John Cale
Encyclopedia
John Davies Cale, OBE
(born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh
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
and classical
. 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
, and his cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", plus his mid-1970s Island Records
trilogy of albums: Fear
, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy
.
Cale has produced or collaborated with Lou Reed
, Nico
, La Monte Young
, John Cage
, Terry Riley
, Cranes
, Nick Drake
, Kevin Ayers
, Brian Eno
, Patti Smith
, The Stooges
, The Modern Lovers
, Art Bergmann
, Manic Street Preachers
and frontman James Dean Bradfield
, Marc Almond
, Squeeze, Happy Mondays
, LCD Soundsystem
and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
in the heavily industrial Amman Valley
of Wales to Will Cale and Margaret Davies. His mother was a primary teacher and his father was a coal miner. Although Will only spoke English, Margaret brought John up to speak only Welsh. Being unable to speak the same language as his father naturally hindered their relationship. John finally began learning English around age seven at primary. Cale was molested by two different men during his childhood; one of the men was a priest, and the incident occurred in a church.
Having discovered a talent for viola
, he studied music at Goldsmiths College
, University of London
. Whilst there he organised an early Fluxus
concert, A Little Festival of New Music, 6 July 1963. He also contributed the short film Police Car and two scores published in Fluxus Preview Review, July 1963, to the nascent avant-garde collective . He conducted the first performance in the UK of Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra with the composer and pianist Michael Garrett
as soloist. He then travelled to the U.S. 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 9 September 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". 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
and Tony Conrad'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
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.
with Lou Reed
, recruiting Reed's college friend Sterling Morrison
and Cale's flatmate Angus Maclise
to complete the initial line-up. Cale left 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
, 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
(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", 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
, 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, 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 outtake
s compilation
s VU
(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-oriented The Velvet Underground
, recorded after his departure.
, Desertshore
and (later on Island) The End.... 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
. 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
(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
, 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.
, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy
were recorded with other Island
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
(1975), but quickly deleted from later editions of the record due perhaps to the song's pointed Sharon Tate
reference. 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
, notable particularly for the epic "Hedda Gabler", based very loosely on the Ibsen play
. His often loud, abrasive and confrontational live performances fitted well with the punk rock
scene developing on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Cale took to wearing a hockey
goaltender
's mask onstage; see the cover of the Guts
compilation (1977). This look predated Friday the 13th's villain, Jason Voorhees
, by several years. During one gig in Croydon 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.
and moved in a more commercial direction with the album Honi Soit
. 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 co-founded 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". Different mixes of the two studio tracks appeared on both sides of the Atlantic. His daughter Eden Cale
was born in July 1985.
In a last effort at commercial success, Cale recorded Artificial Intelligence
his only album for Beggars Banquet records. This album, written in collaboration with Larry "Ratso" Sloman
, was characterised by synthesisers 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". However, "Dying on the Vine" is generally regarded as one of Cale's best songs.
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".
. Then in 1991 Cale contributed one song, "Hallelujah", to the tribute album to Leonard Cohen
I'm Your Fan
. Cale's uptempo version was performed on piano, and his cover forms the basis of most subsequent performances since.
In 1992, Cale performed vocals two songs, "Hunger" and "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
, 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
was performed by Scapino Rotterdam plus an added selection from The Marble Index
in 1998, with the score released as Dance Music. That same year, Cale was also the organiser of the "With a Little Help from My Friends" festival that took place at the Paradiso
in Amsterdam. The concert was shown on Dutch national television and featured a song specially composed for the event and still unreleased, "Murdering Mouth" sung in duet with Siouxsie Sioux
.
Cale has also written a number of film soundtracks, often using more classically influenced instrumentation. His autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen?, was published in 1999 by Bloomsbury.
featured Cale's recording of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah", which greatly popularised the song with younger audiences.
Signing to EMI in 2003 with the EP 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
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
in 2004. 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 the LCD Soundsystem
song "All My Friends" to the vinyl
and digital single releases of the LCD Soundsystem original. Cale has continued to work with other artists, contributing viola to Replica Sun Machine
, the Danger Mouse
-produced second album by London psychedelic
trio The Shortwave Set
and producing the second album of American indie
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
, 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
.
