased tracks recorded in late 1967 and early 1968 were included on the outtakes compilation ^{compilation album} s VU ^{VU (album)} (1985) and Another View (1986).

Cale is said to have influenced the group's early sound much more than any other members (and often disagreed forcefully with Reed about the direction the group should take). When Cale left, he seemed to take the more experimentalist tendencies with him, as is noticeable in comparing the noise-rock experimental White Light/White Heat (which Cale co-created) to the more pop ^{pop music} -oriented The Velvet Underground ^{The Velvet Underground (album)} , recorded after his departure. However, it is noteworthy that his first four solo albums are noticeably quiet and accessible. Cale's tendency towards confrontational and "noisy" music would take four years to reemerge.
1970s

After leaving the Velvet Underground, Cale worked as a record producer on a number of albums, including Nico's The Marble Index ^{The Marble Index (album)} , Desertshore and (later on Island) The End ^{The End (Nico album)} . On these he accompanied Nico's voice and harmonium using a wide array of instruments to unusual effect. He also produced The Stooges' self-titled debut ^{The Stooges (album)} . He appeared on Nick Drake's second album, Bryter Layter, playing viola and harpsichord on two of the album's tracks. While meeting with producer Joe Boyd, he came across Drake's music and insisted on collaborating with him. After a quick meeting, they collaborated on "Northern Sky" and "Fly".

In 1970, in addition to his career as a producer, Cale began to make solo records. His first, the pastoral Vintage Violence, is generally classified as folk-pop. Shortly thereafter, his collaboration with another classical musician, Terry Riley, on the mainly instrumental Church of Anthrax, was released, although it was actually recorded almost a year prior. His classical explorations continued with 1972's The Academy in Peril. He would not compose in the classical mode again until he began composing for soundtracks in the 1980s.

In 1972, he signed with Reprise Records as performer and in-house producer. His The Academy in Peril was his first project for Reprise. His fourth solo record Paris 1919 ^{Paris 1919 (album)} (1973) steered back towards the singer-songwriter mode. Paris 1919, made up of songs with arcane and complex lyrics, has been cited by critics as one of his best. Artists he produced while at Reprise included Jennifer Warnes' third album, Jennifer, as well as albums by Chunky, Novi & Ernie and The Modern Lovers, which Reprise chose not to release (it was subsequently released by Beserkley Records).

Cale's work as a producer continued and in 1974 he joined Island ^{Island Records} , working on records with Squeeze, Patti Smith, and Sham 69, among others. He produced a number of important protopunk records, including debuts by Smith and The Modern Lovers. During this period, he also worked as a talent scout with Island's A&R department.Moving back to the United Kingdom, Cale made a series of solo albums which moved in a new direction. His records now featured a dark and threatening aura, often carrying a sense of barely-suppressed aggression. A trilogy of albums - Fear ^{Fear (John Cale album)} , Slow Dazzle ^{Slow Dazzle (album)} , and Helen of Troy ^{Helen of Troy (album)} were recorded with other Island ^{Island Records} artists including Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno of Roxy Music, and Chris Spedding, who featured in his live band. This era of Cale's music is perhaps best represented by his somewhat disturbing cover of Elvis Presley's iconic "Heartbreak Hotel", featured both on Slow Dazzle and the live album June 1, 1974, recorded with Kevin Ayers, Nico and Eno, and by his frothing performance on "Leaving It Up To You", a savage indictment of the mass media first released on Helen of Troy ^{Helen of Troy (album)} (1975), but quickly deleted from later editions of the record due perhaps to the song's pointed Sharon Tate reference. It's also worth noting that both "Leaving It Up To You" and "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend" (from Fear) begin as relatively conventional songs that gradually grow more paranoid in tone before breaking down into what critic Dave Thompson calls "a morass of discordance and screaming."

