In July of 1965, Reed, Cale and Morrison recorded a demo tape. Their music was generally much more relaxed than it would later become: Cale described this era as reminiscent of beatnik poetry, with MacLise playing gentle ”pitter and patter rhythms behind the drone”. The newly named Velvet Underground rehearsed and performed in New York City. The band immediately and unanimously adopted the Reed and Morrison have reported the group liked the name, considering it evocative of “underground cinema,” and fitting, due to Reed’s already having written “Venus in Furs”, inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s book of the same name, also dealing with sadomasochism. While moving into his New York City apartment Reed found the book The Velvet Underground by Michael Leigh, a book about sadomasochism, left by previous tenant Tony Conrad. This quartet was first called The Warlocks, then The Falling Spikes. Reed and Cale recruited Sterling Morrison – a college classmate of Reed’s who had already played with him a few times – to play guitar, and Angus MacLise to play percussion. Reed’s first group with Cale was the short-lived The Primitives, assembled to support a Reed-penned single, “The Ostrich”. ![]() The pair rehearsed and performed together, and their partnership and shared interests steered the early direction of what would become the Velvet Underground. (Young’s use of extended drones would be a profound influence on Cale had worked with John Cage and La Monte Young, but was also interested in rock music. Reed met John Cale, a Welshman who had moved to the United States to study classical music. Lou Reed had performed with a few short-lived garage bands and had worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records, a job Reed described as ”a poor man’s Carole King”. The foundations for what would become The Velvet Underground were laid in late 1964. Underground & Nico knowing the power of which it was capable, the music could never be as innocent, as unselfconscious as before.” Critics Scott Isler and Ira Robbins argue that ”The Velvet Underground marked a turning point in rock history. The group’s often raw, sometimes difficult sound would influence many later punk, noise rock, and alternative music performers, and singer Lou Reed’s lyrics brought new levels of social realism and sleaze to rock. ![]() The Velvet Underground was one of the first rock music groups to experiment heavily with the form by incorporating avant-garde influences. Some see The Velvet Underground as being a bridge between the pacifist themes of the late 60s and the sheer chaos and indifference of the mid-70s punk movement. The band also collaborated with Nico for their debut album in 1967, under the supervision of producer and pop artist Andy Warhol. Its best-known lineup consisted of vocalist/guitarist Lou Reed, bassist/violist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker. ![]() The Velvet Underground was a pioneering experimental rock band from New York City first active from 1965 to 1973.
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