In January 2010 Cale was invited to be the first Eminent Art in Residence (EAR) at the Mona Foma
festival curated by Brian Ritchie
held in Hobart
, Tasmania, Australia. His work for the 2009 Venice Biennale 'Dyddiau Du (dark days)' was shown at the festival, along with a number of live performances at venues around Hobart.
The Paris 1919
album was performed, in its entirety, at the Coal Exchange Cardiff on 21 November 2009, at the Royal Festival Hall
in London on 5 March 2010, and the Theatre Royal in Norwich on 14 May 2010. These performances were reprised in Paris on 5 September 2010, Brescia, Italy on 11 September 2010, Los Angeles, CA on 30 September 2010 at UCLA's Royce Hall, Melbourne, Australia on 16 October 2010, Barcelona, Spain, 28 May 2010 and Essen, Germany, 06 Oktober 2011.
Cale was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
In February 2011 Cale signed a record deal with Domino Records subsidiary Double Six and released an EP Extra Playful in September 2011.
In May 2011, Cale and his band appeared at the Brighton Festival
, performing songs to the theme of Émigré/Lost & Found. Cale appeared at the invitation of the human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi
, who was the festival's guest director.
. The couple divorced less than a year later.
In 1971, Cale met Cynthia "Cindy" Wells, better known as Miss Cindy of The GTOs
. They wed soon afterward. Their marriage was rocky, and they divorced in 1975.
On 6 October 1981, Cale married his third wife, Risé Irushalmi. They had one child together, Eden Myfanwy Cale
, born 14 July 1985. They divorced in 1997.
John Cale currently resides in Los Angeles.
, which led to a doctor prescribing him opiates. He would come to rely on the drug in order to fall asleep. Biographer Tim Mitchell claims Cale's early dependence on medicine was a "formative experience." Cale later told an interviewer that, "When I got to New York, drugs were everywhere, and they quickly became part of my artistic experiment."
He was heavily involved in New York's drug scene of the 1960s and 1970s, with cocaine
as his drug of choice. 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 coffee.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
band The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
.
Though best known for his work in rock music, Cale has worked in various genres including drone
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. 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)
Paris 1919 is a 1973 album by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. It was produced by Chris Thomas and features a backing band consisting largely of members of Little Feat. It is the most accessible and traditional of Cale's albums, and the most well-known of his work as a solo artist.A...
, and his cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", plus his mid-1970s Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
trilogy of albums: Fear
Fear (John Cale album)
Fear is a 1974 album by John Cale. It was the first of three albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year...
, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy (album)
Helen of Troy is an album by John Cale, the last of three albums for Island Records.This album came out without the consent of Cale, who considered that the tapes were not finished...
.
Cale has produced or collaborated with Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
, La Monte Young
La Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
, Cranes
Cranes (band)
Cranes are a British music group formed in 1986, whose style has been described as "gothic minimalism".-History:Formed in 1986 in Portsmouth, England by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, and named after the many mechanical cranes around the city's docks, Cranes are best known for the childlike,...
, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison...
, Art Bergmann
Art Bergmann
Art Bergmann is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who was one of the key figures in Canadian punk rock in the late 1970s.-Punk bands:...
, Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
and frontman James Dean Bradfield
James Dean Bradfield
James Dean Bradfield is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.- Early life :...
, Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
, Squeeze, Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
, LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...
and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Early life and career
John Cale was born 9 March 1942 in GarnantGarnant
Garnant is a village in Carmarthenshire, West Wales about 5 miles east of Ammanford on the A474 road.During the early part of the 20th century it was the site of a tinplate works and several anthracite coal mines. It lies on the edge of the Black Mountain, in the westernmost part of the Brecon...
in the heavily industrial Amman Valley
River Amman
The River Amman is a river of south Wales, which joins the River Loughor at Pantyffynnon. The river gives its name to the town of Ammanford and the villages of Pontamman, Glanaman, Brynamman and Rhosaman. Garnant and Betws also lie in the Amman Valley....
of Wales to Will Cale and Margaret Davies. His mother was a primary teacher and his father was a coal miner. Although Will only spoke English, Margaret brought John up to speak only Welsh. Being unable to speak the same language as his father naturally hindered their relationship. John finally began learning English around age seven at primary. Cale was molested by two different men during his childhood; one of the men was a priest, and the incident occurred in a church.