In 1977, he released the Animal Justice EP ^{Extended play} , notable particularly for the epic "Hedda Gabler", based very loosely on the Ibsen play ^{Hedda Gabler} . His often loud, abrasive and confrontational live performances fitted well with the nascent punk rock developing on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Cale took to wearing a hockey goaltender's mask onstage; see the cover of the Guts ^{Guts (John Cale album)} compilation (1977). This look predated Friday the 13th ^{Friday the 13th (franchise)} 's villain, Jason Voorhees, by several years. During one gig he chopped the head off a dead chicken with a meat cleaver, and his band walked offstage in protest. Cale's drummer — a vegetarian — was so bothered he quit the group. Cale mocks his decision on "Chicken Shit" from the Animal Justice EP. Cale has admitted that some of his paranoia and erratic behaviour at this time was associated with heavy cocaine use.

In December 1979, Cale's embrace of the punk rock ethic culminated in the release of Sabotage/Live. This record, recorded live at CBGB that June, features aggressive vocal and instrumental performances. The album consists entirely of new songs, many of which grapple confrontationally with global politics and paranoia. The band used includes Deerfrance on vocals and percussion. An earlier live set, consisting mostly of new material, was recorded at CBGB the previous year. It was released in 1991 as Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. The band on that recording includes Ivan Kral of the Patti Smith Group on bass and Judy Nylon on vocals.


1980s


In 1981, Cale signed with A&M Records and tried to move in a more commercial direction with the album Honi Soit ^{Honi Soit (album)} . He worked with producer Mike Thorne towards this end . Andy Warhol provided the cover art, in black and white, but against Warhol's wishes Cale colourised it. The new direction did not succeed commercially, however, and his relationship with A&M ended.

He signed with Ze Records, a company he had influenced the creation of and which had absorbed Spy Records, the label he had cofounded with Jane Friedman. The next year, Cale released the sparse Music for a New Society. Seeming to blend the refined music of his early solo work with the threatening music that came later, it is by any standard a bleak, harrowing record. It's been called "understated, and perhaps a masterpiece."

He followed up with the album Caribbean Sunset, also on Ze Records. This work, with much more accessible production than Music for a New Society, was still extremely militant in some ways. It has never seen release on CD. A live album, John Cale Comes Alive, followed it and included two new studio songs, "Ooh La La" and "Never Give Up On You". His daughter Eden Cale was born in July 1985.

In a last effort at commercial success, Cale recorded Artificial Intelligence ^{Artificial Intelligence (John Cale album)} for Beggars Banquet records. This album, written in collaboration with Larry "Ratso" Sloman ^{Larry Sloman} , was characterized by synthesizers and drum machines and is entirely written in the pop idiom. It was not significantly more successful than its predecessors, despite the relative success of the single "Satellite Walk". It has been voted Cale's worst album by the Sabotage2 mailing list. However, "Dying on the Vine" is generally regarded as one of Cale's best songs.

Thereafter, in part because of his young daughter, Cale took a long break from recording and performing.

He made a comeback in 1989 with vocal and orchestral settings of poems by Dylan Thomas. Notable among these is "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", which he performed on stage in the concert held in Cardiff in 1999 to celebrate the opening of the Welsh Assembly. The music was recorded in 1992 with a Welsh boys' choir and a Russian orchestra, on an Eno produced album: Words for the Dying. This album also included a pair of electric piano "Songs Without Words" and a Cale/Eno collaboration, "The Soul of Carmen Miranda".


1990s

In 1990, he again collaborated with Eno on an album entitled Wrong Way Up. Then in 1991 Cale contributed one song, "Hallelujah ^{Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)} ", to the tribute album to Leonard Cohen I'm Your Fan.

In 1992, Cale performed vocals on the song "First Evening" on French producer Hector Zazou's album Sahara Blue. All lyrics on the album were based on the poetry of author Arthur Rimbaud. In 1994, Cale performed a spoken word duet with Suzanne Vega on the song "The Long Voyage" on Zazou's album Chansons des mers froides. The lyrics were based on the poem "Les Silhouettes" by author Oscar Wilde and Cale co-wrote the music with Zazou. It was later released as a single (retitled "The Long Voyages" as it featured several remixes by Zazou, Mad Professor, and more).

