The Velvet Underground的艺人档案.docx

1、The Velvet Underground的艺人档案The Velvet Underground的艺人档案小简介Velvet Underground对美国的Rock & Roll有深远的影响。往后十几年的摇滚艺人无不跟随他们的脚步，承袭他们的意识，在那个花与和平的嬉皮年代，V.U.却提出反时代潮流的意识，讲出社会的无力感，使摇滚乐不再只是单纯的音乐，而是充满自省及急呼社会不平的音乐。当时只要是听V.U.的，无不自己搞起乐队，可见他们对当时及后世的摇滚极具影响。Life Was Saved By Rock & Roll这句由Lou Reed的Rock & Roll中所唱出的名言，至今让我确信不

2、已!听过Velvet Underground(以下简称V.U.)的人，总会迷失在那简单的4/4小节，3、4个和弦即可完成的作品。但是在粗糙的White-Noise、呢喃自虐式的演唱以及波谱艺术大师Andy Warhol的华丽包装下，使V.U.在当时的乐队中的确与众不同。John Cale在纽约结识Lou Reed，Cale是古典理论作曲家及小提琴手，而Reed是古典钢琴手(在V.U. & Nico中的Sunday Morning就是二人坐在钢琴前Jam出来的)，后来加入了Stering Morrison(Guitar，Bass，因患淋巴癌病逝于纽约)，Angus Naclise (Drums)

3、，后来鼓手更替为Maureen Tucker.1966年，他们在Cafe Bizarre驻唱时认识了Andy Warhol，这位以享乐主义为目标的波谱艺术大师，他肯定商业文明所带给人们的便利与舒适，强调艺术不应以曲高和寡为晃子，而将之商业化，使更多的人能欣赏到艺术的华丽与美妙。他不认为如此会贬低艺术的价值，这些观念不但影响了V.U.，也影响了Lou Reed。同时他也引荐Nico，使这位美丽的德国模特能表现她另一面的才华；第一张专辑The Velvet Underground & Nico在1966年完成，也成为地下乐队的经典，其中的歌词也反应出当时社会的脱节与失序及对社会的疏离感(由Sund

4、ay Morning、 Run Run Run中可看出端倪)，对药物滥用(Heroin、 Waiting For The Man)、享乐主义的(Venus In Furs)、性泛滥(Femme Fatal)及Lou Reed对Nico的爱慕所作的Ill Be Your Mirror)。这些歌词不但反应了当时的社会，也隐约可看出Andy Warhol的思想潜伏于V.U.的歌词中。Lou Reed在Loaded专辑后单飞，相形之下，John Cale单飞后的前卫摇滚事业似乎叫好不叫座，或许是Cale没有承袭到Warhol的波谱精神吧。不过Reed的摇滚精神不曾落于俗套，从第2张专辑的Transfo

5、rmer来看，Reed已脱离了V.U.的White Noise的影子，但其呢喃式的唱法，简单精辟嘲讽的歌词，及永远都猜不出下一个音符落点的唱法，这些独特的地方都再次的显示了Lou Reed的地位是如此的伟大。一点点干净、一点点悲伤、一点点粗糙、一点点不满、一点点这些一点点足以造就一连串动听的专辑。Andy Warhol曾说V.U.将会比Beatles更有成就。照目前看来也不算过分，受V.U.影响的乐队不计其数，像Sonic Youth、David Bowie、Patti Smith、Jesus And Mary Chain.以及无数个Punk、Post Punk乐队。在这流行的社会里，每个人都

6、有机会流行15分钟。这句Warhol的名言在现今的演艺圈偶像歌手林立，在讲求包装的宝岛，Andy Warhol的话似乎有极高的可信度。This article is about the band. For their self-titled album, see The Velvet Underground (album); for the book, see The Velvet Underground (book)The Velvet UndergroundWith Nico in 1966, from left to right by row:Lou Reed, Sterling Mor

7、rison, John Cale,Nico, Maureen Tuckerphoto by David Horvitz and Adam DowerBackground informationAlso known as The Warlocks, The Falling SpikesOrigin New York City, New York, USAGenre(s) Experimental rock, art rock, protopunkYears active 196519731990199219941996Label(s) Verve, MGM, Atlantic, Polydor,

8、 Mercury, SireAssociated acts NicoTheater of Eternal MusicFormer membersLou ReedJohn CaleSterling MorrisonAngus MacliseMaureen TuckerDoug YuleWalter PowersWillie AlexanderThe Velvet Underground was an American rock band first active from 1965 to 1970 (and 1970 to 1973 in a different incarnation). It

9、s best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale. Although never commercially successful while together, the Velvet Underground are often cited by critics as one of the most important and influential groups of their era.1 A famous remark, often attributed to British musician Brian Eno, is that while

10、 only a few thousand people bought the first Velvet Underground record upon its release, almost every single one of them was inspired to start a band.CareerPre-history (19641965)The foundations for what would become the Velvet Underground were laid in late 1964. Singer/guitarist Lou Reed had perform

11、ed with a few short-lived garage bands and had worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records (Reed described his tenure there as being “a poor mans Carole King”).3 Reed met John Cale, a Welshman who had moved to the United States to study classical music. Cale had worked with experimental composers Jo

12、hn Cage and La Monte Young, but was also interested in rock music. Youngs use of extended drones would be a profound influence on the early Velvets sound. Cale was pleasantly surprised to discover Reeds experimentalist tendencies were similar to his own: Reed sometimes used alternate guitar tunings