Having discovered a talent for viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, he studied music at Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. Whilst there he organised an early Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
concert, A Little Festival of New Music, 6 July 1963. He also contributed the short film Police Car and two scores published in Fluxus Preview Review, July 1963, to the nascent avant-garde collective . He conducted the first performance in the UK of Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra with the composer and pianist Michael Garrett
Michael Garrett (composer)
Michael Garrett is a British composer. He was born in Leicestershire, England in 1944. He has been composing and performing for more than fifty years. His many works extend across a wide range of styles. He has written many symphonic, chamber and instrumental works as well as vocal music and has...
as soloist. He then travelled to the U.S. to continue his musical training, thanks to the help and influence of Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
.
Arriving in New York City, he met a number of influential composers. On 9 September 1963, with John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
and several others, Cale participated in an 18-hour piano-playing marathon that was the first full-length performance of Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
's "Vexations". After the performance, Cale appeared on the television panel show I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
. 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
La Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
and Tony Conrad'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
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
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
Sterling Morrison
Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. was one of the founding members of the rock group The Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.-Biography:...
. Three albums of his early experimental work from this period would remain unreleased until 2001.
The Velvet Underground
In early 1965, he co-founded The Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
with Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, recruiting Reed's college friend Sterling Morrison
Sterling Morrison
Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. was one of the founding members of the rock group The Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.-Biography:...
and Cale's flatmate Angus Maclise
Angus MacLise
Angus MacLise was an American percussionist, composer, poet, occultist and calligrapher probably best known as the first drummer for the Velvet Underground.-Biography:...
to complete the initial line-up. Cale left 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)
Aspen was a multimedia magazine published on an irregular schedule by Phyllis Johnson from 1965 to 1971. Described by its publisher as "the first three-dimensional magazine," each issue came in a customized box or folder filled with materials in a variety of formats, including booklets, "flexidisc"...
, 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
White Light/White Heat
The album briefly appeared on the Billboard 200, although only peaking at number 199. Despite its poor sales, the distorted, feedback-driven, and roughly recorded sound on White Light/White Heat became a notable influence on punk and experimental rock...
(recorded in 1967, released in 1968). On these albums he plays viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, bass guitar and piano, and sings occasional backing vocals. White Light/White Heat features Cale on organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
(on "Sister Ray
Sister Ray
Sister Ray may mean one of the following:* "Sister Ray", 1968 song by The Velvet Underground* A fictional enormous laser cannon in the video game Final Fantasy VII* Sister Ray , a punk rock band from Youngstown, Ohio...
") as well as two vocal turns: "Lady Godiva's Operation
Lady Godiva's Operation
"Lady Godiva's Operation" is a song by American avant-garde rock band The Velvet Underground, appearing on their second album, White Light/White Heat . The lyrics to the first half of the song describe Lady Godiva...
", an experimental song where he shares lead vocal duties with Reed, and "The Gift", a long spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
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
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
's 1967 debut album, Chelsea Girl
Chelsea Girl (album)
Chelsea Girl is the debut solo album by Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records, also home to The Velvet Underground. The name of the album is a reference to Andy Warhol's 1966 film Chelsea Girls, which Nico starred in...
, 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, nearly two years after he left the band. He was enticed back into the studio by the band's manager, Steve Sesnick
Steve Sesnick
Stephen Sesnick was a club owner who served as manager of The Velvet Underground after the band ended their association with Andy Warhol in 1967....
"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 outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
s compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s VU
VU (album)
VU is an outtakes compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in February 1985 by Verve Records.-Composition and collection:...
(1985) and Another View
Another View
Another View is an outtakes compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in 1986 by Verve Records and is comprised of material recorded between 1967 and 1969.-Composition and collection:...
(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-oriented The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground (album)
The Velvet Underground is the third album by American rock group The Velvet Underground. It was their first record to feature Doug Yule, John Cale's replacement. It was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California. This album's softer sound marks a radical shift in approach in style...
