The Velvet Underground were unconventional pop musicians
known for introducing an experimental and artistic style to the genre. They
attempted to mesh the “avant-garde”
with mainstream culture, and over a short period of time became very
influential in what Pop music would come to be. Reporter Jon Pareles wrote that
their sound was, “poised between street-level grit and literary irony, rock
simplicity and minimalistic drones, clarity and noise.” Visually the group strayed from the uniformed look of popular bands. The
members were individuals in image and music, reflecting the New York City state
of mind in the 1960’s. While other commercial bands were walking straight and
narrow paths to success, the Velvet Underground diverted from the mundane.
Author Herb Bowie writes, “Although the Velvets were apparently similar to other late-sixties
rock groups, in that their subject matter included sex and drugs, these
similarities were only superficial… the New York based VU trod an entirely
different path: they sang, without apparent moral judgment, about addiction to
harder drugs, such as heroin, with music that simulated the experiences
accompanying such drug use. In the sexual realm, they sang about sado-masochism
and other alternatives, again focusing on the immediate feelings of the
participants, and not on the attitudes of the surrounding society, or on the
larger consequences of such behavior.” When the group added model/actress Nico, they gained a presence. Nico’s vocals
were deep, icy and somewhat haunting; all of which detracted from her beauty
and showcased the talented artist she were to become. The Velvet Underground
were pioneers in every sense of the word and if you judged their contributions
based off of their record sales, they are indeed proof that numbers can lie.
The band’s two major songwriters, John Cale and Lou Reed,
brought extremely different dynamics to the group. Lou Reed had a very eclectic
knowledge of music, ranging from folk to jazz. While attending Syracuse
University he studied contemporary poetry and film. It was while working as a
songwriter for Pickwick Records that he met John Cale. John was classically
trained, particularly skilled with the viola, and though he had performed with
orchestras, he always had an appreciation for rock music. Upon traveling from
Wales to the United States to continue his musical training, John met both Lou
Reed and soon-to-be Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison. John Cale
would be of service to the Velvet Underground in a multitude of ways; he played
a variety of instruments and provided vocals on quite a few of their songs. Lou
Reed was the driving force behind the groups “controversial” subject matters.
Being born in Brooklyn, New York (raised in Long Island) he was exposed to the
city’s sites of the mid to late 60’s; which happened to include drag queens,
pimps and heroin addicts. There seemed to be a constant power struggle
between Cale and Reed, which resulted in Cale leaving the group just a few
short years into their existence. John Cale and Lou Reed also shared the love
of lead singer and “Factory” regular Nico. Sterling Morrison was strongly
against meaningful lyrical content, going as far as saying, “I never sit down
and listen to lyrics, because rock 'n' roll is not sit-down-and-listen-to-lyrics
music! Why is it that the Velvet Underground's celebrated lyric-smiths never
published a lyrics sheet? Was that to make you strain to hear the lyrics that
you could never hear? No. It's because they were saying, "Fuck you. If you
wanna listen to lyrics, then read the New York Times." It has nothing to
do with the intellectual apprehension of content.” Sterling went even further to discredit his band mate, Lou Reed, this
time not taking such a subliminal approach, “How could Lou, seriously, be better off
without John Cale, and without me, than he was with us... With Cale and I, we
were a real creative band. Lou really did want to have a whole lot of credit
for the songs. So on nearly all the albums we gave it to him. It kept him
happy. He got the rights to all the songs on Loaded, so now he's
credited with being the absolute and singular genius of the Underground, which
is not true.” Eventually the rivalry between Lou Reed and John Cale forced band
members to choose sides, forcing the group to completely disband.
The Velvet Underground & Nico were supported and
produced by legendary artist Andy Warhol, along with Warhol’s associate Paul
Morrissey. Warhol would be known as the man that discovered The Velvet
Underground, but Paul Morrissey has since stated that he was the one who
discovered and signed the group. When interviewer Greg Barrios had an
opportunity to question Sterling Morrison about Warhol’s role as a producer,
Sterling replied, “This was "producer" in the sense of producing a
film. We used some of his money and our money. Whoever had any money that just
went all into it. Andy was the producer but we were the "executive
producers" too. We made the record ourselves and then brought it around
and MGM said they liked it. We just never cared to do it the way most people
do.” Andy Warhol’s eccentricity helped create an outside-of-the-box artistic
outlet to aid in the explorations of the Velvet Undergrounds conceptions. The
pairing of Warhol’s visual art with the Underground’s musical art set it apart
from the traditional music of the 1960’s. Never before had there been such
integration between both properties in that manner. Andy fused the Velvet
Underground’s music with his live events and films, which were performed and
shown throughout the United States. Outside of the aforementioned Andy Warhol
productions, there wasn’t much done to promote The Velvet Underground’s music,
which led to disappointing sales. Amazingly, despite the limited awareness the
band had received, their creations would inspire legions of musicians preceding
the group's collective efforts. Herbie Bowie mentioned in his story that, “Brian Eno once
said that even though hardly anyone bought Velvet Underground recordings at the
time they first appeared, almost everyone who did formed their own bands.” The characteristics and legacy of the Velvet Underground still shine
through today.
I was surprised by how abstract the Velvet Underground’s
music was upon hearing it for the first time. The way they knit visual artistry
with aural artistry was very original and separated itself from anything ever
constructed within popular music during the 60's. There were so many odd and unconventional
elements thrown together (Nico’s voice, Cale’s viola, excessive feedback) yet
it meshed well and didn’t take away from the overall product. It is always
unfortunate when an artist’s contributions are slow to be recognized and
appreciated, and it's only until after they’ve been paint-brushed with all the negativity and scrutiny that they receive a fragment of praise. There is typically no such thing as "bad music; it is usually us, the listeners, who are not
open to hearing sounds that divert from the conventional. Once we find the newest and latest innovation to disparage, it is then that we realize the energy spent
on hating the previous novelty wasn’t worth the time and effort. We need to find a
balance between neophobia and neophilia. Change is something we should embrace,
especially in a time of extreme repetition. The next Velvet Underground (in
terms of creativity and originality) is out there somewhere today, it is up to
us to find them and celebrate them for making advancements in an industry full of
sheep; rather than belittle them and discourage them from injecting unconventionality where it's needed.