13、to create a droning sound. The pair rehearsed and performed together, and their partnership and shared interests steered the early direction of what would become the Velvet Underground.Reeds first group with Cale was the Primitives, a short-lived group assembled to support a Reed-penned single, “The

14、 Ostrich.” Reed and Cale recruited Sterling Morrisona college classmate of Reeds who had already played with him a few timesto play guitar, and Angus MacLise joined on percussion. This quartet was first called the Warlocks, then the Falling Spikes.The Velvet Underground was a book about the sexual u

15、nderground of the early 60s by Michael Leigh that Cale found when he moved into his New York City apartment (left by previous tenant Tony Conrad). Reed and Morrison have reported the group liked the name, considering it evocative of “underground cinema,” and fitting, due to Reeds already having writ

16、ten “Venus in Furs,” inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masochs book of the same name, dealing with masochism. The band immediately and unanimously adopted the books title for its new name.Early stages (19651966)The newly named Velvet Underground rehearsed and performed in New York City. Their music was

17、 generally much more relaxed than it would later become: Cale described this era as reminiscent of beat poetry, with MacLise playing gentle “pitter and patter rhythms behind the drone.”In July 1965, Reed, Cale and Morrison recorded a demo tape at their Ludlow Street loft. When he briefly returned to

18、 Britain, Cale gave a copy of the tape to Marianne Faithfull, hoping shed pass it on to Mick Jagger. Nothing ever came of the demo, but it was eventually released on the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See.Manager and music journalist Al Aronowitz arranged for the groups first paying gig - $75 to play

19、at Summit High School, in Summit, New Jersey. When the group decided to take the gig, MacLise left the group, protesting what he considered a sellout. “Angus was in it for art,” Morrison reportedMacLise was replaced by Maureen “Moe” Tucker, the younger sister of Jim Tucker, a friend of Morrison. Tuc

20、kers abbreviated drum kit was rather unusual: she generally played on tom toms and an upturned bass drum, using mallets as often as drumsticks, and she rarely used cymbals. (The band having asked her to do something unusual, she turned her bass drum on its side and played standing up. When her drums

21、 were stolen from one club, she replaced them with garbage cans, brought in from outside.) Her rhythms, at once simple and exotic (influenced by the likes of Babatunde Olatunji and Bo Diddley records), became a vital part of the groups music. The group earned a regular paying gig at a club and gaine

22、d an early reputation as a promising ensemble.Andy Warhol and the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (19661967)Andy Warhol became the bands manager in 1965 and suggested they feature the German-born singer Nico on several songs. Warhols reputation helped the band gain a higher profile. Warhol helped the b

23、and secure a coveted recording contract with MGMs Verve Records, with himself as nominal “producer,” and gave the Velvets free rein over the sound they created.During their stay with Andy Warhol, the band became part of his multimedia roadshow, Exploding Plastic Inevitable, for which they provided t

24、he music. They played shows for several months in New York City, then traveled throughout the United States and Canada until its last installment in May 1967. The show included 16 mm film projections and colors by Warhol.In 1966 MacLise temporarily rejoined the Velvet Underground for a few EPI shows

25、 when Reed was suffering from hepatitis and unable to perform. For these appearances, Cale sang and played organ and Tucker switched to bass guitar. Also at these appearances, the band often played an extended jam they had dubbed “Booker T,” after the leader of the musical group Booker T. and the MG

26、s; the jam later became the music for “The Gift” on White Light/White Heat. Some of these performances have been released as a bootleg; they remain the only record of MacLise with the Velvet Underground. MacLise was said to be eager to rejoin the group now that theyd found some fame, but Reed specif

27、ically prohibited this.In December 1966, Warhol and David Dalton designed Issue 3 of the multimedia Aspen.4 Included in this issue of the magazine, which retailed at $4 per copy and was packaged in a hinged box designed to look like Fab laundry detergent, were various leaflets and booklets, one of w

28、hich was a commentary on rock and roll by Lou Reed, another an EPI promotional newspaper. Also enclosed was a 2-sided flexi disk, side one produced by Peter Walker, a musical associate of Timothy Leary, and side two titled “Loop,” credited to the Velvet Underground but actually recorded by Cale alon

29、e. “Loop,” a recording solely of pulsating audio feedback culminating in a locked groove, was “a precursor to Reeds Metal Machine Music,” say Velvets archivists M.C. Kostek and Phil Milstein in the book The Velvet Underground Companion.5 Indeed, “Loop” predates Reeds almost identical concept (Metal

30、Machine Music being a double album, obviously with different feedback, also concluding side four with a locked groove) by nearly ten years (Loop also predates much industrial music as well). More significantly, from a retail standpoint, “Loop” was the groups first commercially available recording as

31、 the Velvet Underground.The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)Main article: The Velvet Underground and NicoAt Warhols insistence, Nico sang with the band on three songs of their debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico. The album was recorded primarily in Scepter Studios in New York City during

32、April. It was released by Verve Records in March 1967.The album cover was famous for its Warhol design: a bright yellow banana with “Peel slowly and see” printed near a perforated tab. Those who did remove the banana skin found a pink, peeled banana beneath. This gimmick would later be repeated on the cover of one of several Velvet Underground boxed sets, also titled Peel Slowly and See, released in 1995.Eleven songs showcased their dyna