, recorded after his departure.
1970s
After leaving the Velvet Underground, Cale worked as a record producer and arranger on a number of albums, including Nico's The Marble IndexThe Marble Index (album)
The Marble Index is the second solo album by Nico, recorded in 1968 and released in 1969. The album featured long-term associate John Cale, who had worked briefly with Nico during her stint with The Velvet Underground...
, Desertshore
Desertshore
Desertshore is Nico's third solo album, recorded and released in 1970. It was co-produced by John Cale and Joe Boyd. Like its predecessor The Marble Index, it is an avant-garde album with neoclassical elements....
and (later on Island) The End.... On these he accompanied Nico's voice and harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
using a wide array of instruments to unusual effect. He also produced The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
' self-titled debut
The Stooges (album)
The Stooges is the self-titled debut of the rock band The Stooges. It was released in August 1969 and peaked at number 106 on the Billboard album charts. Two songs, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969", were released as singles. It is widely considered as one of the best proto punk albums...
. He appeared on Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
's second album, Bryter Layter
Bryter Layter
Bryter Layter, recorded in 1970, was the second of three albums by British folk musician Nick Drake. Like Five Leaves Left, the album contains no unaccompanied songs: Drake was accompanied by part of the British folk rock group Fairport Convention and John Cale from The Velvet Underground, as well...
, playing viola and harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
on two of the album's tracks. While meeting with producer Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
, he came across Drake's music and insisted on collaborating with him. After a quick meeting, they collaborated on "Northern Sky
Northern Sky
Northern Sky is a song from Nick Drake's 1970 album Bryter Layter. The song, written in DADGDG tuning, features piano, organ and celesta, performed by former Velvet Underground member, John Cale....
" and "Fly".
In 1970, in addition to his career as a producer, Cale began to make solo records. His first, the pastoral Vintage Violence
Vintage Violence
Vintage Violence was the first solo album from former Velvet Underground member John Cale. Produced for a mere $15,000, Cale stated in his autobiography What's Welsh for Zen? that there wasn't "much originality on that album, it's just someone teaching himself to do something"...
, is generally classified as folk-pop
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Shortly thereafter, his collaboration with another classical musician, Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
, on the mainly instrumental Church of Anthrax
Church of Anthrax
Church of Anthrax is a collaboration between John Cale and Terry Riley. The record was released in February 1971 by Cale's record company, Columbia Records, nearly a year after the material was recorded.-Track listing:...
, was released, although it was actually recorded almost a year prior. His classical explorations continued with 1972's The Academy in Peril
The Academy in Peril
The Academy in Peril is a 1972 album by John Cale. Like his previous release, the Terry Riley collaboration Church of Anthrax, it is mostly instrumental...
. 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
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
as performer and in-house producer. His The Academy in Peril
The Academy in Peril
The Academy in Peril is a 1972 album by John Cale. Like his previous release, the Terry Riley collaboration Church of Anthrax, it is mostly instrumental...
was his first project for Reprise. His fourth solo record Paris 1919
Paris 1919 (album)
Paris 1919 is a 1973 album by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. It was produced by Chris Thomas and features a backing band consisting largely of members of Little Feat. It is the most accessible and traditional of Cale's albums, and the most well-known of his work as a solo artist.A...
(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
Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
' third album, Jennifer, as well as albums by Chunky, Novi & Ernie and The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison...
, which Reprise chose not to release (it was subsequently released by Beserkley Records
Beserkley Records
Beserkley Records was an independent record label based in Berkeley, California, from 1973 to 1984. Beserkely is usually regarded as a powerpop & rock and roll label; during the seventies, the band released albums by Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, The Rubinoos, and...
).
Cale's work as a producer continued and in 1974 he joined Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, working on records with Squeeze, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, and Sham 69
Sham 69
Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...
, among others. He produced a number of important protopunk
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
records, including debuts by Smith and The Modern Lovers. During this period, he also worked as a talent scout with Island's A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
department.
Mid-1970s
Moving back to London, 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 – FearFear (John Cale album)
Fear is a 1974 album by John Cale. It was the first of three albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year...
, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy (album)
Helen of Troy is an album by John Cale, the last of three albums for Island Records.This album came out without the consent of Cale, who considered that the tapes were not finished...
were recorded with other Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
artists including Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
and Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
of Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, and Chris Spedding
Chris Spedding
Chris Spedding is an English rock and roll and jazz guitarist, best known for his session work. Allmusic states - "Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and roll, as well as...
, who featured in his live band. This era of Cale's music is perhaps best represented by his somewhat disturbing cover of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's iconic "Heartbreak Hotel
Heartbreak Hotel
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American rock and roll musician Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, "Heartbreak Hotel" topped Billboards Top 100 chart, became his first...
", featured both on Slow Dazzle and the live album June 1, 1974
June 1, 1974
June 1, 1974 is a live album of songs performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London on the titular date. The album is officially attributed to Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, although other well-known musicians, including Mike Oldfield and Robert Wyatt, also contributed to the concert. It...
, recorded with Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
, 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)
Helen of Troy is an album by John Cale, the last of three albums for Island Records.This album came out without the consent of Cale, who considered that the tapes were not finished...
(1975), but quickly deleted from later editions of the record due perhaps to the song's pointed Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
reference. 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
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, notable particularly for the epic "Hedda Gabler", based very loosely on the Ibsen play
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
. His often loud, abrasive and confrontational live performances fitted well with the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
scene developing on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Cale took to wearing a hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
's mask onstage; see the cover of the Guts
Guts (John Cale album)
Guts is a retrospective compilation album by John Cale, released by Island Records in February 1977. It is perhaps most notable for including the songs "Leaving It Up To You", which was deleted from Helen of Troy, and the previously unreleased "Mary Lou".The CD backcover has a misprint: "Guts" is...
compilation (1977). This look predated Friday the 13th's villain, Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
, by several years. During one gig in Croydon 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
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
use.
In December 1979, Cale's embrace of the punk rock ethic culminated in the release of Sabotage/Live
Sabotage/Live
Sabotage/Live was recorded live at CBGB's, New York in June 1979. Reissued on CD by A&M Canada without bonus tracks and reissued again in the UK a decade later with the following bonus tracks:...
. This record, recorded live at CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
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
Ivan Kral
Ivan Kral is a Grammy Award-winning Czechoslovakian-born American composer, filmmaker and singer. He works across many genres including rock, jazz, soul, country and film scores...
of the Patti Smith Group on bass and Judy Nylon
Judy Nylon
Judy Nylon is an American artist who moved to London in 1970. She was half of the punk act called Snatch, which also featured Patti Palladin. Only those who lived in New York and London during the era that spanned glam rock, punk and no wave are likely to appreciate her importance, most of which...
on vocals.
1980s
In 1980, Cale signed with A&M RecordsA&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
and moved in a more commercial direction with the album Honi Soit
Honi Soit (album)
Honi Soit is a 1981 album by John Cale. All songs were written by Cale, except "Streets Of Laredo", a traditional song arranged by Cale....
. He worked with producer Mike Thorne towards this end . Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
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
ZE Records
ZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It has been re-established by Esteban since 2003.-History:Michael Zilkha ZE Records (always written with two capital letters) was originally a New York-based record label, started in...
, a company he had influenced the creation of and which had absorbed Spy Records, the label he had co-founded with Jane Friedman
Jane Friedman
Jane Friedman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Open Road Integrated Media. She was the President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, one of the world's leading English-language publishers, from 1997 to 2008....
. The next year, Cale released the sparse Music for a New Society
Music For A New Society
Music for a New Society is an album by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. Released into an era dominated by bands like the Jam, ABC and Dexys Midnight Runners the album sank without trace...
. 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
Caribbean Sunset
Caribbean Sunset is the ninth studio album by John Cale, and was released in 1984. It features contributions from Brian Eno and an otherwise "young unknown" band. The album is notable for being the only album by John Cale to remain unreleased on compact disc or digital format...
, 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". Different mixes of the two studio tracks appeared on both sides of the Atlantic. His daughter Eden Cale
Eden Cale
Eden Myfanwy Cale is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the daughter of Velvet Underground founding member John Cale and Risé Irushalmi Cale....
was born in July 1985.
