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The Velvet Underground

For other uses, see The Velvet Underground (disambiguation).

The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1966 Clockwise from top left: Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, Moe Tucker and Nico
The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1966
Clockwise from top left: Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, Moe Tucker and Nico
Background information
Also known as
  • The Warlocks
  • The Falling Spikes
OriginNew York City, New York, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1964–1973
  • 1990
  • 1992–1993
  • 1996
Labels
Spinoff ofTheatre of Eternal Music
Past members
Websitevelvetundergroundmusic.com

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. It originally comprised the singer and guitarist Lou Reed, the Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, the guitarist Sterling Morrison and the drummer Angus MacLise. In 1965, MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker, who played on most of the band's recordings. Though their integration of rock and the avant-garde earned them little commercial success, they are now widely regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music.[4][5] Their provocative subject matter, experimentation, and nihilistic attitude were also instrumental in the development of punk rock, new wave and several other genres.[4]

The group performed under several names before settling on the Velvet Underground in 1965, taken from the title of a 1963 book on atypical sexual behavior. In 1966, the pop artist Andy Warhol became their manager. They served as the house band at Warhol's studio, the Factory, and his traveling multimedia show, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, featuring the German singer and model Nico, was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales but later drew widespread acclaim.[6][7] They released three more albums: the abrasive White Light/White Heat (1968), and the more accessible albums The Velvet Underground (1969) and Loaded (1970), with Doug Yule replacing Cale for the latter two. None performed to the expectations of record labels or Reed, the band's leader. However, like the band's debut, all albums later achieved critical acclaim.

In the early 1970s, all but Yule left the band. Yule led an abortive UK tour in 1973, and released a final album under the Velvet Underground name, Squeeze (1973), recorded mostly by Yule with session musicians, before the band dissolved shortly after. The former band members collaborated on each other's solo work throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and a retrospective "rarities" album, VU, was released in 1985. Reed, Cale, Tucker and Morrison reunited for a series of well-received shows in 1993, and released a live album from the tour, Live MCMXCIII, later that same year.

After Morrison's death in 1995, the remaining members played a final performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1996. Reed died in 2013. In 2004, the Velvet Underground were ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[8] The New York Times wrote that the Velvet Underground was "arguably the most influential American rock band of our time".[9]

  1. ^ Bannister, Matthew (2007). White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-7546-8803-7.
  2. ^ "Proto-Punk". AllMusic. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  3. ^ Rosenberg, Stuart (2009). Rock and Roll and the American Landscape: The Birth of an Industry and the Expansion of the Popular Culture, 1955–1969. iUniverse. p. 179. ISBN 978-1-4401-6458-3.
  4. ^ a b Unterberger, Richie. "The Velvet Underground – Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  5. ^ Kot, Greg (October 21, 2014). "The Velvet Underground: As influential as The Beatles?". BBC. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  6. ^ RS 500 Greatest Albums November 18, 2003.
  7. ^ 13-The Velvet Underground and Nico Rolling Stone, November 1, 2003
  8. ^ Julian Casablancas, "The Velvet Underground" (No. 19), in "The Immortals: The First Fifty", Rolling Stone, No. 946 (April 15, 2004), accessed April 29, 2007.
  9. ^ Bowman, David. "Forever Decadent". The New York Times. April 26, 1998. Retrieved October 3, 2013.

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