The Velvet Underground's legacy transcended the period at which they were together. In
less than a decade, the band reinvented what rock music could sound like. This is the untold
truth of The Velvet Underground.
Like the band's popularity and points of inspiration, the beginning of The Velvet Underground can
be found in New York City. Three of the four members of the most popular variation of the
band were born here. John Cale was born in the United Kingdom and moved to New York to
study music.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cale recalled moving into an apartment in
New York where he met poet Angus MacLise. It was through Cale that MacLise came into
contact with Lou Reed. Reed, like many American kids in the 1950s, loved early rock and roll
and joined a doo-wop group as a teenager.
"Seriously, I was a guy playing bar bands. I mean, I wasn't the singer. I wasn't up front.
I was way in the back."
By the 1960s, like Cale, Reed became interested in avant-garde music. The duo became a quartet
when Reed bought in his old friend, Sterling Morrison, on guitar and Cale brought in MacLise
on drums. In his interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cale recalled his early memories
with the band that called themselves, The Velvet Underground:
"In the fifth-floor apartment in '65, Lou [Reed], Sterling [Morrison], and I combined
the music of Erik Satie, John Cage, Phil Spector, Hank Williams, and Bob Dylan. The result was
a new form of rock — more about art than commerce."
This initial lineup did not last long. Before their first performance where they took in
money, MacLise felt they had become "sellouts" and left. He was replaced by Maureen "Moe"
Tucker, another friend of Reed's.
The Velvet Underground was influenced by the New York art scene of the era, so it only
made sense that the band and Andy Warhol would cross paths. Warhol was a leading artist in
the pop art movement of the 1960s and produced avant-garde art that mixed fine art and mainstream
appeal. He and Velvet Underground were a match made in heaven.
Warhol first met the band in December 1965 and became enthralled by them. They were an
avant-garde band with commercial aspirations, and he was an avant-garde artist who had commercial
appeal. Lou Reed became a common fixture at Warhol's warehouse, The Factory. Reed became
very influenced by the people he met at the warehouse and would write songs about them,
including one of his most famous songs, "Walk on the Wild Side." Shortly after meeting the
band, Warhol became The Velvet Underground's manager.
"We're sponsoring a new band, it's called The Velvet Underground."
In January 1966, Warhol invited The Velvet Underground to perform at the annual banquet
of the New York Society of Clinical Psychiatry, along with individuals from the Factory. Warhol's
patronage gave the band a financial safety net and artistic freedom. The connection between
the worlds of rock music and experimental art became a central feature of the band,
especially from Reed and John Cale.
Already a quartet with the backing of one of the most recognizable faces in the art
industry, Andy Warhol thought the group needed to add another singer to double on vocals
with Lou Reed. Nico, born Christa Päffgen, was a German model, actress, and nightclub
singer who had become one of Warhol's "superstars" during the same period as he was supporting
the band. He pushed the group to add her, despite Reed's objections. Reed told Rolling
Stone in 1989,
"[Andy Warhol] was this catalyst, always putting jarring elements together. Which was something
I wasn't always happy about. So when he put Nico in, we said, 'Hmmm.' Because Andy said,
'Oh, you've got to have a chanteuse.' I said, 'Oh, Andy, give us a break.'"
Despite their objections, Nico carried with her some pedigree in the music world. According
to CR Fashion Book, while working as a nightclub singer in New York, she was rumored to be
a muse for Leonard Cohen and collaborated with Bob Dylan. Through Brian Jones of the
Rolling Stones, Nico met Warhol, who made her a central figure at the Factory.
Warhol believed Nico would provide a better face for the band than Reed, and ultimately
convinced The Velvet Underground to make her the face and singer of the band. With Nico
sharing vocals, The Velvet Underground's first album would become an influential masterpiece.
The self-titled debut album of The Velvet Underground became a landmark in the history
of music. Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 13 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums.
However, the album was too ahead of its time. It was released in early 1967, the same year
as the "Summer of Love," and completely contrasted with the psychedelic sounds that were dominating
late-60s rock music. The Velvet Underground & Nico also sold poorly, selling only 30,000
copies in the first five years after its release.
Songs like, "I'm Waiting for the Man," "Venus in Fur," and "Heroin" discussed subjects that
were taboo in the music industry, like drug use, dealers, and sexual practices. Cale and
guitarist Sterling Morrison's droning production and Lou Reed's lyrics and laid-back, talk-singing
style stood in contrast to the airy voice of Nico. Post-punk, glam rock, art rock, new
wave, noise, and industrial rock can find their base in The Velvet Underground's first
album.
Despite working as the band's producer, Andy Warhol had very little say in how the album
would sound. Still, he left his mark on the cover, which features a banana with his signature
below it.
Still desiring commercial success without surrendering his sound or leadership in the
band, Lou Reed began to feud more with his benefactor. In the early summer of 1967, Andy
Warhol took Nico to a concert in Boston. The two arrived late, and Reed refused to let
her perform with the band. Not long after the episode, Reed and Warhol held a private
meeting where he fired the artist. Nico left along with Warhol, believing it was Reed's
jealousy that led to her and Warhol's dismissal. Nico told an interviewer,
"Everybody wanted to be the star. Of course, Lou always was. But the newspapers came to
me all the time."