In a last effort at commercial success, Cale recorded Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (John Cale album)
-Track listing:All tracks composed by John Cale and Larry Sloman, except "Everytime The Dogs Bark" & "Vigilante Lover" by John Cale, Larry Sloman, David Young# "Everytime The Dogs Bark" – 4:17# "Dying On The Vine" – 5:18# "The Sleeper" – 5:53...
his only album for Beggars Banquet records. This album, written in collaboration with Larry "Ratso" Sloman
Larry Sloman
Larry "Ratso" Sloman is a New York-based author best known for his collaboration with Howard Stern on the radio personality's two best-selling books, Private Parts and Miss America. He also appears in all of Kinky Friedman's mystery novels as the Dr. Watson to Kinky's Sherlock...
, was characterised by synthesisers 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". However, "Dying on the Vine" is generally regarded as one of Cale's best songs.
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
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
. Notable among these is "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night, a villanelle, is considered to be among the finest works by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas . Originally published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951, it also appeared as part of the collection "In Country Sleep." Written for his dying father, it is one of...
", 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
Words for the Dying
Words For The Dying is a 1989 album by John Cale.The main part is oral work, read or sung by Cale, written in 1982 as a response to the Anglo-Argentinian Falklands War, using poems written by fellow Welshman, Dylan Thomas. There are also two orchestral interludes, two other solo piano pieces "Songs...
. 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 UpWrong Way Up
Wrong Way Up is a 1990 album by Brian Eno and John Cale.The album sits between the Electronic and Prog-Rock/Art Rock genres sound and features some of both Eno's and Cale's most mainstream work. The single "Been There, Done That" remains the only Eno single to ever reach an American chart...
. Then in 1991 Cale contributed one song, "Hallelujah", to the tribute album to Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
I'm Your Fan
I'm Your Fan
I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1991, produced by the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles. The album features Cohen's songs interpreted by some of the most respected rock acts of the time...
. Cale's uptempo version was performed on piano, and his cover forms the basis of most subsequent performances since.
In 1992, Cale performed vocals two songs, "Hunger" and "First Evening" on French producer Hector Zazou
Hector Zazou
Hector Zazou was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists...
's album Sahara Blue. All lyrics on the album were based on the poetry of author Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
. In 1994, Cale performed a spoken word duet with Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"...
on the song "The Long Voyage" on Zazou's album Chansons des mers froides
Chansons des mers froides
Chansons des mers froides is a 1994 album by French musician Hector Zazou.Zazou approached Sony Records with merely the title and the concept of songs from the Arctic. He was accompanied by cameraman Philippe Roméo as he recorded traditional folk songs in and from Alaska, Canada , Greenland,...
. The lyrics were based on the poem "Les Silhouettes" by author Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
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
Mad Professor
Mad Professor is a dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music’s second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He is a prolific producer, contributing to or...
, and more).
Songs for Drella
Songs for Drella
Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of The Velvet Underground.On January 9, 1989 Cale and Reed performed a selection of Songs for Drella at The Church of St. Anne's in Brooklyn. The first full version was played on November 29–30, and December 2–3 at the...
saw him reunited with Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, in a tribute to one-time Velvet Underground manager and mentor Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. 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
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
was performed by Scapino Rotterdam plus an added selection from The Marble Index
The Marble Index (album)
The Marble Index is the second solo album by Nico, recorded in 1968 and released in 1969. The album featured long-term associate John Cale, who had worked briefly with Nico during her stint with The Velvet Underground...
in 1998, with the score released as Dance Music. That same year, Cale was also the organiser of the "With a Little Help from My Friends" festival that took place at the Paradiso
Paradiso (Amsterdam)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
in Amsterdam. The concert was shown on Dutch national television and featured a song specially composed for the event and still unreleased, "Murdering Mouth" sung in duet with Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
.
Cale has also written a number of film soundtracks, often using more classically influenced instrumentation. His autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen?, was published in 1999 by Bloomsbury.
