the Velvet Underground, American band of the 1960s whose primal guitar sound and urban noir lyrics, influenced by avant-garde art and modern literature, inspired the punk and alternative rock movements of the 1970s and ’80s. The principal members were Lou Reed (original name Lewis Allan Reed; b. March 2, 1942, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. d. October 27, 2013, Southampton, New York), John Cale (b. March 9, 1942, Garnant, Wales), Sterling Morrison (in full Holmes Sterling Morrison; b. August 29, 1942, Westbury, New York d. August 30, 1995, Poughkeepsie, New York), Maureen (“Moe”) Tucker (b. August 26, 1944, Levittown, Long Island, New York),
John Cale didn’t come to popular music from the usual places. His muse was born in the classical avant-garde, and when the young Welsh musician first arrived in New York in the early 1960s, he was pulled first into the evocative drone sounds of La Monte Young, joining on viola the composer’s Theatre of Eternal … John Cale on Embracing Pop and the Avant-Garde Read More » The post John Cale on Embracing Pop and the Avant-Garde appeared first on SPIN.