The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground are an American rock group from New York, formed in 1964 and active until 1996. They are closely associated with Lou Reed, whose songwriting and lyrics define much of the band’s reputation, and they are widely regarded as one of the most influential groups in rock, underground, experimental and alternative music. Their work brings together art rock, experimental rock, garage rock, noise rock, pop rock and proto-punk, with early recordings that blend rock with avant-garde ideas.

Formation and early lineup

The band begins with Lou Reed and Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, who meet in New York and develop the core of the group’s sound. Reed has already worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records and has played in short-lived garage bands. Cale brings experience from classical and experimental music, including work with John Cage and La Monte Young. Reed and Cale recruit Sterling Morrison on guitar and Angus MacLise on percussion, and the group goes through names including The Warlocks and The Falling Spikes before adopting The Velvet Underground.

The original lineup is Reed, Cale, Morrison and MacLise. MacLise leaves in 1965, after the group accepts a paid performance, and Moe Tucker replaces him. Tucker becomes a key part of the band’s sound, using a stripped-down drum setup of tom-toms and an upturned bass drum, usually played with mallets and with little use of cymbals. Her direct, propulsive style becomes central to the group’s music.

Andy Warhol, Nico and the debut album

Andy Warhol becomes the band’s manager in 1965 and helps raise their profile. He also suggests that German-born singer Nico appear on several songs. Warhol’s involvement brings the group to MGM’s Verve Records and into his multimedia show Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which provides the musical element for the presentation’s New York, touring United States and Canadian dates. During this period, MacLise briefly returns for a few performances when Reed is ill, with Cale singing and playing organ and Tucker moving to bass.

The Velvet Underground & Nico is recorded in 1966 and released in 1967. Nico sings on four songs. The album is known for its Andy Warhol-designed banana cover and for songs such as “I’m Waiting for the Man”, “Heroin”, “Venus in Furs”, “Femme Fatale” and “I’ll Be Your Mirror”. It peaks at number 171 on the Billboard 200, but its commercial impact is limited by legal problems over the back-cover image.

White Light/White Heat and the Cale era

Live performances become louder and harsher, with more improvisation and more use of feedback and amplifier noise. The second album, White Light/White Heat, is recorded in 1967 and released in 1968. It is a raw, abrasive record that includes “White Light/White Heat”, “Lady Godiva’s Operation”, “The Gift”, “Here She Comes Now”, “I Heard Her Call My Name” and “Sister Ray”. “Sister Ray”, with its long, distorted three-chord structure and William Burroughs-influenced lyrics, becomes one of the group’s best-known songs and an early precursor of punk and alternative rock. The album reaches number 199 on the Billboard 200.

Tensions develop between Reed and Cale, and Cale leaves before the third album. Doug Yule replaces him.

The Velvet Underground and Loaded

The Velvet Underground, released in 1969, moves away from the harshness of the first two albums toward a softer, folk-influenced sound. Reed’s songwriting becomes more subdued and confessional, Morrison’s guitar remains prominent, and Yule contributes melodic bass and harmony vocals. Reed shares lead vocals with Yule on some tracks, and Tucker appears on “After Hours”, which Reed says is too innocent for him to sing. The album influences later indie rock and lo-fi recording styles.

In 1969 the band also records a large amount of material that is not officially issued at the time. Some of it later appears on VU and Another View. Reed leaves during the making of Loaded, which is released in 1970 on Atlantic’s Cotillion label. The album is commissioned as a set of hit songs and includes “Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll”. Tucker has stepped back because of pregnancy, but still receives a performance credit; drums on the album are shared among several players, including Yule and Billy Yule. Reed exits in August 1970, before the record is fully completed, and Doug Yule finishes it.

Later years, line-up changes and afterlife

After Reed’s departure, the band continues with Walter Powers on bass, Doug Yule promoted to lead vocals and guitar, and later Willie Alexander replacing Sterling Morrison. Morrison has left for an academic career at the University of Texas at Austin after completing a B.A. in English. The band tours in the United States and Europe, including shows in England, Wales and the Netherlands. Live at Max’s Kansas City documents one of the final performances with Reed, and in 1973 Yule records Squeeze under the Velvet Underground name with Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice.

Reed and Cale later pursue solo careers. Tucker raises a family before returning to small-scale gigging and recording in the 1980s. Morrison works as a professor and later as a tugboat captain. Nico dies in 1988. Reed and Cale reunite for Songs for Drella in 1990, dedicated to Andy Warhol, and the classic Reed-Cale-Morrison-Tucker lineup briefly reforms from 1992 to 1994 for a European tour and the live album Live MCMXCIII. Cale performs most of the songs Nico once sang. Morrison dies in 1995, and the group’s history closes as a result of his death.

Selected recordings

The band’s main studio albums are The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat, The Velvet Underground and Loaded. Later releases include Live at Max’s Kansas City, Squeeze, 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, VU, Another View, Live MCMXCIII, Peel Slowly and See, Final V.U., The Quine Tapes and The Complete Matrix Tapes.