2000s to present
In 2001, the motion picture ShrekShrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
featured Cale's recording of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah", which greatly popularised the song with younger audiences.
Signing to EMI in 2003 with the EP Five Tracks and the album HoboSapiens
HoboSapiens
HoboSapiens is a 2003 album by John Cale, his first for EMI. Cale co-produced the album with Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly. The cover photography is by Jon Shard.-Track listing:All tracks composed by John Cale#"Set Me Free" – 4:35...
, Cale again returned as a regular recording artist, this time with music influenced by modern electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
. The well received album was co-produced with Nick Franglen
Nick Franglen
Nick Franglen is a British musician, composer and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the electronica duo Lemon Jelly.A classically trained musician and multi-instrumentalist, during the 1990s Franglen worked as a session keyboard player and drum programmer on studio...
of Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards....
. That record was followed with 2005's album BlackAcetate
BlackAcetate
blackAcetate is a 2005 album by John Cale, his second album for EMI."Perfect" was released as a single in the UK two weeks after the album, and was subsequently included in The Sunday Times list of the top 20 pop songs of the year.-Track listing:...
.
In 2005, Cale produced Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo
Alejandro Escovedo
Alejandro Escovedo is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:The son of Mexican immigrants to Texas, Escovedo is from a family that boasts several professional musicians, including brothers Coke Escovedo and Pete Escovedo, and Sheila E...
's eighth album, The Boxing Mirror
The Boxing Mirror
The Boxing Mirror is a 2006 album by Alejandro Escovedo released through Back Porch Records.- Track listing :# "Arizona" – 4:51# "Dear Head on the Wall" – 3:40# "Notes On Air" – 414# "Looking For Love" – 4:08# "The Ladder" – 2:55...
, 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
Circus Live
Circus Live is a 3-disc live album by John Cale released on February 19, 2007. The contents were recorded live on the 2004 and 2006 European tours. One of the discs is a DVD containing rehearsal footage, a music video, and a two audio tracks....
, 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)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
in 2004. 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 the LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...
song "All My Friends" to the vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and digital single releases of the LCD Soundsystem original. Cale has continued to work with other artists, contributing viola to Replica Sun Machine
Replica Sun Machine
Replica Sun Machine is the second album by The Shortwave Set.Work began on the album shortly after the release of The Debt Collection. In an interview for Swedish television, singer and songwriter Andrew Pettitt said that by February 2007 the album was completed as far as they were concerned...
, the Danger Mouse
Danger Mouse
Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...
-produced second album by London psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
trio The Shortwave Set
The Shortwave Set
The Shortwave Set are a British alternative pop band whose debut album, The Debt Collection, was released in 2005 on Independiente Records. The band's music combines sample-based music with more traditional songwriting and instrumentation to create a sound the group have described as "Victorian Funk"...
and producing the second album of American indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Ambulance Ltd
Ambulance LTD
Ambulance LTD is an indie rock group formed in Spanish Harlem, New York in 2000. The band was founded by singer and guitarist Michael Di Liberto and Dave Longstreth of Ohio. They were joined by Marcus Congleton, who brought in Andrew Haskell , Aaron Nevezie , and Darren Beckett...
.
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
James Dean Bradfield
James Dean Bradfield is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.- Early life :...
, Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan is an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge group Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career...
, Mark Linkous
Mark Linkous
Mark Linkous was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of Sparklehorse. He was also known for his collaborations with such notable artists as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Radiohead, Black Francis, Julian Casablancas, Nina Persson, Sean Terrington Wright, David...
of Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
, The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces are a U.S. indie rock band formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The siblings are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago.- Band biography :...
, Guillemots, Nick Franglen
Nick Franglen
Nick Franglen is a British musician, composer and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the electronica duo Lemon Jelly.A classically trained musician and multi-instrumentalist, during the 1990s Franglen worked as a session keyboard player and drum programmer on studio...
of Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards....
, Peter Murphy
Peter Murphy (musician)
Peter John Murphy is an English rock vocalist. He was the vocalist of the rock group Bauhaus, and later went on to release a number of solo albums, such as Deep and Love Hysteria...