Songs for Drella saw him reunited with Reed ^{Lou Reed} , in a tribute to one-time Velvet Underground manager and mentor Andy Warhol. In his autobiography, Cale revealed that he resented letting Lou take charge of the project. The collaboration eventually led to the brief reunion of the Velvet Underground in 1993.

Nico, an instrumental ballet score and tribute to the singer ^Nico was performed by Scapino Rotterdam plus an added selection from The Marble Index ^{The Marble Index (album)} in 1998, with the score released as Dance Music. That same year, Cale was also the organizer of the "With a Little Help from My Friends" festival that took place at the Paradiso ^{Paradiso (Amsterdam)} in Amsterdam. The concert was shown on Dutch national television and featured a song especially composed for the event and still unreleased, "Murdering Mouth" sang in duet with Siouxsie Sioux.

Cale has also written a number of film soundtracks, often using more classically ^{European classical music} influenced instrumentation. His autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen?, was published in 1999.


2000s to Present


With 2003's E.P. Five Tracks and the album HoboSapiens, Cale again returned as a regular recording artist, this time with music influenced by modern electronica and alternative rock. The well received album was co-produced with Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly. That record was followed with 2005's album BlackAcetate.

In 2005, Cale produced Austin ^{Austin, Texas} singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo's eighth album, The Boxing Mirror, which was released in May 2006. In June 2006, Cale released a radio and digital single, "Jumbo in tha Modernworld", that was unconnected to any album. A video was created for the song as well.

In March 2007 a 23-song live retrospective, Circus Live, was released in Europe. This two-disc album, composed of recordings from both the 2004 and 2006 tours, featured new arrangements and reworkings of songs from his entire career. Of particular interest is the Amsterdam Suite, a set of songs from a performance at the Amsterdam Paradiso ^{Paradiso (Amsterdam)} in 2004 (archived by the venue on their ). A studio-created drone has been edited into these songs. The set also included a DVD, featuring electric rehearsal material and a short acoustic set, as well as the video for "Jumbo in tha Modernworld", a 2006 single.

In May 2007, Cale contributed a cover of LCD Soundsystem song "All My Friends" to the vinyl ^{gramophone record} and digital single releases of the LCD Soundsystem original. Cale has continued to work with other artists, contributing viola to the forthcoming Danger Mouse-produced second album by London psychedelic trio The Shortwave Set and producing the second album of American indie ^{indie rock} band Ambulance Ltd.

On 11 October 2008, Cale hosted an event to pay tribute to Nico called "Life Along the Borderline" in celebration of what, five days later, would have been her 70th birthday.. This event featured many artists including James Dean Bradfield, Mark Lanegan, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, The Fiery Furnaces, Guillemots, Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly, Peter Murphy ^{Peter Murphy (musician)} , Liz Green, and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance. The event was reprised at the Teatro Communale in Ferrara, Italy on 10 May 2009, with Mercury Rev, Mark Lanegan, Lisa Gerrard, Peter Murphy, Soap&Skin and Mark Linkous.

Cale represented Wales at the 2009 Venice Biennale, collaborating with artists, filmmakers, and poets, and focusing the artwork on his relationship with the Welsh language.

The Paris 1919 ^{Paris 1919 (album)} album was performed, in its entirety, in Cardiff on 21 November 2009 and will be played at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 5 March 2010 and at the Theatre Royal in Norwich on 14 May 2010.In 1968, John Cale married fashion designer Betsey Johnson. He claims to have "taken most of the available drugs in the United States." Cale has said that, "In the '60s, for me, drugs were a cool experiment... In the '70s, I got in over my head." He now feels his drug addiction negatively impacted his music during the 1980s, and that he decided to clean up following a series of embarrassing concerts and the birth of his daughter. In a 2009 interview with the BBC, Cale claimed that "the strongest drug" he now takes is herbal tea.