Along with his feud with Warhol, Reed also feuded with his musical partner, John Cale.
Richard Witts, a British musicologist who has written about the band, told ABC:
"You have Lou Reed who was brought up in Queens. [...] on the other side, John Cale, who came
from South Wales and was a classically trained viola player [...] you have these two worlds
clashing, and these two personalities who also clashed personally."
Replacing Warhol with Steve Sesnick as their manager, the band released White Light/White
Heat in January 1968. Reed's lyrics had a dark comedic aspect as the production was
even darker. And like their debut, the classic today was a commercial flop upon its release.
After the failure of White Heat/White Light, the power struggle between Cale and Reed hit
its breaking point. Whether it was his desire to have mainstream success and believing Cale's
production techniques were limiting this or, like Nico, jealousy was a driving force, Reed
wanted Cale out of the band. Reed ultimately gave the band members an ultimatum, Cale or
himself. The other members followed Reed and kicked Cale out.
Without the creativity of Cale's production, the band's final two albums with Reed had
a more conventional rock sound over Reed's lyrics. The band added Doug Yule to replace
Cale. Yule never auditioned with the band, and his hiring came largely because the band's
manager, Steve Sesnick, knew friends of Yule. Still, Yule would play on the final three
studio albums the band would produce.
For the band's self-titled third album, their first without Cale, The Velvet Underground
took a more traditional approach to the rock music scene. This time, not only was their
third effort a commercial failure and largely ignored by critics, but it also led to their
dismissal from MGM Records.
Their fourth effort, Loaded, was released under Cotillon, a subsidiary of Atlantic,
and, according to biographer Richie Unterberger, the band was made to understand this was their
last chance at mainstream success. In an interview with Furious, Doug Yule said that he and Reed
did much of the work on Loaded, telling the outlet:
"I did a lot on Loaded. It sort of devolved down to the Lou and Doug recreational recording."
Like their other albums, Loaded became an influential album to future musicians, and
it once again failed to make any sort of noise in the mainstream. Finally, Reed decided to
leave the band.
Lou Reed played his final show with his band on August 23, 1970, at Manhattan's famous
club, Max's Kansas City. After six years of leading the underground band, Reed had decided
to break away and become a solo artist, hoping he could reach the commercial success his
band could not.
Despite not having either Lou Reed or John Cale, the two most creative members of The
Velvet Underground during its height, the remnants of the group still pushed forward
for one more album.
Manager Steve Sesnick put together a deal with Polydor and put Doug Yule in charge of
making the album. At this point, both Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker had also left
the band, meaning that all the original members of The Velvet Underground were gone. According
to All Music, Ian Paice, the drummer of Deep Purple, headed the project with Yule.
Released three years after Reed's departure, the album proved to be for no one. The critics,
like all of Velvet Underground's work, ignored it, and the fans of the band did not pay it
any mind seeing that Reed was no longer there. After the album's failure, The Velvet Underground
finally ended.
The Velvet Underground reunited and toured in 1993 in Europe, before old wounds resurfaced
between the two rivals, Lou Reed and John Cale. In 1987, Cale and Reed spoke for the
first time in decades at Andy Warhol's memorial service. The pair's relationship grew to the
point they recorded an album in honor of Warhol, Songs For Drella. The two began a tour and
were soon joined by Maureen Tucker.
Despite Reed saying there would be no reunion, by 1993, Sterling Morrison returned, and the
foursome were performing in Europe. And almost just as fast, the reunion ended with Cale
and Reed back at each other's throats. Plans for an American leg of the tour and an appearance
on MTV: Unplugged were scrapped. In 2010, Cale told BBC 6 Music that he had no interest
in another reunion with the band.
Unfortunately, by the time the group reformed to tour Europe in the early 1990s, two members
of the band had passed away: Nico and Angus MacLise.
MacLise continued to make music after leaving The Velvet Underground, though he focused
more on poetry and calligraphy. MacLise collaborated with Yoko Ono and traveled around the world.
After years of drug addiction, MacLise died in 1979 in Kathmandu, Nepal. He was 41 and
cremated in the traditions of Tibetan Buddhists.
In 1988, while on vacation in Ibiza with her son, Nico was found on the side of the road
unconscious next to her bike. She died that evening of a brain hemorrhage. She was 49.
Sadly, more members of the group passed away following the reunion tour. In 1995, Sterling
Morrison died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at 53. Then, in 2013, Lou Reed passed away at
the age of 71 from liver disease, dashing any hopes of a future Velvet Underground reunion.
In 1996, The Velvet Underground was elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Despite
being a failure commercially during their tenure and largely ignored by critics, the
band's legacy can be heard in any alternative or indie rock group.
VH1 listed The Velvet Underground as No. 24 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists
of All-Time," while Rolling Stone listed them No. 19. Furthermore, all four albums that
featured Lou Reed were listed on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.
Despite never achieving commercial success as a band, The Velvet Underground is forever
remembered as a foundational band in the history of rock music.
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