, Liz Green
Liz Green
Liz Green is a DJ on BBC Radio Leeds and hosts talkshow, Liz Green Live on weekdays between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. Debates on this vary through a wide range of subjects, usually headlining, a heavier subject is generally debated in the first hour, while a lighter subject is debated later on.-Liz...
, and Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
of Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
. The event was reprised at the Teatro Communale in Ferrara, Italy on 10 May 2009, with Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
, Mark Lanegan, Lisa Gerrard, Peter Murphy, Soap&Skin
Soap&Skin
Soap&Skin is the experimental musical project of Austrian artist Anja Plaschg .- Life :Anja Plaschg grew up in a small village called Gnas in south east Styria, where her parents have a farm. She has played piano since she was six. At the age of 14 she began violin studies and developed an interest...
and Mark Linkous.
Cale represented Wales at the 2009 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, collaborating with artists, filmmakers, and poets, and focusing the artwork on his relationship with the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.
In January 2010 Cale was invited to be the first Eminent Art in Residence (EAR) at the Mona Foma
Mona foma
MONA FOMA is an annual festival based in Hobart, Tasmania, curated by Brian Ritchie bass player from the rock band Violent Femmes. It is billed as Tasmania's largest contemporary music festival and showcases the work of artists in a broad range of art forms, including sound, noise, dance, theatre,...
festival curated by Brian Ritchie
Brian Ritchie
Brian Ritchie was the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes.In addition to his bass playing, Ritchie is proficient at the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute...
held in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania, Australia. His work for the 2009 Venice Biennale 'Dyddiau Du (dark days)' was shown at the festival, along with a number of live performances at venues around Hobart.
The Paris 1919
Paris 1919 (album)
Paris 1919 is a 1973 album by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. It was produced by Chris Thomas and features a backing band consisting largely of members of Little Feat. It is the most accessible and traditional of Cale's albums, and the most well-known of his work as a solo artist.A...
album was performed, in its entirety, at the Coal Exchange Cardiff on 21 November 2009, at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in London on 5 March 2010, and the Theatre Royal in Norwich on 14 May 2010. These performances were reprised in Paris on 5 September 2010, Brescia, Italy on 11 September 2010, Los Angeles, CA on 30 September 2010 at UCLA's Royce Hall, Melbourne, Australia on 16 October 2010, Barcelona, Spain, 28 May 2010 and Essen, Germany, 06 Oktober 2011.
Cale was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
In February 2011 Cale signed a record deal with Domino Records subsidiary Double Six and released an EP Extra Playful in September 2011.
In May 2011, Cale and his band appeared at the Brighton Festival
Brighton Festival
The Brighton Festival is an annual arts festival which takes place in the city of Brighton and Hove in England each May. It was founded in 1966, and is the largest multi-art form festival in England...
, performing songs to the theme of Émigré/Lost & Found. Cale appeared at the invitation of the human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
, who was the festival's guest director.
Personal life
In 1968, John Cale married fashion designer Betsey JohnsonBetsey Johnson
Betsey Johnson is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished...
. The couple divorced less than a year later.
In 1971, Cale met Cynthia "Cindy" Wells, better known as Miss Cindy of The GTOs
The GTOs
The GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
. They wed soon afterward. Their marriage was rocky, and they divorced in 1975.
On 6 October 1981, Cale married his third wife, Risé Irushalmi. They had one child together, Eden Myfanwy Cale
Eden Cale
Eden Myfanwy Cale is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the daughter of Velvet Underground founding member John Cale and Risé Irushalmi Cale....
, born 14 July 1985. They divorced in 1997.
John Cale currently resides in Los Angeles.
Substance abuse
As a child, John Cale suffered from severe bronchial issuesBronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
, which led to a doctor prescribing him opiates. He would come to rely on the drug in order to fall asleep. Biographer Tim Mitchell claims Cale's early dependence on medicine was a "formative experience." Cale later told an interviewer that, "When I got to New York, drugs were everywhere, and they quickly became part of my artistic experiment."
He was heavily involved in New York's drug scene of the 1960s and 1970s, with cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
as his drug of choice. 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 coffee.
External links
- Fear Is A Man's Best Friend extensive fan site